The Book of Techno

[Yodaking]

Re: The Book of Techno (Initial Playtesting)

Ah, upping the base range does off set some of what you took away. I liked the other options when they included the move/range boost though, makes them feel more like a viable alternative to the double attack choice.

 

[Ronin]

Re: The Book of Techno (Initial Playtesting)

I'll throw it out to a poll.

A. Move forward with the tested version

B. Get a couple more games in, with some or all of the tweaks here.

 

[Spidey'tilIDie]

Re: The Book of Techno (Initial Playtesting)

A You can always ask the first play tester for non-charlatans tests.

 

[Yodaking]

Re: The Book of Techno (Initial Playtesting)

I think I've already made my thoughts clear here. I like the non-adj. clause for the double attack being added in, leave everything else the same and continue testing him at 150. Actually you could bump the base range up like you did as well, I don't have a problem with that boost up to help off set the non-adj. clause addition.

 

[Ronin]

Re: The Book of Techno (Initial Playtesting)

Any other opinions?

 

[Tornado]

Re: The Book of Techno (Initial Playtesting)

YK's suggestion sounds good.

 

[Ronin]

Re: The Book of Techno (Initial Playtesting)

Made only the double attack change and ran a couple games. He looks solid with the change, proposing we move Techno to public testing.

@japes - yea
@Arkham - yea
@Tornado - yea
@Yodaking - yea
@johnny139
@SirGalahad - yea
@Spidey'tilIDie - yea

 

[japes]

Re: The Book of Techno (Vote for Public Playtesting)

yea

 

[Tornado]

Re: The Book of Techno (Vote for Public Playtesting)

Yea

 

[Yodaking]

Re: The Book of Techno (Vote for Public Playtesting)

yea

 

[Arkham]

Re: The Book of Techno (Vote for Public Playtesting)

yea

 

[Spidey'tilIDie]

Re: The Book of Techno (Vote for Public Playtesting)

Yea

 

[SirGalahad]

Re: The Book of Techno (Vote for Public Playtesting)

yea

 

[Ronin]

Re: The Book of Techno (Vote for Public Playtesting)

This passes on time

 

[Lazy Orang]

Re: The Book of Techno (Public Playtesting)

Name Of The Playtest Unit: Techno

Army Test 1
Map: Bad Moon Rising (no glyphs)
Armies:
Captain America, Techno, Bucky (450 points)
vs.
Luke Cage, Iron Fist (450 points)

Spoiler Alert!

Overview of Techno’s performance:
Damage inflicted through normal attacks: 4 wounds on Luke Cage
Move Boost used: Never
Range boost used: Never
Double attack boost used: Three times.
Defence subtraction used: Once
Wounds received through Reckless Engagement: 2 from Iron Fist
Extra wounds inflicted through Reckless Engagement: None

Round One

Captain America claims the initiative and he and Bucky advance.
Iron Fist Stealth Leaps forwards and Luke Cage follows him.
Bucky runs to one of the level 4 perches and opens fire on Luke Cage with his machine gun, but the bullets bounce off his flesh. Cap runs to the other level 4 perch and throws his shield at Luke and Iron Fist, inflicting a wound on Luke Cage.
Iron Fist and Iron Fist both charge Captain America, though only Luke manages to inflict a wound.
Techno flies forwards and uses his Tech-Pac to fire two shots at Luke Cage, inflicting a wound with the second shot.
Iron Fist strikes Captain America - his blow is blocked, but he focusses his chi into healing Luke Cage for a wound. Luke punches Steve for another wound.

