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#3

Taskmaster (Chaos War 047)

The 139-point Tasky is on the high end of the Leaders of the list, costwise. But with his ability to automatically boost the Attack and range of adjacent allies upon a successful Leadership roll, he’s well worth the points — especially because he also sports Enhancement regardless of his rolls! Add to that his great numbers, wild card ability, Thunderbolts ATA and power-copying trait, and it’s no wonder the trainer of super-villains everywhere steals a spot high on the list.

 

#2 is on the side of the law:

Commissioner Gordon (The Dark Knight Rises 027)

At 99 points and only 5 clicks long, Gordon looks like he might be a better fit for retirement than leading the troops. But look at what his Leadership SP brings: 1) it effectively works on a 4-6, with 4  only adding an action, 5 working normally and 6 dropping tokens from two pals sharing a keyword/TA with him. He’s also got Defend (with 18 DV!) and PD to benefit his adjacent friends.

They also benefit Gordon; his trait gives him Mastermind to protect those five short clicks, and it works on pricer pieces if they share his keywords or TAs. Oh, and he’s got Outwit and Sharpshooter and Indomitable, too.

It’s a wonder that between him and Batman that Gotham hasn’t become Disneyland.

The #1 Leadership piece in Heroclixin is also a Gothamite:

Nightwing (Batman Fast Forces 003)

Dick Grayson has the best version of Leadership yet: he can treat any adjacent ally as cheaper for the token removal. It just doesn’t get any better than that. He’s a good crackin’ figure beyond that, too, with Outsiders TA and great numbers and powers.

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I had another Top Ten idea I was preparing for this week, but it occurred to me that with America voting in the next leaders of the free world tomorrow, Heroclixin’ ought to list the Top Ten best Leadership pieces in the game.

What qualifies one to be a great leader?

  • The right point cost. It can’t be too low, because you want to be able to remove tokens from cheaper teammates upon successful rolls. But a leader too costly could crowd out the build total, leaving you with no other characters to use the extra actions granted by Leadership.
  • The ability to stay adjacent to allies with minimal effort. Your leader needs to always be in position to remove tokens from less-costly allies with the 5-6 roll. That means being a taxi or being taxiable.
  • Using that adjacency for something other than Leadership. It only works a third of the time, so the Leader really ought to have something else to benefit — or benefit from — adjacent allies.
  • Starting Leadership. Pushing to get to the power is useless. But…
  • No more attractive power on click #2. Nightwing (Crisis 029) is a prime negative example: though he begins with Leadership, unless a player is either using one of the feats associated with it (Inspiring Command, Contingency Plan) or married to leveraging his top-dial Incapacitate, Nightwing’s nearly always going to get pushed to click #2 for his Perplex. A better leader will not require feats and will get some actual mileage from the power.
  • Finally, the leader should have followers to benefit from the Leadership. Does she have any teammates that are a natural fit for her style (via team abilities, keywords or whatever)? This is taken into account.

 

 

 

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OK. Those are the ground rules. Starting tomorrow, see what Heroclixin’ voted as the 10th, 9th and maybe 8th best Leadership figures in the game!

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One of the least fun things to face in this game is the killbox: a zone of the map in which a player can lay down multiple attacks on a target before the target can counter or pre-empt it. In times past, it was Stealth- and range-heavy teams that could best use this strategy with proper map and positioning. But certain newer figures like Nightcrawler (Web of Spider-Man) have the ability to pull targets directly into said killbox. And two others have the ability to create a killbox from their own starting area!

Thanos (Galactic Guardians 049) is the worst of all.

His Speed SP, “Teleport My Greatest Enemies,” reads thusly:

“Thanos can use Plasticity. Give Thanos a power action and place the two highest point value target opposing characters in squares adjacent to Thanos.”

Um…WHAT? So much for positioning. There’s almost no way to beat this tactic, as Thanos is more than able to weather any counterattacks (assuming you can even mount one after his allies get first shot on you AND Thanos uses his OTHER SP to swap your Speed and AV around).

What can you do?

