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At last, that 900-point Golden Age opportunity to run this team came about.

Valkyrie (Hammer of Thor 055) 145 + Not So Special 3
Valkyrie (Fear Itself 005) 130 + Contingency Plan 12
Mirage (Wolverine and The X-Men 004) 75
Valkyrie (Sinister 048) 71 + Not So Special 3
Brunnhilde (Sinister 204) 69  + Not So Special 3
Valkyrie (Sinister 047) 60
Samantha Parrington (Hammer of Thor 101) 55
Mirage (Fantastic Forces 007) 55
Valkyrie (Sinister 046) 44
Valkyrie (Hammer of Thor 012) 38 + Invigorate 10
Valkyrie (Hammer of Thor 012) 38
Valkyrie (Hammer of Thor 012) 38
+Book of the Skull 27
+ Defenders ATA 24

=900 points.

FIRST it faced a team full of Halo, Gears of War and Bioshock figs on the Bioshock starter map. Squeaked out a win by KOing Dominic Santiago before my opponent could lay into my bunched-up team with grenades. 1-0.

NEXT, I was against an Avengers team of a pair of Iron Men, Dr. Druid, Scarlet Witch and the Fear Itself versions of Wolverine and Black Widow. This team was optimized to abuse the hell out of the Book of the Skull. But my zero-point loss was mainly due to a colossal mental CRIT FAIL: Me completely forgetting to use the Defenders ATA that I’d built the team to use in the first place. It was the difference between a hit on Wolverine that would’ve crippled him and the actual miss that allowed him to use the penetrating Poison and Exploit Weakness and B/C/F that KO’d the top Valkyries in one short turn. UGH! 1-1

FINAL game was against an overmatched team of LOTR figs. Even here, I barely managed to eke out enough victory points to win.

RECORD: 2-1. But I didn’t even clear 200 points on the day.

This team performed well below expectations. What went wrong:

  • I couldn’t figure how to use the generic Valkyries well enough. Taxis or medics? I should have run them just behind the fighters, then pushed them to evac the wounded for healing.
  • I had a plan for Mirage, then I did totally the opposite. She was to be a lead shooter and Shape Changing/Camouflaged bait. Instead, she was always in the back, stuck with bad LOF. I needed to cart her to the front with a teammate and let her Sidestep into action from there.
  • Forgetting that Defenders ATA. Not only on the big attack but on the small ones, too. More than once, I opted not to make attacks due to low AV when I shouldn’t have worried. Speaking of attack values…
  • Not So Special on the wrong character. It needed to be on moving attackers like either R or E Valkyrie from Sinister or R Mirage instead of on Brunnhilde, who barely ever made an attack and could benefit from the ATA anyway.
  • The hammers slowed down an already slow force. Without Willpower, it almost doesn’t seem to be worth the effort to equip. I think I may have been better served by fielding one more generic Valkyrie for more taxi/medic action.
  • This mostly melee force’s need for cover kept the ladies from truly swarming their targets, which was a real problem down the line. Once the enemy was actually in Charging range, there were no squares left to Charge to!

Future builds will likely not open the Book. Instead, Mirage will have Camouflage again and there’ll be that fourth generic Valkyrie. Rookie Val will be gone. Contingency Plan may well be doubled up at the expense of Not So Special.

THE VALKYRIES WILL RIDE AGAIN!!!!!!

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I work evenings, meaning I get home around midnight. Being a night person, I rarely go straight to bed. More often I’ll stay up watching a film or surfing the web or even working on this blog.

But last week, I decided to play a big ol’ solo game of HeroClix to flush the rest of the unplayed figures out of my tackle box. It was straight heroes versus villains:

GOOD
Thor [Thor The Dark World 019] 400
Iron Man and Iron Patriot 400*
Odin [Fear Itself] 350
Cherno Alpha [Pacific Rim] 325
Crimson Typhoon [Pacific Rim] 300
Coyote Tango [Pacific Rim] 250
Gipsy Danger [Pacific Rim] 225
Superman [Man of Steel 100] 200
Heimdall [Thor The Dark World] 175
Dr. Strange [Fear Itself] 145
Iron Man [Invincible Iron Man 201] 110
Red Robin [Teen Titans 018] 101
Batman [Batman TV] 100
Red Robin [Teen Titans 201] 98
Red Robin [Batman 009] 80
Robin [Batman TV] 50
Dwarf [Fear Itself] 16 x 2
Air Force Airman [Fear Itself] 10 x 4
Navy Seaman [Fear Itself] 8 x 4
Army Private [Fear Itself] 8 x 4
Thug [Infinity Challenge] 6 …doing community service
+ Generator
+ Com Dish
= 3683 points (but I thought it was within the limit because I’d misread Cherno Alpha’s full cost as 225. As it would turn out, it wasn’t an advantage because…well, you’ll see).

versus

BAD
Slattern [Pacific Rim] 600
Leatherback [Pacific Rim] 450
Raiju [Pacific Rim] 400
Scunner [Pacific Rim] 400
Malekith [Thor The Dark World 004] 350
General Zod [Legacy] 236
Angrir [Fear Itself] 235
Skirn [Fear Itself] 150
Hobgoblin [Amazing Spider-Man 041a] 150
Dreadnought [Invincible Iron Man 204] 75
Skadi’s Warbot [Fear Itself] 30
Dagorland Orc [Fellowship of the Ring] 16 x 2
Warbot Flamethrower [Fear Itself] 15 x 6
Warbot Machine Gun [Fear Itself] 15 x 6
Warbot Rocket [Fear Itself] 15 x 6
Mary Jane Watson [Infinity Challenge] 5
+ Dumpster
+ Tank Turret 2
= 3598 points.

