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Rookie Aquaman (Icons #025)

This was a nice sculpt, but it’s specifically of the then-veteran Aquaman with the watery left hand, not the green-gloved classic rookie. I decided to fix that.

Somehow I missed talking about this one earlier in the series, even though it was done well before my ambitious Experienced Aquaman modification. Probably because it’s such a minimal repaint:

  • Used a Sharpie to color his briefs black.
  • Painted in green gloves with Testors enamel.


Completed 2007. Next week, I finally wrap up this feature with a sexier —  if even more minimal than this week’s — repaint.

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Heroclixin’s photographic record of Super-Strength characters who can hold their own object tokens continues! Today we’re looking at the master of Apokolips, Darkseid:

See how it wedges (barely) between his chin and the clear plastic oval of his flight stand thingy.

Be back next Tuesday for another edition of Token Totin’!

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So there was a 1200-point Modern Age game coming up soon, and I had a dilemma. SO many of my favorite themes and builds can’t be done in the Modern format, thanks to the recent (and somewhat premature, in my opinion) retirement of Avengers, Justice League, Mutations & Monsters and Crisis sets.

With the loss of Spectre, Black Adam, Liberty Belle and Black Canary, my Modern Age Justice Society build tops out at around 950 points. Where I once could mount a formidable Iron Campaign of Tony Stark-designed suits, I’m now stuck between severe underbuild (over 80 points!) and overbuild. Even the Wonder Woman phase I’m going through doesn’t add up well…not until I can get the 190-point convention exclusive in my hands. In the meantime, I have to fill with generic Amazons, but not enough to satisfy my appetite to swarm.

Maybe I could run all my GSX Sentinels again, this time at full power? BZZZT!…they cost 1300 points. Atlantis? AAAGH. 900 points. Legion of Super-Heroes? Only TWO Modern Age pieces now…can’t even build a 300-point team without doubling up on one of the worst figs in the game.

And it just goes on and on like this. Other faves are too inexpensive, and I’m just not interested in running another Green Lantern Gravity Feed team or Avengers or X-Men team.

So, I said, screw theme. I’m just playing my FAVORITES!

Groot 152
Namor (Secret Invasion) 150
Aquaman (Brightest Day) 105
Wonder Woman (DC75th) 100
Star-Lord 90
Batman (DC75th) 77
Mysterio (Web of Spider-Man) 75
Armor 66
Rocket Racer 60
Rorschach 57
Impulse (DC75th) 49 -or- The Spot 51
Madrox (Giant-Size X-Men) 44
Madrox (Giant-Size X-Men) 44
Molly Hayes 43
Robin (Brave + Bold) 43
Night Nurse 27

I wound up playing four games with this team over the weekend, finishing with an overall 2-2 record (the first being an untimed casual match and the other three in a tournament). But rather than chronicle the actual matches, I’ll simply talk about each character’s performance:

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Aquaman (Brightest Day)

Did well as a taxi and frightfully powerful clean-up hitter. But he really needed to be a more front-line fighter and always took too long to get in the fight. The lack of objects for his Super-Strength by the time he could fight was a liability.

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Armor

Soooo key for my weaker pieces with her 18 Defend. It’s no coincidence that my worst loss involved her getting one-shotted.

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Batman (DC75th) 77

Love that Smoke Cloud Maneuver, even though he was KO’d in half the matches. Took too long for him to really get in the mix. Like BD Aquaman, I should have leveraged that solid 11 AV sooner.

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Groot

His slow movement made him more like mobile blocking terrain + Yellow Lantern caretaker than the deadly brick he should have been. He was never KO’d in a game but never scored any in turn, either.

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Impulse (DC75th) 

Only played in 3 of the 4 games, Impulse just couldn’t get any speed going in the two losses.

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Madrox (Giant-Size X-Men) 

Purely for support, they never got the dupe rolls or a shot at Flurry.

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Molly Hayes

She was thoroughly inactive in the two losses, getting KO’d in one of them, but she scored two more KOs for my list: R Kang (Infinity Challenge) and Pretty Boy.