 

  • Pick the Shadowlands map.  Because Thanos’ power was errataed to target opponents (so that it couldn’t ignore first turn immunity), it became vulnerable to this map’s effect of preventing anyone from being targeted with any effect more than 6 squares away. This map will force Thanos players to actually leave the starting area or risk being swarmed by the time they can actually use the kidnapping power.
  • Run Mystics. At the very least, make ’em pay for janking and hitting your high-priced pieces.
  • Run Weapon X  (Captain America 059) or Captain America (Captain America 060). At least while they’re in their respective “stasis” states, they can’t be snatched. Gives you a chance to position.
  • Run a single figure. If there’s only one character on your force, he can’t use the power at all.
  • Finally, field deep-dialed top guns with speedy backups. Sometimes the Thanos player will screw himself over by hitting you to a sweet spot. (That’s what that stat-switching SP is for). Get your team over to back his targets up as quickly as you can.
‘Course, all this doesn’t help you against his sky-high stats or anything. But it might keep the game at least competitive.

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Some time ago, I previewed this team in a F.U.N. Friday installment:

Morgan Le Fay (Chaos War) 122
Crystal (Chaos War) 105
Black Widow (Avengers Movie) 50
+ Iron Man Briefcase 12
+ Secret Avengers ATA 10
=299 points.

Here’s how it did.

Versus Cleveland’s CW Iron Man, Amadeus Cho, Ka-Zar and GF Dr. Strange on the Prison map, my failure to hit, well, anything, pretty much sealed my loss. That and me completely forgetting to use Morgan’s +2 suPerplex! What?!?

Did better in the next game against Tim’s one-man-army of Thanos (Galactic Guardians 049) on the Gotham Narrows. His bad clutch rolls helped me survive just long enough to maintain offensive ability. I think I still forgot Morgan’s suPerplex.

Piece-by-piece:

Morgan Le Fay: She’s a hoss. With her ability to make herself a hard shot either in close or at range as needed, and her suPerplex for fellow Avengers, and her wildcardness, she’s a highly versatile light tentpole. Her weakness is a great top click that you just don’t want to push off. I used her again in a sealed game (went 2-1) and I’ll play her next on a Pet Lovers theme team with Brightest Day Aquaman, DC75 Wonder Woman and Squirrel Girl, among others.

Crystal: Starting with great Running Shot + Psychic Blast ability, she’s a great threat upfront, until she pushes. Then she’s just mean. Super-Quake from range makes her a threat in all kinds of unrivaled ways. She’s very difficult to defend against; if not for her decidedly average numbers, she’d be a contender for the ranks of broken figures. I’ll always use her on an Inhumans team (did so recently, actually…look for a Battle Report on that in a week) and, perhaps, just for her own sake. This is a great F.U.N. piece.

Black Widow: Unlike the last time I ran her, this time the Takedown SP came into play quite a bit. If I’d remembered Morgan’s +2 Perplex, she might’ve gotten some more hits in. Black Widow (any version) is a favorite character of mine, so there’s little doubt she’ll find a spot on a future team.

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Some stuff in this game just ain’t fun.

You know the stuff. The powergamer pieces that represent an arms race to ever-more-broken game effects and keep you from playing that ridiculous “Clix With Serious Tail” team-up of Squirrel Girl and Tigra and Beast Boy and Hellboy you’ve been wanting to play. Or that keep you reaching for the same 20 efficient figures because you don’t want to get dragged EVERY week by the other players doing the same.

Ziran the Tester is chief among offenders in this regard.

I suck your fun out with my hands. MY HANDS!

There are a lot of characters and game elements that can punish opponents with solid power combos, huge damage numbers, ease of attacking and staunch defenses. There aren’t many that punish opponents equally for building such into their team or largely leaving same OFF.

Pretty much any team that could conceivably pass all his tests won’t have a prayer of dealing with his Multi-Attacking 13 AV, 5 damage and 20 Impervious first click. Conversely, any team actually built to take on a powerful colossal like him might have its key players nerfed or dead before the game even starts, because said team is unlikely to pass all (or any!) of the tests.

