Errata & Crisis Thoughts

 Errata & Crisis Thoughts

I have struggled with thoughts of this blog for most of this month. When I so recently started blogging, I made the typical agreement with myself to produce something, anything, on a weekly basis. I made my last blog, just before “The Errata”, in preparation for my upcoming tournament. Giving me a whole day-ish preparation to relearn how to run Thor. Since then, it has been twenty-one days of me trying to settle my thoughts into speech. The Thanos, Thor, Hellfire errata, and Crisis update to come are too grand in details, that I find myself treading in opinion and discovery. In my private circle, the current conversation is marveling at the new leaf turned by the recent changes. Such simple changes, it seems such a simple idea to speak about it. However, I don’t find any of it simple.

 

Asgard

Though I am wounded by the Thor, Hero of Midgard…adjustment. The other changes feel so revitalizing that I have resolved to take Thor as he is now. Knowing that though, I cannot see the merit of it. The designers are more often right than wrong.
I’ve reoriented the strategy of my Asgard list, which included removing Thor, Hero of Midgard. With the crisis changes to come, his current form makes me uncomfortable. He now struggles to fund his own kit which means the only Asgard leadership that supports his stalled gameplay is The Mighty Thor, as her leadership is free. There is a place under Loki where Thor’s role is to fund Loki’s turn, but Angela does that without trying, is a Threat less, and completes her role with ease rather than at a rasping pace. Angela is even more defensive with her modification negation. Especially in the face of the Zemo/Namor meta chasers.
Overall, my list is shifting closer to midrange attrition. I’ve welcomed Thor, Prince of Asgard and Hela, Queen of Hel. My practice games are fun and without exasperation commentary. Thor, Prince of Asgard’s leadership, should see a resurgence within Asgard, now that he is not overshadowed by his alter ego. My practice games under it so far showcases an Asgard that weathers a lot of punishment, and most inspiringly stagger storms. Mixed with Indomitable to cut some displacement. The Prince of Asgard leadership ability creates a salve for some of the common strategies against Asgard.
I have an infectious idea of running Versatile Strategy. Because Prince of Asgard lacks relevance on Turn 1. Mighty Thor’s Renegade Thor of Asgardia, mixed with Angela, Sif, Valkyrie, and other Turn 1 chargers. Leaping out and smashing in as many Range 2 attacks, while having the defensive re-roll available to cover their exposed positions. Then switching to Prince of Asgard when relevant or necessary. This idea mostly stems from the lack of action Prince of Asgard is needed for Turn 1. Verses Renegade Thor of Asgardia. However, the thought of wasting a Tactic Card for this one-turn trick makes it seem foolish. The upcoming Crisis pool does not have enough options that support that style of opener either.

 

Hellfire

I think Hellfire is going to lose its pariah status. Though, it is awkwardly gaining a mockery for its affiliation list. A mockery that I find hazardous. The leadership ability did not change at all. The option to splash in models has not been negated. The affiliation list is not lacking in quality models. In fact, several are renowned. I go more into this later in remarks about AMG’s apparent design philosophy. Within the affiliation list, there is a slew of options simply requiring creativity and an ounce of dedication. MCP is not a game won in list building but on the tabletop.
Not to be caught with my hand in the cookie jar, but I’ve been brewing a Brotherhood-Hellfire list for a couple of months. (Creatively dubbed the “Brotherhood Club”) The errata has shed the splash-fat from the list but introduced some wish list items, such as Magneto. He was acting counter to my Brotherhood win condition and barely being pushed out by more tactical splash options on the Hellfire side, pre-errata. But now dual affiliated has him in an MVP role. Saving the day against tall lists in Brotherhood and acting as a centerpiece for Hellfire.

 

Black Order

I believe Black Order either sees a renaissance, or shows AMG where more needed adjustments are. It is incredibly interesting to me. An example of a character finding a better balance with the game itself. So that it reveals a deficiency in its most related models. On the surface within Black Order, Thanos has barely changed. The changes; Cosmic Portal and Reality gem. Which only changed slightly but are forcing Black Order to reevaluate their list building strategies. I only played Black Order during year one of the game and abandoned them because of internal turmoil within my gaming group because of our casual scene, and the original character cards being un-hinged. I went as far as selling off all my models, which at the time were my only painted ones. All of this was before the release of Black Swan, Supergiant, and Cosmic Ghost Rider. So, through the errata I became inspired to try a hand of list building them. The mini-game of Gem swapping is more involved than I remembered, reminding me of my friend’s fun dealing in the Horseman of the Apocalypse.
While I think attrition is in a season of martyrdom. Black Order may find success in dedicated players seeking niche crisis combinations and skillful character play. The ability to be unpredictable and dramatic, I believe, is at an all-time high.

