This week, my venues held a pair of “Bizarro” HeroClix games. In Bizarro (named for the backwards-thinking Superman villain) games, the game pieces are played in reverse; the last click is the starting line, and the dial is turned toward the green line instead of away from it as the character takes damage.
These games are challenging because A) most figures are considerably weaker on their final clicks than on their first, and consequently B) dealing damage to the enemy often makes them much stronger opponents.
However.
There are a number of pieces that have pretty good last clicks. Take Gypsy (whom I reveiwed here )from the Justice League set. While her Speed Value, Attack Value and Damage Value of 5, 7 and 1 respectively is common for a final click in HeroClix, her Defense Value is an astronomical 19 — a value shared or exceeded by fewer than 50 of the 2900 or so existing dials in the whole history of the game.
Therefore, part of the fun (for me) of the Bizarro scenario is finding these hidden gems to build a squad that’s nearly as deadly as a normal team. Again, the aforementioned Gypsy: with Defend, she can share that sky-high Defense with adjacent allies and thus shore up the low defense values found on most final clicks.
That’s why I was glad that my venue’s judge added the following condition to my suggestion of a 2000 point Bizarro game: each character on the team must share a common power on their first click (and Special Powers granting use of standard powers would qualify).
Team #1: SUPER STRENGTH
Since I did want to field some titanic powerhouses, I tried to build around this power. Specifically, I wished to build around a certain character who would be instrumental in this scenario.
Aquaman 71
Man of Steel 200
V (Origin) Steel 164
SR (Justice League) Superman 283
SR Spectre 234
Arkham Asylum Wonder Woman 248
Junkpile 92
Avengers Ares 275
Secret Invasion Namor 150
Triton 72
Power Man & Iron Fist 138
Man of Steel’s excellent 19 DV + Defend was tempting, but in the end, I wasn’t confident in this small team’s mobility, SR Superman’s Hypersonic Speed notwithstanding.
Team #2: CHARGE
Gamora 73
Power Man & Iron Fist 136 + Unstoppable 5
Omega Red 124 + Armor Piercing 10
AV Giant-Man 82
E Drax the Destroyer 168
Karnak 79
Atom Smasher 97 + Alias 3
V OR Steel 164
Zauriel 117 + Protected 8
SR Black Adam 254 + Fortitude 25
Liberty Belle 84 + Unstoppable 5
Benjamin J. Grimm 100
Spectre 234 + Automatic Regeneration 12
Bronze Tiger 60
SI Namor 150 + Submerged 5
= 2000 points.
My plan: Use Zauriel’s “2nd” click with 18 Defend to shore up Atom Smasher’s weak DV while Spectre blasts people with his “Vengeance” Special Power. Meanwhile the others crawl forward at mostly low speed values.
Team #3: PERPLEX
Super Skrull: Illuminati 250 + Outsmart 10
AA Wonder Woman 248 + Fortitude 25
CR Darkseid 210
SI Dr. Doom 200
SI Dr. Strange 149
SR Sinestro 146
M+M Hulk 143
Emma Frost 107 + Invigorate 10
AV Black Panther 92 + Lunge 5
Hector Hammond 88
Will Magnus & Platinum 75
AA Robin 66
Black Bolt 166 + Nova Blast 10
= 2000 points.
My plan: Bunker my non-Stealthed move+attack pieces around Will Magnus & Platinum, who have Defend with 18 Defense Value. Protected by Bat-Stealth, Doom and Black Panther advance until Wonder Woman can enter the fray. In the backfield, Hector TKs nearly every turn and Emma heals him — and Invigorates Darkseid to shoot from 12 squares out over and over. Dr. Strange is also key as an extra source of Perplex that can see all.