Heroclixin’ board member and longtime friend Chadd comes to various Atlanta conventions once a year lately and we have taken to rooming together for big games.
GAME 1
RED & BLACK & BLUE: DEADPOOL VS. HARLEY QUINN
I forgot to take a full photo, so here’s the detailed 1000-point builds:
CHADD’S MAXIMUM EFFORT
- Deadpool (X of Swords 048) 40 points
- Deadpool (X-Men Rise and Fall 100) 60 points
- Deadpool, Marc WIth A Mouth 70 points
- Deadpool (Deadpool & X-Force 037a) 75 points
- Evil Deadpool 100 points
- Deadpool (Deadpool 101) 130 points
- Deadpool (Deadpool 019a) 135 points
- Deadpool (Empyre 063) 175 points
- Deadpool and Bob 200 points
- Mjolnir (Hammer of Thor s101) 0 points
vs. MY GANG OF HARLEYS
- Harley Quinn (WW80) @ 50 points
- Harley Quinn (DC21-004) 45 points
- Harley Quinn (Batman The Animated Series 014) 65 points
- Harley Quinn (Batman Team Up 008) 50 points
- Harley Quinn (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 017) 75 points
- Dr. Holly Quinn (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 033) 35 points
- The Harlequin (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 100) 40 points
- Dr. Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 026) 40 points
- Legacy Harley & Ivy (BTU L058) 75 points
- Harley Quinn (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 059a) 200 points
- Harley Quinn (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 043a) 50 points
- Harley Quinn (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 043b) 50 points
- Harley Quinn (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 049) 60 points
- Harley Quinn (Batman The Animated Series ) 60 points
- Harley Quinn (The Flash 046) @ 50 points
- Location Bonus: My Babies Need Their Space 5 points
Chadd took an early lead because I neglected to use Harley & Ivy’s FREE Smoke Cloud to hide other Harleys from an alpha strike. Then Deadpool & Bob Super Sensed out of my counterattack. Then I completely failed a Pulse Wave attempt with prime Harley. I was losing pretty much the whole time until I finally got Red Lantern Harley and legacy Harley & Ivy into position while Title Harley called out her Gang of Harley pogs to finish off Bob and Evil DP for the win.
RESULT: HARLEY HAMMER TIME!
GAME 2
GANG WAR: GOTHAM UNDERWORLD VS. SINISTER SEVENTEEN
My team was made up of:
- The original Sinister Six from the 1960s comics (Kraven, Doc Ock, Vulture, Mysterio, original Electro and Sandman)
- Beetle’s Sinister Syndicate from the mid-1980s (with Rhino, Speed Demon, Boomerang and Hydro-Man)
- Iron Spider’s 21st-century version of the Six (Davis plus Spot, Hobgoblin, chick Electro, mom Bombshell and Sandman doing double duty here)
all hired by the Kingpin for this GANG WAR
Got a photo for this one because I did.
Chadd planned to rush me with Clayfaces (each kitted out with Entangle feats) and keep me futilely flailing at them. But PLOT TWIST! I had a lot of Improved Movement and immediately left the ‘Faces in the dust, setting them up for Electro’s repeated Pulse Waves while the others set up to get Joker, who was using the team-up card to give all Batman Enemy characters the Mystics team ability.
I still nearly lost the game when I forgot to use Spot’s Outwit to stop Killer Croc’s Charge. Also got lucky with a miss against Vulture.
Though I failed almost every single Leadership roll — despite having 5 figs with the power on the force, I maybe succeeded 3 times total all game — I finally got through various Barriers and outdoor blocking to one-turn Joker, after which Chadd conceded.
RESULT: SYNDICATE TAKES OVER GOTHAM
GAME 3
SCOOBY GANG MEETS BATMAN AND ROBIN TO SOLVE THE CASE OF SCOOBY MONSTERS
So I decided to get these chases because nostalgia:
Chadd remembers the Scooby Doo series better than I do and came up with a team of monsters inspired by the cartoon (JL King Shark for the shark god, Zzzax for the electric giant, Sabretooth for the cat people, etc.).
…and Chadd demanded I play the Scooby chases along with a Batman and Robin. I agreed with one condition: to add Ace The Bathound, which I’d finally gotten.
I thought the Scoobys would do OK, but I was not expecting the dominance that happened. Chadd did, though. We still had fun, especially with me playing classic Scooby background music as we went.
RESULT: DARN THOSE MEDDLING KIDS AND CAPED CRUSADERS
GAME 4:
HORSEMEN VS. THE HORDES OF ARRAKO
Now this one mattered to me a little more because
- I gifted Chadd with a Genesis 210 fig and it would be SOMEWHAT galling to lose to that fig and more importantly
- prime Isca the Unbeaten’s record was at stake — I’ve never lost a game with her.
