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#3 is the daringly swashbuckling and dearly departed

Nightcrawler (Web of Spider-Man, #047)

When he was first revealed, people honestly thought this fan-conceived version* of the popular X-Man would break the game. But, in truth, he’s only good enough to rate third.
That’s still pretty good. Why so high?

  • Unparalleled mobility. His “Extra-Dimensional Teleportation” trait sends him through walls and characters…nothing stops him. More to the point, he’s one of fewer than 5 characters in the whole game that can attack from behind walls and blocking terrain;
  • Stealth keeps him from being an easy target from range and, more importantly, protects his powers from being easily countered.
  • Shape Change can keep him from being attacked even when a foe IS able to punch or shoot him.
  • 19 DV makes that attack a difficult proposition even without…
  • …Super Senses, courtesy of the “BAMF!” SP, which additionally allows him to move half-speed away from the attack if the roll works. This makes Duo Attack and Flurry cry.
  • Oh yeah, he can carry, too.
  • All this is fine, but it’s not what lands him on this list. It’s his ability to hit a target with a HSS attack and then drop the target next to him after he finishes moving so the rest of his team can pile on the target that makes him a game-changing piece. Suddenly, all the usual positioning tactics have to be thrown out of the window.

For all his game-changing strengths, he’s weak on dealing damage and practically undone after taking only two clicks of damage. But he’s inexpensive enough to fit on plenty of teammates with longevity and damage ability to spare.

Next up is one of those potential teammates.

 

* This figure was designed by Ben Cheung, the 2008 HeroClix World Champ.

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#4 is now, and forever, the original…

Green Lantern (DC 75th Anniversary #049)

This oldie-but-goodie brings a lot to his team:

  • anti-Stealth from his Speed SP. Batmen cannot hide from him;
  • anti-Stealth for the rest of his team. If he hits his target, they can’t use Stealth the rest of the turn;
  • Running Shot and 8 range and Indomitable helps him get that first shot off;
  • Penetrating/Psychic Blast from his Attack SP “The Green Flame” to make the hit hurt (along with Incapacitate if you’re targeting a Mystic);
  • Impervious defense to hold up under enemy fire after taking the shot;
  • But suppose there’s tons of Penetrating/Psychic Blast you don’t want to expose him to. You can hold him back in a support role, using Telekinesis (again via “The Green Flame”) to move the team;
  • He’s a Perplexer, too, mid-dial, and Pulse Wave shows up late, too;
  • The Justice Society TA might help himself or others, as can his good assortment of strong keywords;
  • Regeneration for that second wind.

He’s a little range-dependent and his AV is a little weak for his cost, but that cost still leaves plenty of room for friends to address those minor shortcomings.
Next one has plenty of tail.

 

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Not the Dark Avenger you probably expecting:

#6

Noh-Varr (Web of Spider-Man, #038)

This one almost slipped under my radar. But he’s loaded with elements making him a lock for the list:

  • Running Shot with Penetrating/Psychic Blast and Pulse Wave (SP “Transforming Gauntlet Gun”) with great stats;
  • Invulnerability, helping the chances of even a strong hit landing him on…
  • Hypersonic Speed and Super Strength. Good combo, that;
  • late Perplex. That’s good, as his stats start to slip;
  • two clicks of Regeneration that can land him on good clicks no matter what;
  • EIGHT keywords, making him a good fit for a lot of themed teams;
  • “Traitor To All,” his trait giving him an AV boost if he ignores his keywords, making him an even better fit on non-themed teams.

Weaknesses? Maybe a slight lack of early close-combat effectiveness and/or Flight. Yeah, who cares? Great light tentpole who leaves plenty of room for support or other solid fighters.

Next week: The Top 5! Will your favorite make the list? Watch and see. ‘Til then, happy playing!

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#7 is naked power.

