by ·0 Comments

A few weeks ago, WizKids unveiled a pair of convention exclusive figures to be made available at GenCon, the collectible gaming industry’s biggest summer convention. One was a new version of Wonder Woman, in her current (and kinda cruddy) new costume:

But darn if the actual miniature doesn’t look great:

…and it’s got a dial worthy of the character to boot. This is my #1 wanted HeroClix figure this year…maybe EVER. (It’s strange, because I’m not especially a WW fan.)

Anyhow, it got me thinking about Wonder Woman, the many variations her uniform’s gone through across the decades and how many have appeared in HeroClix, and, most importantly, how awesome it’d be to play ALL of them at once:

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.

Each WW is wearing a different outfit she’s worn*. Hence, no Icons, Cosmic Justice or DC 75th Anniversary uncommon since the classic armored swimsuit’s well-represented in the Arkham Asylum version (whom I call “Brickhouse” WW).

I brought this team to a 1200-point no-feat Golden Age game in which only outdoor maps could be chosen. I knew I’d potentially have colossal problems with enemy range using this largely close-combat oriented team, but I figured to overcome that problem with White Lantern WW’s Telekinesis, the Accelerator, and WW-on-a-horse’s ability to use HSS until I could get the Amazons into close quarters.

I didn’t realize this event was intended to encourage actual colossals. But I suppose I should have guessed.

Did the team overperform against incredible odds? Or did it meet the fate of NBC’s would-be Wonder Woman TV series and just fail? Find out in this space…next week!

* OK, so technically, the Legacy outfit was her mother’s. But you know they shared clothes all the time. :)

by ·0 Comments

Continuing the photographic record of Super-Strength characters who can hold their own object tokens, today we’re looking at the “star” of last Friday’s joke post, Superman:

He might have the saddest, most boring sculpt in the game, but at least he can hold an object just fine.

Be back Thursday for another edition of Token Totin’!

by ·0 Comments

V Nova (Supernova)

This dial best represents Richard Rider just prior to the events of Annihilation…right down to the mid-dial Hypersonic Speed. But it’s woefully underpowered for Nova Prime.

Outfit's wrong, too.

Fortunately, there’s a solution. Similar to my earlier Black Widow custom, where I took a Gambit dial to better represent her powers, I used Hammer of Thor’s Air-Walker to sub as Nova powered by the full Nova Force:

  • He’s got Power Cosmic to signify his elevated power levels;
  • He’s Hypersonic from the get-go and further down the dial, yet his opening Super Senses well-represents his less-than-full command of his new abilities. Indeed, ALL his powers fit his profile. And, most of all;
  • …he still has the Nova Corps keyword!

Not a bad stand-in! And, unlike the earlier Black Widow mod, having the right keyword ensures that I’ll actually use him.

Now I just needed to make the look fit the dial. Here’s what I did:

  • I already took Air-Walker off the dial and added a flight stand to the dial.
  • Painted entire figure in blue modelers’ paint.
  • Used E-6000 hobby glue to add on armor plating details.
  • Painted on gold enamel for said elements.
  • Painted in some final details (chiefly the white glowing chest emblems).

Completed mid- 2010.

Next: two Bat-allies become a completely urelated and un-clixed character.

by ·0 Comments

Although I usually devote Fridays to  F.U.N. teams or F.U.N. character reviews, I’m trying out a different feature this week: the Friday Funny!

After all, HeroClix is a very amusing game if you don’t take winning and losing so stinking seriously.

Case in point: Some months ago, various HCRealms members did an amusing thread featuring the infamously boring, static and just plain bad Superman sculpt from DC 75th Anniversary:

I call 'im "Muscle-Suit" Superman.

Anyway, here was my contribution.

...Even the alternative Intelligent Design theory can't explain this one.

by ·0 Comments

The “Thor” film is good…good enough to easily carry its share of the Marvel Studios load to make Avengers work next year. Fittingly, the comic god of thunder can tote his tokens in HeroClix as well, leading to this all-Thor edition of Token Totin’…on his day, no less (as Thursday is a corruption of Thor’s Day). Starting with the Hammer of Thor fig:

Fit it behind his right helmet wing and his hammer arm for best results.

It’s a bit tenuous. You may have to try a few spots before you find the one that works with the way your particular HoT Thor is bent.

The oft-feuding brothers Thor & Loki work together to tote the token:

Wedges easily between Thor's cape and right knee.

And there’s absolutely no shortage of ways for Thor’s Mighty Chariot to haul objects.

Back to normal, non-duo figures. Supernova Thor has an easier time of it than his HoT successor:

Also in his armored 286-point iteration:

And though I again don’t have the actual piece, this is one I’ve tested and mocked up in Photoshop…Clobberin’ Time Thor:

But…wait. Wasn’t there one more Thor sculpt? Yeah…

…but he’s devoid of actual Super Strength. (‘Cause he’s not really Thor. Not really.)

by ·0 Comments

From Batman, Inc. #1.

I’m not a huge Batman fan, whether in comics or clix. But there’s no denying he’s a great character, no matter who’s wearing the cowl…there’s a reason he endures even after celebrating his 75th anniversary just last week.

So when mad genius comics writer Grant Morrison created “Batman, Inc.” with Bruce Wayne’s public revelation that he’d been bankrolling Batman for years, and then followed it with a team-up between Bruce Wayne Batman and Catwoman in that first issue as well, this Modern Age team quickly formed itself:

Batman and Catwoman (The Brave and the Bold) 142
Batman (DC 75th Anniversary #031) 77
Robin (The Brave and the Bold) 43
Alfred (Batman Alpha) 30 
+ Indigo Lantern 5
+ Dynamostat 0
+ Kinetic Accelerator 0
= 297 points. 

