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Number 8 is:

Green Lantern (Blackest Night #004)

Why he’s a top piece:

  • His opening slot of the grey powers of Running Shot, Telekinesis, Invulnerability and Leadership are all great for both him individually and for the team.
  • Good AV until final click.
  • “Green Willpower” SP makes him pretty push-friendly.

Why he’s not higher on the list:

  • He’s VERY soft down the dial if he falls off his first two clicks.
  • There are better Hal Jordans for the points, too.

If you can protect that top dial, though, BN Hal can indeed endure through blackest night. He’s the #8 best GL.

_______________________

The #7 GLC fig is:

Tomar Re (Green Lantern Corps #007)

He makes the list because:

  • He’s got the longest range of all Lanterns. 12 range plus…
  • …Perplex. And Running Shot. That gives him a potential unaided “swing” of a whopping 18 squares.
  • Great defense too at 18 + Toughness.
  • His “Scientist” keyword is quite versatile.
  • A push only increases his ranged defense to 17+ESD and gives him Enhancement for the pals he may be carrying with his GLC TA.

He’d be higher on the list if not for:

  • a sharp dropoff in stats and powers beyond his first clicks.

That long, long range for such economic price makes the original Tomar Re the #7 GL in the game.

Be back tomorrow  when the list hits the midpoint!

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Number 10 is:

Ch’p (Green Lantern Corps #002 )

Why he’s a top piece:

  • I’ll just quote from my old review from 2006, the year of his debut:
  • “Do you hear that? That squeaking, chattering sound? It’s the chipmunk-like voice of Ch’p here saying: ‘Push me. PUSH MEEEE!’

    Ch’p is made to be played on his 2nd click as one mother of a GL tank, able to lend his 18 defense to a full ring of carried figures.     Mid-dial he goes into alien squirrel battle rage when he gains RCE and a 10 attack value. His dial’s a bit short, but by the time the enemy digs through to hit him, the game’s likely over.”
  • In addition to his 18 Defend, on the same clicks he bears Running Shot and 3 damage, enabling him to be offensive as well. This makes him the best GL tank figure for the points by FAR.

Why he’s not higher on the list:

  • Short dial, that’s made even shorter by the necessity of pushing to click #2.
  • In fact, he’s ALL ABOUT that single click. Once off it, he’s mostly roadkill.
  • Just an OK fighter at best.

Still, this space critter packs enough utility to be one of the best GLs to build a team around, and thus makes the list.
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The #9 ?

TIE: Experienced Green Lantern (Unleashed #083) and Green Lantern (Green Lantern Fast Forces #001)

They make the list because:

  • Both can use Willpower to either TK pals into the fight or move themselves in range one turn and then push freely on the next to unleash Ranged Combat Expert hell upon a target.
  • Both bear a nice starting DV of 18.

They tie because:

  • While the newer GL is far tougher with better numbers down the line, the Unleashed GL is more combat-ready with Running Shot instead of Phasing and 10 range instead of 8 for the exact same price of 125 points. Neither are unnecessarily bloated with the costly GL TA, either.

They’d be higher on the list if not for:

  • Middling AV numbers down the line and no damage reducers on the older piece;
  • Lack of moving attack on the first click holds the FF GL back.

Nevertheless, when you’re looking for a budget GL that can deal premium effect on the game, these are your guys.

Be back tomorrow for the 8th and 7th on the list! Hint: they both wear green and black. 😉

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So the Green Lantern film is coming in a few weeks, and, more importantly, we just got a TRUCKLOAD of brand-new Corps members in ‘Clix. Heroclixin’ asks: what are the Top Ten Green Lantern Corps in the game?

First, some criteria:

  • We’re talking Green Lantern CORPS, not just characters named Green Lantern…they need to have the keyword and be able to use the ATA. (Sorry, Alan Scott. You may have been first, but for the most part you’re out.)

"Heroclixin' is AGEIST!"

  • I’m also only counting actual Green Lanterns. Sinestro from Crisis may have the keyword, but he’s dressed in his Sinestro Corps colors, using his Sinestro Corps “fear” powers, and quoting his Sinestro Corps oath (though his Legacy Rookie and LE still count). This rules out most versions of Ganthet and Guardian of the Universe as well.

"I didn't want to be in your stupid list anyway."

  • No duos. Though Flash, Green Arrow and Batman have all used a GL ring for a minute or ten, they ain’t Green Lanterns. (And the less said about Big Barda and Mister Miracle, the better. Blech.)

That still leaves about 55 figs to choose from. Be here Monday for numbers ten and nine of the Top Ten GLC figs in HeroClix.

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Continuing the photographic record of Super-Strength characters who can hold their own object tokens, today we’re looking at the latest super-strong figure in the game: Kilowog!

It takes some slight bending of the token (not enough to crease it, though).

 

Here's a rear view. See how it fits in both hands?

You’ve probably noticed a focus on Green Lanterns this week. It continues with my regular end-of-month Top Ten feature. Be here tomorrow for the intro to the Top Ten Green Lantern Corps figures in HeroClix!

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

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

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

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

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

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Continuing the photographic record of Super-Strength characters who can hold their own object tokens, today we’re looking at the greatest of the Green Lantern Corps, Hal Jordan:

“Wait!” you say. “He doesn’t have Super Strength!!” And you’d be right. But he does have this nifty little Special Power:

“ONE-MAN JUSTICE LEAGUE: Once during your turn, as a free action, you may choose a standard attack power that no other character on you force can use. Hal Jordan can use that power until the beginning of your next turn.”