In order to pass them all, a team has to meet these conditions on the opening click:

  1. -Smoke Cloud: No colossal-killing team is going to waste points on this power.
  2. -Force Blast: Same here. It’s just not a power that appears often on powerful pieces.
  3. -Battle Fury: There’s a chance that this might show on a 600-plus team. But it’s not one to build around.
  4. -Energy Explosion: Same here. It’s a power that just kinda shows up and is rarely used by tough figs.
  5. -Mind Control: Trying to MC a big colossal is pretty suicidal. It’s unlikely to be on a team that can fight one.
  6. -5 Team Abilities: With ATAs and multiple team symbols on characters, this condition is easier to meet than others. But by itself it won’t be nearly enough. And if you’re playing a themed team? Forget it!
  7. -5 figures costing 50 points or less: A true colossal-fighting team might have a cheap “pit crew” of supporters to meet this test. Might. But that’s around 200 points of  non-fighting power you can’t really afford to build to face this sort of monster.
  8. -5 Unique rings: With Uniques far less common in the post-REV era, this one could be a bust. It’s certainly not a prerequisite for battling colossals anymore.And really — needing FIVE of all these things? At 600 points, that’s really tough! If I weren’t the F.U.N. guy (emphasis on the F, for Fellowship), I’d want to slap the guy who came up with this requirement.
  9. -Enhancement: This cheap power is actually likely to make it onto a colossal-kill squad, although it’s a little rare. Better hope you get tested on this!
  10. -Leadership: Similarly, Leadership tends to show up on a lot of opening clicks and on a number of tough pieces. 
  11. -Support: It’s not nearly the must-have power it used to be, and healers are kinda rare. 
  12. -Defend: Similarly, top-dial Defend pieces are a little soft to go against the likes of Ziran. A colossal-hunting team needs to be about maximum offense.

Here’s one of the only Modern Age teams that is guaranteed to pass:

Hawkgirl (Brightest Day) (Battle Fury)
Major Glenn Talbot (Incredible Hulk) +  Hulkbusters ATA  (Enhancement, Unique #1, <50pts #1, TA #1)
Empath (Giant-Size X-Men) (MC, <50pts #2, TA #2)
Sgt. Rock (DC 75th Anniversary) (Defend, Leadership)
Astral Dr. Strange (Galactic Guardian 014b) (Smoke Cloud, <50pts #3)
Agent Coulson (Avengers Movie) (Unique #2, <50pts #4, TA #3)
Tarot  (Giant-Size X-Men) (Unique #3, <50pts #5)
S.H.I.E.L.D. Specialist (Captain America) (Support)
Bob, Agent of Hydra (Captain America) (Energy Explosion, Unique #4, TA #4)
Adam Warlock (Galactic Guardian 032) (Unique #5, TA #5)
GCPD Riot Officer (Dark Knight Rises 011a) (Force Blast)

599 points of “Yay.” This team barely has a chance a dealing any damage to Ziran, much less winning.

So what’s a Heroclixin’ fan to do, knowing that in any game of 600 points or higher this colossal killjoy might show up to spoil your F.U.N.?

Answer: Boost the U-factor (Utility and Usefulness) of your otherwise Friendly and Nifty team with the 33-point Donald Blake (Chaos War).

Not only does the good doctor pass one of the tests (Support) and possibly two more (below 50 points, possible ATA), but he also can either A) heal up victims of Ziran’s test penalties or B) absorb  4 of the 6 clicks Ziran doles out upon complete test failure, leaving your more important figures barely hurt, if at all.

Thus Ziran’s effect on your game is blunted. Of course, you’ve still got one of the most powerful colossals in the game to contend with, but at least you’re not at half-strength from the get-go!

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This is a bit of a sneak peek at what I’ll be writing for much of October, the Halloween month. ‘Cause there’s a lot more in HeroClix to be scared of!

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…beeeeyotttch!!!!

So Hank Pym (Chaos War 014) has this Nifty trait:

“MORPH: HANK PYM: Give Wasp a move or close combat action that deals no pushing damage. After the action resolves, replace him with any character with this trait on the same click number.”

And he shares it with four other pieces in the set:

Ant-Man (Chaos War 015)
Wasp (Chaos War 016)
Ant-Man (Chaos War 173)
Giant-Man (Chaos War 200)

It’s a heftily Useful upgrade over the similarly named trait of Beast Boy (DC 75th Anniversary 014, 015, 016 and 055) in that it works via either a move action OR a close combat action. But with the recent rule that replacement characters have to stay on a KO click while on the sidelines, it’s harder to know which Pym to bring into the fight.