The match was played on Daerave’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-inspired map. Lots of indoor blocking terrain surrounded by walls, with a big area of elevated* in the main room. I thought the villains would be outmaneuvered and out-actioned by the more numerous and mobile heroes, but the sheer amount of Mystics/Kaiju TA characters served as a check to that.

Because nearly all these pieces were being fielded and, for the most part, faced for the first time, misplays were rampant. In fact, it’s safe to say I had a mental crit fail with almost every one of them.

BY PIECE:
Thor [Thor The Dark World 019]: This was the biggest fail I made. Tired of the hesitation on both sides — because of the sure knowledge that whoever made and missed the first strike would get ganged up on next turn — Thor made a bold move that might’ve worked HAD I THOUGHT TO USE HIS SPECIAL POWER, “CALL DOWN THE LIGHTNING:” Give Thor a ranged combat action and he can use Improved Targeting: Ignores Characters for this action. The area of effect for this ranged attack is any one square within range and line of fire and each square adjacent to it. A hit character occupying the chosen square is dealt Thor’s printed damage value. Other hit characters are dealt Thor’s printed damage -1.
That would have dealt with the Mary Jane pog that would cause trouble later even though the attack on Zod missed. CRIT FAIL. And just like that, by the end of next round, heroes were 400 points down.

Odin: He’d backed his son up, scoring a needed hit against Malekith after being TK’d forward by his so-empowered minions. But he was the next victim of the swarm that took out Thor.

Hobgoblin: His Leadership was key at times, and he was a good taxi for Skirn. CRIT FAIL: I forgot his Shape Change; it may have cost him. But he was still worth every point and then some on this squad.

Skirn: didn’t last long against the swarm she tied up for a turn or two. But keeping heat off the kaiju was worth it. CRIT FAIL: Didn’t remember her hammer drop, to bring a revert piece, or to use her Worthy-keyword-based powers at all.

Nul: One of those Worthy. CRIT FAIL: I wasted many early rounds not using his free-action move trait. But I eventually caught on to it and used it to devastating effect, especially the round he took the beginning of turn to shift up to Dr. Strange, then Poison him off Super Senses to make for a one-action KO, “Mighty Revert” click be damned.

Dr. Strange: In desperation to get more and much-needed offense going, I got too close to the crowded action, allowing for the above Nul maneuver.

Heimdall was the third hero to fall with his lords Odin and Thor. His defenses were no good against Malekith.

Malekith: Absolutely the MVP of the villains team. His ability to hit and nix defense powers forced the heroes to fall much faster than they should have. Add to that his Prob Control and you have a fig as deadly on click #5 — where he remained nearly all game — as #1. CRIT FAIL: Non-use of Perplex. But it was too late to even NEED IT.

Cherno Alpha: Couldn’t roll higher than 5 on clutch attempts. In Soviet Russia, is MVP, but…

Crimson Typhoon: CRIT FAIL — I overlooked its ability to use Giant Reach. Might’ve avoided Malekith’s LOF.

Gipsy Danger: CRIT FAIL — Blades roll. Had a superb shot on an Outwitted kaiju and only mustered a measly 2 damage. Lesson Learned: Don’t ever use that power on click #1. Just settle for the 5 damage.

All the Kaiju: SOOO beast, despite my CRIT FAIL: the game was almost completely done before I remembered they could use Giant Reach. Not that they needed it. The Poison was reaping dividends by itself.

Red Robin 201: Took a shot to get rid of Skadi’s Warbot before she could further harm Odin or Heimdall, but failed and was soon overmatched by Leatherback.

Red Robin 018: Spent far too much of the game in Stealth yet unable to contribute due to lack of LOF and pals to help with Leadership. Positioning CRIT FAIL.

Red Robin 009: See Red Robin 018.

New Mutants: Perhaps the most successful heroes piece of the game despite the new team base rules. Took forever to get into the fight, but the youngsters did a fair amount of embarrassing deep into the affray, especially when they Charged a bunch of horde stacks on elevated terrain. Sunspot was the Solo Adventurer and he scored some KO points himself.

General Zod only rolled poorly. Being able to use Superman Enemy was key, of course. He lasted to the end of the game.

Superman: A positioning CRIT FAIL had him too far away to back up allies at the needful moment (or so I thought — see the next listing) and then he goes and misses his only attack roll. He did NOT last to the end of the game.

