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This is actually going to be more of a straight-up battle report, as the 900-point Modern Age tourney I attended got me the chance to play a big Birds of Prey theme:

Big Barda (Batman) 148

Black Canary (Fast Forces) 100

Huntress (Fast Forces) 100

Hawk (Fast Forces) 100

Dove (Batman) 86

Katana (Batman) 76

Lady Shiva (Streets) 67

Lady Blackhawk (Fast Forces) 50

Oracle (Fast Forces) 50

and, wearing a maxed-out Utility Belt…

Oracle (10th Anniversary) 73

Wait…WHAT? Wasn’t this one of the Top Ten WORST pieces of 2012? Yes, it was. But the U.B. on this barely mobile support piece seemed the most F.U.N. approach to using it.

My basic strat was to use Lady Blackhawk to ferry Barda, Shiva, little Oracle and Canary to hindering patches in preparation for Boom Tubings. Big Oracle would use PC or Perplex or Outwit as needed from the starting area or a building somewhere (which wouldn’t be a problem thanks to a pair of Grapnel Guns on her Belt) with Katana acting as bodyguard. Hawk and Dove would back up Barda.

Here’s how it actually went down (all played on the Jotunheim mountain map):

  1. Dan, my first opponent, was really green and blundered right into my attack. But I played a little too conservatively and got Dove killed before she could finish a near-dead Terrax. Also rather improbably missed four of five attacks in one turn on Ancient One, who slowed down my force from helping. Meanwhile, Dan had sent Gladiator pushing to one-shot 10th Oracle clear on my side of the map for the difference in the game. 0-1.
  2. The very young Kai’s army of Haunted Tank, tons of Living Mummies and a pair of Franken-Castles were no match for my superior tactics. KO’d both his Spider-Girls (which were there just to grab LE The Zombie’s relic) and Franken-Castles for the win when time ran out. 1-1.
  3. Ended with a victory against new but learning Dakota’s pair of Electros, The Mighty Avenger (fully Gauntleted), Baron Mordo, Big Barda, Ancient One and Man-Thing. He unwisely claimed the high ground, which put him in my swing range. I lost Black Canary but took Barda and both Electros for the clear difference. 2-1.

Had a lot of unplayed pieces in this team:

Black Canary (Fast Forces): Despite Barda ostensibly being the lead attacker, in each match it was Canary who actually made the first strike with her Running Shot + Pulse Wave combo. A fantastic piece that totally made this team work.

Huntress (Fast Forces) impressed much less, but that’s only because of the sheer firepower on the force. Running Shot + Willpower allowed her to press the attack more than once. I probably should have been much more aggressive with her than I was. I’m not totally sold on her as my go-to Huntress, but less likely to just trade/sell the piece away now.

Hawk (Fast Forces) IS my go-to version of the character. Great attack value and armor makes him the better partner to Dove (especially the 0 damage version I prefer).

Lady Shiva (Streets) was Big Barda’s passenger, the KO blow to Barda’s opening shot. Combat Reflexes + 18 DV made her a great tie-up piece to safeguard Barda post-Boom Tube. 

Lady Blackhawk (Fast Forces), along with her set-mate Oracle, was the engine of mobility for this team. Her super-taxi skills got Barda and Canary in range of attacking anyone for the early game, then ferried Dove in range for her combat skills in the thick of it.

Oracle (10th Anniversary) was on the team for the F.U.N. combo of her running the Utility Belt: Friendly because, well, it’s Oracle; Useful because of her “Eyes Are Everywhere” trait; and Nifty because much of it is quite character-accurate for Oracle’s long reach. I used the following items:

  • Radar Monitor to leech enemy team abilities. Cracking enemy codes is totally something Oracle would do.
  • Two (2) Grapnel Guns were to ensure she could get onto elevated terrain in a hurry if necessary. Oracle’s been known to use them to hoist herself to different levels of her Clock Tower in emergencies.
  • Gas Pellets (planted on her team ahead of time to be remotely activated in need) were useful as a surprise contingency combined with her trait. Next time I try this Oracle+Belt combo, I need to double up on these!
  • Two set of Batarangs, on the other hand, were NOT as needed nor as comic-accurate. I’ll drop ’em in a flash for Flash Grenades (natch!) or more Gas Pellets.

