2015!!)

February 3, 2015 / HypeFox / Leave a comment

Ooooooooooooohhhhh, it’s good to be back! With the Critters* now behind us, it’s time to start looking forward to 2015!! There’s already been a ton of releases announced–Justice League: Trinity War, Avengers Assemble, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Age of Ultron and now Nick Fury and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.–and that just takes us to July!! There’s also been a slew of Previews that just hit the street, including the entire 2015 Convention Exclusive line!

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Well get to all that in…

THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP!!

PODCASTS:

–Dial H for Heroclix is new every week; this past week brought us Episode 81, wherein the guys discuss the recent Con-Exclusives announcement for 2015, among other things!

–The latest episodes are Eps 30 & 31! In Episode 30, the Roundtable is back with analysis on the Tulsa and British Columbia ROC’s, as well as their takes on the recent Watchlist rulings and changes. Haven’t listened to 31 yet, so I don’t have a synopsis for you…

–Well, just as quickly as they came back, ClixCast seems to have gone away! They have yet to release an episode since their September offering, so I’m removing them from the Podcast rundown until we get some sort of activity from the guys!

–You can find the latest ROC tourney announcements right here!

–A slight rules clarification has dropped that essentially mirrors standard protocol for WizKids-sponsored tournaments. It basically means that sets aren’t legal for ROC events until they’ve been out for a week or more. You can read the full announcement right here.

–Justice League: Trinity War just keeps getting spoiled left and right!

As of today, 50 different figures (including the Gravity Feed) have been spoiled, plus two members of the CSA Fast Forces Pack (By the way, both of the spoiled Fast Force-ers are pretty damn good, so I’d order early if you want to get these guys. Fast Forces usually sell out pretty quick. Atomica alone will provide a 19 Defense character with the CSA Team Ability for just 25 Points!!).

The Super Rares seem extremely effective so far. Highlights include John Constantine, his Prime version (Nick Necro) and Despero (Oooooo, he’s gonna be fun to play).

Also, the 7 Deadly Sin 3D Objects seem almost as good as Hammers. Plus, you don’t actually need a Resource to play them IF you’re running the objects Chase piece (this will all make more sense once the set releases, trust me).

Check out the HCRealms.com Units page to look over all the spoiled dials.

–We have a new set announcement! Nick Fury and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will be out in July, and it’ll bring with it a Fast Forces that features the TV versions of Agent Coulson, Skye, Fitzsimmons and Agent May!! The proper set will also feature random inserts like more Avengers Roundtable ID cards and the first ever Assembl-A-Fig (or somesuch spelling) wherein you combine different 3D objects to make Iron Man’s Hulkbuster Mk. 2 Armor!

You can read ICv2’s article about the release right here!

Wait--it's already listing this post!! Huh?! Whaa?! Must be magic!!

Critical Missives:

–No Army of the Week, Local Games or Hollywood News this week–look for those sections to return next time. Especially Army of the Week, where we’ll look at how the new JL:TW Chases work with Resources and Entities (Hint: Very well.).

–Ninwashui built another Build column, and of course we gave out some Critters* in our second annual “Simply the Best” Awards article!

–We’ll be back later this week with a look from Ninwashui at some of the Justice League: Trinity War Gravity Feed figures, as well as in in-depth look at comic books on TV.

Until then, Stay Safe, and Watch where you draw you Lines of Fire!!

A Weekly Roundup?! It’s a Clix-Mas Miracle!! (Or, The Weekly Roundup for 12/21/2014!!) (Or, The Eighth Night of Clix-Mas!!)

December 22, 2014December 22, 2014 / HypeFox / 4 Comments

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is part of the 12 Nights of Clix-Mas, an ongoing Critical Missives Clix celebration wherein we’re trying to publish new content for 12 straight days. If you’ve missed anything, you can check out Night 1, Night 2, Night 3, Night 4, Night 5, Night 6 or Night 7 just by clicking the preceding links!]

And a Merry Clix-Mas to all, and to all, a good (Blackest) Night!! Welcome back, welcome back!!

It’s been almost a month since we Rounded Clix, so I think it’s high time we did it again! I hope this Winter Solstice finds you all well and in good spirits!

We’ve got a lot to get to today, so we should probably just dive right into…

THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP!!

PODCASTS:

–Dial H for Heroclix is new every week; this past week brought us another milestone: Episode 75, wherein the guys discuss potential Meta pieces from Flash and the name of Austin’s new game!

–As far as I can tell, Episode 29 is still the most recent ep of The Quarry! The Roundtable discusses results from the Indianapolis ROC!

–Well, just as quickly as they came back, ClixCast seems to have gone away! They have yet to release an October or November ep, but you can catch their August and September offerings right here!

–You can find the latest ROC tourney announcements right here!

–Except for the just-dropped Majestix announcement, which you can catch right here!

–In case you missed it last week: there is going to be a “Spider-Man Symbiotes” Monthly Op Kit in May of next year! Looks like there’ll be 3 different versions of Venom!

–No other current Previews, but that’s to be expected as they JUST released Flash. I’d expect no real previews until WizKids’s annual 12 Days of Clix-Mas promotion, where we’ll get a look at next year’s offerings like Justice League: Trinity War, Avengers Assemble and both Avengers: Age of Ultron offerings!

Army of the Week:

Alright, for this week, we’re just gonna build an army from some of the new Flash pieces that just released!!

Team Name: Respect My Authori-tah!!

Theme: None

Map Choice Preference: Nothing specific–just something that’s a bit out in the open so you can take ranged shots.

Roster:

FL061 Jenny Sparks – 125 Points

FL060R Engineer – 90

GOTG007B Captain Marvel – 81

=297 Points

What This Build Does:

This is a Themed Team for a No Resources, No Entities environment (since it obviously features neither of those things) that features 3 of the most versatile Scientist-keyworded figs in Modern right now. It’s specifically designed to give you three figures who can each fill multiple roles.

Jenny Sparks is an awesome Primary Attacker because of her Trait (ELECTRICAL CORTEX SHORT CIRCUIT: When Jenny Sparks hits an opposing character, that character can’t use special powers from now until your next turn.). However, she also offers a Special Leadership (IF YOU DIE, I’LL JUST DIG YOU UP AND PUT YOU TO WORK AGAIN: Jenny Sparks can use Leadership. When she does and the result is 6, remove all action tokens from all adjacent friendly characters with the Authority keyword.) that pairs especially well with Engineer, who can taxi Jenny and then have a chance for Jenny to take any and all tokens off of her next turn!

Engineer, even at the 90 Point level, is also a decent Primary Attacker OR Supporting Piece because she can pick up to three different Standard Powers a turn (not unlike Zombie Super-Skrull). She can be whatever you need her to be every turn.

Finally, Captain Marvel can ALSO be a Primary Attacker! He also offers a supporting Defend power (DEFEND HUMANITY FROM MY PEOPLE: Captain Marvel can use Defend and Super Senses. Modify the defense values of adjacent friendly characters without the Kree keyword by +1. This power can’t be countered.) that’ll boost the Defense of Jenny Sparks and Engineer to 19 if they’re both adjacent! And his Attack Special (UNI-BEAM: Captain Marvel can use Energy Explosion, Incapacitate, and Penetrating/Psychic Blast. When Captain Marvel hits with a ranged combat attack, hit targets can’t make attacks during their next turn.) is among the best in the game, and will ensure that every turn either Jenny is countering ALL of an opposing figs Special Powers, or Captain Marvel is stopping them from attacking at all!

We’re doing an all-Hollywood column for Night 10!!

WizKids is giving away a ton of Yu-Gi-Oh! Clix, DVD’s and Blu-Rays!! Entering is pretty simple, and you can do it right here!

Critical Missives:

–My local venue is dark until January, so that’s when the Local News section listing Local games will return.

–See above links if you’ve missed any 12 Nights of Clix-Mas columns!

–We’ll be right back tomorrow night with a post about the Heroclix Community!!

Until then, Stay Safe, and Watch where you draw you Lines of Fire!!

Say Geronimo! (Or, The Weekly Roundup for 11/23/2014!!)

November 26, 2014 / HypeFox / Leave a comment

Hello again! It’s been a solid month since we last rounded up everything there is to, y’know, round up! And, given that Thanksgiving is just about here, I figured everyone could use a Turkey Day Roundup!

