The Book of General Zod

[L0B5T3R]

Full tests completed:

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: General Zod


Army Test
Map: Custom
Give a brief overview: Fighters had superior bonding but GZ went off. His ability to throw multiple unblockables with the spies took out Luke Cage efficiently.
Units: General Zod (380), Kryptonian Soldier, Kryptonian Infiltrator x2, Krypto (980) VS. Luke Cage, Wolverine, Spider-Man (Pete C3G), Iron Man (Crime Fighter) (970)

Spoiler Alert!

Game Summary: Krypto did his Decoy role very well in this game and really helped to delay Luke/Ironman from beating down the aggressive Spies. They were able to eliminate Luke with unblockables from GZ’s re-imagined General power. GZ’s normal attack did big damage here.

Unit Summary: GZ took complete control in this one, with a little help from Krypto surviving a handful of LC’s attacks. GZ got every OM for the entire game, his normal adjacent attacks brought the pain.

• Damage Done (Normal Attack): 4 wounds to Iron Man in 1 attack (destroyed), 8 wounds to Wolverine in 3 adjacent attacks with height advantage (destroyed), 2 wounds to Spider-Man in 3 attacks.
• (General of New Krypton [Spy unblockables]): 5 wounds to Luke Cage in 7 rolls (destroyed), 1 wound to Spider-man in 3 rolls, 0 wounds to Iron Man in 3 rolls.
• Damage Taken: 1 wound from Spider-Man

Who won? List of figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Kryptonians with General Zod 5/6 Life REMAINING, Kryptonian Soldier 1/4.

Army Test
Map: Custom
Give a brief overview: Zod took a strategic risk in the begining that did not pay off. His teammates did not perform well but a Bomb made the game close in the end.
Units: Gen. Zod (380), Kryptonian Soldier x3, Kryptonian Infiltrator x2 (1,300) VS. Fantastic 4, She Hulk (1,310)

Spoiler Alert!

Game Summary: Zod took height advantage early and caught Invisible Woman outside of her pack after Mr. F rolled an 18 with his Fantastic Leader. Zod’s attack totally whiffed and really put him in a bad spot. He was Rubber wrapped on the next turn. Big attacks from She-Hulk and Thing crushed the Kryptonians. The Soldiers and Spies took 2 rounds to eliminate Invisible Woman and by then the game was nearly over. Mr. Fantasic eventually killed Zod on his own. The big bruisers for the Adventurers take down everyone but 1 Soldier. That Soldier is able to eliminate Mr. F. Things got interesting here, the Soldier decided what the heck lets land on that untouched glyph. It turned out to be the time bomb. Outside of any figure the Soldier was unable to attack. She-Hulk revealed the next Order Marker and rolled for the Time Bomb, she rolled a 1. The blast killed the Soldier but also an unwounded Thing, and She-Hulk! The unwounded Human Torch was just 1 space outside of the blast radius! Obviously a total fluke and the game was extremely one-sided but that ending was fun at least.

Unit Summary: After overextending himself to get IW, GZ provided all the OM management but his teammates could not pull their weight.

• Damage Done (Normal Attack): 1 wound to Mr Fantastic on 2 attacks. 0 Wounds to Invisible Woman on 1 attack.
• (General of New Krypton [Spy unblockables]): 2 wounds to Invisible Woman on 5 rolls.
• Damage Taken: 3 wounds from Mr. Fantastic on 5 attacks. 3 wounds from The Thing on 1 attack.

Who won? List of figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Human Torch with 5/5 Life REMAINING

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: I could probably see a slight point increase.
GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT: Honestly a really fun update here. GZ is arguably a better leader for Krypton than Business Suit Lex which feels right

 

[Yodaking]

Do we really need any more tests here? It looks like the changes are a success, so much so that he could be repriced at 400 and the testers would be happy to draft him.

 

[IAmBatman]

Who made the proposal to revisit this? Do y'all remember?

 

[Yodaking]

Looks like quozl called for the vote here in this thread.

I propose we reevaluate General Zod with the following modification:

GENERAL OF NEW KRYPTON
After revealing an Order Marker on this card and instead of taking a turn with General Zod, you may:
* take a turn with 1 Unique Kryptonian Hero you control; or
* take a turn with up to 2 Kryptonian Soldier Heroes you control; or
* one at a time, for each Kryptonian Spy you control, choose a figure engaged with that Kryptonian Spy and roll 1 unblockable attack die against that figure.

 

[IAmBatman]

Thanks! @quozl seems like this is your baby then. Do you feel things are ready to move forward?

 

[quozl]

Let's get one more set in order to get a better idea of the point cost.

 

[quozl]

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: General Zod re-eval

Army Test
Map: X Marks The Spot with Orbital Laser glyph
Units: General Zod, Kryptonian Soldier x2, Kryptonian Infiltrator, Non, and Ursa (1500) VS Professor X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Gambit, and Angel (1500)

Spoiler Alert!

