The G.I. Joe Project

[Yodaking]

I've decided to begin working on my own personal G.I. Joe Heroscape custom project (based on the 80's Marvel comic book line and 80's cartoon). With no official minis available for the many distinct characters from the G.I. Joe universe I know that almost every mini will require some form of customization. Since painting, sculpting, and cannibalizing minis is not for everyone I don't really expect this project to ever grow in popularity on par with many of the other custom projects.

Which is why my intent is just to keep this more of an individual project featuring just the figures I create the minis for. That being said, I also know that a collaborative effort will generate a better finished product and so anyone interested in commenting, contributing, questioning, suggesting, testing, polishing, improving on aspects of this project should feel welcome to do so. And of course all the designs and figure ideas that come out of this project will be posted here for anyone in the community to use and hopefully enjoy. This first post is where I will keep the links to all finished cards as they become available.

Release Schedule - Subject to change.
Reward Points - How you earn and spend points as a project contributor.
Contributors - List of active contributors linked to their current point totals.


Completed Cards:

Cobra Troopers (50 points)
http://www.heroscapers.com/community/showpost.php?p=1888325&postcount=19

 

[Yodaking]

I'm going to save this second post to list the links for all figures/cards I am currently working on but have not yet finalized. Since I will keep all my design ideas and all the minis I create in this one thread, it could get difficult to find stuff so the links below will direct anyone interested to the most recent draft for a figures card.

I've decided to aim for this project to be C3G compatible. Since I don't know what is coming down the pipeline over at the C3G project, and they have no reason to be concerned about what I am doing here, their may at one point be some synergy created that could be overpowering but I will try to avoid any overpowering synergy combos based on the current slate of C3G cards. Here is the list of C3G units that I think compare favorably with the skills/stats/abilities/powers of the Joes & Cobra forces, as such I will try to use them as a guide for determining the relative power level of each figure & unit while still trying to stay within the parameters I have outlined for this project.

With so many different characters over the years I know I won't make them all. So here are the ones I am most interested in getting a card made for. Not all of them will have a good mini option so I just listed them all for now. Let me know if you have any mini ideas (painted or unpainted) for figures that do not currently have a mini linked.

Wiki list

G.I. Joe Team:

Beach Head - (mini)
Gung-Ho - (mini)
Junkyard - Mini Idea
Mutt - Mini Idea
Road Block - (mini)
Snake Eyes - (mini)
Timber - Mini Idea
Stalker - (mini)

Quick Kick - Mini Idea - New Mini Idea
Jinx - Mini idea
Scarlet - Mini Idea - New Mini Idea - Idea #3 - Another Mini Idea
Storm Shadow w/bow
Spirit Iron Knife w/eagle
Ripcord - Mini Idea

Sgt. Slaughter - Mini Idea
Tunnel Rat
Recondo - Mini Idea
Low Light - Mini Idea, Alternate Mini Idea
Snowjob - Mini Idea
Dusty

Wet-Suit
Duke - Mini Idea - Mini Idea #2
Lady Jaye
Flint - Mini Idea
Rock & Roll
Zap
Tripwire
Wild Bill?

Cobra Forces:

Baroness - (mini)
Cobra Commander w/hood - (mini)
Cobra Troopers - (minis)
Destro - (mini)
Firefly - (no mini yet)
Major Blood - Mini Idea
Serpentor - (mini)
Storm Shadow w/two swords - (mini)

Wild Weasel - Mini Idea
Fang Helicopter
B.A.T.S. - Mini Idea
Tomax
Xamot
Crimson Guardsmen - Mini Idea

Zartan
Buzzer
Ripper
Torch
Monkeywrench - Mini Idea
Zanzibar - Mini Idea

Dr. Mindbender - Mini Idea, mini idea #2
Raptor - Mini Idea
Cobra Vipers - Mini Idea
Cobra Commander in Battle Suit
Cobra Eels - Mini Idea
Croc Master
Zartana

Independent Units:
M.A.R.S. Guards (Unique Squad of 3) - minis (unpainted) - Comic Art

 

[Yodaking]

This post is no longer relevant since I switched direction to make this project C3G compatible. Instead as I complete designs I'll use this post for keeping track of them.

