Side topic for player discussion, commentary, etc. for the SCUverse Game 2.
Opted to put this up so that we can discuss developments, strategy, etc. without cluttering up the main thread. And, within reason, I figure that non-players can comment here as well if they have a question or comment.
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Initial thoughts:
1) Unsure how the challenge will unfold from here. The dinos will come out for certain. Secondary question is how the villain deck develops. I suspect it might just be hostile birds (sort of like a secondary environment deck) until a certain point - and then the Mask is found and the main villain appears and the game proceeds like normal from there.
2) Given the "draw two, play one" mod this makes the villain deck very capable of switching gears back and forth in terms of how many fowl come out in a row, or switching to short bursts and one-shots. And the cohorts (and their DR) will probably be out quickly as well.
3) Strategy -
a. We might get an opportunity to set up a bit before everything hits. Downside, is that this is a bit like Miss Information in that we also don't get a chance to hit the villain for a while either. Bunker, Wraith, and AZ benefit since equipment destruction is not prevalent - couple of Environment cards and a possible way to avoid retaliation damage for killing fowl. Though we have to be ready to take down Pterdactyl thieves quick since they'll take *all* the equipment.
b. Once things get rolling it's a target-rich environment. Matriarch retaliation (and Carrion Fields to a lesser extent) are going to be something to watch for. DR helps, but not everyone has it. So I think the main counter is having cards in hand to negate or reduce Matriarch's ability to deal damage - that would be Tachyon's Hypersonic Assault, Wraith's Throat Jab, and Wraith's Stun Bolts. Wraith's Smoke Bombs will help against some fowl, or if the hero HP equalize.
c. What is our general opinion going to be about Obsidian Fields? Normally with 5 heroes the advantage might outweigh the extra damage villain and environment inflict. Given the nature of this villain and the multiple instances of damage she inflicts I am not sure it is as beneficial. However, we might also need the help getting past DR if one or both cohorts are in play.
I haven't played against her, so I'm not sure how this will go.
Setup question for Envisioner: is the Mask just shuffled into the deck? Will the fowl start dealing damage before the Mask comes into play the first time? How about retaliation damage?
On my end as AZ, I'm just going to try to get set up as quickly as I can so that I've got my one-shots primed to deal damage once we need to go to town.
I'm with AZ, I've never played her so I might have some questions too. I am going to drop ammo drop next turn so I can get a few more guns while we kill crows. Another idea to avoid the retaliation is for legacy to get the next evolution lead from the front combo.
That would be one of the other methods. There is also Legacy doing Heroic Interception while someone else is highest HP. We just should keep some of the potential combinations in mind while making decisions regarding cards to keep during draws.
I have against the Matriarch only a few times myself. And not with this general group of heroes either.
I guess a plus is not having to worry about destroying villain ongoing cards. So those can get used on the dinos.
Another thought is after I draw the OmniCannon and another recharge mode, I turtle there for awhile and stay the highest hp, would be helped with a smoke bombs and a stunbolt. Just another option.
Apologies for the long radio silence; I was busy and out-of-it during the week, then when Saturday rolled around I found I had no Internet, and didn't get the issue fixed until today. I will attempt to get things moving again.
The Mask will come into play when I decide the time is right - not until after at least one full round of just Environment havoc. If I had it to do over again, I might have shuffled all the Fowl into the Environment deck and played that with the "draw two, pick one" rule, playing this deck on both Villain and Environment turns…without the Matriarch around, the Fowl don't play more of themselves, but if one came out during the environment turn, it would attack during the villain turn. Since I played Round 1 normally, I will stick with my assumption that Matty takes normal villain turns in place of environment turns, but doesn't have the Mask and isn't a target…I'll probably use the draw-two rule veto any non-Fowl plays other than Carrion Fields, and stop playing new Fowl when I decide there are "enough" (no sense in putting them all out and having them die to an Accelerated Assault, then have Matty take several turns of doing nothing before she can reshuffle).
