Month: January 2014

Local Tournament Report – 1/08/14 Comics & More

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20140110-105552.jpg

I’m tired, but I will give a quick and dirty run down of tonight. I leave the 4000 word introductions to Hypefox.

The Format: 600 point modern. No Colossals. No Resources. No special items. No vehicles larger than a peanut base. 40 minute rounds.

What I played:

BM031 Alfred Pennyworth

NML002 Batgirl

BM016 Batgirl

BM025 Batgirl

FFBM003 Nightwing

BM001R Batman

BM206 Red Robin

ATA074 Batman Family * 7

(side boarded) BM100 Nightwing and Batgirl

Total = 598 Points

Round 1: Played against  IIM001A Iron Man, IIM029B War Machine, IIM016 Pepper Potts, and FI301 Splitlip. The first few turns went like you might expect. I knew he would get the first shot(s) with his huge ranged advantage. My 5 perplexes all went to defense for my approach. War Machine moved up, fired, and missed. Iron Man shot batman for 6 through a wall while he was sitting in hindering with increased defense. On his last click Batman ran to Alfred. It reminded me of the movie. “Alfred I need you!” Everyone else ran to base the other team because they had pushed for their alpha strike. The next round NML002 Batgirl got a perplex to hit and 2 perplexes to damage. She charged/flurried on Warmachine and hit both times. He went to click 7. The other two Batgirls took up firing positions. Iron Man Hit BM025 Batgirl and she ran to Alfred. Red Robin finally got to the fight and used running shot to knock WarMachine up to Click 10. War Machine sidestepped behind Iron Man. Iron Man then Shoots NML002 Batgirl and KOs her. Nightwing finally shows up and Bases Iron Man. The next round with a Perplex he knocks Iron Man to Click 3. Over the next two rounds Iron Man breaks away and then he and War Machine KO Nightwing from range. Batman finally rejoins the fight and gets into firing position on a pushed War Machine and… the judge calls time. The match ends with zero points for me and 175 for the other team. I think I could have taken this match with more time, but it ends up a loss.

Round 2: Played against GG034 Super-Skrull, IH104 Black Bolt, GG208 Super Skrull, M10A022 Wolverine, GG035 Replica, and GG202 Skrull Assassin * 2. In theory I would have said this was a good matchup for me. However playing the game turned out differently. After Nightwing was so slow getting into battle in game 1, I decided turn 1 to merge him and Batgirl into BM100 Nightwing and Batgirl. My opponent’s Super Skrull and Black Bolt had running shot, but due to hindering and elevation we both closed on each other without any ranged action. BM016 Batgirl and BM206 Red Robin take up elevated firing positions. Once we started mixing it up I realized I had a big problem. On my first turn of real action I charged NML002 Batgirl into a Super Skrull. Shape change roll was made. No attack. Then BM100 Nightwing and Batgirl charged that same Super Skrull. Skrull roll made. No attack. Batman based Replica and the Skrull Assassins intending to flurry them to death. He make it to the next round unscathed but Skrull rolls and a miss mean that only one assassin took damage. The following round replica crit hits Batman. The BM100 Nightwing and Batgirl duo holds it’s own for quite a while, but everyone else is getting KOed as my opponents forces went from one side of the map to the other. That’s pretty much how the match goes. IH104 Black Bolt misses his first few attacks, but eventually his running shot and ranged attacks started KOing my figures. This match also ended with time expiring. I KOed roughly 200 points of his team and he got 400 points of mine. Had this match continued I definitely would have lost all my pieces.

