Aerocaster

[Lonely Tylenol]

All right, here goes... My ninteenth unit, the Aerocaster.

Name: Aerocaster (Synonymous with Stormcaster)
HP: 36 (dies in 3 Scout hits or 2 Witch hits even with heal)
Power: 10 unblockable (10/15 blockable)
Armor: --
Blocking: 25% (12% from the sides)
Movement range: 3
Recovery Time: 3
Attack Range:

T
X
X
X
X
T X X A X X T
X
X
T

All right, this is a little difficult to explain, but here's the key:

A = Aerocaster
X = Spaces affected by attack pattern based on direction of attack (select pattern)
X (Bold) = Spaces affected by attack pattern regardless of direction of attack (set pattern)
X (Underline) = Final resting position of affected units (if a unit is occupying this space and is the first unit in the way of the attack, it will not be moved, and secondary damage will not be applied)
X (Italic) = Final resting position of Aerocaster. Is always opposite the direction of the attack selection.
T = Spaces affected only by secondary damage

Attack mechanism: Shoots a heavy gust of air at designated targets directly ahead of Aerocaster. (See below)

Frontal attack: This portion of the attack is the most direct attack, where you select a direction and attack head-on. The range is four (plus the fifth tile for secondary damage). Units in this pattern are knocked backwards to the underlined spaces, unless they are already on the underlined space (in which case they are not knocked back at all). If a unit is on the underlined space and another unit is knocked back into it, the secondary damage will apply to both of these two units, instead of the Target space behind the underlined panel. (The T panels will not be affected by any part of the attack if a unit starts on an underlined space.) Secondary collision damage is blockable.

Damage for the secondary attack is 10 for the first unit (the one that was propelled), and 15 for the second unit (the one it crashes into). If the latter is a Ward, the former takes 15 damage and the Ward's HP remains unchanged.

Side attack: As a direct result of the frontal attack, gusts of winds propel units from the side away. Same rules apply to the frontal attack, only limited to 2 spaces. (If two units occupy the spaces affected, neither unit will move or take secondary damage.)

Back attack: The Aerocaster is propelled by the force of the wind backwards two spaces, crashing into anything in its path. The Aerocaster assumes the role of one of the units it propels, and deals 15 damage to the first unit it collides in (as well as 10 to itself). Only the secondary attack damage will apply in this portion of the attack--if a unit is one space behind the Aerocaster, their positions and HP will remain unchanged.

The remainder of this message will be screenshots in Wordpad with scenarios (I can't screenshot in-game, too much clutter and no way to crop).

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/2862/aerocaster14tr.jpg

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/5055/aerocaster20aj.jpg

Strategy:
As with many of my other units, I created this one with the variant strategies in mind. This unit can of course serve the basic purpose of the stacked damage, with the ability to do small amounts of damage over a varied field, plus high damage in concentrated areas, giving it varied damage potentials.

It can serve movement purposes, including pushing your own units into enemy territory (such as a Dragon Tyrant poised now to kill a Cleric from the side without two moves); units can be pushed away from a situation where they can put serious pressure on your other units (move a Golem Ambusher four back and prevent a Cleric attack) or move them into a situation that puts them in danger (move a waiting Scout near a Dragon Tyrant)...

Finally, you can use your own (or your enemies') units against them, by forcing them to collide with weaker enemy units and put your opponent in a situation where he is forced to delay his attack or risk losing a unit.

Remember, this unit is still in the experimental stages. If you have any suggestions to improve this unit, do not hesitate to ask.

Finally, thanks to legacy67 for his input on the unit.

Hope you enjoy!

~Tylenol

[Dynamix]

a little underpowered but i can see where this would be a strategic ability.pretty cool.

[Cross Punisher]

Well it's been a while since you made a unit Tylenol. This one I'll have to take a second look at but I kinda got what you were talking about. AND neither of those links work.

[Lonely Tylenol]

Bah. I copied the pasted version of the link, you know, the one that shortens for space.... Instead of the original link. Sorry. Edited to fix the bad links.

[bloodreign]

TYLENOL this is brilliant! you have struck gold this time..i love this idea.
AEROCASTER is sweet, i mean we have fire, earth,frost, and dark magic, and now an air elementalist! it couldnt get better.It is a complicated method of attack that took some time to understand but is very cool.I like your idea.

here is a few ideas that i would like to throw out there.
Why not make him able to PUSH and PULL units around but not do any damage to them. Say he can push units back 4 spaces and pull units 4 spaces closer to him.

