Halo TCG - Halo - UNSC (8/27: "She's blue, but she's hot!")

[lem0nhead]

M12 LRV Warthog [UNSC]
Possession • Vehicle • Warthog
Armor: 8
Crew: Driver, Gunner, Passenger.
Bearers must be [UNSC] companions.
Gunner is strength +3 and damage +1.
Skirmish: Exert driver to wound a non-sniper minion.
"The M12 light reconnaissance vehicle, or Warthog, is the standard vehicle of the UEG armed forces."
1C?

Sounds a good mechanic though im skeptical about the hog taking wounds as its occupants do.

•Pvt. Riley, Over-anxious Marine [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Sarge
Marine.
Each time Riley wins a skirmish, you may remove .
"‘Aren't so tough now, ya #$&*@! monster!'"
1C?

Ok.

•Chips Dubbo, ‘Hog Gunner [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Signet: Master Chief
Star: Silver
Marine.
While bearing a Warthog, Chips Dubbo is strength +2.
While you can spot a Spartan II, Chips Dubbo may not take wounds (except during skirmishes).
"‘Mate, nice ‘n' smooth now. Give me an angle.'"
1U?

Cool.

•Pfc. Fitzgerald, Brave Gunner [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Signet: Sarge
Marine.
While you can spot Master Chief, Fitzgerald gains the Master Chief signet.
Fitzgerald is strength +1 for each [Covenant] minion in his skirmish.
While Fitzgerald is a gunner, he is defender +1.
"‘Sergeant Johnson said you could use a gunner....I'm your man, Chief! Let's roll.'"
1R?

Sound.

[DáinIronfoot]

Just one review? I'd prefer a couple more--at least on the vehicle concept--before moving on....

[lem0nhead]

And its the old faithful one you will ALWAYS get as minimum

AD's TLHH access is sporadic at best, ML is just random, CG isnt on all the time, Thran doesnt follow Halo (at least i dont think he does) and SoP would reveiw im sure but appears to be missing.

[DáinIronfoot]

Yeah, where HAS SoP been the last few days. I've seen him pop off a post here, a post there, but it's been very infrequent the last couple days. Guess he's just *GASP* busy with real life stuff.

And here I thought SoP was literally hooked into the computer every afternoon.

[MR. Lurtzy]

Alright, I dropped the cost of the Assault Rifle to and the Rocket Launcher to , dropping sniper (which I think I'll save for our Halo 2 sets ). Thanks for the many reviews, guys...the will fly!

Alright, as much as you might be able to tank the Chief out, chances are you do NOT want him doing this all on his own. So who you gonna call? No, not the Ecto 1 full of Ghostbusters. How about a Warthog full of marines, instead? Hurrah!

M12 LRV Warthog [UNSC]
Possession • Vehicle • Warthog
Armor: 8
Crew: Driver, Gunner, Passenger.
Bearers must be [UNSC] companions.
Gunner is strength +3 and damage +1.
Skirmish: Exert driver to wound a non-sniper minion.
"The M12 light reconnaissance vehicle, or Warthog, is the standard vehicle of the UEG armed forces."
1C?
Fine.

Ah, the Warthog...probably the second biggest star of the Halo series. What better way to introduce vehicles in Halo TCG?

Alright, here's how this works. Vehicles replace mounts, though it's not usually QUITE that simple, of course. You see, several vehicles can bear more than one character...the Warthog being probably the most common example. It can bear, just as in the video game, a driver, a passenger, and a gunner.

The driver obviously drives, and is the only person required for the vehicle to be used...hence the reason it's in italics. On vehicle cards in Halo TCG, only characters in italics are required for that vehicle to be used; the rest are optional. The driver gets a nifty little ability in this ctase (which bascially represents running over minions, one of my favorite things about it in the game ), but that is not always (or even usually) the case. In fact, drivers usually get the shaft, in that they cannot attack. They can be assigned to skirmishes, yes, but they bascially only defend. If they "win" a skirmish by having higher strength than minion(S) skirmishing them, the minions take NO wounds, since the driver isn't shooting...he's busy driving! If the minion(S) wins, however, then the driver still takes his lumps. Stinks, but that's obviously not why one would knowingly stuff their characters into vehicles.

