by ·0 Comments

After what’s probably the hugest FAIL factor game I’ll ever play, you’d think I wouldn’t so much as touch a team composed of all the Alter Ego figures in HeroClix:

  • With no fliers, phasers or Leap/Climbers, this weak swarm team is pretty immobile.
  • They’ve got hardly any range, or damage reduction, or speed.
  • They take forever to get deployed, and constantly have an action deficit.

I’m kinda stubborn this way, though: I don’t mind playing at a handicap if I think the idea’s neat enough. More importantly, I’m still convinced I can make the team work as long as I don’t make a solid dozen user errors again.

Norman Osborn  (Web of Spider-Man #023) 66 + T-Bolts 8 + Contingency Plan 12
Peter Parker  (Web of Spider-Man #008) 50
Clark Kent (The Brave and The Bold #002) 48
Bruce Wayne  (The Brave and The Bold #001) 48 + Outsmart 10
Jason Blood  (The Brave and The Bold #00)  44
Eddie Brock (Web of Spider-Man #010) 42
Ben Reilly (Web of Spider-Man #024) 38 + Lunge 5
Walter Kovacs (Watchmen #0) 38 + Loner 5 + Infiltrate 2
Hal Jordan (Green Lantern Gravity Feed #002) 35
Diana Prince (The Brave and The Bold #003)  32 + Invigorate 10

Again, I T-Bolted to Ultimates. My opponent Paul was using the following Brotherhood team:

Juggernaut (Giant-Size X-Men #046) 193
Pyro  (Giant-Size X-Men #034) 
Sabretooth (Giant-Size X-Men #040) 93
Esme Cuckoo (Mutations & Monsters #101) 50
Unus The Untouchable (Mutations & Monsters #042) 90

Another themed team, it got easy map choice, placing us on Oa from Green Lantern Fast Forces.

_________________________________________

WS Norman Osborn 66 + T-Bolts 8 + Contingency Plan 12

It’s fair to say that this team rises and falls with this piece. The only one with any range, plus Outwit and the Thunderbolts ATA, he delivers nearly all the early offense. I got a break when Juggernaut had to move just within Osborn’s line of fire (or, rather, where Osborn was going to be once I moved him — thank you Ultimates TA for ignoring hindering terrain for movement), forcing the big guy to either close in or remain Outwitted and unable to Charge in for a long time. That gave Osborn the chance to fight back and whittle Juggy down.

WS Peter Parker 50 

My chief Perplexer survived in this role throughout the game, never having to switch to either Spidey.

BB Clark Kent 48

Unlike last game, Kent was very much a part of this game, continually Perplexing up Osborn’s damage and defense on alternating turns while absorbing Mastermind damage to get to his Alter Ego, Superman (The Brave and The Bold #017). At that point, my team could really start delivering the attacks and had gained a needed taxi in the big blue boy scout.

BB Bruce Wayne 48 + Outsmart 10

Though the Outsmart feat was completely wasted again, his Outwit was another key to the game, despite the problem of his low, low speed. I had to take great care to draw the needed lines of fire to make sure Juggernaut was good and vulnerable. Eventually got him to switch Batman once my initial Perplexer was unavailable.

Jason Blood 44 + Endurance 5

Mr. PC did his thing until the end of the game, even taking the occasional swing. The feat? Just filler.

Eddie Brock 42

This time, Venom got a chance to attack and land a hit or two against Sabretooth before exiting the game. His ability to switch IDs early in the game is important to this team.

Ben Reilly 38 + Lunge 5

Still stinging from the horrible failure of last game, I was much more conscientious of wildcarding to the right team abilities with him. He was still an early KO, barely getting to switch to Scarlet Spider (Web of Spider-Man #040) before dropping, but copying Mystics at least made sure he hurt ’em along the way.

Walter Kovacs 38 

Used his Stealth and, more importantly, his Special Power to much better effect to tie down before eventually switching to Rorschach.

GF Hal Jordan 35

Where he was a key factor in the last game, Hal was an early casualty in this game. He still served to block access to more valuable figures.