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Mysterio (Web of Spider-Man)

His Probability Control was the saving grace of my team. It’s telling that his LOF was often blocked in the two losses.

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Namor (Secret Invasion) 

Mighty as ever, except in the final crushing loss when he not only never made an attack, but didn’t even cause any damage via Aquaman’s “Undead Sea” trait when he was KO’d. That was a huge disappointment, as the last time I played the two sea kings together I’d forgotten to activate Aquaman’s trait.

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Night Nurse

An earlier build lacked this, my favorite LE from Web of Spider-Man. Having a medic was a great help in the two wins.

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Rocket Racer 

Despite taking early damage in most games, Rocket Racer seemed to survive every game. I perhaps should have used him more aggressively to tie-up in the last match.

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Robin (Brave + Bold)

Similarly, I think I held him back far too long. Using him to tie up enemies might’ve given my bigger melee fighters just enough time to save the day.
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Rorschach

Ended up being the main tie-up thanks to his ability to push.

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The Spot 

Only used him in the first game. The requirement of LOF for his SP made it too difficult to use, so I dropped him for Impulse.

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Star-Lord 

The sole ranged threat of my team, he truly delivered on his ability. With Defenders to back up his lame DV, he was worth every point.

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Wonder Woman (DC75th) 100

She also didn’t disappoint, hitting and carrying and lending her JSA TA to the wild card.

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Overall, this team is no good for tournament play. While it’s fine for untimed matches, too much of its muscle can’t get involved until too late. But any chance to run this many of my favorites is worth even getting smacked down. :)

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Sorry for the lack of an update yesterday. I’d intended to start a brand-new feature to replace my just-completed the year-long “My Custom Mods” feature. But not only have I been too sidetracked to get it ready, but I’ve recalled not one, but TWO extra repaints that I forgot the first time around! So look for a couple of bonus weeks of My Custom Mods.

Continuing the photographic record of Super-Strength characters who can hold their own object tokens, today we’re looking at Alloy from the DC Giants Collector Set:

Giants like him typically hold their objects well (if a bit unconventionally).

Be back Thursday for another edition of Token Totin’!

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Continuing the photographic record of Super-Strength characters who can hold their own object tokens, today we’re looking at Gennady Gavrilov, the Crimson Dynamo of Armor Wars:

 

See how you can squeeze the token between his head and shoulder pad?

Naturally, this also works for Gennady from the still-tournament-legal Iron Man Classics set.

Be back next Tuesday for another edition of Token Totin’!

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So I recently got a pair of the new Toys “R” Us Exclusive Sentinels and wanted to try them out in a tournament requiring all-fliers with range. My team:

Sentinel Mark V (Giant-Size X-Men #G02) 200
Sentinel Mark V (Giant-Size X-Men #G09) 150
Sentinel Mark II (Giant-Size X-Men #G08) 100
Experienced Sentinel Trooper (Ultimates) 25
+ Yellow Lantern 5
+Dynamostat 0
+Eleha’al Vine 0
=480 points.

FIRST, I faced Jay and his Green Lantern squad of Sinestro, Kilowog,Tomar Re and Abin Sur, all from the Green Lantern Gravity Feed set. He easily won map roll (thanks to Tomar’s trait) and picked Hawkworld.

Such an open map played to the Sentinels’ advantage. I took an early lead in this game and never looked back, eventually wiping out his team and losing only my 150-point Mark V and Trooper.

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SECOND, I faced guest Heroclixin’ writer Morrison, on my choice of the Prison map, and his armored team of War Machine (Hammer of Thor), Iron Man (Secret Invasion), Iron Man (Mutations & Monsters #200) and Batman (Arkham Asylum #016).

I know from running Iron Man teams that they’re great at range and I wanted to do all I could to mitigate that…hence, the map. Using the Dynamostat to block access to me until I was ready, I set up a phalanx of sorts that, while it blocked much of my own line of fire, still managed to focus Outwits and attacks on the Stark armors and limit his countermoves. I took down War Machine and FCBD Iron Man while SI Tony escaped with his life just barely seconds before I was about to make a surprise ranged attack that would likely have KOd him.