Dr. Manhattan (Watchmen, #005)

Also known as “Zenhattan” for his floating lotus position pose, he’s on the list because:

  • His powers can’t be countered;
  • PERIOD!! :)
  • His first SP grants 12 AV Psychic Blast (and Barrier, and Telekinesis…but the PB is the one that everyone really cares about);
  • Impervious, which segues into “That Didn’t Kill Osterman,” which, in addition to nullifying damage, sends him back to his starting area and probably out of harm’s way;
  • “Simultaneous Perception” which grants Super Senses and Probability Control on top of it all, making him very difficult to even hit;
  • His Watchmen TA makes him immune to enemy attempts to mess with his stats.

At 276 points, he suffers from not being able to push, and being totally range-oriented (making him a bit vulnerable to tie-up), especially on the back end of his dial. Played correctly, though, he never sees that end.

Next: A dark avenger.

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In total contrast to the high-flying, fast-racing superpowered heroic duo Flash and Green Lantern, the next piece on the list is a non-powered villain operating so deeply in the shadows that no one is fully certain who he really is.

#9

The Holiday Killer (The Brave and the Bold, #021)

What, this little 43-pointer makes the list? YES. For such a low cost, he brings:

  • Stealthed Outwit. That’s always a solid combo;
  • High sharable AV (via his Batman Enemy TA). Even though he’s less vital now that wild cards can lend stats, it’s still welcome on him;
  • 8 range. He’s not JUST a hidden support figure but a viable 2nd or 2rd attacker.

Sure, his dial is short, but hey…he’s only 43 points! He requires no extra feats to function well in Golden Age games.

Next piece is maddening.

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Out with old. In with new.

I’ve been away for the holidays and so haven’t made any recent updates. Sorry about that!

But I hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas. And while we’re all looking forward to a brand new year, it’s nice to look back at the one almost finished with.

It was a good year for HeroClix, as it transitioned from its near-death experience of 2009 to its current state:

  • In April, The Brave and The Bold released. Unlike its predecessor Hammer of Thor (which was all but fully completed when Topps pulled the rug out from under WizKids in December 2008), the first new DC set in over a year felt incomplete due to its bad LEs, unusually numerous sculpt recycles and lots of duos. But for DC Clix fans, it was still refreshing (especially after being delayed from a late-February release), and initial disappointment turned to grudging and sometimes outright admiration.
  • A late April release for the Blackest Night Starter Set turned to late June. It wasn’t totally worth the extra wait, as the map was missing important terrain color-coding. But the figures were nice and it’s always good to get the new rules.
  • Delays were the rule in 2010, as both Watchmen and Web of Spider-Man were shoved back about a month or so to August and September, respectively. Watchmen was controversial for being loaded with unpopular duos instead of the-blink-and-you-missed-them Minutemen or a generic or three, and for being $100. Web of Spider-Man was a bit better-received due to being A) a Marvel set and B) it was the first brand-new, no-holdover-from Topps full set.
  • October brought us Brightest Day, a 7-figure Action Pack with a 2-sided map. That had to tide players over until December, when the delayed DC75th Anniversary set released at almost the end of the year. The verdict’s still out on the set — it’s barely 2 weeks old and the Christmas holidays have disrupted a lot of tournament schedules — but initial buzz is that it’s one of the best yet.

 

For the next few weeks, in lieu of my usual features, I’ll be sharing my Top Ten of 2010, which will be much different from 2009’s due to simply having so many more to choose from! In fact, my current plan is to do a standard one for Most Playable of the year and a second one for MY top ten favoritesm which may not be playable at all. Bookmark the site and return daily starting Jan. 3!

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Once in a while I try to give a shout to my Hebrew brothers and sisters and play a team of characters who are Jewish. Here’s my list of those made in the game so far (Modern Age in green):

The Atom (Jewish mom)
Atom Smasher
Colossal Boy
Doc Samson
Gertrude Yorkes & Old Lace
Iceman (Jewish mom)
Magneto
Dr. Manhattan (maybe. Has a common Jewish name (Osterman), at least)
Marvel Boy/Justice
Moon Knight (son of a rabbi)
Ragman
Sandman (Origin Unique. Jewish mom)
Shadowcat
Songbird
The Thing/Benjamin J. Grimm
Volcana

Not really much that’s kosher for Modern Age, which would be a problem this weekend for a 400-point Hanukah-themed game if I were going. But if I were going, I’d almost surely run something like this:

The Thing (Secret Invasion) 100
Benjamin J. Grimm (Secret Invasion) 100
Gert & Old Lace 54
Songbird (Hammer of Thor) 83 + Thunderbolts 8
Moon Knight (Avengers) 38
Thug (Avengers) 7
Thug (Avengers) 7
=397 points. Not a goyim in the lot.

