M+M E004 CAPTAIN UNIVERSE
Fast-moving, this E-dial is one of the simplest ones.
TURN THE DIAL: At the end of any turn in which any character was knocked out, and at the end of each round.
TOUCHED BY THE ENIGMA FORCE (cyan, slots 2-4, 6): Once during your turn when you make an attack roll, if the result of either of the two dice is a 1, you can reroll one die before determining the attack roll result. You must use the rerolled result.
WHAT IT MEANS: This first condition (which won’t be in effect until turn two), is nothing more than the Lucky Break feat, available once per turn. There’s no way to build for this, so don’t fret it.
UNI-FORCE (red, slots 5,7): At the beginning of each player’s turn, that player rolls 2d6 and subtracts from the result the number of of his or her KO’d figures that have point values of more than 20 points. If the result is a 4 or less, that player chooses one target character on his or her force. Until the end of that turn, the target ignores its team ability and powers, has a range value of 10, and can use the Power Cosmic team ability and the following powers: Energy Explosion, Force Blast, Hypersonic Speed, Incapacitate, Outwit, Phasing/Teleport, Steal Energy, and Super Strength.
WHAT IT MEANS: This condition gives you a shot at turning one of your team into Captain Universe for a turn, your team build will make a difference one way or another. Field cheap sacrifice pieces over 20 points in cost (NOT less), because not only will they tie-up or bait the other force(s), if they’re KOed they improve your chance of rolling low enough to become Captain Universe. When you DO make the roll, give the Captain Universe powerset to a fig with good stats to make best use of them. Also consider one with some sort of Stealth and the Wing symbol. The former will keep it safe until the Uni-Force is active (and possibly protect it from an opposing Captain Universe) and the latter will give it the mobility to move and attack freely as CU. Don’t run a pivotal offensive team ability on your preferred Captain Universe candidate, though because the printed TA will be replaced with the uncopyable Power Cosmic ability until the end of the turn.
SUMMING IT UP: As stated in the outset, this dial is easy to pick up and play, regardless of your team build.

M+M E004 CAPTAIN UNIVERSE

I always found this cover to be rather hilarious.

I always found this cover to be rather hilarious.

Fast-moving, this E-dial is one of the simplest ones.

TURN THE DIAL: At the end of any turn in which any character was knocked out, and at the end of each round.

TOUCHED BY THE ENIGMA FORCE (cyan, slots B-D, F): Once during your turn when you make an attack roll, if the result of either of the two dice is a 1, you can reroll one die before determining the attack roll result. You must use the rerolled result.

WHAT IT MEANS: This first condition (which won’t be in effect until turn two), is nothing more than the Lucky Break feat, available once per turn. There’s no way to build for this, so don’t fret it.

UNI-FORCE (red, slots E, G): At the beginning of each player’s turn, that player rolls 2d6 and subtracts from the result the number of of his or her KO’d figures that have point values of more than 20 points. If the result is a 4 or less, that player chooses one target character on his or her force. Until the end of that turn, the target ignores its team ability and powers, has a range value of 10, and can use the Power Cosmic team ability and the following powers: Energy Explosion, Force Blast, Hypersonic Speed, Incapacitate, Outwit, Phasing/Teleport, Steal Energy, and Super Strength.

WHAT IT MEANS: This condition gives you a shot at turning one of your team into Captain Universe for a turn. Your team build will make a difference one way or another. Field cheap sacrifice pieces over 20 points in cost (NOT less), because not only will they tie-up or bait the other force(s), if they’re KOed they improve your chance of rolling low enough to become Captain Universe. When you DO make the roll, give the Captain Universe powerset to a fig with good stats to make best use of them. Also consider one with some sort of Stealth and the Wing symbol. The former will keep it safe until the Uni-Force is active (and possibly protect it from an opposing Captain Universe) and the latter will give it the mobility to move and attack freely as Cap U. Don’t run a pivotal offensive team ability on your preferred Captain Universe candidate, though.  The printed TA will be replaced with the uncopyable Power Cosmic ability until the end of the turn.

SUMMING IT UP: As stated in the outset, this dial is easy to pick up and play, regardless of your team build.

