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It’s almost Valentine’s Day, that Hallmark-promoted holiday that puts dudes on the spot the middle of every February and sets ladies up for disappointment.

Oh, sorry. Did I sound a little bitter there? Didn’t mean to.

(Much.)

Anyway, a lot of venues like to couple-up the clix in their scenarios. Here are a few that I always look toward (or will for the first time, this year):

Ultra Boy and Phantom Girl

For 170 points you get this pair of wild card fliers. One is a tough fighter and the other a mobile taxi, both sporting 18 DV. Theme ’em up with other Teens or with their own crew, the Legion of Super-Heroes (which features other pairings like Lightning Lad/Saturn Girl, and Mon-El/Shadow Lass).

Speaking of teens…

Invincible and Atom Eve

It took a while for these teenagers to come together, but they are inextricably linked, now. ‘Vince gives you an inexpensive HSS brick while Eve covers his retreats with Barrier.

Speaking of Barrier, half of this pair is a mistress of it…

Mr. Fantastic (Secret Invasion) and Invisible Woman (Secret Invasion)

The First Couple of the Marvel Universe makes a decent team, too. His +2 Perplex makes her a potent ranged threat while her TK enables some extra range.

Superman and Lois Lane

As classic as this pair is, in HeroClix it’s really just an excuse to play a Superman in this format. Lois doesn’t contribute anything other than A) the Superman Ally TA if you’re fortunate enough to own the ultra-rare chase figure from Origin or B) a way to block or tie up enemy figures for a turn or two.

Peter Parker (Web of Spider-Man) and Mary Jane Watson (Web of Spider-Man)

Even though MJ nearly topped my list of 2010’s worst pieces, she does have some playability when paired with her man. In this format, I might just stick with AE Parker and let this couple act as wild card support for the real fighters.

Dr. Manhattan and Silk Spectre

Aside from his obvious huge damage potential, he also has TK to toss his gal out to tie up targets with her 19 DV in close. Then, if she survives a hit, she can run back to him and Enhance his shots even more. But if that pair of Watchmen is too rich for you…

Nite Owl and Silk Spectre

With two versions of Nite Owl, this pairing offers more points flexibility (if not much raw power at all). Use them as the street-level tie-ups they are.

Black Adam (Crisis) and Isis

The only thing the big Crisis Super Rare has really needed to work is some TK for extra mobility/range and PC to help his must-hit alpha strike land. Isis provides both. Huge point cost, though.

Hawkeye (Avengers) and V Mockingbird

Even adding the Thunderbolts ATA (he qualifies for it) doesn’t even break the 100-point mark! She’s perfect tie-up to set up his shots.

August General in Iron and Ghost Fox Killer

These Great Ten members are in love and are fairly deadly in melee.

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I’m not really one to promote gay couples. But there are some in ‘clix that shouldn’t be overlooked:

Scandal Savage and V Knockout: These villains are mistresses of close combat.

The Question (Arkham Asylum) and Batwoman: One of the game’s best and one of its most mediocre for under 80 points. Could do worse.

Wiccan and Hulking: Ditto…except Wiccan’s not nearly as good as Question and Hulking’s nearly double the cost of Batwoman…y’know, you probably should overlook these booty-buddies.

Phyla-Vell and Moondragon (Hammer of Thor): Costly, but you know I love me some Phyla-Vell.

 

Happy clixing this weekend!

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Today’s pic is a double feature of that Secret Avenger, MOON KNIGHT.

First, the Experienced version from Critical Mass:

Fits quite neatly between his right arm and head.

…and then the Special Power’d version from Avengers:

Under his cape.

I need to start keeping a running tally of who’s been featured so far. Maybe I’ll start a new page?

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Every time a scenario is announced, the first thing I do is try to fit an Aquaman to it. Thus, I built and played three different Atlantis/Aqua team builds for three different scenarios.

