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The Iron Campaign.
The first time I played an all-Iron Man team was in February 2008, an 800-pointer made up of Hulkbuster and some of the Armor Wars pieces. It went an anemic 1-2, with one loss being at the hands of an all-Hulk team and my own unwitting, first-time use of the Krakoa The Living Island Battlefield Condition that hurt me WAY more than them, and the other loss being a total wipeout (thanks in no small part to a single-target Pulse Wave that got Probability Controlled FIVE TIMES into a successful hit). A later game that June with the same point build garnered an identical record due to my non-calling for many T-Bolt Mystics damage clicks (though this time I won over an all-Hulk team). Yet another mostly-Iron Swarm team from August (a 2000-pointer half made of the Illuminati and the other half Iron Man figures) got the same 1-2 result.
So, for my birthday last week, I finally got to run a huge swarm of every Iron Man-related figure in my collection!
V Iron Man (X-Plosion) 189 + Trick Shot 20
Iron Man 188 + Brilliant Tactician 20
V Iron Man (Armor Wars) 172
Hulkbuster 165
Iron Man (Supernova) 160 + Stunning Blow 10
Iron Man (Avengers) 154
Tony Stark 150
Iron Man (Ultimates) 144
E Iron Man (Armor Wars) 135 + Mercenary 15
V War Machine 124
Spider-Man (Avengers) 111
E War Machine 109
U Iron Man (Mutations & Monsters) 100 + Protected 8 +Vendetta 6
Anthony Stark 100 + Outsmart 10
U Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89
R Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89
Guardsman 32
= 2300 points.
In a battle royale against Psicardi’s “ladies’ night” team featuring Ms. Marvel (Skrull), Wonder Woman (Arkham Asylum), Moondragon, Chase Spider-Woman and a full 6 Cuckoos, among many more; Lord Timothy (aka Bilbo3000) and his Parallax, CR Mordru, AV Ares, Magus, SN Thanos, Immortus and more; and Lenny’s JL Superman, AV Silver Surfer, SI Iron Man, CR Green Lantern, Gamora, Iron Spider, CR Green Arrow, OOTS Batman and the like.
RESULT: Took 75 points, lost 344, by far the worst showing on the map.
The next day, I got a fun game in a 6-person Battle Royale, again playing an Iron Man squad:
Iron Man 188
U Iron Man (Mutations & Monsters) 100
Paramedic 8
= 296 points.
RESULT: I was the first one wiped, since we had a special rule that prevented teams from pouncing on the nearest enemies (and me from targeting most of the weaker players on the board).
The NEXT day, I got another shot with an Iron Team:
SI Iron Man 188 + Inside Information 4 + Thunderbolts 10 (Ultimates)
AV Spider-Man 111 + Lunge 5
Spider-Girl 77 + Lunge 5
This game was a Father’s Day holdover in which 2 figures on the team had to be a father and his offspring.
RESULT: I beat Nathaniel Richards, his son FF Reed Richards, his son Franklin Richards, V Corsair and his sons V Havok and V IC Cyclops and a couple more pogs. Lost the Spiders, though.
Finally, I played one more Stark swarm:
U Iron Man (Mutations & Monsters) 100
Anthony Stark 100 + Outsmart 10 + Alpha Flight 0
U Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89 + Alpha Flight 0
R Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89 + Alpha Flight 0 + Armor Piercing 10
= 398 points.
against a Warskrull, V Vampire Lackey and White Martian x3 team and a JL team of CR Green Lantern, CR Green Arrow, OR Carter Hall and LE Atom.
RESULT: I was wiped first and scored no KOs.
So, with my weekend record a dismal 1-3, my Stark Industries-centric teams have sunk to a sorry 4-9 record.
This just cannot be tolerated. I REFUSE to leave it at this. I WILL make the Iron Man swarm a success. Looking back at my losses, I see some common factors besides the poor dice rolls:
–the worst BFC selection possible for a match.
–forgetting key abilities like Mystics or the Alpha Flight AV boost.
–not leveraging this theme’s range advantage for all its worth — or having a contingency for when it can’t.
–inability to deal the damage when needed.
Most of the above elements are user error, not build-inherent. And future posts will detail

Thus begins the Iron Campaign.

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I often refer to my Inner-12-Year-Old when I play Iron Man in HeroClix, and the above cover is a big reason why. It was at that age that I first discovered the character.

(Interestingly, the first issue I ever bought was the last one starring Tony Stark in the armor for nearly 2.5 years. As a young black kid yearning for superheroes who looked like me, I was instantly hooked by James Rhodes becoming Iron Man.)