Batman: His defense SP served as a good deterrent against Kaiju attacks. But perhaps I’d have focused more on him if I hadn’t made a huge CRIT FAIL in never, ever using his Outwit or Perplex. The heroes needed both — especially Supes.

Angrir: My only CRIT FAIL with ensorcelled Thing was a failure to remember to use Steal Energy on an early successful hit. No big whoop.

Police Deputy: Positioning CRIT FAIL. Could never get them next to shooters without being tied up themselves. The were quietly Poisoned to death.

Similarly, the Army Privates and Airman were matched against other stacks or kaiju, making their M powers nigh-useless. The only one worth anything was the stack of Navy Seamen — Enhancement helped the New Mutants gain traction in the late game and they even got a penetrating hit on a reborn Slattern near game’s end . But again, positioning was a problem, as the sailors’ speed is a pretty poor 6.

Iron Man and War Machine: The duo hung in the back, unable to get into the fight once Odin’s TK-granting SP was gone. They’d made a dent in the game — and taken a few — when I belatedly realized my biggest CRIT FAIL of the whole shebang: I’d been running them at 300 points instead of 400, essentially costing myself that one extra attacker I’d been needing all night. ARGH. I’d have happily dropped any one of the Red Robins to get more Hypersonic Speed on the team. At least it made my accidentally overbuilt Heroes team actually legal.

And finally, my other huge CRIT FAIL of the game: That area of elevated terrain I played the whole game around turned out, upon closer inspection, not to be elevated at all. I guess the map predated elevation numbers, and the mapmaker didn’t draw the red line correctly. But that zone is supposed to be grounded while the REST of the map is actually elevated.

Regardless of all the mess-ups, I had fun trying all these clix out across a couple of nights. And it cleared out the never-played box just in time for it to take in brand-new figs from Arkham Origins and Invincible Iron Man and Avengers vs X-Men. And so the cycle begins again…!

 

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The scenario: 600 points, no team bases or resources.

Because running clone swarms are one of my favorite things to do in HeroClix, I went all-Catwoman:

Catwoman [Dark Knight Rises 006] 80
Catwoman [Batman 007] 71
Catwoman [Dark Knight Rises 102] 75
Selina Kyle [Batman] 69
Catwoman [DC 10th 015] 68
Catwoman [Dark Knight Rises 203] 65
Catwoman [Batman TV 009] 60
Catwoman [Batman TV 005] 60
Catwoman [Unleashed] 50
= 598 points.

It went a terrible, terrible 0-3 because it got stranded on low-Stealth maps and, more importantly, I almost never rolled higher than 5 on two dice and usually under 4 on one. What does it say about a game where you need Leap/Climb’s help just to break away? Meanwhile, opponents hit even my 18 DVs practically at will.

And this was pretty much the result, all the time

And this was pretty much the result, all the time

Black cats are supposed to cause OTHER PEOPLE bad luck!!!!!!

 

But it wasn’t all dice. The build was no good, either. By piece:

  • Catwoman [Dark Knight Rises 006]: This, the most expensive of the Selinas, was a fat waste of 80 points except for the Outwit. I ran her for the Batman Enemy team ability, but it was never ever used because she was always kept at range due to her ESD and anemic 2 damage. I’m never using this figure again. 
  • Catwoman [Batman 007], OTOH, was quite useful, even if she hardly ever attacked. The “Misdirection” SP shifting tokens about was good enough, as was the Outwit. But one 71-point piece couldn’t carry the team.
  • Catwoman [Dark Knight Rises 102] was another that looked better on paper. I thought her Charge would give me a little bit of offense amidst the others’ tricks. But as noted in the first part of the article, my dice didn’t do well. And her super-duper short 5-click life did her absolutely no favors, in spite of her free-action-breakaway trait, only racking up an easy 75 points for opponents. Another Anne Hathaway bites the dust.
  • Selina Kyle [Batman] was my only real offense and about the only one who wasn’t KO’d in any game. Not enough to save me, though, especially with so much of her point cost wasted in a game with no relics.
  • Catwoman [DC 10th Anniversary 015] ostensibly was the beneficiary of the Batman Enemy TA, but never used it. Another fighter down in flames thanks to lack of movement and horrid dice. I need to rethink using her when there’s no relics or resources to speak of.
  • Catwoman [Dark Knight Rises 203] was, finally, an Anne Hathaway clix worth using, with Flurry, Perplex, Batman TA, Indom and object-ganking skills. Heck, she’s one of the only reasons I’ll try this sort of team ever again. Unfortunately, she’s short-lived, too.
  • Catwoman [Batman TV 005] never got her pet tiger in the game, ever. Stupid dice rolls. At least her Elaborate Deathtrap managed to take a victim.
  • Catwoman [Batman TV 009], as the only non-Stealthy one of the team, always got into the fight too late. I probably should have been more aggressive with her, but I really didn’t think it’d be so necessary. It was also tough to decide whether to use BCF or go for the Deathtrap move.
  • It’s a bad day when an old piece like Catwoman [Unleashed 222] is practically an MVP just for drawing fire. Having Exploit Weakness will make her a target. But with her only costing 50 points, I didn’t mind so much.