Let’s take an overview at the ever-changing mad scientist of the Avengers:

Hank Pym (Chaos War 014): With odd clicks of Outwit alternating with Perplex on even, and a SP granting a free Attack power when on an object, plainclothes Pym is the ultimate support piece sporting some surprise fight (though with minimal damage potential). Note that the Perplex clicks are paired with Willpower.

Ant-Man (Chaos War 015): Hank’s first super-ID flops between odd-numbered Stealthy Poison, Combat Reflexes and Exploit Weakness versus even-numbered Leap/Climbing Outwit with Super Senses — except that the first and last click lack the CR and EW. Problematic with his basement-low damage value and barely average DV. His best role might be shrinking a friend at the right time via his other trait.

Wasp (Chaos War 016) : Homage-to-Janet Van Dyne Henry here is the most traditional of the base set Pyms with top-loaded Running Shot and 3 damage with Leadership. Later clicks get the penetrating Incap treatment and some team support by granting pals EW.

These are the common Hanks. Then there are the two ultra-rare convention exclusives:

Ant-Man (Chaos War 173): Puck Pym is all about his high, high 20 DV. A full run of Incap gives him a little bit of offense, too, but only a little bit.


Giant-Man (Chaos War 200): Conversely, giant Pym is chiefly about fighting, with double-digit AV and 3+ damage most of his dial. He’s also loaded with armor powers.

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A lot depends on which Hank Pym one starts the game with. For example, a Wasp 016 player is likely to be relying on Running Shot and won’t be able to readily Morph as that Speed power is neither a move nor close combat action. Conversely, Giant-Man might benefit from Morphing to Wasp’s less-visible but still-17 Toughness click number 1 after smashing a foe with a heavy.

Therefore, the following list of “best” clicks to switch to is hardly exhaustive. (To do that, we’d have to go though each click of each Pym and detail the best choice for each likely situation. Which would make this F.U.N. article too long. Not doing it.) Instead, it’s just a rough guide on how to best size-change after taking the Morph-activating action, as the character will always have one or two tokens afterward.

ON CLICK 1:

First choice: Ant-Man (Chaos War 173). Stealthed 20 DV is best for weathering attacks.
Next best: Wasp (Chaos War 016) or  Giant-Man (Chaos War 200) for 17 Toughness.
Avoid: Ant-Man (Chaos War 015). Though the Stealth and Poison are tempting, his bare 17 DV may be a problem.

ON CLICK 2:

First choice: Wasp (Chaos War 016) is the best-balanced pick regardless of whether he’s based (likely after the close combat action) or remote (likely after the move action option). But this click is possibly the most situational of the five, depending on whether you most need more support for your team (Hank’s Perplex, Wasp’s EW-lending, Ant-Man 015’s Outwit), personal survivability (either of the Ant-Men for Stealth) or offensive threat (Giant-Man).
Next best: n/a
Avoid: n/a

ON CLICK 3:

First choice: Either of the Ant-Men. The common gains Stealth and 18DV in melee, 17 at range with Poison and Exploit Weakness while the Unique is a Stealthy 18 (19 from range).
Next best: Giant-Man, with Charge, Quake and Invulnerability to be the toughest of the Pyms. Note that Charge works with Morph, so he can move to a more advantageous spot and push to the best choice for Click 4! (I’m thinking that Morph wouldn’t prevent the push since it’s part of the Charge action).
Avoid: Both Hank and Wasp are defensively soft. On the other hand, both offer passive powers that might benefit the team, so if you can protect them, they might be an OK choice.

ON CLICK 4:

First choice: Wasp. Again, he’s got the best blend of offense, defense and passive utility.
Next best: Giant-Man. Still Invulnerable, still Quake-ready. The more common Ant-Man gains 16-17 DV Super Senses and Outwit.
Avoid: Puck Ant-Man, whose DV finally slips to a decidedly average 17 and his AV to a mediocre 8. It’s all downhill from here, too.

