Greetings everyone! Today we continue our in-depth look at the different program types in Aetherium with a focus on one of the Nanomei's key functions: Tov.
Functions are the second tier of program in the game. Individuals that can manifest as functions exceed the average user not only in skill and raw talent, but also in quality of the equipment available to link with the Aetherium. Functions are always comprised of a single model and act as powerful solo pieces that have a wide range of abilities. Some functions are blunt force pieces, while others act as support units that require a bit more finesse to use to best effect.
Tov is one of the two core Nanomei functions in the starter box, so let’s have a closer look.
Tov programs represent some of the most fanatical and wild members of the Nanomei. Many have an affinity for the flame, and can wield fire with lethal potential.
As a function, Tov has a Cycle Speed (CS) value of 5 - better than a subroutine, but not as high as an avatar. Tov has a decent attack profile so, on average, a player can expect him to do some work. His range is 3, which means that he is not going to throw “hail mary” molotovs across the schema, but he does not have to be right on top of his target either.
Tov really starts to cause your opponent problems with his other abilities. His disruption effect requires one disruption cog so, much like the Picketers, it is reasonably reliable. When the disruption triggers, the target suffers from “burnout,” which is ongoing fire damage that your opponent rolls for at the start of the target’s activation. If Tov rolls multiple disruption cogs, he can ignite multiple targets on fire further increasing his damage output.
His safeguard “for the cause” forces him to take an extra point of damage, but by doing so causes the attacker to suffer from 'burnout'. While this might not help keep Tov alive for very long, his stability grid tends to allow him to safely run this a few times during the game. Sometimes it will make your opponent think twice about attacking Tov, or only attack him with select programs.
Finally his .EXE, “firewall” allows a player to place 3 firewall tokens on the board. These are strategically significant because the firewalls block line of sight and hinder movement. When used correctly, a clever player can easily cut off the enemy, protect allies, block avenues of movement, and cause all sort of general nuisance. One of my favorite tactics is to use Tov's firewall to surround pylons or nodes that I control, and thus make the pylons harder for my opponent to reach or capture.