Monster Steps 10: Despoilers

And for my final bit of RISE content. Let us say farewell to a wonderful block!

Anyone who was at GenCon probably saw me with a camera in my hand and lots of cords hanging off of me.  Yes, not only am I the n00btastic writer of Monster Steps, I am also the ‘video guy’ for Team Covenant.  And as such I spent many hours of my life editing and perfecting the MonPoc Masters Tournament.  So I don’t know if it was spending so much time watching Zor-Macros win, or just an innate love for Galaxius, but I have to say, I love my morpher!

I have fielded the mighty green morpher about three, maybe four, times now and had a blast every time!  I hear the term “synergy” thrown around a lot and know the definition quite well.  But I have never actually experienced it.  That is, until one game against the PE morpher, Vorgax (played by TC’s own Steven Wooley).

Near the beginning of the game, I had secured a radar array deep in my powerbase.  Basic MonPoc ranged army 101 stuff.  Then, Steven came in and soft disrupted (another move showcased in the MonPoc Masters video) that building.  And like the Masters, his unit was just insignificant enough to not make me want to waste a combined attack or a monster action to get rid of it.  However, without that radar array my tossing morpher would be just out of range, even with steps, to have enough A-dice to send one of Steven’s guys into a nearby Crystalline Building.  Crap, good move Steven.

Or was it.

I looked down at my morphers and realized that one of them had red radar AND logistics then I looked and sure enough, the morpher with toss could move up get radar and give Steven a one way ticket to Spire town.  I rolled.  It worked.  Very cool.  I could get used to this.

Later that game I was knocked out of my Ultra, Steven and I had three health points between us, and for the win I was able to combine attack blast/toss Steven into a building.

I have to say I heard a lot of trash talk on the morphers when they first came out, but dang I really like them.  So much so that I kinda wanna keep playing with them even after NOW! comes out.  I know, I know, crazy right.

BUT THAT’S NOT WHY I’M WRITING THIS

You may have thought so since I have spent the last 400 words talking about morphers and why I love them.  But no, its something much more serious…

Despoilers.

I told you this post was going to be a clearing house for RISE-related topics.  A pallet cleanser before we get to the new set, if you will.  And I personally have to get some things out of my system before we jump aboard the NOW! train.

So lets talk about those little walkers.  Now as far as I can tell no one loves these little guys (with the possible exception of A Little Odd’s Jason… but he is always a possible exception) and for good reason.  They are like hunters except ground bound.  And with just 2 A-die to throw there is very little use for sniper.  Which is why I don’t field them… I field the elites.

With the elites, you get that extra B-die, leadership (don’t matter), and most importantly red sniper.  So lets break this unit down.

Start with speed and defense.  With a 5/3 you can spawn and move this unit to just about whatever power point it needs to get to without much trouble.  With climb you should have this guy producing P-die first turn.  And with that 3 defense plus probable cover you are looking at a 4 defense.  A four defense?! Are you kidding me!!! That’s like double any other Martian unit.  So, unless your opponent really doesn’t like three legged units, that Despoiler is going to be sitting on that spot until you move him or the game is over.

So, ok, consistent P-Die producer, check.  Now as for attacking, 2*1 isn’t great but for a single unit with basically ranged weaken, its not bad.  And with long range it can take out any annoying little units that have set themselves up in places you would rather not see them.  And all for the low low price of 1 A-die (if you’re cheap).  If nothing else, they are a good use of that one leftover Action dice I sometimes find myself with.  Think of them as little turrets, insurance against any soft disruption that your opponent might throw at you.

P-Die production, check, disruption insurance, check.  Now, for the coup de grace.  Red sniper.  The Martians, if I may say so, are very situational.  Refuel on Power Pods, great if you are around, weaken and mire on Nullifier pods, awesome… as long as you can lure your opponent into range.  The Martians are like, to use a crude analogy, the FARK, they do well, but usually only because of well-placed mine fields.  So if you can increase the range of some of those “mines,” why wouldn’t you?  This, my friends is what red sniper does.  Sure, it’s situational.  But everything in the Martians arsenal is situational.  And a well placed Despoiler is like a 4 defense nullifier pod with up to seven range on its weaken.  Just park your monster of choice next to it and watch the other guy shake in fear.  Or not shake in fear, either way; you are going to be doing some harm to his monster.

An example:
Playing the morphers again, Steven in his Ultra form.  I really want to do some serious monster damage and realize I can toss his monster with one of my morphers into the range of one of my other morphers for a sweet combo.  However, the morpher in range for the second attack didn’t have that great of a blast rating so I moved him next to a conveniently placed despoiler (I usually run two) and with the -1 Def buff fired away.  I hit.  And the rest is history… or at least his monster was (oh snap),

So in conclusion:  Despoilers, while ground bound are another great tool in any Martian’s arsenal, to be ranked up there with both the ‘Pods.  Maybe even higher since Despoilers can actually kill something… and stay alive while doing it.  Sure they are situational, but what Martian unit isn’t.  Now, I just can’t wait to see how they play with the new block!

Till then!!