See, the REAL benefit of using a multi-character vehicle is usually what it does for your gunner. In this case, of course, the benefits are obvious: strength +3 AND a damage bonus. That's what I'm talking about! Your poor passenger normally doesn't get any real benefits from riding along, though there ARE exceptions (as we'll see below in a minute).

So bascially, a vehicle is a mount that can be borne by more than one companion at once. In the actual card game, I would envision the companions being stacked underneath the vehicle rather than the other way around, looking like the vehicle is bearing them, but I guess that would be up to players.

Anyway, only two more items of note. First off, notice that the card type doesn't end with "Possession • Vehicle", but goes one further to include "Warthog". This is the vehicle's "class"...sort of like its race, if they had such things. The other thing to point out is the armor number. This will appear on nearly every vehicle, and basically respresents the vehicle's vitality. Since a vehicle normally doesn't directly take "wounds", though, this is normally affected by the characters bearing it. For example, if a driver, gunner, or passenger in that vehicle takes a wound, the armor of the vehicle is also reduced by 1. So if all three took a wound on a particular turn, the vehicle's armor would be reduced by a total of 3. This does NOT work in reverse, though...if a character bearing a vehicle heals, that has no affect on the vehicle. There ARE ways to repair vehicles, but not through such methods. Healing ain't repairing.

If you have any questions or complaints, log them here or via PM. Otherwise, let's get to some folks you can jam into our new toy.

•Pvt. Riley, Over-anxious Marine [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Sarge
Marine.
Each time Riley wins a skirmish, you may remove .
"‘Aren't so tough now, ya #$&*@! monster!'"
1C?
No complaints.

Well, alright, he doesn't really have anything to do with vehicles. But I wanted to toss in more than just the two guys below, so sue me.

•Chips Dubbo, ‘Hog Gunner [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Signet: Master Chief
Star: Silver
Marine.
While bearing a Warthog, Chips Dubbo is strength +2.
While you can spot a Spartan II, Chips Dubbo may not take wounds (except during skirmishes).
"‘Mate, nice ‘n' smooth now. Give me an angle.'"
1U?
You could prolly up his strength to 6.

Odd name, I know, but blame Bungie--the makers of the Halo games--not me. This is the Aussie marine, by the way, and he IS your gunner at a couple different points throughout Halo CE. Best part about his text: his strength bonus isn't limited to him being a gunner. He is strength +1 even while a passenger, giving you a little more incentive to not leave that extra Warthog seat empty.

•Pfc. Fitzgerald, Brave Gunner [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 5
Vitality: 3
Signet: Sarge
Marine.
While you can spot Master Chief, Fitzgerald gains the Master Chief signet.
Fitzgerald is strength +1 for each [Covenant] minion in his skirmish.
While Fitzgerald is a gunner, he is defender +1.
"‘Sergeant Johnson said you could use a gunner....I'm your man, Chief! Let's roll.'"
1R?
Groovy.

And this guy obviously makes an ideal gunner, especially against [Covenant] minions. As a gunner, he can take on two at a time, and he's strength +1 for each in addition to whatever benefits he gets from being a gunner. Not bad, eh?

[sickofpalantirs]

so if armor is reduced to zero it blows up? and by bearing a vehicle does that mean driving it? or if you were gunner would you be bearing it? as in chip dubbos case...so confused.

and chip should be 6 IMSO
also cut fitzes second ability IMSO

[AgentDrake]

Hey, sorry I haven't reviewed yet... busy past few days, what with my cousin's wedding being today.

Anyhow, I'm sorta wary of the whole vehicle concept-- seems a bit too complicated, and I'm sorta confused on how transferring would work. Ie, say Chips was the driver, and you wanted to make him passenger, or something. Or if you wanted to add a companion to the vehicle later on. What, if any, cost would there be? Twilight of companion to transfer them to the vehicle, twilight of vehicle to transfer it to the companion, or what?
Given those questions, it's pretty nice. Like it.