Anyhow, a lot of years have passed since then. It took the great movie to get me truly interested in Iron Man again. But even before then, thoughts of that classic cover always sparked a desire to play an Iron Man swarm team.

The first time I played an all-Iron Man team was in February 2008, an 800-pointer made up of Hulkbuster and some of the Armor Wars pieces. It went an anemic 1-2, with one loss being at the hands of an all-Hulk team, and the other loss being a total wipeout (thanks in no small part to a single-target Pulse Wave that got Probability Controlled FIVE TIMES into a successful hit).

A later game that June with the same point build garnered an identical record due to my non-calling for many T-Bolt Mystics damage clicks (though this time I won over an all-Hulk team). Yet another mostly-Iron Swarm team from August (a 2000-pointer half made of the Illuminati and the other half Iron Man figures) got the same 1-2 result.

So, for my birthday last week, I finally got to run a huge swarm of every Iron Man-related figure in my collection!

V Iron Man (X-Plosion) 189 + Trick Shot 20
Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188 + Brilliant Tactician 20
V Iron Man (Armor Wars) 172
Hulkbuster 165
Iron Man (Supernova) 160 + Stunning Blow 10
Iron Man (Avengers) 154
Tony Stark 150
Iron Man (Ultimates) 144
E Iron Man (Armor Wars) 135 + Mercenary 15
V War Machine 124
Spider-Man (Avengers) 111
E War Machine 109
U Iron Man (Mutations & Monsters) 100 + Protected 8 +Vendetta 6
Anthony Stark 100 + Outsmart 10
U Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89
R Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89
Guardsman 32

= 2300 points.

In a battle royale against Psicardi’s “ladies’ night” team featuring Ms. Marvel (Skrull), Wonder Woman (Arkham Asylum), Moondragon, Chase Spider-Woman and a full complement of six Cuckoos, among many more; Lord Timothy (aka Bilbo3000) and his Parallax, CR Mordru, AV Ares, Magus, SN Thanos, Immortus and more; and Lenny’s JL Superman, AV Silver Surfer, SI Iron Man, CR Green Lantern, Gamora, Iron Spider, CR Green Arrow, OOTS Batman and the like.

RESULT: Took 75 points, lost 344, by far the worst showing on the map.

The next day, I got a fun game in a 6-person Battle Royale, again playing an Iron Man squad:

Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188
U Iron Man (Mutations & Monsters) 100
Paramedic 8

= 296 points.

RESULT: I was the first one wiped, since we had a special rule that prevented teams from pouncing on the nearest enemies (and me from targeting most of the weaker players on the board).

The NEXT day, I got another shot with an Iron Team:

SI Iron Man 188 + Inside Information 4 + Thunderbolts 10 (Ultimates)
AV Spider-Man 111 + Lunge 5
Spider-Girl 77 + Lunge 5

This game was a Father’s Day holdover in which 2 figures on the team had to be a father and his offspring.

RESULT: I beat Nathaniel Richards, his son FF Reed Richards, his son Franklin Richards, V Corsair and his sons V Havok and V IC Cyclops and a couple more pogs. Lost the Spiders, though.

Finally, I played one more Stark swarm:

U Iron Man (Mutations & Monsters) 100
Anthony Stark 100 + Outsmart 10 + Alpha Flight 0
U Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89 + Alpha Flight 0
R Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89 + Alpha Flight 0 + Armor Piercing 10

= 398 points
against a Warskrull, V Vampire Lackey and White Martian x 3 team and a JL team of CR Green Lantern, CR Green Arrow, OR Carter Hall and LE Atom.

RESULT: I was wiped first and scored no KOs.

So, with my weekend record a dismal 1-3, my Stark Industries-centric teams have sunk to a sorry 4-9 record.

Crunched.

Crunched.

This just cannot be tolerated. I REFUSE to leave it at this. I WILL make the Iron Man swarm an unqualified success. Looking back at my losses, I see some common factors besides the poor dice rolls…mostly elements of user error, not build-inherent. Future posts will detail those errors, team-by-team, build-by-build…and I’ll analyze the strengths, weaknesses and roles for each Stark-designed suit made in HeroClix.

And I will play Stark Industries swarm teams until I win out!

Thus begins the Iron Campaign.

Stay tuned.

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I finally got the new super rare Despero figure from the Arkham Asylum set and wanted to try out the Time Stealers keyword themed team. 

A Nazi, an ape and an alien walk into a bar...

A Nazi, an ape and an alien walk into a bar...

