The Book of Beast Man

[Yodaking]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - VOTE for Initial Playtest

yea

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - VOTE for Initial Playtest

This passes. Thanks, all. Probably going to run Apollo today, then do this and Elasti-Girl in some order over the next week and a half or so.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Beast Man (Breathing Period)

Looking at this, if it's OK with y'all, I want to make one little tweak before testing. I'd prefer he run his monsters out in front of him, both so it's easier to keep them within 6 spaces of each other, and because it feels more thematic for him to send out a monster and then come in behind it than vice versa.

BEAST MASTERY
After revealing an Order Marker on this card and before taking a turn with Beast Man, you may choose one other squad figure or Common or Uncommon Hero figure you control with the Ferocious, Savage, or Wild Personality that is within 6 clear sight spaces of Beast Man and that is not a Human. Take a turn with the chosen figure's Army Card. You may not take any additional turns with any other figures you control.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

Also, we need a final decision on Clumsy Smash. @quozl what say ye?

 

[quozl]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - VOTE for Initial Playtest

I say:

I liked being able to attack my own dudes with Clumsy Smash. It's kind of like playing golf but if it seems too powerful, we can add in "opponent's".

 

[johnny139]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

I also don't mind playing bowling with units, as long as we remember it's something to keep in mind when balancing future units.

Fine with switching turn order as well.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

OK. I will keep Clumsy Smash as is and adjust the timing of the bonding power. Thanks, all.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

Beastman probably doesn't have the staying power to build an entire army just around Beast Mastery, but here are the raw pieces for him and what he bonds with:

Grizzly Shark (120) (uncommon)
Frost Giant (220) (uncommon)
Man-Bat Assassins (150)
Bud and Lou (70)
Animated Vines (55)
Beastman (240)
Werewolf (130 (uncommon)

Any ideas on army builds that might make sense for him?

 

[quozl]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

Why only a squad figure instead of the whole squad?

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

Why only a squad figure instead of the whole squad?

Not sure what you're asking.

 

[quozl]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

Why does Beast Master only let him bond with a single squad figure instead of the whole squad?

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

Why does Beast Master only let him bond with a single squad figure instead of the whole squad?

Read the power again.

 

[Yodaking]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

I agree with your assessment that trying to build a 1000+ point army around one figure bonding with everyone else would be a poor idea. He falls and suddenly you have a bunch of single activation guys. I'd just start testing him out by first build a smaller block of points, then adding in whoever you want to get up to the army point total you are looking for. This is what jumps out at me.

Beast Man + 1 Shark + 2 Frost Giants = 800

You could try this out at 800 to see if it can work or if Beast Man drops long before effectively bonding with all 3 of them.

Beast Man + 2 Sharks + 1 Frost Giant = 700
Beast Man + 3 Sharks = 600
Beast Man + 2 Werewolves = 500

Or you can skip that 800 army and start with one of these 3 blocks and build up to 800 or 1000 as you see fit. I feel like Wonder Woman at 300 would be an excellent addition to the 700 or 500 point blocks. Lead with Beast Man & his minions just to get them into position, then have WW fly up and lasso someone onto LG, followed up by Beast Man beating down whoever she grabbed a hold of. Rinse and repeat. Similarly, Red Tornado at 300 points is good at moving opponents figures into bad spots where Beast Man and his minions can then surround and beat them down.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

Those are some solid blocks, thanks! I think I'll try 2 Sharks + 1 Frost Giant vs. the TMNT and go from there.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

I do want to try him with the Man-Bat Assassins at least once, too, to see how well he can leverage the offense of a squad. 240 +150 = 390 as a bud. I'll have to try to figure out how to build around that as something even. Maybe with Werewolves (x3) (390) and Frost Giant (x1) (220) at 1,000. It runs that risk of putting too many eggs in one basket, but I figure I should try at least one 1,000 point build.

I think I'll try 700 twice, 800 once, and 1,000 once.

 

[quozl]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

Why does Beast Master only let him bond with a single squad figure instead of the whole squad?

Read the power again.

I never learned how to read!

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

Why does Beast Master only let him bond with a single squad figure instead of the whole squad?

Read the power again.

I never learned how to read!

I have the same problem all the time.