That wasn’t the only fun I had with the Utility Belt. Prior to the tourney, I had a quick fun game with some unplayed Spy pieces:

KGBeast

El Gaucho

Skrull Saboteur

and, cinching her business suit with a Utility Belt (OBVIOUSLY snatched from Bruce Wayne’s boudoir, so to speak), my #10 Favorite piece of 2012:

Miranda Tate

Unfortunately, the opponent was Blackheart and his two Hellfire Guards. The big bad demon kept siccing his Poison gargoyle on my team, drawing my fire over and over. I should’ve let it Poison Tate to her Outwit and then countered its Poison over and over.

The Belt’s stat boosts were a great help to a low-damage piece like Tate. I also got some use out of Gas Pellets, Batarangs and the Radar Monitor.

As for the never-played pieces on the team:

KGBeast was OK with his range but missed the one shot he got off before that stupid gargoyle tied him up and Poisoned.    He’s a bit too soft for the attacker he ought to be. I’ll keep him around for the Russian theme team I’ve been wanting to run (complete with accent to being used for each declared action, da?) but not beyond that.

Similarly, Skrull Saboteur spent most of the time tied by that same Gargoyle. A decent tie-up in his own right (thanks to Toughness), SS is more suited to range with his Energy Explosion. But he’s for Skrull teams or nothing, IMO.

Finally, El Gaucho was unable to effectively leverage his talents with the knife as he needed to get in close to deal with Blackheart and his Hellfire shields. He did OK, but played more like a 60-point piece rather than a 92-point one.

___

So I’m warming to the Utility Belt. It’s a dynamic little resource outside of the +1/+2 stuff. As you can see from this article, I’m still more focused on making it F.U.N. rather than powergamey. But that’s what you expect from Heroclixin’!

On Friday, just in time for Black History Month to be over, check out my reviews of a half-dozen black characters in the second half of Figure Flush Week Two.

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Thanks to WizKids’ torrent of releases in 2012, my stable of unplayed figures has grown from the smallest of my cases to a lot of six leftover clamshells from Fast Forces and starter sets. But after adjusting the way I judge my venue, I’m able to get a lot more games in and no longer have to worry about building actual good teams to win.

I still want to play real people for real prizes or real fun, though. So I headed out later the same weekend to get a tournament AND a friendly match.

The tournament required half the team be from non-Modern Age elements. I chose Science:

Lex Luthor (Icons 051)
LE Thomas Oscar Morrow (Hypertime)
Researcher (Web of Spider-Man) x 3

Spider-Man (Amazing Spider-Man 024)
Hugo Strange (Batman 039)
Hugo Strange (Streets of Gotham 101)

and in a prior fun (but shortened) game, I ran this “themed” team: YA WANNA KATANA?!?!?

Katana (Batman 011), Blade (Amazing Spider-Man 004), Blade (Amazing Spider-Man 207), Psylocke (Giant-Size X-Men 024), Zealot (Batman 028), Gorgon (Captain America 046), Colleen Wing (Amazing Spider-Man 044)

And here’s my experience with each unplayed piece:

Lex Luthor (Icons 051): He was the main offensive threat on that science team, and he got maybe 4 attacks total off. VERY top-loaded, he pales next to his cheaper versions in just about every set since. Hard to say if I’ll ever play big Lex again.

Thomas Oscar Morrow (Hypertime), on the other hand, lives up to the hype I’ve heard for years. The 37-point, 10-ranged RCE piece is one of the very few Hypertime figs to hold up in modern day play. In addition to being a cheap Scientist team filler, he’ll be a fixture on any “labcoat” theme I formulate.

Spider-Man (Amazing Spider-Man 024) disappointed a bit, if only because his HSS didn’t seem to work so well for me due to A) user error like hitting a Mastermind figure or B) crit missing or C) going up against Sentry & Void. So yeah, I actually like this Spidey, just on a better team than this!

Hugo Strange (Batman 039) is tricky to play, as he nerfs the Outwit and Perplex of friend and foe alike. But he’s got to get so close to use that trait that he’s easy pickings for enemy attack (thanks to his near-total lack of defenses. I’ll use him on the aforementioned labcoat fun team and on other strange themes, but nowhere else.

Hugo Strange (Streets of Gotham 101) shaves 9 points compared to the above version to get Bat Ally TA as a defense technique. There’s also Outwit and Mind Control. I wasn’t able to get him into the fights very well with this team. I’ll use him again on a Strange team.