 

Errata Conclusion

To me, it seems AMG is interested in models that are expressed skillfully, or dramatically. The latter being the models that are more likely to miss the mark the first pass. By dramatically, I don’t mean that they are inherently over-powered. One of the best examples is Magneto’s terrain throw. The most, hands down, awesome terrain throw in the game. Balanced by its power consumption and a host of game interactions; opposing Tactic Cards, dodge rolls, and collision mechanics. Fueled by a great power builder attack of Reverse Polarity, and respectable Stamina pool. When Magneto is ready to prove his moniker, “Master of Magnetism”, the game blossoms into a slurry of effects. There is nothing skillful about him having power and chaining terrain throws, but by my definition, it is dramatic. By being a 6-Threat Magneto also has skill-based features in his defense dice buffing and Small movement. Both of which require a fair amount of tact and Squad based teamwork. The Thor and Thanos errata’s respectfully, are obviously pushing the characters back into more skillful play patterns. Removing our capacity to make placement errors and have their superpowers bail us out. I agree with AMG’s philosophy, as it creates more dynamic gameplay and a fairer field of play.

 

Crisis Update

I think the Crisis update is nothing more than a brilliant display of AMG’s leadership and wisdom. Their capacity to shed the weight of unbalanced or unfit gameplay is nothing short of well-worn maturity. What has occurred is a move of their power over the game, and on top of it they did it without reaching into our pockets for our money. Allowing the support of digital assets, so that those disinterested in the accompanied model may freely participate without hesitation. What is happening is NOT a Games Workshop rebalance of the model base to promote sales of previously underpowered models to make them relevant and saleable. Instead, I see the reign in of a prominent and escalating win condition that became overly relevant and had mastered specific play patterns. All for the game to remain a game.

Never have a trusted a game, and it is designers more than with AMG. They weave magic into their character design, both physical and mechanical. It is a pleasure and a privilege to participate in their masterpiece, and by proxy with those that choose to participate in it too.

Thank you for participating.

Do Not, Not KO Hulk

 Do Not, Not KO Hulk

Going into my local monthly tournament this weekend, I am reflecting on a regretful situation in my last tournament.

During the third Turn of my second game, Gamma/Skrulls (15). My squad Beta Ray Bill, Thor, Hero of Midgard, Loki, God of Lies. Against Hulk, Namor, Captain America (Steve Rodgers). I successfully debilitated the enemy Hulk down to 8-5 wounds remaining. He had taken the first turn to collect the extract on my left. For which I advanced my Thor immediately from his mirror deployment, and Loki to attrition hulk Turn one, and duel Turn 2. During Turn two Hulk triggered Giants Blood and I retreated Loki into the middle onto a Gamma Secure, to support Bill and shore up points. By the end of Turn two, Thor had pushed Hulk far away from the center but at the edge of Range three where Thor could still attack him from his position. However, instead of remaining there, I paid for Have at The and pulled Thor to the middle.

This is the decision that cost me the game. Without considering it, I allowed my opponent an opportunity to Patch Up Hulk. If Thor had earned another opportunity to activate into Hulk, which was likely, I truly believe he should have KO’d him. But, because of my alleviation of pressure, my opponent pulled Hulk back in. Patch Up Hulk up and cost me several other activations to KO him. Because of those focused activations on the Hulk problem. I could not control Captain America, who was braving the Gamma storm to collect the far-right Extract, which we had both ignored at the start of the game. Who then retreated completely into the corner of the map. Whom, with my taxed activations, I could not reach with my remaining characters Loki and Bill, before my opponent scored his sixteenth point and finished the game.  
To give myself credit where it credit is due. I scored fourteen points, and could have scored fifteen points, if the Skrull Bill collected at the final moment hadn’t pushed him off the Gamma Secure, but I am choosing to ignore the credit of this memory.