Round Two

Captain America claims the initiaitive. Bucky charges Luke Cage and punches him for a wound. Captain America punches Luke Cage for a wound.
Iron Fist strikes Captain America, but the blow is parried by his Vibranium Alloy Shield - he does, however, heal Luke Cage of a wound. Luke knocks Bucky out.
Techno moves to the level 4 perch Bucky vacated to open fire on Luke Cage, shooting twice thanks to his Tech-Pac. His first shot inflicts a wound.
Iron Fist strikes Captain America for two wounds, before Luke Cage strikes him to no avail.
Techno once again activates his double attack. His first shot is deadly, and he rolls 4 skulls, shooting Luke in the back. Luke is caught entirely by surprise and rolls no shields on six dice, not even allowing his Impenetrable Skin to save him, and is killed outright, eliminating the remainder of the Heroes For Hire’s round. Techno fires a second shot at Iron Fist, but it is blocked.

Round Three

Iron Fist claims the initiaitive and punches Captain America with a devastating blow, knocking him out and eliminating the enemy’s first turn.
Iron Fist charges Techno and punches him for a wound, one Techno could have blocked were it not for his recklessness.
Techo reduces Iron Fist’s defence with his Tech-Pac before striking him, but his blow is blocked.
Iron Fist knocks Techno out with a single blow - Techno would have just survived it, had he not been so reckless.

Heroes for Hire victorious - Iron Fist unwounded

Overview: Techno is decent - if you can give him a stat-boost, get him on height and start shooting, he's pretty decent, but really, that's nothing special, and only getting double atttack at range hurts. That being said, he could make a decent, low-level swiss army knife. He was more useful here than he should have been - because really, that last attack on Luke should never have happened - but his team still wasn't that great and he fell apart pretty quickly when put under any pressure. I'm sort of feeling he's a little overcosted right now - he's feeling more like a 130/140 who happened to get a lucky shot, rather than standing up next to the likes of Iceman and Deadshot, but that's playing him outside his intended faction. Let's see what he's like with the Thunderbolts.

 

[Lazy Orang]

Re: The Book of Techno (Public Playtesting)

- Theme Test - Inconclusive, as I don't know the character.
- Mirror Test - Pass.
- Bonding Test - Pass - Bonding Songbird or any other Charlatan when Justice, Like Lightning! is triggered is pretty nice and pairs well with Tech-Pac, but nothing game-breaking.
- Synergies Test - Pass - Aside from bonding, MACH-I can move him where he needs to be (which I'm sure can be useful for the last Tech-Pac option) and Songbird can help a bit with his otherwise abysmal defensive abilities.
- Power Check - Pass - He's certainly not OP.
- Fun Test - Pass - He was pretty fun to use.
- Fun Competitive Test - Pass
- Drafting Test - Pass, though probably only in a Charlatan build with Citizen V.
- Usage Test - Pass - Didn't really get any use out of the first two options in Tech-Pac - that may be my playstyle, but they do seem less useful. Both could be nice when advancing over a protracted distance or if you need to hit someone in the back lines - interestingly, they both fill the same basic tactical functions, though in very different ways and with very different mechanics. The double attack can be nice if you can get him on height at range, and the defence subtraction can be a nice combo with Justice, Like Lightning!
- Strategy Test - Pass - He felt decently strategic.

Name Of The Playtest Unit: Techno

Army Test 1
Map: Bad Moon Rising (no glyphs)
Armies:
Captain America, Techno, Bucky (450 points)
vs.
Luke Cage, Iron Fist (450 points)

Spoiler Alert!

Overview of Techno’s performance:
Damage inflicted through normal attacks: 4 wounds on Luke Cage
Move Boost used: Never
Range boost used: Never
Double attack boost used: Three times.
Defence subtraction used: Once
Wounds received through Reckless Engagement: 2 from Iron Fist
Extra wounds inflicted through Reckless Engagement: None

Round One

Captain America claims the initiative and he and Bucky advance.
Iron Fist Stealth Leaps forwards and Luke Cage follows him.
Bucky runs to one of the level 4 perches and opens fire on Luke Cage with his machine gun, but the bullets bounce off his flesh. Cap runs to the other level 4 perch and throws his shield at Luke and Iron Fist, inflicting a wound on Luke Cage.
Iron Fist and Iron Fist both charge Captain America, though only Luke manages to inflict a wound.
Techno flies forwards and uses his Tech-Pac to fire two shots at Luke Cage, inflicting a wound with the second shot.
Iron Fist strikes Captain America - his blow is blocked, but he focusses his chi into healing Luke Cage for a wound. Luke punches Steve for another wound.