Next, we’ll look at one that’s NOT pick-up-and-play. In fact, thanks to some rule changes since its debut, strictly speaking it’s not very playable at all…

Way back in December, I set about reacquiring a Dr. Psycho from 2005’s Collateral Damage set so I could play this team:
The Society
From left: Talia, Black Adam, Lex Luthor, Deathstroke, Dr. Psycho, Calculator.
Essentially the anti-Justice League, but worse than that, since each of these characters have been able to singlehandedly challenge entire teams with their machinations. Together as The Society’s inner circle? Nigh-unstoppable.
As an 800-point HeroClix team, though, they are somewhat less terrifying. Four of them — Luthor, Deathstroke, Calculator and Dr. Psycho — are wild cards with no team ability to copy from the team-less Talia and Black Adam. So immediately, I have to bend the theme somewhat to get any real playability from them.
Here’s my first take and my first match.
The Society
Black Adam (Crisis) 254
Lex Luthor (Justice League) 161
Deathstroke (Crisis) 156 + Outsmart 10
Dr. Psycho 100
Calculator 55 + Outsmart 10
Gotham City Detective 27
Talia (Batman Alpha) 20 + Loner 5
=798 points
vs. the Justice League of…well, Lenny.
Superman (Justice League) 226 + Fortitude 25 + ICWO 10
R Shazam 105
Green Arrow (Crisis) 104
Wonder Woman (Justice League) 94
Batman (Justice League) 75 + ICWO 10
Gamora 73
Cosmic Boy (Legion of Super-Heroes) 70
= 792 points
For shame, busting up a perfectly good DC team with that green cheesecake chick from Marvel. :)
Lenny won the roll and picked the Days of Future Past map. I holed up inside. No BFCs played.
Black Adam parked on the Kinetic Accelerator. Lenny TK’d Gamora to attack him, but she missed and got pounded for a quick KO. Superman snaked his subsequent attack, losing the Meteorite vs. Black Adam. Adam, Calculator and Deathstroke ganged up on R Shazam, keeping him Outwitted until he was done.
OOTS Batman sat on an object but lost it from an Enhanced attack from Talia. That didn’t save Dr. Psycho, who missed his Mind Controls and got pincushioned by Green Arrow. Lex Luthor also underperformed and fell to a double KO by Superman (which he Masterminded to the GCD) and Wonder Woman (no one left to MM to). At least Calculator got to the Vine to heal (dodging a shot from WW) as Black Adam, now on Hypersonic Speed, successfully took on Superman, Batman and Green Arrow with Deathstroke in tow. Cosmic Boy went down and WW was the last to fall. I had BA and Ds left.
Played the same team the next day against Scott’s semi-cosmic team:
Annihilus 126
Proteus 180
Magus 184
The Mighty Thor 286
= 776 points.
On the Junkyard map, I ran Infiltration and got Poor Teamwork’d. Deathstroke hunkered down safe in the map’s swath of hindering terrain, but Talia got OHKO’d by Thor right off. Psycho successfully Mind Controls Thor to attack Annihilus but the enthralled Asgardian fails. The bad Dr. takes 2 (and needn’t call anyone when he wakes from his impending KO). Lex Luthor gets tied by Magus. I return the favor, pushing Gotham City Detective  to cuff Annie and prevent the space buglord from Psychic Blasting Adam. GCD doesn’t last a turn.
Delay of game penalty.
Calculator takes Obsessive click (after lonnnnnng check on the computer to  check for common keywords on older figs), then takes a KO by TK’d Dumpsterator. Time’s up just before I can finish laying into Thor (due to that slooooooow-loading computer) so I take the time-limit loss, having KO’d no points to Scott’s 217.
We play on. Thor fails his Flurry and falls to combined Deathstroke/Black Adam assault as Dr. Psycho gets hit off board. Now Hypersonic and Super Strong, Adam starts beating down Magus and Proteus as Lex pushes to weaken, then KO Annihilus. Alas, the “Price” is not right and Lex goes down from his own Perplex. But now Black Adam and Deathstroke can’t be stopped and they again clear the board of all foes.
Because it takes a while to get KOs, this team isn’t very good in the time limit, but when played to the last, the two high-pointers tend to win out. I made an adjustment for a game played a few weeks later:
Black Adam (Crisis) 254 + Fortitude 25
Deathstroke (Crisis) 156 + Outsmart 10
Lex Luthor (Crisis) 113
Dr. Psycho 100
Calculator 55 + Outsmart 10
Gotham City Detective 27
Talia (Batman Alpha) 20 + Loner 5
R Ragman 25
=800 points. I just didn’t seem to be getting results from Lex, and since Alex was the REAL power behind the Society, having disguised himself as Lex, it fits.
