Mauve Manticore #24

Discussion in 'Adventure Discussion and Strategy' started by Pawndawan, Apr 11, 2017.

  1. Pawndawan

    Pawndawan Champion of Cardhuntria

    Thread for MM #24 praises / curses and advice. :)


    Battle 1: Revolt of the Robots by @Vlamona
    Quite tricky, but not frustrating, which is good. Maybe the robots could've been in two minion groups, so one could have a bit more info about who's going to unleash the charge.

    I needed one retry both times I ran this. I really liked the board, simple but enough details and blocked terrain to make decissions interesting. :)


    Battle 2: Head Hunter by @adajon
    Again, simple but detailed map. Flax seems to have increased Gary's VP target to two, which I think is a good addition. The monster combination is clever, Lava Spitters and Magma Idols can help you to herd trolls with fire terrain, but eventually the dwarf has to do the dirty work.


    Battle 3: Champions of Chaos by @Maniafig
    Funny writing as usual, pre- and post-battle texts put a smile to my face. :) I liked the map chosen and recreated. The initial setup seems quite random and chaotic, but there are quite many interesting choices and hidden synergies to be discovered.


    All in all, one of my favourite Manticores. Well done all three of you! :)
     
    ParodyKnaveBob, CT5, adajon and 6 others like this.
  2. Gingrich Yurr

    Gingrich Yurr Thaumaturge

    MMs these days keep hitting winner after winner.

    Revolt of the Robots:

    Reminds me of Firepower by adajon. These is easier since you won't get randomly screwed by Trip and less tedious but there are still some interesting decisions to be made, such as whether to keep those Nimble Strikes that help you escape after being backed against a wall and risk them getting discarded by Cowardly, or just saving up some good ol' Runs. I also liked that those Zombies get reduced to 4 health after getting blasted once so you can kill them if necessary.

    Head Hunter:

    Didn't realise you just needed to destroy the Phylactery to win the scenario, causing me to lose twice. Once I found that out, directing all my attention to getting Vingus to the jar was a simple matter of distracting the Trolls and some timely bashes.

    Champions of Chaos:

    Very cool idea, it feels good to have the most dreaded Caverns enemies on my side for once. I think this is mostly another ending map that lets you just fool around, have some fun without having to think to much. Though I still feel overwhelmed by these kind of maps with lots of characters. Maybe next time you can create a Node 10 battle with the player controlling Blizkenripper, the Boulder and some Death Elementals.
     
  3. Maniafig

    Maniafig Thaumaturge

    I really like the direction of recent MMs, interesting and fun without being frustrating.

    Revolt of the Robots:

    I got pretty lucky on both the test and main server, with most zombies being dead after one turn and the robots hitting each other with Lasers and Festering Guts. The hardest part is cleaning up what's left of the massacre, though careful use of movement should make it so you only lose if you make any mistakes.

    A nice tip is to hover the mouse over the Security Robots' Charged Laser Barrage card so you can see all the tiles they can hit, this makes it easy to judge where to flee to even if you don't know which Security Robot's going to fire. Prioritizing movement cards is another good tip, never know when you draw a Cowardly.

    Head Hunter:

    Another nice map, my attempt on the test server was pretty troubled but I breezed through on the live server. The use of a Phylactery instead of a Victory Square is a nice idea since it makes the Pushback of your Bashes all the more relevant. Having the player weigh the pros and cons of Heavy Armor is a nice idea too.

    A nice way to manipulate the trolls is to surround your dwarf with Lava terrain to dissuade the trolls from going for him and make them focus on the statues instead, once they're busy doing that you should have a clear shot at reaching and breaking the Phylactery.

    Champions of Chaos:

    This map can be quite chaotic, none of my tests wound up playing out the same.