BB Diana Prince 

Didn’t set her up right to best use the Invigorate feat due to the lack of actions to move her at first, but she worked out later as Superman emerged. Better still, her solid DV down the line enabled her to survive long enough to switch to Wonder Woman (The Brave and The Bold #018) and land the game’s final KO blow.

______________________

In the end, I wiped the Brotherhood out and only lost Hal, Ben and Eddie for a commanding victory over a team that was arguably stronger than the one that decimated me before. It just goes to show what decent play will do for your chances of winning.

In a Modern Age game, I’d toss in Madrox (Giant-Size X-Men #001) as a sort-of Alter Ego piece in 500 points to make it work. In 600, I’d use two of ‘im and add the mighty morphing Beast Boy (DC 75th Anniverasary) for 597 points of figure switching action. Hope to try it sometime!

Next week: a return to Diana’s Wardrobe.

by ·0 Comments

So I got a phoned invitation from a friend across town to play a game. I happened to be free and halfway there already and decided to make the trip. And though I was packing a Diana’s Wardrobe team, I had another team I’d been aching to try out: wall-to-wall Alter Egos!

Norman Osborn  (Web of Spider-Man #023) 66 + T-Bolts 8 + Contingency Plan 12
Peter Parker  (Web of Spider-Man #008) 50
Clark Kent (The Brave and The Bold #002) 48
Bruce Wayne  (The Brave and The Bold #001) 48 + Outsmart 10
Jason Blood  (The Brave and The Bold #00)  44 + Endurance 5
Eddie Brock (Web of Spider-Man #010) 42
Ben Reilly (Web of Spider-Man #024) 38 + Lunge 5
Walter Kovacs (Watchmen #0) 38 + Loner 5 + Infiltrate 2
Hal Jordan (Green Lantern Gravity Feed #002) 35
Diana Prince (The Brave and The Bold #003)  32 + Invigorate 10

…and, of course, all their alternate identities. My friend was using the following Hellions team:

Emma Frost (Giant-Size X-Men #011) 81
Cypher  (Giant-Size X-Men #012) 38
Empath (Giant-Size X-Men #013) 47
Wolfsbane (Web of Spider-Man #029) 65
Roulette (Giant-Size X-Men #014) 35
Tarot (Giant-Size X-Men #021) 47
Cannonball (Giant-Size X-Men #022) 82 
Firestar (Web of Spider-Man #020) 81

Cypher was able to make them all Mystics, thanks to Jason Blood’s presence, and the swarming themed team got easy map choice, placing us on the wide-open Bridge map from Web of Spider-Man.

Those were only the first things to go wrong for my team. In fact, this game was such an utter debacle, I’ve had to come up with a new FAIL SCALE to account for it:

  1. Minor, purely circumstancial stuff like a missed roll or having a feat that only wastes points.
  2. Misremembering a power / enemy dial or underestimating enemy tactics leading to a poor situation.
  3. A tactical move or non-use of a power/ability/feat on my part that causes me to lose points.

Because I made some sort of FAIL for every single character on my team.

_________________________________________

WS Norman Osborn 66 + T-Bolts 8 + Contingency Plan 12
He made one of my only successful attacks in a crit hit of Cannonball, but he got forced to push to AE to Green Goblin, still in range of Tarot’s automatic-damage “Devil” power. FAIL level: 1

______________

WS Peter Parker 50 
As Spider-Man, pushed to hit a Mystic. It scored my only points, but KO’d him, too. It was a last gasp in a losing effort, so the FAIL level: 1

______________

BB Clark Kent 48

  • Trusted  Osborn’s Mastermind to get him to AE clicks rather than push. Didn’t work out. FAIL level 1
  • Perplexed GL’s AV instead of damage to Running Shoot Cypher, landing the New Mutant on his last click instead of KO and extending the Mystics TA problem through the whole game. FAIL level: 2

______________

BB Bruce Wayne 48 + Outsmart 10

  • The feat turned out to be utterly wasted on this team. FAIL level: 1
  • Moved him (as Batman) not far enough to avoid Wolfsbane’s Charge near the end of the game. But that was only about FAIL level 2 because of the next entry…

______________

Jason Blood 44 + Endurance 5
Moved him behind said Batman instead of using him to block the Charge. At least he’d have A) had a chance to force a reroll and B) caused Mystics damage if hit. FAIL level 3.