Katana (Batman 011) barely got into the fight in the time-shortened game she saw action; just long enough to miss her Charge and Outsider a Super-Strong target. Definitely worth running again!

Blade (Amazing Spider-Man 004) also only got a single Charge in on an opposing Franken-Castle, and unfortunately didn’t roll high enough to take the ex-Punisher down. Can’t complain; there was no way to one-shot that piece.

Blade (Amazing Spider-Man 207) DID score my only KO with a Running Shot on Johnny Blaze. Will have the toughest time deciding in the future which Blade to wield.

Zealot (Batman 028) only got a single attack (a miss) on Franken-Castle. Would like to try her on a WildCATs team later.

Colleen Wing (Amazing Spider-Man 044) was the sole disappointment, getting one-hit off the board by a Charging Franken-Castle before getting to do anything other than hide by the wall with the Hand ATA. Definitely won’t stop me from trying this cute lil’ samurai another time.

 ___

So much for Figure Flush Week One. This was fun! Week Two is coming mid-week. In the meantime, see more Card Art on Monday and more Token Totin’ on Tuesday. And have F.U.N. Heroclixin’! 

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So thanks to WizKids’ torrent of releases in 2012, my stable of unplayed figures has grown from the smallest of my cases to a lot of six leftover clamshells from Fast Forces and starter sets.

So I’ve adjusted the way I judge my venue now. Instead of building a single team for playing the bye round or just sitting/standing around during the tournament, I’m building FOUR teams for the event and either playing three of them (a different one each round) or I’ll do a solo game against myself if there is no bye round.

The latter is how it fell out this past weekend. The scenario was a 400-point “Valentines Only” game in which only figures with a romantic history were allowed. Here were my teams:

Marvel Girl (10th Anniversary) 54
Cyclops (Fast Forces) 75
Storm 59 (10th Anniversary) 
Rookie Black Panther (Infinity Challenge) 27
Lyja the Lazerfist 80
Human Torch (Fantastic Four) 100
vs.
Oracle (Fast Forces) 50
Nightwing (Batman primer) 85
Dove (Fast Forces) 100
Hawk (Fast Forces) 100
Movie Star (Infinity Challenge) 3
Bruce Wayne (Batman) 60

and

Aquaman (Justice League New 52) 111
Mera (Crisis) 6
Bruce Wayne (Batman primer) 50
Talia (Batman Alpha) 20
August General In Iron (Batman) 142
Ghost Fox Killer 68
vs.
Green Lantern (10th Anniversary) 145
Star Sapphire (Fast Forces) 75
Joker (Batman primer) 125
Harley Quinn (Batman) 50

And here’s my experience with each unplayed piece:

August General In Iron fell victim to missed attacks, including the snake-eyed variety. Not really his fault, though, and he survived to the end of the game. Will definitely play him again because I’m a Great Ten fan, but he’s not the obvious choice over his 100-point precursor from 2007’s Justice League set.

Bruce Wayne (Batman primer) was super-useful for TK and Perplex. Will play him next on a “BRUUUCE” team for sure.

Bruce Wayne (Batman), on the other hand, was somewhat high-priced filler on his team. Still, Perplex for friends is never useless. Another lock for the “BRUUUCE” team.

Cyclops (Fast Forces) wasn’t bad. He comprised most of the effective offense for his team thanks to Running Shot + Willpower. But he really pales in comparison with the 110-pt. GSX model. Guess I’ll grab him as a bargain version if necessary — if I even keep the piece.

Dove (Fast Forces) was mostly useful for Prob and her synergy with partner Hawk. I’ll always pick the main set version over her, though.

Green Lantern (10th Anniversary) was better than I expected — that Barrier trait came in handy. He never fell off click #1. There are so many versions of Hal I can’t say this will be the first I consider, due to his expense, though.

Harley Quinn (Batman) Joker’s lil’ gal was OK, basically serving just as a trigger for his revenge trait.

Hawk (Fast Forces) IS the one I’ll be playing from now on; he’s the main reason I decided to go ahead and buy the Fast Forces. I like him SO much better than the main set Hawk (who I don’t even HAVE anymore). One-shotted Black Panther and survived to game’s end despite taking a fair amount of fire.

Joker (Batman primer) works better than the main set Joker. But I really need to be careful when playing him with a Harley. Using that trait got him away from any Mastermind fodder and, consequently, killed by Aquaman.