ON CLICK 5:

First choice: Ant-Man 015. Though his base DV is just 15, it’s bolstered by Combat Reflexes, Stealth and Tiny Size. Offensively, he’s again Poisonous and Exploits Weaknesses.
Next best: Wasp. Though 16 DV Super Senses and 2 damage aren’t great, he’s got 9 AV and Perplex. Giant-Man’s poor 15 DV is balanced by not-so-poor 10 AV, 3 damage with Exploit Weakness and Charge. (Note that Exploit Weakness and Morph are not compatible — you have to pick one or the other!)
Avoid: Ant-Man 173, unless Stealth is absolutely needed to survive.

ON CLICK 6:

First choice: Ant-Man 015. His 15 Super Senses looks bad, but Tiny Size and hindering terrain bump it to a possible 17 from range. He’s also got Outwit back and 9 AV if fighting is needed.
Next best: Hank Pym, because while his 15 Willpower is the worst defense of the lot (barring the puck), he’s got Flurry and Perplex to shift matters in your potential favor.
Avoid: Ant-Man 173, unless Stealth is absolutely needed to survive.

ON CLICK 7:

First choice: Giant-Man or Wasp. Both sport 15 DV Willpower for a possible last-gasp attack next turn with 9 AV Quake or 8 AV Incap-plus, respectively.
Next best: Hank’s Outwit should be useful at this stage of matters, though it puts a Giant-Man-sized bull’s eye on his labcoated back. Ant-Man 015 can hide in the bushes (Stealth) and maybe Poison.
Avoid: Ant-Man 173 at all costs.

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That’s it for this quick guide to Morphin’ the Mighty Avenger Henry Pym. Have F.U.N. Pympin like I might with this team in a week:

Yellowjacket (Secret Invasion 006a) 100
Hank Pym (Chaos War 014) 75
Ant-Man and Wasp (Chaos War 053) 168
Wasp (Avengers 059) 37
Wasp (Chaos War 030)
Ant-Man (Infinity Challenge 173) 43
+ replacements Wasp 016, Ant-Man 015
= 500 points

or, if my friend managed to pick a Con Exclusive for me:

Hank Pym (Chaos War 014) 75
Wasp (Chaos War 030) 77
Ant-Man (Infinity Challenge 173) 43
Giant-Man (Chaos War 200) 300
+ replacements Wasp 016, Ant-Man 015, Ant-Man and Wasp (Chaos War 053), Ant-Man (Chaos War 173)
=495 points. Could be Big Pympin’ time at Dragon*Con!

 

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We had a recent 1200-point anything goes tournament. Promo pieces, feats, Star Trek ships, whatever — it was all legal.

Me, I had some pieces that’d languished in my unplayed fig box for nearly a year. Time to try ’em out.

Unfortunately, my fellow players brought out the velveeta (not cheese, but close). First, I faced a Brute team of Movie Hulk, Mighty Thorr, Wolverage, Big Figure surrounded by Thugs, all led by Sentry / Void. Then I had the “pleasure” of battling an all-Thanos team of the chase, the 150-pointer and the 800-point “Issue 1” colossal.