AA Ultra-Humanite 177
+ Outsmart 10
Per Degaton 90
+ Protected 8
+ Outsmart 10
AA Despero 88
+ Contingency Plan 12
Dr. Jeremiah Arkham 2
Movie Star 3
=400 points
My plan: Once Contingency is all planned for, use Despero’s TK to get 1st strikes with Ultra-Humanite, force rerolls with Per Degaton and keep him next to the white ape for maximum anti-Outwit from Outsmart. 
FIRST ROUND was against 
Batman (Icons) 102
Lex Luthor (Justice League) 161
Cosmic King 80
Captain Gordon 50
My opponent was Ademba, an inexperienced lad, so I chose not to inflict my Bright Lights on his Stealth-heavy team. I picked the Days of Future Past map, and he chose to start indoors. 
He didn’t place his crew efficiently, so I was able to get into prime TK position for a first — but unsuccessful — strike on Lex. In fact, Lex was fairly untouchable for largely the whole game, while Per Degaton took multiple shots. Demba’s inexperience in positioning cost him a pair of opportunities at Outwit and saved me near the end when I got Batman and managed to Barrier off an otherwise clear line of fire from Cosmic King, also untouched. 1-0.
SECOND MATCH was vs. Matthew, a young soldier on leave from Iraq. He played:
SI Doom 249
M+M The Leader 116
Howard the Duck 35
On the Dawn of Time map, I Disbanded the field. Using the Dynamostat to give myself a bit of cover from the far-seeing (and shooting) Doom, I rushed where Matt camped his trio across the river with Ultra-Humanite and Per Degaton. Despero, hit very early and very hard, went stumbling for my Eleha’al Vine in the corner.
So a deadly dance began around Matt’s Force Field Generator…how to get U-H to paste someone with the Meteorite without getting blasted through Invulnerability by Doom. Doom would phase away (after either failing to Outwit thanks to Outsmart or, more often, BEING Outwitted by one of the Time Stealers), and I would either chase and base both Psychic-Blasting foes. Leader was the easier target, so I concentrated on him (and, via Mastermind, the Duck). Safely out of the line of fire, I marched my pogs to back up Ultra-Humanite’s own Mastermind defenses. Meanwhile, Despero made the slow recovery process on the Vine.
Losing Per Degaton but up by the KOs of Leader and Howard, I then turned all attention to Doom, who broke for the Vine himself. Despero was near full health and managed to hold out while U-H slowly rumbled to his aid. But Despero was swiftly losing the battle when time was called for my win. 2-0.
FINAL ROUND was against Jazhmin, a teenager whose soft-spoken nature hides a cunning and aggressive play style. She’d rolled her opponents with:
X-23 35
Arachne 50
Shang-Chi 58
Reed Richards (Secret Invasion) 100
Spider-Man  (Secret Invasion) 50
Super-Skrull X-Men 106
On the Dawn of Time again. She ran her crew into hindering too close to Despero, and I finally got to use his Dangerous Game SP to jank Spidey next to Ultra-Humanite for a Meteorite-enhanced one-hit-KO. From there, my multiple Outwitters kept Richards in check* and the Time Stealers were able to dismantle the girl’s team after a long but completely one-sided fight.
WIN/LOSS: 3-0. Was slightly surprised that this team did so well. I’ll have to try these time-traveling despots again sometime!
*DOOM would have been jealous. 

 

AA Ultra-Humanite 177 + Outsmart 10
Per Degaton 90 + Protected 8 + Outsmart 10
AA Despero 88 + Contingency Plan 12
Dr. Jeremiah Arkham 2
Movie Star 3

=400 points

My plan: Once Contingency is all planned for (by waiting a few rounds to go on the attack), use Despero’s TK to get 1st strikes with Ultra-Humanite, force rerolls with Per Degaton and keep him next to the white ape for maximum anti-Outwit from Outsmart. 

FIRST ROUND was against 

Batman (Icons) 102
Lex Luthor (Justice League) 161
Cosmic King 80
Captain Gordon 50

My opponent was Ademba, an inexperienced lad, so I chose not to inflict my Bright Lights on his Stealth-heavy team. I picked the Days of Future Past map, and he chose to start indoors. 

He didn’t place his crew efficiently, so I was able to get into prime TK position for a first — but unsuccessful — strike on Lex. In fact, Lex was fairly untouchable for largely the whole game, while Per Degaton took multiple shots. Demba’s inexperience in positioning cost him a pair of opportunities at Outwit and saved me near the end when I got Batman and managed to Barrier off an otherwise clear line of fire from Cosmic King, also untouched. 1-0.

