2014!!)

June 17, 2014June 17, 2014 / HypeFox / Leave a comment

Hey There!!

No, you haven’t stumbled upon the never-before-seen prequel script for some Nicholas Cage-starring Indiana Jones clone! We’re here to talk about Heroclix!

And the World Cup. Team USA over Ghana? Did not see that coming! Course, I don’t follow soccer/futbol too much outside of the World Cup, so I’d probably be the last guy you’d want to predict these things. Between baseball, football, basketball and hockey, I just never got into it.

“Wait, Delta Force-era Chuck Norris plays soccer? I’m in!”

All of which is to say, sorry for the delay; but it looks like this is gonna be a…

MID-WEEKLY ROUNDUP!!

PODCASTS:

–Dial H for Heroclix just released Episode 49! Lots of great discussion about recent significant tourney winners and runners up, as well as a discussion about the Return of the King pieces that just released.

Also, June’s Best Build Contest is underway; I finally found time to submit (mine’s the Iron Pharaoh/Fantomex/Shaman team; yeah, I basically submitted a version of the same team I’m always on about–sue me. We’ll take a look at a Modern age version of that team in just a little bit).

–Episode 2.4 is still Push to Regen’s most recent podcast. You can also check their Podbean for updates and the first three episodes of Season 2!

–The Quarry’s latest episode is … still Episode 20, which sees the return of the Round Table!! Also, if you missed the announcement last week, Hunter Smith let it be known on last week’s Dial H For Heroclix Podcast that he unfortunately will be leaving as a regular on the Quarry Round Table episodes; while he didn’t rule out an occasional pop-in, Hunter is done after this month as a continual presence due to nothing other than not enough time.

Welcome… to the ROC!

ROC:

-Catch up with most of the recent ROC upcoming tourney announcements right here!

-Not that I’ll be able to attend, unfortunately, but local venue Gamer’s Gauntlet has a ROC event scheduled for the end of this month. I’ve heard nothing else about this from any other source; check out their website for more details (via the link above).

-If you missed it a couple weeks ago, a brief announcement was made that the recent “Watchlist 2: Electric Bugaloo” changes will go into effect, well, immediately.

-And once again, if you want to know what the most frequently used ROC figures are, check out Ninwashui’s latest article that dropped a couple weeks ago!

WIZKIDS NEWS:

-Origins has come and gone, which means there is a newly crowned U.S. National Champion! Check the link to see what he played…

-A U.K. Champion was also crowned!!

-Also, if you were living under a rock last week, or just, y’know, away from the internet (that’ll learn ya for going camping with the family!!), WizKids is rotating sets finally, which should juice the Meta starting July 1st!! Pretty much everything Marvel and DC BEFORE M:10 and DC:10

-A general FYI: a few weeks ago, WizKids announced a monthly New OP kit system!

Previews:

–No previews of any note this week, which is fine, since there was a lot else going on!

Army of the Week:

Okay, like I said before, this week we’re going to revisit an old build and add some new pieces. At the U.S. National Heroclix Championships (see above), Tim Bold piloted a team that featured Iron Pharaoh and Black Talon to a 2nd place finish (similar in concept to Ninwashui’s “Who’s the Boss? Tony is the Boss!” column). Well, I’m going to take that concept and merge it with my old Iron Pharaoh/Shaman concept. Let’s see what it looks like:

Team Name: Lockheed and Loaded

Theme: Mystical (+4 to Map Roll)

Build Roster:

IIM051 Iron Pharaoh – 110 Points

(with the Cyclops Fragment)

IIM0040 Shaman – 92

DP043 Black Talon- 60

WXM080 Lockheed – 16

AVXR100 The Phoenix Force – 12

(with the Colossus Fragment still Attached) – 3

1 Assigned Character – 3

=299

So, the strategy here is the same as it is every time with this group, really–delay and conquer. The harder you can make it for your opponent to get to you, the more body blows you can throw at their best pieces with the Pharaoh and the better your chances of success will be. If you win Map Roll, you’re gonna choose something like the Wundagore Mountain (hard to move around without flying or the ability to ignore Elevated Terrain) or K’un Lun maps (lots of blocking terrain to set up impassable Barriers).