Lyja the Lazerfist was there to make Human Torch viable, and vice versa. But overall, I was unimpressed. There’s a reason she’s sat unplayed in my box for nearly a year.

Marvel Girl (10th Anniversary), you’ll recall, was the worst of 2012 in my reckoning. But TK is never useless. That’s all I can say. She’s gettin’ traded ASAP.

Nightwing (Batman primer) was a blunder to play, being a piece with starting Enhancement on a team with 0 zero besides him. Still, he has enough talents to have served as the other offensive engine of the team.

Oracle (Fast Forces) of course got that engine going with her piece-moving ability. She didn’t contribute any more than that. I kinda played her close to the action, being willing to use her as a decoy. But I didn’t take the bait due to her Stealth and Shape Change and the presence of other, more threatening targets. I imagine that can work out either way: lose 50 points and her mobilizing factor but leave the fighters still free to punish you (especially since at that point, they probably won’t need Oracle so much any more) or focus on the fighters while she continues putting pieces in place. Devil’s choice, and why she’ll come out the box more than once.

Star Sapphire (Fast Forces) did a similar thing in her game, keeping Aquaman and Green Lantern from fighting each other. But with Aquaman being a melee piece and thus unable to threaten GL, it served more to keep GL from shooting Aquaman, leaving the Sea King free to wreak mad havoc with my teammates. Despite Sapphire’s taxi skills and sniping powers,  I don’t think I’ll run her again.

Storm 59 (10th Anniversary) is every bit as effective as her 40-point Danger Room predeccessor. She landed one of her team’s only major shots. A good bargain Storm for the points…but one I’ll ONLY reach for if I’m short on points and need a Storm.

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Check back on F.U.N. Friday for the 2nd half of Figure Flush Week One. And more Token Totin’ on Thursday. 

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It’s Valentine’s Day, that Hallmark holiday on which we express our love to significant others.

I do this blog, so it’s obvious that I DON’T HAVE a significant other. But at least I’ve got HeroClix, right?

Yeah. Play the sad violin music for me.

(OK, done now.)

Here’s my favorite piece of 2012.

___

Number 1
Vixen

Vixen (Streets of Gotham 028)

WHY I WANT TO PLAY HER EVERY WEEK

It’s all about two words: “Tantu Totem,” her trait allowing her to use a standard power from fellow Animals, similar to Animal Man, my 2010 #8 fave.

Only I read it wrong. It says she can use ANY standard power possessed by a fellow Animal on the field, not just ONE. That means, if she’s teamed up with, say, Armadillo, Animal Man and Cosmo, she could Charge in using Animal Man’s BCF, then share Animal Man’s Combat Reflexes AND Cosmo’s Super Senses AND Armadillo’s Impervious on top of her inborn Energy Shield/Deflection to weather the counterattacks next turn.

EDIT: Or, at least, that’s how it WAS. Finally, more than six months after her release, her trait was clarified/got errata to read that she can use ONE power from ONE character.

Sure, there’s a 1-in-6 chance she might take a click for all this power. But late-dial Regen softens that potential blow. She’s a piece that literally can have a completely different dial every time you play. Her steady but mediocre stats keep her from being a mean piece.

One of the drawbacks of Animal Man in my 2010 list was that I wasn’t a big enough fan of the Animal keyword to play him and it often. But Vixen singlehandedly makes me want to play both him and other Animals all the more.

WHY I DON’T

Honestly, I don’t want to wear her out. She’s also a bit limited in keywords and I haven’t come up with other cute or goofy themes to run her in — the one I have just doesn’t work:

FOXEY LADIES

  • Vixen (Streets of Gotham 028) 74
  • Ghost Fox Killer 68
  • Crimson Fox 44
  • Vet Vixen (Collateral Damage) 44
  • Exp Vixen  (Collateral Damage) 38
  • Rookie Vixen  (Collateral Damage) 33

= 301 points! DAMMIT!!!!

EDIT: And, of course, her trait wasn’t intended to be as awesome as it looked. 

I’M PLAYING HER NEXT

Trying hard to build a black Animal team, but that’s gonna stick me with just her, Falcon (sans a Captain America to boost him) and maybe Killer Croc to work with in Modern Age. That’s not a great team.

But, as I alluded above, the real challenge is NOT running her every week with at least one other Animal-keyworded figure to leech powers from. Truly my favorite HeroClix figure of 2012.

