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One of my standing goals in my HeroClix hobby is this: to play every single piece in my collection at least once.

I mean, I bought ’em…so I oughta play ’em!

This was an easy goal to meet when I could get to 3-4 tournaments each week and the pace of releases weren’t so frenetic. But now, my modest tackle box dedicated to unfielded figures has overflowed by a factor of at least two.

Fortunately, I got a couple of extra friendly matches under my belt (thanks, Lenny!) the last couple of weeks to clear out a fair number of figures. First, I picked a green theme to the tune of 900 points:

Loki (Avengers Movie 015): The trickster wound up being the MVP of the match, thanks to his early-game TK to help the immobile team and his much-needed Outwit to soften up the opposition. I like that he never becomes useless, ever, being able to break heavy armor all the time. I never got his Mind Control to work, though, and I really wanted to. Result: I’ll play him again sometime.

Hulk (Avengers Movie 014): I used him horribly, completely forgetting his top-dial SP granting Flurry. When he starts with a fairly putrid-for-140-points 9 AV, you can’t neglect free attacks like that (and it probably cost me a sweet 1-2 KO of Ms. Marvel)! I still might’ve gotten some good use out of him if I could’ve made either of those breakaway rolls, but I got a 2 each time. Result: I’ll play him again sometime…I must redeem myself!

Skrull Infiltrator (Avengers Movie 207a): Double FAIL here. A) I picked the wrong dial, using the “A” version instead of the Stealthy “B” version. Consequently, I B) completely forgot the sweet SP guarding against range attacks. Still, this 40-pointer did well to tie up an enemy Thor for quite a few turns. Result: I’ll play him again in a Skrull team for sure, even using this inferior dial.

Vision (Chaos War 205): More double FAIL: He’d gotten knocked to his last click before I realized he was Indomitable, and I’d illegally used him as a flier (he’s not). I made up for it with a full Regen roll. Result: I’ll play him again on a Young Avengers team if the points work out.

Eowyn (Lord of the Rings 017): Though deservedly reviled as the worst HeroClix figure of 2011, the White Lady of Rohan proved that even terrible figures can be highly successful. On a large team like this one, she always had ample targets for her conditional Perplex. And she made more than one healing roll with her also-conditional Support. Finally, her Willpower gave her some actual attack opportunities in the endgame. It’s saying far too much to call her an MVP, but…well, she was in the running. Result: Far better than expected.

Merry & Pippin (Lord of the Rings 022): I’d intended to hold them back with Eowyn to maybe do some big-time triage healing tricks with their epic power. But it was awkward to try because they’d have to be healed first, and their top-dial Willpower and Shape Change make it less likely they’ll need healing. So I instead used them as a sacrificial tie-up piece to buy more important fighters some time. Result: a bit of a letdown for this chase. Say no to drugs, kids!

Super Skrull (Galactic Guardians 034): The heavy hitter of the team and one of its few taxis, SSkrull lasted until the last vestiges of the game. Result: I’ll always be torn between him, the 100-point version and the Supernova classic. 

Skrull Assassin (Galactic Guardians 202): Another one that held on through nearly the whole match (thanks mostly to a heal from Eowyn), Assassin did OK. Result: I probably won’t use her if I’ve got the AVM Infiltrators instead.

Ronan The Accuser (Galactic Guardians Fast Forces 006): The 100-point level was what I could fit on the team. He worked all right. Result: I’ll play him again with Inhumans.

Hulk (Infinity Challenge 199): His low, low stats relegated old Hulk to mere tie-up status in the vain hope that he could get hit into his powerful clicks. Once it happened, though, he was easily KO’d before he could even push to attack.  Result: I’ll never play him again unless I need a cheap Hulk — and the upcoming 10th Anniversary one will fill that bill soon enough!

Infected Marine (Halo 020): His poor 8 AV buffs up to a potential 11 when tokened enemies are nearby, making this Monster a bit of a push-ready terror (especially with a dialful of Steal Energy). Wound up being something of the secret weapon of the team.  Result: I’ll play him again sometime on a Monster team for sure, provided there are enough “Silver” Age games to do so.

About a week later, I was able to get in a 200-point match to finally field this Monster-ous little crew of Halo figs:

Infected Elite (Halo 021): Of the unofficial “Flood” theme, this one is the mobile attacker (Charge) and Stealth shield for the others. If only I’d used him as such. :( A surprisingly long dial for a trim 55 points means … Result: I’ll try it out again sometime.

Flood Carrier (Halo 025): Free attacks after melee attacks, hit or miss, was a lot of fun in spite of the minimal damage and attack values. Fortunately, my target was soft. In the future, Armor Piercing will make this putrid-looking dude dangerous. Result: I want to get a second one.

Flood Infection (Halo 011): They’re designed to move more or less in unison, so each attacking one can get +1 AV for each adjacent ally. So what’d I do? Each one of the two I was running was basically alone when they attacked. They died even before they could Poison anybody. Result: Far better than the way I played.