Couldn’t resist the temptation to mutilate the theme by adding a conveniently brainwashed R Ragman to the team. :)
First, I played Mohammed, a very young player still very shaky on the rules. He had a cobbled-together team of borrowed figures:
Dr. Doom (Fantastic 4) 200
The Flash (Justice League) 114
Yellowjacket (Secret Invasion) 100
Yellowjacket (Skrull) (Secret Invasion) 100
Batman (Arkham Asylum) 64
Robin (Arkham Asylum) 66
The Caped Crusader 50
E Deathstroke (Cosmic Justice) 50
We played on the Dawn of Time map. My victory was never in doubt — the poor kid’s not a solid player yet — but my score wasn’t very high due to coaching him through the rules and Skrullojacket making too many Shape Change/Skrull rolls to KO him early enough to add more than that 100 points to my victory points.
Second round was against Lenny, who ran:
Silver Surfer (Avengers) 231 + Protected 8
Susan Richards (Fantastic 4) 120
Mr. Fantastic (Fantastic 4) 100 + Brilliant Tactician 20
Johnny Stom (Fantastic 4) 100
Benjamin J. Grimm (Fantastic 4) 100
Winter Soldier 70
Spider-Man (Secret Invasion) 50
Battlefield conditions: He Sabotaged me by tokening Black Adam (I missed my roll) while I tried to cause Telekinetic Strain. But he got to choose the Fantastic Four map, which played to his strengths and hurt many of mine.
I used the Sabotage to immediately push Adam to Hypersonic Speed and the Kinetic Accelerator, pretty much ensuring that he could reach any target on the map once he cleared. I also clustered the rest around him in case Surfer tried to alpha-strike my big gun. But Lenny was much more careful than that, positioning his whole team so that any Adam attack would leave him open to a massive counterattack.
I took the bait anyway, successfully hitting Winter Soldier within a click of his life. Nearly paid dearly for it when Sue TK’d Grimm a short distance  to try hitting with a Meteorite (missed), then Johnny Running Shot Adam for 5 clicks (hit) and Surfer tried a HSS driveby (crit-missed).
Psycho Mind-Controlled Surfer away to double target Winter Soldier and Sue (only hit him, though) then end up in easy range for Alex to Psychic Blast him (missed, though). More shots on Grimm landed but failed to KO. And somehow, time ran out before any more KOs could occur. Lost none.
Finally, I face Lord Timothy’s quartet of Deities:
Ares (Avengers) 275 + Protected 8
Thor (Ultimates) 186 + Protected 8
Hercules (Secret Invasion) 142 + Protected 8
Circe (Arkham Asylum) 149 + Alias 3
On the Dawn of Time map, I Infiltrated half my team into the bushes. Tim used no Battlefield Conditions, since the one he would have played — Skrull Kill Krew — would have hurt his Circe worse than me.
Using the Dynamostat to cover Adam on the Accelerator, I immediately tried Mind Controlled Herc to beat Thor. Thor got his Impervious, though. My backup plan to Psychic Blast Thor with Alex worked a bit better.
Tim ran Herc behind Thor, which opened the Norse thunder god to Dr. Psycho’s MC. He took 2 more clicks of damage into utter deadweight, but it was worth it: Circe took 5 clicks from the hammer and Thor took 1 from the Mystics.
Ares had just failed his Running Shot at Adam with a ridiculously low roll (13 on 19 missed? Really?) so it was time to return the favor. Only I did too well, with another ridiculously low roll into a miss. Feh. At least the taxied Talia managed to follow up with an actual solid hit…especially with Deathstroke countering Impervious. Too bad Protected swallowed it up, and Circe Outwit her sword next time. Black Adam, now on Flurry, landed another hit but was rapidly taken out by Herc and Ares. Talia didn’t last much longer. Neither did Circe…Alex took her down.
Now Ares closed in on my Detective and Calculator. While Calc took the defeat, Deathstroke, well-Perplexed, took on the god of war and came out on top while Herc was tied up by GCD’s Plasticity…I thought. Good thing I Outwit his Wrestler SP (was concerned about Charge and Flurry and had forgotten Herc’s Plasticity)! Herc couldn’t take on two Outwitters alone and fell.
3-0! Nice, but with Adam Fortituded, the Outsmarts were a waste. So in a later game, I swapped them out:
Black Adam (Crisis) 254 + Fortitude 25
Deathstroke (Crisis) 156
Lex Luthor (Crisis) 113
Dr. Psycho 100 + Compel 15
Calculator 55
Gotham City Detective 27
Talia (Batman Alpha) 20 + Loner 5
R Ragman 25
= 795 points.
There was weird format in this game…a special third die was rolled with every attack roll:
1=nothing
2=knockback x 2
3=heal after the attack (1d6-2, like Support)