Round Two

Captain America claims the initiaitive. Bucky charges Luke Cage and punches him for a wound. Captain America punches Luke Cage for a wound.
Iron Fist strikes Captain America, but the blow is parried by his Vibranium Alloy Shield - he does, however, heal Luke Cage of a wound. Luke knocks Bucky out.
Techno moves to the level 4 perch Bucky vacated to open fire on Luke Cage, shooting twice thanks to his Tech-Pac. His first shot inflicts a wound.
Iron Fist strikes Captain America for two wounds, before Luke Cage strikes him to no avail.
Techno once again activates his double attack. His first shot is deadly, and he rolls 4 skulls, shooting Luke in the back. Luke is caught entirely by surprise and rolls no shields on six dice, not even allowing his Impenetrable Skin to save him, and is killed outright, eliminating the remainder of the Heroes For Hire’s round. Techno fires a second shot at Iron Fist, but it is blocked.

Round Three

Iron Fist claims the initiaitive and punches Captain America with a devastating blow, knocking him out and eliminating the enemy’s first turn.
Iron Fist charges Techno and punches him for a wound, one Techno could have blocked were it not for his recklessness.
Techo reduces Iron Fist’s defence with his Tech-Pac before striking him, but his blow is blocked.
Iron Fist knocks Techno out with a single blow - Techno would have just survived it, had he not been so reckless.

Heroes for Hire victorious - Iron Fist unwounded

Overview: Techno is decent - if you can give him a stat-boost, get him on height and start shooting, he's pretty decent, but really, that's nothing special, and only getting double atttack at range hurts. That being said, he could make a decent, low-level swiss army knife. He was more useful here than he should have been - because really, that last attack on Luke should never have happened - but his team still wasn't that great and he fell apart pretty quickly when put under any pressure. I'm sort of feeling he's a little overcosted right now - he's feeling more like a 130/140 who happened to get a lucky shot, rather than standing up next to the likes of Iceman and Deadshot, but that's playing him outside his intended faction. Let's see what he's like with the Thunderbolts.

Army Test 2
Map: Conflict Chernobyl (No Glyphs)
Armies;
Captain America, Ms. Marvel, Steel, Green Arrow (Oliver Queen), Hawkeye (Kate Bishop), Bucky (1,200 points)
vs.
Citizen V, Techno, Meteorite, Songbird, Atlas, MACH-I (1,200 points)

Spoiler Alert!

Overview of Techno’s performance:
Damage inflicted through normal attacks: 2 wounds on Ms. Marvel, 1 wound on Captain America.
Move Boost used: Never
Range boost used: Never
Double attack boost used: Never
Defence subtraction used: Four times (responsible for one wounds on Ms. Marvel from Techno and one wound on Captain America from Atlas)
Wounds received through Reckless Engagement: None
Extra wounds inflicted through Reckless Engagement: 1 wound on Ms. Marvel, 1 wound on Captain America.


Round One

The Avengers claim the initiative and Bucky and Steve advance.
Songbird flies forwards and blasts Bucky for a wound. Atlas advances.
Ms. Marvel flies forwards and blasts Atlas to no avail.
Zemo puts his master plan into action and Atlas charges Ms. Marvel, striking her for a wound. MACH-I flies forwards and opens fire with Diversionary Fire. He shoots Ms. Marvel to no avail, allowing Atlas to break away from her, before shooting Bucky for a wound.
Steel flies forwards.
Songbird blasts Bucky for a wound. MACH-I opens fire to no avail.