ALSO i thought when the AEROCASTER DIES a gust of wind decends from the heavens to esscort the areocasters soul to where the wind blows.
what this does is that its effect is like the mudquake but intead of damaging the opponents it pushes them away from where the aerocaster died, 3 spaces are then cleared unless unit is against the walls....just ta thought

i still love the name and idea i would put my vote for gold if not platinum certification.

[Lonely Tylenol]

All right legacy, this'll be my last post before the update of the committee thread. Promise. (Yes, I know you were looking for this.)

TYLENOL this is brilliant! you have struck gold this time..i love this idea.
AEROCASTER is sweet, i mean we have fire, earth,frost, and dark magic, and now an air elementalist! it couldnt get better.It is a complicated method of attack that took some time to understand but is very cool.I like your idea.

Thanks. :happy:

here is a few ideas that i would like to throw out there.
Why not make him able to PUSH and PULL units around but not do any damage to them. Say he can push units back 4 spaces and pull units 4 spaces closer to him.

This method of attack has been tried before on different units, including my last unit before this one, the Hypnotist. Controlled movement is a concept that even I couldn't make work.

ALSO i thought when the AEROCASTER DIES a gust of wind decends from the heavens to esscort the areocasters soul to where the wind blows.
what this does is that its effect is like the mudquake but intead of damaging the opponents it pushes them away from where the aerocaster died, 3 spaces are then cleared unless unit is against the walls....just ta thought

I have always absolutely loved this idea, and I have incorporated a slightly weaker version in my Blitzkrieg. (Doing that in full scale is too much to make a secondary attack, and just isn't enough to base a unit on.)

i still love the name and idea i would put my vote for gold if not platinum certification.

Thanks again. :happy:

Does anyone else have any thoughts about this unit?

[Cross Punisher]

Well you explained something pretty complicated very well, but I'm still not sure if the ability to move so many units during one turn is balanced.

And also are wards effected, and what becomes of units that may have been focused on that have been moved out of the area of focus?

[legacy67]

Whille the design is very intricate, I do have some criticisms of the unit.

1. The amount of damage that this unit can do in one stroke seems to be very excessive. I am too boggled to do the math, but it seems that this unit has the potential to do more damage than any unit currently in the game. It seems somewhat hard to work on face value, but I have a feeling that the ability to wreak massive amounts of damage will prove easier than imagined.

2. Many formations place a DT in front of a cleric for defense, that or some other unit. It seems to me that there are scenarios that would give the cleric deadly damage. I am not sure that we need another unit with the ability to one-hit the cleric.

3. The attack itself seems cumbersome. I would find it fairly hard to predict the amount of damage visited upon any unit. One of the most importnt feature of a tacitcs game is the ability to predict the amount of damage done in any particular situation. I think that this would require too much knowledge of nuance to for effective use by even the best of players.

4. I personally feel that the knockback ability of this unit is not exceptional. We have all seen many units with knockback, and this one does not utilize the abilty in the best way that I have seen.

In conclusion, there are many reasons why I am currently apprehensive about this unit. I would suggest that you make some changes to simplify the design. Although, I do belive that posting it as is would create some very interesting discussion. I think there is merit in posting the unit as is and seeing what develops. All in all, you hae put some very good effort into a design that does have some cool theoretical merit.

[Lonely Tylenol]

Understandable, and:

And also are wards effected, and what becomes of units that may have been focused on that have been moved out of the area of focus?

Wards take the unblockable damage, but are not moved, and do not take secondary damage.

Paralyzed units that are moved out of the range of Focus are affected in the same way that the Grapnel Warrior affects them. They are dragged out of Focus and take full effects of the attack.

EDIT:

1. The initial damage is 10. Armor-deductible, of course. It also does additional damage to units on all sides, however:

With a range of 2, the only possible way to do additional damage from either side would be highly unlikely, involving an adjacent unit and a unit two spaces behind it and ONLY that... And from behind, the Aerocaster is damaged and no initial damage is done aside from the collision... The only issue is a frontal attack, which can only ever do more than 25 damage if units are 1, 3, and 5 spaces ahead of the Aerocaster, a VERY unlikely situation. A Mud Quake or DSM attack would be better for their respective purposes.

2. The range of the initial damage is 4, so if a unit is placed in the front rank it's impossible for the Cleric to be dealt any damage except for by the knockback effect, which would only occur if no unit was placed one space in front of the Cleric. In either case, the DSM/DMW would kill better if the first scenario didn't apply, and the Dragon Tyrant would kill better in the second. It's kinda like the Fabricor Substantia (if you don't mind me making the reference) in that it CAN be used for Cleric killing, but it has better uses, and other units can be better used for the purpose.