    Here's some tips for if the map gives you trouble:
    -Try to take down the Priest first with ranged attacks, she has a lot of pesky heals, attachments and deals big damage but doesn't have any powerful blocks or armor.
    -The Wizards should be the second priority, they can rack up a lot of damage from afar and aren't as bulky as the warriors.
    -The Choppy Warrior has trouble dealing with Tiugh Bark.
    -The Bashy Warrior has trouble dealing with Amorphous Body
    -Make sure to keep the Pygmies safe, their DoT ignores armor and is useful for taking down armored Warriors!
    -AoE attacks such as Deadly Spark and Acorn Bursts can hit the Laser Wizard even when he's Invisible.
     
  4. Jaer

    Jaer Goblin Champion

    Mauve Manticore #24 has been a solid set of very enjoyable adventures!

    Revolt of the Robots:
    Turns out, Charged Laser Barrage and Festering Guts make the perfect explosive combo! I spent several turns hopping around the battlefield, provoked a few Barrages, but could not finish off a single zombie. On the next turn, I did my usual "taunt them and run away" routine, and then... something odd and beautiful happened. After the smoke had cleared, there, among the devastation, stood a single poor security robot with 4 hit points left. Perfect for Penetrating Lunge!
    One thing to note, though: when one robot charges up the Barrage but another robot fires it, it looks a bit weird. Now I understand why these guys usually act on their own and not as a part of a group. But I can see that with this many zombies, there simply wasn't enough room for five individual robots. Besides, fighting against a robot gang was a new experience!

    Head Hunter:

    Boy, trolls sure do not like dwarves for some reason. Even when Vingus tried to take cover behind his summoned allies, these brutes just stood next to the totems, saving their strength, waiting patiently for their bearded prey to come within reach! Of course, after being cooked alive for a couple of minutes, they felt generous enough to spare some Bludgeons for the silent statues. Dwarven priest also learned the hard way that trolls move with surprising speed, thanks to their Charges and Runs. After one disastrous attempt, I managed to time the death of troll guardians just after the resurrection round. Vingus never ran (walked) so fast in his life, but, just as troll reinforcements arrived, he crushed the accursed vase with one mighty swing.

    Champions of Chaos:

    This adventure was probably my favorite of the three. I'm not a big fan of epic brawls, but this one was great. Like Pawndawan said, there are quite a few neat synergies and counters hidden among the characters. And it felt good to kite those would-be adventurers around, poking them with darts, sparks and acorns. The intruders did not stand a chance. They were completely surrounded, which meant that I could pick any target without having to worry about warriors blocking my path. Victory Squares seemed to be of little use to the adventuring party: they just threw their priorities off.

    P.S.
    This is brilliant, hahah! Never would've thought of that!
     
  5. BlackVoidDeath

    BlackVoidDeath Guild Leader

    This MM was a bit simple for my taste, but everyone seem to love it so heck do I know.

    Revolt of the Robots:
    Took my one try with full HP, strategy was to jump out, make a robot charge, jump away and hope the robots at the back annihilate everything in front of them. Not exactly hard but I enjoyed watching the ai kill itself.

    Head Hunter:
    I drew three/ four walks in two turns so this one was also very simple and when I slammed the pot with an 8 damage bash the armor failed so that was even simpler than I expected back then. I thought the enemy VP target was one before? But maybe I'm wrong, not that it mattered as I didnt lose or damage any unit. But anyway good map idea even if it was quite simple.

    Champions of Chaos:
    Smart and funny writing as per usual, I did not expect anything else from Maniafig. I missed the story the first time round because I am used to spam-clicking the begin adventure button and when I was about to win was forced to restart, but I am glad I did not skip it. Great map concept and execution.
     
  6. 00Banshee00

    00Banshee00 Orc Soldier

    Nice and fun MM where you do not have to worry about the RNG factor messing with you.

    Revolt of the Robots by Vlamona
    I played this map for a total of three times, one on the test server, one on the live server, and one separately in it's own thread and it was pretty enjoyable each time. Strategy was pretty simple, you jump, wait for a robot to charge while hoping for a zombie to get festering guts, jump out and hide out of range. Got in a bit of a tough spot when there was one robot(low health) and one zombie(full health) remaining, and the robot refused to attack his own team. I had to position myself in such a way so that I was close enough so that I could step-attack the zombie and in a position where the robot could charge without letting the zombie getting hit. Waited till the robot charged up, stepped out of range and attacked the zombie. Gary was forced to shoot out the useless beam and the next turn I moved out of range of the zombie.
    Also, the good thing about having 20 health is that you could usually make one mistake without losing.