  • A-Bomb: Camouflage really helped him out, especially when chase Thanos snatched him but put him next to blocking terrain. His 19 DV also held up, even against the 12-13 AVs of the Thanosi. Too bad he wasn’t able to hit so much.
  • Arkham Asylum Inmate: Only good for resetting the Gamma Bomb. Otherwise completely overmatched.
  • Elite Zealot: Despite his starting with Leadership and Outwit, he was useless at both due to adjacency issues and immunity-to-Outwit opponents. Really needed to be more aggressive with him, but my team was very movement-challenged. (It didn’t help that Issue 1 Thanos knocked him off his sole movement click at game’s start.)
  • Gollum: Very useful for his support powers, but the little slinker took himself out via those very powers.
  • Hawkeye (Chaos War): The only piece of the team to perform well at ALL. Which, unfortunately, made him a victim of colossal  Thanos’ power to remove Hawkeye temporarily from the game when the archer managed to damage the mad Titan.
  • Master Chief (Battle Rifle): Disappointing. Lack of movement powers hobbles the Halo star. I pushed off his sole top click of Outwit to my regret.
  • Morg: Too glass-jawed. Perhaps on a team with TK, he’d have done better. As it was, he was just easy meat for first Sentry / Void and then chase Thanos. Seems like I’ve never seen this piece work.
  • Mouth of Sauron: If I had any chance in these games, it was because of this fellow. Being able to Demoralize and knock stats down -2 from behind cover is HUGE. In fact, I might have salvaged a win in the first game had I used him better. Unfortunately, I made most of my user errors with him, in A) his placement for Prob Control, B) opening him up to Outwit at a crucial moment and C) making a suicidal Mind Control of colossal Thanos (who missed BOTH his Multiattacks — it was that sort of game).
  • Nebula: her trait is so useless in these modern games where bringing objects is optional. If only she had more keywords to fit onto more teams! Or a slightly higher AV. Or damage. SOMETHING!
  • The Sharpshooting Avenger: Scored an early hit on 150-point Thanos and was useful for his SHIELD TA. Still pretty much the last version of Hawkeye I’ll ever pick for a team. Why did I trade for him, again?
  • Thor (Avengers Movie 201): Not bad, aside from the critical miss against Issue 1 Thanos that sealed my loss, big time.
  • U.S.S. Yeager: Worthless outside the Trek game thanks to single digit AV and 2 damage.

 

In fact, 2 damage was my problem across the board, as I lacked the ability to harm the Thanosi at all aside from a few characters. Had similar issues with the Brute squad.

In general, my unfamiliarity with pieces and the more highly competitive nature of the forces I tend to face these days make using untried characters a losing proposition. I think I’m going to resort to something I haven’t done in years: playing solo games on my dinner table.

Seriously, the last time I did that, the Olympics were being played in BEIJING. So maybe, as this article is published, yours truly will be watching the Games and playing a game simultaneously.

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Tomorrow, a new Token Totin’ figure. Then, on Friday, the wrap-up of my Dark Knight Power Creep Rises series.

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Now we’ve come down to the #1 duo in HeroClix:

Thor and Loki (Hammer of Thor 057)

Despite weighing in at an unmatched 362 points for a single-based figure, they’re clearly the choice.

  • They start with Running Shot and 10 range to get the carnage started. They bear Invulnerability through a trait so it can’t get countered and Shape Change to avoid attacks altogether.
  • They’re Mystic, so opponents won’t want to target them much, anyway.
  • They’re Indomitable, so they can push immediately next turn.
  • They’ve got Perplex to make their ensuing Duo Attack deal out a crippling 11 clicks, potentially.
  • They’re single-base fliers, so TK can yank ’em back or send ’em forth, depending, and they won’t have much problem maneuvering themselves.
  • Their AV never dips below 10. Their DV, 16. Damage is usually 4 or better.

Their only drawback is the DV SP, which saddles them with the range-killing Battle Fury. It also gives Exploit Weakness, so we’re over it.

Being a superb fig and one that certainly makes great use of the Duo symbol makes these oft-feuding half-brothers the single best Duo in HeroClix.

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“That’s all good and well, Heroclixin,'” someone is saying. “YOU can actually GET these Super Rare chase collector Buy-It-By-The-Brick-eight-sets-ago figures. How about the rest of us who want to use just regular duos that didn’t make the list?”

Glad you asked. Here are some tips on how to play all duos to the maximum degree.

Boost their damage. Just as powers like Energy Explosion or Incapacitate grow exponentially better with multiple arrows, so does Duo Attack benefit from higher damage. (You’ll note how many of the  characters on the list had great damage numbers as a plus.) So field some Perplex or Enhancement to easily increase Duo Attack’s output.

Telekinesis. If they can be moved with the mind, then do it. Most duos made prior to Brave & Bold were single-based.

Find ways to push duos safely. Most of the time, they’re going to have to get into position first. Therefore, the sooner the duo can start attacking in earnest, the better. There are some ways to grant Willpower or something like it to duos lacking it: Edward Nigma, Harvey Dent (Dark Knight Rises 017), Warbound or the new Asgardians ATA, to name a few. And, of course, just know the duo’s dial and be willing to push onto a new click.

