Warhawk

Alert

Control

Combat

Type

Power to Attack

Never Negotiates

As a leader, after contact, if the opponent deployed an envoy use this power to morph the opponent’s driver into a 00 attack pod. If you deployed an envoy, use this power to morph your driver into an M pod.

Legacy: Negotiate pods revealed as drivers are treated as 00 attack pods.

After spending so much time on the battlefield, the Warhawks don’t discern intent. The enemy is the enemy is the enemy. While they make no bones about their love for violence, some wonder if they simply struggle to distinguish red from green.

Leader: Contact

Mandatory

Wild Flare

During any warpfall, you may discharge this pod to scrap a negotiate pod and draft two pods.

Any: Warpfall

Super Flare

As a leader, after contact, if the opponent reveals an attack pod with might 08 or less, you may discharge this pod to morph it to a 00 attack pod.

Leader: Contact

Modifications

Minor phrasing to reduce the amount of text. My version of Warhawk works the same way as the original. Warhawk’s Ns become Ms, enemy Ns become 00s. Both leaders revealing Ns results in 00 on both sides.
The original super flare gives Warhawk compensation if it played a negotiate pod and loses. I gave it the ability to expand its attack power reduction beyond negotiate pods, hindering powers that modify attack pod values like Virus and Volt.
Warhawk’s legacy essentially takes negotiation off the table, causing all negotiate pods to become 00 attack pods after reveal. Diplomacy aliens find this one difficult to handle, making it unwise to defeat Warhawk in most circumstances. Aliens like Sorcerer and Healer, who normally have to worry about compensation but don’t need it themselves, can benefit the most from this one.

Tips

There is no point gunning for compensation against Warhawk unless you have a Cosmic Zap handy. Either aim to win or avoid investing too much in the encounter.
It is virtually impossible for Warhawk to make a deal without a special aspect that makes it work. Expect all of Warhawk’s encounters to be combat-oriented.
Warhawk can reserve its own N pods for when it has the ship advantage, requiring distress pods to make the difference.
When opposing Warhawk, try to maintain ship advantage at all times. Its ability to easily obtain morph pods is its biggest combat threat. Reinforcement pods can also be a major decision-maker.

Development Notes

Despite how it is advertised, it is possible for Warhawk to negotiate, pay, and receive compensation without its power getting deactivated. Empath cannot force it since Warhawk will always neutralize the Ns it creates, but Heart can turn Warhawk’s 00s back into Ns when acting as the defense. In addition, any flares that turn pods into negotiates and can be played after Warhawk’s power activates would do the job.
The interaction with Nanny is an interesting point of contention. It depends on what exactly Nanny’s power demands. If it requires an envoy, then Warhawk’s power prevents someone from being able to meet the requirements, which is no fun. If it requires the printed value to be a negotiate, then powers like Heart can’t influence it, which is also no fun. Ideally, I’d like it to work in both situations, but that can wait until I work on Nanny.
This is another kind of power that’s easy to understand but tricky to explain. The effect changes how the pods are treated but doesn’t actually change the value of the printed pod. It’s similar to Volt/Virus/Calculator in that regard, but it actually transforms the pod from one type to another: Either negotiate to attack or negotiate to morph. This also changes the nature of the fleet from envoy to brigade, which changes the nature of the encounter. And if I simply point that part out, it raises the question of how much might the new brigade has. It would be easy to assume 00 since ships have no might, but I still have to uniquely specify that Warhawk’s Ns become Ms, making it odd to mention one and not the other.
The most noteworthy means of undermining Warhawk’s power is the Therapist distress pod, which allows an alien to undo Warhawk’s power after the timing has already activated. In the original game, the Emotion Control could be used to force a negotiation, but I wanted to avoid such effects in my game since it could potentially result in a no-win scenario that no one can do anything about. Therapist distress pods are rare, so it’s nowhere close to the level of a Hand Zap for original Genius or a Warp Key for original Masochist.
Interestingly, Warhawk can be considered highly similar to Pacifist. It can obtain something close to an instant victory by playing a negotiate, as long as it can maintain the advantage in terms of ship count and reinforcements. Pacifist’s win condition is easier to meet, but its wins will be peaceful. Warhawk aims to kill.