4=automatic crit miss
5=automatic crit hit
6=nothing
FIRST match I faced John and his
Thanos 267
Trigon 263 + Protected 8
Darkseid 210
Doombot 5953 40
We were on the Crash Site map. I used the hindering to keep just out of range of that range-heavy team. Again Dr. Psycho did his thing, forcing Darkseid to punch Trigon in the shins and take Mystics feedback. But that just made Trigon start tossing Dopplegangers out and forced me to Outwit that so Psycho could get taxied to the Eleha’al Vine and start tokin…uh, I mean healing up.
My opponent was highly frustrated with my solid Stealth bunker, as I was with Black Adam’s inability to hit his lone lead man, Thanos. So he closed in on me. But it was too late as time ran out. I got the points for Protected for the win.
Then there was Christian’s cheese pizza:
Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188 + Fortitude 25
Iron Man 154
Mr. Fantastic 100 + Brilliant Tactician 20
R Kang (Supernova) 87
Ant-Man (Infinity Challenge) 50
E Dr. Mid-Nite 43
R Mandroid Armor 28
R Black Panther  (Infinity Challenge) 27
V Lockjaw 38
R Destiny 20
R Paramedic 8
I stuck us on the Armor Wars map. I managed to get Lockjaw and then Kang. But a Compel, a pair of missed attacks, an untimely (for me) Impervious roll and a tactical failure to tie up AV Iron Man with Ragman left a pushed Black Adam way too open to a massive pair of Running Shots from the Tonys that dealt him 10 clicks when he could only take 8. That was the game.
So how’d this cadre of villainy wind up working?
Black Adam: the beater really has to pull his weight at this point level. In the first build, the Outsmart combos really encouraged me to hold him back, causing the rest of the team to take a lot of early fire and forcing him into a cleanup role too late in the game for timed matches. In the later builds, he was often the first to go into battle and usually paid for it by getting pounded by multiple counterstrikes. It’s hard to find a proper balance.
Lex Luthor: Key example of a piece forced to do too much in the first build. Great AV, but his defense always took that first hit into less usefulness. He’d probably do better in the Ragman build…if the points allowed! That 161 cost and my general insistence on sticking to the villain theme kept Rags out the first go ’rounds.
Deathstroke: Like Adam, he’s one of the main fight engines of the team. But he lacks the mobility to really get into it alongside Adam. Still one of the major keys to this team’s viability.
Alex Luthor: Quite the upgrade from Lex for nearly 50 points less. He made room for more TAs to copy and better feats. His upfront Perplex also made him more effective as a backrow type to boost the real fighters’ attacks or defenses. Still disappointed that I NEVER got to use his BFC-canceling SP!
Dr. Psycho: If not for this theme, I’d never play him again. He was highly, HIGHLY ineffective in the first build for want of decent die rolls. He simply can’t afford to miss those Mind Control rolls when he’s going to be taking the next attack thanks to that dismally low defense. With Bat-Stealth, though, he had new life. It was more than worth taking multiple clicks of self-damage from feedback and pushing to make the enemy do some of my work for me.
Calculator: Similarly, Calc is suspect as a piece. Sure, he’s got built-in Brilliant Tactician, sorta, and Outwit. But that Outwit is gimped by the keyword factor — he’s toast against themed teams — and losing his single Stealth click is really dangerous for him. And there’s not enough Mastermind fodder to help him AND Psycho. Maybe I need to invest in pogs…
Gotham City Detective: the corrupt cop on the villains’ take. Basically only there as Mastermind fodder and, more importantly, a source of TA for the four wildcards on the team, especially Dr. Psycho (who’s useless without a TA to copy). Also served well to tie-up thanks to 2nd-click Plasticity.
R Ragman: NOT a villain. Just conveniently “brainwashed” by Dr. Psycho into aiding them. :) Perma-Stealth for these wildcards, well, wildly increases their effectiveness. For the 25-40 points that the Alex Luthor build offers, there’s no better DC clix for the role he plays here. Maybe none in the game at all.
Talia: most of the time, she was just tie-up fodder. But sacrificing that 25 points wasn’t so bad if it meant Black Adam lived to fight another round or two. Which it usually did, to my benefit. And when enemy Outwit is focused on a 20-point piece instead of elsewhere, that’s pretty OK, too.