So what’s been going on this last 30 days? Well, War of Light is finally done (at least at most venues); The Flash has finally released (after just a one week delay); and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies should finally be out now at a Target or hobby store near you (or be coming very soon–depends on where you live, it seems).

All of which means we have a lot to talk about, so let’s get going with…

THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP!!

PODCASTS:

–Dial H for Heroclix is new every week; last week, in Episode 71, they opened up their Meta Toolbox to talk about all the Modern Age resources in the context of the Meta! And as a special Holiday bonus, they’ve ALREADY released Episode 72!

Yours truly was lucky enough to finish in the Top 4 of their Dial Design contest this month; if you want to get in on the action, December’s Dial Design should start around November 30th.

–As far as I can tell, Episode 27 is still the most recent ep of The Quarry. The ROC tab on HCRealms has a link to upcoming events and vaguely mentions an Episode 28, but damned if I can find it!

–Well, just as quickly as they came back, ClixCast seems to have gone away! They have yet to release an October or November ep, but you can catch their August and September offerings right here!

–You can find the latest ROC tourney announcements right here!

–Just announced on the Heroclix.com Downloads tab: there is going to be a “Spider-Man Symbiotes” Monthly Op Kit in May of next year! Looks like there’ll be 3 different versions of Venom!

Army of the Week:

So, we’ve gone on and on about the new R.O.C. Format, but sometimes I think we don’t put enough emphasis on choosing the best supporting characters for the Primary Attacker that you’ve chosen. Let’s take a look at how adding or subtracting a single supporting character can drastically alter a Build in this environment!

First, let’s look at the Iron Pharaoh Build from ROC’ing the Meta 2: Electric Boogaloo!

"Oh! Golden Falcon, no! I just polished this armor!"

“NO! Golden Falcon, I just polished this armor!”

Team Name: Slowness as a Way of Death!!

Theme: None (Not Allowed in current R.O.C. Format)

Map Choice Preference: Ryut (from War of Light Month 6)

Roster:

IIM051 Iron Pharaoh – 110 Points

IIM040 Shaman – 92

DP020 Weasel– 27

FI001 Thule Society Priest – 21

FL031 Turtle – 50

=300 Points

What This Build Does:

It slows everything down!! Which, as everyone knows by now, is fantastic for pieces like Iron Pharaoh and Fantomex (who can’t really be played in the current format because E.V.A. is a bystander token, which is illegal in “No Tactics” formats). But the fact that Shaman disables flying and Turtle limits people to moving just 4 squares or less (unless they want to take an additional action token) is just an insane combo. And if you win Map Roll (which will happen roughly 50% of the time, since there are no Themed Team Bonuses), Ryut should be a nightmare for most teams you’ll face. Weasel is the best supporting piece (offers a very limited Prob, +1 to Attack and Range and Enhancement) in the game for Ranged-based attackers, and Thule Society Priest is just there to get pushed into another Prob’r.

Okay, now that we know what the default Build does, let’s change the roster a bit!

This is what’s known as a ‘Dark Future.’ (See what I did there?)

Team Name: “She Blinded Me With Science!”

Theme: None (Not Allowed in current R.O.C. Format)

Map Choice Preference: Ryut (from War of Light Month 6)

Roster:

IIM051 Iron Pharaoh – 110 Points

IIM040 Shaman – 92

FL031 Turtle – 50

SLOSH004 Science Police Officer – 45

=297 Points

What This Build Does (Differently): This is a Ninwashui variant. Okay, so we lost our main supporting piece (Weasel) and our secondary supporting/tie-up piece (Thule Society Priest), but we added Science Police Officer. What does this do? Well, it slows down the damage Iron Pharaoh can do by about 20%-25% (basically 3 instead of 4). You can make up for this a little bit by constantly keeping Shaman within range and line of fire of Iron Pharaoh, so he can use his Perplex there. But Science Police Officer combos really brutally with Turtle. Science Police Officer’s top dial Damage Special (TACTICAL DEPLOYMENT: When an opposing character within 8 squares is given a free action, if that character has been given a non-free action this turn, after actions resolve, deal that character 1 unavoidable damage.) means that your opponents best attackers are at risk of shutting themselves down before you even attack them!

Let’s run down everything your opponent has to deal with BEFORE you’ve even attacked them (assuming they don’t Copycat away Shaman–which is an unlikely matchup, but not an impossible one):

1. They can’t fly (after Shaman’s “No Flights” ability goes off);

2. They can’t move more than 4 squares at a time UNLESS they want to take a second action token or take 1 Penetrating Damage.

3. If they do try and burst through with one big move and attack (via Charge, Running Shot, Hypersonic Speed, etc.), they take an UNAVOIDABLE DAMAGE in addition to the extra action token/penetrating damage from Turtle!

With all this SLOWNESS going on, you should have plenty of time to get your Golden Falcon into position to start dropping 3 Damage Outwit Bombs!

What We’ve Learned:

While both Builds should be competitive no matter who you play, the first Build is fairly aggressive in terms of lining up its shots (with Weasel, Shaman and the available Probs, you’re trying to line up a 4-5 Damage shot that won’t miss after Outwitting a character’s Defense slot).

The second Build is more of a “take the opportunities that my opponent gives me” sort of army, where you’re basically turning the whole map into a spider’s web and waiting for your opponent to get themselves “stuck” (double-tokened and damaged).

That’s two nearly identical Builds with two significantly different styles of play based solely on which supporting character you choose to use!

–Just in case May 2015 wasn’t going to be a busy enough month for Marvel fans (Avengers 2: Age of Ultron; a ton of different Marvel Heroclix sets), that’s also the month that is currently set to be the premiere month for Daredevil, the first of Marvel’s new Netflix shows.

Let’s take a look at the vital stats!

Show: Daredevil

Showrunner: Drew Goddard (first two episodes); Steven S. DeKnight (current showrunner)

Known Regular Cast:

Daredevil/Matt Murdock: Charlie Cox

Karen Page: Deborah Ann Wolf

Foggy Nelson: Elden Hensen

Wilson Fisk/Kingpin: Vincent D’Onofrio

Claire Temple/Night Nurse (?): Rosario Dawson

Vanessa Marianna: Ayelet Zurer

Known Notable Guest Stars/Recurring Cast:

Stick: Scott Glenn

Ben Urich: Vondie Curtis-Hall

Leland Owlsley: Bob Gunton

Hachiro: Peter Shinkoda

Daredevil will go for at least one season of 13 episodes, with the character currently expected to play a major role in a planned “Defenders” mini-series which would feature all of Marvel’s Hells Kitchen-based heroes teaming up in an Avengers-like fashion.

It is entirely too early to know whether we’ll get a second season of Daredevil and/or when that would premiere. As of now, even the “Defenders” show is somewhat theoretical; if they four lead-up series bomb, you can bet Marvel and Netflix will find a way to can the mini-series.

On the other hand, if Daredevil is wildly successful (and only Netflix and Disney will really have any idea, since digital distribution success is almost impossible for folks outside the industry to determine), I’d expect Marvel to go ahead with both “The Defenders” AND a second season of Daredevil. And possibly even start added some mystical heroes to the Netflix slate, starting with Blade and Ghost Rider.

–The second Marvel Netflix series after Daredevil will be the as-yet-unofficially-titled Jessica Jones series. Casting has begun, with rumors swirling around who will play both Jessica Jones AND recurring guest star (and star of Marvel’s third Netflix series) Luke Cage!!

For the next Weekly Roundup, I’m going to start compiling season-long episode guides of current genre TV shows, starting with…

Upcoming Local Events:

Annnnd, welcome back to the latest feature category for the Weekly Update–Upcoming Local Events!

For any who have forgotten, this is the spot where we’ll post a few notices about interesting upcoming games at venues in and around Southeastern Michigan, where Critical Missives is based. If any venue would like us to announce an upcoming event anywhere in the country, you can hit us up on Twitter or let us know via feedback to this very post!

–RIW Hobbies in Livonia is hosting a Sealed Draft of War of Light on 12/05!!

–If you’re looking to try D&D Attack Wing, Month One of the Tyranny of Dragons OP is happening at Eternal Games in Warren on 12/06.