The team was rounded out by a final cheap Monster, Dinah Soar (Chaos War 012): A superb cheap taxi, even without being on an Avengers team.

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A problem with playing tons of unplayed characters is that I make a lot of errors simply based on not being aware of powers and whatnot. Whereas the powergamers who use the same stupid 20 overpowered characters over and over again have another advantage in knowing those same stupid 20 overpowered characters inside and out.

I mean, there’s thousands of figures to play with. THOUSANDS!!!!!!

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I was torn between a highlander-friendly all-Batman and Robin (and Alfred) team, a nearly full complement of Runaways, and a Red Hulk/Leader-led Intelligencia squad for a recent 400-point tourney. Because the last team had the most never-before-played pieces, I went with it:

Red Hulk (Incredible Hulk 028) 187
The Leader (Incredible Hulk  014) 100
Humanoid (Incredible Hulk  001) 40 x 3

= 398 points. No room for an Additional Team Ability of any kind. So how’d this team do in the potentially ultra-competitive Infinity Gauntlet event?

FIRST ROUND was against Charlie’s Justice Society: Shazam and Black Adam, Wonder Woman (DC 75th Anniversary 051), Mr. Terrific (DC 75th Anniversary) and Dr. Fate (WizKids D-002) on the event-required Collector’s ship map. I made two critical mistakes of such degree that it reminded me of the “FAIL scale” I came up for on my all-Alter-Ego game played last summer:

  • Ran a Humanoid out to tie up his team or draw fire. It worked too well, costing me those 40 points immediately due to my forgetting Wonder Woman’s Exploit Weakness. Moreover, said Humanoid lost the light object he’d been holding as well. FAIL level: 2
  • Leapt Red Hulk 11 squares to make his free attack, completely forgetting that he could only do so for 6 squares and still do it. This is with Leader fully able to TK the brute within the needed range. This landed him next to Shazadam holding a heavy, so I’d depend on Red Hulk’s Toughness to help him survive the possible preemptive strike. But I’d inadvertently jumped in range of Wonder Woman’s Charge, and she punched right through Rulk’s defenses with my own light object dropped a couple turns earlier. One failed Impervious roll against Shazadam’s 7 damage the next action and my heavy hitter was gone in two actions. FAIL level 3.

The rest was just clean-up. Got skunked (wiped out with 0 victory points).

SECOND round, CC brought the Infinity Watch: Gamora (Galactic Guardians), Mole Man (Galactic Guardians), Drax (Galactic Guardians 011) and Adam Warlock (Galactic Guardians 032). This time I was actually doing OK, getting Drax tied down with a Humanoid and knocking Moley off Outwit. But Red Hulk continued to miss attacks, and I made my FAIL level 2: Even though I remembered to use the Humanoid’s Poison, I totally overlooked Red Hulk’s far better version of the power. (The only reason this isn’t a level 3 is because the Poison wouldn’t have saved me. Only actually landing an attack would.) Got skunked again, not even taking out the very wounded Mole Man or last-click Gamora.

FINALLY, Paul W. joined me on the loser table to see who the biggest loser would be: his Metropolis team of Eradicator, Superman (Superman 001), Mercy Graves and Fast Forces Lex Luthor, or my thus-far (un)Intelligencia.

I managed to draw out his deadly All-Star Superman out to Outwit my Leader from 10 out, out of Leader’s retaliation range and with Eradicator ready to make a deadly Psychic Blast, too. But I jumped Red Hulk out to Outwit A.S.Supes (and Poison Lex) and a pair of Humanoids to tie up all Superman’s buddies with Plasticity. Meanwhile, with Leader free to Outwit again, the little bighead deactivated A.S.S’s Hypersonic and Indomitable, stranding the Kryptonian for Rulk to  push to L/C with a heavy and one-shot him.

It would’ve worked if not for a FAIL level 1 dice roll that, in retrospect, was actually a massive FAIL level 3.

See, before getting Poisoned, Lex Luthor managed to punch Rulk for 1 damage, knocking him to a 10 Speed instead of 11. In my mind, for some reason, I seemed to think that meant he could only L/C 5 squares to clobber Superman instead of the 6-square limit his SP actually calls for. So I pushed Leader to TK Rulk out to jump the 5 squares, landing a solid hit…that A.S.S. Theme Probability Controlled into a miss. That completely unnecessary TK left Leader unable to Theme Probability Control that miss into a hit.

FAIL level 3. BIG TIME.

A.S.S. proceeded to immediately crithit Rulk into his AE clicks and too far away to even maybe get into the fight later. And though I wasn’t skunked this time — I got Lex and his girl Mercy, at least — the game was essentially over with that.

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Piece-by-piece:

Red Hulk: His very light defenses on opening click blunt his effectiveness a lot. It cost me in EVERY SINGLE MATCH as he was far too easily damaged by heavy and light hitters alike. But some more aware play on my part would certainly have alleviated that some. You can’t totally stop dice fails. You can stop stupid moves.

