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I work evenings, meaning I get home around midnight. Being a night person, I rarely go straight to bed. More often I’ll stay up watching a film or surfing the web or even working on this blog.

But last week, I decided to play a big ol’ solo game of HeroClix to flush the rest of the unplayed figures out of my tackle box. It was straight heroes versus villains:

GOOD
Thor [Thor The Dark World 019] 400
Iron Man and Iron Patriot 400*
Odin [Fear Itself] 350
Cherno Alpha [Pacific Rim] 325
Crimson Typhoon [Pacific Rim] 300
Coyote Tango [Pacific Rim] 250
Gipsy Danger [Pacific Rim] 225
Superman [Man of Steel 100] 200
Heimdall [Thor The Dark World] 175
Dr. Strange [Fear Itself] 145
Iron Man [Invincible Iron Man 201] 110
Red Robin [Teen Titans 018] 101
Batman [Batman TV] 100
Red Robin [Teen Titans 201] 98
Red Robin [Batman 009] 80
Robin [Batman TV] 50
Dwarf [Fear Itself] 16 x 2
Air Force Airman [Fear Itself] 10 x 4
Navy Seaman [Fear Itself] 8 x 4
Army Private [Fear Itself] 8 x 4
Thug [Infinity Challenge] 6 …doing community service
+ Generator
+ Com Dish
= 3683 points (but I thought it was within the limit because I’d misread Cherno Alpha’s full cost as 225. As it would turn out, it wasn’t an advantage because…well, you’ll see).

versus

BAD
Slattern [Pacific Rim] 600
Leatherback [Pacific Rim] 450
Raiju [Pacific Rim] 400
Scunner [Pacific Rim] 400
Malekith [Thor The Dark World 004] 350
General Zod [Legacy] 236
Angrir [Fear Itself] 235
Skirn [Fear Itself] 150
Hobgoblin [Amazing Spider-Man 041a] 150
Dreadnought [Invincible Iron Man 204] 75
Skadi’s Warbot [Fear Itself] 30
Dagorland Orc [Fellowship of the Ring] 16 x 2
Warbot Flamethrower [Fear Itself] 15 x 6
Warbot Machine Gun [Fear Itself] 15 x 6
Warbot Rocket [Fear Itself] 15 x 6
Mary Jane Watson [Infinity Challenge] 5
+ Dumpster
+ Tank Turret 2
= 3598 points.

The match was played on Daerave’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-inspired map. Lots of indoor blocking terrain surrounded by walls, with a big area of elevated* in the main room. I thought the villains would be outmaneuvered and out-actioned by the more numerous and mobile heroes, but the sheer amount of Mystics/Kaiju TA characters served as a check to that.

Because nearly all these pieces were being fielded and, for the most part, faced for the first time, misplays were rampant. In fact, it’s safe to say I had a mental crit fail with almost every one of them.

BY PIECE:
Thor [Thor The Dark World 019]: This was the biggest fail I made. Tired of the hesitation on both sides — because of the sure knowledge that whoever made and missed the first strike would get ganged up on next turn — Thor made a bold move that might’ve worked HAD I THOUGHT TO USE HIS SPECIAL POWER, “CALL DOWN THE LIGHTNING:” Give Thor a ranged combat action and he can use Improved Targeting: Ignores Characters for this action. The area of effect for this ranged attack is any one square within range and line of fire and each square adjacent to it. A hit character occupying the chosen square is dealt Thor’s printed damage value. Other hit characters are dealt Thor’s printed damage -1.
That would have dealt with the Mary Jane pog that would cause trouble later even though the attack on Zod missed. CRIT FAIL. And just like that, by the end of next round, heroes were 400 points down.

Odin: He’d backed his son up, scoring a needed hit against Malekith after being TK’d forward by his so-empowered minions. But he was the next victim of the swarm that took out Thor.

Hobgoblin: His Leadership was key at times, and he was a good taxi for Skirn. CRIT FAIL: I forgot his Shape Change; it may have cost him. But he was still worth every point and then some on this squad.

Skirn: didn’t last long against the swarm she tied up for a turn or two. But keeping heat off the kaiju was worth it. CRIT FAIL: Didn’t remember her hammer drop, to bring a revert piece, or to use her Worthy-keyword-based powers at all.