I was pretty sure the answer was there in the wording, but I wanted to double check and see if you could get it from the wording without my having to break it down. Gives me confidence I didn't screw up the wording too badly!

 

[Scapemage]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

Beastman probably doesn't have the staying power to build an entire army just around Beast Mastery, but here are the raw pieces for him and what he bonds with:

Grizzly Shark (120) (uncommon)
Frost Giant (220) (uncommon)
Man-Bat Assassins (150)
Bud and Lou (70)
Animated Vines (55)
Beastman (240)
Werewolf (130 (uncommon)

Any ideas on army builds that might make sense for him?

From this list, I would try a Frost Giant build with Laufey, and some kind of Criminal build with Poison Ivy, Harley, Vines, and the hyenas.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

Hmm, I worry he might end up being too sidelined in any of those builds rather than being the focal point.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

Here's what I think I'm going to try:

Units: Beastman (240), Frost Giant (220), Grizzly Shark (x2) (240) (700) vs Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello (700)

Units: Beastman (240), Frost Giant (220), Grizzly Shark (x2) (240) (700) vs Oracle (110), Black Canary (190), Green Arrow (Ollie) (150), Red Arrow (150), Robin (Dick Grayson) (100) (700)

Units: Beastman (240), Frost Giant (x2) (440), Grizzly Shark (x1) (120) (800) vs Captain America (240), Wasp (II) (160), Bucky (60), Deathbird (240) (800)

Units: Beastman (240), Man-Bat Assassins (150), Frost Giant (x1) (220), Werewolf (x3) (390) (1,000) vs Fantastic Four (1,000)

If he ends up getting slaughtered in the lower point games, I might switch to something where he can play second fiddle more based on the suggestions for a Laufey or Ivy/Harley build.

 

[Yodaking]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

I'd start with the smaller army games first and just see how long Beast Man can survive for, no point in drafting him with 5 potential bonding allies if he's going to fall 2nd or 3rd. It's the problem I seem to have with Frankenstein, his need to be in the fight means he often dies on me before I run out of bonding options. Then I'd consider trying to slide a figure with some kind of healing power into the mix if that ends up being the case in an effort to keep him alive longer. A figure that can cast a healing spell or two might be worth a shot (Skeletor would be an expensive means to an ends, but it could be fun to see how they play together).

 

[Tornado]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

Kool Aid Man.

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

Kool Aid Man.

Or, as he calls it:

Hmm, shame I don't have a mini ....

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: BEASTMAN

Army Test
Map: Custom
Units: Beastman (240), Frost Giant (220), Grizzly Shark (x2) (240) (700) vs Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello (700)

Spoiler Alert!

Round 1: Initiative Beasts. Grizzly Shark A advances.
Michelangelo advances, but doesn’t Cowabunga.
Beastman drives a Frost Giant forward, then follows.
Donatello advances.
Beastman drives forward the last Grizzly Shark, then moves ahead of the pack.
Leonardo Turtle Powers him and Raphael forward.

Round 2: Initiative Turtles. Leonardo Turtle Powers himself and Raphael forward.
Beastman moves a Frost Giant forward and himself up to height.
Donatello Staff Vaults into engagement with the Frost Giant and Beastman but Beastman is too Tough to be hurt.
Beastman moves a Grizzly Shark into engagement with Donatello, but no wounds for Land Shark. The Grizzly Shark hits Donatello for two wounds and the Turtle loses the Anti-Grav Gauntlet. The second Grizzly Shark moves adjacent to Donatello and fails Land Shark. Beastman picks up the Gauntlet and KOs Donatello with a normal attack (no Clumsy Smash).
Michelangelo moves forward, but can’t Cowabunga.
Beastman moves his Frost Giant forward, but the Freezing Touch attempt on Leonardo fails. Beastman Clumsy Smashes Michelangelo for three wounds, hitting Leonardo and Raphael for a wound each. Both Grizzly Sharks advance three spaces.

