Weekly One Shot =51: Rise of the Robots

A nice straightforward set up: Omnitron II in Omnitron IV vs Omnitron U, Chrono-Ranger, Freedom 6 Unity, Freedom 6 Bunker and Freedom 6 Absolute Zero.

Not at all painful. Owwwwwwwww.

Mint but not an easy one. All heroes ended in single digits, Unity incapacitated. Unity’s incap ability to destroy devices is actually really useful though.

My 19-Mint streak (since my Fine on Ridiculous Challenge Time) has finally ended. Still got a Near Mint though.

Mint.

Just barely.

I squeaked it out--One key was HP adjusting toward the end (who was highest, who was lowest) with F6 Absolute Zero. He was able to make sure that Omnitron U was targeted by energy damage a couple of times with the Elemental Exochassis in play.

Another key was keeping Chrono-Ranger alive with his Hat so that the bounties stacked up (and re-applying them when the Flechettes take them out....twice). By Any Means and Ultimate Target on Cosmic Omnitron, a couple of other bounties scattered around, and Danny Boy hitting several targets.

F6 Unity went down mid-game, F6 Bunker went down shortly after, and F6 Absolute Zero was also incapped at the end.

On the last turn, Cosmic Omnitron sat at 31HP, Omnitron U was at 3HP and Chrono-Ranger at 2HP. Everyone else was knocked out. Between the villain and the environment, there were 4 drones in play. This would certainly be the last round. Omnitron U played a Plasma Cannon (alreday having an Innervation Ray out), and then used its power to trigger damage on destruction, playing another Plasma Cannon in the process. Chrono-Ranger got out a couple extra bounties with Sudden Contracts (for extra damage) and used Danny Boy to its usual effect. I think after Chrono-Ranger's turn, Cosmic Omnitron was at 21HP.

Then, Incapped F6 Unity allowed Omniton U to play that sweet, sweet Singularity. It destroyed all equipment (Cannon, Cannon, Ray, Exochassis, Hat, Boy), cleared the board of drones, and left Omnitron U standing as the only true singular Omnitron.

As it should be.

Holy crap, that’s brutal. So far I’ve died horribly once, and I have no idea how to do it better.

Yeah, I'm kind of waiting for someone to come up with a "do this and win". :B

Near Mint for me on this one, and the first game I tried certainly taught me one thing, there's a certain turn in this game when you do NOT want Cosmitron on his Dropship side. You WILL drown in drones and be utterly obliterated if that happens! Making sure that Omnitron-U always has a component out (preferably two, due to the damned environment) is your friend.

Also, Unity is almost utterly worthless in this game. She won't get anything that'll allow her to get bots in play without suiciding in time, and Cosmitrons back-to-back flechettes are just going to obliterate anything she does manage to make out of her own HP.

There is, however, *one* good thing Unity can contribute with. Hasty Augmentation + Chrono Ranger with Hunter and Hunted, a couple of bounties and the Compound Bow in play = a whole world of hurt for the cosmic killer robot! :)

Mint, even though I felt I did everything wrong.  Kept destroying components unnecessarily, and the dropship dropped about 5 drones in one particular turn.  However, I had just drawn a Singularity and Omnitron-U was already at 2 HP, so having him clear the board was a no-brainer.  I lost a lot of potential damage to the double Adaptive Subroutines, should have taken them out earlier, but Bunker cleared them with his incap ability.  Unity just went out in a blaze of glory, doing what damage she could before flipping and using her wonderfully useful incaps.  Finally it was down to AZ, the rest incapped, but with them giving him extra draws and plays and power uses and destroying Devices, he was actually in a really good place, healing himself for massive amounts every round and doing damage besides.  He finished with 6 HP, but that was after nuking himself repeatedly (about 14 fire damage in the last round) to bring Cosmitron down.

Near Mint.  Played the first game carelessly and got wiped quickly.  Second game ended with all heroes active, with 14 hp between them.