Summary: This game lasted 7 rounds. Non tried going out early to get Kill Crazy but the X-Men surrounded and neutralized him pretty well (although he lasted 3 rounds). The Kryptonian Soldiers attacked the area around the glyph and took out Rogue before she went Kill Crazy after draining Non. The Spy option was used once and did do 2 wounds that round. All options were used.


Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, and Professor X each had 1W/4L and Angel was unwounded.

___________________________________________________________​

Army Test
Map: X Marks The Spot with Orbital Laser glyph
Units: Rematch!

Spoiler Alert!

This game lasted 9 rounds and was a lot closer even though the spy option wasn't used (because it didn't seem a good choice for just one spy - Ursa wasn't engaged) and 1 Kryptonian Soldier was taken out early, eliminating the 2 Soldier option in the 2nd round. Yet Zod's team held on anyway and got the win (barely!)

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Zod with 5W/6L.

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: While the 2 Kryptonian Soldier option might be better than all the other options ,except maybe Non (or someone as tough) or if you have a ton of Infiltrators, I think this version works well.

 

[quozl]

I'll let you all look it over but I will propose we accept these changes, keeping the points at 380.

 

[IAmBatman]

Sweet. I think it looks great and am in favor. I'm thinking this is probably the type of vote only Heroes can be part of, though, since it's essentially a "release" vote of sorts. But y'all have my yea in spirit.

 

[Yodaking]

I thought he was trending up towards 400.

 

[japes]

I thought he was trending up towards 400.

Same here.

I also thought a strategy loading up on spies could be deadly since you get to roll an unlockable for ALL spies each time unless I'm reading it wrong.

I know when we house rules him to just add two full turns and left him at just one spy roll we felt he was fine at 480+. The unblock able was still useful.

 

[quozl]

All spies do get to roll. He has only been tried with 2 spies. Do you want to see more?

He's 4-2 at 380 with all the games being pretty close (some really close). I don't think he warrants a point increase.

 

[quozl]

I'll let you all look it over but I will propose we accept these changes, keeping the points at 380.

Need some votes!
@Ronin @Lazy Orang @johnny139 @Tornado @Karat @japes

 

[IAmBatman]

japes isn't an active hero, but, yeah, you need the others.

 

[Tornado]

Lame Duck Hero rubber stamp.
Yea

 

[Ronin]

yea

Probably worth clarifying the card when we update the text here... it's not clear whether a new figure that wasn't named "Kryptonian Soldier" but did have that species/class combo would get the synergy.

That might really be an update for the Kryptonian Soldiers, though. They could be rebranded as something different (just like Kryptonian Commandos or Kryptonian [Adjective] Soldiers or whatever) to clean that up.

 

[johnny139]

Nay

I hate pumping brakes here after testing has been done, but I honestly haven't been convinced this guy needs the tweaks we're making. I can live with a point shift, I can live with a reinterpretation of the Spy stuff, but changing figure movement to two turns (and thus going from the worst option to the best option if those tests are to be believed) is a major change to the card that feels pretty unnecessary to me and sets a precedent I'm not super comfortable with.

 

[IAmBatman]

@L0B5T3R @quozl @Arch-vile

Can any of you speak on how you felt the old card compares to this newer version in terms of fun and playability?

 

[L0B5T3R]

I gotta say the new version is significantly more fun. Just my opinion but that’s what how I feel. I get the whole snowballing thing we want to avoid but pre-update this guy is not the go to Krypto leader, Business Suit Lex is. The changes make him unique among lynchpin figures and fun.

 

[Arch-vile]

Never played the old version, but I found the new version very fun.

 

[IAmBatman]

Never played the old version, but I found the new version very fun.

Do you think you would play the old version at 380? Let's say that this vote goes down (one Nay is all it takes for a finalization vote to fail). Do you think you'd draft or play this Zod in the future?

 

[Arch-vile]

Never played the old version, but I found the new version very fun.

Do you think you would play the old version at 380? Let's say that this vote goes down (one Nay is all it takes for a finalization vote to fail). Do you think you'd draft or play this Zod in the future?

Probably not. The new version is a significant upgrade; I don't see the appeal to any of his "general" powers in the old version personally. Just moving two soldiers or just getting 1 conditional unblockable die are terrible uses of an order marker.

 

[IAmBatman]

Never played the old version, but I found the new version very fun.

Do you think you would play the old version at 380? Let's say that this vote goes down (one Nay is all it takes for a finalization vote to fail). Do you think you'd draft or play this Zod in the future?

Probably not. The new version is a significant upgrade; I don't see the appeal to any of his "general" powers in the old version personally. Just moving two soldiers or just getting 1 conditional unblockable die are terrible uses of an order marker.

So, would you say that @johnny139 's Nay vote could be fairly characterized as a vote against fun?

Or, to be fairer, at least a vote against Arch-vile ever using this design?

 

[quozl]

Objection, your honor. Leading the witness.

 

[IAmBatman]

Objection, your honor. Leading the witness.

Withdrawn.