Taking a quick break from the Event Dials series to deliver some battle reports.

Way back in December, I set about reacquiring a Dr. Psycho from 2006’s Collateral Damage set so I could play this team:

The Society

From left: Talia, Black Adam, Lex Luthor, Deathstroke, Dr. Psycho, Calculator.

From left: Talia, Black Adam, Lex Luthor, Deathstroke, Dr. Psycho, Calculator. From Villains United #1.

Essentially the anti-Justice League, but worse than that, since each of these characters have been able to singlehandedly challenge entire teams with their machinations. Together as The Society’s inner circle? Nigh-unstoppable.

As an 800-point HeroClix team, though, they are somewhat less terrifying. Four of them — Luthor, Deathstroke, Calculator and Dr. Psycho — are wild cards with no team ability to copy from the team-less Talia and Black Adam. So immediately, I have to bend the theme somewhat to get any real playability from them.

Here’s my first take and my first match.

The Society

Black Adam (Crisis) 254
Lex Luthor (Justice League) 161
Deathstroke (Crisis) 156 + Outsmart 10
Dr. Psycho 100
Calculator 55
+ Outsmart 10
Gotham City Detective 27
Talia (Batman Alpha) 20
+ Loner 5

=798 points

vs. the Justice League of…well, Lenny.

Superman (Justice League) 226 + Fortitude 25 + ICWO 10
R Shazam (Origin) 105
Green Arrow (Crisis) 104
Wonder Woman (Justice League) 94
Batman (Justice League) 75
+ ICWO 10
Gamora 73
Cosmic Boy (Legion of Super-Heroes) 70

= 792 points

For shame, busting up a perfectly good DC team with that green cheesecake chick from Marvel. :)

Lenny won the roll and picked the Days of Future Past map. I holed up inside. No BFCs played.

Black Adam parked on the Kinetic Accelerator. Lenny TK’d Gamora to attack him, but she missed and got pounded for a quick KO. Superman snaked his subsequent attack, losing the Meteorite vs. Black Adam. Adam, Calculator and Deathstroke ganged up on R Shazam, keeping him Outwitted until he was done.

OOTS Batman sat on an object but lost it from an Enhanced attack from Talia. That didn’t save Dr. Psycho, who missed his Mind Controls and got pincushioned by Green Arrow. Lex Luthor also underperformed and fell to a double KO by Superman (which he Masterminded to the GCD) and Wonder Woman (no one left to MM to). At least Calculator got to the Vine to heal (dodging a shot from WW) as Black Adam, now on Hypersonic Speed, successfully took on Superman, Batman and Green Arrow with Deathstroke in tow. Cosmic Boy went down and WW was the last to fall. I had BA and Ds left.

Played the same team the next day against Scott’s semi-cosmic team:

Annihilus 126
Proteus 180
Magus 184
The Mighty Thor 286

= 776 points.

On the Junkyard map, I ran Infiltration and got Poor Teamwork’d. Deathstroke hunkered down safe in the map’s swath of hindering terrain, but Talia got OHKO’d by Thor right off. Psycho successfully Mind Controls Thor to attack Annihilus but the enthralled Asgardian fails. The bad Dr. takes 2 (and needn’t call anyone when he wakes from his impending KO). Lex Luthor gets tied by Magus. I return the favor, pushing Gotham City Detective  to cuff Annie and prevent the space buglord from Psychic Blasting Adam. GCD doesn’t last a turn.

Calculator takes Obsessive click (after a lonnnnnng check on the computer to  check for common keywords on older figs), then takes a KO by TK’d Dumpsterator. Time’s up just before I can finish laying into Thor (due to that slooooooow-loading computer) so I take the time-limit loss, having KO’d 0 points to Scott’s 217.

We play on. Thor fails his Flurry and falls to combined Deathstroke/Black Adam assault as Dr. Psycho gets hit off board. Now Hypersonic and Super Strong, Adam starts beating down Magus and Proteus as Lex pushes to weaken, then KO Annihilus. Alas, the “Price” is not right and Lex goes down from his own Perplex. But now Black Adam and Deathstroke can’t be stopped and they again clear the board of all foes.

Because it takes a while to get KOs, this team isn’t very good in the time limit, but when played to the last, the two high-pointers tend to win out. I made an adjustment for a game played a few weeks later:

Black Adam (Crisis) 254 + Fortitude 25
Deathstroke (Crisis) 156 + Outsmart 10
Lex Luthor (Crisis) 113
Dr. Psycho 100
Calculator 55
+ Outsmart 10
Gotham City Detective 27
Talia (Batman Alpha) 20
+ Loner 5
R Ragman 25

=800 points. I just didn’t seem to be getting results from Lex, and since Alex was the REAL power behind the Society, having disguised himself as Lex, it fits.

Couldn’t resist the temptation to mutilate the theme by adding a conveniently brainwashed R Ragman to the team. :)

First, I played Mohammed, a very young player still very shaky on the rules. He had a cobbled-together team of borrowed figures:

Dr. Doom (Fantastic 4) 200
The Flash (Justice League) 114
Yellowjacket (Secret Invasion) 100
Yellowjacket (Skrull) (Secret Invasion) 100
Batman (Arkham Asylum) 64
Robin (Arkham Asylum) 66
The Caped Crusader 50
E Deathstroke (Cosmic Justice) 50

We played on the Dawn of Time map. My victory was never in doubt — the poor kid’s not a solid player yet — but my score wasn’t very high due to coaching him through the rules and Skrullojacket making too many Shape Change/Skrull rolls to KO him early enough to add more than that 100 points to my victory points.

Second round was against Lenny, who ran:

Silver Surfer (Avengers) 231 + Protected 8
Susan Richards (Fantastic 4) 120
Mr. Fantastic (Fantastic 4) 100
+ Brilliant Tactician 20
Johnny Stom (Fantastic 4) 100
Benjamin J. Grimm (Fantastic 4) 100
Winter Soldier 70
Spider-Man (Secret Invasion) 50

Battlefield conditions: He Sabotaged me by tokening Black Adam (I missed my roll) while I tried to cause Telekinetic Strain. But he got to choose the Fantastic Four map, which played to his strengths and hurt many of mine.