___

The Leader: With Rulk failing miserably, he needed to be able to fight more. But with him either hurling big Red into the fray or support him with Outwit from the safety of hindering terrain, he never could provide the backup Rulk sorely needed. He’s no secondary attacker despite his solid AV.

___

Humanoids: Pulled a pair of regenerated ‘oids  in the first two games, resulting only in extra victory points. Too weak to be good cleanup (and lacking the object pool to make good use of their Super Strength beyond a single shot or so) and too slow to be great tieup, they’re a tad disappointing. On the other hand, they have that Strength, the Poison, the respawn ability (with the right Leader, of course) and the Willpower to make them a credible threat even as they tie down targets with Plasticity, and ALL of those qualities came into play. They just need more effective fighters for them to back up.

_____________

All in all, the Intelligencia was, well…the UNintelligencia in my game. Not even the ATA could’ve helped me here. But maybe it’ll help the team in the next Battle Report in a couple of weeks. (Next is the monthly scheduled Top Ten.)

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A I wrote last Friday, I’ve been all about theme teams in HeroClix since I started in 2005. From attempting to run teams composed entirely of bug-people — Ant-Man, Spider-Man, Wasp, to name a few — to a “Bright Yellow Boots” squad of Unleashed Shazam, E Black Adam and Vet Power Man, it’s clear that “theme” has a broader meaning than just running a bunch of Scientist-keyworded fellows on a team. Case in point was the Luchador team I posted Friday.

Bane (DC 75th Anniversary) 140 + Secret Six ATA 3

Atom Smasher (Giants) 97 + Protected 8 + Not So Special 3

The Atom (DC 75th Anniversary) 50

Red Shift (Galactic Guardians) 106 

Juggernaut (Giant-Size X-Men) 193

= 600 points.

Each fit the Luchador archetype:

  • male
  • masked, with head fully covered
  • at least partially bare-armed

FIRST GAME was a loss to returning player Vic’s cosmic team of Lord Mar-Vell, Adam Warlock (Galactic Guardians 032), Red Shift and Rick Jones/Capt. Marvel. The Darkness BFC cut his range advantage on the Dawn of Time map and an early critmiss on Vic’s Hypersonic attack ceded the early momentum to me, but a round of total misses on my part in the mid-game coupled with Lord M’s dominance left the Luchadors in too deep to climb to victory. Lost Red Shift, Juggy and Atom while only taking Warlock and Red Shift.

SECOND GAME was versus occasional guest columnist Morrison, who made a surprise appearance (usually, this overachiever is too busy pursuing Eagle Scout status and earning early college credit to play with little plastic superheroes)! His Armor force of Iron Man (Secret Invasion and Supernova), Abner Jenkins, Doombot 5359 and Master Chief (Battle Rifle) was only made tougher by his choice of the Crater map. My Skyscrapers BFC was rendered utterly useless because it’s illegal on maps where the starting areas are on elevated terrain.

I made a decent fight of it, despite taking a fair amount of fire along the way, KOing both Iron Men and the ‘Bot. But my team was wiped completely.

FINAL GAME, I had the choice of facing the judge’s team of Frost Giants or a squad of Martial Artists. Of course the Lucha Libre vatos wanted to test the kickboxers! They were: Batman (Dark Knight Rises 201), Catwoman (Dark Knight Rises 203), Gamora (Galactic Guardians), Hawkeye (Avengers Movie 208), Diana Prince (Brave and the Bold 103) and The Question (Arkham Asylum) on the Graveyard.

Juggernaut again got pounded and sent running right off with a heavily boosted Legolas shot. I returned the favor with interest by one-shotting Batman with an Atom Smasher charge. From there, though, things went well south for me as Question began Outwitting (thanks to a FAIL level 3 on my part — I was playing the Resistance BFC and thoroughly neglected to use it!) and Legolas made multiple Super Senses rolls in between Sharpshooting first Juggernaut, then Bane and finally Atom Smasher into so many victory points. My only other KOs were Gamora and Hawkeye.

So the Luchadors went winless at 0-3. But they competed in every match. With a different strategy (and fewer mistakes) I might’ve come out on top anyway.

PIECE-BY-PIECE:

Bane (DC 75th Anniversary): I held this guy far too much in reserve due to his weak starting 16 DV with Toughness, instead waiting to Charge him in with a +2 Venom Pump to land on his Invulnerability 18 DV. The problem with this strat was that I needed his firepower sooner. Moreover, even a solid hit lands him on a long run of Outwit, which could’ve evened matters up for me a bit. Finally, if he goes down fighting early, he has a chance to use the Secret Six ATA to blow up an adjacent foe.