Round 3: Initiative Beastman. He has Frost Giant engage all three enemy turtles but fail his Freezing Touch attempt on Leonardo. Then Beastman tries to Clumsy Smash Leonardo but only wounds himself and the Frost Giant. The Anti-Grav Gauntlet goes flying.
Leonardo tries to go, but Raph’s Wrath kicks in. He attacks Beastman four straight times, but can’t land a wound. Tough prevents two wounds.
Beastman has Frost Giant try and fail to freeze Leo, then KOs Michelangelo.
Leonardo is once more overtaken by Raph’s Wrath, but Raph just can’t crack Beastman.
Beastman has Frost Giant try and fail to freeze Leo, then hits Raph for 2 wounds, Clumsy Smashes him next to just Leo, Leo doesn’t take a wound, then the Grizzly Sharks swarm on Raph, but neither hits him.

Round 4: Initiative Turtles. Leo goes Turtle Power with Raph and then hit Beastman four times, but for only a total of two wounds (Tough saved Beastman from three more).
Beastman and the Frost Giant both try and fail to hit Raph.
Raph is Wrathed and steals Leo’s turn, KOing both Grizzly Sharks on his rampage.
Beastman has the Frost Giant hit Leo for two wounds, then KOs Leo.
Raph hits Frost Giant for two wounds.
Beastman has Frost Giant try and fail to freeze Raph, then Beastman hits Raph for one wound. Clumsy Smash doesn’t trigger any unblockables.

Round 5: Initiative Beasts. Beastman has Frost Giant KO Raph.

Unit Summary: This victory was all Beastman (though the passive movement and wounding of the Grizzly Sharks pairs really, really well with him!). He controlled the entire flow of his team and his bonding as well as his defensive toughness and attack prowess made everything go here.

• Damage Done (Normal Attack): 2 Wounds on Donatello, 4 Wounds on Michelangelo, 2 Wounds on Leonardo, 3 Wounds on Raphael.
• BEAST MASTERY: Very useful throughout to keep this army engine going.
• CLUMSY SMASH: Hit Leonardo (1 Wound) and Raphael (1 Wound); Hit Frost Giant (1 Wound) and Beastman (1 Wound)
• TOUGH: Prevented (6) wounds.
• Damage Taken: 3 Wounds.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Frost Giant with 2/5 Life and Beastman with 3/6 Life win.

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Army Test
Map: Custom
Units: Beastman (240), Frost Giant (220), Grizzly Shark (x2) (240) (700) vs Oracle (110), Black Canary (190), Green Arrow (Ollie) (150), Red Arrow (150), Robin (Dick Grayson) (100) (700)

Spoiler Alert!

Round 1: Initiative Birds of Prey. Green Arrow advances.
Frost Giant advances.
Black Canary advances with Robin in tow.
Beastman sends up a Grizzly Shark and follows.
Black Canary and Robin advance again, not quite in range yet.
Beastman sends up a Grizzly Shark that fails to hit on Land Shark but does hit Black Canary for two wounds, bringing the other Grizzly Shark forward. Beastman advances, but isn’t in range to attack.

Round 2: Initiative Birds of Prey. Black Canary gets height on Beastman and just wails on him, for four Fists of Fury in a row (the first following the Secret Attack Plan). Beastman takes 5 quick wounds and Tough saves 3 more. Cupid’s Arrow and Robin both fail to finish him (with Tough saving another wound in there).
Beastman has Frost Giant successfully freeze Black Canary with two Order Markers on her card and then Beastman avoids attacking Robin, for fear of Clumsy Smash KOing himself.
Beastman goes twice more, thanks to frozen Canary. The first time, he has Frost Giant swing and miss against Green Arrow. Beastman holds his attack. The second time, Grizzly Shark hits Robin with a wound from Land Shark, but fails to hit Robin with an attack.
At the end of the round, Black Canary takes a fourth wound from the Ice Rock and is KOed.

Round 3: Initiative Birds of Prey. Green Arrow and Red Arrow (the former following the Secret Attack Plan and on height) fail to hit Frost Giant.
The Grizzly Shark in the back advances and fails to hit Robin with Land Shark or an attack.
The pair of archers fails against Frost Giant again.
Beastman has the Frost Giant get to even height with Green Arrow, but he fails an attack. Beastman holds his attack.
Green Arrow disengages from the Frost Giant, taking a swipe, Red Arrow fails his Speed Shot on the Frost Giant, then Green Arrow looses an exploding arrow, failing to hit the Ice Rock or Beastman, but hitting a Grizzly Shark for a wound.
Beastman has a Grizzly Shark disengage from Robin, taking a swipe, then it hits Green Arrow for a wound with Land Shark, but fails to hit Green Arrow with an attack. Beastman holds his attack.