He's got a reason to pout.

______________

Eddie Brock 42
Scared to push AND hit Mystics, I never got an attack off despite him becoming Venom. FAIL level 2.

______________

Ben Reilly 38 + Lunge 5
Forgot to wildcard to Mystics in the one early turn it mattered. He was the first KO in two incredible rolls of nine or better, not even causing feedback damage, practically costing me the rest of the match. FAIL level 3.

______________

Walter Kovacs 38 + Loner 5 + Infiltrate 2
Failed a breakaway roll to get Rorschach out of a deadly triple-team…having thoroughly forgotten that the Infiltrate feat made the roll unnecessary. (Worse still, the move I was trying to make would have saved Venom above at minimum by tying up a foe or two and blocking LOF.)  FAIL level 3.

______________

GF Hal Jordan 35

  • As Green Lantern, crit-missed a final attack on a final-click Cypher. Technically only  FAIL level 1, but far more costly, especially when my better move may have been to try targeting Tarot.
  • Trying to get him to the Vine to heal, boneheadedly moved him in range of Tarot’s Devil zone for automatic KO. FAIL level 3.

A pic from the film is about the best "fail" image I can think of for GL.

______________

BB Diana Prince 
Trying to get out of Tarot’s range, and not thinking far enough ahead at all, I moved her into the water…still well within Cypher’s Charge range. FAIL level 2.

____________________________

As you can see, it was not one of my better-played games. What really gets my goat is that making any one of those user errors dramatically affected the match, yet I made over a dozen of them.

But did I learn my lesson about running a weak team like this crowd of Alter Egos? Oh, nooooo. Apparently I hadn’t had enough. See next week for what happened then…

by ·0 Comments

Welcome again to my typical Wednesday feature. Along with your new comic reading, check out how my Heroclixin’ went this weekend.

The inspiration of the team: Last week, we learned we’d end up having an NFL season after all, and the scenario required 400 points of no-females. With the latest version of Falcon released in the new Captain America set, my being from Atlanta, and my love for “same-name/character, different figure” teams, it was high time for an all-Falcons team.

The actual build:
Falcon (Captain America #030) 79+ Inside Info 4
Falcon (Avengers #040) 75
Snap Wilson (Sinister #219) 60 + Loner 5
V Falcon  (Sinister #057) 57 + Not So Special 3
Sam Wilson (Sinister #207) 53 + Contingency Plan 12
E Falcon (Sinister #056) 46 + Pym Particles 6
=400 points.

My basic strategy: Build Contigency Plan tokens while my Falcons inch close enough to make a bunch of Charge attacks.

ROUND 1. vs. Bill’s Captains America: both Bucky Caps, Wall Cap, Rogers, HoT on Krakoa.
Highlights:

  • I made a crit miss with Krakoa to end my first turn.
  • A combination of good attacks and Krakoa quaking took Steve Rogers down. Unfortunately…

Turning Points:

  • Using AV Falcon’s Running Shot from elevated terrain to the ground was a bad mistake, giving Wall Cap easy Charge access to him, one of my more important characters. This, on top of…
  • CA Falcon missing a must-land Charge to Quake attack on three of the Caps sealed my utter defeat.

MVPs: none.

ROUND 2. vs. Paul’s John Stewart with Trick Shot and ICWO, Sgt. Rock + ICWO, Warlord, and three Easy Co. Soldiers on the Bridge.
Highlights: One hit landed all game. UGLY.
Turning Point:

  • My decision not to immediately hole up on the rooftop cost me dearly as my minimal cover (Dynamostat) was swiftly destroyed, giving the Soldiers multiple free shots on my team before I could even get in Charge range.

MVPs: none. This game was an unmitigated disaster.

