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It’s become one of our clix goals here at Heroclixin’ to collect Masters of Evil keyword figures. Recently, we got the chance to field this massive 1500-point force:
Piledriver [Invincible Iron Man 027] @ 55 points
Bulldozer [Invincible Iron Man 014] @ 70
Thunderball [Invincible Iron Man 039] @ 75
Wrecker [Invincible Iron Man 060] @ 90
Crimson Cowl [Invincible Iron Man 031] 57
Constrictor [Deadpool 039] 110
Whiplash [WizKids M-014] 99
Swordsman [Avengers Assemble 029] 85
Moonstone [Avengers Assemble 031a] 126
Blizzard [Invincible Iron Man 025] 75
Melter [Invincible Iron Man 034] 86
Absorbing Man [Invincible Iron Man 103] 153
Titania [Fear Itself 008] 105
Yellowjacket [Age of Ultron 007] 85
Black Talon [Deadpool 043] 60
Grey Gargoyle [Invincible Iron Man 046] 99
+ Masters of Evil ATA
This force faced Robert’s Hydra squad: Red Skull [Avengers Assemble], Red Skull [Avengers Movie 041], Deadpool and Bob, Sin and Crossbones [Invincible Iron Man 045], Richard Fisk, Taskmaster [Chaos War], Wolverine Agent of Hydra, Whirlwind [Avengers Assemble], Silver Samurai [Wolverine and The X-Men], Thule Society Priest and two Snakeroot Clan Ninja.
The Masters got map choice and selected Hank Pym’s Lab to storm.
It was a disaster.
TURNING POINTS
CHAOS. Sin and Crossbones’ trait thoroughly interfered with my team, leaving characters double-tokened and pushed at inopportune times. It would lead to trouble down the road.
CENTER ROOM OVEREXTENSION. So on this map, there’s a central area that draws a lot of the action. And there was a Thule Society Priest just ripe for the taking, so I struck [cue Bond song riff] with Thunderball. This would leave the Wrecking Crew member open to mass counterattack, if not for the Barrier-building Blizzard backing him up.
BAAAAD BARRIER. Unfortunately, I didn’t place the Barrier in the optimal spot and Robert was able to break two squares and get two hard blows on T-Ball to easily wreck him, thanks again to my central room overextension.
MERGE. Titania had taken a good amount of damage, but the notoriously hard to hurt Absorbing Man was in prime condition to initiate the Merge into the duo Absorbing Man and Titania, giving my offense a needed shot in the arm.
WRECKER IN THE WRONG. He has a trait to boost the AV of adjacent Wrecking Crew allies. So of course I never had him next to his crew while they were making attacks, largely due to the constant threat of Sin and Crossbones’ Chaos. I paid most dearly when AbsTitania missed a KO of Taskmaster by one — which Wrecker’s +1 would have totally made a hit. That started an avalanche that I couldn’t recover from, as I lost fig after fig and barely managed KOs of even the Snake Ninjas, for crying out loud.
So many things went wrong in this game, mostly mental things. But this Hydra team was pretty awesome in its own right. I highly underestimated it, and paid the price.
Still, the whole point of the game was to field the Masters of Evil en masse, and in that, the day was a rousing success. By piece:
Absorbing Man [Invincible Iron Man 103]: A good lead attacker due to his damage resistance.
Black Talon [Deadpool 043]: Essential member thanks to his friendly Mind Control skills. The mostly melee MoE needs the boost.
Blizzard [Invincible Iron Man 025]: Between his Pulse Wave and Barrier, he can be invaluable. Kept me in this game longer than I had any right to be with my poor early positioning.
Bulldozer [Invincible Iron Man 014]: Like Absorbing Man, he’s a vital lead man with his special “Head Down” trait blocking line of fire.
Constrictor [Deadpool]: His short range mostly negates his role as a shooter for the MoE.
Crimson Cowl [Invincible Iron Man 031]: Her Leadership and Telekinesis would have been much better if not for Chaos saddling her with tokens from Black Talon’s Mind Controls. She still was the last Master standing, even getting a parting shot and scoring one of my few KOs. At under 60 points, you don’t NOT include her.
Grey Gargoyle [Invincible Iron Man 046]: He seems to work much better on paper than on the field. But Chaos was a big problem for him this game.
Melter [Invincible Iron Man 034]: Despite his wall-busting shots, Melter was mostly a non-factor thanks to an early push from Themed Team Probability Control.
Moonstone [Avengers Assemble 031a]: I misplayed her terribly by overlooking her Outwit until deep into the game.
Piledriver [Invincible Iron Man 027]: Always surprises with his dial depth for just 55 in cost.
Swordsman [Avengers Assemble 029]: A good addition to the melee-heavy MoE, he held off Taskmaster for several turns.
Thunderball [Invincible Iron Man 039]: Gone too soon, but that’s more due to user error than the piece itself. I really was relying on his Outwit and wish I’d held him back.
Titania [Fear Itself 008]: Her anti-Super Strength bonus was useless against a Hydra team devoid of the green attack power. Still an awesome brick that belongs on every Golden Age MoE team.
Wrecker [Invincible Iron Man 060]: A key to the MoE with his ability to freely break walls and supply extra objects. If I run him more effectively in this game, perhaps I’d have made a better showing of it.
Yellowjacket [Age of Ultron 007]: A rare taxi for the team, she gave the MoE a great deal of flexibility that kept it going
+ Masters of Evil ATA: This, more than anything, was a blunder. With two Outwitters and a fairly high degree of damage dealing, this large squad didn’t need the “armor piercing” effect. Better to drop this expense to upgrade one or all of the Wrecking Crew to their higher-cost, better-armored, Masters of Evil team ability using levels.
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Future F.U.N.
Next foray for the Masters? Probably another turf war against villains from a different universe: the Legion of Doom. We’re dropping Constrictor, Whiplash and the MoE ATA in favor of adding the Wrecking Crew ATA, Whirlwind [Avengers Assemble], Ultron-5 [Age of Ultron] and upgrading Wrecker to full cost. Look for a F.U.N. Fights report whenever that matchup happens.