–Annnd, one week later, Eternal Games is running a really cool event that they’re calling War of Light: Month 7! This will happen on 12/13 @ 1pm, and will feature a 600-Point Constructed tournament as well as Battle Royal side events throughout the day!

Wait--it's already listing this post!! Huh?! Whaa?! Must be magic!!

Critical Missives:

–We were ROC’ing the Meta this past couple weeks. Part 1 is here; Part 2 is here!

Coming up in the next week, we should have a Comics & More War of Light: Month 6 Battle Report PLUS both my AND Ninwashui’s Flash Top Ten Reviews!

And that’s it for this week!! Until then, stay safe, and watch where you draw those lines of fire!

Flash Forward!! (Or, The Mid-Weekly Roundup for 10/19/2014!!)

October 23, 2014October 24, 2014 / HypeFox / 1 Comment

Welcome Back!!

So what’s happened since our last Roundup? Well, let’s see….

–The Tigers flamed out of the playoffs in just three short games. Joba Chamberlain and the bullpen were characteristically awful (seriously, it seemed like they were filming a sequel to “Firestarter” there EVERY FREAKING NIGHT!), as was manager Brad Ausmus, who–when it came to making pitching changes–made the wrong choice just about every time:

“What’s that? Anibal Sanchez is available? No thanks! Joba just blew an inning last game, so, mathematically, there’s no possible way he can blow a 4-run lead today! It’s science!”

I get that the number of good bullpen options he had were limited, but to not use virtually ANY of them is just idiotic. Even Blaine Hardy would have inspired more confidence than the Pu-Pu Platter of Joba Chamberlain and Joaquin Soria that he kept shoveling out there night after night.

While demonstrating his mastery of Sabermetrics, Tigers Manager Brad Ausmus delivers the results of his statistical analysis of using Joe Nathan as his closer.

Overall, I actually thought Ausmus was fairly solid as a manager during the regular season. We’ll see how Year 2 goes. I can’t imagine that the leash is long for him after such a playoff debacle. We shall see, though. Bring on the Hot Stove league!

–The Lions have tricked everyone into thinking they’re respectable again. Spoiler Alert: They’re not. They’ve beaten up on a Murderer’s Row of awful quarterbacks , and they still managed to find a way to lose at home to Kyle Orton. That’s not easy. Now, they are 5-2, and they still have 3 games against Minnesota and Chicago, who are terrible, so getting to 10+ wins should be fairly straightforward. Of course, with this team, things are never straightforward.

I’m cautiously optimistic, but after last year’s swoon, I’m gonna need to see a lot more than what they’ve shown me so far before I get my hopes up. Remember, we’re not even, like, a month removed from this highlight yet:

“Oh, Stephen, noooo!”

But enough about sports! What you’re really here for is a Heroclix recap, right?

Well, look no further than…

THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP!!

PODCASTS:

–Dial H for Heroclix was back with an episode near and dear to my heart! Episode 66, “Lantern Team Building Advice,” was a shortie but a goodie. Similar in premise to the “Let’s Be Lanterns” series that we ran right here in August (but with much more of a “Dial H” spin, of course, and a much more thorough analysis of each color’s Power Battery), there’s no shortage of good advice for players contained within (FYI–the Blue Lantern actually does NOT work with LE Absorbing Man–that’s a pending errata right from Wizkids’s own rules forum–but the rest of the advice they give is spot on!).

–As far as I can tell, Episode 27, which covers the end of the ROC’s first season, is still the most recent entry!

–In case you missed it last time, in somewhat sad news, Push to Regen has announced on Reddit that they have released their final episode. Their Facebook page is still up, and still posting the occasional news item, but for now, the show has reached its final destination.

–ClixCast is back! They have yet to release an October ep, but you can catch their August and September offerings right here!

–While I haven’t seen any recent results, you can find the latest ROC tourney announcements right here!

–Having said that, I know I went on a big rant last time about the possibility of Copycat screwing up the ROC’s current format. Until I get some hard results that will either back up or destroy my argument, I’m going to back off a little bit… but I will definitely be watching these next few ROC’s with great interest!

–Want to know what it’ll be like tearing into a case of FLASH boosters next month? Well, wonder no longer, because Friday Night Lights alum and celebrity Heroclix fan Scott Porter (Iceman425 on the Realms) has teamed with DC VP of Creative Sciences Kevin Kiniry to do just that–and they recorded it all!

A couple of takeaways from that video:

-There are only 3 Chases (unofficially, they will be The Question, Pandora and Phantom Stranger)

-If you buy a case of The Flash, well… you are NOT guaranteed to pull one of them!! That’s right, Scott and Kevin pulled 2 Primes (the Common and Uncommon Prime, I believe). This means that the Chases will probably be REALLY expensive on the secondary market, especially initially. And if they’re actually good… yikes! Will they even be able to replace the Trinity of Sin Team Base figures? That is a dark horse rumor. That I just started.

-Some of the sculpts are amazing. Or at least they look amazing on film.

-I don’t know much about any of the Flash characters beyond Wally West, Barry Allen and Jay Garrick. I know virtually nothing about their Rogues’ Gallery. Having said that, a lot of people who do seem to be really, REALLY excited for this set. Basically, this seems like the DC version of the DeadPool set we got back in May. The characters I’d probably be most excited for are the Trinity of Sin characters, and they’re gonna be some really hard to pull Chases. And maybe a Kingdom Come Flash (He’s rumored to be a Super Rare. I loved that story, and all of the initial Kingdom Come characters were so overpowered it was ridiculous!). So while I may not grab nearly as much of this set as, say, Guardians of the Galaxy, I’m glad all the folks who really love these characters are finally getting a set!

-Finally, Deadpool kind of set the bar for how broken/awesome a Hypersonic Speed character can be with Speed Demon (and, to a lesser extent, Whizzer), so we’ll see if any of the characters in Flash can hang with the most recent Marvel speedsters!

Army of the Week:

This week, we’re gonna spotlight local player Andrew’s team from Ninwashui’s most recent Local Tourney Report!

Team Name: Krampin’ Your Style

Theme: None

Roster:

WKWK–002 Krampus—79 Points

(assigned The Utility Belt with 1 item)–8

SLOSH042 Helspont—200

DP018 Blind Al—13

=300 Points

What We Liked About This Build: Holy crap, this was pretty fun to play against! Krampus with a 13 Attack and Capture is just devastating, and Helspont’s ability–and Andrew’s creative way of getting Helspont to the correct click–was just some awesome out-of-the-box thinking! Ninwashui mentioned in his report that while he admired the creativity of the Build, he didn’t have a great time losing half of his army by Turn 2. I had a different experience.

Playing the Orange Power Battery with Iron Pharaoh (Possessed by Ophidian) and Speed Demon (Possessed by Ion), I saw Andrew capture Iron Pharaoh on Andrew’s first turn (using a double power action) and had to spend my next two turns racing across the board to try and free the Pharaoh. Speed Demon ended up rolling a 12, which did enough damage to KO Krampus in one hit. Had I not gotten that stroke of luck, I still would have had about a 66% chance to do the last two damage that I needed via Speed Demon’s Cyclone Trait (SPEED CYCLONE UPLIFT: When Speed Demon moves, after actions resolve, choose an opposing character and roll a d6. If the result is less than the number of distinct squares that Speed Demon moved into or through that are adjacent to that character during the move, you may place that character within line of fire of its square and up to the result away in squares and deal that character half of the result in damage.), but had I rolled a 1 or a 2, I would have been in a world of hurt; Krampus would have scored Iron Pharaoh on his next turn, which would have healed him back up to full, Speed Demon would be on his second click, and Andrew could just trade places with Speed Demon again using Helspont and sent my last piece all the way across the map (while double-tokened!).

In other words, the game would almost be over at that point. I’d have needed an extraordinary amount of luck to get back in the match, so it all came down to that initial push with Speed Demon to try and get Iron Pharaoh back. At the risk of coming across as the biggest nerd to ever pick up a pair of dice, it was probably my most dramatic Heroclix moment so far!