ROUND 3. vs. Oat’s Ulik, Blob, X-Ray, Gharskyght, WS Spidey on Jotunheim.
Highlights: boxing in Ulik on the topmost peak, keeping him from attacking my key team members at first.
Turning Point:

  • X-Ray got multiple Pulse Waves on my team, weakening my them bit by bit so Ulik would have little trouble KOing the survivors.
  • Though down to just CA Falcon, I still had a chance to win and took it, pushing to get Ulik off his final damage reducing click. But it was a critical miss, just like my first attack this evening. And yes, it was my final attack, as Ulik critically hit to just barely KO Falcon.

MVPs: CA Falcon nearly did it anyway.

This game went about as well as the last game the real Atlanta Falcons played last season. What could I have done better?

  1. Protect big Falcon more. As my best attacker, he needed to not get shot before moving so much. I should’ve surrounded him with the ESD Falcons instead of holding them back so.
  2. Protect Sam Wilson more. With his 10 AV and Willpower, it was hard to keep from using him as a main attacker. But he was far better used for his feat.
  3. Not play my opponents’ game. I gave ranged attackers far too many low-risk-high-reward opportunities. There was no avoiding some of it, but still.
  4. Use AV Falcon and Snap Wilson as my frontliners. The former is the sole mobile ranged threat of the team, and the latter, the other shooter. In addition to blocking for big Falcon, he could’ve traded some shots in the meantime.
    And, finally…
  5. Use a different team. Sorry, but as much as I like Falcon, he’s just not any good on this particular build. CA Falcon needs a Captain America to get his points’ worth. AV Falcon needs to be 20 points cheaper. Snap’s damage is too low, Sam’s and the Vet’s AV is lacking while E Falcon’s weak in DV.
Next week, look for the first of a two-parter starring a group of figures who could be considered two-parters themselves. But before that, tomorrow see a special all-Cap set edition of Token Totin’ and, on Friday, the grand conclusion to Morrison’s Soldier keyword reviews.
Heroclixin’s BACK, baby!

by ·0 Comments

Dr. Manhattan (#005) 276
Ozymandias 83
The Comedian (#006) 83
Rorschach 57
Nite Owl  (#003) 53
Silk Spectre (#002) 46 
= 596 points. 

Ever since I scored the $100 collector’s set for a simple trade of a chase figure, I’ve been hoping for a 600-point build to run the whole team in. Finally got the chance last Wednesday in a four-way against:

Brian and his Brotherhood: Magneto, Juggernaut, Mystique, Pyro (all from Giant-Size X-Men) and Black Tom Cassidy;

Bill’s William Stryker, three Predators X, and five Purifiers;

Terry’s White Lanterns: Flash, Sinestro, Bart Allen and Deadman.

The battlefield was two fitted-together 2 x 3 GridReality maps, so our starting areas were set up like this (mine in red):

_  _

_  _

instead of this:

_
|  |
—

MY STRATEGY:

With Dr. M taking up the lion’s share of the team build and the only one who could so much as break a wall without help, I’d need to be careful that he didn’t get KO’d too soon. Trouble was, he lacks moving attack ability, so first strike is almost impossible. Therefore, I’d need to try to use Comedian and Silk Spectre to ping targets with Running Shot or Charge/Flurry respectively on foes softened up by Ozymandias’ Outwit.

The White Lanterns were directly across from me, but there were fortunately plenty of walls between us. The Brotherhood  was engaging the Purifiers on my left, giving me a little breathing room there as well.

