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[Kashyyk]

Whilst the Peltasts are somewhat generic, they're a solid design. However I don't think we have the problem they are trying to solve. The magic-resistant shield is good, but we do already have javelin wielding skirmishers in the Hussars. Javelins are shorter range than anything else in play and the extra stopping power they have is not worth it over an equivalent weight of arrows when the heaviest things the Demons have are Cryptarii. They'll trash a Cultist Shield Wall, but that should be a side benefit after taking out heavy Infantry/cavalry, not the main focus.

Quarque raised concerns about the oddness of Crabfolk wielding swords. So, here's an alternate version, using the much more thematic "battle scissors".

Spoiler: Crabfolk Warriors - Clawstus version (click to show/hide)

The reefs and tide pools around our island are naturally teeming with life, and one such species that graces our coast is the Fiddler Crab, a curiosity for its one oversized claw used in ritualistic combat and communication. After a throng of them saluted Muu during one of her walks of the Isle, she took it upon herself to help them apply their loyalty to Good.

And so is born the Crabfolk. Short and squat, they come up to mid-chest on a cultist. Athough they can raise themselves up on their hind legs to stand over a human, doing so would expose their soft underbelly, and thus they much prefer offering the hard and rounded carapace on their back/head.

Still retaining their large and impressive Claw on one arm, carapace here is thick, wide and tall, and can be used to protect the owner like a tower shield. Of course, its still a large and powerful claw when needed. The secondary claw is enhanced for dexterity and grip, allowing them to perform almost as well as the fleshy digits of a human.

To enhance their natural pincer abilities, the crabfolk wield a unique weapon in the secondary claw. Reminiscent of a pair of thin steel short-swords, the two blades open and close with the wielders claw. When closed, the weapon can be thrust and swung like a sword, or be used a set of shears to sever spears, limbs or foolish champions and the hope they represent.

In combat, crabfolk warriors form hardened and well-trained blocks of Infantry that slowly but surely advance through enemy lines, weathering attacks with carapace as hard as steel. Naturally, they are an Uncommon yet solid component of our main battleline.

Akhlut (Superheavy Cavalry): (1) m1895
Catspaws (Influence/crime against humanity): (3) TricMagic, m1895, Happerry
Incandescent Flames (Spell): (2) Madman, Kashyyk
Rainbow Starshower (2): TricMagic, Happerry
 - Use Amber Token (2): TricMagic, Happerry
Rain of Crabs (1): Quarque
Crabfolk Warriors (2): Quarque, Madman
Crabfolk Warriors - Clawstus Version (1): Kashyyk

I'm not opposed to a different ranged combat Spell this turn, I saw a Rainbow Starsword in the discord that had promise, as well as that Ripping Tide Spell.

[Quarque]

Akhlut (Superheavy Cavalry): (1) m1895
Catspaws (Influence/crime against humanity): (3) TricMagic, m1895, Happerry
Incandescent Flames (Spell): (2) Madman, Kashyyk
Rainbow Starshower (2): TricMagic, Happerry
 - Use Amber Token (2): TricMagic, Happerry
Rain of Crabs (1): Quarque
Crabfolk Warriors (1): Madman
Crabfolk Warriors - Clawstus Version (2): Kashyyk, Quarque

[Madman198237]

Whilst the Peltasts are somewhat generic, they're a solid design. However I don't think we have the problem they are trying to solve. The magic-resistant shield is good, but we do already have javelin wielding skirmishers in the Hussars. Javelins are shorter range than anything else in play and the extra stopping power they have is not worth it over an equivalent weight of arrows when the heaviest things the Demons have are Cryptarii. They'll trash a Cultist Shield Wall, but that should be a side benefit after taking out heavy Infantry/cavalry, not the main focus.

I'll move this over from Discord so as to keep the discussion readable in the thread:

Sure, javelins are short ranged, but that doesn't matter as much when you're advancing under cover of a spell-absorbing shield wall. And it's still an option that this unit has even if it's shorter ranged than archers may be, it still matters. Stopping power matters when the enemy has shields, and also it's OK to kill something a bit more. Javelins are a way to give an effective ranged option to a unit that doesn't spend all its training on using bows, and provide an option if the enemy does ever deploy anything nasty. They'll trash a cultist shield wall as a consequence of being better than cultist spears regardless, but everything does it's part of the plot. This unit, with javelins, spears, and swords, can capably stand against cavalry or hostile heavy infantry, but is more flexible than the pike unit I want to revise. If we revise cultist spears into chaff pikes then we do suddenly have the issue they're historically designed to fill, and even if we don't they give us a unique capability on the field; that being spell-resistant warriors with the ability to actually fight, without issues of cowardice, skill-less-ness, lack of armor, etc.

I guess my argument can be boiled down to: Instead of heavy infantry who hold the line and do little else, we can use pikes and a flexible, multirole unit that can affect the whole battlefield instead of being useful mostly for the dead center. We get more capabilities by far, a neat army composition not typically seen in ARs, and style points.

The loss of the incongruous sword definitely helps the Crabfolk and my preference remains "PLEASE NOT CATPEOPLE WHY".

Akhlut (Superheavy Cavalry): (1) m1895
Catspaws (Influence/crime against humanity): (3) TricMagic, m1895, Happerry
Incandescent Flames (Spell): (2) Madman, Kashyyk
Rainbow Starshower (2): TricMagic, Happerry
 - Use Amber Token (2): TricMagic, Happerry
Rain of Crabs (1): Quarque
Crabfolk Warriors - Clawstus Version (3): Kashyyk, Quarque, Madman

[Quarque]

Uncommon spell, uses Amber token

Myth has it that deep below the surface dwells the Dragon Turtle. Some say it is a monstrosity created by Good in wars long past, some say it is a forgotten Angel. Only Muu might know the truth, but she is silent on the subject.

