This has become a kitchen table tradition of mine: pitting one year of my top 10-20 favorites against the previous calendar year’s. And in the waning weeks of December 2023, I got serious and did it.

2022 force

150 AV4E031 Blue Marvel
125 MSDP056 Captain America
95 MSDP041A Captain Carter + shield 5
50 AV4E006 Falcon
200 AV4E045 Hulk
45 XMXS031B Isca the Unbeaten + sword 5
60 WOTR035 Kurse
40 AV4E030 Mindful One
50 AV4E050 Miss America
35 MSDP029 Miss Minutes
45 XMXS001 Storm + sword 5
40 MSDP101B The Watcher
70 WOTR042 Valkyrie

plus late-blooming picks

Shang-Chi 50
Pogg Ur-Pogg 170

= 1235 points.

I put a slight handicap on this force by giving Storm and Pogg ONLY their canon swords Skybreaker and Pogg Ur-Pogg, respectively. I also initially opted to possibly cap the number of Mission Points that Miss Minutes could score per round — didn’t want the game to end TOO quickly.

2021’s all-stars:

HoX053 Captain Britain @ 80
WW80067 The Commissioner @ 50
WW80045 Dr. Poison 40
WW80024 Harley Quinn @ 50
WW80054 Lex Luthor 50
A4E026 Loki 60
HoX051 Maggott 40
MP20-001 Master Mold @ 200
A4E041 Monica Rambeau @ 150
XRF007 Multiple Man @ 40 x2
Omega 200
A4E015 Onome 40
A4E072 Rikki Barnes 75
A4E047b T’Chaka II 45
XRF008 Sentinel 25
XRF008 Sentinel 25
XRF008 Sentinel 25
= 1235 points. EQUAL TIME AGAIN!

(Or so I thought. More on that later.)

I handicapped this force a tad by not allowing Master Mold to call in named Modern Age Sentinels with his Factory Dial like the Nimrods or other versions of Omega Sentinel, instead restricting myself to these:

• Sentinel Mark II
• Sentinel Mark V
• Orchis Soldier

and of course the XRF Sentinels that made the list in 2021 proper.

The map was the two half-sized starter maps from the Marvel and DC starters put together.

But there was a BIG misplay, actually. From before the start.

As I ran the game, I was chagrined by the 2021 squad’s shockingly low Leadership rate. On a team with EIGHT characters starting with the power, I succeeded in the d6 roll only about … TWICE? in the first several turns. That contributed a bit to the very slow start for the older team.

Things turned around, though, when Master Mold used the Factory Dial to generate the legacy card Sentinels at 100 and 125 points, who used their extreme 8-10 range to go after Miss Minutes and eliminate the Mission Points threat. And then, with a few shocking fails of the dice, the once-mighty 2022s were reduced to just Isca The Unbeaten, who finally did not live up to the name.

Aside from that disappointment, I felt like something was wrong. Back in the 2020 vs. 2021 version of this annual kitchen table game, I had played the 2021 team with ONLY the 2021 Sentinels and Master Mold’s own bystander versions. But it was definitely the two Sentinels from 2022 that completely turned the tide — ruining the purity of the win.

So I decided to do a replay, this time restricting further the 2021 team to only elements from 2021 (aside from a few nonstandard terrain markers but NOT the Special Terrain used in Game 1).

This meant Teen Lantern wouldn’t have the Green Lantern Ring or the Green Constructs from Batman Team-Up, a 2022 release, either.

(Teen Lantern. Hmm.)

So I started Game 2 and it got to a rocky start. Bad play everywhere.

Was I tired? No, that wasn’t it.

I looked again at the written team list for 2021.

HoX053 Captain Britain 80
WW80067 The Commissioner 50
WW80045 Dr. Poison 40
WW80024 Harley Quinn 50
WW80054 Lex Luthor 50
A4E026 Loki 60
HoX051 Maggott 40
MP20-001a-200 Master Mold 200
A4E041 Monica Rambeau 150
XRF007 Multiple Man 40 x2
Omega 200
A4E015 Onome 40
A4E072 Rikki Barnes 75
A4E047b T’Chaka II 45
XRF008 Sentinel 25
XRF008 Sentinel 25
XRF008 Sentinel 25

WAIT…where the hell was Teen Lantern??

And that’s when I realized the 2021 squad was 75 points overbuilt! And those three Sentinels really gave the team a mobility advantage from the start.

So I quickly scooped and rebuilt 2021 without the Sentinels to get the starting forces re-evened-out for a REAL Game 2.

BY PIECE (alphabetically):

Blue Marvel: In Game 1, he got a couple of shots off but failed a key Pulse Wave attempt and didn’t last much longer. Game 2, though? He survived long enough to practically clear the board with a similar Pulse Wave.

Captain America: Impressive at first, he fell in the late game. In Game 2, he was also an early casualty, but not before he set up the massive KO of Master Mold to get that ball rolling 2022’s way. He also left behind the Redwing equipment for an ally to revive in the latter stage of the game.

Captain Britain: In Game 1 she made a key KO of Mindful One to stop the Mystic medic. Next time around, though, she’d not so much as roll a successful Leadership.

Captain Carter: Her Defend-plus ability was downright oppressive in Game 1! I’m still wondering how that game even turned on her and the rest. Game 2 saw her hit early but she got healed and led to victory.

The Commissioner: Lost Rookie too early and was not really a huge factor in Game 1. Next time, though, I played much more carefully with Rookie to ensure the duo’s impact deep into the game.