FIRST TEAM FACED: Chris’s Martial Artists led by Bullseye (Web of Spider-Man) + Thunderbolts ATA, Nightcrawler (Web of Spider-Man), Hand Ninja (Hammer of Thor), and Howard the Duck on my choice of the Castle map, picked more for fun than for effectiveness. 

TURNING POINTS

  • I thoroughly forgot to use the Catwoman trait to “steal” Chris’s Yellow Lantern special object. Oops. But for his part, Chris opted to use Mystics instead of the Stealth-busting Ultimates team ability.
  •  My map choice turned out well anyway, as my placement of the Dynamostat left Nightcrawler no way to reach BatCats — or even to place his carried Hand Ninja pal next to the duo.
  • Finally, as repeated Smoke Cloud Maneuvers got Batwing and Robin slowly closer to the action, Chris moved Nighty and Bullseye within range of Batman & Catwoman’s alpha strike. And though it failed, BatCats could counter Bullseye’s Running Shot to stay safely behind hindering terrain until the others could back them up.
  • Feeling the pressure, Chris pushed Nighty to try to hit and reposition BatCats. He failed. By then, both Batwing and Robin were in fighting position to overwhelm the Martial Artists completely, losing only Robin. 

===

LAST MATCH was against Brian’s Future theme of Kid Zoom, Trevor Fitzroy, Karate Kid and Ahab on his choice of a 3rd-party map.

TURNING POINTS

  • AGAIN forgot to use Catwoman’s trait, robbing myself of positioning opportunities thanks to Brian’s Dynamostat placement. Lesson Learned: Give all character cards a quick readthrough before the first round of play begins.
  • Got first shot on Karate Kid, ending his threat before it’d begun.
  • Fitzory incredibly failed to hit Alfred and was a sitting duck for a huge counterattack by the others. His KO pretty much sealed the win for the Gotham crowd, as my Dynamostat kept BatCats safe from Ahab more than long enough to take him down a peg. Didn’t lose any characters this time.

MVP: Batman & Catwoman are a really strong duo…they could almost take on these teams themselves, given the right die rolls. But the presence of Robin as ever-ready tie-up and Batman as a very strong secondary help BatCats shoulder the load. Finally, there’s Alfred’s Support as the back-up plan should things go wrong (as they did in the 2nd game when Batwing crit-misses and took a hit, losing Charge).

I will play Batman, Inc. again in Modern Age, as all the characters remain legal when Avengers, Justice League, Mutations & Monsters, and Crisis all retire May 15. (I’ll have to find a different special object than the Dynamostat, though!)

by ·0 Comments

Continuing the photographic record of Super-Strength characters who can hold their own object tokens, today we’re looking at…um…(looking through my photos file) bashful Benjamin J. Grimm:

See how the token fits between his fingers, there? NICE. Be back Thursday for a special edition of Token Totin’!

by ·0 Comments

Whoa, it’s been WAY too long since I did one of these. Part of the reason is that I’m running out of mods to write about. But enough with the procrastination. Time to wrap up this, my first regular feature, by early June.

AIR-WALKER (Hammer of Thor)

There’s nothing that needed fixing on this sculpt. But this dial, though? I had another use for it. However, I didn’t want to waste this piece needlessly, so I came up with a plan to have my cake and eat it too:

  • Cut the entire sculpt free from the dial.
  • Glued an old-style flight stand to the dial in the sculpt’s place.
  • Cut and filed the clear “flight trail” base of the sculpt into a rudimentary flight peg.

Now I had a dial I could swap sculpts with: this original and another character’s who just so happens to thoroughly fit the dial as well. We’ll see him next week.

by ·0 Comments

First off, an apology to readers: I thought I’d scheduled the battle report I promised last time just in case I did get entirely sidetracked like I suspected I might. You’ll see that article next Wednesday…guaranteed.

Although this probably isn’t news to most of my readers who frequent both Heroclixin’ and HCRealms: yours truly was voted the winner of the HCRealms T-shirt design contest late last summer, with this design and slogan:

Really, though, it was the slogan that people loved more than the design, which stings me a bit, being a professional graphic designer. (But I’m also a professional writer, so it balances out.) Indeed, some folks actively hated the design, making the contest sponsor a little uncertain what direction to go in.

The irony is that I’d only done the orange version on a whim and suggestion by a voter. Here’s the actual original design that somehow got lost or overlooked in the submissions:

Better, but the same issues remain, I think. I did a final revision that addressed my problems with the original design:

But the sponsor felt that even this didn’t quite scream “buy me” enough, and the use of the silhouetted figures treaded too closely to copyright infringement for his comfort. So he chose to go with another designer’s take on the same idea, and this was the result:

Yes. I approve.

Even though I get a free shirt as winner, I’m buying this, too. :)  If my own design hadn’t won, I’d intended to print one for myself. Now, I don’t think I’d bother.

Go to the poll at www.hcrealms.com and register your preferred shirt size and buy one or more!

————————

OK. As I write this, the midnight showing of “Thor” is a few scant hours away. Depending on how well I like the film, I might be trying out some Asgard-themed teams in the near future. We’ll see.

by ·0 Comments

Been a little while since I last contributed to this photojournal of which Super-Strong characters’ sculpts can hold a standard object token. Today, it’s that onetime killer of Superman himself:

DOOMSDAY (DC 75th Anniversary)

Fits easily — if a bit loosely — between his back and the "flag."

Be back for Thursday’s edition. But before that, come back tomorrow for a new battle report.