___
That does it for the annual look back! Very glad to wrap it up by Valentine’s Day this year instead of April. Looking forward to getting back to the old routine next week:

MONDAYS: Card Arts
TUESDAYS: Token Totin’
WEDNESDAYS: Battle reports
THURSDAYS: Token Totin’
FRIDAYS: Extra features

Thanks for reading!

 

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Number 4
Aquaman52

Aquaman (New 52 Justice League 005)
WHY I WANT TO PLAY HIM EVERY WEEK
Aquaman is my favorite superhero.

Well, there are other reasons, too.

Atlantis is one of my favorite themes to play. Also, this Aquaman is the first version that’s a straight-up effective bruiser. Others are either better held in reserve as secondary fighters due to their gimmicks (Brightest Day), are too dependent on water (DC75th, Justice League ’07) or are too expensive (Flashpoint). But New 52 Aquaman can lead the charge without breaking the bank even on a bone-dry map — especially if Mera’s around to take a fall to boost all his stats.

WHY I DON’T
Mera taking a fall is offensive to me. But it’s such a boon to Aquaman that I must consider the tactic. Either way, I can’t play Atlantis all the time.

I’M PLAYING HIM NEXT
On a Valentine’s Day team with Mera this weekend! Also on every Atlantis team, for sure. I also won’t play the Justice League without considering Aquaman. Finally, he’ll be a fixture on any Angry Mob* team I ever play.

* Angry Mob: a team consisting fully of sculpts toting pitchforks (or tridents) and torches.

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Number 3
Ant-Man+Wasp
Ant-Man and Wasp (Chaos War 053)
WHY I WANT TO PLAY THEM EVERY WEEK
When the existence of Chaos War’s chase pieces were first revealed with this fig’s preview, I knew it was the one I wanted. It’s near the top of my favorite pieces of the year for being the ultimate finesse piece: though very soft, this duo has great damage potential with careful tactics and positioning. Pretty pushable, too.

WHY I DON’T
One hundred sixty-eight points is a lot to pay for a piece as fragile as this. They also can’t Split into the best versions of themselves. Most of all, the points just never seem to work for the Pym-centric themes I want to run.

I’M PLAYING THEM NEXT
On one of those Pym themes, by hook or crook. I’ve also wanted to try a Small theme composed of hobbits, dwarves, Tiny Size figs and Cosmo. And one day I’ll do a rerun of a “Bug Avengers” team guest-starring Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Wasp and others.

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Number 2

Giant-man
Giant-Man (Chaos War 200)
WHY I WANT TO PLAY HIM EVERY WEEK
Well, for one thing, I spent all that money on the guy. It’s the most I’ve ever spent on a single HC figure.

But seriously, I like Henry Pym as a character, going so far as to purchase the Essential Ant-Man collection. In fact, Vet Yellowjacket was my first pull from a bought HeroClix booster back in the Fantastic Forces days. So it was time that a true colossal-sized version of Giant-Man was made. It didn’t disappoint, dial-wise, either. The Building Shove SP is great fun (for him) without being totally abusive. And then there’s the Morph trait to switch from identity to identity in mid-game. SO cool.

WHY I DON’T
Unfortunately, that 75-point dial isn’t so hot, and it is difficult to sink the 300 points into a character that’s not as strong as Sentroid or Thanos. So colossal Pym usually stays on the shelf at home.

I’M PLAYING HIM NEXT
On my “Big Pympin'” team of Giant-Men and Yellowjackets. Complete with Jay-Z theme music.

____

Tomorrow, I give a Valentine to my favorite HeroClix piece of 2012.  

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Number 7
Crystal

Crystal (Chaos War 044)
WHY I WANT TO PLAY HER EVERY WEEK
I wrote about Crystal last summer in my “Ginger Avengers” feature. It’s all still true; she’s a heck of a first-strike piece on top with a great deal of finesse in her super-fun “Tornado” trait and later-dial related SPs. Her modest combat values keep her from being broken.

WHY I DON’T
She’s a lock on Inhumans teams, but I don’t play that keyword very often. I also quickly get tired of Avengers. I haven’t figured out many other cute themes to work her onto.

I’M PLAYING HER NEXT
On an Inhumans team, of course, though who knows when THAT’ll be. And she’ll always be a Ginger Avenger.