I never once remembered to use his Secret Six ATA. :(

—

Atom Smasher (Giants): Despite being a giant, somehow big Al here got a solid Charge and hit in every game. He also got hit back pretty solidly in every game, being a giant target, and that’s his weakness: his mid-dial sports the most mediocre stats imaginable on a piece of his 97 cost. The Not So Special feat is an absolute must in Golden Age games — it REALLY helped in these games — as is a fellow JSAer/wildcard to help his DV. Speaking of which…

—

The Atom (DC 75th Anniversary): The littlest luchador had the biggest impact. He serves as a much-needed DV sharer for Atom Smasher, a hard-t0-target meat shield for the bigger boys of the team, a tie-up piece and, not inconsequentially, a capable minor attacker to bat leadoff or cleanup as needed. My problem and regret with him is that too often he was the first gone and Atom Smasher was without his needed partner. But for 50 points, whaddaya expect?

—

Red Shift (Galactic Guardians): It seemed every game went like clockwork; he’d make  a HSS strike, would have to base a dangerous shooter to let the rest of the slow team advance, and take just enough damage to end up on his very soft ESD clicks. The extra mobility and range were quite welcome, though. And though he was a KO in each match, he gave the team a shot at victory every time.

—

Juggernaut (Giant-Size X-Men): Never truly was unstoppable in these games, as opponents invariably not only had little trouble hitting his 18 Impervious but seemed also to make it stick every time. I needed to use him and Bane as a total tag team, piling on foes together instead of Juggy trying so hard to get that first big hit in.

__________

0-3 record notwithstanding, I loved this team. I’d like to try it again sometime, this time using Bane more aggressively and remembering my much-needed features like BFCs and ATAs.

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I really wanted to try all my Nova Corps pieces in a single team.

Nova Corps Recruit (Galactic Guardian 00) 50
R Nova (Supernova 037) 56
Nova Corps Denarian  (Galactic Guardians 210) 80
V Nova (Supernova 039) 78
Nova Corps Centurion  (Galactic Guardians 015) 100
Nova (Galactic Guardians Fast Forces 001) 125
Super-Nova (Galactic Guardians 200) 142
Nova Prime  (Galactic Guardians 001) 150
Air-Walker (Hammer of Thor 044) 201

The “Share Through The Worldmind” trait gives all the team some interesting — but nerfed — powers. Moreover, most also allow an additional game effect activated by fellow Corpsmen’s power action which we’ll call STW (Share Thru Worldmind) actions.

  • The Recruit offers a one-way Defend for the cheapies on the team, making him (and, by extension, the Supernova Rookie) good meat shields for bigger pieces. He’s also the best piece to take STW actions.
  • The Denarian’s version of Super Senses (only on a 6) could literally be a lifesaver. There’s also his ability to make an attack reroll after a STW, but this isn’t super-useful over making a standard move or attack action with the other Nova.
  • Both the Centurion and Super-Nova up the team’s firepower with Ranged Combat Expert (which maybe begs the use of Trick Shot on, say, the 10-ranged Supernova Vet, who could then shoot from behind the Recruit he’s loaning his 18 DV to). But a STW can give a Nova +1 damage for that turn, in case you need the damage boost for a close attack or a Running Shot.
  • Nova (201) contributes Force Blast to the team — a power you’ll probably use almost never, as the action needed to knock the foe back will either be useless (against, say, giants or Charge) or better used to fight or pump up damage. A STW action allows this Nova to knock back both friend and foe 1 square. Can’t think of a single time this would be useful when Force Blast would not — especially since this Nova breaks away automatically.
  • Nova Prime offers nerfed Leadership for all, which could come in handy for all. His STW option is even better, as he gets action tokens removed.

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What sparked this interest in Nova Corps, aside from the fact that I reread much of the fine 36-issue series this week, is my frustration in either not being able to or neglecting to use the various “Shared Through the Worldmind” traits lately. The first time, I was using the Nova Corps ATA to fit Nova Prime on a team of 100-points-and-higher. The second, a half-constructed, half-sealed tourney, kept me from fitting on all the different traits to be had. But I had so much fun finessing the ones I did have available that I decided to scrap the Howling Commandos team I was going to play in a 900 Modern Age team in favor of this one, while I still had the chance in Modern Age:

Nova Corps Recruit (Galactic Guardians 002) 50
Nova Corps Recruit (Galactic Guardians 002) 50
Nova Corps Denarian (Galactic Guardians 210)  80
Nova Corps Centurion (Galactic Guardians 015)  100
Super-Nova  (Galactic Guardians 200) 142
Nova Prime  (Galactic Guardians 001) 150
Air-Walker (Hammer of Thor 044) 201
+ Infinity Gauntlet on Nova Prime 10
+ Soul Gem 5
+ Space Gem 5
+ Time Gem 5

= 898 points. This was a first outing using the Infinity Gauntlet, used on Nova Prime. It wound up in a 4-player battle royale against some Guardians of the Galaxy, a horde of Skrulls, and a hodgepodge team led by MODOK, Queen of Fables and Beta Ray Bill from Hammer of Thor.

I played it far too conservatively and scored only minimal points — namely, a generic Valkyrie and a Force Blasted-into-wall Space Phantom — before time ran out.