 

 

 

 

 

I should have dropped the Batman Enemy fig — the TA was barely relevant anyway, with just one wildcard to use it — and run Catwoman [Batman 204] instead. She’d have brought a much-needed Charging 11 AV to this underpowered, immobile team, another Batman Ally to help her sculptmate 007a gain extra powers of Plasticity and Shape Change, and potential healing from the Birds of Prey ATA.

Dumping the similarly useless-for-the-75-points Catwoman [DKR 102] could’ve bought room on this team for TWO others: Catwoman [Batman Alpha] and [DC 10th Anniversary 008]. The former, for 40 points, adds a cheap tie-up piece with a 6-click-long dial — one more than the Catwoman she’s replacing for 35 less cost! — with a ton of Outwit on the back half. The other piece is a total remake of the Unleashed Catwoman, just slimmed down by 15 points, making her another needed cheap tie-up piece with a bite.

Huh. After this tournament, I’d all but sworn to never run this team again. But I think I’ll give it another shot sometime with this amended lineup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Although the store of unplayed HeroClix figures hasn’t reached the extremes of late 2012-early 2013, I’m still carting around more of these pieces than I care to. It’s all because changes to my work schedule and running Fear Itself events have taken a large bite out of my ability to play as many Clix games as I’d like.

Still, every chance I DO get to play, I make certain to run a fresh figure. Here’s what I thought of the last few virgin minis fielded recently, and how likely I am to revisit ’em:

Big Bertha: Perhaps the one piece in all of HeroClix that could, and almost did survive taking all five attacks from an enemy team base’s alpha strike. Man, if only I coulda gotten ONE of those “Impervious” rolls. Of course, BB is a founding member of the Great Lakes Avengers and she’ll be a fixture on my Fatties theme teams.

Bishop [Wolverine + The X-Men]: Fun and effective, he nevertheless took a lot more attacks than I liked. because he’s so soft-skinned for his price. But then no one wants to shoot him once he hits middial. Not sure what team I’ll use him on next. But I WILL use him.

Captain America [Fear Itself]: The only thing I really wanted out of the Fear Itself: Blitzkrieg pack, this latest version of BuckyCap didn’t disappoint.

The Goblin King: I wanted him for my theme team of overweight clix, and boy, none better fits the bill like this piece. His epic Perplex and Leadership actually gave a glimmer of hope of defeating X-Men: Gold. But it was not to be, at all. I will probably ONLY play him on the Fat teams.

Kid Omega: The trouble with him is he’s left alone in the starting area after flinging all his pals away. Not great for a 128 fig that should be fighting more.  Unsure how or if he’ll find a spot on future builds.

Lockheed  [Wolverine + The X-Men]: Not sure why he’s a Mystical, but he made my themed team work. Sadly, HE didn’t work, failing his sole shot at a Pulse Wave. Oh well. He’s destined for Pet Avengers squads anyway.

Magik  [Wolverine + The X-Men 061]: Man, did I pick the wrooong map for her…not a square of blocking terrain to be found. But that’s my own fault. She did her job in keeping me in the game beyond reason and in serving as trade bait to get the chase I REALLY wanted, Namor. Glad I got to run her first.

Martian Manhunter [WK-D002]: I fielded him with the Brave+Bold, 10th Anniversary and Brightest Day characters of the same name for a “My Favorite Martian” theme team of 900 points. And it turns out this one is NOT my favorite. Now that I’ve gotten that team idea out of my system, I may be trying to trade this one for something.

Monkey King: Finally got one of these. He worked fine. I’d like to run him AS the monkey king of other simians like Grodd, Solovar and the Super-Apes.

Phoenix [Wolverine + The X-Men]: Rachel Summers was a boss for me in the tournament I used her in, even though I didn’t play her to full potential. She’s got me thinking of a “Sculpts that yell ‘Fire’ on a crowded map” theme.

Shadowcat [Wolverine + The X-Men 204]: Being one more source of Outwit on a team filled with it made her feel superfluous. In fact, I’m not crazy about either of the set’s version of Miss Pryde.

Shadow King [Wolverine + The X-Men]: Missed one must-hit attack on a team base. That was sad. Other than that, he was fine. I wanted him for — and played him on — my Weight Watchers team of fat clix.

Thule Society Priest: I have only played in ONE Fear Itself event in all these months. So I only just managed to trade for one of these guys (and the Monkey King mentioned earlier). All he did for me, though, was A) be cheap enough to fit the generic theme and B) pick up a relic himself. That got him killed because he was no longer Stealthed and so he was shot to KO. At least he was a wildcarded Mystic…

___

Another weekend approaches, and it’s another one when I’m unlikely to get much heroclixin’ done. So the Figure Flush will continue for a time. Stay tuned.

