… For your regularly scheduled programming! debuting a new semi-regular column about force construction soon called “The Build.” And the Weekly Roundup will be back today better than ever with an entertainment news section added into the mix!!
See ya soon.
–HypeFox
Editor, Critical Missives
The third week of the New Year has come and gone; here’s what happened in the Clix world this week!
Podcasts:
—Dial H for Heroclix was brand again this week (yay for consistency!). The guys discussed which Clix they most want to see that have never been previously made, and they also revealed the results of the most recent “Best Build” contest–all while the Colts hopelessly struggle in their futile playoff contest against New England.
—Duo Attack was dark again this week. No news on if and when it will return. As this was arguably the most entertaining Clix podcast around, I’d definitely be saddened if it just fades away.
–The Quarry was back with Episode 5! Lots of info from the latest ROC Super Qualifier, but interviews and conversations with the winner and other from the tourney.
—Push to Regen still hasn’t posted Episode 30 (on iTunes at least), but, per their Facebook page, we’re “getting some awesome info in the next episode when it drops!” courtesy of a pop-in from WizKids’s own Brian Roll!
Previews:
–A major SLOSH preview for Toyman! He’s a Super Rare who gets better if you collect all his toys and attach two to his base. He may be more trouble than he’s worth, but his sculpt looks extremely intricate and he’s certainly an interesting concept. With DeadPool and War of the Light coming this summer, we’re only gonna see more “attach x and/or y to character Z’s base and gain Bonus A and Bonus B” characters. Hmmm… that sentence confused even me.
—Angel was the latest preview from X-Men: Days of Future Past!
ROC:
–Big changes for the ROC. After the events at Tulsa, there were MAJOR changes to the current format. The biggest change in my opinion was the outright banning of anything bigger than a peanut base. That means no more Team Bases, no more Shuma-Gorath or any other Colossal with a large base (you’re still safe, Pacific Rim Colossals!! … except that you’re not Modern Age, so you’re still disqualified until sometime after March!), and that also means that the ROC Meta just got turned on its ear!
Critical Missives:
–Two big articles this week! HypeFox started some conversations with his article on the Top Ten MovieClix of 2013, and–
–Ninwashui unveiled a sick new Armor-keyworded team that may replace the now banned Mind Control Shuma-Gorath teams at ROC tournaments–the Mind Control Iron Pharaoh team!
And with that, 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!
So a few weeks ago when ranking the IIM pieces I rated IMM015 Tony Stark 8th most powerful in the set. In my original review I told you his defensive specials made him well-nigh invulnerable 1 on 1. I missed the part where his auto regeneration only works if he doesn’t take damage on your opponents turn. He’s still very strong defensively, but he’s not the support version of IIM103 Absorbing Man that I thought he was.
In that same article I said “There has to be a way to break this piece and it’s Mole Man-like ability to make you armor pieces awesome. I think I’ve found it. I call this team...
Golden Falcon, Destroying!
How It works: This team is centered around turning Iron Pharaoh’s gentle golden falcon into something akin to the Terminator from Terminator 1. Slow moving, but indestructible and able to take out anything that gets near him. Yeah that guy. The power reads, “GOLDEN FALCON, SOARING: When Iron Pharaoh is first placed on the map, place a Falcon special terrain marker in an adjacent square. Give Iron Pharaoh a free action to move this marker up to 3 squares. Iron Pharaoh can draw lines of fire and count range (up to 3 squares) from the Falcon marker using Improved Targeting: Ignores Hindering Terrain, Ignores Elevated Terrain, Ignores Outdoor Blocking Terrain, Ignores Characters.” Now imagine funneling you entire team’s attacks through something that ignores any movement restrictions (even walls are meaningless), any targeting restrictions (stealth is meaningless), and most importantly can’t be hurt back! At least when GSX Professor X stayed in his starting zone you could kill the guys he sent out. The falcon ignores everything!