SCENARIO ONE: 600 point Modern Age DC only

BD Aquaman 105
AN Aquaman 106
AN Mera 85
Ocean Master 65
Tempest 116
Starro Aquaman 70
Aqualad 40
= 587 points.

I faced a Titans team of Red Arrow, White Lantern Superboy, Bart Allen, Liberty Belle, Beast Boy, Donna Troy and Miss Martian on the constricted Sciencells map. Despite some early failure to roll that cost Starro Aquaman his life and the utter difficulty in mobility this map presents for non-flyers,the turning point saw the remaining Aquamen double-teaming Superboy for the big KO of the game. Lost Tempest, StarroAqua and Aqualad but wiped the enemy. FAIL moment(s): Thoroughly forgetting to use BD Aquaman’s Undead Sea trait to punish enemies.

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SCENARIO TWO: Six Degrees of (Keyword) Separation. Each character must have a keyword, and share that keyword with one other character, who must share a different keyword with a different keyword…and so on until both six characters and 600 points are reached.

BD Aquaman 105
Tempest 116
Zauriel 117
AN Aquaman 106
Starro Aquaman 70
AN Mera 85
=599 points. Atlantis to Mystical to JLA to Justice League of America to Ruler.

Narrowly beat a team led by AV Iron Man and WS Deadpool (KOing the former along with WS Wolverine and M+M Archangel) but got absolutely SKUNKED by a team led by Skrulluminati, CL Nick Fury and HoT Cap.

Both games I tried to TK Zauriel out to Pulse Wave, failed, and got him KOed less than a turn later. In the second, not only did I have a total range and mobility disadvantage, no objects (due to the Damage Control feat), but, worst of all, I had a very poor plan of addressing these issues that vitally depended on me hitting my rolls and my opponent missing his.

Ninety percent of my attack attempts (either by Skrull roll, or, more often, ice-cold rolls) failed and nearly that proportion of his attempts succeeded. So…so much for that. Lesson Learned: Move to minimize the opponent’s advantages instead of making it easier for him!

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SCENARIO THREE: No Fly Zone: No fliers allowed. Transporters OK.

This is my home venue, and these guys can’t stand it when I play Atlantis or Aquaman. But…they allowed transporters, and I wanted to try out the new Atlantis ATA.

AN Aquaman 106
BD Aquaman 105
V Icons Aquaman 71
JL Starro Aquaman 70
JL Aquaman 68
E Icons Aquaman 56
V HT Aquaman 41
R Icons Aquaman 39
R HT Aquaman 27
+ Atlantis ATA 16
=599 points.

But I was under the impression that feats and BFCs were banned this tournament. Upon learning they weren’t, I dropped the ATA and added Submerged to E Icons Aquaman and Armor Piercing to the Brightest Day version for an actual final cost of 598 points.

I chose the Aruna Temple map, which is about 60% water. My opponent’s largely ranged team of WS Bullseye, AN Green Arrow, AN Deadshot, Barry Allen, Lt. Marcus Stone and about a half-dozen PD generics stayed way on the other side, forcing my wide-open Aquamen to take fire on the way there.

No problem; my cheaper Aquamen had deep enough dials to make it to them, tying up the Sharpshooters long enough for the heavier-hitting fishmen to score KOs. Additionally, my fodder took so many attacks to put down that the Undead Sea trait racked up a fair amount of damage, too. I took out Green Arrow, Bullseye, Deadshot and a couple of cops, losing only my HT Rookie and Vet.

Next, I got stuck on the Graveyard against HoT Cap, Green Scar, Gamora, WS Nightcrawler and V Psylocke (Armor Wars) but washed it out with Atlantis Rising. Took a lot more damage in this game and handed out a lot more via the Undead Sea as well, knocking Nightcrawler off his kidnapping clicks.

Keeping Scar and Gamora tied up with HT Vet gave me a shot, but an ill-timed double-target critical hit on E Icons and R HT Aquaman by Cap knocked me out of position, possibly costing me an improbable victory as I was forced to waste bigger attackers on Nightcrawler instead of being able to focus on Green Scar.