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FINALLY, I squared against Paul’s Gravity Feed Lanterns (Salaak, Ganthet and R’Amey Holl) and Fast Forces (Sinestro & Abin Sur). He picked Madripoor, a really difficult map for my 2×2 colossals to navigate.

I picked the dock side, to give the robots cover, before camping the 200-point Sentinel on the roof, the only other safe spot. My key

TURNING POINT

  • was a clutch crithit Psychic Blast that knocked Ganthet off his Outwit, giving me the advantage in countering powers.
  • Then, in the late game, after E Sentinel Trooper tied him up for an effective 3 full turns, Sinestro missed his would-be KO Charge on Mark V. That cost Sinestro his life.

Along with KOs of Abin and Salaak, I got the victory despite a potential comeback from Ganthet as time ran out.

The Sentinels…went 3-0.

Flush with victory, I started spinning the 100-point Sentinel’s dial to see how many clicks he had left, since in this game, he’d actually taken damage.

Kept turning.

And turning.

And then I thought: “This seems awfully long.”

Then I saw two clicks that I know aren’t on his 100-point dial.

I’d played the 100-point Sentinel on his 300-point dial! Arrrrrgh! Instant disqualification.

Frankly, the 100-level powers would’ve been better for my game. Front-loaded Psychic Blast > Incapacitate. But…my 3-0 instantly became 0-3. At least my opponents were cool about the mistake and actually somewhat relieved that they’d been playing at a 200-point handicap.

I also managed to trade for the Sentinel Mark II (Giant-Size X-Men #G01), so look for a future battle report featuring all four of the colossal mutant-hunting robots!

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Continuing the photographic record of Super-Strength characters who can hold their own object tokens, today we’re looking at the Namor of the Ultimate Marvel Universe:

 

Yeah, the pic’s blurry as all get-out. And no, you’re not likely to even ever play him over the far superior Secret Invasion Namor. But if you do (or, like me, just enjoy playing teams composed of every version of a particular character), now you know that he can tenuously hold an object token between his left waistline and water splash.

Be back Thursday for another edition of Token Totin’!

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WONDER WOMAN (Brave & Bold #018)

 

Recently, I played a team I called “Diana’s Wardrobe,” in which I tried to fit on a variation of every costume Wonder Woman’s worn in HeroClix. The only clix’d costume not represented is her current one because no one actually owns that figure yet (it’s debuting at GenCon in early August).

However, there is one WW costume that’s never been done in ‘clix…and, probably, never will: the early-90s “club-girl” outfit she wore when Artemis briefly replaced her as Wonder Woman.

I’m sorry, but I LOVED this outfit, 1990s-era jacket and all. And since I’ve got two of the BB WWs, and they feel “low-powered” enough to represent this time of her career, I decided to do my own repaint/resculpt:

  • Used hobby knife and file to remove details like WW’s boots and lasso.
  • Added globs of E-6000 glue to her torso and upper arms to form the jacket.
  • Used more E-6000 glue, pulled out into strands, to form hair.
  • Repainted her skin in acrylic paint.
  • Painted on the jacket in acrylics.
  • Used Testors enamel for her hair and clothes.
  • Used a combination of black india ink and red acrylics for new facial details.

Not too bad. There are a few details I could stand to add, such as the yellow trim on the jacket, or more black strappy stuff ’round her waist, but I think I’m good with this.

Done late spring 2011. With this, I’ve not only got all of Diana’s wardrobe (save the yet-to-be-released convention exclusive Wonder Woman THAT I WANT SO BAD), but I’ve completed this series on My Custom Mods with a relative bang.

Next week, I’m starting a whole new feature…it’s along the same lines as this one, but different. Be here Monday to see what it is!