Imagine this scenario: you start the turn with your falcon 6 squares away from your opponents best figure. You move the Falcon up 3 squares and you are in range. Start with outwit. Use Split Lip’s Enhancement and the two Tonys’ perplexes to up Pharaoh’s damage by 3. Nul’s Hammer ups his attack by 2. You attack through the Falcon for 6 damage. Then Tony Stark does mind control and you attack for 5. Then the other Tony mind controls and you attack for 4. That’s 15 damage that you can spread around and you got to use outwit first! The next turn the Falcon moves for free and you can do it all again! Against some teams you could KO everyone before they are even in range to attack any of your figures! Try to always keep the falcon between your real team and the opposing team.
What if the opposing team manages to get past the Falcon and get you your actual team? Well the your team should be positioned with the hard-to-KO (and Stealthy) Tony Starks as a wall in front of Splitlip and the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh’s 9 range and hammer-granted running shot should still give you an alpha strike of 3 attacks totaling 15 damage with outwit in the middle. That much damage should give you an edge. If your opponent does manage to somehow kill the Pharaoh the two Tony Starks can be dangerous on their own. They can mind control each other. Drop Skadi’s hammer on one, use perplex, and swing for the fences… twice!
I think this team would have a fighting chance in any competitive tournament. Someone should take it to the next ROC. It can also be used casually at your local venue to make everyone hate you and make your friends give you the nick-name “cheese whiz”.
If you want something more casual that doesn’t say “I lack a moral compass“, try this team:
Bowling for action tokens!
How It works: This team is much simpler that the one above. Use Rescue’s TK to put Iron Man in position and then use Tony’s Stark Mind control to activate his SONIC BOOM. (Give Iron Man Mk 40 a move action and modify his speed value by +3. Iron Man Mk 40 must move along a horizontal or vertical path until he can’t move. All other characters occupying squares Iron Man Mk 40 moved through are dealt 1 damage and are given an action token. Characters in squares adjacent to the path are given an action token.) Once you sonic boom through the opposing team, have Iron Man use the same power again to get back to where he started. That should double action token and slightly damage the entire opposing team. The next turn you can push and do it again! Eventually you will need to use the perplexes to have Iron Man start attacking, but hopefully the other team will be severely weakened by then. Win or lose, it should be fun.
And, as we wait for new Clix in 2014, we continue our look back at what we got in 2013…
So I was channel surfing a couple nights ago, and a late-night FX Network screening of Thor inspired me to reminisce about the set that got me back into Heroclix after a long time away from the game—the Avengers Movie Set!
In particular, it was the Gravity Feed set that came out in Targets across the country in the summer of 2012 that inspired me to get back into Clix. I bought two little packs and pulled a movie-Cap and the Chase Loki. I hadn’t played Heroclix since the days of Secret Invasion, but I was hooked again as soon as I saw that lil’ plastic Tom Hiddleston! He’s a boatload of points, but man, with Mystics, Power Cosmic AND every copyable enemy TA, he is a rough day for your opponent before the match even begins! (As he should be. He almost singlehandedly took down the stars of, like, 2 billion dollars worth of blockbusters.)
The main Avengers movie set also had two more Chases, Odin and the Red Skull. Odin was fine; he was a little bizarre, with two Odinsleep clix that almost ensure you’ll lose in a 300 point game if you land on them (unless your opponent misses against that 19 defense, though. Then he’s in trouble.). But in a 300 or 400 point game, sinking 250 points into an Odin with two different Clix that are devoid of damage reducers is a tough way to go.
The Red Skull Chase was a different story, though. He had great keywords and is still widely used a year and a half later to be the engine on a multitude of different Hydra teams. The rest of the set was awesome, too, with a great mix of support pieces and a very useful new Team Ability for Marvel: Avengers Initiative (the Superman Ally TA finally comes to Marvel!). Avengers, Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. teams got the biggest boost (Gravity Feed Phil Coulson was one of the best Perplex sources for the points for a few months there), but there was a little bit of something for everyone.