It didn’t help that all those attackers couldn’t hit Nighty’s simple 17 DV in five straight attacks.

A final positioning FAIL allowed the otherwise tied-up Gamora to Outwit BD Aquaman just in time for a last-second KO by Green Scar. Also lost Starro, E Icons, R Icons, AN Aquaman for a crushing defeat, only KOing Psylocke. Lesson Learned: Don’t let frustrating dice failures shake me out of decent tactics…such as staying out of Outwitters’ sight!

Final round was on the Bridge map against the new Ares, Warlord and BN Flash times TWO. I perched JL Aquaman on the tower to Perplex everyone, kept my crew in the water so no one could reach them, and did hit & run attacks until I’d wiped them all out. Lost Starro, and R HT.

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With that game, I’ve been pretty much done with Atlantis/Aquaman-centric teams, having run just about every iteration possible. I even got a shot at using the Atlantis ATA. So it appears that my Aqua-holism is cured!

(Until I reacquire one of the Fantastic Forces Sub-Mariner pieces to use the ATA on. …ugh…starting to get the shakes…!)

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One of my favorite things to do in this game is pull out a F.U.N. (Friendly, Useful, Neat-o) team of clones. And with at least one version in the past 5 DC sets, Robin fits the need.

Robin 79 (Crisis veteran)

AKA: "Emo" Robin

The Outwit for this team, Emo Robin is crucial for getting past damage reducers. If necessary, he’s only one push away from Perplex, Willpower and Incap.

Robin 66 (Arkham Asylum)

My repaint.

While Crisis Robin supplies the Outwit, this version provides Perplex to start. Though it seems counterintuitive to use the high-cost figures for support, it’s absolutely worth it.

Robin (The Brave and the Bold)

"Lil'" Robin.

This is one of the front-line attackers. Totally built for close-fighting (as evidenced by  Combat Reflexes and 0 range), Lil’ Robin ties up the enemy for the others.

Robin (Crisis rookie)

Being a Robin without the Bat Ally TA, this one seems a weak link. But on a team this numerous, his Leadership can be key in the early game. And if you put Lunge on him, he suddenly becomes a dangerous puncher with a push or other light damage thanks to his Willpower and SP Flurry. He also draws attacks away from the others, being one of the non-Stealthed targets beyond his first click.

Robin (Batman Alpha)

Pretty long-lived for his cost, this Robin is made for Pounce and is, so equipped, the secret weapon of this team. Even without it, he’s good and consistent and will draw heat away from the really dangerous members of the team.

Robin 22 (Icons starter)

or, ol' Short Pants.

Only there to fill out points, toss an occasional Smoke Cloud and, most importantly, absorb themed team PC tokens. ‘Cause yeah…this is a themed team (Gotham City).

Here’s the team I built:

Robin 79 (Crisis veteran)
Robin 66 (Arkham Asylum)
Robin 43 (The Brave and the Bold) + Lunge 5
Robin 35 (Crisis rookie) + Lunge 5
Robin 30 (Batman Alpha) + Pounce 15
Robin 22 (Icons starter)

= 300 points (25 in feats). For a Modern Age version, I’ll drop the Icons piece and the feats for the 40-point Boy Wonder LE from Crisis:

Boy Wonder (Crisis LE)

This representation of the second and short-lived Robin Jason Todd can either be a Willpowered source of Smoke Cloud or join Damian Robin on the front lines with his Charge.

Look for a future New Comic Day battle report to, well, report on how this team fared. (But not this Wednesday…I have something different planned.) Happy clixing this weekend!

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Formerly called “Wednesday Battle Reports,” the name change represents a shift in how I do these. They just take way too long to read and write. So instead of a play-by-play description of the games, I’m going to follow this basic format:

  • The inspiration of the team
  • The actual build
  • My basic strategy
  • And, per round:
  1. Highlights
  2. Turning Point(s)
  3. MVPs

Hopefully, I can handle this format a bit more easily and you’ll find it smoother reading. Let me know what you think?