  • The Gauntlet was also highly useless on Prime, as it takes forEVER to get the dial moving. (I’m beginning to see that the Gauntlet is really only good on characters who can push freely. They don’t really need the help so much.)
  • Getting these “human rockets” going is an issue, as the team lacks both the swing and AV to get the first strikes, aside from Nova Prime.  Worse, the same Centurions that offer the extra TK boost are also the most reliable attackers of the rest of the team. What’s their real role?
  • Hard to figure out how to use Super-Nova. He’s well-armored with Impervious but his AV is a weak-for-the-cost 9. Pushing gets him to Running Shot and 10 AV but he’s down to Invulnerability, now.
  • Air-Walker remains the glass cannon of the team. Only a theme-team reroll saved me from a disastrous Hypersonic Speed critical miss stranding him in full view of multiple enemies.

I’m still highly dissatisfied. I need to run this crew soon in a full game or tournament — preferably with the Fast Forces Nova to pump up the team with his Perplex. Perhaps in the next 1000-point game?

Nova Corps Recruit (Galactic Guardians 002) 50
Nova Corps Recruit (Galactic Guardians 002) 50
Nova Corps Denarian (Galactic Guardians 210)  80
Nova Corps Centurion (Galactic Guardians 015)  100
Super-Nova  (Galactic Guardians 200) 142
Nova Prime  (Galactic Guardians 001) 150
Air-Walker (Hammer of Thor 044) 201
and
Nova (Galactic Guardians Fast Forces 001) 125
= 998 points. Throw in Mjolnir, the Black Lantern and a heavy for the Denarian…at least while the orange elements are still Modern Age through June!

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Ever since the Avengers movie, my longtime love for the Black Widow character has been freshly revived (even though Scarlet Johansson’s casting is my least favorite thing about the film. I’m so over it). So at first opportunity, I played a 400-point team composed soley of every single version of Black Widow in my collection:

Black Widow (Captain America 006) 85 + Thunderbolts ATA 8 + Inside Info 4

The Covert Avenger (Avengers Movie Starter 004) 75 + Lunge 5

Black Widow (Captain America 206) 60 + Nanoarmor 6

Black Widow  (Classics 2-08) 59 + Not So Special 3

Black Widow  (Avengers Movie 007) 50 + Vault 3 + Infiltrate 2

Black Widow (Avengers Movie 036) 35 + Lunge 5

And here’s how they wound up playing:

Black Widow (Captain America 006): The big gal of the crew, her Running Shot and 3 damage made her invaluable. I wasn’t scared to push her to get to Penetrating Psychic Blast, either. Being able to pick Mystics with Thunderbolts ATA — never run her without T-Bolts — served as a good deterrent against Hypersonic attackers like Supergirl. (Too bad I didn’t pick Mystics in the first round against Ms. Marvel.)

The Covert Avenger (Avengers Movie Starter 004): Really tried to make her defense-countering SP work, but the must-hit attacks failed. She did OK, but I feel like she should contribute more.

Black Widow (Captain America 206): This was a true linchpin of the team with her 2nd-click Perplex. This Widow also served well as a secondary sniper even with her paltry 4 range. Willpower helped.

Black Widow  (Classics 2-08): Mostly outclassed by more modern dials, the old Ultimates Widow still packs a mean punch with 3 damage and Willpower. Since she doesn’t have to front a team (in the sense of bringing anti-Stealth to the game), she can make some surprise shots.

Black Widow  (Avengers Movie 007) : Another who ignores enemy Stealth, though the 4 range makes that a fairly empty threat. I never got to use her Takedown power, either (chiefly due to her getting OHKO’d by a Blood Brother and thoroughly forgetting my Themed Team Probability Control to turn that improbable hit to a miss).

Black Widow (Avengers Movie 036): The littlest Widow sometimes made a big impact. From Lunging about (thanks, feats!) to using her SHIELD TA (with the 60-point Widow’s, too) to lengthen the swings of big Widow and Ult. Widow to just tying up enemies or blocking line of fire, she’s useful in a multitude of ways. And only 35 points!

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So this little feature grew to be one of the toughest to do, each week. Part of the reason is because I really wanted to go into detail writing about each step of the match. But time just simply doesn’t allow for it.

Lack of time and opportunity also did a number on my actual clix playing for the first quarter or so of this year. As a consequence, I have a lot of unplayed pieces.  Lately, every game I play is dedicated to running as many of those unplayed ‘clix as I can stand, whether it’s a simple 200-point pickup game or a sealed Infinity Gauntlet tournament for a coveted Elder of the Universe figure.

As a result, this space on Wednesdays will be dedicated to mini-reviews of a newly played HeroClix piece from the week before rather than full-blown battle reports. To wit:

On last Saturday, I came into the venue ready to play a Nova Corps team (the week’s scenario being “Assemble!” —  700 points of a single faction) but saw that two others of the seven players also had Nova Corps. So, having come fresh from a 2nd viewing of “The Avengers” — yes, it was that good — I swiftly rebuilt a second team around the brand-new Free Comic Book Day Thor figure:

Thor (Avengers Movie #200) 150
Iron Man (Avengers Movie #006) 160
Hulk (Avengers Movie #202) 255
Black Widow (Avengers Movie #036) 35 
Captain America (Avengers Movie #204) 100
= 700 points, unplayed pieces in boldface. No theme bonus, just movie-accurate awesomeness. It got pretty easily to the final match, where I was overmatched by an identically named team of comic-accurate Avengers: Thor and Cap from Hammer of Thor, Black Widow from Cap set, one of Galactic Guardians’ Hulks and Secret Invasion Iron Man. They took out Hulk in just three shots — WizKids really needs to implement my suggested fix to Outwit — providing the only margin of victory needed.

