New Faction Idea - Celtic Druids

[lazyj]

I got very jealous of the other factions and how cool they were. But I’m a sucker for the humans and want to see more of them. So here’s my take on a Celtic/Druidic faction! I was going to do more playtesting but I won't have time, and I'm curious about opinions.

The design goal here is not to be a "realistic" Gaul-type faction as I anticipate that to eventually happen in the Historical Rome setting. This faction is meant to be a fantasy Druid faction that borrows heavily from Celtic myth. So the units have at least a little historical basis but are then heavily embellished to fit the theme. The Beserker aspect comes from multiple Roman historians who claimed that the "Barbarian" Celts were terrifying on the charge but did not have the training of the Roman legions for effective sustained combat. And there are 6 cores, but similar to the High Elves you can choose between "basic" warriors and "women" warriors who are more skilled but not as tough (in the bold tradition of Celtic Warrior Queens). There are a lot of "support" units in this army. I'm curious to see how this would play out.

Faction Ability:  <<<In Progress>>>
Warscream - Spend a CA to mark the box. Erase to reduce engaged enemy Courage by 1 for the current turn only.
[Units with the checkbox are all Cores, Beserkers, and Chieftans]

Beserker Charge - Units with this ability gain (+1)+2/0 and +1/0 on the turn they charge.

Warscream: Spend a CA to mark the box. Erase to give a single engaged enemy (-1)-1/-1 and -1 Courage for the current turn.

Beserker Charge: Units with this ability gain (+2)0/0 and +1/0 and become Fearsome on the turn they charge.

===Core Units===

Savages
(5*)3*/5 1*/2, 4/3/2, No Range, Courage 10, Move 3.5"
Beserker Charge
Clubs, Leather and Furs

"The whole race is madly fond of war, high-spirited and quick to battle. And on whatever pretext you stir them up, you will have them ready to face danger, even if they have nothing on their side but their own strength and courage." - Strabo

Javelins
(5)4/5 2/2, 4/3/2, Range 3.5", Courage 11, Move 3.5"
Javelins - (see Umenzi Javelins)
Javelins and Light Spears, Bronze Mail

Warriors
(5*)4*/5 2*/2, 5/3/2, No Range, Courage 11, Move 3.5"
Beserker Charge
Swords, Shields, Bronze Mail

"The Romans were terrified by the fine order of the Celtic host, and the dreadful din, for the whole army were shouting their war-cries..." - Polybius

Warrior Women
(5)5*/5 2*/1, 5/3/2, No Range, Courage 12, Move 3.5"
Beserker Charge
Swords, Shields, Bronze Mail

"The barbarian women are more deadly than the men. The heads of their former husbands adorn their shields..."

Spears
(6*)4*/5 2*/2, 5/3/2, No Range, Courage 11, Move 3.5"
Beserker Charge, Standard Spear effects
Spears, Shields, Bronze Mail

Chariots
(4)5/5 2*/2, 2/4/1, Range 3.5", Courage 11, Move 6"
Cavalry, Wheeled, Javelin attack, Additional Impact hit (2 total) when charging. +3/0 during Post-Rout Free attacks.
Javelins, Shields, Bronze Mail

"They cut off the heads of enemies slain in battle and attach them to the necks of their horses, and they nail these first fruits upon their houses." -Diodorus Siculus

===Standard Units===

Fair Folk
(4)4/3 1/1, 5/0/1, No Range, Courage 9, Move 5"
Any allied unit within 2.5" of Fair Folk gains (0)0/0 +1/0, but only receives a maximum of +1/0 no matter how many Fair Folk are in range.
Enchantments, Magicks, and Charms

Seers
(2)3/3 1/1, 2/2/2, No Range, Courage 11, Move 3.5"
Druidic Magic. You may look at the top of either Command Card deck during your Movement/Command phase. You may spend a CA to put the card at the bottom of the pile.
Scry bones and Robes

Druids
(3)5/6 2/2, 2/2/2, Range 14", Courage 11, Move 3.5"
Druidic Magic
Robes and Mystery

Beserkers
(7*)4*/6 1*/3, 5/3/3, No Range, Courage 14, Move 3.5"
Beserker Charge. Additional -1/0 while charging
Great Swords, Naught Else (Fights Naked)

"Crazed by hidden rituals and numbed to pain from excessive mead, these madmen wear nothing save the scars of their previous battles to terrify their enemies."