I used the Sabotage to immediately push Adam to Hypersonic Speed and the Kinetic Accelerator, pretty much ensuring that he could reach any target on the map once he cleared. I also clustered the rest around him in case Surfer tried to alpha-strike my big gun. But Lenny was much more careful than that, positioning his whole team so that any Adam attack would leave him open to a massive counterattack.

I took the bait anyway, successfully hitting Winter Soldier within a click of his life. Nearly paid dearly for it when Sue TK’d Grimm a short distance  to try hitting with a Meteorite (missed), then Johnny Running Shot Adam for 5 clicks (hit) and Surfer tried a HSS driveby (crit-missed).

Psycho Mind-Controlled Surfer away to double target Winter Soldier and Sue (only KO’d him, though) then end up in easy range for Alex to Psychic Blast him (missed, though). More shots on Grimm landed but failed to KO. And somehow, time ran out before any more KOs could occur. Lost none.

Finally, I face Lord Timothy’s quartet of Deities:

Ares (Avengers) 275 + Protected 8
Thor (Ultimates) 186 + Protected 8
Hercules (Secret Invasion) 142 + Protected 8
Circe (Arkham Asylum) 149 + Alias 3

On the Dawn of Time map, I Infiltrated half my team into the bushes. Tim used no Battlefield Conditions, since the one he would have played — Skrull Kill Krew — would have hurt his Circe worse than me.

Using the Dynamostat to cover Adam on the Accelerator, I immediately Mind Controlled Herc to beat Thor. Thor got his Impervious, though. My backup plan to Psychic Blast Thor with Alex worked a bit better.

Tim ran Herc behind Thor, which opened the Norse thunder god to Dr. Psycho’s MC. He took 2 more clicks of damage into utter deadweight, but it was worth it: Circe took 5 clicks from the hammer and Thor took 1 from the Mystics.

Ares had just failed his Running Shot at Adam with a ridiculously low roll (13 on 19 missed? Really?) so it was time to return the favor. Only I did too well, with another ridiculously low roll into a miss. Feh. At least the taxied Talia managed to follow up with an actual solid hit…especially with Deathstroke countering Impervious. Too bad Protected swallowed it up, and Circe Outwit Talia’s little sword next time. Black Adam, now on Flurry, landed another hit but was rapidly taken out by Herc and Ares. Talia didn’t last much longer. Neither did Circe…Alex took her down.

Now Ares closed in on my Detective and Calculator. While Calc took the defeat, Deathstroke, well-Perplexed, took on the god of war and came out on top while Herc was tied up by GCD’s Plasticity…I thought. Good thing I Outwit his Wrestler SP (was concerned about Charge and Flurry and had forgotten Herc’s Plasticity)! Herc couldn’t take on two Outwitters alone and fell.

3-0! Nice, but with Adam Fortituded, the Outsmarts were a waste. So in a later game, I swapped them out:

Black Adam (Crisis) 254 + Fortitude 25
Deathstroke (Crisis) 156
Lex Luthor (Crisis) 113
Dr. Psycho 100 + Compel 15
Calculator 55
Gotham City Detective 27
Talia (Batman Alpha) 20
+ Loner 5
R Ragman 25

= 795 points.

There was weird format in this game…a special third die was rolled with every attack roll:

1=nothing

2=knockback x 2

3=heal after the attack (1d6-2, like Support)

4=automatic crit miss

5=automatic crit hit

6=nothing

FIRST match I faced John and his:

Thanos 267
Trigon 263
+ Protected 8
Darkseid 210
Doombot 5953 40

We were on the Crash Site map. I used the hindering to keep just out of range of that range-heavy team. Again Dr. Psycho did his thing, forcing Darkseid to punch Trigon in the shins and take Mystics feedback. But that just made Trigon start tossing Dopplegangers out and forced me to Outwit that so Psycho could get taxied to the Eleha’al Vine and start tokin…uh, I mean healing up.

My opponent was highly frustrated with my solid Stealth bunker, as I was with Black Adam’s inability to hit his lone lead man, Thanos. So he closed in on me. But it was too late as time ran out. I got the points for Protected for the win.

Then there was Christian’s team:

Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188 + Fortitude 25
Iron Man 154
Mr. Fantastic 100
+ Brilliant Tactician 20
R Kang (Supernova) 87
Ant-Man (Infinity Challenge) 50
E Dr. Mid-Nite 43
R Mandroid Armor 28
R Black Panther  (Infinity Challenge) 27
V Lockjaw 38
R Destiny 20
R Paramedic 8
+ Thunderbolts 15 (Defenders)

Wow. That’s a full T.O.P.P.S.-style Pit Crew*, there. I actually got the taste for a pizza after seeing all that cheese.