FCBD Thor: At the 150-point level, he made a great tag team running shooter with Iron Man, especially with his Pulse Wave option to get him in close if necessary. He seemed to take damage down to his late-dial Hypersonic Speed clicks a lot, to my opponents’ distress.

Iron Man 006: Performed well but lived by the skin of his teeth in every game. I should’ve considered pushing him to Outwit more often than I did. It might have made a big difference in the champ match I lost if I’d been able to nerf SI Iron Man’s powerful Extremis power.

Black Widow: She was key tieup in every single match except the one I lost, because she just couldn’t get to her mark. That role kept her from being used for her SHIELD team ability, though. I have to find the proper balance for that in the future.

Captain America: A bit torn between keeping him strictly on defense (the +1 DV trait to adjacent pals) and using that 11 AV right off. He also seemed to be a magnet for good enemy attack rolls. Fortunately, he never becomes useless and found a way to help the team to the end.

______

So, it’s a little less meaty than I’m used to writing. But it’s actually, y’know, done and published, so there’s that. Hopefully, I can keep this going!

Tomorrow, plan to see a normal-sized Token Totin’ entry.

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I really wanted to write about an all-monster theme team or something. But my new job has cut out a lot of the extra gaming I’ve gotten used to over the past several years, so I’ve had to settle for 2 out of 3:

Queen of Fables (Superman #049)

yeah, a chick with squid for legs? Pretty freakshow.

Zibarro (Superman #104)

Monster with the soul of a poet.

Star Boy (Superman #007)

That beard’s not scary at all.

300 points even once I added the 4-point Scorpio Key special object. Basic strat was to copy Queen’s Mystics TA and shut down enemy Speed powers with Star Boy’s wildcard and trait, respectively, carrying Zibarro.

FIRST MATCH was against Lenny’s 300-point All-Star Superman on the new Metropolis map. Oy.

Superman set up well beyond Star Boy’s speed range to kill his Hypersonic Speed and on this very wide open map I’d have no safe way of doing so. But I had to do something to keep Supes from  simply running the table. One mistake, and I was done. So here’s what I did:

  • Star Boy moved within 9 squares of Superman, carrying Zibarro within 10 to Outwit Superman’s Indomitable.
  • Moved Queen of Fables just in front of Superman to block Line of Fire to Zibarro to prevent the counter-Outwit.
  • Copied Mystics with Star Boy.

Now I waited. Lenny’s a sharp player and he saw what I’d done to give him a number of bad choices:

  • He’d have to push to hit either the Queen or Star Boy, and thus would take TWO clicks of damage for the effort.
  • He’d also have to overextend and would be stranded by Star Boy’s trait…
  • …even moreso if he tried instead to go after the non-Mystic target of Zibarro behind the others.

But it wasn’t great for me, either. Superman could easily KO Star Boy or Zibarro with one easy hit. And Queen of Fables would take EXTRA damage from the object Supes was carrying.

In the end, Superman Outwitted her Invulnerability and moved to HSS her with his heavy object. Shape Change failed and she got rocked for 8 unreduced clicks, landing her on her final click of life. Argh.

That move won me the game.

See, Queen of Fables gets a SP “I’m The Hero Of This Tale” where she gets Willpower and can copy an enemy’s attack and damage values + 1. With Superman stuck next to her, he was an easy, Outwitted target (after Zibarro scooted around her for LOF) to take 6 clicks in turn. So although Supes was able to take her out easily on his next opportunity, he was now weakened enough for Star Boy and Zibarro to knock him out.

SECOND MATCH was in the Fortress of Solitude against Paul’s Gangbuster, Lucy Lane and Cyborg Superman. This time I didn’t play quite as smart, moving Star Boy too close to Lucy and GB, who merely based him and beat him to KO.

Fortunately, I had Zibarro around to keep CyberSupes good and nerfed for Queen to pound. Between the two, I was able to emerge victorious for a wipeout, and the tournament win.

 

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OK, so there’s this mad scenario that the head judge at Dragon*Con likes to run. Here are the rules:

To keep the number of players even at DragonCon’s last event, I played instead of judging. Here was the wild scenario:

Trials of Dragon*Con
Modern Age/No bystanders/No multi-based figures
Bring a 6 figure team with no point limit. All figures must have a SINGLE base, NO MULTI-Base figures allowed. You can bring only ONE (1) figure from the following point ranges:
1 – Up to 25 Pts
2 – 26-50 Pts
3 – 51-100 Pts
4 – 101-150 Pts
5 – 151-200 Pts
6 – 201 Pts and over
You will begin the game with the lowest point figure on the map. When the dial turns for any reason, you will roll 1D6 and swap out the corresponding figure. If the corresponding figure has been eliminated, you will bring in the next lowest point figure remaining. The new figure swapping in must be in a legal square it can occupy. No FEATS, Alternate Team Abilities, or BFC’s.