Nul: One of those Worthy. CRIT FAIL: I wasted many early rounds not using his free-action move trait. But I eventually caught on to it and used it to devastating effect, especially the round he took the beginning of turn to shift up to Dr. Strange, then Poison him off Super Senses to make for a one-action KO, “Mighty Revert” click be damned.

Dr. Strange: In desperation to get more and much-needed offense going, I got too close to the crowded action, allowing for the above Nul maneuver.

Heimdall was the third hero to fall with his lords Odin and Thor. His defenses were no good against Malekith.

Malekith: Absolutely the MVP of the villains team. His ability to hit and nix defense powers forced the heroes to fall much faster than they should have. Add to that his Prob Control and you have a fig as deadly on click #5 — where he remained nearly all game — as #1. CRIT FAIL: Non-use of Perplex. But it was too late to even NEED IT.

Cherno Alpha: Couldn’t roll higher than 5 on clutch attempts. In Soviet Russia, is MVP, but…

Crimson Typhoon: CRIT FAIL — I overlooked its ability to use Giant Reach. Might’ve avoided Malekith’s LOF.

Gipsy Danger: CRIT FAIL — Blades roll. Had a superb shot on an Outwitted kaiju and only mustered a measly 2 damage. Lesson Learned: Don’t ever use that power on click #1. Just settle for the 5 damage.

All the Kaiju: SOOO beast, despite my CRIT FAIL: the game was almost completely done before I remembered they could use Giant Reach. Not that they needed it. The Poison was reaping dividends by itself.

Red Robin 201: Took a shot to get rid of Skadi’s Warbot before she could further harm Odin or Heimdall, but failed and was soon overmatched by Leatherback.

Red Robin 018: Spent far too much of the game in Stealth yet unable to contribute due to lack of LOF and pals to help with Leadership. Positioning CRIT FAIL.

Red Robin 009: See Red Robin 018.

New Mutants: Perhaps the most successful heroes piece of the game despite the new team base rules. Took forever to get into the fight, but the youngsters did a fair amount of embarrassing deep into the affray, especially when they Charged a bunch of horde stacks on elevated terrain. Sunspot was the Solo Adventurer and he scored some KO points himself.

General Zod only rolled poorly. Being able to use Superman Enemy was key, of course. He lasted to the end of the game.

Superman: A positioning CRIT FAIL had him too far away to back up allies at the needful moment (or so I thought — see the next listing) and then he goes and misses his only attack roll. He did NOT last to the end of the game.

Batman: His defense SP served as a good deterrent against Kaiju attacks. But perhaps I’d have focused more on him if I hadn’t made a huge CRIT FAIL in never, ever using his Outwit or Perplex. The heroes needed both — especially Supes.

Angrir: My only CRIT FAIL with ensorcelled Thing was a failure to remember to use Steal Energy on an early successful hit. No big whoop.

Police Deputy: Positioning CRIT FAIL. Could never get them next to shooters without being tied up themselves. The were quietly Poisoned to death.

Similarly, the Army Privates and Airman were matched against other stacks or kaiju, making their M powers nigh-useless. The only one worth anything was the stack of Navy Seamen — Enhancement helped the New Mutants gain traction in the late game and they even got a penetrating hit on a reborn Slattern near game’s end . But again, positioning was a problem, as the sailors’ speed is a pretty poor 6.

Iron Man and War Machine: The duo hung in the back, unable to get into the fight once Odin’s TK-granting SP was gone. They’d made a dent in the game — and taken a few — when I belatedly realized my biggest CRIT FAIL of the whole shebang: I’d been running them at 300 points instead of 400, essentially costing myself that one extra attacker I’d been needing all night. ARGH. I’d have happily dropped any one of the Red Robins to get more Hypersonic Speed on the team. At least it made my accidentally overbuilt Heroes team actually legal.

And finally, my other huge CRIT FAIL of the game: That area of elevated terrain I played the whole game around turned out, upon closer inspection, not to be elevated at all. I guess the map predated elevation numbers, and the mapmaker didn’t draw the red line correctly. But that zone is supposed to be grounded while the REST of the map is actually elevated.

Regardless of all the mess-ups, I had fun trying all these clix out across a couple of nights. And it cleared out the never-played box just in time for it to take in brand-new figs from Arkham Origins and Invincible Iron Man and Avengers vs X-Men. And so the cycle begins again…!

 

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Continuing this photographic record of figures hefting objects, this time winding down a multi-week look at figs from the Wolverine and the X-Men full set. Here’s that paragon of England, Captain Britain [Wolverine + The X-Men 068]:

Under the arm, neatly.