When WizKids released a Dark Knight Rises set just a couple months later, it became clear that movie tie-in sets were going to be a THING going forward, and that you would ignore them at your own peril. If you were someone who only collected “comic sets,” you were gonna miss out on some great pieces. How many? Well, in 2013, WizKids released sets for:
—Iron Man 3 Movie Set (April) (Regular CTD AND Target Exclusive Gravity Feed)
—Man of Steel (June) (Regular CTD AND Target Exclusive Gravity Feed)
—Fellowship of the Ring (June also) (CTD–only 12 years late!)
—Pacific Rim (July) (CTD) (Giant Robots and Giant Monsters—the whole set is Giant figs, and it’s as cool as it sounds)
—Lone Ranger (July again) (Mini-starter set with 4 bizarrely sculpted figures—they have oversized heads for whatever reason—and a couple of generic POGS)
—Kick Ass 2 (Oh good Lord, July again—they really went for it in July, eh?) (CTD)
—Thor: The Dark World (October) (Regular CTD AND Target Exclusive Gravity Feed)
—The Two Towers (November) (CTD—this one’s only 11 years late! Much more timely!)
—The Desolation of Smaug (November—wait, two separate Tolkien sets two weeks apart? That’s insane.) (CTD)
By my count, that’s at least 9 movie tie-in sets. Not every set is legal for every format, so I don’t blame you one bit if you let some of those releases pass you by (9! There were 9 freaking sets! WizKids HAD to be drunk, right? Everyone? Like, all of the Wizard Childern?) uncollected, but the Marvel and DC sets are legal in pretty much any standard game, so they’re definitely worth tracking down. But which figs will give you the best bang for your buck? Or, put another way, which pieces were the best? Man, if only someone would publish, like, a TOP TEN best MovieClix for 2013, then I’d know what to buy… Well, random italicized trailing stream of consciousness, your ethereal wish has been granted!!
(As Doctor Who once said, that sentence got away from me.)
THE TOP 10 MOVIECLIX OF 2013!!
10. Slattern (#007) 600 points (Common–Pacific Rim CTD): What do you get for 600 points nowadays? 13 Attack, 6 Damage with Shape Change, 20 Defense with Impervious and a 12 Movement with Charge and Giant Reach. Oh, and a hungry, colossal behemoth who comes back to life if your opponent somehow manage to kill him (as all great movie monsters must and should!) just so he can try to eat them again.
His Trait (BIGGEST, BADDEST MONSTER TO EVER WALK THE EARTH: Once per game, when Slattern would be KO’d, instead, heal it to its starting line, roll a d6 that can’t be rerolled, and subtract 1. Deal it the result as unavoidable damage. For the rest of the game, modify Slattern’s attack and damage values by +1. This power can’t be ignored.) is ridiculously awesome, even more so when you consider that he’s got the Pacific Rim version of Mystics (it’s called Kaiju, but it’s Mystics). That’s up to 22 clicks of Mystics TA to get through, which means you’re in for a long day of hating yourself if you’re sitting across the table from him.
So after all that, why is he only number 10 on this list? Cuz I once saw his 300 point version taken down almost singlehandedly by a 100 point Holiday Elf in a battle royale where I was controlling neither figure. Is that relevant? Not remotely, especially since we’re talking about the 600 point Veteran here. But that experience was seared into my memory. So, sorry Slattern, but 10 is as high as you go.