TURNING POINTS

  1. Comedian took early shots on Juggernaut (unsuccessfully) and Pyro, leading to the latter’s KO. Silk Spectre later won a KO on Black Tom.
  2. The White Lanterns retreated to my side of the board to regroup after defeating Stryker to cripple the Purifiers. I decided it was time to deal with them and moved in close with Dr. M. Didn’t work so well, though, and he took  damage. Only moving in close with Nite Owl to tie up the Psychic-Blasting Sinestro saved Big Blue.
  3. Unfortunately, Nite Owl’s attempts to fight failed, but he stalled the foes long enough for the rest of the team to support one by one.
  4. But they started to get hit one by one, too. Rorschach crit missed against Deadman. Bart Outwitted Ozy and he went down. Silk Spectre tried tying up, but only for a while. Dr. M crit missed himself and had to teleport for the Vine to heal back to a good click.
  5. With the Brotherhood completely wiped out, the remaining Purifiers tangled with the Lanterns, taking the heat off my depleted Watchmen. This gave both Spectre and Comedian a chance to heal on the Vine while the Lanterns began to drop under the Predator X assault.
  6. In the end, an Enhanced Comedian, surrounded by Predators X, wore them down with Sharpshooter shots until all three of my figs could take out all three of the beasties in a single turn (to avoid the stat boosts they get when one is KO’d) for the win.

I didn’t expect an actual win, but this team played about as I expected.

  • Dr. Manhattan: The team rises and falls with him, of course. Interestingly, though, he really didn’t deal the most damage. Instead, he drew most of the fire and used support powers of TK and PC even more often to enhance the rest.
  • Ozymandias: He was fine in the early game with his Leap/Climb mobility and Outwit, but he’s usually a quick KO when I play him despite his above-average DV+Super Senses. It’s very difficult to use his extra Outwit without pushing, and he really can’t afford to be pushed.
  • Comedian: the MVP. Even though his damage is low, he somehow managed to deal more clicks than Dr. M! Running Shot and Sharpshooter ability gave him the flexibility to fight as needed even when based. His consistent AV made his shots actually land.
  • Rorschach:  Usually one of the best Watchmen, he was almost utterly ineffectual this time around. Still he was fine as tie-up just long enough to keep Deadman from healing others, at least.
  • Silk Spectre: MVP runner-up. For a chick with 1 damage all dial long, she sure had a big impact. She scored a solo KO on Black Tom, and, late-game, was able to Vine up to her mid-dial Enhancement to help Comedian make his game-winning performance. She even got to use her range-granting SP to take out one of the Predators X.
  • Nite Owl: It seems he always only serves as weak, easily KO’d tie-up fodder. Such was the same today, but his contribution was vital nonetheless.

Watchmen are nothing like a min/max team. But they can be played with finesse to pull off surprising feats.

by ·0 Comments

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:

_______________

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.

_______________

Armor

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

_______________

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.

_______________

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.

_______________

Impulse (DC75th) 

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

_______________

Madrox (Giant-Size X-Men) 

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

_______________

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.

_______________

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.

_______________

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.

_______________

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.

_______________

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.

_______________

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.
_______________

Rorschach

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

_______________

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.

_______________

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.

_______________

Wonder Woman (DC75th) 100

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

_______________

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. :)

by ·0 Comments

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.

_____________________

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.

__________________

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!

by ·0 Comments

Last week in this space, I wrote how awesome it’d be to play ALL the different Wonder Woman costumes in one team:

Diana Prince (The Brave and the Bold) 32
LE Diana Prince (The Brave and the Bold) 43
Wonder Woman (Origin) 51
SR Wonder Woman (DC 75th Anniversary #051) 100
Wonder Woman (Legacy) 106
Wonder Woman (DC 75th Anniversary #W-8) 172
Wonder Woman (Unleashed) 198
Wonder Woman (Blackest Night) 215
Wonder Woman (Arkham Asylum) 248
+ Yellow Lantern 5
+ Kinetic Accelerator
+Generator
+ Amazon ATA 28
= 1198 points.