But that’s mostly a recap. What I want to focus on is Andrew’s army! Ninwashui and I spent probably 15 minutes after that tournament discussing Andrew’s Build and how it affected every decision each of us made in our respective matches. We also looked at it from Andrew’s perspective; after I described our match, Ninwashui was absolutely sure that Andrew should have grabbed Speed Demon instead of Iron Pharaoh. But I pointed out that Andrew then would have had a double tokened Helspont in a prime position (roughly 3 squares away) to get 2-shotted by Iron Pharaoh (who was sporting the Orange Crossbow and would have basically had a 13 Attack of his own and would have been sporting 5-6 Damage against Helspont at that point). So if Andrew takes Speed Demon, he scores around 185 Points, but he’d probably lose a 200 Point character immediately after! That would leave him Krampus and Blind Al, who, frankly, would have had no shot against the Pharaoh.

And that was just a small snippet of the dozens of scenarios Ninwashui and I were running through A HALF HOUR AFTER THE TOURNAMENT ENDED! I can’t remember the last Build that got us talking so much. Ninwashui was right in his report insomuch as there ARE several team types that will have next to no shot against Andrew’s team IF HIS CAPTURE GOES TO PLAN. But there are also plenty of Meta Builds that still match up well against Andrew’s squad! I was simply lucky in that I was playing just such a team (although, as I stated above, I still needed one really lucky roll!).

At the end of the day, I think Heroclix is actually a better game for having a team like Andrew’s in it. It was different and creative, and that’s why it’s this week’s Army of the Week! Great job, Andrew!

Hooray for Hollllllywooood!!

–So last time, I talked about what was wrong with Gotham, and some things they could do to fix the show. The last two episodes weren’t fabulous, but they were a step in the right direction. So this week, I want to focus on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.!

If you gave up on this show last year, you are really missing something this year. These episodes have a raw momentum that was missing from many of the initial offerings last season. The creators have somehow also managed to introduce a TON of new characters while still remembering to give each of the main characters a share of the spotlight in every episode so far. More than that, the villains this year have been much more formidable (and, y’know, actually INTERESTING in their own right!).

As opposed to the Mort of the Month C-list roster fodder that the writers seemed to shuffle into every episode last year, this year started with a bang with an impressively realized Absorbing Man, Kraken (aka Daniel Whitehall) and Skye’s Evil Father (Mr. Hyde? A Kree? An original creation? We don’t know exactly who he is yet!).

This week’s episode also introduced Mockingbird into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it looks like things are just picking up.

Alan Sepinwall at Hitfix has been all over M.A.o.S.’s resurgence this year, and you can read his latest recap right here!

I have a lot of thoughts regarding S.H.I.E.L.D. specifically, and the MCU as a whole, that are probably best saved for a separate post. For now, I’ll just say that if you’ve been off the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. bandwagon for awhile, now is a great time to climb back on!

Wait--it's already listing this post!! Huh?! Whaa?! Must be magic!!

Critical Missives:

–Okay, we’ve already linked to Ninwashui’s articles from the last couple weeks, and we’ve got more content planned for the next couple weeks as well. Remember to Follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates (and random thoughts) as soon as they happen! You can Follow us at @criticalmissive to stay up to date on articles (think I’ve got the kinks worked out; it should Tweet the link every time there’s something new to read).

And that’s it for this week!! See ya next time, and until then, stay safe (and DRY!!), and watch where you draw your lines of fire!

How To Clinch The Central!! (Or, The Mid-Weekly Roundup for 09/28/2014!!)

October 2, 2014October 2, 2014 / HypeFox / Leave a comment

Howdy! It’s time for another edition of our patented Roundups! Why publish an update now, in the middle of the week? Well, a lot has happened in the last two weeks!

In the world of Michigan sports alone:

–Baseball’s regular season has finally ended, and the Tigers finished in first place in the AL Central. Finally! Here’s what the scene looked like in and around Comerica Park:

Noted baseball fans Barry Allen and Wally West run by the stadium wearing Tigers colors! (Not gonna lie, they were hard to capture on film!)

Noted baseball fans Barry Allen and Wally West run by the stadium wearing Tigers colors! (Barry was in the home whites; Wally was wearing the navy gear. And yes, that’s Ford Field–where the Lions play–right behind them. For any non-southeastern Michigan readers, the Lions and Tigers play right next to each other!)

Fans exiting the stadium. That’s the Ren Cen in the skyline there.

Folks ready to celebrate in downtown Detroit.

Now, here’s where it gets weird. After the Tigers beat Minnesota to clinch the division, two cops on horseback came out onto the grass near the fence in left-center field (by the bullpens.) There, they milled about for just two minutes or so, and then left. And that’s when I noticed something strange on the warning track:

“Hmmm…” I thought, “That’s strange. Lemme see if I can zoom in a bit. That can’t be what I think it is... ”

“Oh yeah. That’s what I thought it was.“

Yep. An explosion of horsecrap right on the outfield dirt. Now our Warning Track needs a Warning Track.

–I bet the Twins felt crappy about losing.

–That horse was a real party pooper. (Okay, I’m done with the dookie puns now. Well… probably.)

–The Tigers will start their playoff run today in Baltimore at 5:37!

–Meanwhile, across the street, the Lions played Green Bay a couple weeks ago. They won the game, in large part because of their stellar defense. Lions middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch was so excited to get a sack in the first half that he just had to express himself:

"Somehow, this is still more manly than the Martin Grammatica celebratory knee explosion. At least Tulloch actually did something worth celebrating...

Yup! These are my Lions!

–Still, after a 3-1 start, I have to be optimistic, right? I mean, it’s not like this team has a long, tortured and RECENT history of collapsing during the latter half of the season, right?

Bah. Best not to think of such things. In fact, I think it’s high time we turned our attention to:

THE MID-WEEKLY UPDATE!!

PODCASTS:

–Dial H for Heroclix is always new every week! Their latest episode included some spoilers for upcoming OP kits as well as a discussion of the second series of Yu-Gi-Oh! figures!

–The Quarry has released Episode 27, which covers the end of the ROC’s first season!!

–In somewhat sad news, Push to Regen has announced on Reddit that they have released their final episode. Their Facebook page is still up, and still posting the occasional news item, but the show has reached its final destination.

“We’re a Thing again!”

–And, in tribute to Elton John and the Circle of Life (never thought I’d make an Elton John reference on this blog; I was, apparently, wrong), just as Push to Regen goes quietly into that dark night, ClixCast rises from the ashes after six months and publishes two new episodes! Welcome back, gentlemen.

–You can find the latest ROC tourney announcements right here!

–Keep your GotG Nebula, Rocket Raccoon Movie Chase, Star-Lord Movie Starter piece, Movie Rare Groot, Movie Rare Yondu and Batroc handy–we have another Pirate to add to your force! It’s Pirate Deathstroke, and he’s… weird. But in a good way. His mid-dial “Take Their Vessel” Special Movement power has to be the weirdest justification EVER for granting the use of Mind Control, but he also has a great top dial Damage Special called “Steal More Than Your Gold” that allows him to basically steal a standard power from an opposing figure within 6 squares. The best part is, you’re preventing that character from “using” that power, not countering that power, so it gets around Power Cosmic or Quintessence or any powers that “can’t be countered.” I’d like a little more Range than 6, but for 112 Points, he’s certainly unique.

–Want to know what to expect when OP Rogue is up for grabs at your local venue? Click here to find out!

–In case you missed it last time, we got some announcements about some upcoming sets!! We are getting an Avengers Assemble set with 25 never-before-Clix’d characters along with next year’s OP set: Age of Ultron!! Oh, and we’re getting an Age of Ultron Movie Set as well. In addition, it appears that BOTH sets will use Avengers ID cards (randomly inserted in boosters?) that will work with the Avengers Roundtable Resource. How this will all play out, I don’t know. But what I do know is that somewhere along the way (probably but not definitely as the main prize from Age of Ultron) we will finally get… a Quinjet! Yep, Marvel’s finally getting a vehicle (at least one that didn’t start as a figure like Warlock)!

Avengers Assemble should hit around May, and will be a normal 5-figure Booster set. Age of Ultron will come in two different waves of 5-Figure boosters. Wheeee!

You can find a link to the Alliance pictures HERE!!

Army of the Week:

No Army of the Week this week, as we’re devoting a little extra time to debuting another new feature–Upcoming Local Games–at the bottom of this very article. Army of the Week will return next time, though!

Hooray for Hollllllywooood!!