 

[Yodaking]

With all those disclaimers now out of the way I'll start posting some of the guidelines I have developed to help me avoid power cheap with my favorite characters and maintain game balance. That is not to say there won't be a few outliers where a figures given stat does not match up perfectly with what I have listed below. I may also amend or adjust these guideline as I move further along with the project if I feel a change is needed.

Life:
1, common heroes, squads
2-3, uncommon heroes, non-combat or weak unique heroes, animals
4, base humans, tough uncommon heroes
5, tough unique heroes, level 1 leaders
6, vehicles
Move:
4, slow or heavily armored figures,
5, base move for an athletic figure
6, quick human figures
7, animal speed (dogs, birds, etc.)
8, vehicle speed (motorcycles)
Range:
1, Melee Weapons
2, Bull Whip
3, Throwing Knife/Stars, Shotgun (scatter shot), Flame Thrower
4, Pistol, Crossbow, Shotgun (slug), Grenade Toss
5, Sub Machine Gun (full auto/Uzi), Grenade Launcher
6, Bow & Arrow, Heavy Machine Gun
7, Assault Rifle (full auto/M16)
8, Rifle (semi-automatic)
9, Rockets
10, Sniper Rifle (Bolt Action w/scope)
Attack:
1, Minor Threat Level
2, Thrown Blades/Darts, Base Skill Firearms, Weaponless Melee Attack
3, Advanced Skill Firearms, Basic Skill Melee Weapons, Bow/Crossbow, Scattershot
4, Grenade Level Explosives, Firearms Expert, Fire, Close Combat Expert
5, Rocket Level Explosives, Heavy Machine Guns (M60), Shotgun Slugs, Advanced/Strong Melee Attack
6, Advanced Weapon Systems, Mega Bombs
Defense:
1, Completely Defenseless
2, Limited Combat Agility, No Armor
3, Base Combat Agility, Light Armor
4, Advanced Combat Agility, Medium Armor
5, Exceptional Combat Agility, Advanced Armor
6, Armor Plating on a Tank

I also developed a couple of other guides for dealing with certain aspects of the overall project. I've adjusted the interpretation of Classic Heroscapes view on a few weapon systems to better reflect reality.

Area of Effect Weapons:
Scattershot/Shotgun, 1 adj. hex – your choice
Flame Thrower, 2 adj. hexes – your choice
Explosion, all adj. hexes – no choice

In my quest to enhance the game play of 1 attack heroes, I have also introduced a hard cap on squad sizes. In addition to keeping the size of squads in check I intend for squad/hero bonding interaction to originate on the Heroes card rather then be a special power on the squads card. That way instead of safely putting an OM on the squads card and being able to bond with any one of 3 heroes in your army, you will have to risk the on a Heroes card and then only have the option to bond that specific hero with the squad. It also means that one of the special powers on a bonding hero card will be the bonding power and not something else. So the more unique special powers a hero has, the less likely that hero also gets to bond with a squad on top of all their cool powers.

Squad Sizes:
Common Squad, Range 5+ = 2 figures
Common Squad, Range 1-4 = 3 figures
Unique Squad, Range 5+ = 3 figures
Unique Squad, Range 1-4 = 4 figures

 

[Yodaking]

*edit* After drawing up some more rough drafts I'm starting to think this is not ready yet after all. I'm ending up with too many figures all in the same price range and the system seems to be low balling heroes I would expect to be 120+ points. So I'm going to need to tweak it some more.

I've also been developing a point scoring system to help me establish a starting point total from which to test the designs. It is by no means a fool proof system that will replace the need for testing, but after experimenting and tweaking it a few times now I'm pretty happy with the results. It also only gives a fair, consistent, and balanced view of a units core stats. Evaluating the special powers on the card is a bit more tricky but it can also help evaluating the relative strength of Special Attacks. I used this system to score a couple of classic scape Unique Heroes and Unique Squads though and it was surprisingly accurate. I did not check every hero & squad though so I expect there are many that would not score out well, in particular I know if the 200+ heroes in classic scape will generate an accurate score as I only tested it out on lower point heroes. Which is why I might continue to tweak and adjust this system going forward.

