One of my standing goals in my HeroClix hobby is this: to play every single piece in my collection at least once.

This was an easy goal to meet when I could get to 3-4 tournaments each week and the pace of releases weren’t so frenetic. But now, my modest tackle box dedicated to unfielded figures has overflowed by a factor of at least two.

Fortunately, I got a couple of extra friendly matches under my belt (thanks, Lenny!) the last couple of weeks to clear out a fair number of figures. First, I picked a green theme to the tune of 900 points:

Loki (Avengers Movie 015): The trickster wound up being the MVP of the match, thanks to his early-game TK to help the immobile team and his much-needed Outwit to soften up the opposition. I like that he never becomes useless, ever, being able to break heavy armor all the time. I never got his Mind Control to work, though, and I really wanted to. Result: I’ll play him again sometime.

Hulk (Avengers Movie 014): I used him horribly, completely forgetting his top-dial SP granting Flurry. When he starts with a fairly putrid-for-140-points 9 AV, you can’t neglect free attacks like that (and it probably cost me a sweet 1-2 KO of Ms. Marvel)! I still might’ve gotten some good use out of him if I could’ve made either of those breakaway rolls, but I got a 2 each time. Result: I’ll play him again sometime…I must redeem myself!

Skrull Infiltrator (Avengers Movie 207a): Double FAIL here. A) I picked the wrong dial, using the “A” version instead of the Stealthy “B” version. Consequently, I B) completely forgot the sweet SP guarding against range attacks. Still, this 40-pointer did well to tie up an enemy Thor for quite a few turns. Result: I’ll play him again in a Skrull team for sure, even using this inferior dial.

Vision (Chaos War 205): More double FAIL: He’d gotten knocked to his last click before I realized he was Indomitable, and I’d illegally used him as a flier (he’s not). I made up for it with a full Regen roll. Result: I’ll play him again on a Young Avengers team if the points work out.

Eowyn (Lord of the Rings 017): Though deservedly reviled as the worst HeroClix figure of 2011, the White Lady of Rohan proved that even terrible figures can be highly successful. On a large team like this one, she always had ample targets for her conditional Perplex. And she made more than one healing roll with her also-conditional Support. Finally, her Willpower gave her some actual attack opportunities in the endgame. It’s saying far too much to call her an MVP, but…well, she was in the running. Result: Far better than expected.

Merry & Pippin (Lord of the Rings 022): I’d intended to hold them back with Eowyn to maybe do some big-time triage healing tricks with their epic power. But it was awkward to try because they’d have to be healed first, and their top-dial Willpower and Shape Change make it less likely they’ll need healing. So I instead used them as a sacrificial tie-up piece to buy more important fighters some time. Result: a bit of a letdown for this chase. Say no to drugs, kids!

Super Skrull (Galactic Guardians 034): The heavy hitter of the team and one of its few taxis, SSkrull lasted until the last vestiges of the game. Result: I’ll always be torn between him, the 100-point version and the Supernova classic. 

Skrull Assassin (Galactic Guardians 202): Another one that held on through nearly the whole match (thanks mostly to a heal from Eowyn), Assassin did OK. Result: I probably won’t use her if I’ve got the AVM Infiltrators instead.

Ronan The Accuser (Galactic Guardians Fast Forces 006): The 100-point level was what I could fit on the team. He worked all right. Result: I’ll play him again with Inhumans.

Hulk (Infinity Challenge 199): His low, low stats relegated old Hulk to mere tie-up status in the vain hope that he could get hit into his powerful clicks. Once it happened, though, he was easily KO’d before he could even push to attack.  Result: I’ll never play him again unless I need a cheap Hulk — and the upcoming 10th Anniversary one will fill that bill soon enough!

Infected Marine (Halo 020): His poor 8 AV buffs up to a potential 11 when tokened enemies are nearby, making this Monster a bit of a push-ready terror (especially with a dialful of Steal Energy). Wound up being something of the secret weapon of the team.  Result: I’ll play him again sometime on a Monster team for sure, provided there are enough “Silver” Age games to do so.

About a week later, I was able to get in a 200-point match to finally field this Monster-ous little crew of Halo figs:

Infected Elite (Halo 021): Of the unofficial “Flood” theme, this one is the mobile attacker (Charge) and Stealth shield for the others. If only I’d used him as such. A surprisingly long dial for a trim 55 points means … Result: I’ll try it out again sometime.

Flood Carrier (Halo 025): Free attacks after melee attacks, hit or miss, was a lot of fun in spite of the minimal damage and attack values. Fortunately, my target was soft. In the future, Armor Piercing will make this putrid-looking dude dangerous. Result: I want to get a second one.

Flood Infection (Halo 011): They’re designed to move more or less in unison, so each attacking one can get +1 AV for each adjacent ally. So what’d I do? Each one of the two I was running was basically alone when they attacked. They died even before they could Poison anybody. Result: Far better than the way I played.

The team was rounded out by a final cheap Monster, Dinah Soar (Chaos War 012): A superb cheap taxi, even without being on an Avengers team.

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A problem with playing tons of unplayed characters is that I make a lot of errors simply based on not being aware of powers and whatnot. Whereas the powergamers who use the same stupid 20 overpowered characters over and over again have another advantage in knowing those same stupid 20 overpowered characters inside and out.