_____

Number 6
cyborg

Cyborg (New 52 Justice League 006)
WHY I WANT TO PLAY HIM EVERY WEEK
I’m a completist where black characters are concerned, so I was glad to see Victor Stone well-represented in his third HeroClix iteration. I also like what’s been done with him in the New 52 JLA, making him a founding member for a needed extra dose of diversity in that team.

He’s also very playable, what with his anti-Stealth trait and Running Shot + Pulse Wave combo (which is very effective with his 6 range; it’s easy to get single-target blasts off). Following with Poison, Exploit Weakness and strong combat values, and it’s not hard to see why I think he’d have made my Top 10 list in a less torrid year.

WHY I DON’T
I’m trying to play all my figures at least once, and that hasn’t left much opportunity to run Vic more often with the sheer rate that WizKids is pumping out new figures and sets. Especially since I haven’t come up with any cute themes to run him in. The “Big 7” JLA is also a bit too points-heavy to run much.

I’M PLAYING HIM NEXT
I have no idea. I just know I will, probably when I’ve whittled down my multiple cases of unplayed figs.

______

Number 5
NovaPrimeIAmAnAvenger

Nova Prime (Galactic Guardians 001)
WHY I WANT TO PLAY HIM EVERY WEEK
After I became a fan of the Guardians of the Galaxy (because of HeroClix, incidentally), I grew to become a fan of Nova as well, enjoying his rise in status from a mere ex-New Warrior into a heavy hitter of cosmic Marvel.

HeroClix didn’t really give him his due in its first take on him in Supernova. I mean, the Vet was fine for Rich as just a regular Nova Corps Centurion. But it wasn’t him as Nova Prime at all.

Even this figure isn’t really Rider with the full Worldmind and Nova Force in him. But then, he’s totally designed as the leader of fellow Novas, and no longer carrying the full load anymore. And this Nova Prime is still an excellent piece.

WHY I DON’T
He’s best played as part of a full corps of, well, Nova Corps pieces with the “Share Through the Worldmind” traits. But the points almost never seem to work right, due to my insistence on running multiples of all the Nova Corps generics, the Super-Nova marquee and the older REV pieces.

I’M PLAYING HIM NEXT
On a Secret Avengers team soon, now that that team’s original lineup is basically complete (only missing an Avengers-keyworded Valkyrie). And one day I’ll get that full-force Nova Corps team together.

____

Nearing the top with numbers 4, 3 and 2, which range from the tall to the small; from the depths to the heights.

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Number 10
Miranda_Tate-1
Miranda Tate (Dark Knight Rises 012)

WHY I WANT TO PLAY HER EVERY WEEK

I don’t, actually.

Let me explain. As I was thinking on this list, I found myself having trouble with the #10 piece. There were so many candidates: Black Lightning, John Blake, Taskmaster, Agent Coulson, Thing, Cosmo.

But aside from the first, none of those leap to mind to play, ever, unless a specific keyword of theme calls for them. And even if I spot them in the tackle box while pawing for another figure, none make me stop and consider it the way Ms. Tate does.

I like Miranda Tate because, like the character, the piece is all finesse and positioning. The ability to wildcard adjacent enemy TAs (via her “A Secret Agenda” trait) is novel but requires careful play. Fortunately, she’s got solid combat values plus Perplex to help. She’s not a point-and-click figure but can have an outsize effect on a game.

And hey…Marion Cotillard.

WHY I DON’T
Her keywords are limited to Martial Artist and Spy — neither are favorites. Her 70 points are also a bit hefty for her fragile dial. It’s also tough to come up with cute F.U.N. themes to include her on. (Business Suits, maybe?)

I’M PLAYING HER NEXT
My venue’s having a “Breakfast Club” scenario where no one can share keywords. She’s on the team…with her secret agenda.

_____

Number 9
Stranger
Stranger (Galactic Guardians 043)

WHY I WANT TO PLAY HIM EVERY WEEK
When the Infinity Gauntlet finals came around, I used him. With only average combat values ill-fitting his high price, one may wonder why I tried him against the likes of Sentroid and Chanos.

The fact that I came close to maybe beating both is testament to the unique strengths of The Stranger.

  • See, I picked him against Chanos because even though the mad Titan’s starting-area killbox WOULD get first shot on Stranger, it couldn’t possibly KO him. Instead, Stranger would almost surely land on his Attack SP, allowing him to pick any PAC power for the turn, such as Hypersonic Speed to hit the key foe and run out of the killbox.