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Superfriends

This cartoon, in retrospect, was terribly lame. Heck, Aquaman, now my favorite hero, is still fighting the bad rep he gained from this show nearly FORTY YEARS LATER.
But because he’s my favorite character, when a venue held a scenario requiring that all characters had to appear in an animated series, the original Superfriends line-up was the first to come to mind:

Come on, I don’t care how lame you thought Aquaman was, that sound effect for his power rocked.

Anyway, here’s the team (in order of appearance in the clip):

Man of Steel (Collateral Damage) 200 + Alias 3
Wonder Woman (DC 75th Anniversary) 127
Batman & Robin 138 + Lunge 5
Aquaman (DC 75th Anniversary) + Contingency Plan 12
Marvin & Wendy 9
+ Opened Hydrant
+ Eleha’al Vine
+ Generator
= 600 points.

Far from being just mere flavor for the team, the pog Marvin & Wendy were a crucial blocker thanks to two characters with 18 Defend. Their Energy Shield/Deflection then gave them a staggering 20-21 DV at range, protecting my very soft-shelled fighters until they could get into the fight.

First Round I faced young Zach’s Teen Titans: Bart Allen (DC 75th Anniversary), Superboy (DC 75th Anniversary), Donna Troy (DC 75th Anniversary), Beast Boy (DC 75th Anniversary), Robin (Arkham Asylum) and Red Arrow.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Nearly lost the game when I shot Robin instead of punching him with Man of Steel because A) I easily could’ve punched for a one-hit-KO and run back to where I was and B) I should’ve moved him further back so Superboy couldn’t Charge him for 6 clicks, neutering him quite handily.
  • I rolled pretty poorly, and Donna Troy’s PC made it worse. The first 40 minutes of the game I barely hit anything. Fortunately, Wonder Woman’s 18 Defend (and my opponent’s insistence on battling Man of Steel instead of her) kept Man of Steel alive long enough to for my rolls to turn just enough for a comeback.

TURNING POINTS

Hitting Superboy — at LAST! — for enough damage to send him running to Bart Allen for Titans TA healing. That freed Wonder Woman to Charge Donna Troy out of the game. Superboy came back to fight Man of Steel, but that only allowed me to double-team him into KO to seal the win.

MVP

  • Wonder Woman. 18 Defend. Also, her Lasso SP got the penetrating damage on Donna Troy right when I finally needed it.
  • Opened Hydrant. Though I never got to use Aquaman’s “Rise From the Deep” SP with the Hydrant’s water zone (got blasted off those clicks by Starfire), the water kept Red Arrow from making a last-second Running Shot to threaten Man of Steel.

Second Round: Bill ran Doomsday (DC 75th Anniversary), LOSH Cosmic Boy, Phantom Girl, V Batman (Legacy), Mr. Mind and Jason Blood.

HIGHLIGHT

I won map roll and got the BPRD water map. From then on, I proceeded to roll at least one less than what I needed to land any given hit.

TURNING POINT

  • After a failed Hypersonic Speed run, I again failed to move Man of Steel far enough away. Doomsday, having been flown by Cosmic Boy, got a line of fire on Man of Steel to counter my HSS, then tied him down with Phantom Girl — who destroyed both the Generator I was holding and the Vine next to me for good measure.
  • I thought my 200-point character was safe from Doomsday, since Cosmic Boy had no line of fire to TK the monster. I was unaware that Doomsday was feated with Lunge, giving him a free shot after that TK which I would have certainly thwarted by blocking Cos’s line of fire.
  • In the end, I’d lost my whole team, only KOing Batman.

