DATE PLAYED: April 18, 2009

SCENARIO: 2000 points of Little Big Men. No pieces less than 200 points or more than a single base in size.

My team:

Thanos (Supernova) 267
+ Protected 8
+ Shellhead 10
+ Thwart 15
Black Adam (Crisis) 254
+ Fortitude 25
+ Warbound 5 (Ruler)
Doom (Secret Invasion) 249
+ Outsmart 10
+ Warbound 5 (Ruler)
Mordru (Crisis) 245
+ Warbound 5 (Ruler)
Green Scar 230
+ Contingency Plan 12
+ Warbound 5 (Ruler)
Darkseid (Crisis) 210
+ Brilliant Tactician 20
+ Outsmart 10
+ Monster Hunter 3
+ Warbound 5 (Ruler)
Omni-Man 207
Man of Steel 200
= 2000 points

My plan: Use Darkseid to constantly Warbound to Green Scar (who builds CP tokens) to Omega Effect people into easy range for the rest of the team. If that’s not possible due to no clear LOF, Mordru will either stall the enemy with nonstop Barriers (thanks to Warbound again) so that Man of Steel and Omni-Man can HSS to and from safety or TK every turn for the same effect until the enemy comes in close. Then, and pretty much only then, Black Adam, Green Scar and Thanos will kick into full-on attack. Doom and Darkseid will always be adjacent to double up on Outsmart protection.

That was the plan, anyhow. What ACTUALLY happened…

FIRST ROUND, I faced new player Stephen on the Dawn of Time map:

U General Zod
U Brainiac (Icons)
U Mongul
Darkseid (Crisis)
+ Brilliant Tactician
Black Adam (Crisis)
+ Vendetta
V Bizarro (Cosmic Justice)
U Lex Luthor (Icons)
U Dormammu

He won the map roll and neither of us played battlefield conditions or special objects. Stephen got his first harsh lesson in positioning when he moved Brainiac just within Darkseid’s 12 range. The lord of Apokolips used Omega Effect option 3 to yank the evil robot into easy range of my whole team; Brainiac didn’t last a round. 

Stephen got his 2nd harsh lesson in positioning after his next turn. Dormammu was taxied far too close to my team and took a lot of Outwit and Psychic Blasts from Doom and Thanos while Man of Steel and Omni-Man took turns attacking Black Adam with TK help from Mordru. 

Once Dormammu was gone, Stephen used the blocking terrain to approach within his Charge ranges. I used Mordru to TK again (thanks to Warbound he never had to rest) and hit Zod hard with Man of Steel. Stephen finally got some real offense off with a couple of hard Charge hits on Man of Steel and Mordru but it was too late to save Stephen’s game. I wound up adding Zod and Bizarro to my tally, losing none. 1-0.

 

SECOND ROUND was against Paul on the old Indy Zen garden map against his:

Superman (Crisis)
+ Fortitude
The Mighty Thor
Ares (Legacy)
+ Fortitude
V Supergirl (Origin)
+ Fortitude
+ In Contact With Oracle
Green Lantern (Legacy)
+ Fortitude
V M’onel
+ Fortitude
Victor Von Doom
+ Fortitude

He Ordinary Day’d my Wasteland, so it was a good thing I put my Kinetic Accelerator on the rooftop. I also had a Generator and the Meteorite. 

The first few turns were a lot of passing, really. Then Paul TK’d Victor Von Doom to attempt a Mind Control…but failed the roll. “So long, Doom,” Paul said. He moved Earth-2 Superman behind the small building on the map. 

This left me with a tough choice: pound Doom with Darkseid, Thanos, Doom and Mordru (and suffer multiple clicks of Mystic feedback thanks to his Wildcard copying of Ares’ team ability), or take the huge risk of attacking E2 with my Hypersonic Speeders. I picked the latter, TKing Omni-Man off the roof to get Perplexed by Darkseid. With this extra speed, he successfully made the attack with the Generator and got back to safety. Emboldened, I pushed Man of Steel off his first click in an all-or-nothing Hypersonic strike with my Meteorite, which hit for maximum damage and my first KO of the game. With my remaining actions, I used Omega Effect to pull Victor Von Doom next to Darkseid, my mystic Doom and Thanos. Thanos used Thwart to nix Victor Von Doom’s Fortitude and Doom made him Powerless.