The lesson learned in this instance is that if you have an enemy character at the door of Death. Remove them with extreme prejudice. Especially, if that model is Squad defining. I remember distinctly the conversation I had with myself where I concluded I could Throw Thor to the middle and cost Hulk his activation to move back to the middle. I concluded that allowing Hulk to leap and double walk back was enough time wasted for me to “finish him off later”. “Don’t put off to tomorrow, what can be done today.” Within this lesson, there is a statement of lacking expertise on my part. Where I was not making my decision based on the option of Patch Up by my opponent. However, I believe that should have nothing to do with it. I should have made the game three on two. Thor carried a few wounds from Hulk, but regardless, I should have made a fifteen Threat game into fifteen against nine Threat game. All of which isn’t even bringing up the amazing gift that Turn one Captain America attempted to take my Skrull and was pushed toward my Gamma Secure where Bill Advanced and struck with six successes to no defense. Dazing Captain America and dropping a Skrull. Which means besides everything else, I was healthier than my opponent the entire game.

This is the first TTG that I have pursued competitively. MCP is the first game I have ever traveled to more than my local game store to play. I love the game and find myself trapped in the effort to express all parts of the game when I play. Making sure I attack, react, throw, move, trigger, and roll dice. Not capitalizing on my own successes has been an issue while learning to run a Type 4 attrition team. I get confused in places, trying to collect VP instead of setting up my next turns approach. Targeting characters who aren’t threatening and not scoring points. Putting crises into my list based on my ability to score points. Part of these troubles is bad habits ingrained from running my preferred team tempo of Type 3 attrition. However, I know that excelling at this playstyle will make me a better player all around.

One reason I am so hung up on this tournament game, and most games that I have lost recently, is that in hindsight, I can always identify the personal decisions that caused my defeat. Never dice, opponent dice, or opponent tactics. My personal decisive failures, which is clinically a recipe for depression, but not an issue because of the overwhelming affection I have for the game and all my opponents. At worst, demoralizing. But again, the reason I am so hung up by this specific game is that my opponent ended up four and zero as the grand champion of the tournament. Which to me means that I could have beat the leader of the tournament. My final record was two and two. Beating him would elevate me to three and one, creating a four-way tie for first place. Devolving by SOS and VPS. I would not have had the higher SOS, but simply a contender. Far better than my sixth-place finish. Key to this to me is that I, in my own hypothetical interpretation of the board state, should have defeated the lead player. Which begs the question.

Should I be the lead player?

 

Here is my List for my upcoming Tournament
*disclaimer*
Not the list I played with at the tournament referenced in the blog.

Characters (10)
Thor, Hero of Midgard (6)
* Loki, Prince of Lies (5)
* The Mighty Thor (5)
Angela (5)
Beta Ray Bill (4)
Lady Sif (4)
Heimdall, The All-Seeing (3)
Mysterio (3)
Valkyrie (3)
Winter Soldier (3)

Team Tactics (10)
Freyja‘s Blessing
Odin‘s Blessing
Skuttlebutt, on Me!
Joint Effort
Trickster‘s Boon
Giant‘s Blood
The Grand Illusion
Brothers in Arms (R)
Indomitable (R)
Rainbow Bridge

Secure Crisis
Intrusions Open Across City As Seals Collapse (C, 19)
Gamma Wave Sweeps Across Midwest (E, 15)
Demons Downtown! Has Our Comeuppance Come Due? (E, 19)

Extract Crisis
Deadly Legacy Virus Cured? (C, 19)
Fear Grips World As “Worthy“ Terrorize Cities (D, 18)
Alien Ship Crashes In Downtown! (C, 17)

So, You Want to KO Thor, Hero of Midgard

 I wanted to talk about a Hulk situation in my most recent tournament. However, I found this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiDMfwPMS4Y&t=7s) and found I am participating in this conversation consistently as an Asgard Type 4 attrition list carrier. As I talked at my screen throughout the video, I put some of it down into writing.

 So, You Want to KO Hero of Midgard

Today I go through the points in the above video and offer my perspective as an avid Thor, Hero of Midgard player, as well as my thoughts on how others might counter my Thor gameplay.