–Gotham and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. have premiered! After two episodes apiece, they appear to be heading in opposite directions. This week, I’ll talk about Gotham. Next week, we’ll take a look at Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.!

–Okay, I know this is a comic-book-based show, but the premiere and ESPECIALLY the second episode were really over the top. Not a great start. Ben McKenzie is fine as Jim Gordon, and I like his military backstory. But Donal Logue seems uncomfortable so far as Harvey Bullock (color me surprised–I would’ve thought he’d be brilliant), partially because every other scene has him spouting cartoonish exposition about how corrupt Gotham is and how Jim needs to get with the program. I think that’s what I dislike the most–Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock seem like characters from two different shows. And the abysmally named Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith). the other character with the most screen time through episode 2, seems bizarrely misconceived.

Why does Fish Mooney have a character banner like audience's already know who she is? Whaaa... ?! And really, a tough as nails female gangster has no problem with folks calling her Fish? Really?!

Why does Fish Mooney have a character banner like audiences already know who she is? And really, a tough as nails female gangster has no problem with folks calling her Fish?!

The only other standout so far is the guy playing the Penguin as a young thug. He’s good, but since he’s rail-thin and dressed to the nines all the time, every time someone talks about how much he looks or walks like a penguin (which supposedly sets him off on a violent rage every time he hears it), you just wonder what the hell they’re talking about.

The acting was really bad in episode 2, which featured indie movie vets Lili Taylor and Frank Whaley as a couple of creepy kidnappers. The roles were so poorly executed that neither actor ever seemed comfortable, and the whole thing devolved into a giant mess by the end. The show is also already having trouble connecting Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth to the weekly stories. This episode, Alfred caught Bruce burning his own hand with a candle flame, so of course he did the natural thing and went to see Jim Gordon, that detective Alfred has only met twice and who admittedly botched up the Wayne’s murder investigation. Well, of course that’s the guy he would turn to for parenting help.

This is only Episode 2, so the fact that the creative team is already having these sorts of structural problems with the premise of the show doesn’t bode well for the future. Look, I love Batman and Catwoman, but it seems like things would go a lot smoother if Bruce, Alfred, Selina Kyle and the young girl from the pilot who may or may not turn into Poison Ivy were recurring characters who only showed up a few times a season, at most. Because, despite what the marketing campaign would have you believe, the show’s not actually about them!

Based on what we saw in the pilot, Gotham is about a young detective named Jim Gordon, who happens to be the one honest cop in the city of Gotham, and his rise to prominence in the world’s most corrupt city. That’s it–that’s the logline of the show. Paring down the main cast to Jim Gordon, Harvey Bullock, their boss (I’m sorry, I can’t even remember her name), Jim’s fiance Barbara and whatever mobsters/villains you want them going after during the arc of the first season would free up a lot of constraints that are currently weighing down the show.

"I take it back--the marketing clearly showed the four completely different stories that the show would be telling this season."

“I take it back–the marketing clearly showed the five completely different stories that the show would be telling this season.”

Now, on the bright side, they did find a way to include Selina Kyle a little more directly (although, God help me, if she tells one more adult to call her “Cat,” I might throw something at my TV. She’s gonna be Catwoman in another decade—WE F–KING GET IT!!), not just for this episode but for at least the next few.

I haven’t watched much of Arrow, but from what I understand that enterprise started a little shaky too; now it’s become CAN’T-MISS TV!! for a lot of folks. Perhaps Gotham will get there; for now, it remains a flawed undertaking.

Upcoming Local Events:

Hello! Welcome to the latest feature for the Weekly Update–Upcoming Local Events!

This is the spot where we’ll post a few notices about upcoming games at venues in and around Southeastern Michigan, where Critical Missives is based. If any venue would like us to announce an upcoming event anywhere in the country, you can hit us up on Twitter or let us know via feedback to this very post!

–Today @ 6pm, Big Ben’s Comix Oasis in Allen Park, MI will host some Free-For-All battles, 400 Points Modern Age–only single-based figures will be allowed. “Shock the Turtle” Battlefield conditions will be in effect.

–Comic City in Pontiac, MI also has a Zombie Team Base going to the winner of tonight’s game! Looks like the Build is a massive 1550?! Wow–gonna be some carnage tonight!

–Thursday night Clix is also happening at Comic City’s Canton location tonight! 300 Points, Modern Age.

–Fun 4 All Comics & Games in Ypsilanti (tonight!), The Amazing Book Store in Flint (Saturday the 4th), Warriors 3 Comics & Games in Wayne (Saturday the 4th), Comic Relief in Flint (Saturday the 4th) and Eternal Games in Warren (Sunday the 5th) are ALL running WoL Month 5 Events this week!

More updates to come next week!

And don’t forget that my local venue also has something cooking in a couple weeks:

–On Wednesday, October 15th @6:15pm, Comics & More in Madison Heights, MI will have some Zombie Team Bases from the GOTG OP kit up for grabs! The Build is 300 Points, and Colossals, Team Bases, Entities, Relics & Resources will ALL be allowed!

Wait--it's already listing this post!! Huh?! Whaa?! Must be magic!!

Critical Missives:

–Our Top Ten Set Reviews for Guardians of the Galaxy have dropped! To read HypeFox’s take, click here! To check out Ninwashui’s rebuttal, go here!

And that’s all for now! Whew! Long one this week. Keep an eye out for us this week! We’ll have a Local Tourney Report for WOL Month 4 coming soon, as well as an article devoted to Copycat and some of the issues she’s created!

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

Let’s Not Make This Harder Than It Has to Be!! (Or, The Weekly Roundup for 05/04/2014)

May 6, 2014May 6, 2014 / HypeFox / Leave a comment

Hmmm… don’t know why I keep dating these Roundups for Sundays when I keep releasing them on Tuesday. Just one of the many quirks of Critical Missives (seriously, though, I’m working on it!), I guess, as is naming this week’s column after the hook from an infectiously ear-wormy Ingrid Michaelson song that I can’t #^#)^$#^ get out of my head. Grrrrr…

Still, it’s been a good week for Southeastern Michiganders! The weather finally seems to be breaking towards an actual Spring, and my Tigers seem to have solved their bullpen issues rather simply–they just have all of their starting pitchers go 7 strong innings and score so many damn runs that it becomes physically impossible for the relievers to cough up the lead in the short amount of time they have to pitch. Mind you, they still try REALLY FREAKING hard to give it up, but this past week they just haven’t had enough time to get it done. Luckily.

Now, you might be thinking, the Tigers have won like 6 games in a row–how bad could their bullpen be? Well, despite the fact that they traded an All-Star-level pitcher who was still under club control in the off-season (Doug Fister) for a pair of tube socks and a bat bag just to save a few million bucks, they just turned around and spent a cool million on a dude whose arm fell off last year… and he’ll be the second best pitcher in the bullpen ASSUMING HE’S EVER HEALTHY ENOUGH TO JOIN THE TEAM THIS SEASON. I know a million is not a lot of money in the world of baseball salaries, but to call this a “flyer” might be generous at best. “Desperation” is a word that comes more readily to mind. Keep in mind, when you search for images of Joel Hanrahan with his most recent team before the Tigers, this is one of the first images that pops up:

“You’re not exactly inspiring confidence, Joel.”

Former skipper Jim Leyland is not impressed, either:

“Nope.”

(Okay, I just wanted an excuse to run my favorite Leyland picture–sue me!)

But enough moaning about my favorite baseball team–this is a Heroclix blog, ain’t it? Well of course it is, so that means it’s gotta be time for…

THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP!!

PODCASTS:

–Dial H for Heroclix has released Episode 43! This week the guys discuss more of the spoiled War of the Light dials (from Newsarama–Red Lanterns this time, and man do they look nasty!) and discuss the best of the Yu-Gi-Oh figs that were just released. Also, the first week for the May Dial Design has come and gone, and May’s Best Build page just opened up!

–ClixCast is still dark. According to their iTunes feed, their last podcast was still February 18th. Sadly, it appears that they may have gone the way of Duo Attack, so this will probably be their last appearance here in the Podcast section until something changes.

–Apparently delayed due to Easter, Push to Regen is back with the second episode of Season 2! Among other things, they discuss the Con Exclusive figs for this year and talk about War of the Light. Check their Podbean for updates!