    Head Hunter by adajon
    Lost during the first try because the dwarf got killed by the trolls. Thought that I would be greeted by the defeat screen but the game kept on going with Gary gaining no stars so I had to resign. The dwarf is the only person who's able to attack the jar right?
    Second try I tried a bit more of a careful approach using lava terrain to block the trolls from attacking the dwarf. Got to the pot in the first couple of rounds but had to wait for a long time to draw an attack card. Finally got a strong bash and finished off the jar in one hit.

    Champions of Chaos by Maniafig
    Nice fun map. Lost once on the test server and the live server before beating the map. Took out the elf warrior on first couple of rounds and then proceeded to kill the priest. After that it was just a matter of time before the rest got killed.
    I liked the inclusion of the two slimes with their Death Meld so that if things get rough could easily kill/let one die to heal the others. Combined with Vulnerable, you could kill them even faster.
     
  7. CT5

    CT5 Guild Leader

  8. madman1101

    madman1101 Kobold

    I don't understand how you guys get so lucky. i dodge out of range yet somehow get hit and killed every ****ing time. this is frustrating. is there a way to tell when they can attack? (i mean, when they're able to. i know how to check ranges)
     
  9. timeracers

    timeracers Guild Leader

    Yes there is a way to know when the robots are able to attack. Because they only draw cards which create attack cards, they can only attack if they have a revealed attack card in hand.
    PS: Luck is hardly a factor in the first part. I would advise not confusing luck with skill.
     
  10. Jaer

    Jaer Goblin Champion

    Because Security Robots are stacked in a group of five, it does not matter which one of them plays Charge Up - any one of them might fire a Charged Laser Barrage next round. In other words, if you want to get to safety, you need to move out of firing range of every single robot. Fortunately, there is plenty of cover around the room for our cute, but fragile War Dog.
     
  11. ParodyKnaveBob

    ParodyKnaveBob Thaumaturge

    On my first day back in a month or two, I figured, before heading into MP, I should hit Campaign. Oh, look at that, new MMs. $:^ ]

    Ha ha ha ha, all three scenarios were great! Fun and funny setups, easy enough to break me in gently while not-so-easy enough that I did have to actually plan out my cards and actions and such. Didn't lose to any of them.

    I haven't watched CT5's video yet, thus I don't know if he mentions this, but I thought it odd no one else did. $F^ b Good job, BM, (I expect this is Flax's doing since it's MM/AA related,) utterly trolling Maniafig's ending text by putting his battle last (thereby guaranteeing a specific, chosen item), lol. $E^ b

    EDIT: It had been a week or more before I wrote this since I'd played, methinks. After seeing CT5's romp, I remembered some funny details.

    For one, I rolled when I first read guarded-by-robots-and-you and then saw what I was (a dog) amidst how much of a horde of terror, lol; I can't recall if I ever took damage, but I did take out the robots first with Laser+Guts Barrage+Explosion, heheh -- then a zombie or two left to clean up was all, heheheh. Good dog. $}^ J lol

    There was something brilliant about adajon's mechanical setup. Fwiw, I first just tried to kite the trolls, taking damage once, but already prepped to heal via bandages and therapy; In the end, I had a Strong Bash + Bash to overcome the jar's armor in one blow. Pretty sweet. $:^ J

    Chaos took the longest! By far! heheh All good stuff. Case went Invisible on me round 1. I mainly just camped their VSs to prevent VPs while trying to take out one hero at a time -- whomever I could spin dizzy to avoid those insane blocks, and do it fast enough the Clerical Unit couldn't send repairs in time. Just super well put together, yepyep.
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2017

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