My team, hastily tossed together on the way to the con that morning:

1. The Burglar 19
2. SI Captain America 49
3. Elsa Bloodstone 73
4. Noh-Varr 141
5. Con Ex. Wonder Woman 190
6. DC75 Ares 272
Went 1-2, defeated first by a team of Lilah, SI Spidey, HT Venom, WL Flash, Ms. Skrullvel and Superman Prime followed by Amazon of Bana-Mighdall, AE Peter Parker, AA Robin, SI Namor, Ms. Skrullvel and DC75 Ganthet. Then, when 2 more people dropped, we shifted to two battle royale teamups, in which I paired with my last opponent against Lightspeed & GF SHIELD Field Agent, Energizer & AA Nightshade, Skrullektra & Guy Gardner, SI Namor & GX Juggy, and Superbrat & WL Sinestro. I ran the game early, but WL Sinestro healed 10 clicks over the course of the game. I ended up being first out, but my partner finally made a clutch last-possible-moment PW to finish off WL Sinestro just before the Shock The Turtle barriers would’ve killed him (and [I]not[/I] Sinestro). :)

Piece-by-piece:

This was a prime time to bring The Burglar out, as for once he might actually be able to use his “Ambush The Innocent” SP granting him +2 AV and damage against cheaper figures. Unfortunately, nearly all his opponents were too expensive to use it. But he did manage to take out Megan Fox Lilah, who really ought to know better than to stroll through The Park alone at night dressed like that. I’m just saying.

———–

Secret Invasion Captain America was my #2, but he did little but take damage and get KO’d (though he did manage to get a key Flurry in the final game). In retrospect, I wished I’d remembered Impulse (DC75) for the same 49-point cost.

———–

Elsa Bloodstone, on the other hand, was quite the force (in the 2nd and 3rd games, anyway). She made Ms. Skrullvel of no consequence with a single attack; she whittled Ganthet down with ease and took down Juggernaut. I’ve rarely gotten her to work this well.

———–

Noh-Varr was an excellent choice for this game thanks to his wide-ranging powers and +1 AV trait. That is, when he wasn’t getting brought in to simply take the second Flurry attack from Namor. Which happened way too much.

———–

Ah, my new favorite piece. Convention Exclusive Wonder Woman isn’t really as good without teammates to help, but she held her own pretty well. Getting Hypersonic Speed mid-dial was quite key. I only wish I’d insisted my that partner in the last game Perplex down the enemy Namor’s damage so she could’ve survived that massive Flurry attack.

———–

DC75 Ares. He wreaked havoc in all three games but still got spun to his last few clicks. Having to be so close-range means he takes a lot of extra fire that cowards longer-ranged characters don’t have to endure.

This is a surprisingly balanced scenario. I may modify it and add it to my list!

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Yep, I played this some weeks ago in a 100% Captain America set Golden Age tournament.

Nick Fury (Captain America #023) 109 + Inside Information 4 + Alias 3
Quake 67
Stonewall 62
Phobos 59
Slingshot 50
Hellfire 45
+ Kinetic Accelerator
+ Eleha’al Vine
+ Dynamostat
=399 points

My basic strategy: Use Fury’s SP to deploy the troops around Quake, whose Leadership might remove a token or grant an extra action. Slingshot uses the Accelerator to make hit&runs until Stonewall and Quake can get in Charge range.

FIRST ROUND vs. Conrad’s Nick Fury, Steve Rogers, Black Widow, Yelena Belova, and SHIELD Agent on the indoor Helicarrier map.
Conrad stayed in his enclosed starting area, giving me a decided deployment advantage.
Turning Point:

  • Probability Controlled a miss into a crithit on Rogers.

MVPs: Though Slingshot made that big hit, it was Quake who scattered the enemy like tenpins, sealing my win with authority.

SECOND ROUND vs. Sammy’s Baron Zemo, Stonewall, Doorman, Quake and Scorpion on Days of Future Past.
Sammy’s only about 7 and isn’t a great player at all, but he’s needing less and less coaching and made some surprisingly solid tactical moves.
Turning Point:

  • This was actually a very close game until Fury KOed Zemo.

MVPs: Quake and Fury.

THIRD ROUND vs. Paul’s Invisible Woman, Cage, Steve Rogers, Bucky Cap on Days of Future Past.
Paul’s the veteran player here, so this was going to be a challenge. I focused on Outwitting Sue’s TK, but her PC was the real annoyance.
Turning Point:

  • Though Stonewall took tons of fire, he blocked for Quake long enough for her to land a crippling hit on Cap and Steve through the walls.