SECOND MATCH was vs. Matthew, a young soldier on leave from Iraq. He played:

SI Doom 249
M+M The Leader 116
Howard the Duck 35

On the Dawn of Time map, I Disbanded the field. Using the Dynamostat to give myself a bit of cover from the far-seeing (and shooting) Doom, I rushed where Matt camped his trio across the river with Ultra-Humanite and Per Degaton. Despero, hit very early and very hard, went stumbling for my Eleha’al Vine in the corner.

So a deadly dance began around Matt’s Force Field Generator…how to get U-H to paste someone with the Meteorite without getting blasted through Invulnerability by Doom. Doom would phase away (after either failing to Outwit thanks to Outsmart or, more often, BEING Outwitted by one of the Time Stealers), and I would either chase and base both Psychic-Blasting foes. Leader was the easier target, so I concentrated on him (and, via Mastermind, the Duck). Safely out of the line of fire, I marched my pogs to back up Ultra-Humanite’s own Mastermind defenses. Meanwhile, Despero began the slow recovery process on the Vine.

Losing Per Degaton but ahead by the KOs of Leader and Howard, I then turned all attention to Doom, who broke for the Vine himself. Despero was near full health and managed to hold out while U-H slowly rumbled to his aid. But Despero was swiftly losing the battle when time was called for my win. 2-0.

FINAL ROUND was against Jazhmin, a teenager whose soft-spoken nature hides a cunning and aggressive play style. She’d rolled her opponents with:

X-23 35
Arachne 50
Shang-Chi 58
Reed Richards (Secret Invasion) 100
Spider-Man  (Secret Invasion) 50
Super-Skrull X-Men 106

On the Dawn of Time again. She ran her crew into hindering too close to Despero, and I finally got to use his Dangerous Game SP to jank Spidey next to Ultra-Humanite for a Meteorite-enhanced one-hit-KO. From there, my multiple Outwitters kept Richards in check* and the Time Stealers were able to dismantle the girl’s team after a long but completely one-sided fight.

WIN/LOSS: 3-0. Was slightly surprised that this team did so well. I’ll have to try these time-traveling despots again sometime!

*DOOM would have been jealous.

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Lately, with some less-well-stocked kids joining or rejoining our Saturday tournaments, we old heads have had to scale back the complexity of our build scenarios. No more 2000-point “every character must be green and LEFT-HANDED” build restrictions. So the scenario for this game was that each character on your 400-point team had to share a common standard power on the dial.

My take: I chose Super Strength, so I could play:

e2super

Superman (Crisis #100) 317

Spider-Woman (Secret Invasion) 79
+ Vault 3
=399 points. I wanted to try out my brand-new Earth-2 Superman, but was leery of A) running him with Fortitude and consequently being the only fighter on the team as a result or B) not using Fortitude and being subject to taking massive damage from enemy swarms thanks to his defenses being Outwitted. Spider-Woman was the perfect solution; with her trait making her able to wildcard offense-oriented TAs like Superman’s, she’d be able to blunt enemies’ Outwit capabilities even in Stealth. Her Speed SP would make her well able to get around and stay hidden as well. And she’d be a capable 2nd fighter to take a little heat off Superman, too.
Round one vs. PAUL, picked Blades (V Bron, U Elektra (Infinity Challenge), The Demon’s Head (Legacy), LE Boon) Claws (Timber Wolf) and Fangs (Vampire Lackey, Captain Mako) as his chosen power. He chose the Crash Site but I Ordinary Day’d his Crosswinds. We both used Vines and Kinetic Accelerators. At first it looked like I’d have no problem beating him, but the presence of four Mystics on a seven-person team and the Shield Disruptor Paul put out there gave me some pause. I denied the first strike by Outwitting T. Wolf’s Charge on the Accelerator. Paul responded with T.Wolf flying in Charge range of both and both Elektra and Boon threatening Spider-Woman in particular. I retreated to take full advantage of Superman’s range edge, but took the Disruptor away with Spider-Woman first. 
Keeping The Demon’s Head’s Outwit in check with Spider-Woman (thanks to her ability to copy Superman Ally ability and thus see the stealthy fellow), I had her toss the Disruptor (destroying it) at Timber Wolf to put her on her 2nd click. Meanwhile, Superman got based by Boon and the battle was truly joined.
It becomes a bit of a blur, here. Superman deal some hits, but I picked the non-Mystic targets when I could and thus didn’t use the free attack quite as often as I’d have liked. Spider-Woman held off the Vampire Lackey, Mako and Wolf by herself (a bit easier thanks to her SP Outwit) but she was KO’d trying to take on V Bron, the last player on Paul’s team to advance. Superman finally got Crossgen’d to his HSS clicks and began taking the other team out with extreme prejudice. Things got interesting when V Bron made a full Regen roll and Supes actually slipped to his Toughness clicks, forcing me to commandeer Paul’s Vine object and heal up a bit (lest I take a huge BCF hit or critmiss or something). In the end, I wiped his team but lost Spider-Woman. 1-0.
ROUND TWO vs. LENNY (IconsSupes)
R Ant-Man, Rampaging Hulk+Fortitude, Gamora+Protected, Benjamin J. Grimm (Secret Invasion), all of whom have Charge. I picked the Castle and he OD’d my Wasteland. I put out the Accelerator and Generator/Dumpster (the Dumpsterator) while he used the Meteorite and Vine. I forget what the BFCs were. 
I parked my pair on the Castle wall and waited. And waited, as Lenny wisely stayed out of my range. Eventually I got a tad impatient and blasted away a wall, which gave Ant-Man room to move and hide in clear LOF to Superman. That forced me to move Spider-Woman off the wall to counter-Outwit Ant-Man. Lenny responded by bunching his fighters in the drawbridge area near the midpoint of the map, and Ant-Man inside the room on his side of the map. 
So now people were in range of Superman’s Charge, but it was a perilous choice. If I hit any one of the three, the other two (and probably the third as well) gang up on the Man of Steel, which could be fatal if Ant-Man gets free to Outwit him. So I went for the lone Ant-Man in the room instead, also moving Spider-Woman nearby. A turn later, Ant-Man was done in.
Lenny had to regroup a bit, after that. Rampaging Hulk leapt to occupy the Vine Lenny had hid in the room while Gamora and Grimm moved to Charge range just around the corner. That turned out to be a mistake, not tying Superman down; I simply flew him back to my Castle wall, with Spider-Woman following again. Now Supes had clear LOF to Grimm and Gamora, forcing Lenny to move both or take an attack next round.
Got R. Hulk to waste his Meteorite on Spider-Woman while Superman Charged Gamora while she couldn’t use Protected for big damage. It landed her on Outwit, though, so I had to make sure Spider-Woman could keep the Deadliest Woman In The Universe Outwitted…a bit tough to do with Rampaging Hulk in her face! Double-teamed now by the unhittable Gamora (simply couldn’t roll that 7 I needed!) and the unlucky Grimm, Superman eventually beat down the orange fellow. A critmiss landed him on HSS just as time expired. 2-0.
FINAL ROUND vs. BRYCE, a 12-year-old who picked a team of Outwitters: Iron Man (Secret Invasion), Batman (Icons promo), Batman (Origin promo) and E Deathstroke (Cosmic Justice). He picked his beloved Junkyard but I stymied him a bit with Atlantis Rising, fielding the Vine and Accelerator again.
That was a bit more Outwit than Spider-Woman could handle at a time, so I had to be a little cautious. Byrce moved Iron Man and the Bats behind the elevated and Deathstroke in a bit of hindering. I needed to get rid of at least one source of Outwit, so I decided to go for Icons Batman, the biggest Outwit threat due to his ability to Leap/Climb away. Superman Charged and hit him…right BACK onto L/C and Outwit. Feh. But I had a contingency in Spider-Woman, who leapt over by herself to base and counter Iron Man’s Extremis power. Byrce’s counterattack with FCBD Batman failed, and Superman finished Icons Bats off.
Then, in a rather fiendish move, I pushed Spider-Woman to attack Iron Man (missed) then Vaulted where the Batman had been so she could counter both the remaining Batman and Iron Man’s defenses with her special adjacency-Outwit. But unfortunately, Superman critmissed an attack, that left Iron Man free to bump his damage up for a full-power repulsor blast for 5 non-reduced clicks! A followup with FCBD Batman left me near-dead. Fortunately, all Bryce’s easy followup rolls missed. WHEW!
His Close Combat Expertise countered, Superman needed to broke away for the Vine’s healing. He flew to it, leaving Spider-Woman alone to deal with Tony, who’d been knocked onto his Charge+Outwit clicks. She counter his Outwit, then pushed to hit him for a few more. Atlantis Rising slowed down Deathstroke and Batman considerably as Superman slowly healed. 
As the enemies closed in, I got Supes to HSS and abandoned the Vine, which Iron began using. Before he could get too healthy again, I HSS-pasted him onto his last click but didn’t think to Outwit his Regen, which gave him a good roll. Frantic to take out Iron Man, I did another HSS driveby but missed and had to settle for a KO of Batman. In the end, Supes and Spider-Woman got cornered by Iron Man and a still-full-health Deathstroke and the 12-year-old Bryce took those points to wipe me for first place!
WIN/LOSS: 2-1. This was an awesome game, for a number of reasons. 
1. both of us were on the verge of losing at any time. 
2. it validated my decision not to cheese up E-2 with the one feat he needed to be nigh-invincible against the kids, while remaining solidly competitive against the rest.
3. I was glad to see one of those kids win over us older folks fair and square, and I particularly like this kid. Bryce is a quick study and a great sport (both in spite of and because of his friendly trashtalking streak). Plus, he always plays that Iron Man, which endears him to my own inner-12-year-old who loves playing Iron Man.
Next report will star a team featuring a gorilla, a Nazi and an alien with a taste for superhero chess. See how the Time Stealers fared in HeroClix next time! Super Strength. 