9. Colonel Stars and Stripes (#200) 100 Points (Marquee–Kick-Ass 2 CTD): This set kind of came and went quickly without making much impact at my local venue, but there are some interesting pieces here, none more so than Colonel Stars and Stripes. He has Traited Duo Attack with his dog Eisenhower, and he can be given a power action to release his dog as a Bystander token, which he can then give a free move action to each turn (provided the pup is still within 4 squares of his master). Add in Running Shot, Charge and Flurry at various points in his dial, and you have a nifty lil’ fig here. Pieces like this are what get me excited about “lesser sets” like movie sets—this isn’t a power piece per say, but he looks like he’s a lot of fun to play and he’s totally different from most of the Modern Age pieces we have right now (Squirrel Girl is probably his closest comp, but she plays a slightly different role—and is less points, too. Oh, and I think she’s either out of Modern Age or about to be rotated out this year…). You couldn’t actually PLAY him in a Modern Age game, but he’d be a lot of fun to mess around with at your local venue or in an Indy-themed tournament. Plus, given how he responded to the promotion of this movie, this is almost definitely the first and last time Jim Carrey will be Clix’d.
8. Worker Spider (#H006) 10 Points (Horde Token–The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Starter Set): Yes, a Bystander token made this list. It also made Top 16 at a recent ROC event. Why? Because it’s damn near broken for its point level. 10 points now gets you Empower? Okay, it’s a little harder to use than Enhancement; you can sell me on one click of Empower being only 10 points. It’s a newer power, so they may still be working out exactly what to charge for it. But why, pray tell, does this thing also get an 8 movement with Leap/Climb (a 10-point POG with a movement spec that puts figures 10 times its cost to shame?!) and Barrier?! Freaking Barrier?! It’s even got a tiny bit of range! Holy cow. For 10 points, this thing can pump up your melee damage by one AND block your opponent’s line of fire. I’m pretty sure it’ll do your taxes for you and take out the garbage too. It might as well; it does everything else apparently. It’s ridiculously efficient. Man, this is the first click that the first click of all other support figures need to be measured against, I guess…
7. Aldrich Killian (#008) 35 Points (Common–Iron Man 3): He’s cheap, but he’s also capable of altering the board. Aldrich has only four clicks, but man, those clicks can be game-changing in certain situations. His Attack Special (A NEW WORLD IS DAWNING: Opposing characters within 8 squares can’t use Additional Team Abilities.) shut down certain Meta builds for a while (back when Ghost Rider could use Heroes for Hire to attack roughly 8 billion times each turn), and Barrier is almost always useful. His enhanced Support special (EXTREMIS TREATMENT: Aldrich Killian can use Support. When he does, a character healed through this use of Support modifies its attack and damage values by +1 until your next turn.) also means that, with a lucky role or two, he can completely flip a game on its ear in one turn. Only two keywords, but Soldier (Why does he have Soldier while Savin has Scientist again?!) means he can get into some shenanigans with his buddies Brandt and Savin, not to mention a host of figures from other sets. And if you are playing an Extremis A.I.M. team, his Trait (FATHER OF EXTREMIS: Friendly characters using the Extremis Explosion power affect characters and terrain within 7 squares instead of 5.) can really make his Extremis Brutes and Mercenaries devastating to deal with.
6. Tony Stark (#006) 50 Points (Common–Iron Man 3): Just an awesome support piece who can be dangerous if left to his own devices. For a long while, he only rated two stars on HCRealms.com (Editor’s Note: His rating is now four stars out of five), and all I could think was “Man, these cats must not be playing the same game that I am. Cuz in the Heroclix that I play, Enhancement and Outwit for 50 points is damn good!” Add in Energy Explosion, 17 Defense with Willpower, a Promotion mechanic that lets him turn into a 75 point dial and 6 range with the Avengers Initiative Team Ability, and suddenly he’s not just a support piece, he’s a legitimate third attacker in most 300 point games! His sculpt is awesome as well (taken from some storyboards from the movie, I believe).
5. Odin (#020) 350 Points (Chase–Thor: The Dark World): Full disclosure: I thought Thor: The Dark World was the best superhero movie of the year. I had some issues with Man of Steel, and I liked Iron Man 3 well enough, but Thor was where it was at this year (I didn’t actually get to see Kick-Ass 2; maybe it sucked, maybe it was great–I have no earthly idea. First one was pretty good though.). Tom Hiddleston stole the show as Loki, of course, but I don’t think Chris Hemsworth gets enough credit for the pathos he generates with Thor. But enough about the movie–this is about the movie’s Heroclix, dammit!