When it comes time to attack, Iron Pharaoh will have 1 Outwit (his own), 1 Perplex (Shaman’s), a native 10 Attack and 3 Damage as well as RCE to split however he wants, and a possible +1 to Damage and Attack depending on the keywords of his target, all while seeing through just about everything via his Falcon… and then Black Talon gets to try and Mind Control him to do it all over again. Wash, Rinse and Repeat!

Shaman is your secondary attacker and support piece all in one, and Lockheed is there to provide another figure for Map Roll, to act as a tertiary attacker if your opponent approaches in any sort of Enhance Ball (he has EE) and to fly peeps away four squares if it’s not to your advantage to use “No Flights” for some reason (no, he’s not tiny, so he can Carry… up until Shaman does his thing.). 80% of the time, you’ll probably want to bust it off first turn, but if your opponent is using taxis who don’t depend on the Wing Symbol to Carry, it might behoove you to hold off.

Hooray for Hollllllywooood!!

–No big Hollywood news to speak of this past week.

Critical Missives:

–Another week gone by, another couple big articles by yours truly (a postmortem on the AvX set, now that it’s all finished) and a look at GW Bridge and the various Build possibilities he opens up by Ninwashui (as promised three weeks ago in his Deadpool set review!).

–In other big news… we’re finally on Twitter! You can follow us @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).

Wait–it’s already listing this post!! Huh?! Whaa?! Must be magic!!

So until the next article (which–just a guess–will have something to do with War of the Light),

Stay Safe, and Watch Your Lines of Fire!

Days of Past Sets Future!! (Or, The Weekly Roundup for 06/08/2014!!)

June 10, 2014June 10, 2014 / HypeFox / Leave a comment

Hello Again!!

(Or perhaps–as our site’s metrics indicate we’ve picked up quite a few new readers this week–hello for the first time!)

Welcome to the Critical Missives Weekly Roundup, where we recap the week in Clix, offer some news and community updates, a few random opinions on stuff, and get you caught up on life–or at least your gaming life. Or at least some of the stuff that happened. With Heroclix. It’s a low bar, but we usually manage to reach it!

So then, without further ado, here is…

THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP!!

PODCASTS:

–Dial H for Heroclix just released Episode 48! I jumped the gun a little bit in reporting host Hunter’s nuptials and honeymoon, but he sits in with the guys and discusses both a new format for their show and which important Modern Age figures will be rotating out come July when, well, a whole bunch of sets will rotate out of Modern (more on this in a little bit in the WizKids section).

Also, June’s Dial Design just finished Week 2; incidentally, I was, unfortunately, too busy to submit this month, but there have been some really cool entries.

–Push to Regen is done cooking up Episode 2.4!! You can also check their Podbean for updates and the first three episodes of Season 2!

–The Quarry’s latest episode is … Episode 20, which sees the return of the Round Table!! Having said that, Hunter Smith announced on this week’s Dial H For Heroclix Podcast that he will be leaving as a regular on the Quarry Round Table episodes; while he didn’t rule out an occasional pop-in, Hunter is done after this month as a continual presence.

Welcome… to the ROC!

ROC:

-A couple new ROC’s have been announced for Kentucky and Indiana!

–If you missed it a couple weeks ago, a brief announcement was made that the recent “Watchlist 2: Electric Bugaloo” changes will go into effect, well, immediately.

–If you want to know what the most frequently used ROC figures are, check out Ninwashui’s latest article that dropped yesterday!

As far as what will be used frequently going forward, I think we’ll see:

-From War of the Light, all of the Entity Chases (but especially Parallax and Entity) will be huge (when played at their 25-point level as “Possessors”); Despotellis should also see a lot of usage;

-From Deadpool, Speed Demon (in particular) and Thunderbolts Teams (in general) should become popular as Speed Demon’s Cyclone Trait offers one of the only ways in the game right now to deal damage without making so much as an attack roll. He’s relatively cheap on eBay at the moment (plenty available around $14.00, which is basically the price of one pack), but once he starts dominating the Meta, look for that price to go up in a hurry. Especially because there’s slightly less of him than other Super Rare, since he’s a Prime;

“‘Top o’ the morning to ye.”