I stuck us on the Armor Wars map. I managed to get Lockjaw and then Kang. But a Compel, a pair of missed attacks, an untimely (for me) Impervious roll and a tactical failure to tie up AV Iron Man with Ragman left a pushed Black Adam way too open to a massive pair of Running Shots from the Tonys that dealt him 10 clicks when he could only take 8. That was the game.

So how’d this cadre of villainy wind up working? Basically went 6-1 (technically 5-2, but the loss against Scott within the time limit would be invalidated had that keyword check taken 1 minute instead of 5). Piece-by-piece:

King of PAIN.

King of PAIN.

Black Adam: the beater really has to pull his weight at this point level. In the first build, the Outsmart combos really encouraged me to hold him back, causing the rest of the team to take a lot of early fire and forcing him into a cleanup role too late in the game for timed matches. In the later builds, he was often the first to go into battle and usually paid for it by getting pounded by multiple counterstrikes. It’s hard to find a proper balance.

Dunno what HE'S so happy about, getting KOed all the time.

Dunno what HE'S so happy about, getting KOed all the time.

Lex Luthor: Key example of a piece forced to do too much in the first build. Great AV, but his defense always took that first hit into less usefulness. He’d probably do better in the Ragman build…if the points allowed! That 161 cost and my general insistence on sticking to the villain theme kept Rags out the first go ’rounds.

He got his own series because he never got KO'd in any of these matches. :)

He got his own series because he never got KO'd in any of these matches. :)

Deathstroke: Like Adam, he’s one of the main fight engines of the team. But he lacks the mobility to really get into it alongside Adam. Still one of the major keys to this team’s viability.

Younger model. Smarter model. And dresses 100% fruitier. (Which is saying something. You SEE that purple & green getup?)

Younger model. Smarter model. And dresses 100% fruitier. (Which is saying something. You SEE that purple & green getup?)

Alex Luthor: Quite the upgrade from Lex for nearly 50 points less. He made room for more TAs to copy and better feats. His upfront Perplex also made him more effective as a backrow type to boost the real fighters’ attacks or defenses. (In fact, he’d be a great Brilliant Tactician for his fellow Calculators…something to consider in future runs.) Still disappointed that I NEVER got to use his BFC-canceling SP!

Short but slow.

Short but slow.

Dr. Psycho: If not for this theme, I’d never play him again. He was highly, HIGHLY ineffective in the first build for want of decent die rolls. He simply can’t afford to miss those Mind Control rolls when he’s going to be taking the next attack thanks to that dismally low defense. With Bat-Stealth, though, he had new life. It was more than worth taking multiple clicks of self-damage from feedback and pushing to make the enemy do some of my work for me. In any future runs, I may try using Mental Shields instead of Compel on him. In a build without Bat-Stealth, I think I’ll go with Contingency Plan and keep him well out of the fray.

Love the megalomania evident in this cover.

Love the megalomania evident in this cover.

Calculator: Similarly, Calc is suspect as a piece. Sure, he’s got built-in Brilliant Tactician, sorta, and Outwit. But that Outwit is gimped by the keyword factor — he’s toast against themed teams — and losing his single Stealth click is really dangerous for him. And there’s not enough Mastermind fodder to help him AND Psycho. Maybe I need to invest in pogs…

Gotham City Detective: the corrupt cop on the villains’ take. Basically only there as Mastermind fodder and, more importantly, a source of TA for the four wildcards on the team, especially Dr. Psycho (who’s useless without a TA to copy). Also served well to tie-up thanks to 2nd-click Plasticity.

R Ragman: NOT a villain. Just conveniently “brainwashed” by Dr. Psycho into aiding them. :) Perma-Stealth for these wildcards, well, wildly increases their effectiveness. For the 25-40 points that the Alex Luthor build offers, there’s no better DC clix for the role he plays here. Maybe none in the game at all. That said, I’d much rather run an Alfred pog in his place instead. Anyone want to sell me one? :)

Best 20 points in HeroClix?

Best 20 points in HeroClix?

Talia: most of the time, she was just tie-up fodder. But sacrificing that 25 points wasn’t so bad if it meant Black Adam lived to fight another round or two. Which it usually did, to my benefit. And when enemy Outwit is focused on a 20-point piece instead of elsewhere, that’s pretty OK, too.

So much for the bad guys! Next comic-accurate theme is likely to be the Inhumans Royal Family. But that’ll have to wait until I get another string of 800-point games to play. In the meantime, enjoy a return to the Event Dial series. Ciao!

* ( Telekinesis. Outwit. Perplex. Probability Control. Support. A “Pit Crew” contains figures whose sole purpose is to cheaply provide one of these powers.)

