So, in addition to the two Environments for the Vengeance expansion, the >G guys have also posted the write-ups for the Vengeful Five, which include an update to Baron Blade.
In the write-up, it seems that he's been able to (at least partially/temporarily) create a serum that provides him strength, endurance, and power on the level of his nemesis, Legacy.
So, gang--what are the implications for the rest of the Sentinels world going forward? Is this serum what drives Blade mad, causing him to kill Pauline? Or is it what finally allows him to best Legacy himself? How is that serum (and its exhaustion aftereffect) going to be represented mechanically?
It's frustrating that the first I heard about this important and interesting change to the SotM site is from this forum post. This kind of thing should have been sent to the mailing list immediately.
I've known about Vengeance since the Timelines Kickstarter, but looking at the Multiverse listing it, man. Vengeance just got real. How Appropriate that it snowed today.
I'm thinking, mechanically, it will either deal damage to him, or prevent him from playing cards. How will it wear off though? Are we going to be able to destroy it or will it leave play after a certain trigger comes out? It'd be interesting if it was destroyed after the Baron dealt X damage or something like that (a reverse of omnitron)
One nitpick I have with this news - it's really annoying to have two villain decks that are both officially and exclusively named "Baron Blade". The new one really ought to have been named "Vengeful Blade" or "Ex-Baron Blade" or something, just for distinctiveness. I will be pretending this is actually the case, but it'll be a nuisance to have the cards sitting there with the duplicate name on them.
The new Baron's picture is labelled 'Vengeance Baron Blade' so, while it is rather silly to have two people labelled Baron Blade, perhaps in the game at least they shall be different.
Not that I've seen, but I could be wrong. Honestly, the only place I've seen that title used is Board Game Geek. I've always heard it as Mad Bomber Blade or Bomber Blade, but I don't know what the official title is.
Yeah I went back through the Rook City and Infernal Relics Kickstarter posts that talk about it, and they all just say Alternate Baron Blade, Cosmitron gets that official title, but Baron Blade doesn't get one.
So Officially we have Baron Blade, Alternate Baron Blade, and Vengeance Baron Blade.
Interestingly Alternate Baron Blade is Blade's first attempt at Vengeance, and Vengeance Baron Blade is the first villain with Alternating turns. Somehow confusion must occur!
Baron Blade has always been my favorite among all the Villains. His difficulty level spans a beautiful range, from teaching levels to just enough of a challenge to keep him interesting. Notably, he hasn't reached the "ASDFGH *table flip*" levels associated with the hardest villains (up to today, I am still hesitant to pull out Matty or The Chairman if I want to have a simple good time.), which is perfect by me. He also has the best thematic-mechanic correlation of them all in my opinion, so now I am mega-excited for the new Baron Blade! Powers? Yes please!
Also, I am very much amused that Baron Blade uses letters as a primary means of communication with other baddies. You'd think that a scientifically, technologically gifted genius would be able to work facebook or email or something, but pen and paper was the way to go. Classy, is what it is. But can you imagine the mailman's face?
Well he's fine delivering to Ermine, since she just steals the letter out of his bag. Of course, he then has to explain to his bosses how he lost several expensive parcels he was supposed to be delivering...