I’d also tried out these Arrako pieces before and BOY are they awkward to field. I had to do a trial run on my kitchen table just to get a feel for how to play the squad I settled on:
- Annihilation (X of Swords 059) 70 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Light of Galador)
- Bei the Blood Moon (X of Swords 046) @ 75 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Mercy s001)
- Famine (X of Swords SLOP 041) @ 50 points
- Genesis (X of Swords SLOP 210) @ 35 points +Sword Bearer 5 (Warlock)
- Isca the Unbeaten (X of Swords 021b) +Sword Bearer 5 (Scarab)
- Khora of the Burning Heart (X of Swords) 65 points
- Pogg Ur-Pogg (X of Swords SLOP 208) @ 170 points + Starlight Sword (for free because it’s him)
- Redroot the Forest (X of Swords 056) 60 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Pogg Ur-Pogg)
- Solem (X of Swords SLOP 018) + Sword Bearer 5 (Muramasa Blade s002)
- Summoner (X of Swords 055) 120 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Godkiller)
- Tarn the Uncaring (X of Swords SLOP 033) @125 points
- The White Sword (X of Swords 058) 75 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Purity)
Chadd used Horsemen:
- Apocalypse (X of Swords 057) 195 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Scarab)
- Death (X of Swords 026) + Sword Bearer 5 (Black Bone of Amduat)
- Famine (X of Swords SLOP 204) @ 75 points
- Genesis (X of Swords SLOP 210) @ 295 points + Sword Bearer 5 (Mercy s001)
- Mr. Sinister (X of Swords 044) + Protected 8
- Mr. Sinister (X of Swords SLOP 030) + Entangle 8 + Camouflage 8
- Pestilence (X of Swords SLOP 202) + Armor Piercing 10
- War (X of Swords 025) + Sword Bearer 5 (Vermillion)
On the Fiefdom of Amenth map, I sent Annihilation’s Daemon pogs to start. But Pestilence’s Armor Piercing got through even their Invincible. However, there’s no end to the the Daemon horde, so I could keep flooding them out while keeping most of the squad, including the colossal Pogg who was shielded by a water terrain I added, safe and still offensive. When I ended War after her unsuccessful attack, Chadd conceded rather than get swarmed by my Arakkan horde.
RESULT: ARAKKO IS NOT FOR THE WEAK — OR THOSE WHO CONCEDE
GAME 5
CHADD’S OBSESSION vs. THE ULTIMATES
This one was personal. Years ago in the Before Times, I’d played Chadd with one of my favorite comic teams, the Ultimates:
Black Panther, Blue Marvel, Captain Marvel, Miss America and Monica Rambeau.
I can’t recall what Chadd played, but it was some force that had no business making short work of my Carol Danvers. And then Chadd RAN before we could finish the game!
He actually had a dinner appointment. But it FELT like he was running
Anyway, the characters had all been remade at least once, and nearly all were much better:
- Black Panther (Captain America and the Avengers 037a) @ 85 points + Skybreaker sword 10 points
- Blue Marvel (Avengers Forever) @ 150 points
- Captain Marvel (Captain America and the Avengers 054) @ 150 points
- Miss America (Avengers Forever) 50 points
- Monica Rambeau (Empyre) @ 150 points
For his part, Chadd was playing favorites himself: Redheads!
- Daphne (Batman Team Up 010) 50 points + Utility Belt 10
- Hope Summers (X of Swords) @40 points
- Jean Grey (X of Swords 029) — 35 points
- Lady Phoenix @ 125 points
- Mary Jane (War of the Realms) @ 60 points
- Phoenix (WizKids MP21-001) @ 275 points
- Mjolnir relic — 0 points
I lost Monica really early after being drawn out to try KOing Mary Jane, who was rolling for the Mjolnir relic. But while Captain Marvel wore Phoenix down with free damage, Blue Marvel slipped to the back line to start wreaking havoc with his Pulse Wave. I was on the way to a big win when Chadd requested a do-over: He’d overlooked a token-removal trait that would have kept me from getting the momentum I’d needed. I agreed.
But Chadd made the same error of trying to give MJ Mjolnir and this time, I did NOT overextend.
RESULT: Chadd conceded too quickly when his attacks on Carol — who was already working on Phoenix — failed and he didn’t think to simply Outwit Carol’s speed power to stop me.
RESULT: ULTIMATE REDEMPTION
GAME 6
THE CHARLIE
This was the classic Charlie “Rockman” Cates scenario: Seven figs, all in differing point brackets, sit on the sideline. The cheapest fig starts first. When it heals or takes damage, immediately roll d6 and replace it with the corresponding fig on the sideline.
I brought two teams: one full of Sentinels and the other giant-woman-themed. Chadd used a team full of Jeans
- Jean Grey (Empyre 010) 30 points
- Jean Grey (Hellfire Gala) @45 points
- Jean Grey (Xavier’s School 065) @90 points
- Phoenix (WizKids M19-015) 100 points
- Phoenix (Uncanny X-Men 053a) 140 points
- Lady Phoenix @ 175 points
- Phoenix (WizKids MP21-001) @ 275 points
and chose to face the giants.
- Giganta (WW80 037b) @25 points
- Stature (Avenger Forever) @ 50 points
- Giganta (HQGG 052) @90 points
- Giganta (WW80 037a) @100 points
- Power Girl (Rebirth 022) @ 115 points
- Giant-Girl (Avengers Infinity G001) @200 points
- Ms. Marvel (The Mighty Thor G005) @250 points
It was a disaster … FOR ME
The plan he’d had for Con Phoenix, to sit and enjoy 22 DV with Prob Control forever, finally was foolproof in this 1v1 scenario. My giant women had no chance.
I should’ve gone with the Sentinels. Still probably would have lost but at least it woulda been a fight!
RESULT: FINALLY a win for Chadd in the end!
———
It’s always a good time playing these games. Looking forward to his next visit, DragonCon 2024, for more. And yes, we’re already planning them.