Here’s that ultra powerful boy from the Imperial Guard, Smasher [Wolverine + The X-Men 036] :

 

I had to use the SwitchClix part to grab this older, thinner object. I don’t think it’d work with the thicker ones.

Some don’t have Super Strength full time, such as  Warlock (Wolverine and The X-Men 046):

The shapeshifting alien holds it between his arm and left knee even though he can only pick the power for his turn. Similarly, Hope Summers wins a spot on the Token Totin’ roster with her power to mimic adjacent allies’ powers:

Her cape and left arm make for a great hold.

Finally, that cute couple from the X-Men, Colossus and Kitty Pryde [WATX 101]:

YAY TEAMWORK!!!!

_____

WATX is well on the way to being fully documented. Hopefully the next one will be the last installment.

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Continuing this photographic record of figures hefting objects, here’s the final looks at Fear Itself. Behold the Asgardian All-Father, Odin [Fear Itself]:

The cape and the helmet’s ram horn makes a nice spot for any object to fit when you’ve used his special power to gain him Super Strength.

Another hero of the event is Captain America:

He can barely hold it as shown.

The last SSe ig of Fear Itself is the last LE, Nul [Fear Itself 106]:

This one looks better than it actually works. It’s got to be balanced just so in three-point fashion on his back and tail. It does work, though.

____

And that concludes the Fear Itself edition. After a brief final look at Wolverine + the X-Men, Token Totin’ will dive into the heavy metal set of Invincible Iron Man.

Have F.U.N. Heroclixin!’

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In the wake of my hard drive crash this summer, it’s been a bit of a challenge to get these done — I lost the templates AND the software to do them, and a new computer is well outside the budget for the forseeable. But I have managed to recreate the wheel somewhat and so present a checklist for the new Iron Man and more!

IIMPOCKETCHECKLIST

Visit the Downloads page for more newly posted checklists from 2013’s releases.

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Continuing this photographic record of figures hefting objects, this time picking up a multi-week look at figs from the Wolverine and the X-Men full set. As proof that great things sometimes come in small packages Heroclixin’ presents Sunspot (Wolverine and The X-Men 018):

Well, I did write “sometimes.” Sunspot just lamely leans the token on his chest.

Here’s the more impressive-looking and gripping and appropriately-named-for-this-feature Strong Guy [Wolverine + The X-Men 012]:

Wedge it upright in the crook of his arm as shown. It’s not a great hold but it’ll serve.

Strong Guy had a crush on our next model, the magnificent M :

Monet can just barely hold the newer, thicker objects between her head and left arm as seen in the first photo, while thinner ones can fit a bit more securely in the gap between her right leg and swoosh.

She’s not the only multi-hold female of the set.

Rogue [WATX 064] holds ’em high by her hands and low by her hair.

Another former member of the X-Men Blue team makes the list: Jubilee [047b]:

The little vamp’s got a little grip on this thick token.

Speaking of hussies, this girl gone wild-mutations can keep hold of her tokens better than her top:

Husk [WATX 027]  holds both sizes of tokens btween her left wrist and the torn fabric of her costume.

_____

WATX is well on the way to being fully documented. Hopefully next Tuesday’s will be the last installment.

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Continuing this photographic record of figures hefting objects, let’s take some final looks at Fear Itself, like the Worthy one below, Mokk [Fear Itself]:

He holds his token well as shown.

Here’s an alternate hold that works:

 

Another Worthy fella is Greithoth:

The chain forms a nice lil’ pocket with his arms to hold a token.

____

Future editions of Token Totin’ Thursday will highlight more Fear Itself until it’s all shown….probably like next week or so.

Have F.U.N. Heroclixin!’

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The scenario: 600 points, no team bases or resources.

Because running clone swarms are one of my favorite things to do in HeroClix, I went all-Catwoman:

Catwoman [Dark Knight Rises 006] 80
Catwoman [Batman 007] 71
Catwoman [Dark Knight Rises 102] 75
Selina Kyle [Batman] 69
Catwoman [DC 10th 015] 68
Catwoman [Dark Knight Rises 203] 65
Catwoman [Batman TV 009] 60
Catwoman [Batman TV 005] 60
Catwoman [Unleashed] 50
= 598 points.