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Some Green Lanterns, while great enough to make most any GL team, weren’t quite great enough generally to be among the greatest GLs, period. Here’s Heroclixin’s list:

Salaak

He bears Telekinesis, Probability Control and the Brilliant Tactician-like SP “Brilliant Administrator,” and some late-dial Flurry for when he gets based and punched to circumvent his near-dial-long ESD. But 100 points is a lot for pure support, his DV is below average and he lacks keywords. He’s still highly playable, though, and is essential for large GLC builds.
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V Green Lantern (Collateral Damage)

The other 12-ranged GLC member is the 2nd fig I consider for GL tank duty. He’s just way too expensive for what he does nowadays (and doesn’t do, such as push well), but old-school Rayner is still an effective piece to tank up with Trick Shot.
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Guy Gardner (DC 75th Anniversary)

Inexpensive and hard-hitting, it’s hard to leave Guy off a GL team, much less this top 10 list. His lack of opening moving attack or damage reducers made it hard to rank him over more mobile, better-protected Corps members.
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Hal Jordan (Gravity Feed)


An absolutely dirt-cheap meat shield with a helpful SP for fliers, test pilot Hal is a welcome addition to help fill out GLC themes. His tweaked-to-near-perfection AE power is simply icing. Obviously, his stats aren’t Top Ten material, but he’ll get picked for many GL teams anyhow.
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and finally, Sinestro (Fast Forces)

I really wasn’t impressed with his dial at first, ruing the lack of Running Shot and soft opening defenses on the front end. But playing against him in action, I see that he’s quite fearsome in combat — 19 DV with Willpower can be unstoppable and Exploit Weakness is always scary. Haven’t lost to him yet, though, so he remains just an Honorable Mention.

That does it for this edition of Top Ten! Look for the next edition the week of the 27th. Monday, be here for the last of My Custom Mods!

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Number(s) 2 is (are):

TIE: Hal Jordan (DC 75th Anniversary #053) and Sinestro (Gravity Feed #005)

Why they’re top pieces:

  • Both are Indomitable, 18 DV + 11AV Running Shot-ready shooters bearing two 8 range targets, with Hal being more durable and damaging with 4 damage + Invulnerability and Sinestro being more well-rounded starting with Telekinesis and Enhancement.
  • Both gain Perplex and Psychic Blast if hit for a few clicks.

Why they tied:

  • Hal’s “One-Man Justice League” SP gives him incredible flexibility in the late game, enabling him to use TK, Pulse Wave, Poison, B/C/F or any other standard Attack power.
  • But he’s well over 30 points more expensive than Sinestro, who’s more versatile on the front end.

Why they’re not number one:

  • Hal is by far the most expensive Green Lantern (well, one of two at the same cost) and a bit one-dimensional on his opening clicks, while Sinestro lacks that little bit of extra horsepower he needs to truly be the greatest of the lanterns that he thinks he is.
  • Both get defensively soft mid-dial.

Nevertheless, these two really are the greatest Green Lanterns you can run in Modern Age in Heroclixin’s opinion.

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And Heroclixin’s #1 Green Lantern Corps piece is:

Green Lantern (Crisis #023)

He tops the list because:
He’s the total package. He’s got…

  • 10 range, which is increasingly rare in Heroclix;
  • Perplex, making him great for boosting his or his pals’ stats. And he’s got a lot of it;
  • Telekinesis makes him super at deploying the team (as does his GLC TA);
  • The great keyword of Soldier in addition to his GLC and Justice League-related ones;
  • Running Shot, even if it’s just the one opening click of it.
  • Pulse Wave mid-dial.
  • perhaps most of all, his stellar “Lantern’s Will” SP granting use of Energy Shield/Deflection, Toughness and Willpower. He’s a hard target, and one whose DV rises mid-dial to become a potential 21 from range.

If he has a weakness, it’s that his AV numbers aren’t as good as most other GLCs’ on the list. But the Perplex and his overall utility mitigates this weakness capably, making him Heroclixin’s #1 Green Lantern Corps figure.

Come back tomorrow for a rare Saturday update featuring the Honorable Mentions that some of you expected to see here, but didn’t. 😉