–The Quarry’s latest episode is … Episode 17! Roundtable discussion with Patrick Yapjoco on the Hanford SQ and the Iowa SQ. Ultimate Play just keeps rolling on, b!tches!

Welcome… to the ROC!

ROC:

–Up to date upcoming tourney listings, which you can find right HERE!

–Recent tourney results seem to indicate that some of the peeps in Metaland are trying to make Experienced M10 Iron Man happen again. I have to admit that I thought his day had come and gone, but between him, Phantom Girl and Lydea Mallor, players fielding resources are putting themselves at some risk now. Not enough to not play them, in my opinion, but it’s becoming very clear now that if you’re going to compete in a ROC, you had better choose the right resource for the force you’ve constructed and–moreover–you better have a backup plan for if and when you face M10 or Lydea, cuz either one can ruin you’re day real quick if you’re not properly prepared. I don’t know what the best counter to M10 is right now, but you have a few options even if you still want to play a resource. Choosing the Phoenix Force, Outwitting his defense and basing him with your Shard-granted Poison seems like the easiest way to do it (since it would give you another way each turn to force your opponent into that 50/50 unavoidable damage d6), but there’s probably a bunch of other options as well. Outwit plus a free Hammer Quake from the Book might be another way to go, as well. I guess Outwit is the key to all these strategies, eh? All you really have to do is 2 damage and the lil’ bugger goes down to a 9 Attack and 16 Defense with Invuln.

Previews:

-New War of the Light dials seem to go up every day–Newsarama is a good place to look, but eventually all that info filters down to HCRealms, so you can always check their Units page. Too many to comment on here, but so far, most look like a lot of fun, even if they’re not quite Meta-worthy–although the Red Lanterns certainly have potential. But just how many Primes are in this set? And Chases–Gawd, Chases are gonna run $100 easy, given how hot and scarce this set is gonna be. Btw, Jerry Seinfeld wanted to pop back into this column after a few weeks away with a special message for all the ‘Clixers out there looking to collect the whole set:

-Well, after Banshee was spoiled last week, I’m not sure we even need to see any other Deadpool figures–Shaun Cassidy is probably going to be the biggest addition to the Meta from that set. He’s definitely an early contender for #1 in our upcoming Deadpool Top Ten columns. Having said that, there’s plenty of cool figures from this set on display in a brand new Unboxing video featuring Scott Porter from Friday Night Lights and what I’m told is a CW show called Heart of Dixie. He’ll always be Jason Street in my mind, but if you want to see him unbox a whole brick of Deadpool, click HERE! He’s clearly a big Heroclix fan (the funnest part of the video might have been ogling all his “trophy” figs on display behind him). SPOILER ALERT: Don’t watch the first few minutes of the video if you don’t want to know what the Chase theme is going to be–he pulls one out of the second pack (I can tell you that the Chases will all have the Gold bases that the Chaos War Chases used–they look pretty cool. He also discovers a special secret about them that I hadn’t seen guessed before in any of the various Clix forums… these could get really expensive really quickly too.)

This is NOT a spoiler!

–The other figure spoiled this week that will make AvX X-Men players cry is Moira MacTaggert. She’s a 28-Point Scientist with the X-Men keyword who shuts down the Capture ability (i.e. slightly nerfs the new Sentinels) and–oh yeah–is going to be (arguably) the BEST FREAKING MEDIC IN THE GAME! Heh. Good job delaying her, WizKids! As an Avengers player, I’d rather not have to deal with their version of Donald Blake (hell, their BETTER version of Donald Blake at that!). In addition to her starting Willpower and 11 Attack Support, she also gets Perplex down dial (she’s only 4 clix long), but c’mon–she’s 28-Points! Methinks Moira may see some Meta use.

Hooray for Hollllllywooood!!

Entertainment News:

–Some point soon, I’m going to publish an episode guide for Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., so peeps can catch up if they tapped out earlier in the season. They’ve had a STRONG back half of episodes! Hopefully ABC announces a second season pickup soon (with the ratings being what they are, it’s actually weird that they haven’t announced a renewal already, but I guess ABC is waiting for the upfronts for that).

–That “Smallville” treatment of Bruce Wayne I’ve been updating you guys on? It just got ordered to series by FOX, so this one’s going to go. Intriguing cast. We’ll see if it works. I’d bet dollars to donuts that it won’t tie into either “Arrow” or the about-to-film “Superman Vs. Batman,” but it’s not entirely clear at this point. History will tell you though that while Marvel has gone to great links to establish shared universes with it’s filmed entertainment ventures (even back as far as the 80’s–remember those TV Hulk movies where Daredevil and Thor showed up?), DC (read: Warner Brothers) has gone to great lengths to SEPARATE their heroes into distinct, solo film ventures. Of course, now that Marvel’s way has proven WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY more lucrative, DC is trying to throw together a Justice League movie that would essentially be the sequel to SvB. We’ll see how it goes. As a fanboy, I’m extremely excited. As a person who was entertained but kinda/sorta underwhelmed by “Man of Steel,” I remain skeptical (why in God’s name was Lois Lane–a reporter for a Metropolis newspaper–tooling around Antarctica strong-arming Generals into showing her secret military bases and classified alien ships? And thank God she was an expert at scaling icy metallic surfaces while wearing a flimsy pair of townie boots and a parka… I don’t want to rant too much on this since this is still technically a parenthetical, but Lois Lane shouldn’t have shown up in that movie until those last scenes when Clark shows up for his first day of work at the Daily Planet. Imagine if no one knew that Amy Adams had even been cast and then she shows up suddenly at the end, Sam Jackson style–people would have loved it, and they’d look forward to seeing her in the sequel. Perhaps more importantly, this would have excised pretty much every shitty scene in that movie. Lois Lane isn’t a bad character–she’s one of the coolest women in comics, actually. But shoehorning her into the plot as early as they did added nothing to the story and actually sort of damaged the whole suspension-of-disbelief pact that every movie makes with its audience. Grrrrr…. End of rant).

Critical Missives:

–Just one new article last week, which was Ninwashui’s Local Tournament Report from AvX Month Three. Some nice analysis by Ninwa in there. Check it out if you’re looking for more AvX strategy and analysis.

Back later this week with some more Build columns and–in the next few weeks–that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Episode Guide.

Until then, Stay Safe, and Watch Your Lines of Fire!

I Must’ve Forgot–You Can’t Trust Me!! (Or, The Weekly Roundup for 04/13/2014!!)

April 15, 2014April 15, 2014 / HypeFox / Leave a comment

I’m back!

So we’re not too far off from our normal schedule. Oh, hey, remember how, during the last Weekly Roundup I told you the weather had warmed up and things were getting back to normal here in Southeastern Michigan?

Well, it hit 80 here two days ago.

And looking out my window now, I see a fresh dusting of #$&^%#$%#%#^$(^% SNOW!! AGAIN!! COME THE #$#@ ON ALREADY!!

Man!! Y’know what? I can’t deal with this anymore! Let’s just get right to it, shall we? Let’s get right into…

THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP!! Hop to it, ‘Clix Nation!

PODCASTS:

–Dial H for Heroclix returned with a full-sized episode–Number 40! This week the guys discuss all the War of the Light Dials (mostly prize support) that have been spoiled. If you still want to see what entries have been inspired by the Dial H April Dial Design Contest (this thing seems to grow every month!), you can do so right here (the idea this month is for all the competitors to design their own Fast Forces team! I’m working on a Cull Obsidian Fast Forces as I write this. Proxima Midnight was Week 1, Ebony Maw was Week 2, and now I’m completing the team this week with Thanos, Corvus Glaive, Supergiant and Black Dwarf).

–ClixCast, dark again, checked it, wrecked it, let’s move on (with apologies to Tag Team).

–Push to Regen was new on April 5th. Not sure when their next show was, but check their Podbean for updates!

–The Quarry latest episode is still… Episode 15! No news yet on when an edited version of the mysterious 13th Episode will appear…

Welcome… to the ROC!

ROC:

–Up to date upcoming tourney listings, which you can find right here!

-ROC’ing the UK results!

–ROC Event rule change! That… applies only to the members of the ROC Board. Huh?! Actually, this is just cleaning up some eligibility language and basically says that members of the ROC Board and others in a position of authority must turn over any money they win to… the ROC. To further the ROC’s goal of global domination!!