-And also from Deadpool… yeah, Banshee. Of course. And possibly Zombie Electro;

-Someone will take a shot at building an army around Phoenixbuster Iron Man, and that person will be awesome in all aspects of life (but they’ll still lose, probably, unless their match-ups fall perfectly).

-Someone will try building a Mystical team around Shaman, as I’ve previously predicted! (Hint: He teams best with Iron Pharaoh!! Also, Map Choice is really important with that type of team!)

-Mercy from the DeadPool Fast Forces is basically the next Scarlet Witch from Chaos War! Of course, at 100 points, AvX Scarlet Witch is pretty good too; but run out and get FF:DP before they’re all sold out and your paying $40 for a $17 quick set! The 75-Point Fast Forces Elektra is also really efficient for her points!

WIZKIDS NEWS:

–WizKids is rotating sets finally, which should juice the Meta starting July 1st!! Pretty much everything Marvel and DC BEFORE M:10 and DC:10

–A general FYI: a few weeks ago, WizKids announced a monthly New OP kit system!

Previews:

–Final War of the Light color (Black) went live on Newsarama. Black Lantern Spectre looks sweeeeeet.

Army of the Week:

This week, we’re gonna keep it new and simple for you guys out there:

Team Name: You’lllllll Neveeeerrrr Seeeee Me Commmmmiiiiinng

Theme: Thunderbolts

DP053A Speed Demon – 110 Points

FFDP006R Mercy – 50

DP036 Bullseye- 110

AVXR100 The Phoenix Force – 12

(with the Colossus Fragment still Attached) – 3

Cyclops, Emma Frost and Magik Fragments – 9

2x Assigned Characters – 6

=300

Bullseye is taxi’d by Mercy, and then he simply runs amok with his 12 Attack value and triple target 8 Range Precision Strike (remember, Fragments give characters the Flight ability but NOT the Wing symbol, so Mercy can still carry them!). Speed Demon agitates everyone and uses his Trait to fling opposing figures into position for Bullseye to mutilate. Also, with 2 Assigned Characters and 2 Fragments left on the base, Bullseye and Speed Demon get the Defense pumped up +1 to 18 (or 20 against Close Combat attacks as they both have Combat Reflexes) until you KO an opposing figure or roll doubles on an attack roll and hit (the 2 ways the Phoenix Force Resource moves). Bullseye and Speed Demon also get Empower, Charge and Blades/Claws/Fangs, which opens up some interesting possibilities, especially for Speed Demon. Since he ignores characters, he can still make his Cyclone Trait go off by Charging 6 or 7 squares around a character and then he can B/C/F them for the possibility of six damage BEFORE he spins them away in his Cyclone. Then you simply rinse and repeat!!

This is a team that would be a lot of fun to play, and it uses all new characters!

Hooray for Hollllllywooood!!

–Dr. Strange: The Movie may in fact have a director!

Otherwise, not a ton of Hollywood news at the moment. Well, Ben Affleck went to a Tigers game (he’s in town shooting Batman and Superman, or whatever they’re calling it right now). That was kinda cool.

Critical Missives:

–Two big articles last week: A second opinion on the DeadPool set by yours truly; and the frequency of pieces used in the ROC tournaments!

And we’ll be back this week with a special look at Six Pack possibilities in Flash Figure #2 by Ninwashui and some other goodness from me! And in two weeks… a WOL !! Wheeee!

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

War of the Light…ened Wallets!! (Or, The Weekly Roundup for 06/01/2014!!)

June 2, 2014June 3, 2014 / HypeFox / 1 Comment

Let the games begin!! With many venues running War of the Light Month 1 this week (and some of the pieces ALREADY turning up on eBay–naughty naughty!!), peeps are getting excited for some batteries and rings! Of course, if you don’t pull that Chase or Prime you’re looking for, you’re still in luck! They can be yours for a mere $100+!! Good Lord. This set is going to cause some divorces and bankruptcies. Which is to say, it should be a lot of fun!

Speaking of the opposite of fun, my Tigers–just like that guy you know who dropped out of community college after his third year to, y’know, go “find himself”–suddenly just cannot get there s#!t together.