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watchmen

Dr. Manhattan (Watchmen 005) 276
Dr. Manhattan (Watchmen 011) 105
Comedian (Watchmen Fast Forces 006) 100 + Not So Special 3
Silk Spectre (Watchmen Fast Forces 002) 75
Nite Owl (Watchmen Fast Forces 003) 75 + Utility Belt 13
Ozymandias (Watchmen Fast Forces 004) 75 + Brilliant Tactician 20
Rorschach (Watchmen 001) 57
799 points.

Ran this last summer.

FIRST vs. Lenny with Supergirl (Fast Forces), Eradicator and Superman (Superman 001) among others from Metropolis I can’t recall on the Days of Future Past map. I had to work very hard to get shots on big Supes and Supergirl and Eradicator, having to bust walls and sacrifice Rorschach to do so. Alas, I was not able to take out either before running out of time.

SECOND vs. Stephen’s Haunted Tank, David Cain and other Soldiers on the Dr. Manhattan’s Lab map. The tall Dr. got an early long-range Running Shot on a target that I almost chased down for the win — but I wound up having to win on a roll-off. The sitting Dr. M. resisted all attempts to hit him — narrowly.

FINALLY against Henry on the Bridge: Iron Spider, Hawkeye (Chaos War) Mockingbird (Chaos War) and more. Still a new player, he moved too aggressively and I made him pay for it. A more seasoned opponent would have made it much harder for me and I probably would not have won. I lost Rorschach, Silk Spectre and Comedian but KOd Hawkeye, Mockingbird and Iron Spider for the advantage.

By piece:
Dr. Manhattan (Watchmen 005)
Lotus-position Dr. M spent too time TKing and not enough time shooting. His lack of Willpower is also a liability. But it’s nice knowing he’s a potent piece of backup for the rest of the team.

Dr. Manhattan (Watchmen 011) 105
The tall Doc, OTOH, was a real workhorse. He was the most mobile shooter of the team, a second taxi, a barrier builder (instrumental in my last win) and a boon to other shooters through his Enhancement. Oh, and there’s that 2x Energy Explosion thing, too.

Comedian (Watchmen Fast Forces 006) 100 + Not So Special 3
Despite his great AV, he never quite had the effect on the game I expected. I used him over the longer-ranged, double-targeted original for the damage boost. Perhaps I should consider the older piece in the future and use an additional feat card to make up the points difference.

Silk Spectre (Watchmen Fast Forces 002) 75
With both her boyfriends on the team, SS is a legit melee threat well worth the extra point cost, even though she took a lot of fire.

Nite Owl (Watchmen Fast Forces 003) 75 + Utility Belt 13
Definitely a linchpin of the team due to his ability to carry Silk Spectre, Ozymandias, Comedian and, most importantly, sitting Dr. Manhattan into position for next-round attacks. The Utility Belt is VERY thematic on the Watchmen universe’s Batman analogue. The Willpower helps a lot, too. Today, with the release of the Batman Cowl, I’d add that costume for Stealth action.

Ozymandias (Watchmen Fast Forces 004) 75 + Brilliant Tactician 20
He’s a bit tricky to use because you want to have him carted about by Nite Owl, but his LOF to the rest of the team tends to get blocked that way. But of course Brilliant Tactician makes him superb for the team.

Rorschach (Watchmen 001) 57
He’s a needed Stealth wall and Leap/Climb tie-up for the rest of the team. With the boost to CCE, maybe he’s a potential fighter, too.

I like running the Watchmen more than ever with the superior Fast Forces versions. This team will see the map again.

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Wolvies

My favorite thing to do in HeroClix is to run teams composed of various iterations of the same character. This time is was comics’ most popular Canucklehead’s turn:

Wolverine (Giant-Sixe X-Men) 103
Wolverine (Giant-Sixe X-Men Fast Forces) 75
Wolverine (Web of Spider-Man) 105
Wolverine (Armor Wars 095) 60
Wolverine (Fantastic Forces) 71
Wolverine (Wolverine and the X-Men 201) 113
Wolverine (TabApp) 100
Wolverine (Chaos War) 90
Wolverine (Incredible Hulk) 70
Weapon X (Captain America) 72
Weapon X (Marvel 10th Anniversary) 71
Colonel Logan (Days of Future Past) 70
+ Eleha’al Vine
+ Kinetic Accelerator
+ Dynamostat
= 1000 on the nose. BFCs included Overconfidence, Darkness and Resistance.

FIRST, I faced Paul’s excellent Mystical team of Dracula (Fear Itself), full-power Scarlet Witch (Fast Forces), 50-point Enchantress (Justice League) 3 Vampire Lackeys, 2 Astral Dr. Stranges and Trinity of Sin’s Phantom Stranger and Pandora, all led by a Warbound pair of Dr. Stranges (Secret Invasion and Galactic Guardians 206) on the Gridreality Park map. My BFC (Overconfidence, to stop Lotus Strange’s Brilliant Tactician) was nixed. I fought off Dracula but only KO’d a single Rookie Lackey for a horrible loss in which my opponent consistently made at least 2 attacks for every one I attempted.