Odinson’s Ire
A seven dice Energy builder attack with Range three, and two triggering effects. Each Wild result in the roll may damage a different enemy character, one damage, within Range three of the target. A Wild and Hit result allows a Small Push in any direction.
The proposed adjustment is the removal of the Push trigger.
This reduces Thor’s effect on the board state of his opponent. However, the trigger is more of a gift than a certainty. In my games, the only thing I Push is Size four enemies I am hunting or dueling. Likewise, against smaller targets, I’m usually targeting them because of their current position. They are already within Range three of one or more allies, and I am hunting for Wild triggers to spark damage. Not even triggering the Push on the last attack because I am hoping for a double turn of attacks on the same target once they are Injured and attackable again. 

I Would Have Words With The
The video doesn’t properly address I Would Have Words With The.
Proposed Counter
Be Range four away. This is the best position to be in if this attack is what you are avoiding. This position requires a Move action, self-Throw, or ally reposition, which is all expensive and inefficient for your opponent. After that, there is little hope, other than that all of Thor’s other abilities are more useful. Until everyone gets better at negating the usefulness of Have At The, his spender isn’t as viable as it might seem. In fact, this is the ability that I believe could be the target of a nerf, by increasing its power cost to five. I believe the community will get better at dealing with Thor as we all did for Hulk, Cosmic Ghost Rider, Apocalypse, and others. At which point I believe this ten-dice spender with Place and Throw is cheap.

Have At The
A self-Throw of Size four and Medium distance for three Power.
The proposed adjustment is to reduce Thor’s size to Two.
It seems to be that self-Throws cost equal to the size of the characters. Therefore, if this is the rebalanced, it is self-evident that the cost of the ability would also decrease. Making it cheaper and more efficient as movement than it is already. Not to mention available Turn one.
One of the constant thoughts while running Thor is whether he is in the correct position or not. Reducing the cost of his reposition superpower will reduce the chances of mistakes made by the user. If the cost is not reduced, it becomes an inefficient ability and the last anyone will use. Instead, using I Would Have Words With The to reposition and cut more damage into the opponent. A Place also being more efficient than a Throw will allow greater access to throwable Terrain.
Reduce the distance to Short.
This reduces the effectiveness of the superpower as a repositioning tool. Truthfully, I frequently use Have at The as a bump into opponents at Range one when I’ve run out of Actions and didn’t finish a target. Because of this common habit the proposed change seems ineffectual.
Proposed Counter;
Terrain will always stop characters being thrown. The scenario in which you have your character on top of a terrain piece and Thor, with six Power, first throws it into you and then throws himself is valid. However, the tournaments I have been participating in are keen to include barely Size one terrain pieces like garbage cans and barricades throughout the board. All terrain negates the range and angle of collisions from Have At The or Poune or other self-Throw to come. The Thor player sees the board from the perspective of Where-Thor-Can-Go and Where-Thor-Cannot-Go. As the opposing player, you must adopt a similar perspective or be rendered ignorant. We place our models with the trigger Range of abilities frequently. This should be no different. The argument against may be that the Thor player could just Place off his spender or Move action. I say that if you can force them into decisions, then you can predict their decision, and that is the opposite of ignorance.

The Power of Thor
A Terrain within Range two, Medium distance Throw superpower for three Power.
Proposed Counter;
I have no idea other than other Terrain as cover. If anyone can show me how to avoid Terrain throwers from throwing terrain in my face, please tell me. Though, it makes me comfortable in some ways that there are sacred things with the game. This being an example. Characters who Throw Terrain will hit you with said Terrain unless you hit them first.

I Say The Nay Villian
A reactive superpower to being the target of an attack for three Power. Where you roll seven dice, dealing damage to your attacker for each Crit and Wild result in the roll.
Proposed Complications
The issue is put forward that this ability dissuades the aggregation of small hit point models. Which I agree with. That is an active thought when diving into certain positions. However, don’t forget the relevance of cost and effectiveness. Thor cannot generate enough power by himself to fuel I Say The Nay Villian into every enemy character and then operate his Throws. It often comes down to one or the other. If I spend every enemy turn triggering, I Say The Nay Villian, I likely start his activation with zero Power.
The comment about Grunts in general not being able to go into Thor is a little exaggerated. If I were fighting Thor with any Grunt character with Range four attacks. They would be on Thor duty the whole game, because it has a Range limit of three and he has no reactive movement. I Say The Nay Villian is a Power drain for Thor and do not let him make you think differently.
Proposed Counter
A list of mantras; Remember, I Say The Nay Villian is a once per turn ability. Remember, Thor must be Range three from the target. Remember, it is three Power to use. Remember, Thor cannot be dazed or KO’d and use the ability. Remember, it will average two to three damage, which is ineffectual and a power gain for Thor’s opponent on their turn. Remember, it will average two to three damage, if I only have one to two Stamina left, DO NOT ATTACK THOR. I have killed many models with three to one stamina remaining because I defended myself and already had three Power on Thor. Just choose another character with four or more Stamina left. Remember, a good Thor player may be using your damage into him to fund his Activation. Attacking an un-activated Thor may prove to cause less I Say The Nay Villian triggers.