In the last two weeks:

–Joe Nathan, the closer, decided it was a good idea to blame his rookie third baseman Nick Castellanos for causing Nathan’s billionth blown save of the year because Castellanos dropped what would have been out number 2 in the ninth inning of a game against Oakland. That drop, according to Nathan, is why Nathan went ahead AND SERVED UP A #$%^#($&^#)$^)#^$)#^$in’ meatball on the very first pitch to Josh Donaldson for a walkoff 3-run homerun. Without that drop, by Nathan’s insane reasoning, that homerun never would have happened, because Nathan could have taken a different “approach” to the Donaldson at-bat, and could have “played with him” a little more.” Excuse me? Because of one error, you had to throw every subsequent pitch slow and right down the middle like it’s a glorified batting practice session and not the bottom of the freaking NINTH?!?! Bravo, Joe Nathan. Not only did you fail again, but this time you almost took down your entire team using only your ego! Closers blow saves around the league all the time. You know what most of those Closers do, Joe? They get back at it the next day, and sooner than later people forget about the blown save. Part of being a Closer is not being a slave to your own ego and admitting when you screwed up, neither of which involves laying the blame for a loss on the shoulders of a rookie whose had less than a year to learn third base after being moved from the outfield and whose error DID NOT END THE GAME!! That is weak.

Great job, Joe. Not only did you fail again, but this time you almost took down your entire team using only your ego!

This is what “Fail” looks like.

–Our starters have gone from the best in the league to the flat-out worst. Why? Only God and Pitching Coach Jeff Jones know. Scratch that–if Jones knew, presumably he would FIX IT! And hey, Max Scherzer–let’s stop throwing teammates under the bus as well, eh? How about everyone just chills the #^#@ out? Just for a minute, okay? Geeezzzz…

–Suddenly, if Victor or Miggy doesn’t light it up, our offense can’t hit. Grrrrr…..

Alright!! Enough negativity!! You’re not here to read my Tigers screeds! No, you’re here for…

THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP!!

PODCASTS:

–Dial H for Heroclix just released Episode 47! It was a little shorter than normal because host Hunter Smith is knee-deep in Wedding prep–in fact, he should be married and off on his Honeymoon as you read this!

–Push to Regen is still cooking up Episode 2.4!! Check their Podbean for updates and the first three episodes of Season 2!

–The Quarry’s latest episode is … Episode 19, which features interviews with and perspectives from a bunch of different recent ROC winners (the Roundtable has the week off). I listened to most of this ep–some great insight from the recent tourney champs!

Welcome… to the ROC!

ROC:

–Up to date upcoming ROC tourney listings have been released, which you can find right HERE!

–A brief announcement was made that the recent “Watchlist 2: Electric Bugaloo” changes will go into effect, well, immediately.

–What’s been winning at the ROC Super Qualifiers lately? Well, to answer that, I’d have to review every ROC team that made the Top Four and compile all that data into an article that was able to articulate the information in a way that makes sense. And… I’m sure Ninwashui will get right on that.

WIZKIDS NEWS:

–A few weeks ago, WizKids announced a monthly New OP kit system!

Previews:

–New War of the Light dials went up last week–most notably Kyle Rayner as a White Lantern–but pretty much every Wave 1 dial is up at HCREALMS.com in their Unit section!

–They weren’t officially spoiled, but four of the Light Entity Chases went up on HCREALMS.com as well, and my, are they (very nearly, depending on which figures you choose to put them on! If you choose, say, Banshee, he can become a World Breaker in no time fast! What’s that? He already basically is a Worldbreaker? Uh… well, here’s a quick Build to make my point–in fact we’re going to make this our:

Army of the Week:

Team Name: It’s Going to Get a Little Loud

Theme: None (Honestly, you probably won’t need it)