Did I ever officially accept Oaktree's suggestion about shuffling? I honestly can't remember. It seems like a decent idea with how much shuffling Matty does, but I'm not married to the idea in her case, given how experimental things already are. Perhaps we should rule that it's only true for the heroes for now.
I don't recall seeing an official response on that. Is that regarding my suggestion for in-game deck shuffling to only involve the unknown cards in the hero deck and not include those specifically sent to the bottom of the deck by the special rule?
And I didn't use the previous deck from Game 1 of Wraith for the start of this game. I started with a fresh shuffle of everything and four cards since I wasn't sure how you wanted trash, in-play, and in-hand cards from a previous game carried over.
Oh, and if we're playing a sort of slow burn on the Matriarch coming out do you want to special rule fowl not being valid targets until they attack a hero first? Example: Wraith can't start pinging birds as being hostile until they have attacked her. Same for each hero, so it's possible for a few heroes to be slower to recognize the threat. So, from a theatrical viewpoint, the bird threat can seen building (or at least collecting and acting ominously), and some heroes encounter it sooner than others.
Right now, the birds are not in play from a game perspective, though they exist as backdrop in the movie. When Fowl cards enter play, they will represent actively hostile Fowl, and are valid targets for attack by any hero regardless of whether they've dealt any damage. Retaliation damage for any Fowl killed will not apply while Lilian is not a target (except for Carrion Fields), so the chances are pretty much zero that any heroes are going to take damage from a Fowl before other targets exist. I won't complain if the Throwing Knives and Grenade Launcher also take some HP off the Carrion Fields...it just means you're blowing up / slicing apart a few of the dinosaur corpses, scaring away the birds that were feasting on them.
Yes, Oaktree, that was what I meant. Also you are not the only one who forgot the draw-six-put-back-two startup; Tachyon doesn't appear to have done it either. We'll play it as it lies...I selected Obsidian Field for the first play rather than drawing cards at all, for flavor reasons, so in essence the Environment deck also "forgot" the rules for setup. Matty, on the other hand, managed to luck into exactly the right card for an appropriate first play, so the only things on her side which are not normal-rules are that she isn't a target, doesn't have the Mask, and plays at a different point in the round.
Yea, I missed the "draw 6, keep 4" - but also ended up with four that were an almost ideal starting hand for Wraith since I got a couple of Impromptu Inventions in hand to work from. Though, with the non-standard start having a couple of "Trust Fund" cards right off would have been a useful alternate.
(additional comment)
If it was a poor shuffle it was from a solo game since Wraith has been used in solo games and group games while Game 1 was going on, and after it completed as well. If I needed the deck for the forum game I reconstructed it based on the last posted turn and then gave the "?" remaining deck a fresh shuffle.
And I always give each hero, villain, and environment decks fresh shuffles at the beginning of the game. Though the only one I specifically go through to break up a card group is Baron Blade's since the three MDPs get grouped into his trash when he flips.
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We'll see how things turn out. My good luck might be countered by someone else getting a crappy run of draws. Or Insula Primalis will have a Rust Monster or two hidden away in the underbrush.
It's pretty much one of the iconic D&D monsters. Very odd looking and can't effectively hurt the PCs in terms of HP. However, it can and will attack armor and metal weapons in order to eat them. A bunch of unimpeded rust monsters would be a bit like a Technological Singularity - but without the lightning damage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_monster
Wiki link includes illustration of it as I was first introduced to it.
I've got a commitment of sorts on Friday afternoon that may require the use of AZ (who is one of my son's two favorite heroes to play), but I should be able to revert to a physical deck after that. At least for a month or so after taht, there shouldn't be any portability issues – it'll just mean I can't do a turn on a Monday.
I feel like we need more information to make any concrete plans. If we just get to build up until the Mask comes out and reveals the Matriarch, then we'll just crush her, as we'll have some full rounds of build-up without significant interference.