Round 4: Initiative Birds of Prey. Green and Red Arrow combine to KO a Grizzly Shark.
Beastman has the second Grizzly Shark disengage from Robin (no swipe) and engage Green Arrow (no Land Shark wound). The Grizzly Shark hits Green Arrow for a third wound with its attack. Beastman holds his attack.
Green Arrow and Red Arrow combine to KO the other Grizzly Shark.
Beastman has Frost Giant try and fail to KO Green Arrow, then Beastman KOs the Ice Rock.
Green Arrow and Red Arrow go, with Green Arrow hitting the Frost Giant for one wound.
Frost Giant fails to hit Green Arrow.

Round 5: Initiative Beasts. Frost Giant KOs Green Arrow. Red Arrow gets his Order Markers. Beastman holds his attack.
Red Arrow advances, whiffing an attack on the Frost Giant.
Beastman has Frost Giant try and fail to freeze Robin, then holds his attack.
Red Arrow follows the Secret Attack Plan and KOs Beastman.
Frost Giant KOs a whiffing Robin.
Red Arrow fails an attack on Frost Giant. Neither he nor Frost Giant take a lava field wound.

Round 6: Initiative Beasts. Frost Giant freezes Red Arrow, killing the round for the Birds of Prey.
Frost Giant goes twice more, putting three wounds on Oracle.
At the end of the round, Red Arrow does not take a freezing wound.

Round 7: Initiative Birds of Prey. Oracle fails to hit the Frost Giant with her Secret Attack Plan. The Frost Giant KOs Oracle.
Though they technically didn’t lose yet, the Red Arrow player cedes the match, as it would just be a matter of time until the auto-skulls finished Red Arrow, with no other way out.

Unit Summary: Beastman was hoisted on his own petard here. Only auto-wounds from the Grizzly Sharks and two very timely, very nasty Freezing Touches from the Frost Giant saved him here. Black Canary wrecked Beastman early and with Robin in his face after that, he had no way to attack without either risking a final wound from a leaving engagement attack or from his own Clumsy Smash.

• Damage Done (Normal Attack): Ice Rock DO (1 Wound).
• BEAST MASTERY: Huge for the better part of the game for directing traffic. Without Beastman attacking most of the game, though, it missed a lot of utility.
• CLUMSY SMASH: Never came into play but was huge in keeping Beastman from attacking for fear of KOing himself after missing Robin.
• TOUGH: Prevented (4) wounds.
• Damage Taken: KOed in Round 5.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Frost Giant with 4/5 Life wins.

___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________​

Army Test
Map: Custom
Units: Beastman (240), Frost Giant (x2) (440), Grizzly Shark (x1) (120) (800) vs Captain America (240), Wasp (II) (160), Bucky (60), Deathbird (240) (800)

Spoiler Alert!

Round 1: Initiative Beasts. Beastman has a Frost Giant advance, then follows.
Cap sends Bucky out scouting, then follows behind.
Beastman brings up another Frost Giant, then moves to height.
Cap has Bucky go and try out his Machine Gun, but Buck can’t hit Beastman. Cap wounds Beastman once with his shield.
Beastman has a Frost Giant move up, but it can’t reach Cap. Beastman Clumsy Smashes Bucky for three wounds, but can’t hit Cap with the smash roll.
Cap has Bucky try his Machine Gun again, and Beast takes a wound. Beastman hits Cap with a swipe, then Cap uses his Shield on Beastman (no wounds) and the first Frost Giant (3 wounds).
No wounds from lava field.

Round 2: Initiative Avengers. Cap has Bucky Machine Gun Beastman for two wounds, but none on a Frost Giant. Cap KOs Beastman and the Frost Giant with his shield. This wipes out Beastman’s round!
Cap and Bucky take two more turns, engaging a helpless Frost Giant from height but only putting one wound on it in four attacks.

Round 3: Initiative Avengers. Cap and Bucky KO the second Frost Giant, stealing OMs 1 and 2.
They only need one more turn to hunt down and KO the Grizzly Shark.