DP051 Banshee – 98 Points

WOL061P Entity – 25

FI301 Splitlip – 20

FIH005 Navy Seaman – 8

DP059 Kingpin – 118

FIR001C The Book of the Skull – 30

=299

With this army, you’re sacrificing Theme Team Bonuses for the right to essentially use 2 Resources on one character-Banshee. Assuming you select Banshee with the Book and choose Damage Power and Damage Value via the Possessed Trait from Entity (POSSESSED: Click the Possessor’s dial to the same click number as this character and change it during the game in the same way that this character’s dial changes. At the beginning of each of your turns or after this character takes or is healed of damage and actions resolve, you may choose 1 power showing on one Possessor’s dial and 1 combat value on one Possessor’s dial higher than this character’s printed combat value. This character can use that power and modifies that combat value by +1 until your next turn or until it is healed or takes damage. If the Possessor is turned to a KO click, it is removed from the game immediately.), on his top click, Banshee has: the Police and X-Men abilities; 8 Range; Running Shot with a BotS-enhanced 12 Movement; 11 Attack with Penetrating/Psychic Blast and Smoke Cloud; 18 Defense with Super Senses and Barrier; 4 Damage with Probability Control and Perplex. Then, if he chooses to Carry Kingpin with him (Holy God!!), he gets all that (Except he can only move 4 spaces for Running Shot instead of 6) PLUS his Damage goes up to 5 (from Kingpin’s Enhancement) and he also gains Sharpshooter, RCE and freakin’ Precision Strike. Oh, and due to Banshee’s own Trait, from which this army gets its name (IT’S GOING TO GET A LITTLE LOUD: Opposing characters within 6 squares can’t use Super Senses. Opposing characters within 6 squares can’t use Impervious, Invincible, or Invulnerability but can use Toughness instead. When Banshee hits a character that can’t use a power due to this trait, increase damage dealt to that character by 1.), if you’re close enough, your target can’t use Super Senses AND your damage goes to 6. Again, you still have a Perplex floating around. I mean, that’s borderline psychotic.

And that’s without a Theme Team. One of these Chases may actually make someone like White Phoenix Hope viable–and still be a Theme Team! Who thought we’d see that?!

Hooray for Hollllllywooood!!

–X-Men: Days of Future Past was pretty damn good! Really solid flick, prolly the second best of the entire franchise (after X2: X-Men United). 3 out of 4 Stars, by my reckoning!

Critical Missives:

–Two big articles last week: a gigantic 4600+ word monster on the best Chases in the Meta (not including the upcoming War of the Light Chases, which easily would have made the cut); and our first DeadPool set review (Ninwashui’s)–my version will be coming in the next couple days!

Until then, Stay Safe, and Watch Your 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!

Delayed Gratification!! (Or, The Weekly Roundup for 03/09/2014!!)

March 9, 2014March 9, 2014 / HypeFox / Leave a comment

Well hullo there!!

Another week goes out, another weather system moves in… and it’s time for another Weekly Roundup!!

Podcasts:

–Dial H for Heroclix was new again this week with Episode 35! The guys discuss, among other topics, how SLoSH will affect the current Meta, but first they discuss What They Played! This segment was extremely interesting to me this week as I designed a team that Drew selected to play for this month’s Best Build! You’ll have to listen to the show to see how Drew did with my team, but I had a lot of fun building that force.

Also, a new Dial H Dial Design Contest for March over on HCRealms.com should be up by the time you read this. This first week has a St. Patrick’s Day theme, I believe.

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

–No news is, well, NO news, I guess, on the Duo Attack front. Looks like it’s still dead, Jim. In fact, none of the Awesome PodCast Network shows have an update on the APN Facebook page more recent than February 14th.

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

Oh, it’s called the Quarry cuz it covers the ROC. I get it!

–The Quarry was back new again this week as DarkLogos and the gang prepare themselves for MARCH MASS HYSTERIA!! There should be shows coming every week now dissecting the recent Top 16 results of major ROC tourneys. The ESPN-like roundtable segments are my favorite thing on this podcast (it’s awesome to hear top-level players talking about why teams should–or in some cases, shouldn’t–work), but often host Edward Shelton will interview winners, judges and top finishers from many of these events as well. Check it out.

Welcome… to the ROC!

ROC:

–The ROC is updating its prize structure! Basically, they’re getting rid of the $100 TCGPlayer.com gift certificates and instead awarding Convention Exclusive LE’s. Read all about it here.