MVPs: Quake and Fury, again. Her SP is gonna be a game-changer, and his Outwit enabled the team to actually deal damage.

The Secret Warriors don’t look like much, with only light-damage attackers surrounding one immobile leader, but they definitely equal to more than the sum of their parts. Probably the fact that A) they don’t absolutely depend on any one member to work (aside from the Stealth-and-Mastermind-protected Fury) yet B) any one of the members still have the ability to affect the game.

  • Stonewall’s the tough brick who can absorb damage and deal out plenty with Super Strength;
  • Slingshot’s cheaper version of HSS works well in the close quarters that the SWs thrive in;
  • Quake is doubly effective in said medium-to-close range;
  • Phobos functions well in the same zone and as a great bodyguard for Fury;
  • and Hellfire’s the blocker/tieup/bait piece who can’t be ignored.
Next week, I’ll be in the midst of another of my turn-of-the-month Top Ten lists. (If I were more on the ball, I’d do something on the New DC universe, debuting today. But…I dunno.) Until then, check tomorrow for another Token Totin’ pic, and try to get to Atlanta’s Dragon*Con for some sci-fi/fantasy fun this weekend!

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A few months back, I played Diana’s Wardrobe: a team consisting of figures wearing some costume that Wonder Woman’s worn across the years. With the recent release of Wonder Woman (#D-001) at Origins and GenCon, there’s a new addition. I was blessed with one of these ultra-rare figures by a fellow player (and brother-in-Christ), so it’s time to dive into the Amazon’s closet once again!

Wonder Woman (Promo D-001) 190
Wonder Woman (DC 75th Anniversary #W-8) 172
Wonder Woman (DC 75th Anniversary #030) 127
Wonder Woman (DC 75th Anniversary #051) 100
+ Yellow Lantern 5
+ Blue Lantern 5
= 599 points

My basic strategy: Angle for a 1st-strike with Horse WW, backed up by #030’s Defend, then toss out the new WW with White Lantern WW’s TK to deliver support via Perplex and KO-blows.

FIRST ROUND vs. Khan’s GX Magneto, Kitty Pryde, Night Nurse, HT War Machine, Red Guardian, WS Nightcrawler on the indoor/outdoor Helicarrier map.
Highlights: Chasing down Nightcrawler at game’s end sort of validates my general anti-NC strategy: ignore the little blue devil in favor of attacking his more dangerous partners.
Turning Point: Inexperienced, Khan didn’t break Night Nurse away from WL WW’s Poison when he had the chance. That cost him a possible chance to heal Magneto, who’d been good and beaten up by the other Women.
MVPs: WL WW’s Poison was good, but JMS WW’s suPerplex was better for making those clutch hits and defending against same.

SECOND ROUND vs. Chris’s X-Men: WS Nightcrawler, GX Prof. X, GX Cyclops, GX Gambit / Rogue and GX Wolverine on the indoor Helicarrier map.
 Turning Point:

  • In an unexpected move, Chris moved NC within 6 squares of my team (though behind tons of walls and blocking cover), putting my force in imminent danger of being snatched to his partners. But that also played into my hands:
    • First, I used WL WW to smash the blocking in front of me so that
    • Second, a Perplexed, Yellow Lantern’d Horsey WW could Charge THROUGH the resultant hindering terrain and get an unexpected first strike on Nighty!
    • But the successful hit was Super Sensed away and he was able to scoot away to safety, ruining my chance and costing me later when he managed to snatch away DC75 WW on his 3rd try.
  • JMS WW gots Psychic Blasted by the duo and Prof X alike…and at no time did I remember her trait to use Energy Shield/Deflection OR Super Senses, either of which would have made those range attack FAR more likely to miss. FAIL Level 3, as this blunder cost me my pivot character’s best powers (her Amazon-friendly Perplex) and eventually her life.

MVPs: The map. Gave Nightcrawler easy access, but it also kept most of the X-Men from capitalizing on their range ability.

THIRD ROUND vs. Brian’s Robots: BB Lex Luthor & Brainiac, BB Metallo, Bonebreaker, M-11, and two Adaptoids on the Krakoa map.
Turning Point:

  • Thanks to Exploit Weakness, a heavy object and rolling boxcars, Old Spice WW KO’d Bonebreaker in one wondrous hit.
  • Krakoa hurt his team more than mine, constantly robbing M-11 and Lex/Brainiac duo of life via earthquakes and nerve center attacks.

MVPs: the map again. It dealt the ‘bots more hurt than me.

Went 2-1. REALLY kicking myself over that terrible failure to use her defensive trait that, in all likelihood, would have saved that one loss. When am I gonna stop making huge mistakes like that?

I was hoping to play all the Wonder Women in a big 1200-point game in a couple of weeks, but I won’t be able to make it to that one. And in any case, a new Wonder Woman is on the way in the upcoming Superman expansion, so Diana’s Wardrobe is not quite complete! Hopefully, come October, I can run the new piece along with the others.