It went a terrible, terrible 0-3 because it got stranded on low-Stealth maps and, more importantly, I almost never rolled higher than 5 on two dice and usually under 4 on one. What does it say about a game where you need Leap/Climb’s help just to break away? Meanwhile, opponents hit even my 18 DVs practically at will.

And this was pretty much the result, all the time

And this was pretty much the result, all the time

Black cats are supposed to cause OTHER PEOPLE bad luck!!!!!!

 

But it wasn’t all dice. The build was no good, either. By piece:

  • Catwoman [Dark Knight Rises 006]: This, the most expensive of the Selinas, was a fat waste of 80 points except for the Outwit. I ran her for the Batman Enemy team ability, but it was never ever used because she was always kept at range due to her ESD and anemic 2 damage. I’m never using this figure again. 
  • Catwoman [Batman 007], OTOH, was quite useful, even if she hardly ever attacked. The “Misdirection” SP shifting tokens about was good enough, as was the Outwit. But one 71-point piece couldn’t carry the team.
  • Catwoman [Dark Knight Rises 102] was another that looked better on paper. I thought her Charge would give me a little bit of offense amidst the others’ tricks. But as noted in the first part of the article, my dice didn’t do well. And her super-duper short 5-click life did her absolutely no favors, in spite of her free-action-breakaway trait, only racking up an easy 75 points for opponents. Another Anne Hathaway bites the dust.
  • Selina Kyle [Batman] was my only real offense and about the only one who wasn’t KO’d in any game. Not enough to save me, though, especially with so much of her point cost wasted in a game with no relics.
  • Catwoman [DC 10th Anniversary 015] ostensibly was the beneficiary of the Batman Enemy TA, but never used it. Another fighter down in flames thanks to lack of movement and horrid dice. I need to rethink using her when there’s no relics or resources to speak of.
  • Catwoman [Dark Knight Rises 203] was, finally, an Anne Hathaway clix worth using, with Flurry, Perplex, Batman TA, Indom and object-ganking skills. Heck, she’s one of the only reasons I’ll try this sort of team ever again. Unfortunately, she’s short-lived, too.
  • Catwoman [Batman TV 005] never got her pet tiger in the game, ever. Stupid dice rolls. At least her Elaborate Deathtrap managed to take a victim.
  • Catwoman [Batman TV 009], as the only non-Stealthy one of the team, always got into the fight too late. I probably should have been more aggressive with her, but I really didn’t think it’d be so necessary. It was also tough to decide whether to use BCF or go for the Deathtrap move.
  • It’s a bad day when an old piece like Catwoman [Unleashed 222] is practically an MVP just for drawing fire. Having Exploit Weakness will make her a target. But with her only costing 50 points, I didn’t mind so much.

 

 

 

 

 

I should have dropped the Batman Enemy fig — the TA was barely relevant anyway, with just one wildcard to use it — and run Catwoman [Batman 204] instead. She’d have brought a much-needed Charging 11 AV to this underpowered, immobile team, another Batman Ally to help her sculptmate 007a gain extra powers of Plasticity and Shape Change, and potential healing from the Birds of Prey ATA.

Dumping the similarly useless-for-the-75-points Catwoman [DKR 102] could’ve bought room on this team for TWO others: Catwoman [Batman Alpha] and [DC 10th Anniversary 008]. The former, for 40 points, adds a cheap tie-up piece with a 6-click-long dial — one more than the Catwoman she’s replacing for 35 less cost! — with a ton of Outwit on the back half. The other piece is a total remake of the Unleashed Catwoman, just slimmed down by 15 points, making her another needed cheap tie-up piece with a bite.

Huh. After this tournament, I’d all but sworn to never run this team again. But I think I’ll give it another shot sometime with this amended lineup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Continuing this photographic record of figures hefting objects, this time finishing a multi-week look at figs from the  Wolverine and the X-Men full set. Here’s that ragin’ Cajun, Gambit (Wolverine and The X-Men 031):

 

He’s got a tenuous hold on the light object between his energy trail and the green base of his switchclix area.

 

Here’s another fig, the Great Lake Avengers’ Big Bertha [Wolverine + The X-Men 039]:

The plump powerhouse balances the token in her meaty arms.

_____

WATX is on the way to being fully documented. Look back on Tuesday for another installment. Tomorrow, read a Figure Flush mini-battle report. Thursday there’ll be a wrapup of Fear Itself’s Token Totin’ pieces.