Probability Control. The strength of Duo Attack is that it means more attack rolls. Might as well make ’em count. Similarly…

Outwit. It’ll take some dial memorization, but try to time your Duo Attack when you can hit a countered target both times with the defense power still countered (at least until WizKids actually fixes Outwit the way I’d like).

Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. The number 8 duo makes other duos better, remember? And as Super Rare figures go, this piece is easy to acquire.

And then there are duo-specific feats to consider:

Sidestep. The first duo feat, this 10-pointer grants 4 squares of movement in between Duo Attacks. The lack of free breakaway keeps it from being a must-use. But it can be really handy.

Show Off. When the first shot KOs a target, you can pass on making the 2nd attack and not give the duo an action token. Obviously, this one is pretty circumstantial, especially for lower-damage duos. Not worthless, but not really worth the 6 points if you have other options.

Power Barrage. Another 6-point feat, this one grants a free (but weaker) attack after one of a number of Attack powers are used. Another one that’s not remotely a slam dunk of a feat.

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That’s all, folks. Heroclixin’s taking a short vacation. On Wednesday, expect a new battle report, probably highlighting some more newly played pieces. We’ll pick up on the look at The Dark Knight Rises set in a week.   Until then, have F.U.N. Heroclixin’!

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Man, good duo figures are hard to come by. Numbers 10-8 were either Super Rares or part of a $100 collectors’ set. The next three? All chase figures. And it gets no easier from here:

#4 is actually the Big Three:

Avengers Prime (Chaos War 060)

At a staggering 400 points, this duo trio figure is by far the priciest on the list. That buys you a LOT of damage potential, much of it through Duo Attack. After an opening salvo with Running Shot thanks to the Iron Man-themed Speed SP, one best uses the same power to Perplex the trio’s damage  +1 to then deal out a possible 11 CLICKS in the followup Duo Attack.

Duo Attack is almost always a better play than using any of AVP’s regular powers if targets are available on the opening clicks of the 400-point dial. For the 300-pointer, it’s less of a slam dunk. For example on click 2 (or 5 on the full dial), do you opt for a single shot for 4 penetrating damage, or roll the duo dice to land a possible 7 that might get reduced? Do you Flurry for 8 or Duo for 4, hopefully KOing the target to follow up with a weaker ranged shot?

This dial has a lot of mostly wasted points on myriad abilities that can’t be used in combination, sometimes not even through the “Trio Attack” trait. And with such high cost, they’re gonna get swarmed heavily, especially since they have many of the usual peanut duo mobility issues (at least they fly, though). Nevertheless, their sheer power is enough to make them one of the best duo figs in Heroclixin’s estimation.

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#3 are the stars of New Avengers: The Reunion:

Hawkeye and Mockingbird (Chaos War 054)

Another star-crossed couple — literally, this time, as Mockingbird was once kidnapped for years by Skrulls — ranks high on the list of great duo figures. Why, especially with them having the same no-TK-no-taxi boot speed peanut base issues as so many others?

Transporter Move and Attack. This ability gives them a bit more flexibility than most for moving past enemies on the way to their real destination. The sky-high 12 AV also helps their cause in attacking.

Sharpshooter. Similarly, this gives them cleaner lines of fire for potential Duo Attacks.

Most of all, though, they’ve got a Duo-ready SP that allows ’em to replace ranged Duo Attacks with Smoke Cloud, Incapacitate or Energy Explosion. So Hawkeye can take a leading shot with Mockingbird following with Smoke Cloud to hide them from counterfire. Or they can opt to Incap a Mystic target and then Energy Explode a cluster elsewhere for much more cumulative damage than the usual -1 damage 2nd duo attack would net.

These birds’ weakness is that they have zero armor, so they will take any and all damage that gets past Super Senses. And although they start with Stealth, the peanut base prevents them from ever getting fully hidden into hindering terrain with a single move (since the “back” end of said figures must travel through the square the front end moved through — and hitting hindering terrain immediately stops movement). But with their offensive prowess and excellent Duo ability, they take the #3 spot among the top Duos of Heroclixin’.