I’d recently acquired him in a very easy trade from a fellow with an irrational hatred of the character and was itching to try him out. But I was leery of running a one-man-army with only Fortitude and a lone Telekinesis character in a 400-point build. It’d completely overwhelm and demoralize the newer players while the seasoned ones would be able to tear Big Blue apart, bit-by-bit. Conversely, running Supes with no defense against Outwit just to add a 2nd attacker is sheer suicide. Oh, what to do to make this chase piece work?

A: Add another chase piece.

3211887799_413d443e96If Outwit was the problem, I simply needed to add my own Outwit…perferably on a character that could copy Superman’s team ability to see through Stealth while remaining generally safe from the power itself. 

Spider-Woman (Secret Invasion) 79 + Vault 3

was the perfect solution. With her trait making her able to wildcard offense-oriented TAs like Superman’s, she’d be able to blunt enemies’ Outwit capabilities even in Stealth. Her Speed SP would make her well able to get around and stay hidden as well. And she’d be a capable 2nd fighter to take a little heat off Superman, too.

=399 points.

 

Round one vs. PAUL, who’d picked Blades (V Bron, U Elektra (Infinity Challenge), The Demon’s Head, LE Boon) Claws (Timber Wolf) and Fangs (Vampire Lackey, Captain Mako) as his chosen power. He chose the Crash Site but I Ordinary Day’d his Crosswinds. We both used Vines and Kinetic Accelerators. At first it looked like I’d have no problem beating him, but the presence of four Mystics on a seven-person team and the Shield Disruptor Paul put out there gave me some pause. I denied the first strike by Outwitting T. Wolf’s Charge on the Accelerator. Paul responded with T.Wolf flying in Charge range of both and both Elektra and Boon threatening Spider-Woman in particular. I retreated to take full advantage of Superman’s range edge, but took the Disruptor away with Spider-Woman first. 

Keeping The Demon’s Head’s Outwit in check with Spider-Woman (thanks to her ability to copy Superman Ally ability and thus see the stealthy fellow), I had her toss the Disruptor (destroying it) at Timber Wolf to put her on her 2nd click. Meanwhile, Superman got based by Boon and the battle was truly joined.

It becomes a bit of a blur, here. Superman dealt some hits, but I picked the non-Mystic targets when I could and thus didn’t use the free attack quite as often as I’d have liked. Spider-Woman held off the Vampire Lackey, Mako and Wolf by herself (a bit easier thanks to her SP Outwit) but she was KO’d trying to take on V Bron, the last player on Paul’s team to advance. Superman finally got Crossgen’d to his HSS clicks and began taking the other team out with extreme prejudice. Things got interesting when V Bron made a full Regen roll and Supes actually slipped to his Toughness clicks, forcing me to commandeer Paul’s Vine object and heal up a bit (lest I take a huge BCF hit or critmiss or something). In the end, I wiped his team but lost Spider-Woman. 1-0.

ROUND TWO vs. LENNY 

R Ant-Man, Rampaging Hulk+Fortitude, Gamora+Protected, Benjamin J. Grimm (Secret Invasion), all of whom have Charge. I picked the Castle and he OD’d my Wasteland. I put out the Accelerator and Generator/Dumpster (the Dumpsterator) while he used the Meteorite and Vine.

I parked my pair on the Castle wall and waited. And waited, as Lenny wisely stayed out of my range. Eventually I got a tad impatient and blasted away a wall, which gave Ant-Man room to move and hide in clear LOF to Superman. That forced me to move Spider-Woman off the wall to counter-Outwit Ant-Man. Lenny responded by bunching his fighters in the drawbridge area near the midpoint of the map, and Ant-Man inside the room on his side of the map. 