Round Two

The Avengers claim the initiative. Bucky charges Songbird and punches her from low ground, inflicting a wound. Captain America charges Atlas, and punches him, but it has no effect.
Meteorite flies into combat with Bucky and strikes him to no avail.
Steel throws a SMART Hammer at Songbird, but is blocked.
Techno flies forwards and strikes Bucky in melee, failing to harm him.
Kate moves north and looses two arrows at Songbird - the first pins her but inflicts no damage, while the second inflicts a wound.
Zemo unleashes his master plan. Techno subtracts Bucky’s defence with Tech-Pac before breaking engagement, taking a leaving engagement attack in the process, and engaging Captain America and Ms. Marvel, striking Captain America to no avail. MACH-I opens fire - he blows Bucky’s brains out, allowing Meteorite in order to blind Kate Bishop, and then fires an ineffective shot at Ms. Marvel.

Round Three

The Avengers claim the initiative, and Steel throws a SMART Hammer at Meteorite, inflicting three wounds.
Zemo takes command. Techno reduces the defence of Cap and Ms. Marvel before striking Ms. Marvel - she blocks the blow and she strikes back, inflicting a wound on him. Atlas punches Captain America for a wound.
Captain America breaks engagement from Atlas, taking a wound in doing so, and charges Meteorite, taking a shot in the back from MACH-I in doing so. He knocks Meteorite out, eliminating the Thunderbolts’ last turn.
Both Songbird and Atlas stay where they are, striking Captain America to no effect.
Hawkeye looses an arrow at Songbird, pining her and shockingly inflicting a wound. Green Arrow runs south, rolls a 7 for Skill Shot and looses a shot at Songbird, failing to harm her.

Round Four

The Thunderbolts claim the initiaitive and Zemo puts his plans into action. Techno activates his Tech-Pac to reduce Captain America and Ms. Marvel’s defences before striking Ms. Marvel for two wounds, one due to his recklessness and one due to the defence subtraction, but she strikes back, leaving him a wound off destruction. Atlas engages Captain America, and strikes him for one wound, courtesy of Techno’s Tech-Pac.
Captain America punches Atlas for a wound.
Songbird strikes Captain America to no avail, and Atlas also strikes him, but the blow is blocked by the Vibranium Alloy Shield.
Ms. Marvel commands Steel to throw a SMART Hammer at Songbird, knocking her out, before she herself punches Atlas, but she blocks her blow.
MACH-I engages Green Arrow and Steel, before striking Steel for two wounds.
Kate looses an arrow at MACH-I - he evades it, but is pinned by it. Green Arrow then turns around and punches the pinned MACH-I, inflicting two wounds.

Round Five

The Thunderbolts claim the initiative. Zemo puts his plots into action, and Techno uses his Tech-Pac to subtract from Captain America and Ms. Marvel’s defences. He strikes Captain America, knocking him out thanks to his recklessness and eliminating the Avengers’ first turn. Atlas then punches Ms. Marvel, who blocks his blow.
MACH-I punches Steel for a wound.
Steel strikes MACH-I to no avail. Ms. Marvel strikes Atlas for two wounds, but his Ionic Imbalance kicks in, allowing him to ignore the attack and meaning that she and Techno receive a wound each. Techno is killed by this.
Atlas knocks Ms. Marvel out.
Kate fires a shot at MACH-I - it takes him completely by surprise, he rolls no shields and fails to evade, and, as such, he takes a wound from it and is pinned. Green Arrow then punches him, but MACH-I blocks.

Round Six

The Avengers claim the initiative, and Steel strikes MACH-I, knocking him out.
Atlas charges Steel and knocks him out.
Kate looses an arrow at Atlas, but it just bounces off. Green Arrow runs to the southern hill and looses an arrow at Atlas, rolling a 6 for Skill Shot and managing to inflict a wound.
Citizen V activates Justice, Like Lightning! and advances, and Atlas charges Green Arrow, striking him to no avail.
Green Arrow backs up a little, getting out of engagement with Atlas and avoiding the giant’s strike. He rolls a 13 for Skill Shot, subtracting 2 from Atlas’s defence and looses an arrow at him, inflicting another wound on the Charlatan.
Atlas charges Green Arrow and punches him for two wounds.