Round 3: Played against ASM020 Rhino, M10A018 Green Goblin, ASM031A Kraven the Hunter, ASM029 Demogoblin, ASM002 Shocker, ASM030 Lizard. Immediately went to the BM100 Nightwing and Batgirl duo again. No ranged action due to elevation and hindering. I send out BM016 Batgirl as bait. The goblins both bite and BM016 Batgirl is down to her last click and heading to Alfred. Kraven uses leap climb to base Alfred. Batman and the Duo are sent into hindering near the opposing team with their defense perplexed up. The Lizard has no problem rolling an 10 to hit Batman’s 20 defense and a blades roll puts bats on his worst click (3rd click). The following round Bats runs to Alfred. BM016 Batgirl uses her outwit to take away Kraven’s defense and NML002 Batgirl and the duo charge up an elevation to KO him. Red Robin shoots a Goblin. Rhino and Lizard are left without opponents on their elevation and they starting walking. That elevation aggravation will continue for them the rest of the game. M10A018 Green Goblin does get off an awesome energy explosion on four of my guys around Alfred. But, no one is KOed and he goes down the following round. This match was eventually called for time. Being in the losers bracket we didn’t bother counting the points. I definitely would have KOed all opposing pieces with more time.

What I learned:

FFBM003 Nightwing is awful. I only played him to merge into the duo. I would say play Blackbat over him every time.

Skrulls are irritating and effective if you are lucky.

IIM001A Iron Man is really pretty good.

IIM016 Pepper Potts is pointless if your opponent read my earlier article and knows not to KO her.

If you play BM001R Batman he will always end up on his one bad click every game and you will hate it.

NML002 Batgirl is very good with some perplex backup.

Improved movement or a taxi are pretty must a must for stealthy characters.

What Batman Family team would I play if I could go back and do it all over again?

BM031 Alfred Pennyworth

NML002 Batgirl

BM201 Batman

BM010 Blackbat

BM206 Red Robin

BM100 Nightwing and Batgirl

ATA074 Batman Family * 6

(side boarded) BM205 Nightwing
(side boarded) BM025 Batgirl

Total = 600 Points

This team has 6 characters in a 600 point game so I can move them all every turn. All of the close combat attackers now have improved movement and all attackers have move and attack abilities. No more basing the opposite team and hoping they don’t hit me before I get a chance to hit them. Red Robin has a taxi now to get him into firing position. Batman has exploit weakness to help soften up impervious tent poles. The number one best improvement is no more FFBM003 Nightwing.

Weekly Roundup!!

/ HypeFox / Leave a comment

Roundup

Hey There!!

Rounding up the Clix Community highlights from the past week…

Podcasts:

—Dial H for Heroclix ran a “best-of” pod for episode 25 featuring the funniest moments from the past year. They should be back with a new episode next week.

—Duo Attack was dark again this week.

—ClixCast was new with episode 137 featuring the Steve and Jeremiah’s picks for their favorite Clix of the past year.

—The Quarry was new with episode 4 featuring an interview with recent ROC tourney winner Jonathan Compton and a discussion of the finalization of the new ROC format rules.

Previews:

—Nimrod was unveiled from the upcoming (March? April?) Gravity Feed set taken from the classic 80’s X-Men storyline. He’s got a bad attitude and knowledge of the future, and he can be played at three different point levels!

–DC’s new SLOSH set got another spoiler, this time featuring a very cool version of Starman.

–I don’t know much about Yu-Gi-Oh!, but the previews for the first set continued with the very interesting Castle of Dark Illusions.

Other Stuff:

–Uh, some blog called Critical Missives debuted with it’s first three articles!

And we’ll be back with more thoughts, reviews, analysis & opinions next week!

Until then, stay safe, and watch where you draw your lines of fire!

 

 

Meet the New Boss; Same as the Old Boss!! (A Second Opinion on the Invincible Iron Man set and a Quick Discussion About the Meta.)

/ ninwashui / 1 Comment

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Meet NinwaShui, our newest contributor! He’s a veteran of many Heroclix tournaments and has played the game for quite a while. His last tournament victory–Month 6 of Fear Itself–came at my expense and earned him a Colossal Serpent! Ninwa is here today to provide another perspective on a couple of my most recent posts.)

A SECOND OPINION!!