Point Value Guideline

Base Hero: 25
Base Unique Squad: 30
Base Common Squad: 40

Life Total (# of Figures x Life):
1 (-5 points)
2 (0 points = Baseline)
3 (+5 points)
4 (+10 points)
5 (+15 points)
6 (+20 points)
Move (+ ½ per each additional figure, no additional - points for extra figures):
4 (-5 points)
5 (0 points = Baseline)
6 (+5 points)
7 (+10 points)
8 (+15 points)
Range (+ ½ per each additional figure, no additional - points for extra figures):
1-2, (-5 points)
3-4, (0 points = Baseline)
5-6, (+5 points)
7-8, (+10 points)
9-10, (+20 points)
Attack (+ ½ per each additional figure):
1 (-5 points)
2 (0 points = Baseline)
3 (+5 points)
4 (+10 points)
5 (+20 points)
6 (+40 points)
7 (+60 points)
Defense (flat rate):
1 (-20 points)
2 (-10 points)
3 (0 points = Baseline)
4 (+5 points)
5 (+10 points)
6 (+15 points)
7 (+25 points)
8 (+35 points)
9 (+50 points)

Examples
Johnny 'Shotgun' Sullivan (Hero: 25 points)
Life 5 (+15 points)
Move 5 (Baseline = 0 points)
Range 7 (+10 points)
Attack 2 (Baseline = 0 points)
Defense 2 (-10 points)

Shotgun SA W/range 5 (+5 points) & att 3 (+5 points) Large AoE (+15 points) (total: +25 points for this SA)

25+15+10-10+25 = 65 points

Add Whip 12 (+10 points) = 75 points/James Murphy

Zettian Guards (2 figure Unique Squad = 30 points)
Life 1 *2 (Baseline = 0 points)
Move 4 (-5 points)
Range 7 (+10 points 1 figure, +5 points second figure)
Attack 2 (Baseline = 0 points)
Defense 7 (+25 points)

Zettian Targeting, gives 1 figure a base 3 attack (+5 points)

30-5+10+5+25+5 = 70 points

 

[Yodaking]

Now if you actually read through all that, or even if you just skimmed it wondering where the figures are, here is a teaser. I started working on my custom Destro figure this week and that ended up expanding out to several other Cobra units. They are not quite finished yet but are getting close to stay tuned and I'll have some minis with first drafts for their cards out soon. I just wanted to get this thread started up and list all the info I had compiled for this project.

 

[Yodaking]

I also wanted to give a shout out to CobraVigon and his Custom G.I. Joe thread. He has some great mini ideas being generated over there, of which I will be borrowing several.

Also just wanted to make a general request for G.I. Joe & Cobra mini ideas. If you spotted an appropriately sized mini somewhere, painted or unpainted, and think it would be a good option for me please do share. I do have ideas for several of the characters already in mind but there are many more that I am still trying to decide on or have no ideas for at all yet.

 

[Yodaking]

I finished up work on some Cobra minis this week.

I'll give each unit its own thread for linking purposes.

 

[Yodaking]

First up is Destro as he was the motivator for everything else. I picked up this Red Hood figure from the Teen Titans line and he just looked like a Destro mini to me.

I thought about leaving the sword on and painting his mask gold for the later Iron Grenadiers version but really wanted the earlier silver mask version. This is the picture I used as a guide for the project:

I cut off the sword then added gloves/gauntlets, the necklace, and the collar. I also made some mini rockets & grenades for his gauntlets, leaving them separate for painting purposes.

Added paint & changed the base up:

Here is a back side view so you can better see how the grenades & mini rockets turned out.

 

[Yodaking]

I had some green stuff left over so I grabbed my Human Bomb figure and got to work on Cobra Commander.

Filled in the two holes he has in his hood and turned the single long eye slit into two eye holes. Then I added the rope around his right arm as seen here:

Then painting and changing the base results in this:

 

[Yodaking]

The Baroness was real easy to do, no modding at all just a new paint job for the Victoria Hand figure and a new base.

 

[Yodaking]

I still had a bunch of green stuff left over so I grabbed 2 extra sets of Airborne Elite that I had and gave them all masks. I'm still working on painting the second set of figures but here is the first set.

 

[fret_gurglo]

WOW. Those mods look great. I love that Destro and I will have to try to duplicate what you have done, although I doubt I will be able to do that good of a job. I look forward to seeing the cards that match the figures.

 

[Spidey'tilIDie]

I think the head and torso are perfect for Cobra Commander, but I'm surprised that no one has thought to replace the legs yet. Then he could go from wearing a long coat to simply wearing a shirt/jacket very similar to the one he normally wears.