Previews:

-Do you like the Heroes for Hire? Do you want to play a HfH team with Misty Knight or Colleen Wing, but you don’t have the Super Rare Duo piece from ASM? Well, buy a few packs of Deadpool when it’s released in May, and you’re likely to get both of them! They’re both Commons; Misty Knight has more top dial damage dealing capabilities, but if you’re a gambling man, Colleen Wing gets B/C/F down dial. Both are kind of average, in my opinion, but they each have decent keywords and give you more options for Heroes for Hire.

-Lots o’ Green Lanterns from War of the Light were revealed, dials and all, by Newsarama! Don’t know that any of the figures spoiled will really affect the Meta (these guys all cost a lot without being totally viable as primary attackers), but they sure look like a lot of fun, and some of them may get way better with the new Construct mechanic!

-Speaking of, the Green Lantern Power Battery was also spoiled! If you thought the Phoenix Force was confusing, just wait! The Power Battery is a pseudo-character that stays in play the entire game and can be attacked and KO’d like a character (although it’s almost impossible to damage it?!?) and can cost up to 70 points (Good Lord!).

-Not to be forgotten in all the War of the Light frenzy, Cable is going to be a Super Rare in Deadpool! And he’s really expensive for what he does. Still, I like him better than AvX Cable.

Yep, after 2 months, this was the best image I could come up with for “Entertainment News.”

Entertainment News:

-Once again, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is out in theaters now and it is awesome! It was number one at the box office for a second week in a row. There are two scenes AFTER the credits start rolling, it moves the Marvel Cinematic Universe into a bold new direction, but most of all… it was fun! Great story, some great reveals… and oh, by the way, DON’T WATCH AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. UNTIL YOU WATCH CAP 2!! Speaking of which…

“I have a tattoo that says ‘SPOILER ALERT.'”

-Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. … Holy Schnikes. I can’t write SPOILER ALERT enough to talk about this show, but last week did NOT disappoint. If you like rollercoasters, watch this damn show! Some terrific turns last week; can’t wait for tonight’s ep! By the way, the title of this week’s Weekly Roundup is a Twentyonepilots lyric from their hit song “Holding On To You,” but it might as well have been the title of last week’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. …

Critical Missives:

–Just one new article last week, but it was a doozy! 3000+ words that covered figures who get a particularly nice bump from AvX!

That’s all I got this week! See ya later this week for more Clix goodness!

Until then, Stay Safe, and Watch Your Lines of Fire!

Getting Warmer (Or, The Weekly Roundup for 04/06/2014!!)

April 7, 2014 / HypeFox / Leave a comment

Well hello there Batman!! This is the first week of the year that us Michiganders haven’t been completely f-ing snowed in!! We set all kinds of snowfall records. I usually love Winter, but I’m done. 50 degrees Fahrenheit is like Heaven right now…

But enough weather talk. That’s not what you came here for! You’re here for…

THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP!! Here we go, ‘Clix Nation!

PODCASTS:

–Dial H for Heroclix was back again with another short-ish episode (well, short for them–it’s still over an hour). This week the guys discuss the buildup of spoilers over the last week, including some Gen Con exclusives. Additionally, their new Best Build Contest for April is live. I kinda like the army I cooked up, but you can check out everyone’s army (and, more importantly, the build parameters so you can construct your own entry) right here (mine is posted under the User Name “The Underneath”). If you want to see what entries have been inspired by the Dial H April Dial Design Contest (this thing seems to grow every month!), you can do so right here (the idea this month is for all the competitors to design their own Fast Forces team! I’m working on a Cull Obsidian Fast Forces as I write this. Proxima Midnight was Week 1, and now I’m working on Ebony Maw).

–ClixCast was dark again this week. This is as long as they’ve gone without a show in a while now…

–Push to Regen is still on its two-month hiatus. Which might actually be a three-month hiatus–wait, what? They’re back?! Oh, my stars and garters! Alrighty then! Welcome back guys!

–The Quarry is back with some freshly mined content. I give you… Episode 15! Wherein all the madness of Clixathon is broken down by a roundtable of experts…

Welcome… to the ROC!

ROC:

–Up to date upcoming tourney listings, which you can find right here!

Previews:

–Well, with Improved Targeting now a THING, you knew it was only a matter of time before we saw another Bullseye. He’s a rare from the upcoming Deadpool set, and for 110 points, I really like him. His dial is short but sweet, with only 6 total clicks but sporting Running Shot, an 8 Range, 12 Attack and 3 Damage with Prob top dial. With the Phoenix Force or the Book of the Skull, he can be very deadly.

–The 2014 Convention Exclusive figures have been announced, and it is an ECLECTIC mix to say the least. But soon to be legal at a tournament near you are:

—Doop (Gee, I wonder if he’ll be like this awesome amateur dial someone cooked up on HCRealms… I don’t know who THEUNDERNEATH is, but he must be one handsome genius! Oh, wait, they spoiled the dial… and he’s not. Frowny face. But, his sculpt is awesome! Happy Face!)

—Hulk & Red She-Hulk (Okay…)

—Whiplash (Huh?!)

—Impossible Man (Okay, he could be cool… and I don’t think he’s been ‘Clix’d since Secret Invasion…)

—ZOMBIE FREAKING GALACTUS on a 2×2 Colossal Base (AWESOME!!)

—Amazo (I still remember his original version–he was a badass with Hypersonic Speed back when Hypersonic Speed was darn near broken!)

—Jonah Hex (Click the link for his dial–nice lil’ secondary attacker for 100 points. The best Jonah yet, although that is saying almost nothing.)

—World’s Finest (Power Girl & Huntress–the New 52 version. They also set them up like Colleen Wing and Misty Knight, where you can play individually or as a Duo)

—Resurrection Man (Yeah! About time!)

—Black Lantern Anti-Monitor Collossal (Lol. Another Zombie Colossal. Both are beyond cool. Both will be had by me somehow!!)

-And as if all that wasn’t enough, DoFP revealed… Senator Kelly.

Yep, after 2 months, this was the best image I could come up with for “Entertainment News.”

Entertainment News:

–Captain America: The Winter Soldier is out and it is awesome! There are two scenes AFTER the credits start rolling, it moves the Marvel Cinematic Universe into a bold new direction, but most of all… it was fun! Great story, some great reveals… I’ll be going back for a second helping at some point. And it looks like I’m not alone–the movie debuted to almost $100 million, a record for April. No SPOILERS though–maybe next week, after everyone’s had a chance or two to see it!

-Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is brand new tomorrow, and its “UPRISING” storyline ties right into Cap 2. Should be explosive! Look for Bill Paxton and a host of guest stars to help/hinder our heroes tomorrow night on ABC!

Critical Missives:

–Just one new article this week, expounding on the brokenness of SLoSH main set Bizarro!

Well, that’s all the news that’s fit to print here in ClixLand! See ya later this week!

Until then, Stay Safe, and Watch Your Lines of Fire!

I’ll Get Her Out on the Falcon!! (Or, The Weekly Roundup for 03/30/2014!!)

April 2, 2014April 2, 2014 / HypeFox / Leave a comment

Well, looks like it’ll be another Mid-Weekly Roundup! Sorry, the beginning of this week has gotten away from me a little bit. But we’re back with the Week (and a half) that was in Clix!! Which means…

IT’S TIME FOR THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP!!

Podcasts:

–Dial H for Heroclix was new again this week (it’s ALWAYS new!) with Episode 38! Up for discussion this week are the Spoiled dials and cards for AvX Month 4 prizes along with their main topic of what the gang likes and dislikes about the current Storyline OP system. Additionally, their new Best Build Contest for April is live. I kinda like the army I cooked up, but you can check out everyone’s army (and, more importantly, the build parameters so you can construct your own entry) right here (mine is posted under the User Name “The Underneath”). By the way… the Phoenix Force is COMPLICATED! FYI.

–ClixCast was dark again this week. C’mon guys, don’t pull a Duo Attack and just vanish on us!

–Push to Regen is still on its two-month hiatus. Although it’s been two months now. Hmmm…

–The Quarry is back with Episode 14. Episode 13 disappeared without a trace and is currently undergoing “editing.” As to what’s being edited, your guess is as good as mine. But Episode 14 is live!