===Elite Units===

Wild Huntsmen
(7)6/6* 1*/1, 2/2/2, No Range, Courage 10, Move 7"
Cavalry, Gain (0)0/+1 +1/0 on charge in addition to normal. Must mark target when assigning orders, unit is always on close to that target and may not be given other modifiers. When the target unit is destroyed, the Huntsmen Rout automatically. To assign a new target you must spend 2 CA.

"Those who foolishly join the Great Hunt lose their own will and are forever bound to follow the terrible Huntsman in his never-ending quest for new prey."

Chieftans
(6)5*/6 2*/3, 5/3/2, No Range, Courage 13, Move 3.5"
Beserker Charge
Swords, Helms, Shields, Bronze Platemail

"I have come, a wild boar of the herd, before warriors, before troops, before hundreds, to thrust you beneath the waters of the pool. It is I who will slay you, for it is I who can." -Per Diad

===Command Card Examples=== (special thanks to ZiNOS for the idea)

(x1) Raise the stones: May only use if a unit with Druidic Magic is on board and not routing. Place card on battlefield during Movement and Command phase, may not place on top of any unit. Becomes impassable terrain that blocks LOS. Any enemy within 7" must pass Courage Check or suffer Frightened penalty in combat.

(x2) Mists of Avalon: May only use if a unit with Druidic Magic is on board and not routing. Place card on battlefield during Movement and Command phase, may not place on top of any unit. Any unit entering Mist takes damage equal to a roll of die. Each Movement and Command phase, check box - discard if no more boxes can be checked. (=3 turns on board)

(x2) Tangle Ground: May only use if a unit with Druidic Magic is on board and not routing. Place card on battlefield during Movement and Command phase, may not place on top of any unit. Any unit moving through Tangle Ground is -1 MC. Allied units receive defended obstacle bonus if they are engaged with a unit which is in the Tangle Ground.

(x2) Fey Circle: May only use if a unit with Druidic Magic is on board, not routing. Place card on battlefield during Movement and Command phase, may not place on top of any unit. All allied units within 7" are +1 Courage. Fair Folk heal 1 damage each Movement and Command Phase they have half their unit in the Fey Circle.

(x1) Headhunters: Choose one unengaged unit in Movement and Command phase. It causes Fear and gains (0)+1/0 this turn.

(x2) Blood Sacrifice: May only use if a unit with Druidic Magic is on board and not routing or engaged. Play during Movement and Command Phase. Any routing Allied Unit is Rallied. All engaged Allied Units count as Charging even if engaged. A unit with Druidic Magic takes 1 damage and may not attack this round.

[RushAss]

"The barbarian women are more deadly than the men. The heads of their former husbands adorn their shields..."

This quote alone makes this faction a shoo-in for immediate printing.

[GoIndy]

Seers
(2)3/3 1/1, 2/2/2, No Range, Courage 11, Move 3.5"
Druidic Magic. You may look at the top of either Command Card deck during your Movement/Command phase. You may spend a CA to put the card at the bottom of the pile.
Scry bones and Robes

So, while this seems interesting, I don't see how it works well.  What I mean is, you burn a CA to put the card on the bottom.  I can't ever imagine a time that that would be worthwhile, since you could spend the same command point and put it in your hand.