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#2 are the stars of The Dark Knight Rises:

Batman and Catwoman (The Brave and the Bold 100)

Their AV is weaker than most others’ on the list. They’re peanut based and thus impossible to taxi or TK. They’ve got no armor, little range and a fairly hefty price point for all that weakness. Why are they the #2 Duo of Heroclixin’?

It’s all about the SP “Double Pounce.”

  1. It’s Leap/Climb. That circumvents any problems getting the big peanut base fully hidden to use their Batman Ally TA.
  2. It’s a free Duo Attack after using Leap/Climb. It’s better than Charge or Running Shot.

With Outwit to soften the target up and Willpower + Combat Reflexes to help press the attack or survive counterattacks, BatCat makes up for its weaknesses in a big way. And this is without even mentioning the ability at the start of the game to steal one of the enemy’s special objects. Batman and Catwoman earn this near-top spot of the list handily.

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Tomorrow: The number one duo figure in Heroclixin’s Top Ten and a bonus duo-related list.

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Man, good duo figures are hard to come by. Numbers 10-8 were either Super Rares or part of a $100 collectors’ set. The next three? All chase figures.

#7 is this emo couple:

Scarlet Witch and Wonder Man (Chaos War 059)

Weighing in at a hefty 225 points, this star-crossed pair makes the list almost purely because of Wanda’s contribution: her Chaos Magic SP:

With it, they can render even normally uncounterable opponents powerless in any given area. Sure, it’s a little too random to depend entirely upon it, but it’s a free action.

After they get into position with Running Shot, Scarlet Wonder will rely on Duo Attack to deal most of their damage. With Probability Control to better ensure either shot lands, and a hefty 4 damage to lead to potential 7 clicks, there’s ample reason to do so on the opening four clicks of life.

Late in their dial, they get a SP that causes them to deal penetrating damage to high-cost figures. Combined with Duo Attack, they can utterly decimate tentpoles.

They’ve got all the drawbacks of double-based duos: unCarryable, unTKable and, with only a modest 8 starting boot speed, they may find it tough to move around. They also don’t push well — it’s tough to leave that first Chaos War click in favor of Super Strength, even if they upgrade to 11AV and Impervious (and you’d rather force opponents to take Mystics damage digging through all that armor anyway).

Nevertheless, Scarlet Witch and Wonder Man are a solid enough figure on their own that’s only made better by having Duo Attack at their disposal. They rate #7.

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#6 is the smallest duo:

Ant-Man and Wasp (Chaos War 053)

These wee folk have a few tricks up their pint-sized sleeves. Most notable is their trait which, like a mirror version of the Mystics TA, deals unavoidable damage against adjacent foes for misses against them (either by those adjacent enemies or others shooting at the insect-size couple). This probably accounts for the bulk of their weighty 168-point cost.

They also have Poison and Exploit Weakness to further trouble folks in melee.

With that latter power, twinned with first Charge to get in close and then Plasticity to stay nearby, there doesn’t seem to be much call to use the Duo Attack ability.

But there is, because Ant-Man and Wasp can be TKed or effortlessly carried by almost ANY ally, thanks to their single base and Tiny Size ability. When a duo doesn’t have to burn actions getting into position to use the Duo Attack, the ability gets that much better. Against soft targets, it’s the preferred move.

With this better mobility than nearly any duo in the game along with their ability to deal lots of free and/or penetrating damage, Ant-Man and Wasp are the #6 duo in Heroclix.

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#5 :

Thor and Hercules (Chaos War 059)

This demigodly duo is all about massive damage, period. Once they complete their opening Charge + Exploit Weakness, this Indomitable, Impervious fig can deal out 7-8 clicks via Duo Attack.

And you’ll want to use the ability as often as possible, since missing the first attack means +1 to all their stats for the 2nd shot.

Once Impervious is lost, they get Invulnerability that can’t be countered and boosts DV each time they’re targeted in a turn. Decent defense against Outwitters and swarm attacks.

Boot speed and a big peanut base are the usual liabilities, and with only average 6 range and a sky-high 300-point price, Thorcules can still be overwhelmed and thus “only” rates #5 on the top duos list.

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Tomorrow, it’s 4, 3 and 2.