Great job on the others! That is an AMAZING Destro mod!

 

[Yodaking]

I did have that same fleeting thought earlier. He really would be even better with pants. I just did not want to cut the body in half and then find out I could not get the legs to match properly. I guess some green stuff would make it work.

 

[Yodaking]

I've had these designs drawn up for a little while but wanted to wait until the minis were finished before posting them. Then as I neared the finish line for the minis in question, I started charting out more figures and started to think I needed to reevaluate my stats guidelines. All the Joes are members of the most elite or military units: Navy SEALs, Rangers, Delta Force, Marine Recon, etc. Then on top of it they were the best of the best, which is why they were recruited into the Joes from these different branches and represent the very best specialists of their fields with access to the best equipment available (circa ~1984).

So I'm thinking their stats need a bump up such that they all fall more into the 110-160 range, Drake is 170 after all. AE are 110, my favorite Samurai is 120. Too many of my designs were coming in under 100. So I'll post what I have for now but know that I'm pretty certain that I'll be bumping up all the hero attack & defense numbers up by 1, as well as some of the life totals up by 1. I'm really happy with my range guidelines though.

Anyway, here are my initial design ideas. I'll give each one it's own post for linking purposes. Let me know what you guys think of the power sets and any wording help you can offer will be much appreciated.

 

[Yodaking]

Destro
James McCullen Destro XXIV (Silver Mask)

Human
UH
Laird
Honorable
Medium 5

Points: 180

Life 5 (Level 1 Leader)
Move 5 (Athletic)
Range 4 (Pistol)
Attack 4 (Semi-Auto Expert)
Defense 5 (Advanced Body Armor)

COBRA LEADERSHIP
After revealing an Order Marker on this card, instead of moving Destro you may take a turn with any Terrorist or Criminal squad you control. All figures activated by this power must start their move within 6 spaces of Destro.

ARMS DEALER
At the start of the game, choose the card of one unique human or clone hero you control with a range of 4 or less. As long as that card does not have the Super Strength Special Power, add 3 to that cards range. This effect does not end when Destro leaves the game.

ARMOR PIERCING WRIST ROCKET SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 3, Attack 4
You may only use this attack once per round. The defending figure rolls 1 fewer defense die for each skull rolled on this attack.

Synergy
Synergy List for Arms Dealer (C3G)
Synergy List for Arms Dealer (GIJoe)

Synergy List for Cobra Leadership

Testing
Initial Play Test
Team Test 1 w/Baroness @120, Destro @180 - Team Lost
Team Test 2 @180 - Team Lost

 

[Yodaking]

Cobra Commander
(Hooded Figure)

Human
UH
Commander
Fanatical
Medium 5

Points: 190?

Life 5 (Leader)
Move 6 (Quick to flee, minimal equipment slowing him down)
Range 4 (Pistol)
Attack 3 (Advanced Skill Firearms)
Defense 4 (Medium Armor)

SAVE ME!
When an opponent's non-adjacent figure targets Cobra Commander with a normal attack, instead of rolling defense dice, you may choose a friendly figure adjacent to Cobra Commander. The chosen figure must roll defense dice and take any damage instead of Cobra Commander.

COBRA LEADERSHIP
After revealing an Order Marker on this card, instead of moving Cobra Commander you may take a turn with any Terrorist or Criminal squad you control. All figures activated by this power must start their move within 6 spaces of Cobra Commander.

COMMAND AND CONQUER
After revealing an Order Marker on this card, instead of attacking with Cobra Commander you may take a turn with any Mercenary or Terrorist hero you control.

Synergy
Synergy List for Command and Conquer (C3G)
Synergy List for Command and Conquer (GIJoe)

Synergy List for Cobra Leadership

 

[Yodaking]

Cobra Troopers

Human
CS (2 figures)
Terrorists
Fanatical
Medium 5

Points: 50

Life 1 (Squad)
Move 5 (Athletic)
Range 8 (Semi-Auto Rifle)
Attack 2 (Base Skill Firearms)
Defense 3 (Combat Agility/Light Armor)

SUSTAINED FIRE
When attacking, if your second Cobra Trooper attacks the same figure as the first Cobra Trooper, add one attack die to the second Cobra Trooper's attack.