Odin has a 200 point version that’s well worth playing, but in epic games, this Odin is a beast. He has the Alpha Strike of all alpha strikes (GUNGNIR: Once per game, give Odin a double power action and make a ranged combat attack targeting the highest-point opposing character anywhere on the map. For this attack, Odin’s combat values are locked, the attack can’t be evaded and the attack roll can’t be rerolled by friendly characters. After actions resolve, deal Odin 1 unavoidable damage.), and you can’t hide from it. Super Senses and Stealth will not save you, as he ignores Hindering Terrain for targeting purposes, starts with a 12 Attack with Pen/Psy, 19 Defense with Invincible and Running Shot with 12 Movement and 9 (9!!) range with two targets and 5 raw damage. Power Cosmic TA keeps him out of reach of cheap Outwitters and such. You’re paying quite a bit, but damn, that’s nasty. And you can usually say this about any 350+ point character, but man, if you give him Angrir’s Hammer… ouch (EDITOR’S NOTE: You can say that about any character. They don’t have to be 350+ points. A 35 point character plus Angrir’s = Pain Train.). The All-Father is a forced to be reckoned with, but it’s that unique Trait that really makes him special. Obviously, Odin isn’t gonna affect the Meta at 350 points, and that’s fine. Not every piece is gonna be about that. But he might be the funnest piece to field on this list (although an argument can be made in that respect for one of the rares from this set–but we’ll get to that in a second!).
4. War Machine (#016) 220 Points (Rare–Iron Man 3): Wow. He IS the War Machine. Edward Shelton once described this piece as having “everything you want, when you want it” on Dial H for Heroclix, and he wasn’t wrong. His Trait (WANNA BE THE WAR MACHINE?: At the beginning of your turn choose one of the following that you did not choose last turn: Energy Explosion, Penetrating/Psychic Blast or Ranged Combat Expert. War Machine can use that power until your next turn.) plus the fact that he sees through Stealth with the Avengers Initiative all but assures that you’re going to get damage through when you absolutely need to. The fact that he can Duo Attack as well with his Attack Special is just sick. His native Attack never gets above 11, but that’s still above average; his damage starts at 4 and eventually he gets Prob on his own attack rolls! Just beastly. I would have loved one click of 18 Defense, but his 17 Impervious will serve him well. We’re starting to break into a run of figs that you can competitively build around.
3. Duhg (#015) 125 Points (Rare–Thor: The Dark World): Okay, this guy may be even more fun to play than Odin. He’s awesome. His Trait (A MOTLEY ARMY FROM ALL NINE REALMS: When building your force, if Duhg is the highest-point character, other characters that share a keyword with him also have the Duhg’s Army keyword.) is what gets everyone all hot and bothered, but his dial is actually pretty tremendous! At various points, he Charges, Sidesteps and Flurries, all the while leading his troops into battle with Leadership. He hasn’t been “broken” yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if someone finds a way to do that eventually.
The other thing I love about this character is just the total randomness of his existence. He’s in the movie for all of two seconds and has, like, zero lines. He reminds me of how toy companies would take, like, the fifth alien from the Cantina scene in Star Wars and make hugely popular action figures out of the character simply by giving him a name and a backstory on the back of the figure’s package. That’s basically what Marvel and WizKids did here, only they turned him into one of the more innovative pieces we got this year.