That's High Praise

About the set:

I liked this set a lot in terms of theme, but compared to WXM it had a slightly lower power level. There are a larger percentage of figures in this set that I feel I would never field on a team. The power level in the playable figures is definitely comparable. That’s nothing to be ashamed of, as I think WXM is the most powerful set we’ve ever seen.

The chases are cool and they are all playable, but they aren’t the super beautiful one man armies that the last set featured. For a causal player the WXM chases are better, but the chases in this set are much more likely to show up on tournament teams in the current meta.

The current meta:

In my listings below I judge the current meta based on what I’ve seen from recent tournie reports. At the moment, those are mostly from the ROC. Essentially right now you seem to have 5 choices:

-A 300 point team base (Hellfire, X-men blue).

-A 200 point team base (New mutants) and 100 points of something else.

-A 200 point Shuma Gorath and 100 points of something else.

-68 point Catwoman, a 14 point bat belt, and 218 points of something else.

-A 250 point team with at least 3 characters (or two and a bystander), splitlip, and a full book of the skull. This is the most common team you see. I commonly refer to this team and meta environment as “Hammers raining from the sky.”

My 5 figures that almost made the top ten:

5. IIM031 Crimson Cowl – This is a good support figure for MOE teams. Never play her without the Hammer industries ATA. She might have made the top 10 if IIM002 Rescue wasn’t in the same point range in the same set.

4. IIM051 Iron Pharaoh (1500 BC) – He is probably the best figure to use the SUMMON ANCESTRAL SPIRIT: IRON MAN trait to summon. But he lacks the trait himself which means you don’t want to start with him in play. Otherwise, incredible range and his lack of move and attack is easily fixed in a hammers raining from the sky environment.

3. IIM028 Death’s Head – I’ve seen this guy in action and he is deadly on every click. Park him behind the rest of your team and shoot straight through them with his improved targeting. He’s best played with small cheap supporting figures because of his SIDE JOB power mid dial. His average attack value and lack of a move and attack ability are easily fixed in a hammers raining from the sky environment.

2. IIM020 Detroit Steel – This guy made top 16 at a an ROC out of nowhere. I listened to a podcast where they thought it was a joke in the tournament report. Then I checked his dial. His TARGETING SOLUTION allows you to shoot a stealthy guy in hindering OR the guy hiding behind the stealthy guy in hindering. That second option is usually better. Precision strike means that super senses and mastermind are just as useless as stealth. The Hammer ATA is enough to make this guy a pretty darn good figure.

1. IIM030 Mandarin – This guy and his rings would be one of the best support figures in all of modern except that you can’t use other resources with him. He’s not powerful enough to warrant not running your own book of the skull. However in a tournament that doesn’t allow resources, but does allow special objects, this guy rocks. In particular there is one ring to rule them all. The ring binding all the others together in darkness is, appropriately enough, the Black Light ring. There are 3 reasons it’s awesome. “This character can use Smoke Cloud as a free action.” Normal smoke cloud sucks. Smoke cloud as a free action is awesome. “Opposing characters that begin their turn in a square with one of these terrain markers placed by this ability modify their speed and range values by -2.” These are additional bonuses to what smoke cloud already does when used on opposing characters. Go read the new 2013 version of that power again on your PAC card. And if you make opposing characters shoot through hindering, that is an additional -1 to their attack beyond the smoke cloud’s inherent -1 to attack. Also, remember that placing smoke cloud under characters without a way to avoid hindering movement penalties cuts their movement in half. Awesome. And here’s the best part: “This character and adjacent friendly characters can use Stealth if they occupy a square with a terrain marker placed by this ability.” That means if you use smoke cloud on your own team it gives stealth to Mandarin and anyone adjacent to him! Awesome.

In addition to being a competent ranged attacker Mandarin also starts with another ring besides black light. Mento Intensifer (mind control as a free action) is probably the best secondary ring.

The top ten most powerful figures from the Invincible Iron Man Set:

10. IIM002 Rescue – Probably the best support figure in modern not named Scarlet Witch or Tony Stark. The only thing keeping her from being higher on this list is that 65 is a lot in a 300 point army for someone who does zero damage.