Welcome… to the ROC!

ROC:

–New Tourney announcement!

–Up to date upcoming listings, which you can find right here (minus the new announcement I just listed)!

-Clixathon results are in, and you can view them right here! (Oh, that Meta is CONSTANTLY evolving, ain’t it. Except for Brother Voodoo and Lydea Mallor. They are just CONSTANTS.)

Previews:

–Once again, every figure in War of the Light has been spoiled (in terms of their name, number in the set and point cost)!! Check ‘em out here! Also, WizKids released all the first Scenario Pack contents along with links to each month’s prizes and suggested builds.

–We’re gettin’ a rare Canucklehead in X-Men, DoFP, and his sculpt will look familiar to comic fans. He’s about as high-costing a Wolverine (156 points) as I can remember, but he’s a Close Combat machine.

–Since his name is on the damn set, you’d almost expect there to be a Deadpool Prime, right? His name is Evil Deadpool, and he’s pretty damn cool.

Entertainment News:

–Wow! What an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.! Lots of great guest stars, an intriguing mystery and a badass Deathlok… where has this show been hiding?! My favorite little throwaway bit was when Victoria Hand told Agent Sitwell to basically go and report to the set of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Btw, if you haven’t picked up Sitwell’s Target exclusive rare fig yet, you are missing out. He’s awesome!

–And I still have not yet decided on an Entertainment News segment logo…

Critical Missives:

–Lots of activity on the site this week! We had:

–Ninwashui’s local tourney report for AvX Month 2!

–His followup article on what he wished he had played in the tourney along with an exploit or two for your future dominating pleasure. (Whoa! That’s an awkward sentence! Not quite what I meant…)

–And my article detailing the results of my second Build column!

Well, that’s all the news that’s fit to print here in ClixLand! See ya later this week!

Until then, Stay Safe, and Watch Your Lines of Fire!

Snow News Is Good News? (Or, The Weekly Roundup for 03/16/2014!!)

March 18, 2014March 18, 2014 / HypeFox / Leave a comment

Snowmageddon hit southeastern Michigan for what seems like the thirtieth time in the last twenty-nine days, followed by a localized internet blackout for yours truly. But we’re back up and running! SLoSH sealed was cancelled and rescheduled for this week, and the weather made it impossible to get anywhere on time from late Tuesday night to midday Thursday. I used to love Winter, but come the #$@& on already! This is ridiculous.

All of which is to say–to quote the BareNaked Ladies–it’s been one week!! (Yeah, that was a pretty long way to go for that.)

IT’S TIME FOR THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP!!

Podcasts:

–Dial H for Heroclix was brand new again–when isn’t it? That’s consistency, people!!–this week with Episode 36! The guys engage in a roundtable review of the new Captain America: The Winter Soldier dials that should finally be in a hobby store near you as you are reading this! [SPOILER ALERT–Agent 13 is freaking GOOD!! And so is the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent who–oh, heck, just listen to the podcast–or simply check out the last feature in this column for more info!)

–ClixCast was dark again this week, according to their iTunes feed.

–Still dead, Jim.

–Push to Regen is, of course, still on its two-month hiatus.

ROC’n the Clix.

–The Quarry was back new again this week as DarkLogos and the gang continue their MARCH MASS HYSTERIA with a breakdown of the Canadian 1k Open!

Welcome… to the ROC!

ROC:

–The ROC is changing their Map! No more Wrestling Ring. Instead, say hello to the… MAYAN TEMPLE!

–Some more new Tourney announcements, which you can find right here!

Hi! I’ll be your Meta for today. What can I getcha started with?

–A Kentucky-set ROC Super Qualifier went down, and a Brother Voodoo/GCPD Cruiser team came out on top. But there was PLENTY of Lydea Mallor–she is definitely the figure that’s most wanted from SL0SH–at least, for now…

–Speaking of results, plenty of results to peruse from the Western Canadian $1K Open Realms Open Championship Super Qualifier.

Previews:

–Another X-Men: DoFP preview, and it’s an Uncommon bomb: Nightcrawler. Really, really like this piece. Very strong, especially for his points. Outside of the Outsiders TA, you’re gonna have to deal with his 19 Defense.

Entertainment News:

–Lady Sif kicked some butt on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. last week, and now the show is dark for a bit. Instead, we get a Marvel Movie Special on ABC tonight, which will preview Cap II, GotG & future eps of S.H.I.E.L.D. .

–And I have not yet decided on an Entertainment News segment logo…

Critical Missives:

–Ninwashui released his Top Ten SLoSH figures, which also contained a general overview of the whole set along with his five WORST figures, which I think will surprise a lot of people…

–Captain America: The Winter Soldier has released in both Hobby shops AND Targets nationwide, which means it’s time to revisit my DEFYING GRAVITY column!

This is how you defy gravity… LIKE A BOSS!

To recap, my prediction for the main set (both Hobby and Mass Market) was: The actual setlist was:

CATWS#001: Captain America CATWS#001: Captain America (Yay! 1 for 1! I cannot be stopped!)

CATWS#002: S.H.I.E.L.D. Strike Agent CATWS#002: S.H.I.E.L.D. Soldier (Bah. Close, but no cigar! This is like 1 and 1/2 for 2.)

CATWS#003: Alexander Pierce CATWS#003: Black Widow (Right character, in that she’s definitely in the set, but wrong #. 1 and 1/2 for 3.)

CATWS#004: The Winter Soldier CATWS#004: Batroc (For some reason, I thought he’d be a rare. Freaking Batroc. 1 and 1/2 for 4.)

CATWS#005: Black Widow CATWS#005: S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent (Bah. There were 3 freaking S.H.I.E.L.D. generics? 1 and 1/2 for 5.)

CATWS#006: Nick Fury CATWS#006: Falcon (1 and 1/2 for 6.)

CATWS#007: Crossbones CATWS#007: S.H.I.E.L.D. Commander (Turned out Crossbones’s only version was the rare Brock Rumlow. 1 and 1/2 for 7.)

CATWS#008: Sharon Carter CATWS#008: Winter Soldier (1 and 1/2 for 8. Bleeecccchhh.)

CATWS#009: Howard Stark CATWS#009: Steve Rogers (Howard Stark? Not even in the set. 1 and 1/2 for 9.)

CATWS#010: Batroc the Leaper CATWS#010: Brock Rumlow (1 and 1/2 for 10.)

CATWS#011: Maria Hill CATWS#011: Maria Hill (Boom!! Nailed it! 2 and 1/2 for 11.)

CATWS#012: Falcon CATWS#012: Captain America (Annnnnddd… more failure. 2 and 1/2 for 12.)

CATWS#013: The Winter Soldier CATWS#013: Agent 13 (Oh, I’m stupid. I’m really, really stupid. Of course she was #013. Btw, for her 55 points, and with her defensive shutdown SP, she is the best fig in the set, imo. Check her out. They put a better version of Malekith’s defensive shutdown SP on a figure that costs almost 200 points less. Crazy! 2 and 1/2 for 13.)

CATWS#014 Peggy Carter CATWS#014: Agent Sitwell (Talked myself out of this one. He is awesome too, btw. S.H.I.E.L.D. swarm teams got some HUGE additions with this set. 2 and 1/2 out of 14.)

CATWS#015 Machete CATWS#015: Nick Fury (This is possibly the BEST Nick Fury they’ve ever made. This Target set is AWESOME! 2 and 1/2 out of 15.)

CATWS#016 Captain America CATWS#016: Winter Soldier (2 and 1/2 out of 16.)

CATWS#017: Captain America and Winter Soldier CATWS#017: Captain America and Black Widow (This is the Hobby Chase. I thought Falcon would be on one of these. I was wrong. It’s fun, but not really Meta. Still cool. 2 and 1/2 out of 17.)

CATWS#018: Captain America and Falcon CATWS#018: Captain America and Bucky (Well, I ALMOST had it. This one has the Howling Commandos keyword, which–along with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Avengers–got a HUGE boost with this mini-set. FINAL TALLY: 2 and 1/2 out of 18. Yeeeesssh. Back to the minors for me!)

Okay! So there’s the update! Look for a second opinion on SLoSH late Wednesday or some time on Thursday.

Until then, Stay Safe, and Watch Your Lines of Fire!

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