2. Iron Man and War Machine (#018) 200 Points (Chase–Iron Man 3): Basically taken from this exact scene, this piece is a fantastic figure that has become sneakily easy to Merge into with the release of Invincible Iron Man (Cough–125 point War Machine! Cough). 11 Attack plus Energy Explosion with a 7 Range and 3 targets can be devastating, especially with the 2013 rules updates to how EE works. Even more so with Duo Attack. Later in the dial these guys get Pen/Psy, followed by Pulse Wave. Even better, one of their two excellent Traits (TRYING TO ONE-UP EACH OTHER: When Iron Man and War Machine use the Duo attack ability, you may give them a ranged combat action instead of the second attack.) lets them use those abilities WITHIN a Duo Attack. That’s pretty sick. Then you look at their defense; 18 with Impervious, combined with their other Trait (WATCH EACH OTHER’S BACKS: When Iron Man and War Machine do not have two tokens, Iron Man and War Machine can use Energy Shield/Deflection.), and all of the sudden these guys have a 21 Defense value against ranged attacks while standing in Hindering. You really can’t do better. So their hard to hit, and they bring tons of damage themselves. That was a winning combination when Heroclix first debuted, and it’s still a winning combination today. The fact that they’re on a single base is also advantageous for certain other abilities (Like Rescue’s Carry Trait) as well. Very deadly piece.
1. Iron Man and Iron Patriot (#017) 300 Points Experienced Version (Chase–Iron Man 3): I’ll make this short and sweet–everything I just said about Iron Man and War Machine? This is that taken to the next level. In epic games, this is a sick, sick piece. In standard 300 point games… it’s a sick, sick piece. 2 Traits again (I’VE GOT YOUR BACK. NO, I’VE GOT YOUR BACK: Iron Man and Iron Patriot can use Energy Shield/Deflection and Defend. Iron Man and Iron Patriot can use the Sharpshooter ability and may target non-adjacent characters with a ranged combat attack even when they are adjacent to an opposing character. AND THIS LONE GUNSLINGER ACT IS UNNECESSARY…YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS ALONE!: When Iron Man and Iron Patriot use Duo attack ability, each attack may use 2 targets instead of 1 target and one of their attacks may be a ranged combat action instead.), and they’re both basically SOUPED UP versions of the ridiculously awesome Iron Man and War Machine Traits! They even added another target! Four freaking targets? And they rotate through Pen/Psy, Pulse Wave and EE just like IM & WM? It’s like they took the already awesome Chase Duo from the Target set and said, “Okay, yeah, but MORE.”
Whew! Alright, that wraps up the list! Here’s to hoping this year’s movie sets match or even exceed what we got in 2013 (I’m looking at YOU, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier, Godzilla & Guardians of the Galaxy!).
Agree? Disagree? Feel free to post YOUR lists in the comments below.
Hello again! Another week gone, and another week of great reveals from WizKids! So let’s get to it!
Rounding up the Clix Community highlights from the past week…
Podcasts:
—Dial H for Heroclix was brand new this week with an episode wherein the guys discussed both what they THOUGHT was coming from WizKids (based on what’s already been spoiled) this year and what else they’re HOPING WizKids will release.
—Duo Attack, as far as I can tell, was dark again this week. I read on Awesome Pod’s Facebook page that all of their shows may be having server issues or some sort of technical difficulty. I’ll try and update this situation next week, pending more information.
–The Quarry was dark again this week as well. Not sure when the next ep will be up, but it’s usually posted in the “ROC” section of HCRealms.com.
–And finally, last week I totally forgot about the great folks at Push to Regen! They were dark last week; here’s a link to their Podbean. I believe I saw somewhere on Reddit that their 30th episode has just been recorded, so that should be up sometime this week I’d imagine.
Previews:
–Tucked into their official announcement of a X-Men: Days of Future Past Gravity Feed set that had already been spoiled (and, in what I’m sure is a total coincidence, will be on store shelves at just about the same time as the Fox movie with the same title but to which it is definitely, totally and completely unrelated–wink!), WizKids unveiled one of the set’s Chases: Nimrod!! He is a beast who can be played at 150, 250 or 350. If you play him at his maximum point level, he gets Multi-Attack!! They also showed off the sculpts for Pyro and Storm. Very cool set. I’m looking forward to this one.