3. Damage chart:

Primary attack damage: 10 - armor (Mud Quake from 2 spaces)
Secondary attack, collision recieve with no primary attack: 15 - armor (Pyromancer)
Initial attack plus secondary collision deliver: 20 - armor (Golem Ambusher)
Initial attack plus secondary collision recieve: 25 - armor (DMW + 1)

4. The idea was to utilize the knockback effect in a way that made you consider what moves would be best to make, so as not to harm or push your own units away. Also, with the collision effect, you can use your own, more durable units against weaker units as a domino effect, or push them into enemy territory as a combination (or use the knockback against enemies both to put them in a dangerous situation for them or to keep them from putting you in a dangerous situation).

I designed this variation of the knockback effect with versatility in mind. The strategies involved with both the knockback and collision effects can promote dozens of strategies with this unit.

All in all, you hae put some very good effort into a design that does have some cool theoretical merit.

That's the best compliment I could have asked for. :p

[Forest_Archer]

Just when I become a unit judge again, people come out with these awesome yet confusing ideas. Good job, LT, though I'm not sure what I thinkof this one yet.

[Lonely Tylenol]

Just when I become a unit judge again, people come out with these awesome yet confusing ideas. Good job, LT, though I'm not sure what I thinkof this one yet.

You don't have to have an opinion on this unit, as long as you bump it and keep it out of its former position on Page 4. :)

Also, feel free to ask any questions you have about this unit and I'll answer to the best of my abilities.

[Cross Punisher]

I was confused for a moment. I thought this was your latest unit

[Lonely Tylenol]

I was confused for a moment. I thought this was your latest unit

No, it just died so quickly and without any notice that nobody even saw it coming or going... You know, much like the very same death my Manzazuu is suffering. Only one person has given it so much as a response (that person being you), possibly because of the negative stigma towards necromancy in CAU. :dry:

[ninja master]

I absolutely love the idea of throwing units around and into each other. absolutely brilliant.

[Deck of Jesters]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is how I currently see the attack working:

All units within the 4 front/2 left/2 right spaces take 10 Unblockable damage, regardless of position. The first units within the 4/2/2 get pushed back to either the end space or until they collide with another unit. If the units do not move (a.k.a., they are standing side-by-side), the 10/15 Blockable damage is not applied. If the units do move, they receive the Blockable damage.


If this is how it works...
Legacy's concern about the Cleric is, imo, unnecessary. The DT will most likely have a second unit located directly in front of it, meaning the blowback damage would be applied to the DT and the unit that was blown into it only.

I am currently leaning towards a Yes vote, however, I will Abstain until my questions are answered.

[Lonely Tylenol]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is how I currently see the attack working:

All units within the 4 front/2 left/2 right spaces take 10 Unblockable damage, regardless of position. The first units within the 4/2/2 get pushed back to either the end space or until they collide with another unit. If the units do not move (a.k.a., they are standing side-by-side), the 10/15 Blockable damage is not applied. If the units do move, they receive the Blockable damage.


If this is how it works...
Legacy's concern about the Cleric is, imo, unnecessary. The DT will most likely have a second unit located directly in front of it, meaning the blowback damage would be applied to the DT and the unit that was blown into it only.

I am currently leaning towards a Yes vote, however, I will Abstain until my questions are answered.

That is correct. I explained that any Cleric-killing concerns were unnecessary, because only two scenarios would apply that would allow for a Cleric kill:

Scenario1 Scenario2
C 0 0 0 0 0 C
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 0 0
0 0 X 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 A 0 0 0 0 0 A 0 0

[legacy67]

That is correct. I explained that any Cleric-killing concerns were unnecessary, because only two scenarios would apply that would allow for a Cleric kill:

Scenario1 Scenario2
C 0 0 0 0 0 C
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 0 0
0 0 X 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 A 0 0 0 0 0 A 0 0

Just thought I would point out that both of those are common placements in TAO. DT in front of cleric? Scenario 1 is not as common, but scenrio 2 comes up a lot.:cool:

[Lonely Tylenol]

Just thought I would point out that both of those are common placements in TAO. DT in front of cleric? Scenario 1 is not as common, but scenrio 2 comes up a lot.:cool:

Yes, but it would only occur in a situation where there are no units 4 spaces directly ahead of the Cleric, in which case a Dark Magic Witch or powered Pyro would nail it anyway, and Scout line of sight is far from stifled unless both the square adjacent to it are occupied, in which case it's actually more likely than not that someone who would take the effort to block the two squares next to it would block the square in front.

In any case, in order for this to work, both the second and fifth ranks in front of the Cleric (being on the first rank) would have to be unoccupied, which is highly unlikely in a rush/anti situation.