Initial Play Test
Additional Tests here
More Tests here (Squad Test 2, Army Test 2)

 

[Yodaking]

The Baroness
Anastasia DeCobray

Human
UH
Spy
Radical
Medium 5

Points: 110

Life 4 (Base Human)
Move 5 (Athletic)
Range 8 (Rifle)
Attack 3 (Advanced Skill Firearms)
Defense 4 (Medium Armor)

COBRA LEADERSHIP
After revealing an Order Marker on this card, instead of moving Baroness you may take a turn with any Terrorist or Criminal squad you control. All figures activated by this power must start their move within 6 spaces of Baroness.

COUNTERINTELLIGENCE
Once per round, before taking a turn with Baroness, you may choose an Order Marker on an opponent's Army Card. That opponent must reveal that Order Marker to you. If it is an 'X' Order Marker you may either remove that 'X' Order Marker or you may move one other Hero you control up to 4 spaces.

Initial Test - Lost both Team tests @120
Team Test 2 vs. Gung-Ho @120 points - Team Lost
Team Test 2 vs. Roadblock @110 points - Team Won!
Team Test 2 vs. Stalker/Roadblock/Gung-Ho @110 points - Team Lost
Team Test 2 vs. Snake Eyes @110 points - Team Lost

Synergy
Synergy List for Cobra Leadership

Strategy
Figures with powers that use the X OM

 

[Tornado]

Looking forward to what your designs.
I think the fact that your designs came in under 100 shows you were using some restraint, which is a great thing.

Sweet customs. Your use of AE has got me inspired to work on Rouge Trooper.
"And now you know."
"And knowing is half the battle."
'GI Joe'

EDIT: Snake-eyes'd

Great designs. Cobra Commander can control 2 squads per round, that is awesome. I like how the you re-used the concept of the Zetian but made them common(exactly what they should have been in classic).

On the Baroness, should there be a negative to guessing round. Even if you guess wrong you are wiping out an OM(really powerful). I was thinking that if you guessed wrong and it was a numbered OM, that figure could take a turn. Very cool. Tell me you are working on M.A.S.K. next.

 

[Yodaking]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. You think they should be sub-100 units then? I was starting to question that. No M.A.S.K. plans as I have my hands full just finding and modding all the minis for G.I. Joe and I don't know their story as well. If you start working on one I'll be sure to try and help where I can though.

On the Baroness, the idea was that if you guessed wrong the figure keeps that marker you just know where that number OM is located. It is her spy skills being used to uncover some intelligence (the revealing of an OM) and then her counter intelligence skills to foil (removing the OM when correctly guessed) those plans. I can see where that is not clear so I'll give the wording some more thought.

As long as you do not reveal the X as part of a power her odds are 25%, 33%, & 50% depending on what part of the round it is used. If you do reveal the X as part of a power though, then she would have a 100% chance when you only have OM3 left. Disengage allows her get close to the figure with the marker on it's card too. Pretty sweet counter to some units. I just need to work out the wording bugs.

On the Cobra Commander bonding, and bonding in general for this project, I really like the idea of making the bonding come at a cost. Either giving up the figures movement or attack phase. So if he does not move or attack, he can bond twice which makes him a very effective command and control figure. If he moves up to get his aura power in play though, he loses one of those two bonding options. As long as I stick to my squad size layout I don't think it will be a problem keeping it under control either. It would max out at 5 different ranged attacks per round (1 CS & 1 US).

 

[Tornado]

I think your thoughts for points is dead on. Joes are the best of the best so they should have higher points.
However the bad guys are a different case. They can win with quantity over quality. Playtesting will tell the tale in the end.

I understand Baroness now. That is a great mechanic.

 

[Yodaking]

Interesting take, keeping Cobra lower while the Joes are higher. Kind of makes sense as I think 1 on 1 most of the Joes would take down most of the Cobra heroes. They just have the numbers from generic troops keeping them in the fight.

 

[Yodaking]

I was thinking that perhaps since I play mostly C3G now, that I should gear their power level to line up more with them while still not trying to be officially linked to C3G. Black Widow is 170, Hawkeye is 150, Mocking Bird is 130, etc. Then I can have the Joes take on Zemo and some human mercs, face down Hyrda forces, or encounter the Hand ninja while S.H.E.I.L.D. can go after Cobra.