    And if not for the critical miss I rolled in the process, I might’ve had a decent shot at beating that team, what with Stranger’s ability to heal up by picking Regen or ensure the best defenses for the situation.

  • Stranger also has a great trait allowing him to become either giant or colossal-sized at the beginning of turn. The former ability, one of my favorites anyway, gives him extra LOF when needed and the latter permits him to act via the Colossal Stamina ability while double-tokened to press the attack.

    And if I’d remembered to pick the Colossal symbol when I had Sentroid on his LAST TWO CLICKS, I might’ve easily taken him down for the win instead of getting wiped out the next three turns.

Though these losses to two of the most ultra-meta teams of late summer/early fall by mischance and user error were unfortunate, they underscore why Stranger is a favorite:

  1. He’s not a point-and-click-your-opponent’s-dial by any means. Makes him Friendly for a 200+ point Power Cosmic tentpole.
  2. But he’s super Useful with that Special Power.
  3. And he fits my Nifty “This Team Is Strange” theme. (The rest of the above IG team: Both GG Dr. Stranges and a trio of Astral Stranges.)

WHY I DON’T
I typically only bring out the Stranger for big-point, higher stakes games that usual. He’s about as close as I ever get to powergaming.

I’M PLAYING HIM NEXT
On the next high-point Strange and Stranger team, this time adding Hugo Strange, Adam Strange and the new ASM Dr. Strange. Should be……………………………………strange.

____

Number 8
AVMHulk
Hulk (Avengers Movie 202)

WHY I WANT TO PLAY HIM EVERY WEEK
After a decade of Hulk figures that mostly disappointed (being zero-range figs in a game weighted in favor of shooters), this movie-inspired one finally got the jade giant right. Fantastically powered AND balanced, Hulk is character-accurate fun without being broken.

WHY I DON’T
Unfortunately, he’s so strong enough that he’s not enough F.U.N. to break out on a regular basis — don’t want to be That Guy. He’s also so many points that he eats up the points room for his non-Avengers keywords (Brute and Monster), and I’m not that big a fan of the Avengers keyword. In a bit of a blow to his ability to run with fellow Monsters, his Battle Fury keeps him from working with Mole Man’s special Mind Control. Finally, he’s been a bit overshadowed by the Worldbreaker version of Hulk released last fall.

I’M PLAYING HIM NEXT
On an Avengers Movie team. Would also like to run an all-Hulk squad sometime, if I can ever get the points to work out.

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Tomorrow, numbers 7, 6 and 5 of Heroclixin’s favorites.

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Readers who caught yesterday’s post on time might’ve noticed it was titled as a draft. I was literally falling asleep at the keyboard and not only forgot to fix the name, but actually forgot I’d scheduled it to publish! I was fretting a bit thinking I had forgotten to publish it, then got online to see my error.

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At the nadir of the list of 2012’s worst pieces is the late, not-so-lamented :

#1

marvelgirl1960s
MARVEL GIRL (Marvel 10th Anniversary 006)
Miniskirt Jean Grey does one thing: Telekinesis. (Yeah, she can heal on her first click. So what.)
TK is her only job. Possessing zero range, her using TK is the only way to maybe activate her Battlefield Promotion when she dies.
Wait. What? She only promotes when she DIES?
Well, that’s actually character accurate. But with her 9 AV sinking low and lower, the chance of her racking up enough tokens to succeed if she gets KO’d are slim. And no player’s going to KO her if it can be helped, knowing Dark Phoenix is in the (fire) wings.

So. 54 points for a character you really just push to sling people around is just a waste. And she’s the worst.

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Enough of the torrid and the horrid. For this week leading into everyone’s favorite Hallmark holiday, Valentine’s Day, I’m going to focus on 10 figures from 2012 I loved. As has become standard, next post will share a holdover from 2011 that first saw play in 2012 and has a place in my Heroclixin’ heart.

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Here’s three more of the year’s worst.

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 #7
Maul

MAUL (Batman 024)

The WildCATs’ big man is a big failure. He starts as a modest-stat Perplexer, then “hulks up” into a more Invulnerable type. The problem is that his AV doesn’t quite hulk up with him, and he loses the ‘Plex when he could really use it. Then he becomes a giant target, still without the AV he needs to contribute more than being the game’s biggest tie-up/meat shield.