–New ROC Super Qualifier announced for Hanford, California!

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

Previews:

–Really just another X-Men: DoFP preview. Avalanche isn’t going to get anyone too excited, but he’s not bad for his point level.

Entertainment News:

–Movie Lady Sif is guest-starring on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. this week. Which means that, should we ever get a MAOS TV set, we could see another Marvel Studios Lady Sif! Jaimie Alexander is fun to watch in that role, so count me in for this week’s episode!

–After a flurry of casting announcements the last few weeks, no real movement to report on Batman Versus Superman or Gotham.

Critical Missives:

–Well, SLoSH being slightly delayed means our SLoSH Top Ten columns probably won’t drop until late this week or early next week, as we haven’t had the chance to play with too many of these figs (our venue’s SLoSH sealed event is this Wednesday). More to come on this front soon…

–WizKids released a statement saying that Captain America: The Winter Soldier was delayed a week due to inclement weather related shipping issues and NOT because–as many Heroclix enthusiasts have speculated–a brilliant blogger managed to piece together the entire setlist on the eve of its release. Sooooo… yeah. Heh.

Well, that’s all the news that’s fit to print this week. See ya later this week for more articles.

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

Ain’t No Sunshine in This Post (Cuz It’s Still #@$%-ing Snowing Buckets in Michigan!!) (Or, The Weekly Roundup!! 02/23/2014)

February 23, 2014 / HypeFox / Leave a comment

Has another week come and gone already?! What’s that? Wait, it’s been another TWO WEEKS?! Yikes. Wow. That got away from me quickly. Nevertheless… This was your (LAST 2!!) week(s!) in Heroclix:

Podcasts:

—Dial H for Heroclix has been new the past two weeks. The guys released Episode 31 (“I’m the Map… I’m the Map… I’m the Map… I’m the Map,” wherein the importance of map selection–along with a review of the best maps in the game for various army builds– was discussed) AND Episode 32 (“AvX Constructed Figs,” wherein the guys discussed, uh, AvX constructed figs. I’m mean, it’s right there in the title. Actually, this was a really thorough discussion of the best X-Men and Avengers keyworded figs for putting together builds for the monthly AvX OP events).

The Dial H guys also run a fun Dial Design Contest over on HCRealms.com. Basically they hand out three weekly dial design assignments each month, and then score each dial on a 1-30 scale. The highest total point getter each month receives some spiffy custom poker chip action tokens. Right now, February Week Two’s assignment (design a figure with the “Tiny” symbol) is just finishing up…

—ClixCast is up to Episode 140! Hosts Steve and Jeremiah talk about their 3 favorite maps (lots of map info these last couple weeks!) and also discuss the latest X-Men: DoFP previews.

Closed for business?

–Has anyone seen Duo Attack? Cuz if so, you’d have more information about it than I do. Again, great podcast, but for whatever reason, it may be no more…

—Push to Regen is still on its two-month hiatus. If you’re missing them, their most recent show (Episode 30) is still available for download. Their main topic was a “2013 Year in Review,” and their special guest for that discussion was none other than Brian Roll, the Creative Director of Heroclix.

This is Ultimate Play, b!tches.

—The Quarry has no official logo that I’m aware of, so I came up with my own. You’re welcome, Dark Logos. Episode 8 & 9 both featured plenty of ROC results reporting, along with some pretty entertaining ESPN-Style roundtable discussions about the teams that made the Top 16 at the most recent ROC’s. This podcast has gotten slightly better every week; the roundtable discussion usually yields plenty of insight in the current ROC-Age Meta. If you’re a high-level tourney player or a Meta addict, this and Dial H are the podcasts for you.

ROC:

–The ROC is going to Dragon Con!! They even have a tentative schedule of events that’s already up!