9. IIM049 Iron Monger -Do you remember that time he sued the Scarlet Witch because she used the Mystics TA without his permission? Good times. With his ability to nullify any copy-able TA from the opposing team you may disrupt their whole game plan. His attack value looks sub par  until you take into account his -2 perplex to defense. Anyone he can target with perplex he should be able to hit.

8. IIM015 Tony Stark – There has to be a way to break this piece and it’s Mole Man-like ability to make your armor pieces awesome. Maybe “Send in the Drones” Ultron is the key? Also, you should consider that because of his stop click and automatic regeneration for 1 at the start of your turn a lot of pieces in this game can’t knock him out one-on-one. You need to either outwit him or attack twice in one turn. 255 point AVM Hulk can’t knock out this figure by himself. Think about that.

7. IIM048 Count Nefaria – I agree with Hypefox that this fig is great for all the reasons he listed. He’s not higher on my list because I believe IIM029B War Machine is better and he’s only 1 point more.

6. IIM029A War Machine – A great attacker at a bargain price. The trait he has is wonderful and Stark Industry theme units are really hot right now. He has Booklip written all over him.

5. IIM056 Iron Soldier (1910s) – I think this is the best character to start with for the SUMMON ANCESTRAL SPIRIT: IRON MAN trait. Full dial stealth plus the ability to move through hindering terrain–that’s been awesome since Hypertime Batman and it’s still awesome now. Rock solid attack values. +1 att and +1 damage versus armor, past and soldier keyword figs. Also a smoke cloud power you actually want to use. His lack of move and attack is easily rectified in a hammers raining from the sky tournament.

4. IIM029B War Machine – His ALPHA STRIKE power will let you hit the other side of the board in one turn, possibly ambushing the other team before they are ready for you. His RETALIATORY STRIKE is an interesting way to help him not get out-actioned by a more balanced team.

3. IIM041B Hyperion – If you just saw his starting click you might think this was a dial for Galactus. This is the Superman dial that we’ve been waiting for and that we know WizKids will never give us, because if they did there would be no reason to make another ever again. He is a one man army with enough room to still run a resource. The only thing keeping him from being higher on the list is the lack of a broken white power or a trait that needs to be sent immediately to the watch list without passing Go or collecting $200.

2. IIM103 Absorbing Man – Here’s that broken white power I mentioned was missing from Hyperion. I don’t know about the rest of you, but with the way I roll in tournaments getting a 7 or better on my dice is sometimes a long shot. There’s a 58% (roughly) chance of that. Well, there’s only a 16%(roughly) chance after hitting this guy to actually damage him (I know his defense is low, but you still have to make that roll first obviously, so when you look at it altogether, he has a very small chance of taking damage for every attack directed at him). He’s got 5 clicks so you will likely need to hit him twice to KO him and all the while he’s hitting your team for 5 damage a shot. If you build a team a around him (TK, taxi, outwit, etc…) he’s deadly. Nul’s hammer makes him even more unfair.

1. IIM001B Silver Centurion – With the Absorbing Man I said he was deadly when a team a was built around him. Silver Centurion doesn’t even need that much to win. His Torpedo trait will hopefully be watch listed soon and even if it’s removed completely he would still be very playable. His only real weakness is a lack of indomitable and that’s easily rectified.

The 5 worst figures in the Invincible Iron Man set:

5. IIM047E Titanium Man – 150 points for 5 clicks? Is he nearly indestructible like the absorbing man? No. 10 attack. 17 defense. Down to 3 damage after two clicks. His 250 version seems like an average figure. The 150 point version feels like they put the 150 point line in the wrong place.

4. IIM024 Centurius – His EVOLUTIONIZER power isn’t that great in a hammers raining from the sky environment and this guy literally has nothing else to offer. Play Rescue for 7 points less.