SECOND round was against Bill’s N.O.W.H.E.R.E. team of Harvest, Omen, Rose Wilson (Teen Titans 030), Warblade (Teen Titans 055), N.O.W.H.E.R.E. Soldier (Teen Titans 205) and the rest of the team filled out with at least four N.O.W.H.E.R.E. Soldiers (Teen Titans 009) on the Metropolis map. Again, my chosen BFC, Resistance, was killed, and again I found myself thoroughly outactioned, outgunned and outdone, only scoring 126 points in the final minutes while losing Wolverine after Wolverine. And it could have been far, far worse, if Omen’s Mind Controls had actually borne fruit.

In the FINAL round, a bye against the judge, I finally found a little success, winning map roll to get Shadowlands (which ironically made my last BFC, Darkness, superfluous). This meant my Wolverines could actually do some fighting at last. And fight they did, KOing Green Lantern Batman and Caped Crusader (both of 2012’s Batman set) while surviving attacks from Thing (Galactic Guardians), Hawkeye (Chaos War), Kid Flash (Teen Titans 039) and Raizo Kodo, common Red She-Hulk and Valkyrie all of Fear Itself. Only lost WAXM Wolvie.

I’d wanted to play an all-Wolverine team for a long time. In fact, it was the sole reason I even still own some of these figures. But today’s 1-2 record tournament has me considering…well…NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN.

That means I’m dumping some Wolvies outta my collection.

So…which Wolverines should stay? Which should go? Post your opinions in the comments! A future F.U.N. Friday article will reveal the results of the Wolverine Purge.

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So a few weeks (or more) ago I mourned the exit of the Nextwave squad from Modern Age and thrilled at the possibilities for the team in Golden Age, tricked out with Feats and BFCs and Resources and ATA. Little did I realize I’d run the team that very next day.

Monica Rambeau 139 + Not So Special 3
The Captain 124 + Alias 3
Aaron Stack 106 + Inside Information 4 + Infinity Gauntlet (Soul, Power, Space) 25
Elsa Bloodstone 73 + Monster Hunter 3
Tabitha Smith 58 + Armor Piercing 10
+ Warbound (Nextwave) 25
+ Nextwave ATA 25
=598 points. I opted not to use Debris, Extraordinary Day or Overconfidence against my opponent’s mostly X-squad of Professor X (Giant-Size X-Men), Wolverine (Giant-Size X-Men), Cable (Giant-Size X-Men), Storm (10th Anniversary 010) and Spider-Man 2099 (Amazing Spider-Man) with the full Utility Belt. I got map choice and we used the Time Zones on the Dawn of Time map.

My opponent is a notorious turtler, so I advanced with caution.

KEY MOMENTS

Opponent, seeing how I’d finally poised my attackers for a first-strike Charge on Storm, moved her well out of range. But in doing so he’d killed his ability to attack back — or even Outwit — from her square with Prof. X. That gave The Captain a Charge opportunity on Cable.

Which failed.

In fact, Cap pretty much just did this the rest of the game.

In fact, Cap pretty much just did this the rest of the game.

Similarly, Monica missed her shot on the retreated Prof. X — one that, had I remembered she was wearing the +1 AV Not So Special feat, may NOT have missed. The leader of Nextwave didn’t do much else this game but die.

monicaSHOT

I also completely forgot that once the Prof. left his starting area, HE SHOULD NOT HAVE CONTINUED SHOOTING ME. Big mental fail on m part.

The Nextwave squad eventually got Cable, mostly thanks to Elsa. (This may have been the first time I’ve ever triggered the Nextwave ATA on a Nextwave team.) But the Belted Spidey 2099 was killing said team, making victims of Monica and then Elsa.

Yes, Elsa. VICTIM.

Yes, Elsa. VICTIM.

 

Fortunately, Aaron Stack had slowly built up to the Gauntlet’s special powers. And now, with combinations of Perplex, RCE, Poison and Hypersonic Speed, he began to wear down the opposition. (Or, at least, he keep Tabby from dying right off.)

ZOMG

In the end, it took a careful combo of Poison and judicious attacks to damage Spidey 2099 just so to avoid him landing on his Power Cosmic stop click with fewer than two tokens on him. Then, with a couple more attacks, Aaron took him down for the victory.

aaronstack6

Leader Monica was difficult to use right. I really needed her to attack more, but early on I made her a taxi, using Warbound to stay mobile. Same went for The Captain, who carted around Aaron. But that made Aaron push with two tokens much of the time, preventing him from leveraging his fight skills or even the early TK he offers via the Gauntlet. I also found that Tabby was left behind and thus unable to bring the explodo for far too much of the match.

In the future, I’ll probably use Warbound to push Monica ASAP, so she can properly contribute to a fight. Captain will try to remain as free of tokens for a long as possible — he doesn’t push well — and Aaron will TK either Elsa or Tabby into their effective range.

This is a team I carry around in my travel box constantly, lately, always ready for a pickup game of 600 points.

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Secret_Avengers_05_pencil

The highlighted figures below retired to Golden Age on July 1, a Monday. I played this team on June 29, a Saturday, for

One.