…but I didn’t realize the 1200-point event I picked to run it in was designed for colossals. Uh-oh.
FIRST:
I faced Justin’s Ultimates:
Thor (Ultimates), Hulk (Ultimates), Iron Man (Avengers), Iron Widow, Giant-Man (Ultimates), V Captain America (Ultimates), LE Clint Barton (Ultimates), Quicksilver (Avengers #025), Nick Fury (Sinister), V Scarlet Witch (Fantastic Forces) and Wasp (Avengers #028). He picked the wide-open Arena map, to my dismay and detriment. Worse, I:
  • landed virtually no attacks
  • got no luck on my Kinetic Accelerator rolls
  • got my few successful hits Impervious’d or Super Sensed into nothingness.
Worst yet, I continually screwed up my positioning so I couldn’t re-roll with Prob Control. Fortunately, the Ultimates didn’t get any lethal attacks off either, leading to a would-be draw at game’s end if not for this TURNING POINT:
…I tried to score a KO in the last seconds using my Yellow Lantern. I didn’t knock Wasp out and thus gave my opponent the 5 points for the object…and the win.
_________________________
NEXT
Stephen brought the first colossal I’d face: Anti-Monitor: Annihilator and his little pals Mysterio (Web of Spider-Man), Ahab, Roulette, and R Kree Warrior (Supernova).
He picked the Bridge, darn it. I HATE that shooting gallery. I still got a solid initial hit on Anti-Monitor with the 248-point WW. But it all went downhill from there, battling as I was against A-M’s super-Quake SP, two PCers and Ahab’s ability to shoot from behind. I KO’d Ahab but even failed to take out Roulette (and even lost my attacker to her — HER! — thanks to a user error of not Perplexing down her damage). About the only true success of the whole game was AE Diana Prince surviving to the final seconds of the game to switch to Wonder Woman.
_________________________
FINALLY, being on the losers’ end of the scale, I faced another of the un-colossaled teams, James’ Green Lantern Corps:
John Stewart (DC 75th Anniversary), Kyle Rayner (DC 75th Anniversary), Green Lantern (Blackest Night), Sinestro (Green Lantern Gravity Feed), Guy Gardner (DC 75th Anniversary), Arisia and Tomar Re (Green Lantern Gravity Feed)
This one was another steamroll…only this time for the Wonder Women and not against! My opponent didn’t leverage his range advantage properly, putting his softest fighters Kyle and then Tomar too close to my TK-ready Amazons. Though I wound up losing a few pieces, I wiped out his entire team, even getting to swap in AE Wonder Woman.
_________________________
Anemic 1-2 record notwithstanding, I had a blast playing this team, in which each incarnation of WW had her role:
  • AE Diana was the healer.
  • LE Diana was the Perplexer.
  • LE WW carried the Yellow Lantern where DC75 WW could best benefit. She functioned as a meat shield, too.
  • Speaking of “I’m On A Horse” WW, she was a great first-striker (after the first round, anyhow) and her JSA TA aided her harder-shelled teammate…
  • Legacy WW, being the easier yet juicier target, drew fire from most of her sisters (thus building up tons of Sisterhood tokens through the ATA);
  • WL WW was the TK. Perhaps I should have had her closer to the action, as she also bears ranged ability and is a heck of a fighter, too;
  • KC WW was key for her Defend, helping especially the JSA figs, and was also a heck of a fighter;
  • Violet Lantern WW was the PC and the range, and again, a heck of a fighter;
  • and finally, “Brickhouse” WW was the main hitter thanks to that TK. Perplex, too.
As the introduction to this 2-parter suggests, I cannot WAIT to try out a Modern Age version of this build idea once I have the new WW in my hands:

SR Wonder Woman (DC 75th Anniversary #051) 100
Wonder Woman (The Brave and the Bold) 108
Wonder Woman (DC 75th Anniversary #031)
Wonder Woman (DC 75th Anniversary #W-8) 172
Wonder Woman (Convention Exclusive) 190
Wonder Woman (Blackest Night) 215
Wonder Woman (Arkham Asylum) 248
+ Yellow Lantern 5
+ Crimson Gem of Cytorrak 5
= 1198 points.

No Amazon ATA, but it’s still gonna be awesome. Hope I can get one shortly after GenCon in early August!

by ·0 Comments

A few weeks ago, WizKids unveiled a pair of convention exclusive figures to be made available at GenCon, the collectible gaming industry’s biggest summer convention. One was a new version of Wonder Woman, in her current (and kinda cruddy) new costume:

But darn if the actual miniature doesn’t look great:

…and it’s got a dial worthy of the character to boot. This is my #1 wanted HeroClix figure this year…maybe EVER. (It’s strange, because I’m not especially a WW fan.)