Chips, I think, could be strength 5 or 6. I'd go with 5 for uniformity, and he gets a strength bonus fairly easily, anyway... +5 combined strength bonus and damage +1 if he's gunner, and +2 if he's just sitting there, which is nice.

[DáinIronfoot]

I changed Fitzgerald to require spotting a couple [UNSC] companions, which will prevent you from splashing him and his potential defender in with, say, [Covenant] companions that we'll get to down the road.

Anyhow, I'm sorta wary of the whole vehicle concept-- seems a bit too complicated, and I'm sorta confused on how transferring would work. Ie, say Chips was the driver, and you wanted to make him passenger, or something. Or if you wanted to add a companion to the vehicle later on. What, if any, cost would there be? Twilight of companion to transfer them to the vehicle, twilight of vehicle to transfer it to the companion, or what?
Given those questions, it's pretty nice. Like it.

The transferring cost is something I hadn't considered. What do you think would be fair? A standard or , or the cost of the vehicle/companion? Personally, I think or would be good, since some vehicles can get pretty expensive, and it seems to me unfair to pay for most marines and for, say, Master Chief. Transferring would still be limited to the company phase, regardless. Otherwise it's like trying to switch at 50 mph.

If that's the only beef with the concept, then I think we're good to move on, eh?

I've been itching to get to everyone's favorite Halo-series marine, so here he is. But why stop with him? Here's part of his (ultimately ill-fated) squad from Halo: Combat Evolved while we're at it. Enjoy!

•Sgt. Johnson, Sarge [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Keyes
Star: Gold
Marine. To play, add a threat.
Each unwounded marine bearing a ranged weapon is damage +1.
[Flood] cards cannot discard Johnson.
"‘I don't have time for your lip, soldier! I gave you an order.'"
1R?

Obviously very powerful, turning armed marines into potential beatsticks. He's also tougher for [Flood] cards to touch; you don't know it yet, but there ARE a couple of [Flood] cards that can discard companions outright. Is he TOO good? I had considered making that marine-boosting text only work at battlegrounds intead of on unwounded marines instead, if you think that would be better.

•Sgt. Johnson, Seasoned Veteran [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Sarge
Star: Gold
Marine. While bearing a ranged weapon, Johnson is damage +1.
Each time a [Covenent] event is played, Johnson is strength +1 until the regroup phase.
"‘I'm too pretty to die!'"
1U?

A more normal Johnson; again, you don't know it yet, but several versions of him can become damage +1 under the right circumstances. This one obviously makes [Covenant] players tremble a bit too, which is something fans of the games know is pretty appropriate for Johnson.

•Jenkins, Pvt. Wallace A. Jenkins [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Sarge
Marine.
Skirmish: Exert Jenkins (twice if skirmishing a [Flood] minion) to cancel a skirmish involving him.
"‘There are too many, Sarge!'"

Oddly-named, I know, but those who have read Halo: The Flood might have a clue as to why. They'd also understand why he's not quite as effective against the Flood.

•Pfc. Bisenti, Cautious Marine [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 2
Signet: Sarge
Marine. Enduring. When you play Bisenti, you may remove a threat.
At the start of each regroup phase, heal Bisenti.
"‘I got a bad feeling about this....'"

That lore will probably tell people who have played Halo: Combat Evolved who this is. If not, just think the video the Chief watches before we meet the Flood for the first time...should be enough to jog your memory. As for the actual card, I thought having some fun with enduring would make this guy a nice (albeit rare) 2-vitality candidate. Damage-bonused minions are not his friend, but otherwise he's pretty tough.

[AgentDrake]

Anyhow, I'm sorta wary of the whole vehicle concept-- seems a bit too complicated, and I'm sorta confused on how transferring would work. Ie, say Chips was the driver, and you wanted to make him passenger, or something. Or if you wanted to add a companion to the vehicle later on. What, if any, cost would there be? Twilight of companion to transfer them to the vehicle, twilight of vehicle to transfer it to the companion, or what?
Given those questions, it's pretty nice. Like it.