Mazel tov? While this sure fits the bill for Friendly, I’m not certain it’s at all Useful. It’s definitely Neat, though. Just don’t play it on Saturday. It’ll lose. :p

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Last Friday, I introduced this column and my Heroclixin’ philosophy: teams should be F.U.N.

  • Friendly: Not designed to crush all comers;
  • Utilitarian/Useful: Not about to GET crushed without a fight;
  • Neat-o: Has an interesting or amusing trait.

With a 200-point game coming soon, I’m thinking of running this:

The Atom & Hawkman 120
Hawkgirl (Brightest Day) 71
Red Lantern 5
Kinetic Accelerator 0
=196 points. The 0 range keeps things friendly, but Hawkgirl is a frightfully useful piece, especially with those two Special Objects to boost her damage and speed, respectively. It’s neat that this is an almost perfectly comic accurate team. Not only did Atom and Hawkman share a title once, but I can’t imagine that the trio never shared an adventure.

Will I actually use it? Dunno. I passed it up for the Dark Avengers duo I ran a couple of weeks ago, and I have a great Avengers build I’ll probably highlight next week.

Happy clixing this weekend!

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Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! I almost certainly have had one, but this was written and set to publish earlier in the week.

OK, so I revealed my grand plans to bring a new feature to Heroclixin’ (almost) every weekday last week, but stopped short of the pressing the “Publish” key on this one because I figured I should explain my team-building philosophy a little.

I, primarily, am a fun HeroClix player. First, I am Friendly. I dislike playing teams designed to crush all comers. I’ve faced those teams and found the experience unpleasant. It’s also more challenging to play a less-than-optimized build and still win with it. I mean, which delivers bigger bragging rights: going 3-0 with a Warbound Skrull Ms. Marvel+SI Nick Fury or with The Runaways?

This doesn’t mean I like to lose. Therefore, most of my teams will still have a degree of Utility to make them effective against all but the most highly competitive builds. No auto-losses!

Finally, probably the biggest element of my team-building philosophy is the “Neat-o” factor. I almost always run with a theme of some sort that I hope will bring a smile or at least a nod of appreciation from my fellow players.

So there, in a fairly torturous acrostic-ized nutshell, is my approach to this feature and to the game at large: It’s all about FUN.

Example of a team I ran back in June for a Modern Age 400-point game requiring that characters share a generic keyword:

Crispus Allen 197
Edward Nigma 60
The Question (Arkham Asylum) 37
Gotham City Detective 27
Gotham City Detective 27
Gotham City Detective 27
= 375 points. Although a team with 3 Outwitters and 4 Enhancement pieces may not look all that Friendly, consider that the team has zero move and attack powers, limited range, and little protection from same — and I could just as easily have run the Batman/Catwoman duo to address all three weaknesses and had room for another figure. All the same, it has plenty of Utility in the powers I named, along with Nigma’s powerful SP. Finally, though (and the other reason BatCats was never a consideration), the team’s Neat-o factor is that all are wearing suits and ties. They’re the Sharp-Dressed Detectives. :)
FUN team-building at its best. Hope you’ll visit next Friday for more!

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Welcome to Token-Totin’, a visual journal of HeroClix sculpts that can hold the game’s object tokens. Today’s subject is REV Clayface (and LE sculpt-mates Basil Karlo and Ultimate Clayface) from 2006’s Collateral Damage.

It fits neatly & easily between the wall and his left leg.

Even with his hands full, he can tote his token! Sadly, the one Modern Age version of Clayface from Batman Alpha is also the only one of the six (!) figures with this sculpt that doesn’t have Super Strength.