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So, longtime readers may recall a series I did called Figure Flush, when I played tons of teams to get at least one fielding of every unplayed piece in my collection. It was great fun and a resounding success.

But.

The only way I was able to do it was when I could either run a different team in the bye rounds at the venue I judge or solo-play matches at same. I was able to burn through a lot of figs. Now, though, my work schedule’s changed and I only get the opportunity for ONE round. Consequently, I end up running teams of all unplayed characters instead of my favorites.

I’m beginning to tire of it. For while I like trying out fresh dials on the field, I also end up not playing very well because I don’t quite know what the characters do and the teams aren’t at all optimized as a result. And it’s been this way for nearly every game I’ve played since August.

It’s a point we all reach in life: The realization that we can’t have everything we want. In this case, I may have to relax my self-imposed requirement to play every character I own before trading or selling it. Perhaps it’s time to say, “I’ve got enough ‘clix. No need to run any characters or dials I don’t care so much about.”

Eventually.

For now, though, here’s what I fielded for the first time ever during my Heroclixin’ hiatus:

Oracle [WATX]. Nice little support piece.

Jean Grey [WATX 017]. I really hate these weak versions of this powerful character.

Magneto [WATX 037]. OTOH, this bargain version of the Master of Magnetism was a welcome change of pace.

Silver Samurai [WATX]. Nice and F.U.N. with his sword.

Titania [FI]. OK.

Red She-Hulk [FI 006]. MORE THAN OK.

Namor [WATX 058]. Made an Atlantis team work swimmingly.

Nerkkod. Great with Namor.

Greithoth. Came one win away from victory in Fear Itself.

Iron Man and Iron Patriot @ 200. Dynamite if they’ve got TK on the team. And I did.

Strong Guy [WATX]. To think there was a time I didn’t want this fig because the M+M version was just fine. I like this one better, obviously.

Riddler [Batman ’66]. Deathtrap is a great ability. If only I’d thought to use his Prob Control to try to counteract the enemy’s Escape roll!

Iron Man Mk 40. Had a blast Sonic Booming through enemies. An unusual addition to the Stark Armory.

Heimdall [FI]. Underperformed, though in a format that worked against him somewhat.

Hawkeye [FI]. Loved using that crazy Incap power!

Nightcrawler [WATX 102]. Nice to have a Nighty that’s balanced.

Ricochet. Slightly disappointing…that ricochet ability never quite came off like I’d hoped.

Miranda Swedlow. Will she ever be more than just meat shield fodder?

Dave Lizewski [001]. Had hoped to promote him into his better chase version. But him scoring the final KO prevented it.

Superman Robot [CD 221]. No, that’s no typo; I finally got ahold of this old mailaway piece from 2006. Boy, the years have not been kind.

Kronan Stone Man. BEASTICK. That is all.

Extremis Brute, b-dial. That’s a lot of Flurry and Poison-plus. I like.

Ringwraith [101 and 102]. Got outgunned and outlasted by ASM Dracula, who healed from his LAST click to his STARTING click. Argh

Orc Warrior. Meh.

Moria Orc Archer. Slightly less meh.

Mokk. NOT AT ALL MEH. He’s actually almost unfair to go against.

So yes, a fair amount of figs got out the box and on the field. That’s good. But I long to play more teams that I care about. Therefore, this “Figure Flush” mode of force-building may go away soon. We’ll see.

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#2

av024

Black Panther [Avengers]
The original Black Panther in HeroClix was trash only suitable as a cheap Stealthy Outwitter. This one, OTOH, is one of the few pieces from 2007’s Avengers set to remain playable to this day, even outshining a much newer version in 2011’s Captain America set. The A vs. X LE has a high bar to meet to top this lord of the Wakandas.

#1

ls006

Ultra Boy [Legion of Super-Heroes]
I’m a diehard Legion of Super-Heroes fan, and Ultra Boy kinda embodies the spirit of the group more than any other for me with A) his rambunctious nature and B) limited powers.
At first, I thought his dial should have reflected his one-power-at-a-time ability better by not giving him Impervious on the same clicks as Super Strength, but the character’s good at switching from power to power instantly. So the dial’s simple but accurate. I’m a little afraid they’ll screw him up in upcoming Superman + the Legion of Super-Heroes set. In any case, as much as I love running the Legion, I won’t if I can’t fit U-Boy on the squad.