–Speaking of Days of Future Past, what would a SwitchClix Sentinel look like? Probably like this!
–I was never a Legion fan, so I don’t know much about Universo, but his dial is pretty stacked for 71 points. He’s a Wildcard, he can use Mind Control with three arrows at 7 range, and he’s really tough to nail at range himself with a 17 D PLUS Super Senses, ES/D & Shape Change. He’s only a rare, so he’s a great pull in a Sealed tourney.
–WizKids announced a DC fan vote winner… and it’s _________ . Look for that fig, oh, in a year or so I’d imagine. Right? Two years? I don’t know how this all works, actually. It’s cool though.
–WizKids also announced a manufacturer sellout of SLOSH, even though it won’t release for another month.
–And finally, there was an OFFICIAL announcement this week for War of the Light, the storyline event that will take place this summer (it works kind of like Fear Itself). The way comic shops order the set is going to be different than it was for Fear Itself, but the announcement did contain scuplt previews for Blue Lantern Brother Warth, Red Lantern Dex-Star and a Duo Fig Hal Jordan and Sinestro Green Lanterns. I actually really liked Fear Itself and the idea of boosters that can only be obtained through tournaments, so I’ll be looking forward to this set.
Critical Missives:
–Fairly quiet this week, although Ninwashui did debut a tourney report column format that will probably recur as warranted in the future.
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!
… To our contributor Ninwashui!! And stay safe everybody! This winter weather’s bound to let up soon!! ( Not really though)
Weekly Rounup tomorrow.
Venue: Comics & More
Build & Stipulations: 600 points; No Relics, Resources, Team Bases or Colossals. No vehicles bigger than a peanut base.
What I Played: Deathlok Prime (WXM) w/ Maximum Carnage ATA (154+4); Iron Pharaoh (IIM) (110); Cul Borson (FI) (190); Psimon (TT) (123); GCPD Motorcycle–Autopilot (SoG) (19) = 600 Points
Why: There were two high-costing figures that I had acquired over the last few months that l really wanted to play at this event:
Fear Itself LE Cul Borson and Thor: The Dark World Chase Odin. I tried every way I could think of to play both, and towards the end, I had settled on playing Odin at full points (I really wanted to try his “Attack Anything Anywhere” double power action). But I ended up falling in love with Deathlok Prime and Psimon, two other figs I had recently acquired but not gotten to play. Eventually, that became the basis of my ragtag army–I was going to play as many cool figs that I’d never played before as I could fit into the army. Out went 350 point Odin, in came 190 point Cul Borson.
With Deathlok Prime, the Pharaoh & Psimon, I figured that I’d have a nice range superiority over most opponents (even my close combat bruiser, Cul, has a 9 range!) AND be able to Outwit Stealth thanks to the Pharaoh; that proved to be true, but it didn’t always matter.
Match 1:
The first game, I went up against a Sinister Syndicate team, albeit one running normal ASM Kraven (as opposed to the Prime that makes the Lizard just disgusting). I was able to hit virtually at will with Deathlok Prime using Sniper Stance, and my opponent eventually based him with Lizard and Kraven. That was a big turning point, as Deathlok Prime used Sharpshooter and his Maximum Carnage ATA to pop 5 damage on both (which, at that point of the game, would have killed both if not for his “No Killing” Trait). They were both dead by the next turn.
Psimon was able to keep most of the Syndicate from basing my guys by mind controlling enemies away from my core group. I don’t think Cul got touched. Iron Pharaoh did a little damage, but it was his Falcon and Outwit that I used the most.
In the end, I took out about half of my opponent’s force while losing only Deathlok Prime when the judge called time. Anything can happen in big games like this, but I’m confident I would have wiped out my opponent’s army with Cul & Iron Pharaoh had play continued.