Super Strength is a standard attack power, so Hal can choose it, grab an object on the go, then hold until his next turn…when he’ll immediately drop it.

Hey, I never said he could hold it long!

Be back Thursday for another Green Lantern-centric edition of Token Totin’!

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Decades ago, as a wee boy, I watched “Battle of the Planets” every day at the Kinder-Care. To say they left an impression is a bit of an understatement. To this day, once every few years, I get Gatchaman fever.

Science Ninja Team GATCHAMAN: Ken the Eagle, Ryu the Owl, Jinpei the Swallow, Jun the Swan, and Joe the Condor. (Or, if you prefer: Mark, Tiny, Keyop, Princess and Jason: G-FORCE!)

Last year, after designing some dream dials for the characters, I decided to mod an actual Gatchaman HeroClix figure.

Required powers:

  • Stealth. Despite the bright colors, these Science Ninjas are masters of sneakin’ around.
  • Leap/Climb or something like it. They don’t get tied up easily.
  • High AV. Every one of them is an expert fighter who can take down a dozen Galactor agents with ease.
  • Range…but not too much of it.
  • Some sort of moving attack ability. They’re all great at fighting on the move.

I decided that OOTS Batman was the best choice.

His SP in particular very much approximates Gatchaman’s ability to come and go and attack with ease. Outwit isn’t a stretch, either; they’re Science Ninjas well-equipped with high technology.

For the sculpt, I chose another member of the Bat-fam: Robin (Arkham Asylum).

Here’s what I did to make the mod:

  • Cut deeper points on his cape.
  • Filed down costume details.
  • Repainted entire fig in white, red blue and yellow (’cause naturally, Ken the Eagle is the first one to make).
  • Encased head in a globe of E-6000 glue to make helmet.
  • Cut fig off roof detail.
  • Tried cutting blue translucent plastic to create glass “bill” visor. Didn’t work.
  • Tried this several times over a period of months. STILL didn’t work.
  • Added and sculpted some more E-6000 glue to make visor. Took a few tries.
  • Painted visor in translucent blue.
  • Painted helmet details.
  • Removed OOTS Batman from his dial; glued on newly-made Gatchaman.

Completed, finally, in late-spring 2011…just in time for that Batman figure to be retired. :)

For a while, this was expected to be the last of my custom mods. But just as I completed it, I also did another repaint of a costume I’ve long wanted in clix. Be here next time to see how wonderful (?) it is.

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"They fight...and fight...and fight and fight and fight...fight fight fight, fight fight fight..."

My pal Lenny recently challenged me to another of our long-running clix duels, in which he picks a favorite theme to pit against one of mine. The last one we did was his Hulks versus my Iron Men. We’ve also done his Guardians of the Galaxy against my Inhumans, his JLA and my Avengers, and — three times — Asgardians against enemies of Asgard.

I’ve won every single contest so far, despite his cheesing it up a bit with feats while I tend to go pretty minimalist with the cardboard. Somehow his must-hit dice rolls always crap out while mine are toasty.

He’s not giving up, though. Just the other day, he sent me this note:

“Hear ye Loki and Surtur,

Though ye were indeed victorious against us and the brave Warriors of Asgard on the battlefield in times past, we are no cowards to turn tail and run when the enemy be formidable or beaten dogs to meekly admit the war is lost when one battle goes against us. This day I do once more throw down the gauntlet and challenge thee to battle again on the Rainbow Bridge of Asgard, Thee and all Thine allies against The All-Father Odin, Thor Odinson & all the Warriors of Asgard. If thou dost accept my challenge, thou hadst better be prepared to fight for thy very life. This time the magic of the dice will not avail thee, nor will all thy wiles and trickery. Even the combined might of all the foes of Asgard and the Evil Power of Surtur the Fire Giant will not prevail. This time, mark my words, THERE WILL BE A RECKONING! FOR ODIN! FOR HONOR! FOR GLORY! FOR ASGAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRD!

signed:
Thor Odinson“

Not to be outdone, I wrote him an in-character reply:

“Dear Brother:

It is with regret that I most likely say thee nay to thine challenge, as our ranks art depleted somewhat.

Hela hath departed for realms unknown (in return for some small lucre); loath though I am to admit it, she was central to our successes in the past.

Additionally, Kurse hath retired from the organization. Fenris Wolf hath been put down to sleep. Pluto, gone to Hades. Seth, to wherever he cometh from.

Simply put: I hath no staff. Good help is so hard to find. Perhaps if I had some aid from a Frost Giant or two…but no, the Norns hath not been so kind as to supply me with my kin.

But, brother. It wounds me to detect a note of bitterness in your missive…that you suggest that we won by trickery or enchanted dice. As if moi would ever stoop to such base and craven means! Such jealousy doth not become thee, brother.

However, I do entirely accept your statement that my wiles led to our victory; in that, you speak true. Loki shall ever be your better in matters of the mind, Thor. 

Sincerely:
Loki Laufeyson

P.S. Perhaps we can yet come to an arrangement despite my thin ranks. I do so love humbling the proud Odinson.”

This is what Heroclix is all about…the fun. What sort of friendly trash-talking do you do? Post your comments…but keep it clean!

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Continuing the photographic record of Super-Strength characters who can hold their own object tokens, today we’re looking at the Gorillas of DC 75:

Naturally, this also works for Grodd from the same set. (Not Solovar, though…that poindexter has too many mental powers and no Super Strength.)

Be back next Tuesday for another edition of Token Totin’!