Previews:

–Outside of some Yu-Gi-Oh! previews, there wasn’t too much of note happening in terms of WizKids-approved sneak peeks. There were a couple of cool Toy Fair photos, however, showing off some of the sculpts from SLOSH, Deadpool and X-Men: DoFP. Validus, in particular, looks GIGANTIC. Which he’s supposed to be, I guess, but DAAAANNNG! This is like a return to the days of Bat Sentry or Ultimate Giant Man. Very cool. Oh, speaking of…

–Validus DID get a preview, actually, and he’s massive–in every way. A Super Rare, he can be played at two different point levels: 249 and 175. Both dials are pretty good, but at 175 he starts with a 12 Attack, 8 Range Special Psychic Blast power that gives an action token if his target already has an action token. Plus he’s immune to Pen/Psy at both point levels. Given that he’s also Indomitable, that special can go a long way towards keeping Validus from getting out-actioned too severely (since even at 175 he’s a pretty significant point sink). He’s not Silver Centurion (who is?!), but he’s pretty good. I’d be psyched if I opened him in sealed, that’s for sure!

Entertainment News:

What a bunch of A-holes!

–GUARDIANS. OF. THE. FREAKING. GALAXY!

Yep! Tons of news here. We already know we’re getting a regular 5-figure booster set based on the comics ALONG with an awesome Gravity Feed movie set. Well, we learned a ton more about the actual movie this week.

–The official trailer has dropped! That’s the new poster leading into this line item! New tagline? You’re Welcome! Heh. Love it! You can see it embedded here, along with more info about the poster.

–Go to Entertainment Weekly for a quick 30 second feature with director James Gunn and Bradley Cooper talking about Rocket Raccoon and you’ll get to hear and see 10 seconds of RR footage (if you’ve been curious as to what Cooper will sound like–here ya go! As much as you can make a judgement after one line of dialogue… I think Cooper will be great!).

–Vin Diesel’s got Groot fans covered as well via his Facebook page. Cool ass shot of Diesel (from the aforementioned Facebook page) on stilts playing the character (presumably for some mo-cap?!), plus a quick featurette, all available here.

–Over in DC news, Jesse Eisenberg has been cast as Lex Luthor in the upcoming Batman Versus Superman, and at least one site thinks his casting could have contributed to the year-long delay for that movie (which, again, is probably gonna get Clix’d). Still, I think this was a great choice for Lex. I’d assume at this point that he’d be the major villain in the film, but time will tell.

–FOX is prepping a major Batman prequel television series called “Gotham.” Several casting announcements have been made, including the OC’s Ben McKenzie as Det. Jim Gordon (this series appears like it’ll revolve around Gordon, rather than Bruce Wayne), Donal Logue as–well, click here to find out which famous GCPD member HE’S playing–and Sean Pertwee (whom Doctor Who fans may remember is the real-life son of Doctor #3 Jon Pertwee, as well as being the badass Sgt. Harry Wells in Dog Soldiers). Who’s Pertwee playing? Another very important character to the Batman mythos (and if you read the parenthetical I just wrote about him, you can probably already guess which character that is. But if not, click here for the answer).

Godzilla! We must flee! And no, this is just a nice custom someone made (presumably from some Pacific Rim figs), not what the actual figs will look like.

–And finally, since I forgot to mention it last time, we’ve got pretty good evidence at this point that WizKids will be Clix’ing the upcoming Godzilla movie (out in May of this year) that stars Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, among others. You can see the fairly awesome preview right about… here.

Critical Missives:

So NinwaShui was left in charge of the site this past week, and he did a decent job, I must say. We’ll have 2-3 more articles this week, including another Build column. The last BUILD didn’t go so well for me. Thanos was great, but a little slower than I anticipated because I had to wait a turn to Hammer him up. I also substituted Stealth Suit Iron Man for Scarlet Witch, which proved to be my undoing! I went 1-2, and I had some of the worst rolls I’ve ever had. While Stealth IM was a great figure in his own right, not having SW’s Prob and healing cost me big time. I was also outplayed the first game by my opponent (he was playing the Serpent). With his move and attack (Running Shot, I believe) I should’ve just Hammered up and then retaliated. Instead, I ended up screwing up my positioning and losing fairly handily. Oh well. The lesson? Stay with your original plan! And bringing at least one Prob fig is never a bad idea. Especially if she’s borderline broken like the Witch. I would play Thanos again in a heartbeat; hopefully, I’d play him better (and field a better supporting cast!).

That’s all for now! Until next time, stay safe, and watch where you draw those lines of fire!

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