 

Thor is not meta defining nor the only effective six threat splash character. He doesn’t have any Tactic Cards that aren’t affiliated or dependent on an additional character. He is dice dependent, and the only direct damage he is capable of is the Wild trigger on Odinson’s Ire. Everyone is splashing him because no one knows what to do about him. Like most six threats before him, he is scary and difficult to understand. His weaknesses are not simple and on his card. They are in his player and board state. Often my terrible Thor games are bad dice, or bad positioning/terrain. I spent an entire game with Thor behind a Size five piece of Terrain being displaced, because I refused to move him past it with a Move action. Trying instead to throw myself back into a fight I kept being pushed back from. Doing less than two damage with two Odinson’s Ire attacks in a turn is the worst thing Thor can do on his turn. It is the only place where he gains power outside his Stamina pool and without three or more power, he only has one option on his card.
The community has strategies for the other six Threat models. Ignore and endure, displace, or focus and destroy. Thor is no different. Hulk, Thanos, Cosmic Ghost Rider, Apocalypse. Most of the six Threat library are abusive, Power efficient, and extremely tactical on the table. Additionally, it may not be Thor’s abilities and attacks that are his strongest asset, but his Stamina. He and Thanos have the highest health of six threats that are not a hulk or a gimmick. She and He-Hulk are both 20 health and cannot daze. Hulkbuster is 13 and 5 Stamina for 18, always Healthy, but Iron Man (Hulkbuster) is significantly limited by comparison to his outer shell. Thor is 9 and 8, and Thanos is 8 and 9. The current bemusement toward Thor seems familiar to the long-standing commentary on Thanos. The difference being that they have an opposite board presence and power set. Sharing only a maximum Stamina total.
Regardless, I hope that Thor continues to scrap and annoy the community long enough that both Dracula and a possible six Threat Black Bolt fly under the radar for as long as possible.

My final advice is;
Embrace change. Learn a lot. Play well.

See you at the Table.

-Bedrig

Thoughts on Angela

 Thoughts on Angela

I competed for the second time in my local MCP tournament with my Asgard affiliate list. For my second game, I finally found the opportunity to field Angela against X-force re-rolls. The match up was Loki, Prince of Lies leading; Angela, The Mighty Thor, and Beta Ray Bill. Against Cable leading; Domino, Bishop, Psylocke, and Warlock. I hard locked Angela from the beginning of my squad building because I knew I needed to see whether she truly managed re-roll teams well.

Angela started the game with a move and attack action on the enemy Psylocke, who claimed the Alien Core on my right-side. She missed the daze Turn 1, but with priority Turn 2. I turned Angela’s mid-turn 1 activation into a double turn on Psylocke, dazing her by the second attack action and allowing her to Angelic Assassin into Cable. He defended out of it, which I was slightly relieved as it kept power off of him so early in the turn, and it allowed me to set her base on some terrain to gain cover from Bishop. Before Turn 3 Angela got said terrain thrown into her by Cable. This loaded her with some damage that helped get her dazed early in the next turn. Regardless, she took her next turn to attack three times. Double attacking Cable, dazing him, advancing to cheap shot Warlock, and placing to threaten Domino, who was harassing Loki all the way on the other side of the centerline. After that opening, Beta takes the brunt of the enemies’ attention and dazes. Eventually KO’d on the center secure mid next turn without activating. Early Turn 3 Angela dazes without activating, but Domino never moves. Angela Turn 4 dazes Domino and Angelic Assassin to deal out Cable. Bishop ends up clearing her with good dice, and I finish the game with Mighty Thor and Loki, both Healthy but battered end of Turn 4 against Warlock and Domino. Turn 5, I KO Domino and left Warlock with one wound remaining, which the Alien Core he held flared for damage KO’ing him.