Round Seven

The Avengers claim the initiative. Green Arrow runs from Atlas, avoiding any leaving engagement strike, and runs to another level three hill further south before loosing an arrow at the giant charlatan. He fails to harm Atlas.
Zemo triggers Justice, Like Lightning! and advances, and Atlas charges Green Arrow, striking him from low ground to no avail.
Hawkeye looses an arrow at Citizen V to no avail. Green Arrow slips away, moving to another part of his hill to loose another arrow at Atlas - he rolls a 19 for Skill Shot and shoots the giant, inflicting only one wound despite the reduced defence.
Hawkeye runs north and looses an arrow at Citizen V, pinning him. She looses another, inflicting a wound.
Citizen V charges Hawkeye and lays into her with his sword, inflicting three wounds.

Round Eight

Kate claims the initiative and slips away from Zemo, running to a hill and loosing two arrows at him. The first pins him, and the second inflicts two wounds.
At Zemo’s command, Atlas starts moving north, while Zemo, shaking off the arrow pinning him to the ground, charges Kate Bishop - she parries his first blow with her bow, but his second runs her through.

Thunderbolts Victorious, Citizen V 3 wounds, Atlas 4 wounds.

Overview: The Thunderbolts are a really fun, interesting faction to play - I love them, well done! Techno was actually pretty decent here - though nothing too amazing, he was a solid 150‘s worth, softening up Ms. Marvel and finishing off Captain America. The defence subtraction application of Tech-Pac is a nice application for a Justice, Like Lightning! turn - I imagine it might be even better if followed up by Zemo himself striking, as Swordplay will allow many more opportunities for that -1 defence to prove painful, and Zemo, Techno and MACH-I are presently the only Charlatans with the ability to multi-attack. If we get more Charlatans with strong multi-attacks, I expect Techo to become a little more valuable, but he's not too special right now, and is pretty damn fragile (the only reason he lasted half as long as he did is because the Avengers deemed different Thunderbolts more valuable targets - 4 Defence with Reckless Engagement is pretty paper thin, and even Songbird can't really help that much).

Thoughts On The Tested Unit's Cost, Balance, & Draftibility:

Solid card to round out a great faction - good job.

 

[Ronin]

Re: The Book of Techno (Public Playtesting)

Thanks, LO! I had kinda the same experience with Techno - he tends to survive for a long time in T-Bolts builds because he flies under the radar while the opponent is trying to keep Meteorite and the other scarier T-Bolts from messing them up.

 

[Ronin]

Re: The Book of Techno (Public Playtesting)

Any chance someone has the time to knock out a couple games here? He shouldn't need too much to square away.

 

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Re: The Book of Techno (Public Playtesting)

I’ll have mine up tonight.

 

[Ronin]

Re: The Book of Techno (Public Playtesting)

Thanks, Soundwarp!

 

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Re: The Book of Techno (Public Playtesting)

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Techno @150 points

Army Test 1
Map: Island Planecrash (no e-glyph)
Units: Blue Thunder: Techno (150), Blue Beetle (160), Songbird (180), Skrull Infiltrator x2 (20)- 510 total vs Gorilla Flotilla: Solvar (260), Gorilla City Warriors x2 (250)- 510 total

Spoiler Alert!

Game Summary:

So basically the idea here is Techno and Mimi are the main force of the army, while Blue Beetle is a 'trap card' you can throw out at some point. Ideally by getting a few people effected by Strategic Shot and Techno's defense reduction at the same time by shooting Techno yourself (or I guess super ideally hitting someone adjacent to a bunch of people engaged to Techno but not adjacent to Techno themselves, but that's not happening outside magic Christmas land).