At half the price, maybe he’d be better at the role. But no — 113 points he is, and it’s 113 points you might want to split between a real fighter and a real tie-up pawn.

He might get dumber and dumber as he grows, but maybe he’s still smarter than players who use him as the brick he looks like.

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 #6

Mindwarp_001

MINDWARP (New 52 Justice League 015)

He’s a two-trick pony, and only the first trick is any good:

  1. Phasing Prob Control. OK, that’s not bad.
  2. IF he has no action tokens and IF he can see an attacker and IF he can see the target, the target can use Super Senses. That’s a lotta IFs, and we’re still not done with ’em: IF the target actually dodges the attack with Super Senses, Mindwarp has to base the attacker. But PCers are best used at a distance, not up close. So it kinda ends up being a wash — or worse — even if it works.

45 points is just too much to pay for this. Lose him in warp space or something.

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 #5

ORACLE (DC 10th Anniversary 017)

Oracle pieces have never been much for the battlefield proper — after all, she’s a paraplegic. But at least they’ve been great backfield support and, most of all, cheap.

This one? Not really.

She’s got a nifty trait that, like 2011’s #7 Top piece Professor X, allows her to draw lines of fire from fellow keyworded pals. But she’s more handicapped than her Marvel chair-bound counterpart:

  • 0 Range.
  • Using her complement of support powers (Outwit, Perplex, Prob Control) requires a dedicated power action…
  • …to pick ONE.
  • And all the oppo needs to do to shut that whole thing down is base her. She really can’t survive a hand-to-hand fight for long.

At 73 points, she needs to be a lot more potent than that.

I would make a crack here about her being crippled and having to crawl, but...oh, look....I...just did.

I would make a crack here about her being crippled and having to crawl, but…oh, look….I…just did.

Tomorrow we really start bottom-feeding.

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Compiling a list of 10 truly terrible pieces of crap this past year was harder than ever. Some of Heroclixin’s choices would’ve simply been completely average dials in years past. That’s the case with the first of the worst:

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#10

 Egghead_Marvel

EGGHEAD (Chaos War 004)

A rare cheap Master of Evil with Outwit and the Special Power to penetrate armor of Tiny Size and Great Size characters, Egghead could overachieve enough to not make this list. But he’s hobbled enough by his short 4 range and middling AV to ensure he can’t really take advantage of the SP — he’ll miss the Tinys and the giants will squish him if he ever gets near enough to fight. Even the MOE TA only serves to speed him toward death. Egghead will probably stay in most players’ box bottoms, lest he get cracked.

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 #9 slot is filled by two, sort of:

BLOOD BROTHER (Galactic Guardians 007)

61 points for Blood Brother’s distinct mediocrity as a solo brick almost earns him a spot on the list. But then, he’s not designed to be solo; he’s supposed to pair up with his bro!

So the good news is that his AV leaps from 9 to 10 with another Bro on the force, and all stats are +1 when they’re adjacent. On top of that, they can stave off death for the other when adjacent, too.

But that leads to the other problem: Keeping them adjacent means burning double the actions (via a taxi, TKer or their own move actions) to make this 122 points of your team just…OK. And you can’t hedge your bets by running more than two, either, because the bonuses only work when there are just two.

You could build around these weaknesses, but there are literally a thousand better choices than these bloody losers.

BloodBrosFall

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 #8 is the first tie:

BAD SAMARITAN (Batman 033)

Wild card status and Sharpshooter ability are wasted on poor AV and damage. Worse, you have to push to his best powers (super-Outwit and Penetrating/Psychic Blast, namely). With Stealth and Mastermind, he’s not completely useless, but at 83 points, he’s at least 25 points too high to make him worth using. Unlike the Good Samaritan, who helped a wounded traveler on the road, you should leave this guy lying there.

This fig is more proof that smoking is bad for you.

This fig is just more proof that smoking is bad for you.

At least he’s not as costly as this chick:

It's actually a toilet.

It’s actually a toilet.

MISTRESS DEATH (Galactic Guardians 044) is a great cannon with a staggering 13 range that’s anti-Stealth and shoots past friendlies with a full dial of Penetrating/Psychic Blast. But she’s the most immobile character in the game (4 Speed and can’t be TKed or taxied), and on the right map, she’s helpless and dies like the rest!

Tomorrow, three more of the worst.