The transferring cost is something I hadn't considered. What do you think would be fair? A standard or , or the cost of the vehicle/companion? Personally, I think or would be good, since some vehicles can get pretty expensive, and it seems to me unfair to pay for most marines and for, say, Master Chief. Transferring would still be limited to the company phase, regardless. Otherwise it's like trying to switch at 50 mph.

Well, you've only got one numbered attribute of the vehicle as it is (Armor)....
Maybe throw on another twilight cost icon beneath that for an "aid cost" type thing? In fact, that could potentially expand to cover other cards as well.... a transfer cost independent of the original cost. Just a thought. Otherwise, I'd say sounds good.

If that's the only beef with the concept, then I think we're good to move on, eh?

I've been itching to get to everyone's favorite Halo-series marine, so here he is. But why stop with him? Here's part of his (ultimately ill-fated) squad from Halo: Combat Evolved while we're at it. Enjoy!

•Sgt. Johnson, Sarge [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Keyes
Star: Gold
Marine. To play, add a threat.
Each unwounded marine bearing a ranged weapon is damage +1.
[Flood] cards cannot discard Johnson.
"‘I don't have time for your lip, soldier! I gave you an order.'"
1R?

Obviously very powerful, turning armed marines into potential beatsticks. He's also tougher for [Flood] cards to touch; you don't know it yet, but there ARE a couple of [Flood] cards that can discard companions outright. Is he TOO good? I had considered making that marine-boosting text only work at battlegrounds intead of on unwounded marines instead, if you think that would be better.

Unwounded seems good to me.

•Sgt. Johnson, Seasoned Veteran [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Sarge
Star: Gold
Marine. While bearing a ranged weapon, Johnson is damage +1.
Each time a [Covenent] event is played, Johnson is strength +1 until the regroup phase.
"‘I'm too pretty to die!'"
1U?

A more normal Johnson; again, you don't know it yet, but several versions of him can become damage +1 under the right circumstances. This one obviously makes [Covenant] players tremble a bit too, which is something fans of the games know is pretty appropriate for Johnson.

Nice.

•Jenkins, Pvt. Wallace A. Jenkins [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Sarge
Marine.
Skirmish: Exert Jenkins (twice if skirmishing a [Flood] minion) to cancel a skirmish involving him.
"‘There are too many, Sarge!'"

Oddly-named, I know, but those who have read Halo: The Flood might have a clue as to why. They'd also understand why he's not quite as effective against the Flood.

•Pfc. Bisenti, Cautious Marine [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 2
Signet: Sarge
Marine. Enduring. When you play Bisenti, you may remove a threat.
At the start of each regroup phase, heal Bisenti.
"‘I got a bad feeling about this....'"

That lore will probably tell people who have played Halo: Combat Evolved who this is. If not, just think the video the Chief watches before we meet the Flood for the first time...should be enough to jog your memory. As for the actual card, I thought having some fun with enduring would make this guy a nice (albeit rare) 2-vitality candidate. Damage-bonused minions are not his friend, but otherwise he's pretty tough.

Very nice. Actually, for a crummy cost 2 guy, Besenti's really nice. Maybe make him strength 5, though. With only 2 vitality, his survival is slightly... um... volatile but he's still really good anyway. Give him a gun and some other toys, and he's probably potentially too good for a 2-cost strength 6 with that healing. I dunno, though. See what others think.

[MR. Lurtzy]

•Sgt. Johnson, Sarge [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Keyes
Star: Gold
Marine. To play, add a threat.
Each unwounded marine bearing a ranged weapon is damage +1.
[Flood] cards cannot discard Johnson.
"‘I don't have time for your lip, soldier! I gave you an order.'"
1R?
He should be damage +1 normally. His first ability doesn't really seem to fit, possibly wound each flood minion at the start of each of his skirmishes?

•Sgt. Johnson, Seasoned Veteran [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Sarge
Star: Gold
Marine. While bearing a ranged weapon, Johnson is damage +1.
Each time a [Covenent] event is played, Johnson is strength +1 until the regroup phase.
"‘I'm too pretty to die!'"
1U?
No complaints.

