Another spring/summer, another WizKids rotation.

This is usually when yours truly, Rurouni KJS, is sad to see favorite themes no longer playable in Modern Age. But Sceritz surprised me when he said he won’t really miss playing any pieces rotating out. That’s because he feels like they’re always available for home games, which is where he’s more liable to run his favorites anyway.

I guess for him Modern Age is not as much F.U.N. time as it is for me. But he’s right: I’m not feeling the sadness so much this go-round for the same reason. For example, I’m already missing Cyclops 033 from Uncanny X-Men. But there are so many NEW X-Men keyword pieces in the recent Xavier’s School set that we’ve gotten replacements almost across the board.

WHAT WE’LL MISS (or “will miss” KOing because we HATE THEM):

Nick Fury [Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD 056]. Um……WHAT? But no, Sceritz really said this. His point: Without the threat of Fury as an answer to Uni-Mind, the Eternal will rule the current meta even more. I can’t really argue that point.

Taylor nominated Mr. Mxyzptlk [Superman/Wonder Woman 060] as one he can’t wait to be gone. I concur, but the annoying 5th dimensional imp hasn’t been seen so much in the meta lately. But still.

I’m a bit sad that swarm teams of Brood Queen and Brood [Uncanny X-Men 041 and 027] only had a brief moment in Modern along with a couple of new pieces, Broo [045] and prime Professor X [037b].

I’m also regretting never actually using Sharon Carter [Captain America: Civil War 011] and her team ability Outwit on a meta team. Same with Perry White [Batman V Superman 015]. Oh well.

One that just recently got into my possession is Nightwing [World’s Finest 037a], too late for any Modern Age team that makes sense. In fact, there is now no Nightwing in Modern Age at all.

And how F.U.N. would it have been to show up to a Modern Age event with an all-black squad of these three?

• Captain America [Avengers Infinity 033] 100
• Captain America [Avengers Defenders War 069] 70
• Captain America [Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD 049] 130

…300 points on the nose.

Probably my biggest sadness, though? The loss of the most underrated SHIELD Level 7 ID Card call-in of the whole game: Nick Fury.

……JR. [Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD Fast Forces 001]

At 50 points, almost any character could bring him in, and with 3 damage, Charge, 11 AV BCF, 17 Reflexes and his SP to negate a target’s power if he hits, he could really swing a match for minimal risk.

 

As is common for Heroclixin’, we’ve made a pocket checklist for the latest full-sized set. (Thanks, as always, to the crowdsourcing at HCRealms.com for the advance info!)

Previously, the download has only included a single checklist but now we’ve opted to give FOUR checklists per download. I figure if I print them out that way at home, I ought to offer them that way to you as well.

Link below.

AvengersInfinitychecklist

Late 2014’s The Flash set retired in June 2017. So last year, not too long before the crime occurred, I took one last Modern Age run of one of my favorite ever teams in clix: The Authority.

 

Here’s my force:

Jenny Sparks [The Flash 059] 125
Apollo [The Flash 048] 125
Midnighter [The Flash 049] 125
Swift [The Flash 017]
Engineer [The Flash 060]
Jack Hawksmoor [The Flash 033]
Doctor [The Flash 016] 50

=690 points. I went against Sceritz, who ran some meta figs I can’t quite recall aside from his own Jenny Sparks. I managed to scrape a win despite a couple of terrible misplays:

•  Forgot to build blocking terrain with Jack when he got the SP
•  Got too close with Doc and lost much needed Barrier when he was one-shot, almost costing me Apollo’s life

Fortunately, Sceritz rolled ice cubes just long enough for me to survive with a points advantage.

Though I’m unsure of the exact record, my games with the Authority in Modern and “Silver” ages have a distinct winning percentage. Didn’t get to play this team nearly enough. But as with a lot of my favorites, Golden Age can offer new life to themes, thanks to feats. (Oh, and resources, too, I suppose. But I still hate those things. So no.)

Jenny Sparks: Contingency Plan is great to help nudge some of the team stats ever so slightly, and without her having to see to do it. Automatic Regeneration is OK, but she can’t heal back to her Pulse Wave clicks anymore.

Apollo: Damage Shield works on all his clicks but one. But given that his main SP works best when he’s not based, this feat might not be the best. I’ll only use it to fill points.

Midnighter: He also qualifies for Damage Shield throughout his dial, and this close combat specialist will indeed be based a lot. Opportunist is also a good fit for my play style of him, where he’s getting taxied a lot in the early going.

Swift: Heightened Reflexes or Force Field are solid choices. It’s just unfortunate that a single Outwit can rob her of all her defenses if you’re not careful. Mid-dial, clicks of CCE make Lunge a potentially good mix with her no-cost Air token moves.

Engineer: Though she can qualify for a ton of feats, the ones that could shore up her weak defenses aren’t readily available. So I like Invigorate, which can make her useful to keep the others on the team token-free even as she tries healing her pals.

Jack Hawksmoor: Lunge gives him more fighting mobility once off his top click. Auto Regen might be a must.

Doctor: Force Field is a perfect fit.

Jenny Quantum: Brilliant Tactician is, well, brilliant on her.

——

The Authority is always ready to be wielded!