Anyhow, it got me thinking about Wonder Woman, the many variations her uniform’s gone through across the decades and how many have appeared in HeroClix, and, most importantly, how awesome it’d be to play ALL of them at once:

Diana Prince (The Brave and the Bold) 32
LE Diana Prince (The Brave and the Bold) 43
Wonder Woman (Origin) 51
SR Wonder Woman (DC 75th Anniversary #051) 100
Wonder Woman (Legacy) 106
Wonder Woman (DC 75th Anniversary #W-8) 172
Wonder Woman (Unleashed) 198
Wonder Woman (Blackest Night) 215
Wonder Woman (Arkham Asylum) 248
+ Yellow Lantern 5
+ Kinetic Accelerator
+Generator
+ Amazon ATA 28
= 1198 points.

Each WW is wearing a different outfit she’s worn*. Hence, no Icons, Cosmic Justice or DC 75th Anniversary uncommon since the classic armored swimsuit’s well-represented in the Arkham Asylum version (whom I call “Brickhouse” WW).

I brought this team to a 1200-point no-feat Golden Age game in which only outdoor maps could be chosen. I knew I’d potentially have colossal problems with enemy range using this largely close-combat oriented team, but I figured to overcome that problem with White Lantern WW’s Telekinesis, the Accelerator, and WW-on-a-horse’s ability to use HSS until I could get the Amazons into close quarters.

I didn’t realize this event was intended to encourage actual colossals. But I suppose I should have guessed.

Did the team overperform against incredible odds? Or did it meet the fate of NBC’s would-be Wonder Woman TV series and just fail? Find out in this space…next week!

* OK, so technically, the Legacy outfit was her mother’s. But you know they shared clothes all the time. :)

by ·0 Comments

From Batman, Inc. #1.

I’m not a huge Batman fan, whether in comics or clix. But there’s no denying he’s a great character, no matter who’s wearing the cowl…there’s a reason he endures even after celebrating his 75th anniversary just last week.

So when mad genius comics writer Grant Morrison created “Batman, Inc.” with Bruce Wayne’s public revelation that he’d been bankrolling Batman for years, and then followed it with a team-up between Bruce Wayne Batman and Catwoman in that first issue as well, this Modern Age team quickly formed itself:

Batman and Catwoman (The Brave and the Bold) 142
Batman (DC 75th Anniversary #031) 77
Robin (The Brave and the Bold) 43
Alfred (Batman Alpha) 30 
+ Indigo Lantern 5
+ Dynamostat 0
+ Kinetic Accelerator 0
= 297 points. 

FIRST TEAM FACED: Chris’s Martial Artists led by Bullseye (Web of Spider-Man) + Thunderbolts ATA, Nightcrawler (Web of Spider-Man), Hand Ninja (Hammer of Thor), and Howard the Duck on my choice of the Castle map, picked more for fun than for effectiveness. 

TURNING POINTS

  • I thoroughly forgot to use the Catwoman trait to “steal” Chris’s Yellow Lantern special object. Oops. But for his part, Chris opted to use Mystics instead of the Stealth-busting Ultimates team ability.
  •  My map choice turned out well anyway, as my placement of the Dynamostat left Nightcrawler no way to reach BatCats — or even to place his carried Hand Ninja pal next to the duo.
  • Finally, as repeated Smoke Cloud Maneuvers got Batwing and Robin slowly closer to the action, Chris moved Nighty and Bullseye within range of Batman & Catwoman’s alpha strike. And though it failed, BatCats could counter Bullseye’s Running Shot to stay safely behind hindering terrain until the others could back them up.
  • Feeling the pressure, Chris pushed Nighty to try to hit and reposition BatCats. He failed. By then, both Batwing and Robin were in fighting position to overwhelm the Martial Artists completely, losing only Robin. 

===

LAST MATCH was against Brian’s Future theme of Kid Zoom, Trevor Fitzroy, Karate Kid and Ahab on his choice of a 3rd-party map.