Result: Won on points
Match 2: Played a hodgepodge team of Justin Hammer, Detroit Steel, White King, Indigo & Lady Deathstrike. Lots of Armor & Robot figs going at it in this game; my opponent kept his team balled up on elevated terrain in the middle of the map. He kept Deathlok from maximum effectiveness by using Indigo’s Outsiders TA on him, and using Justin Hammer’s “Anywhere” Outwit (provided the target is a Robot, Hammer Industries or Armor keyworded fig) to Outwit Iron Pharaoh’s Outwit caused a lot of problems for me.
I got Iron Pharaoh into the fight (this was actually me being impatient; had I just waited for his Special Terrain marker to get there, things would have been much easier for me), but any damage I did to Justin Hammer just got Masterminded to the White King. I believe I killed him three different times before time was called. I sent in Cul Borson via the GCPD Motorcycle, and the very next turn he Charged and Flurried with his 4 damage. He was beastly. Detroit Steel and Lady Deathstrike each took swipes at Cul, but he ended up making not one but TWO Super Sense rolls and survived the game.
In the end, Justin Hammer and Indigo fell, White King had been KO’d 2 times and was on his last click when time ended.
I didn’t lose any figs, but this was a deceptively clever team that my opponent put together. Had I not made both Super Senses rolls, Cul probably would have fallen.
Result: Won on points
Match 3:
I played the same Skrulls team that Ninwashui mentioned. My opponent made an average amount of Skrull and Super Senses rolls, but he used his Skrull Black Bolt exceptionally well. This game came right down to the wire, with Iron Pharaoh left standing on his last click against a very damaged Replica and a mildly hurt Super Skrull on his poison click.
Result: Lost
So I went 2-1 and ended up placing 3rd, which was good enough for:
What I Learned:
I learned a lot about these figures.
—Cul Borson: I was much too passive about getting him into the fight in a couple of matches. His damage ability that hoses opposing attack values and damage values is based entirely on how many action tokens he has, so moving or attacking with him each turn you can is crucial. There were a couple times I waited too long to deploy him. His Range is fantastic, but his lack of Improved Movement of any kind (Hindering would have been helpful; Elevated would have been divine) or Flight makes playing a dedicated taxi or TK’er a must with him. He feels like he could have been an awesome 160-point character; at 190 for his Experienced version, he’s a lil’ expensive, but man, if you want a guy who’s going to bring the pain, you could do a lot worse than Odin’s crazy bro.
—GCPD Motorcycle: Must people already know how good this lil’ motor is. It was effective even sans a GCPD ATA. For only 19 points, you get a great taxi that can even throw out a Barrier every other round. Great piece.
—Psimon: Psimon is great, but with his potentially devastating 8 range double target Mind Control ability, he was almost always targeted first. Still, his TK enabled a LOT of Cul’s destruction. And at 123 points, I’m confident I can work him into another army soon. He also brings a first-click Perplex. He was solid, but squishy, especially in a game with so many actions.
—Deathlok Prime: He might as well cost 4 points more, cuz you MUST also play his ATA. It’s just so devastating. He can’t kill anyone first (because of his Trait), but he is an absolute beast who is capable of dishing out HUGE amounts of damage. I would play him again as well–I’m just not sure how I’ll do with a primary damage dealer who potentially has to kill things twice. One downside–Outsiders TA hurts him more than most figs. His abilities provide so many great modifiers that just get shut down by that TA. Still, his dial is very solid on its own, so he’s still very playable. But Outsiders is a bad matchup for him.
—Iron Pharaoh: Very interesting figure. Kind of the opposite of Cul Borson in that you want him to hang back and fire through his Special Terrain marker, which, like the Machine in Person of Interest, sees everything.. Damn good dial for the points.
Well, that’s all for tonight. Had a lot of fun. I’m back Saturday for the weekly round-up
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.
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!
(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!!
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?
Critical Missives 