So now people were in range of Superman’s Charge, but it was a perilous choice. If I hit any one of the three, the other two (and probably the third as well) gang up on the Man of Steel, which could be fatal if Ant-Man gets free to Outwit him. So I went for the lone Ant-Man in the room instead, also moving Spider-Woman nearby. A turn later, Ant-Man was done in.

Lenny had to regroup a bit, after that. Rampaging Hulk leapt to occupy the Vine Lenny had hid in the room while Gamora and Grimm moved to Charge range just around the corner. That turned out to be a mistake, not tying Superman down; I simply flew him back to my Castle wall, with Spider-Woman following again. Now Supes had clear LOF to Grimm and Gamora, forcing Lenny to move both or take an attack next round.

 

Got R. Hulk to waste his Meteorite on Spider-Woman while Superman Charged Gamora while she couldn’t use Protected for big damage. It landed her on Outwit, though, so I had to make sure Spider-Woman could keep the Deadliest Woman In The Universe Outwitted…a bit tough to do with Rampaging Hulk in her face! Double-teamed now by the unhittable Gamora (simply couldn’t roll that 7 I needed!) and the unlucky Grimm, Superman eventually beat down the orange fellow. A critmiss landed him on HSS just as time expired. 2-0.

FINAL ROUND vs. BRYCE, a 12-year-old who picked a team of Outwitters: Iron Man (Secret Invasion), Batman (Icons promo), Batman (Origin promo) and E Deathstroke (Cosmic Justice). He picked his beloved Junkyard but I stymied him a bit with Atlantis Rising, fielding the Vine and Accelerator again.

That was a bit more Outwit than Spider-Woman could handle at a time, so I had to be a little cautious. Byrce moved Iron Man and the Bats behind the elevated and Deathstroke in a bit of hindering. I needed to get rid of at least one source of Outwit, so I decided to go for Icons Batman, the biggest Outwit threat due to his ability to Leap/Climb away. Superman Charged and hit him…right BACK onto L/C and Outwit. Feh. But I had a contingency in Spider-Woman, who leapt over by herself to base and counter Iron Man’s Extremis power. Byrce’s counterattack with FCBD Batman failed, and Superman finished Icons Bats off.

Then, in a rather fiendish move, I pushed Spider-Woman to attack Iron Man (missed) then Vaulted where the Batman had been so she could counter both the remaining Batman and Iron Man’s defenses with her special adjacency-Outwit. But unfortunately, Superman critmissed an attack, that left Iron Man free to bump his damage up for a full-power repulsor blast for 5 non-reduced clicks! A followup with FCBD Batman left me near-dead. Fortunately, all Bryce’s easy followup rolls missed. WHEW!

His Close Combat Expertise countered, Superman broke away for the Vine’s healing. He flew to it, leaving Spider-Woman alone to deal with Tony, who’d been knocked onto his Charge+Outwit clicks. She countered his Outwit, then pushed to hit him for a few more. Atlantis Rising slowed down Deathstroke and Batman considerably as Superman slowly healed. 

As the enemies closed in, I got Supes to HSS and abandoned the Vine, which Iron began using. Before he could get too healthy again, I HSS-pasted him onto his last click but didn’t think to Outwit his Regen, which gave him a good roll. Frantic to take out Iron Man, I did another HSS driveby but missed and had to settle for a KO of Batman. In the end, Supes and Spider-Woman got cornered by Iron Man and a still-full-health Deathstroke and the 12-year-old Bryce took those points to wipe me for first place!

WIN/LOSS: 2-1. This was an awesome game, for a number of reasons. 

1. both of us were on the verge of losing at any time. 

2. it validated my decision not to cheese up E-2 with the one feat he needed to be nigh-invincible against the kids, while remaining solidly competitive against the rest.

3. I was glad to see one of those kids win over us older folks fair and square, and I particularly like this kid. Bryce is a quick study and a great sport (both in spite of and because of his friendly trashtalking streak). Plus, he always plays that Iron Man, which endears him to my own inner-12-year-old who loves playing Iron Man.

 

Next report will star a team featuring a gorilla, a Nazi and an alien with a taste for superhero chess. See how the Time Stealers fared in HeroClix next time!

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I had intended to start a series on event dials with this post, but got heavily sidetracked by my job search, daily life and, of course, more HeroClix games. 