•Jenkins, Pvt. Wallace A. Jenkins [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Sarge
Marine.
Skirmish: Exert Jenkins (twice if skirmishing a [Flood] minion) to cancel a skirmish involving him.
"‘There are too many, Sarge!'"
Eh, doesn't seem to fit.

•Pfc. Bisenti, Cautious Marine [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 2
Signet: Sarge
Marine. Enduring. When you play Bisenti, you may remove a threat.
At the start of each regroup phase, heal Bisenti.
"‘I got a bad feeling about this....'"

Nice.

[sickofpalantirs]

it seems like jenkins should have some way to get defender...IDK

[lem0nhead]

•Sgt. Johnson, Sarge [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Keyes
Star: Gold
Marine. To play, add a threat.
Each unwounded marine bearing a ranged weapon is damage +1.
[Flood] cards cannot discard Johnson.
"‘I don't have time for your lip, soldier! I gave you an order.'"
1R?

I think Flood cards should be totally useless against him as he is completely immune to them. I.e. Cannot use skirmish special abilities in fights with the sarge etc... I think this guy is great.

•Sgt. Johnson, Seasoned Veteran [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Sarge
Star: Gold
Marine. While bearing a ranged weapon, Johnson is damage +1.
Each time a [Covenent] event is played, Johnson is strength +1 until the regroup phase.
"‘I'm too pretty to die!'"
1U?

For consistency and correctness it should be Sgt. Johnson in gametext not just Johnson. Or is this how youre working your cards?

•Jenkins, Pvt. Wallace A. Jenkins [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Sarge
Marine.
Skirmish: Exert Jenkins (twice if skirmishing a [Flood] minion) to cancel a skirmish involving him.
"‘There are too many, Sarge!'"

Haha this captures the essence awesomely. I like. Perfect way of incorporating his flood infected form.

•Pfc. Bisenti, Cautious Marine [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 2
Signet: Sarge
Marine. Enduring. When you play Bisenti, you may remove a threat.
At the start of each regroup phase, heal Bisenti.
"‘I got a bad feeling about this....'"

Where is his rarity? Interesting card...

[DáinIronfoot]

For consistency and correctness it should be Sgt. Johnson in gametext not just Johnson. Or is this how youre working your cards?

I opted to break with the norm and drop their "rank" in the text of cards. Hope that's not a problem.

Okay, today we do both versions of the marine Johnson most likes to mess with, the Hispanic marine known as Mendoza. He has the most speaking parts in both the game and novel version of Johnson's team's first encounter with the Flood, so if you think back on that serious plot twist, you can probably picture him. If not, just proceed anyway. Enjoy!

•Pfc. Mendoza, Cracker [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Keyes
Marine.
Company: If at an installation, exert Mendoza and discard your [UNSC] condition to make the move limit +1. Limit once per turn.
"‘I'll try, sir. But it looks like these Covenant worked pretty hard to lock it down.'"
1C?

No, the subtitle has nothing to do with race or slurs. Mendoza is essntially the team's tech specialist, and it is therefore Mendoza that cracks open the door imprisoning the Flood that the Covenant (and the Forerunners before them) had worked so hard to lock down. Hence the "techy" ability here.

•Pfc. Mendoza, Tough Hombre [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Master Chief
Marine.
While at a battleground, Mendoza is strength +1 for each wounded minion in his skirmish.
While you can spot more minions than companions, Mendoza is defender +1.
"‘Yo, this is loco!'"
1R?

And here's the pure fighting version, with a subtitle, once again, to match his text.

[Elf_Lvr]

•Pfc. Mendoza, Cracker [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Keyes
Marine.
Company: While at an installation, exert Mendoza and discard your [UNSC] condition to make the move limit +1. Limit once per turn.
"‘I'll try, sir. But it looks like these Covenant worked pretty hard to lock it down.'"
1C?

Fine.

•Pfc. Mendoza, Tough Hombre [UNSC]
Companion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Signet: Master Chief
Marine.
While at a battleground, Mendoza is strength +1 for each wounded minion in his skirmish.
While you can spot more minions than companions, Mendoza is defender +1.
"‘Yo, this is loco!'"
1R?

No problemo.

[MR. Lurtzy]

Both are fine.