TURNING POINTS

  • AGAIN forgot to use Catwoman’s trait, robbing myself of positioning opportunities thanks to Brian’s Dynamostat placement. Lesson Learned: Give all character cards a quick readthrough before the first round of play begins.
  • Got first shot on Karate Kid, ending his threat before it’d begun.
  • Fitzory incredibly failed to hit Alfred and was a sitting duck for a huge counterattack by the others. His KO pretty much sealed the win for the Gotham crowd, as my Dynamostat kept BatCats safe from Ahab more than long enough to take him down a peg. Didn’t lose any characters this time.

MVP: Batman & Catwoman are a really strong duo…they could almost take on these teams themselves, given the right die rolls. But the presence of Robin as ever-ready tie-up and Batman as a very strong secondary help BatCats shoulder the load. Finally, there’s Alfred’s Support as the back-up plan should things go wrong (as they did in the 2nd game when Batwing crit-misses and took a hit, losing Charge).

I will play Batman, Inc. again in Modern Age, as all the characters remain legal when Avengers, Justice League, Mutations & Monsters, and Crisis all retire May 15. (I’ll have to find a different special object than the Dynamostat, though!)

by ·0 Comments

Welcome again to F.U.N. Friday, where I share team builds that are Friendly yet Useful and, above all, Nifty.

Once I got Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, the Super Rare duo from The Brave And The Bold set, and  The Holiday Killer from same, I was finally able to build a decent Batman Enemy-centric team for a 700-point Modern Age tournament:

Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy 175
The Joker (Arkham Asylum) 97
The Penguin (Arkham Asylum) 70
Firefly 68
Harvey Dent (Arkham Asylum) 67
Edward Nigma 60
The Holiday Killer 43
Catwoman (Batman Alpha) 40
Henchman (Arkham Asylum) 40
Henchman (Arkham Asylum) 40

= 700 points.

_____________________

Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy 175

They’re quite pushable, gaining Perplex and Stealth on their 2nd click, so I won’t shy away from using Running Shot to gain a bit of initiative in offense. Harley’s super-Outwit makes me almost hope they get hit.

_____________________

The Joker (Arkham Asylum) 97

His 11 AV isn’t quite as vital anymore for Batman Enemy teams now that wild cards can loan the team their attack values again. He’s also pretty fragile, with zero defenses outside of Stealth and a little Probability Control. But his 8 range is key in damage-dealing, and he has some help on this team, namely:

_____________________

The Penguin (Arkham Asylum) 70

17 Defend and flying really helps the mostly ground-pounding Batfoes. Heck, to the degree that Penguin takes enemy fire instead of more threatening targets makes him worth every point.

_____________________

Firefly 68

The other flyer of the crew and the most mobile attacker, Firefly gains a lot when teamed with better Batman Enemies and an Enhancer or two.

_____________________

Harvey Dent (Arkham Asylum) 67

Stealthy Outwitting Willpower with Flurry. Any questions?

Well, there’s also his singular ability, on this team, to not be forced to cluster with the rest to be most effective. Makes him a fine tie-up piece or hidden supporter with equal ability.

_____________________

Edward Nigma 60

Most put him on the team for his ability to allow a teammate to act turn after turn, but that power was barely used in my games. No, he was instrumental for his Outwit and especially his Enhancement, which made a threat out of so much else on this team.

_____________________

The Holiday Killer 43

Stealthy Outwit to start, a simple push to 11AV to share with other Batfoes and another 8-ranged threat for under 50 points. Even with the short dial, what’s not to like?

_____________________

Catwoman (Batman Alpha) 40

Long-lived tie-up piece that’s pushable to much better clicks. Better still, she was ripe for taking theme-PC tokens or Mastermind damage at any time.

_____________________

Henchman (Arkham Asylum) 40
Not really the best choice to double up, still they’re quite useful on this force. Batman Enemy and E.Nigma’s Enhancement turn them into threats instead of just Mastermind fodder, and their self-Perplex SP offers a third method of improving their combat ability. Still, for half the cost the normal AA Street Thug works nearly as well. In a future run, I’ll just go with a single Henchman and fill out with Thugs.