Field threat. Utility pair. Momentum machines.
Introducing the twins Cross, and Cut. The Lumberjacks’ rookies are a matched pair, sharing influence, and the occasional sibling argument.
You can also read about Cross and Cut on the official SFG reveal – LINK
Basically all text here is taken from their blogpost.
These twinning squaddies build momentum like they’re stockpiling firewood. Working as a pair has its advantages, as they can pass between each other to generate a lot of momentum if needed, or dodge a long way around the pitch and threaten the enemy goal.
Similar to other matched pair models like Hook & Crook (Shepherds) or Brainpan & Memory (Morticians) Cross and Cut can be allocated 4 influence between them each turn. They have 9 HP and are DEF4 ARM0, so they go down as easily as a mascot to a dedicated attack. But like a mascot they are also only worth 1 VP each.
As there’s two of the twinning rookies here, they can apply Ganging Up bonuses for each other, so they are often TAC6 and a little more resistant to counter attacks than their base statlines would imply. With a momentous tackle on column 1, they have some strong footballing options, although their maximum 2 influence each means they often rely on teamwork to go on proper goal runs.
Sibling Rivalry helps Cross & Cut get more done in their activation, giving them a way to charge for a tackle and still pass the ball afterwards, as Cross & Cut can’t move log piles around, you’ll need to make some tactical log placements with your other Lumberjacks before they activate.
If you don’t want to be going on goal runs and risking the lives of your Lumberjacks, you can sit back and buff the team — Steel Toecaps makes a goal scoring model safer against counter attacks or a ball holder safer, and Quick Foot can speed up your other goal threats or extend the range of a brawler like Oak or Bucker if the opponent is playing keep-away.
When you’re playing for the ball, you can use Thief to steal the ball without the risk of a counter attack or through Close Control, and Crumb Boss lets you make a big goal run if you have an enemy model to bounce off, or just generate a big pile of momentum.
Cross and Cut don’t have loads of damage, so even though they bring their own gangup they’re usually going to be aiming for the ball or providing valuable utility instead of fighting. In a team that wants to get stuck in with a punch up on occasion, wouldn’t it be nice if you could switch gears and do some damage sometimes, instead?
When the pair are working together, their profile has a few major changes.
Enter Cross Cut, or XC for short.
Cross Cut has zero movement, so make sure the twins are in position before you Heroic to get them onto the target you want, and you’ll be relying on movement from teammates if Early Risers isn’t enough to get the pair into position since they don’t do anything to enemies not in their melee zone. If they do have targets in melee, though…
With a ‘double brewer’ playbook at TAC8 six columns, CrossCut do quite a lot of damage, with a flat 1 to 1 hits:damage ratio most of the time. Cross Cut don’t have any results that increase their playbook damage, so you won’t be getting explosive numbers if you wrap, but the base stats are already quite dangerous, especially with a KD in a reachable position and a 4KD if you have a bit of setup from teammates or are hitting a target even slightly below average defensively.
Cross Cut are chunkier in defense to match their 2VP value, although 2/2/18 is not an exceptionally tanky profile they do heal to full and shed conditions/effects when CrossCut arrives on the board.
The Bigger They Are is a dangerous character play, although sawing enemies in half is of variable strength depending how big those halves are. It’s most powerful against enemies with low defensive numbers and lots of HP — Windle is getting worried here.
If you have already taken the 4KD result in order to reach column five, many models with average defenses won’t take more damage from the CUP result than the 5 damage result on the same column. It’’s also a little difficult to use The Bigger They Are to finish a model off and then disappear to safety by jumping to a log pile, because you need to wrap to another damage result to actually finish someone off for good.
Cross and Cut will come back as a pair rather than one model once taken out, which is probably for the best when CrossCut has a zero inch jog and would be stranded at the table edge otherwise.
They can make some very non-linear plays and do some interesting stuff with their paired mechanics and CrossCut’s tricks, with some fun options for contributing to both a football game and a takeout plan.
Looking forward to seeing CrossCut on the pitch!