Through a ritual long forgotten, skilled spellcasters can summon the Battle Roar from this mythical being. It is a low, rumbling noise that will send lesser enemies into a panic. Allied units, however, will feel a surge of power flow through their body. They will temporarily become strong and agile beyond belief. Ordinary cultists affected by this spell have been witnessed to punch enemies above their weight to death with their bare hands. The Hussars of Muu become exceptionally deadly when they charge under influence of the Roar. And when a champion like the Good Doctor hears the call from the depths, all you will see is a blur and a trail of dead enemies.

Akhlut (Superheavy Cavalry): (1) m1895
Catspaws (Influence/crime against humanity): (3) TricMagic, m1895, Happerry
Incandescent Flames (Spell): (2) Madman, Kashyyk
Rainbow Starshower (2): TricMagic, Happerry
 - Use Amber Token (2): TricMagic, Happerry
Crabfolk Warriors - Clawstus Version (3): Kashyyk, Quarque, Madman
Roar of the Dragon Turtle (1): Quarque

Motivation:
We invested heavily into strong units. On second thought, I think that a spell that can buff up all of them would be very effective right now, more so than a direct damage or summoning spell.
If someone wants to design a different type of spell, I'd be willing to vote for that too.

[TricMagic]

Akhlut (Superheavy Cavalry): (1) m1895
Catspaws (Influence/crime against humanity): (2) , m1895, Happerry
Incandescent Flames (Spell): (2) Madman, Kashyyk
Rainbow Starshower (2): TricMagic, Happerry
 - Use Amber Token (2): TricMagic, Happerry
Crabfolk Warriors - Clawstus Version (4): Kashyyk, Quarque, Madman, TricMagic
Roar of the Dragon Turtle (2): Quarque, TricMagic

[m1895]

Eh fuck it. Not a fan of making another uncommon unit though, will probably have to dredge up and work on the rare heavy infantry design (seeing as people view the only other rare heavies as stepping on toes.)

Akhlut (Superheavy Cavalry): ()
Catspaws (Influence/crime against humanity): (2) , m1895, Happerry
Incandescent Flames (Spell): (2) Madman, Kashyyk
Rainbow Starshower (2): TricMagic, Happerry
 - Use Amber Token (2): TricMagic, Happerry
Crabfolk Warriors - Clawstus Version (4): Kashyyk, Quarque, Madman, TricMagic
Roar of the Dragon Turtle (3): Quarque, TricMagic, m1895

[Failbird105]

Not really a fan of most of the spell options so far, so I made my own. Combination of faster magic projectiles, big opening barrage, and artillery strikes from our Five-Points. I also very much don't want a non-damaging Spell to be our only non-default option.

Uses Amber Token

The concept of the Five-Point spells is deeply intriguing, and something that needs deeper experimentation. In particular, an intriguing concept came in the form of a Five-Point spell that makes direct use of the Star Witches mental link to create a modified variation of the base spell. And indeed the Amber does, eerily, expound on the idea of spells that can only be performed by five(specifically five) casters functioning in perfect harmony.

Shining Swordfall, on a surface level, is similar to Magic Missile. A simple magical projectile. It is in the deeper nature of the spell that the differences truly begin to show. Magic Missile is a rather inefficient spell, with far less power than the amount of magic needed to cast it would imply, simply a wad of 'raw' magic shot forward with force. Shining Swordfall fixes this inefficiency issue by using not 'raw' magic, but Light magic, shaped and condensed into the form of a brilliant sword of light.

Of course, if this was all it did, we wouldn't need nearly so much time and effort to create it. No, Shining Swordfall uses the increased efficiency of the swords to allow them to be formed and fired at a far greater rate. Estimates place it at twice the speed if not greater. From there, these swords are also able to be "stored", in a sense. A formed sword will not fire immediately, rather it will remain floating beside the user until they deign to fire. Though they require a concentrated effort to keep maintained in such a way, and we expect even our Star Witches are unlikely to be able to manage double digit numbers.

The Five-Point variation, however, is far different from the rest. With their minds and spirits united, the Star Witches weave their swords together as they channel and maintain not individual clusters, but one singular immense Shining Sword. The Shining Sword grows in size and power as the Star Witches continue to add more swords to its mass, until finally the group either chooses to release it, or simply cannot maintain concentration any longer. The immense blade of Light launches through the air, carving a wide path through the enemy until gravity finally brings it to a stop.

A unique quirk of the spell, that we imagine to be due to its particular Light alignment, is that every casters swords are a different color. This leads to the Shining Sword culminating in a brilliant, iridescent array of colors that swirl across its surface.

All in all, we fully expect this to be a fairly advanced spell to utilize, with the rapid formation and firing of the blades and the concentration required to maintain them. It is likely that this iteration will not be something our normal Acolytes will be able to manage. Not safely at the least. Yet we expect that its effectiveness will more than make up for the low number of users.

I do like the Crabfolk, however. Especially the new version of them.

Akhlut (Superheavy Cavalry): ()
Catspaws (Influence/crime against humanity): (2) , m1895, Happerry
Incandescent Flames (Spell): (2) Madman, Kashyyk
Rainbow Starshower (2): TricMagic, Happerry
 - Use Amber Token (2): TricMagic, Happerry
Crabfolk Warriors - Clawstus Version (5): Kashyyk, Quarque, Madman, TricMagic, Failbird
Roar of the Dragon Turtle (3): Quarque, TricMagic, m1895
Shining Swordfall (1): Failbird