Throughout the game, I made sure Angela was a prime target for my opponent. They focused on Beta early, exposed distinctly placed on the center Demon secure objective. He soaked a lot of damage and scored twice on the point. Him KO’ing also allowed me to maintain priority control. As a side note, I missed several Honorbound triggers that could have set Beta up to have a more offensive presence, but regardless, his defensive game helped win the game.
Angela’s dive into the enemy back lines created a load of collateral damage and Angelic Assassin triggers. I did a great job of placing from one side of the board to the other with Xiphos, the only move action I made with her being the initial move action off the deployment line Turn 1. Her modification negation caused a lot of chagrin from my opponent but because of her exposed positioning, in the end didn’t keep that much damage from her. I made her a target, and that is why she was KO’d before the end of the game. To that point, it is the most satisfied I’ve ever been of her KO’ing. She became the hammer and nail in their side. She never used an attack other than Xiphos, threw at least three pieces of terrain, and triggered Angelic Assassin three times.

In a macro sense, I won the game by early possession of extracts and the denial of the center objective space with Mighty Thor and Beta’s Throws, and Loki’s displacements. Along with a steady supply of chunk damage to keep Angelic Assassin triggers primed, Angela put a tremendous amount of pressure on my opponent to the point that when she dazed, the rest of my team leaned forward and smothered my opponent. All of which was feeding into one another from I Come Bearing Gifts, as Angela was flush with power and re-rolled whenever available. Which fueled Loki into multiple Clever Ploys.
I actually surprised myself at the beginning of Turn 4 after Bill and Angela were gone and appreciated that Loki and Mighty Thor were both healthy and only had two wounds between the two of them.
It is worth mentioning that against pay to re-roll teams/characters, Angela forces them to keep their pocket change in their pockets for later use. I definitely felt this on enemy character injured turns when they were flush with power.

Dice are a huge crutch for Angela, but if they are fair. She has quite wonderful games, without or without targeting re-roll teams/characters. However, in this instance, I truly think Angela is an affiliated tool for Asgard against such teams/characters. She becomes a 5 Threat sacrifice to your opponent, who must deal with her 4/4/4 defense and no modification. If it takes multiple characters to defeat her while she is defeating multiple characters alone. That is easy mathematics for me. Her ability to adjust her position so readily to find choice targets like Extract carriers or support characters that are more than likely within range of their allies who Angela can attack to get to. My favorite being enemy characters that are one to two wounds from dazing or KO. Which Angela, with or without quality dice, can usually squeeze out. Especially with Loki’s leadership. Which generates an Angelic Assassin trigger which results in more dice throwing.
Angela fails to dice rolls because her kit directly establishes the law of averages onto the table. She has the potential to throw twelve to eighteen dice a turn minimum before Angelic Assassin or Cleave. On those special turns she does Angelic Assassin if you only used Xiphos to attack. She has probably moved around Range 5 worth, and all for two Power.

Two Power for eighteen dice rolls and at least Range 5 worth of movement.

 

Army of Asgard

Characters (10)
Thor, Hero of Midgard (6)
* Loki, Prince of Lies (5)
Angela (5)
* The Mighty Thor (5)
Beta Ray Bill (4)
Lady Sif (4)
Enchantress (4)
Heimdall, The All-Seeing (3)
Mysterio (3)
Valkyrie (3)

Team Tactics (10)
Freyja‘s Blessing
Odin‘s Blessing
Rainbow Bridge
Trickster‘s Boon
Skuttlebutt, on Me!
Giant‘s Blood
The Grand Illusion
Brace for Impact (R)
Brothers in Arms (R)
Joint Effort

Secure Crisis
Intrusions Open Across City As Seals Collapse (C, 19)
Gamma Wave Sweeps Across Midwest (E, 15)
S.W.O.R.D. Establishes Base on Moon‘s Blue Area (G, 15)

Extract Crisis
Deadly Legacy Virus Cured? (C, 19)
Fear Grips World As “Worthy“ Terrorize Cities (D, 18)
Alien Ship Crashes In Downtown! (C, 17)