Last.

Mission.

Steve Rogers (Captain America) 99
Sharon Carter (Chaos War) 45
Ant-Man (Chaos War 026) 43
Valkyrie (Fear Itself) 130
Black Widow (Captain America 006) 85
War Machine (Iron Man 3) 220
Moon Knight (Amazing Spider-Man) 109
Beast (Giant-Size X-Men) 95
Nova (Galactic Guardians) 125

While there are the Avengers Movie/Fear Itself versions of Black Widow and the Fast Forces release of Beast to keep those characters Modern, Steve Rogers as commander of SHIELD is highly unlikely to ever be remade. So the Secret Avengers, in its one truly great incarnation (on paper, at least — the actual team-up in the comic never lived up to its promise thanks to the virtual non-involvement of Nova before his being taken out) will never again grace a Modern Age game.

So how’d it do in its swan song?

MISSION: To beat Mark’s Adam Warlock (Galactic Guardians 032), Quasar (Captain America), Jor-El (Man of Steel 005), Cyborg (Teen Titans 025), Hawkeye (Chaos War), Alfred Pennyworth (Batman), Gizmo and Bruce Wayne (Batman 202a) x 3 on my choice of the Iron Man 3 docks map in a 1000-point, 5-action Modern Age event requiring at least one figure due for retirement July 1.

Key moment: Ant-Man and friends took early Energy Explosion damage from Cyborg, who got TK’d a bunch to get an object-enabled shot.
War Machine and friends took Cyborg down next. Then Valkyrie, warping to Cyborg’s last known spot, pushed to Charge-Flurry Hawkeye to immediate death for an extra margin of victory. Only lost Ant-Man in the end, despite two badly timed consecutive crit misses on my part.

BY PIECE:

Steve Rogers (Captain America) 99

CommanderRogers

True to his trait’s name, he was “The Focal Point” more than ever in these last few games. Giving fellow Avengers the SHIELD TA helped plenty. When I originally played Rogers, well before the TA’s more recent upgrades, his 7 range was a liability against further-reaching foes. But with the average range value dropping to about 6, he’s working out a lot better. More than a couple of Leadership roll successes kept certain teammates active.

Sharon Carter (Chaos War) 45

sharoncarter00
Naturally, her “Secret Avengers” trait granting Stealth to Avengers is a key point on this team. But she’s also great for her printed SHIELD TA and 2nd-click Perplex, too. SO much better than the original Sharon in Mutations & Monsters.

Ant-Man (Chaos War 026) 43

irredeemable ant-man
O’Grady’s lack of speed hurts his effectiveness as a good tie-up piece, but his unusual anti-Outwit/Perplex power can come in handy. Better still is his Tiny Size, which enables him to take a power action to use SHIELD and then hitch a ride with a Running Shot pal to boost said pal’s damage. His short dial is a boon to the following teammate as well…

Valkyrie (Fear Itself) 130

valkyrie
This team has needed a dedicated melee piece and, in her, gets one. So after she’s done clustering with cheaper allies to use her Leadership early on in the game, she either Charges in to Flurry or, more hopefully, warps in the spot of a fallen friend or foe to gain access to more targets. ‘Course, this can just as often lead her to her own early death. But the more fire on her, the less on the dangerous shooters of the team.

Black Widow (Captain America 006) 85

black-widow-jg-jones
Best used as Rogers’ left hand with his Leadership to take off her tokens. SHIELD helps extend her modest range, too. With traited, unOutwittable Stealth, she’s the one teammate who need not depend on Sharon Carter for cover. A single push gets her to Penetrating Psychic Blast if needed.

War Machine (Hammer of Thor) 137
Nova Prime (Galactic Guardians) 150

war-machineNovaPrimeIAmAnAvenger
 These two serves as leadoff or cleanup hitters alike on the team I played back in mid-June. War Machine’s long range proved key for a clutch TTPC, and both are my preferred choices to represent the characters.

War Machine (Iron Man 3) 220
Nova (Annihilators) 125
 This Modern Age pair worked differently, with Nova being more pure support through his Worldmind Surge SP granting Perplex to like-keyworded friends. It especially benefited his fellow Soldier, War Machine, who got a generally can’t-miss 13 AV.

Moon Knight (Amazing Spider-Man) 109

MoonKnight
He was a HUGE boon with his Perplex. Especially good in crowded environs thanks to his short range. The Full Moon trait makes him a bit of a wild card, as one never quite knows if he’ll be a quietly high-priced support piece or a dangerous threat they won’t see coming.

…even though he wears all white.

Beast (Giant-Size X-Men) 95

beast
Thanks to the Outwit nerf forcing him to get closer to the action, Beast is now a new melee threat and tie-up piece. At worst, he’ll draw fire away from the real offensive threats on the team before going down. And with his late-dial CCE, he WILL draw fire if he’s basing a foe with his natural 11 AV.