The Mighty Thor got TKd to a roof and blasted Darkseid hard (though not as hard as if I’d failed his Outsmart roll), and his Mastermind fodder was currently pushed on my rooftop; I didn’t think he could survive another shot from either TMT or Ares, who’d parked 8 squares away in hindering terrain. I agonized over whether to press the attack with Darkseid and friends (since I’d foolishly Omega’d Victor Von Doom adjacent to all three) and take three Mystics clicks for my trouble…leaving them all open to the God of War next turn. I could use Mordru to build a Barrier, sure, but I really wanted him free to act next turn if I needed to TK or attack. I fretted for a solid 3-5 minutes this way.

Fortunately, Darkseid now had Phasing/Teleport to get next to both fodder sources and out of harm’s way. Thanos and Black Adam then finished Victor Von Doom (the Mystics damage handily getting him to Hypersonic Speed) while Paul got M’onel and Supergirl into position. Not wanting to possibly waste a shot on the Fortituded Adam, on Thanos’ Protected or take two clicks for hitting Mystic Doom, Paul rested Ares to my relief.

Using his Kinetic Accelerator, Paul sent Supergirl to hit Omni-Man, but he Impervious’d it. M’onel had better fortune, landing a full-strength hit with the Meteorite than E2 Supes had dropped (and I’d forgotten to pick up). Ares tried to blasted through Doom’s countered Invulnerability for 5, knocking Doom onto Perplex. That sealed Ares’ fate as Thanos countered with a Psychic Blast boosted to 5 damage, followed by Black Adam doing similar damage for the KO (and basing Thor, who’d taken Psychic Blast from Mordu). Man of Steel slammed KC Green Lantern.

When time was called, I’d taken Ares, E2 and Victor Von Doom to no losses. Paul chided me for stalling (due to that one turn where I just couldn’t decide what to do), but really I was only in danger of losing Omni-Man out of all my team. 2-0.

 

THIRD ROUND was opposite Lenny on the Junkyard map from Collateral Damage:

Superman Prime
+ Protected
+ Fortitude
Ganthet
+ Contingency Plan
Thanos (Supernova)
Silver Surfer (Avengers)
Darkseid (Crisis)
+ Brilliant Tactician
Dr. Doom
Green Scar
+ Fortitude

I Ordinary Day’d his Bizarro World. Both of us played cautiously, but I not quite enough as his Surfer got an early shot at my Superman that just missed. Thus scared, I set up my team behind a Mordru Barrier after Thanos’ disastrous crit miss at long range (12 out) on his Dr. Doom. 

Lenny can be a reeeeeally slow player sometimes. This time he took a whopping 10-12 minutes to try to find an angle to attack Thanos after blasting my Barrier. His only option, which he didn’t want to take, was a shot with Superbrat. In the end, I don’t think he took it, despite my (in-character-for-my-villain-heavy-team) taunts of his cowardice.

I blew up the Kinetic Accelerator to send Man of Steel for a risky attempt on Silver Surfer deep in Lenny’s backfield for a solid hit, stranding MoS in the relative saftey of the trash compactor. Lenny then sent Prime for a potentially crippling shot (at range, sans the Meteorite), but Superbrat crit missed. Whew. He then covered Prime with Thanos and Doom against my follow up. Wise…

…but unwise. Mordru TK’d my Darkseid up to Omega Effect his Thanos into clear range of my Psychic Blasters and Omni-Man with my Meteorite. Two-hit KO of the mad Titan. Pressing the attack, I pushed Man of Steel to paste Surfer with the Generator and crit missed — ARRGH! 

That left Man of Steel wide open for Superbrat’s successful, full-power Meteorite blow, landing him on his last click. As time ran out, I pushed to TK Omni-Man for a final attack that KO’d Surfer for the win.

WIN/LOSS: 3-0. 

Keys to victory:

Mordru. His giant-sized TK was basic to my whole strat, but timely Psychic Blasts, Outwits and Barrier-building made him a superb support player with bite. High-point games like these are where he shines.

Single-click-of-HSS duo Man of Steel and Omni-Man. Intended only as jabbers to set up KO punches later in the game, these guys wound up racking up a lot of KOs anyway. 

Outsmart. Saved me at least twice. I LOVE this feat. Outwit protection for yourself AND neighbors for less than half the cost of Fortitude? Pretty good. 

Thwart. A feat I almost never use came in very handy this time. It was great having this trump card ready to deal with Fortitude and such.

Contingency Plan and Warbound on Green Scar. “Sparta” Hulk as a support player? Yeah, strange as it seems, this was a big key to my game. Though he never took a single action, his presence made a huge difference. Heck, just knowing he was ready to go if everything went pear-shaped was a great comfort.

Omega Effect option 3. Did Darkseid ever deal a single click of damage? I don’t think he did. He was just the setup man, and he did it OH so well.