3. IIM021 Sasha Hammer – Sasha gives you a 1 in 3 chance to resurrect a 150 point character. Without that trait she’d be an average 50 point character. Unfortunately she costs 90. Hell, if you played a better 90 point character to begin with, your 150 point character might not have gotten KOed in the first place.

2. IIM036 Ghost – What is this guy’s purpose? Not really support. Mobile blocking terrain? He can push to click 2 and do some damage up close, but at that point you might as well play 40 point IIM207 Puck.

1. IIM016 Pepper Potts –  A 33 point character with 2 activation clicks. Sure, if your opponent knocks her out while she’s adjacent to Tony Stark she can turn into a low point Rescue, but why would you opponent ever try knocking her out first?

Fast Five: The Five Worst Figures In Invincible Iron Man!!

/ HypeFox / Leave a comment

FAST FIVE

Hey there!!

So my original intentions with this blog were to write at length about Heroclix, Comics, TV & Movies (and whatever else strikes my fancy, I guess) while offering up some (somewhat) thoughtful insights and opinions. At least once a week, I’ll try to write a long piece where I can really get in-depth on a subject–like my previous post.
And then there will be entries like today. Not every post is gonna be a list of something (I don’t wanna be this guy), but sometimes that is the most efficient way to address a subject quickly.

So then:

We’ve previously discussed the best pieces in the latest full set from Wizkids, Invincible Iron Man. But what are the worst? Not just the bad figs, mind you, but the pieces that you should avoid at all costs—that’s what we’re looking for today!

5. Juggernaut (#032) 115 points—Rare: This hurts. It really does. Juggy is one of my favorite villains, but this is just sad. He starts off just as you’d expect with a perfectly named Improved Movement Trait (UNSTOPPABLE: Improved Movement: Ignores Hindering Terrain, Ignores Blocking Terrain and destroys blocking terrain as the character moves through it, Ignores Characters). Okay, so far so good. The sculpt is great as well. Not mind-blowing, but it captures the ‘Naut just fine. Okay, so that’s the good. Those two things that are not awful. Now for the bad (also known as the reasons he’s on this list):
—There’s only 7 clicks on his dial. Only 7 clicks?! At first I thought I had a misprint and he was on someone’s else’s dial. Just 7 clicks for the Juggernaut. Shit, even Spiral (at the same rarity level) got 8 clicks for 9 less points and even then they found room to include the most  exploitable Trait in the history of the game (okay, since she was completely broken, that may be an unfair example, but still…)!
—He has no Willpower or Indomitable. No Indomitable?! For one of the most Unstoppable forces in the Marvel Universe. Apparently, the only thing that can stop the Juggernaut is his need to pause every other round to catch his breath and discover his inner peace. Are you serious?! No Indomitable for the Unstoppable Juggernaut?! Um… okay. Whatever. At least he’s still got Charge…
—Charge doesn’t show up until the third click!! What?! WHAT?! WHAT?! He starts with freaking Sidestep? Those are basically activation clicks for a guy who is always in his power in the comics. He doesn’t have to “activate” anything! In the name of all that’s Holy, he’s called the freaking Juggernaut, not Doctor Twinkletoes. No. NO! That makes no sense. You’re making no sense right now, WizKids!! Get it together! And lock it up! I mean, all he’s got going for him at this point is his high printed damage…
—Uh, you mean the 3 that he starts with? The printed damage for his first five clicks is 3?!?! That’s all you get until click 6! Somebody up there hates me. That’s the only explanation I have.
–Wait—he has a Flurry click with a 12 Attack, 18 D with Impervious and (finally!!) a printed damage of 4! Oh! Well, okay, now we’re talking! When you add in the object he’ll most likely be carrying—Nope! Sorry to interrupt, but he loses Super Strength on that click. <Sigh> Well, still, if he can stay in that 12 AV 4 Damage range for a few clicks he’ll—Ah-uh. No, that’s his last click. The one slot that’s the hardest for him get to. … I hate you. Almost as much as I hate this piece. Of $#!+. That is clearly NOT THE #$#@IY@I Juggernaut!!