June 5, 2009

SevenSoldiersbanner

VS.

 

batman-symbol2

Frankenstein 98 + Opportunist 10
Klarion 76
Zatanna 72
Bulleteer 69 + Unstoppable 5
R Mister Miracle (Origin) 64 + Loner 5
SR Shining Knight 48 + Double-Time 5
U Guardian (Collateral Damage) 47
= 499 points

 

Batman (Arkham Asylum chase #99) 120 + Protected 8 + Opportunist 10
Batman (Arkham Asylum) 64
Nightwing 79 + Contingency Plan 12 + Takedown 6
Batman (Justice League) 75
Robin (Arkham Asylum) 66
Captain Gordon (Arkham Asylum) 50
= 490 points

Of course, he won the map roll (themed team bonus) and picked the Justice League Bank map. I picked the non-vault side and used the Kinetic Accelerator, Meteorite and Mass Absorber as my special objects. Lenny packed the Meteorite and Eleha’al Vine.

BBeyond taxied big Bat to office (so latter could freely build Opportunist tokens and throw down endless Smoke Clouds) while NW, Robin and OOTS Bats took positions on lobby and tellers’ desks. With Zatana I set Klarion to block LOF on the opposite end, careful to keep Klarion JUST outside Robin’s potential 7 range with his Tear Gas SP. Shining Knight brought Bulleteer to the KA right behind them. Miracle took Guardian to Frankenstein stayed in the starting area to build Opportunist tokens. 

Mr. Miracle and Klarion boosted Guardian’s speed and damage to Charge Batman off OOTS. I then moved Shining Knight to protect Guardian, but a  bad placement error got SKnight incapped by Nightwing for 1, then Meteorite’d by Batman Beyond for 1st KO. :(

Klarion got a HUGE SSenses to dodge BatBeyond’s crithit for 5 (base 3 + self-Perplex damage + crit bonus). OOTS Bats broke from Guardian and ran to the Vine. Meanwhile, I finally got Frankenstein on the move, picking up the Mass Absorber on the way.

Bulleteer got a good KA boost to try to one-shot Gordon with the Meteorite, but missed. To help protect her from a potentially crippling Charge+Flurry from big Batman, I plunked Miracle in the way, hoping his Loner-juiced DV would help him live through such an assault. Out in the lobby, Batman beyond took a boosted hit from Guardian but got knocked back onto hindering terrain and safe from a followup hit.

Big Batman took his shot at Miracle, who Super Sensed the first nearly-guaranteed (thanks to 5 Opportunist tokens) Flurry hit attack but not the second. 

Finally, I had big Bats exactly where I wanted him.

Mr. Miracle used Willpower to Leap/Climb away with Bulleteer in tow, clearing a narrow line of fire for Frankenstein’s successful Indomitable Running Shot, which forced Lenny to burn Bats’ Protected. A followup pushing Charge with Guardian dealt actual damage.

A combo attack of Robin and OOTS Batman finished Guardian off, and both Gordon and Batbeyond retreated to the office behind the Bats. I taxied Klarion in position to attack him, but Nightwing incapped the witchboy and Gordon used Summon the Bat to jank big Batman well out of harm’s way.

Zatanna taxied Klarion in pursuit of the Arkham set Batmen while Bulleteer attacked OOTS Batman for another few clicks. Zatanna suffered the wrath of big Batman to become a 3rd KO, and again he got Summoned out of harm’s way.

Frankenstein had momentarily tied up Nightwing to protect Bulleteer from being shot up or Incapped from behind. But now that Bulleteer was finished with the finally-KO’d OOTS Batman, Frank was failing breakaway after breakaway (causing big problems in the other room, as Klarion and Miracle were ill-equipped to handle big Batman and the rest). Meanwhile, Robin had moved to Perplex Nightwing’s damage for hit after hit, pinging Frankenstein bit by bit. Finally, as Bulleteer fell at last, I swung for the hills against Nightwing while I still had Opportunist tokens to burn and later rolled well on a Blades roll. That dealt with the Contingency Plan problem and most of NW’s life. 

Eventually it came down to just Frank and Miracle against Nightwing and Robin. Frankenstein got taken down, and Miracle chased down the last-click ‘Wing. Unfortunately, this left Miracle on HIS last click…no match for the near-full AA Robin.

But…WOW. What a match! I really expected to get fairly rocked and socked against this powerful Bat-team but actually took it to the distance. Seven Soldiers really ARE better than they look.

 

Next week, look for reports on the Time Stealers and how I played Earth-2 Superman without Fortitude in a 400-point build.