[gull2112]

Seers
(2)3/3 1/1, 2/2/2, No Range, Courage 11, Move 3.5"
Druidic Magic. You may look at the top of either Command Card deck during your Movement/Command phase. You may spend a CA to put the card at the bottom of the pile.
Scry bones and Robes

So, while this seems interesting, I don't see how it works well.  What I mean is, you burn a CA to put the card on the bottom.  I can't ever imagine a time that that would be worthwhile, since you could spend the same command point and put it in your hand.

I was wondering about that. Maybe just have exactly the same rule but no CA cost. Not the put the card at the bottom thing, but just a eak at the top card. This could be useful if you are agonizing whether you want to spend a CA for another card or use it for some other purpose. Of course, you could only do this if the unit was unengaged, which is why you might want two in your army.

[lazyj]

To clarify the Seers: the intention is that the "peeking" is free. Picking up a card or sliding it underneath costs a CA. Note that this would apply to either Command Card deck - yours or your opponent's (obviously you could only put the opponents under the deck, not pick it up).

The thought is that it is more useful for this particular faction since the spell system is in the command cards. It is therefore more helpful for the Celts to decide "do I want a spell or do I want a regular card?"

And yes, it should only work while unengaged. I am unsure if it should be one look per Seer unit or just one total.

Keep the comments comin'. 

[gull2112]

I hadn't considered the option of looking at you opponents deck! That would be cool, not least in the ability to unnerve him

[boltana]

Beserker Charge - Units with this ability gain (+1)+2/0 and +1/0 on the turn they charge.

Is this in addition to the normal charging bonus or replaces the (0)0/+1 charging bonus? 

(x2) Fey Circle: May only use if a unit with Druidic Magic is on board, not routing. Place card on battlefield during Movement and Command phase, may not place on top of any unit. All allied units within 7" are +1 Courage. Fair Folk heal 1 damage each Movement and Command Phase they have half their unit in the Fey Circle.

I like the idea but I think you might want to add the 3 turn limit to this terrain feature like you did with Mists of Avalon. 

[lazyj]

Yes, the Beserker Charge is supposed to be in addition to regular charging. The idea is that they are really scary on the charge but not as good afterwards.

Hmm...I'll have to consider a time limit on the Fey Circle. Part of what makes their spell system unique is the ability to permanently alter the battlefield terrain. Can you give me a situation where making this permanent is unbalancing? Remember too that this would only affect Celts - who on average are lower Courage than many other factions. And the Healing part only affects one unit which is roughly equivalent to Brownies.

Maybe it should be changed so that it disappears if an enemy unit touches the card? That fits in with legend and gives a way for the opponent to deal with it if they find it a problem.

[gull2112]

And has the added bonus of not requiring anyone to keep track of turns and how long something has been in effect. I think having it go poof if touched by an enemy unit would be the ideal solution.

[lazyj]

I'm debating changing the Beserker Charge bonus to (0)+2/+1 +1/0 as it doesn't appear they are doing enough damage on the charge in my simulations. I feel like if they don't have a reasonable chance of breaking a "standard" line unit on the charge they are going to come out very badly indeed. And Dwarves / Orcs would be particularly painful to face.

But that would make the standard warrior unit (5)6/7 3/2 on the charge turn, which seems too high. The original line was (6)6/6 3/2 on the charge - which is also pretty scary...

I guess it would depend more on how much they cost. Are they cheap enough to be a "horde" army? Or are they more expensive and expected to slug it out with other units? My original thought had been "horde" pricing which is why the Courage and Offensive Skills were so low and the magic wasn't supposed to be overpowering.

[gull2112]

I think it would be just fine as is, because you must allow that many unit's attacks are somewhat tame compared to what they can become with card play. So yes, the berserkers may not be as deadly as you would prefer them to be if skinned neked of all possible bonuses, but if the attack is critical the player will be playing a card, making a 'good' attack a 'great' attack. To create a unit that has no need of stinkin' cards is to create an unbalanced unit, or a unit that is very pricey.