MVP

No one. Wonder Woman missed Jason Blood’s 16 DV with her 11 AV. That’s how bad it was. Not even Contingency Plan helped.
Third Round: James had Batman (Arkham Asylum chase #99), SR Batman(DC 75th Anniversary), Darkseid (Crisis), Ultron (Hammer of Thor) + Nova Blast.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • I made sure that Nova Blast would NOT occur, pushing to Outwit Ultron with Batman & Robin, then beating him with Aquaman’s RFTD. The evil robot never recovered.
  • Also one-shot Watchtower Batman with Man of Steel (having learned from the first round not to waste the chance) and ran him and Marvin & Wendy (who’d survived Bats’ Flurry thanks to Man of Steel’s Defend) to the far end of the map.

TURNING POINT

Darkseid phased in, then pushed to hit Man of Steel hard. To save Supes from a relatively easy KO, I used Aquaman to water-warp and smash blocking terrain to open Batman & Robin’s line of fire to Outwit Darkseid’s Impervious. Marvin & Wendy Flurried Darkseid for 1 (knocking him off Impervious), then Wonder Woman Charged to knock him onto his 16 DV click. That left Darkseid easy pickings for a KO, and my opponent thoroughly conceded at this point.

MVP

Everyone. Seriously, like a good comic book (or Superfriends episode), EVERYBODY got their moments.

FINAL RECORD: 2-1. A very fun team that’s surprisingly effective.

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Been quite a while, eh? Other features took over the site for a while, but now My Custom Mods is back! And it just so happens that this is one of my most ambitious mods of the series yet:

BLACK WIDOW custom

Normally, this is where I put a pic of the original figure — the “Before” shot. But this time, I wasn’t just modifying a sculpt. Instead, I was trying to substitute a whole character, dial, sculpt and all.

THIS is what I want.

Black Widow is a character who’s never been done right in HeroClix. This is what she does:

  1. Wall-crawling and swingline action (Leap/Climb);
  2. Blasting multiple targets, whether via her trademark “Widow’s Bite” bracelets (Incapacitate) or standard firearms, and often on the move (Running Shot);
  3. Good combat values because she’s a spy extraordinaire;
  4. And, because she’s a spy extraordinaire, Stealth;
  5. Preferably all at once, kinda like this spread from Mighty Avengers #1. Or this sequence<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzO9nPS3_4A&feature=related> from Iron Man 2.

Nearly all versions of her are really good at #4 and part of #2, but not #1 and certainly all fail terribly at #3.

Well, it turns out that Gambit (Mutations & Monsters) is quite good at all those things:

  • Running Shot? Check.
  • Stealth? Check.
  • Leap/Climb? Check.
  • Decent Defense Value? Check.
  • All of the above, at the same time? QUADRUPLE-CHECK. :)
  • The Energy Explosion fits well (see her multi-barrelled bracelets).
  • His Ranged Combat Expert and Penetrating/Psychic Blast are tougher, but not outside her capabilities, given that she’s a top agent of SHIELD with access to all sorts of weaponry and expert with most of it.
  • Quake is the toughest sell, but she’s a great martial artist. There’s plenty of precedent for this power on such types.

So the lithe Russian gal I've coveted all this time is a really a dude with permanent 5:00 shadow? ...When did HeroClix start mimicking my personal life? ...Wait. Did I just type that out loud? OMG...

Anyway, I decided to replace his sculpt with Black Widow.

However.

Not only did I not want to dismantle my actual Black Widow (if I even had one at the time), but since this was going to be an unofficial version, I wanted to mod an entirely different sculpt to match.

Sharon Carter filled the bill.

So here’s what I did:

  • Removed GAMBIT figure from base.
  • Removed SHARON CARTER figure from her base and glued it to GAMBIT’s.
  • Repainted SHARON CARTER’s white clothes with glossy black enamel.
  • Repainted blonde hair with red acrylics.
  • Painted on silver bracelets and belt (with red detail).

Completed late-2009. But more than a year later, I’ve still not played her in a game.

(Maybe it’s because I know that “she” is really a “he.” Just like…oh, I almost did it again.)

NEXT WEEK: Another white girl going black…sort of…