The difference couldn’t be greater in this truer incarnation of the Secret Avengers build than the initial one cobbled together in 2010 when the title was first released. And I couldn’t be gladder about it — a comic-accurate F.U.N. team!

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I played in No Man’s Land Month 6 recently.

Big Barda (Streets of Gotham) 148 + Utility Belt 10
Guy Gardner (Streets of Gotham) 142
Black Lightning 87
Void (Streets of Gotham) 70
Oracle (Streets of Gotham) 50
Bruce Wayne (Batman 202a) 50
Dr. Thomas Wayne (Streets of Gotham) 43
= 600 points.

This was not a F.U.N. team. This was a “ready to compete for the win” team. Barda is the best alpha-strike piece in the game. Guy was there to back her up or soften targets for her. He also granted her and Black Lightning a DV boost. BL functioned not only as a good 3rd attacker and range threat, but his Outsiders TA could nerf the stat bonuses of enemy Utility Belts.

Then I had a full-blown S.T.O.P.P. pit crew in the other four pieces:

  • Support: Void and Dr. Wayne
  • Telekinesis/taxi: Bruce Wayne (TK) and Void (super-taxi) and Oracle (her SP for untokened JL allies). Later, Guy gets TK, too.
  • Outwit: Void
  • Perplex: Bruce and, later, Oracle
  • Probability Control: Void

They also had Willpower when Dr. Wayne is adjacent, allowing for extra actions without taking pushing damage. This team should’ve rocked.

It didn’t.

In Round ONE, it fairly well handled a team headed up by Batman of Zur-En-Arrh. But said piece was wearing the Belt and landed huge hits while on its +2 slots to score exactly ONE MORE KO point than me: 279-278.

Round TWO, against a full WildCATs team, went a little better. It took me too long to KO Spartan, but I won with 200 points and lost none.

Round THREE was a disaster. We spent about 40 of the 50 minute round jockeying for position. I made a bold move to one-shot his Belt wearer, but he’d picked the Super Senses +2 slot and made the dodge. Left out in the open, my Barda was KOed in a single turn after my misplay of forgetting the Belt’s ability to short-circuit my Outsiders TA (and I could’ve easily blocked the needed Line of Fire).

Round FOUR went mostly well until I got a little overconfident and did not retreat far enough. Lost the game on the very last play as time expired.

A very disappointing 1-3 finish for a team that, by rights, should have gone at least 2-2 instead. All the more reason to play F.U.N. going forward, because this doesn’t work for me.

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So I attended a sealed event and this is what I pulled:

Shocker
Rhino
Demogoblin
Daimon Hellstrom
Morbius
Spider-Girl
Werewolf By Night
Frank Drake
Cloak
Dagger

Of the eight-plus contestants, I was one of the only ones not to pull a Super Rare or better. And although I still lack about a third of the Amazing Spider-Man set, every single one of these figs is a double.

I was pouting, yes.

It was 400 points, so the 278-point Sinister Syndicate theme I had available was worthless. Worse, adding Morbius was 11 points over. But I did see a rare themed team opportunity here:

Daimon Hellstrom 113
Morbius 133
Werewolf By Night 81
Frank Drake 55
= only 382 points, but it was a Legion of Monsters themed team, giving me a whopping four Themed Team Probability Control (TTPC) rolls.

(I’d need ’em.)

FIRST ROUND began poorly when my opponent Stephen’s Guyladkin lion Charged to attack Frank Drake in the first round, luckily missing. But then a mental fail cost me dearly when I forgot Frank’s Outwit and the pog Super Sensed his counterattack — and then the OTHER THREE attacks all missed as well. A turn later, Werewolf By Night was KO’d with Frank Drake following fast.

But this is a dice game, and Stephen’s went cold despite his fielding Ancient One and Living Mummy’s probability control. Morbuis beefed up to his top dial as Daimon sniped from a tower to make an unlikely comeback, taking out Spider-Man 2099 even on his mighty final clicks.

SECOND ROUND I faced Chris’s Dracula, Baron Mordo and a Werewolf. Once again, I was knocked to my heels when Mordo immediately Pulse Waved my Werewolf for three clicks. But that opened the Baron to counterattack and, more importantly, Frank Drake’s mega-Outwit against mysticals and monsters. TTPC saved Morbius from a crippling crit hit and again my opponent’s dice went silent. But the biggest turning point was when he forgot to use Dracula’s “Mistform” SP. HUGE error, that, and it gave me the victory when I did not miss my followup attack.

FINAL ROUND was against Serina, fielding two Dr. Stranges (each granting a different team ability to his pals) Kaine, Prodigy and a Zuvembie (with a 2nd one on her sideline). My less-experienced opponent overextended Prodigy with a TK Charge for yet ANOTHER first-strike on my team that fortunately missed. But from there it was a slog through taking Mystics damage (balanced by Steal Energy) and trying to keep the Stranges from coming into play. Eventually I wore the team down to outlast her for the win.

3-0, and the winner of the event! That almost never happens. It was a nice consolation for failing at my USUAL consolation “prize” in sealed events of pulling and playing brand-new (to me) figures.