First of all, I apologize for things being a bit quiet lately. Between heading back to work after the holidays, kids’ sports starting back up, and sickness, it’s been a hectic couple of weeks.
Second of all, I’d like to point out that everything in these previews (card text, numbers, stats, etc.) is subject to change, even after materials are released for people to playtest. For example, you’ll note some slightly different wording on Ironhide’s alt mode Ram ability compared to the wording on Optimus’s card that hopefully makes it a bit more clear and direct.
With all that said, let’s take a look at our second character and explore a little bit of my philosophy when it comes to combat in the game. If you haven’t already read about Optimus and the basic anatomy of a character card, it wouldn’t hurt to do so now.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time over the past few months rewatching G1 episodes for inspiration. Something that stood out in episode after episode is that ranged combat is mostly ineffective or unimportant.
Aside from a few particular moments, of course…
Still, most of the impactful fight scenes from the cartoon involve hand to hand combat and/or characters being thrown and/or objects being thrown at characters. Surely, the reasoning is that it’s a lot more visually exciting to have characters duking it out up close rather than hang back and pew-pew at each other. This is a concept that I’m also trying to spotlight in the game. Look for a future article to go into more detail about combat.
As such, Brawlers like Ironhide will want to be in the thick of combat. If you recall from the card anatomy article, my thinking for combat stats (Melee Attack, Ranged Attack, Armor) was that a value of 1 was “bad,” 2 was “average,” and 3 was “good.”
In Ironhide’s case, he’s average at shooting, but good at melee combat. On top of that, his “good” armor value of 3 and his slightly higher health compared to other typical Autobots (ie. Prowl has 6 health) means that he wants to be bustin’ Decepti-chops up close.
In the cartoon, Ironhide is also shown to be able to deploy a number of different gadgets to blast various chemicals for different purposes. In the game, this will manifest as Adhesive Blast, a once per game ability to limit the movement of the Decepticon boss.
Finally, Ironhide is often shown stepping in to take shots intended for other Autobots (Prime in particular). His old Transformers Universe profile even describes him as Prime’s bodyguard. This manifests in game as a way to absorb damage that would’ve been inflicted on his teammates. For any old X-Wing Miniatures Game players, this is heavily inspired by Biggs Darklighter’s pilot ability.
Remember, you can keep posted about additional preview articles and information on the Discord server, Facebook group and the website.
Wreck 'N Rule 