Unit Summary: Beastman was torn to shreds by special attacks here and finally showed the risk of putting a team all around him. Lots of Order Marker losses, starting with Beastman falling, made this one a massacre.

• Damage Done (Normal Attack): 3 Wounds on Bucky.
• BEAST MASTERY: Used in the early going.
• CLUMSY SMASH: Failed a chance to hit Cap.
• TOUGH: Totally neutered here by Bucky and Cap’s special attacks.
• Damage Taken: KOed at the start of round two.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Captain America with 4/5 Life, Bucky with 1/4 Life, and Wasp (II) and Deathbird, both with Full Life, win.

___________________________________________________________​

Army Test
Map: Custom
Units: Beastman (240), Man-Bat Assassins (150), Frost Giant (x1) (220), Werewolf (x3) (390) (1,000) vs Fantastic Four (1,000)

Spoiler Alert!

Round 1: Initiative Fantastic Four. Mister Fantastic advances with Thing and Invisible Woman.
Beastman sends up the Man-Bat Assassins and follows.
Mister Fantastic moves up his whole crew, not quite in attack range yet.
Beastman advances a Werewolf and climbs to height.
Mister Fantastic has Invisible Woman advance, then Rubber Wraps a Man-Bat Assassin and a Werewolf.
Beastman has two Man-Bat Assassins try and fail to Claw Grab Mister Fantastic. The third is engaged with Mister Fantastic and fails to attack him from height. Beastman circles around, engaging Invisible Woman, and hits her for three wounds, then Clumsy Smashes her into Thing for one on him.

Round 2: Initiative Beasts. Beastman activates the Man-Bat Assassins. Two try and fail again to Claw Grab Mister Fantastic. The third puts three wounds on Mister Fantastic from height now that Invisible Woman is far away. Beastman engages Mister Fantastic and KOs him, wiping out OMs 1 and 2.
A Frost Giant out of Beast Mastery range advances.
Beastman has the Man-Bat Assassins go. One fails to Claw Grab Invisible Woman, but does hit her for a wound. The second Claw Grabs Invisible Woman, KOing her. The third hits Thing for one wound. Beastman climbs to height and hits Thing for two wounds. Human Torch is hit with Clumsy Smash and a Man-Bat Assassin is spared.
Thing KOs a Man-Bat Assassin.
Lava Field KOs the other two Man-Bat Assassins and hits Human Torch for a wound, but spares Thing and Beastman.

Round 3: Initiative Beasts. The run of terrible dice for the Fantastic Four continues, as Beastman sends up a Frost Giant, which KOs Thing despite height disadvantage. Thing has OMs 1 and X. Beastman engages Human Torch and hits him for two wounds.
Beastman has Frost Giant try and fail to hit Human Torch. Beastman KOs Human Torch.

Unit Summary: Beastman is a ton of fun and with Tough, high life, and the ability to mobilize quickly and attack hard, he’s reliable enough as an Order Marker hub for beastly types and he pulls them together in a fun way. Terrible dice rolls (defensively in particular) hurt the Fantastic Four here, but the Beasts just had too many options to get to Invisible Woman as well. Beastman and company also had really good initiative luck.
Much like in the last game, when the Order Markers started falling, the victors pressed their advantage and widened the margin.

• Damage Done (Normal Attack): (3) wounds on Invisible Woman, (2) wounds on Mister Fantastic, (2) wounds on Thing, (4) wounds on Human Torch.
• BEAST MASTERY: Used throughout to direct troops here and get a numbers advantage to circumvent Rubber Wrap + Force Field.
• CLUMSY SMASH: Inflicts (1) wound on Thing and gets Invisible Woman out of position; inflicts (1) wound on Human Torch.
• TOUGH: Beastman was never attacked!
• Damage Taken: None.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Frost Giant, Beastman, and Werewolf (x3) all with Full Life.

___________________________________________________________​

 

[IAmBatman]

Re: The Book of Beast Man - Initial Playtest Phase

3-1 with one big loss, but two pretty substantial wins (one of them a railroading). He's shown me enough as the focal point of an army that I want to up his points going into playtesting.

I really love how he's playing and don't want to tweak any of the mechanics. I'm thinking 280 points for Playtesting, though (should fit him in with a Frost Giant (220) or Grizzly Shark (120) as a nice 400-500 point army start).