Keep Cosmitron on his front side as much as possible, as his energy damage really hurts.  The mecha-accumulators make it difficult, but if you kill them as they come out then eventually you will manage it.  (If you have only one component out, destroy that component as the mecha-accumulator's equipment destruction).  You will want to take the time to deal with the smaller drones, rather than focusing all fire on Cosmitron.  Also, nuke Omni's Defensive Plating Subroutines.  Two of them will come out, so don't wait.  There are also two Fletchettes in a row, so wait a turn after the first nukes you, if the second doesn't come out on the same turn.  Chrono-Ranger should grab his hat, then By Any Means and Ultimate Target.  Drop them fast - you'll get them back with Ranger's Marks (although your mileage may vary on that one, since CR shuffles so much).  Once the Fletchettes are past, drop Hunter and Hunted and start whaling.  Keep AZ as healthy as possible, and get your hits in where you can.  Draw lots with Unity.  Be cautious using her base power, but don't be afraid to drop a Platform Bot early to get some hits in.  Once Hunter and Hunted is out, Stealth Bot is brillant for helping CR live longer.  Bunker is useful for getting rid of Defensive Plating Subroutines, but mostly he just Flak Cannons.  I used a Temporal Grenade to get rid of the second Plating Subroutine.

Oh wow. Near Mint because I'm dumb and completely forgot that the secret to beating Cosmotron with Omnitron is keeping Components in play. And you're right, the Mechani-Acumulators the first couple rounds make this hard, but he can bounce back pretty well. Just keep in mind that AZ's Modules are expendable, Components are not, and you'll skate through. I finished with Unity the only one incapped (though no one had more than 3 HP). And yeah, once you can stack By Any Means and Ultimate Target, get Compounded Bow and Hunter and Hunted out, for 10 damage a round!

Here are my recommendations for how to win this one. 

never, ever let Cosmitron flip. You can still beat it if you do, but it is much harder. the key (I've found) is to purposefully leave Cosmitron's components in play, so that the mechanical accumulators will destroy them (as opposed to destroying Omnitron-U's components. 

I liked using chrono's displaced Armory to get the neurotoxin thrower ASAP.  It's a little counterintuitive if you (like me) prefer to grab the hat or bow as early as you can, but it is amazing for nullifying the interpolation beam... and you don't want to get rid of those components by doing too much, too fast.  That ensures that the initial Accumulator is stripping components from Cosmitron (I prefer the disintegration ray), as opposed to Omni-U.  Turn 2, I really liked putting Kill On Sight on the Accumulator, to give chrono more options.

Don't sacrifice Omnitron-u's components to the accumulators. I like to use Bunker, since he starts with Decommissoned Hardware so you can recover.

Unity is more useful incapped. Ideally, you want her to go down after her second turn, but before turn 3. I tend to get out a platform bot and then a bee bot on turn 2 to help clear away the adaptive platings (using Bunker to remove the other one ASAP).

This is because...

Round 3 is CRUCIAL. If you keep Cosmitron from flipping, you are going to get hit with back-to-back sedative flechettes. It's horrible... but you CAN recover. Here's how to do it. 

Omni-U will lose its components, even if you have a plating out. Use the damage from their destruction to help incap Unity, who will likely be on her last legs. 

Omni-U, use your power to get a component in hand ASAP! 

Chrono, get your hat out.  If Unity is still up, you need to take her out.  If she is already down, start piling bounties on Cosmitron- you'll be spending the putting Hunter and Hunted out next turn, and escalating with more bounties whenever possible.

Unity... I'm sorry, but it was for the Greater Good (the greater good).  You are going to help people play cards off-turn to help set up (in this case, get that recovered component out ASAP!!! DON'T let Cosmitron flip!!!)

Bunker, build your arsenal back up, shoot stuff, and soak damage.  Rely on the others to help increase you damage, help you set up (let Unity play your Gatling gun), and use a battery once you've got your gun and heavy plating to get more options.

AZ, hopefully no one sacrificed your equipment to the accumulators.  Get yourself set up and tank.  Use yiur Thermal Shockwave carefully- I don't know about you, but I'm always paranoid about my calculations!

AZ being incapped is also helpful since it stops the environment.

I have found a way to win on Omnitron-U's fifth turn. I think I'll share it on Sunday so that other people can try to win this one legit. It's a rather fun finish, I must say.

As promised, here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GsfND5gxoM

Got it with Near Mint. It was difficult, but manageable. Still not as hard as Frontier Justice or When it Rains.