It’s been called for since way back, and now we finally get some love for Hoist! And alongside the old robot we have Spade, the playup Miner who goes from awesome and annoying to awesome and more interesting!
Disclaimer: In all my 4.7 posts, I am very much open to that I might be wrong!
That’s part of the beauty of this game after all, and in general just in sharing any kind of hobby – to discuss all our thoughts about it.
Also, some that I have written may very well be coloured heavily by stuff that other great people have already discussed elsewhere, and in all such cases I can only bow and thank them for their wisdom. 😀
Hoist
Card 4.7 above and 4.6 below
So here we have true True Replication. Just look at it, it’s just such a fun trait!
I’ve seen him called a “swiss army knife” but instead I hereby dub him a tupperware box; full of nifty stuff, and he can be opened or resealed at will. Just bring him to the table, add some other models, open the lid on him and rummage around until you find something you need. So basically like a swiss army knife but that I want to be different, hehe.
With this change, it’s like rather than needing him to fill a specific role you can just add him in and see what he’ll end up doing because it will most often be relevant regardless of what it is.
In design, this trait is also one of those things that can easily get way too overpowered unless it’s handled with care. Like with Concussion for example, that is either really strong of mostly useless. This version of True Replication will seldom suffer from feeling useless though, I think. As far I can tell this version is balanced enough to be both strong and fun to use, but also tempered enough to not risk being oppressive.
It is of course incredibly important to notice the 6″ Aura range on true rep here. Hoist needs to still be within 6″ when he wants to uses the trait to copy a play; he can’t borrow something and then run off. But in terms of design, there are some ways of doing it and all have pros and cons. To have him needing to remain within 6″ of his friends is an interesting balance check.
Another interesting thing is that plays with Cup or GB activations can be copied and then activated from playbook. There aren’t all that many Cup/GB results in his entire guild, but a great example is Thief that can be copied from Mainspring.
Copying from mascots is absolutely a thing. Taking Thief from Mainspring or Burrow from Mother is great fun and honestly can be very relevant. Like the magic box he is, just about any jank imaginable is viable.
Having him in a gun line together with Ballista for example, and Salvo, Ratchet, Locus, Spade and so on – that will get terrifying in the right matchup. Multiple ranged KD and damage, and end with Burrow and just disappearing out of reach from retaliation. When he is played with Ballista he is of course very close to being a second Salvo, for good or bad.
If you want him to play ball he does that great as well, with 4 dice kick and having several different ballplays available to copy. Just remember to consider if/when it’s worth it to go for a goal, if it puts him outside of 6 inches from his teammates.
That’s just a warning wiggle of a robotic wooden finger to make it count though. It absolutely is worth it sometimes, I mean who wouldn’t want to make a goalrun facilitated by copying Under the Lines from Fuse for example.
Spade
Card 4.7 above and 4.6 below, click to enlarge
In Spade’s previous iteration, her play Controlled Explosion would autohit one enemy model within 6″ and push it 2″ away. Might not sound like a huge deal, but the fact that it autohit was a problem and also difficult to always have to play around.
That she got Destructive Impulse instead means that she can be a versatile model to bring with Ballista for a gun line, but also that she is less likely to feel unfun to play against. Could be considered a nerf, but in more ways than one it really should be seen as a buff. Both to her and to the game in general.
Her new trait Tutelage that otherwise is prevalent in Blacksmiths lets her use one play for free when she’s playing for Miners. That’s is just really nice, even though it might not always be super important. She won’t always be within 6″ of Shaft to enable it, but it just makes her more versatile and inf efficient for Miners too, rather than just being the super striker that she also still is.
Join the discussions on Discord or Facebook, and share your thoughts!
Get a game in with some updated models and take a picture! 😀