Let’s just move on before I need a barf bag. Somewhere, Kuurth is facepalming.

4. Absorbing Man (#033) 145 points (Experienced Version)—Rare:

3. Bulldozer (#014) 145 points (Experienced Version)—Common:
Okay, these two get grouped together because they all have the same problem: way too many points for little to no upgrade over their Rookie versions!!
Absorbing Man at 95 points (a savings of 50 points!) still gets you 6 clicks, starts with the same Charge, same AV (10), same damage (3) and same specials! Why pay 50 more points for a measly two clicks of stuff you’re already getting?! Unless your Reverting Greithoth, I’d stay away.
Then there’s Bulldozer. As I mentioned in the Top Ten set review, he’s an even bigger rip-off! 75 more points for the Experienced version and you only get two more clicks. Same Charge, same AV, same DV (granted his Toughness is actually a slightly better Invuln in those first two clicks, but still…), and one click of 4 damage. One. For 75 points. I could run a rookie Piledriver and Splitlip for that much! Or a Booklip and an Asgardian Troll. The possibilities are endless!

2. Crossbones (#206) 62 points—Common: Not completely useless, just not nearly as good as his main set version (which only costs 17 more points and adds, among other things, Sharpshooter). Good starting AV (11), and a great Team Ability, but that’s pretty much where the good news ends. His range is only five, which—when combined with the presence of a single click each of Charge and Super Strength (Super Strength? For Crossbones? Am I missing something?)—I guess means that he’s supposed to be a close combat beatstick? Except that there are way better options, some for even less points (Rookie Piledriver anyone?), if that’s what you’re looking for.

1. Rescue (#202) 58 points—Common: You’ve heard me sing the praises of the 65-point Rescue before as one of the Top Ten figures in this set. Well, you will not hear me praise this one. The Gravity Feed Rescue is only 7 less points, but you lose soooo, soooo much. How much could one figure lose for 7 points? Let’s take a look.
–This Rescue has Phasing/Teleport, which the main set Rescue does not have, and they both fly and thus both can carry. Okay, so that’s good. But Gravity Feed Rescue’s movement is only 7 (which means it’s just FIVE when she’s carrying someone!) versus the main set’s whopping 11! Plus that Rescue has Force Blast and the trait that lets her carry up to 3 other characters if those characters are not on their first click.
–This Rescue has NO range, NO starting Attack Power and a very average 9 Attack Value; she gains Super Strength to go with her ZERO printed damage on clicks 2-4 (Uh… thanks?), but the main set Rescue starts with an 11 Attack Value that fuels her FIRST CLICK TK AND Double Incapacitate with 6 range!!
–This Rescue does have Traited Support and Toughness (the other has Toughness as well; it’s just not Traited), which is fine, but she has NO ADDITIONAL Damage Powers. The other Rescue has Toughness in the usual spot, and eventually picks up Support, but when she starts the game she has a limited Perplex (on anything but damage)!!
–Since this Rescue has Traited Toughness, surely there must be some incredibly interesting power on her defense slot, right? WRONG. She has a 16 defense value with Defend. Wow. She can give her incredibly putrid defense value to any friendly character she’s adjacent to. Great. I’ll get right on that…
And on and on it goes. On the first click alone, the main set version adds Force Blast, TK, Double Incapacitate, +4 Movement, +2 AV, +1 Defense and PERPLEX!! For a measly 7 more points. Bleeeeeccccch. Stop paying retail point costs and stay from this sucker’s “bargain.”
As a matter of fact, just stay away from the Gravity Feed figs altogether. If you happen to pull a chase from the main set, the Gravity Feed Iron Man is not bad, and the Dreadnaught is okay; everything else is “meh” at best, unless you just have to have every average Alpha Flight fig that came out this year… Speaking of which:

Happy New Year!!

Here’s to another great year of Clixin’!