The army worked out ok, but neither Techno or Songbird have all that much going on on offense so they couldn't clear GCWs fast enough to avoid getting slammed by multiple attacks of 6 forever (some more Infiltrators would have probably helped with that a fair bit). Techno did manage to live long enough for an initiative win to pop out Blue Beetle though. Beetle then immediately killed him to hit some GCWs and was able to mop things up from there, but honestly, given how absurdly ridiculous Blue Beetle's defense power is (seriously, what the hell is up with that?) I would probably have been better off leading with him and killing the other team while they sat around unable to do anything.

Unit Summary:

• Damage Done (Normal Attack): Took down two GCWs over the course of a number of attacks.
• Tech-Pac: Mostly used the move and double attack options, though all of them saw some play. The minus defense option did set up 3 GCWs for a hit by Blue Beetle, that was probably the most impressive use of the power.
• Reckless Engagement: Never triggered as I kept Songbird next to him all the time, I considered it basically a pure negative power here as I had no interest in getting in a Gorilla fistfight.
• Flying: Used every time he moved, helped keep him from being swarmed by Gorillas for awhile.
• Damage Taken: Somehow survived quite a few attacks of 6 and ending with one life remaining, Beetle put him out of his misery to kill 2 Gorillas and an OM.

Result: Beetle gives a Bwahaha as he stands alone with full health.

Army Test 1
Map: Sewer Labyrinth (no e-glyph)
Units: OG Thunderbolts: Techno (150), Citizen V (190), Songbird (180), MACH-1 (200), Atlas (270), Meteorite (210)- 1200 total vs Iron Kong: Solovar (260), Gorilla City Warriors x4 (500), Super-Ape (Gorilla) (200), Super-Ape (Orangutan) (170), Iron Man (Mark I) (70)- 1200 total

Spoiler Alert!

Game Summary:

Techno is playing a lot smaller role here, but it was nice for the Bolts to have a bit more options on the attack side of things as they're a somewhat reactive team overall. The defense subtraction basically working as an add-on to Justice Like Lightning was the real draw for him this game, and it helped get his team some Gorilla pelts on two occasions before he was thrown out of position and into irrelevance. Techno didn't see any action after that, but the other Bolts were able to overcome the Apes while he sat in the corner.

Unit Summary:

• Damage Done (Normal Attack): Took down a GCW at one point
• Tech-Pac/B]: I didn't take a lot of actual turns with him but the range and attack options did come up once, the move option helped him get into place quicker and the defense subtraction made for a nice combat trick for the other Bolts to exploit.
  [*]Reckless Engagement: Might have triggered once or twice somewhere in there, never was really something I was trying to set up though.
  [*]Flying: It's flying, so it's certainly useful.
  [*]Damage Taken: Took a wound when Super-Gorilla chucked him out of the battle, the Apes never got a chance to finish him as the rest of the Bolts eventually finished them off.
  

Result:The other Bolts rise to thunderous applause as a Citizen V (2 wounds), Atlas (1 life left), and Techno (1 wound) win the day.

Overall: Techno feels fine to me. He's a little underwhelming in a vacuum as all though he has a lot of options when taking a turn, none of them are really that amazing. In a proper T-Bolts army he can definitely shine though, as he gives Citizen Zemo an in-theme trick to pull with JLL and adds one more layer to the Bolts slew of different powers the other team has to manage.

 

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Re: The Book of Techno (Public Playtesting)

Second test up. I'm liking where the Bolts ended up, they have a lot of powers that layer over each other well and force your opponent to really have to think about how to handle them. Good job with this faction

 

[Ronin]

Re: The Book of Techno (Public Playtesting)

Thanks, Soundwarp!

Proposing we move Techno to Final Editing
@japes - yea
@Arkham - yea
@Tornado - yea
@Yodaking - yea
@johnny139 - yea
@SirGalahad
@Spidey'tilIDie - yea

 

[Tornado]

Re: The Book of Techno (Vote Editing)

Nice work Soundwarp. Really, really awesome to have you as an active playtester!
EDIT: Love the Island Plane Crash map use. Love that map.

 

[Arkham]

Re: The Book of Techno (Vote Editing)

yea