[uberursine]

I haven't been able to log in reliably lately. Looks pretty cool, I've also been working on a Celtic/fantasy faction, still stumped by the magic... (mine is much different than your's so far)

I think you need a core magic user for kingdoms, esp. with many of your cards being only usable by the magic users.

I'm doing chariots differently, still working on it but...

Chariots (human) (core)
Offense: (5)5/5 Defense: 2/2 Range: - Courage: 11 Move: 3.5" Hits: 2-5-5
When in the green, this unit gains Wheeled keyword and a move of 10.5" (This is ment to represent how the Celts used chariots: the chariot would run up fast, drop off it's warrior, then fade back, returning to pick up the warrior and redeploy if able.)

[boltana]

Hmm...I'll have to consider a time limit on the Fey Circle. Part of what makes their spell system unique is the ability to permanently alter the battlefield terrain. Can you give me a situation where making this permanent is unbalancing? Remember too that this would only affect Celts - who on average are lower Courage than many other factions. And the Healing part only affects one unit which is roughly equivalent to Brownies.

Maybe it should be changed so that it disappears if an enemy unit touches the card? That fits in with legend and gives a way for the opponent to deal with it if they find it a problem.

I was thinking that permament effects like +1 courage (and healing) from a command card might be unbalanced in a system where most effects like that require you to spend CAs each turn (either to draw cards or via army abilities) or are factored into the cost of the unit.   Since you are in effect getting a permament AoE for the cost of only one command action (to draw the card in the first place) it seems to me that you would either need to limit the time the terrain lasts or change them to spells.  Then the cost could be applied to the spell caster.

[lazyj]

I think you need a core magic user for kingdoms, esp. with many of your cards being only usable by the magic users.

Can't wait to see your Celtic take on things! You make a good point. I hadn't considered how they would fare in the first round of Kingdoms. It would certainly suck to end up with Command Cards of no value...  Could be as easy as making a rule similar to the Umenzi Shamans, if necessary.

I'm doing chariots differently, still working on it but...

Chariots (human) (core)
Offense: (5)5/5 Defense: 2/2 Range: - Courage: 11 Move: 3.5" Hits: 2-5-5
When in the green, this unit gains Wheeled keyword and a move of 10.5" (This is ment to represent how the Celts used chariots: the chariot would run up fast, drop off it's warrior, then fade back, returning to pick up the warrior and redeploy if able.)

Yeah the Chariots are hard to figure out. I'm not sure how much traction a 10.5" move unit will get in being officially recognized. I mean the lightly armed Scouts in Hawks are only 7" move and those horses aren't pulling any chariots.

The way I wanted to represent the armed taxi service was to give them a ranged attack (historically they threw spears from their chariots) and a bonus when they got engaged. Then when things get hot and they "bug out" (rout) they get a big defensive bonus to get away and reform as the chariots come get them.

I guess I don't see how your method gives them the "pick up and redeploy" option. In your version are they not fast unless they are green? So if they get in trouble they can't get away? Thanks for the thoughts - I would like to see your version at some point.

[lazyj]

I was thinking that permament effects like +1 courage (and healing) from a command card might be unbalanced in a system where most effects like that require you to spend CAs each turn (either to draw cards or via army abilities) or are factored into the cost of the unit.   Since you are in effect getting a permament AoE for the cost of only one command action (to draw the card in the first place) it seems to me that you would either need to limit the time the terrain lasts or change them to spells.  Then the cost could be applied to the spell caster.

Perhaps some of these Command Card Spells should be "spend a command action each turn to keep it on the board"?

It's a fine line. I want the spell useful enough to be worth playing. But it can't be so good that (as you said) it screws with things. We have to remember too that there's no guarantee that you'll have the card when you need it.

If the card went away quicker it should have a bigger impact while it's there. It's not like there are infinite casting abilities - so if it might only last a turn or two it should give a +2 courage instead of +1. Or maybe a +1 and auto-rally? Not sure...