Dr. Poison: Spawned just 2 German Soldiers all Game 1. In Game 2, she and the Germans were among the last standing, though of little consequence other than drawing fire, mostly.

Falcon: Being paired with Cap (via his Team-Up card) didn’t pan out as brokenly as expected. Still great in Games 1 and 2 with auto-breakaway. Game 2 bonus: He recovered Cap’s dropped Redwing equipment and brought Redwing into play!

Harley Quinn: Her Prob Control didn’t play out at all in Game 1. But at least she got her Whoopsies out and froze Shang-Chi for a turn. Her Prob was more useful in Game 2, though she didn’t last there, either.

Hulk: Last man standing for 2022 in Game 1, though the other side was diligent to avoid shooting him. In Game 2, he came perilously close to death thanks to worst-time-possible critical miss. But he survived to smash again, even getting a mega-clutch Gamma Clap.

Isca the Unbeaten: She was the last fig standing for 2022 in Game 1 — having to weather 4-5 attacks nearly every round proved overwhelming. But with better odds, she might’ve still triumphed. And, as noted above, it was a game in which the very build total was weighted against her team. In Game 2, she fared far better to maintain an official “never lost” record.

Kurse: She was the first KO! She got focused on and took the dive. In Game 2, she was better protected. That Outwit was useful down the stretch.

Lex Luthor: Without pushing damage, it took forever to activate him. But once he did, his Outwit and his pogs took a near-full-health Hulk to easy pickings for the Sentinels. A last fig standing there. Game 2 saw him activated far earlier and separated from his MM fodder, leading to a shorter tenure when his Green Light went out.

Loki: Mr. Low Key shockingly got one-shot by Isca before making a single dupe with his single Rally die. In Game 2, he was much better shielded. But the threat of Miss Minutes kept him from fully flooding the field with Low Key.

Maggott: In Game 1, I made the error of attacking a part-time Mystic and losing Meany early. Never got Food tokens in that game, either. He had a little more success in Game 2 but got one-shot when 2022 finally focused on him.

Master Mold: The absolute key to Game 1. Giving him access to 2022 Sentinels was too much — they swung the game crucially. In Game 2, I advanced just a tad too aggressively with him, leading to his very early KO.

Mindful One: A superb medic and defender (his SP giving Mystics was crucial vs. Maggott) in Game 1. In Game 2, he continued his medical ways to be a real MVP contender.

Miss America: She was hurt bad early on in Game 1 but got healed for a key strike+transport later. In Game 2, she also played a sacrificial role to set up for bigger hitters.

Miss Minutes: her Mission Points were the biggest threat in both games. She kept the 2021 team from flooding the field with Sentinels or Lokis or Multiple Men, lest she rack up MPs in just a few turns. She got taken out with relative ease by one of the 2022 Sentinels, though, in Game 1. Game 2 saw her come very close to the 20 MPs until the 2021 remnants went all out on her to take her down.

Monica Rambeau: Took the first points in Game 1 with her KO of Kurse but she was mostly neutralized the rest of the game. Game 2 saw her exist as a solid threat but not score any points.

Multiple Man: Did not spawn quite as many dupes as hoped. All that Empower and Leadership wasted on bad rolls. Worse, he was a liability against Miss Minutes in both games. But X-Men TA gave Captain Britain a little second wind in the late game, at least.

Omega: She held together for her 2021 squad long enough in Game 1. But Game 2 wasn’t her day, even though she lasted deep into the contest.

Onome: Sadly was basically one-shot by Pogg Ur-Pogg in Game 1. She got too close! I was much more cautious with her in Game 2.

Pogg Ur-Pogg: Possibly the MVP for 2022, immediately neutralizing Teen Lantern and others. His sword counters well the 4-square vulnerability of swimmers. Only a ridiculous late game flail kept him from sparking a Game 1 comeback. In Game 2, he was less the focus so he survived to the end.

Rikki Barnes: Lasted into the late Game 1 despite a lot of early lack of success. In Game 2 I probably held her back way too long.

Sentinel: These generics kept coming, eventually overwhelming the 2022s. Makes me think the newer Sentinels were completely unneeded. And in Game 2, they came in as well. But again, Miss Minutes made me hold off from flooding the field with them.

Shang-Chi: Took on Harley and others with aplomb in Game 1. Game 2 saw him become an early KO on an ill-advised attempt to tie up too many foes.

Storm: Shoving targets with FREE FB was surprisingly clutch in both matches. But giant Sentinels were her weakness in Game 1.

T’Chaka II: His dice roll nerf helped at first, but he didn’t last in either game.

Teen Lantern: I advanced too close with her in Game 1 and Pogg stole her GL Ring — 2022-era equipment I stripped from her in Game 2, where she lasted a good while longer.

Valkyrie: Worked with Shang to clear out a crowd in Game 1 but got KO’d early on in Game 2.

The Watcher: All-seeing was a strength in both games and his 20 Defend helped down the stretch in Game 1 — though was ultimately overcome in Game 1.

———

This was something of a last hurrah for several figs, not only due to retirement from Modern but a few (Miss Minutes, Maggott) being banned/benched even from Silver Age, I learned just as I completed the final clean up of the carnage of Game 2, which ended in the overwhelming victory of the 2022 squad. I think the older team would have mounted a better fight if not for losing Master Mold so soon. Who knew that little Turn 1 Sidestep would cost so much???