E003 UNLIMITED CLASS WRESTLING
Another nonstop dial, UCW, more than most, radically alters the usual HeroClix game with numerous extraordinary conditions.
WHAT TO BRING: a few extra Special tokens.
THE SETUP: Before objects are placed on the map, place four SPECIAL markers on the map so that they mark the outside corners of a 6-square by 6-square area containing as much clear terrain as possible as close to the center of the map as possible; this area is the Ring. Objects can’t be placed in the Ring.
WHAT IT MEANS: This is the main field of battle. Fighting can still go on outside the Ring, though, so don’t get complacent. Immobile objects might be good to play.
MORE SETUP: Each player chooses one friendly character and places it in an unoccupied corner inside the Ring; this character is his or her wrestler. A wrestler can’t leave the Ring, and treats the edges of the Ring as if they are walls that can’t be destroyed. When a player’s wrestler is knocked out or eliminated, that player must choose a friendly character outside the Ring and place it in an unoccupied corner inside the Ring as his or her new wrestler. If a character is carrying an object when it becomes a wrestler, it drops the object in the nearest unoccupied square before being placed in the Ring.
WHAT IT MEANS: Use Wrestlers with high natural damage value as opposed to reliance on Super Strength. No objects can be placed or brought in the ring.
MORE SETUP: No ranged attacks can be made by any character.
WHAT IT MEANS: Snipers should not be included on your team…you’ll only be wasting points!
TURN THE DIAL: At the end of each turn, turn the dial once or a number of times equal to the number of wrestlers knocked out or eliminated during the turn, whichever is more.
WHAT IT MEANS: This dial moves quickly if you have a lot of players or a lot of short-lived Wrestlers, so stay on your toes, especially if you’re trying to dodge the FAIR FIGHT and DISQUALIFIED! conditions.
FAIR FIGHT (cyan, slots 1-5, 10-12): If any character that isn’t a wrestler is given an action that would affect a wrestler, affect any square inside the Ring, or move the character into or through any square of the Ring, give the character an extra action token after the action resolves.
WHAT IT MEANS: This effect will be in play most of the time. Get around it by fielding non-Wrestler figs with some ability to avoid pushing damage in conjunction with Perplex, TK or Outwit. This way, a non-Wrestler can help his teammate in the Ring without penalty. Even better: use a non-Wrestler with Contingency Plan. It’s not an action, so the FAIR FIGHT condition won’t hurt, and your team is unlikely to use all its action allotment.
POWER BROKER (red, slots 4-11): A wrestler can use Exploit Weakness and Flurry if it does not already possess either or both of those powers. After the resolution of an action in which an wrestler uses a power from this effect, deal the wrestler 1 unavoidable damage.
WHAT IT MEANS: This phase can cause a lot of damage, either via unavoidable clicks from its bonuses or penetrating damage from the enemy. Pick a Wrestler with a pushable dial who stays strong well into the dial. Also consider Fortitude on your Wrestler because POWER BROKER grants Exploit Weakness. Otherwise, don’t rely on damage reducers above high defense values on your Wrestler.
DISQUALIFIED! (black, slots 3-5, 10-11): At the beginning of each player’s turn, he or she rolls a d6 for each character in the Ring who is not a wrestler and has two or more action tokens. On a result of 1 or 2, the character is immediately knocked out.
WHAT IT MEANS: Eventually, non-Wrestlers CAN enter the Ring to (illegally) aid the Wrestler. But it’s really risky. So try using a non-Wrestler with Hypersonic Speed or the Move and Attack ability. When someone can rush into the ring and get out in the same turn, there’s almost no risk of the instant KO condition of DISQUALIFIED!
SUMMING IT UP: While UCW is another dial that really rewards a prepared build, it’s one that tends to nerf most figures equally rather than targeting one group specifically. And anything that stacks the deck a bit more in close combat’s favor is a good thing in my book!

M+M E003 UNLIMITED CLASS WRESTLING

Another nonstop dial, Unlimited Classs Wrestling, more than most, radically alters the usual HeroClix game with numerous extraordinary conditions.

Yeah, it's clobberin' time, all right.

Yeah, it's clobberin' time, all right.

WHAT TO BRING: a few extra Special tokens.

THE SETUP: Before objects are placed on the map, place four SPECIAL markers on the map so that they mark the outside corners of a 6-square by 6-square area containing as much clear terrain as possible as close to the center of the map as possible; this area is the Ring. Objects can’t be placed in the Ring.

WHAT IT MEANS: This is the main field of battle. Fighting can still go on outside the Ring, though, so don’t get complacent. Immobile objects might be good to play.

MORE SETUP: Each player chooses one friendly character and places it in an unoccupied corner inside the Ring; this character is his or her wrestler. A wrestler can’t leave the Ring, and treats the edges of the Ring as if they are walls that can’t be destroyed. When a player’s wrestler is knocked out or eliminated, that player must choose a friendly character outside the Ring and place it in an unoccupied corner inside the Ring as his or her new wrestler. If a character is carrying an object when it becomes a wrestler, it drops the object in the nearest unoccupied square before being placed in the Ring.

WHAT IT MEANS: Try using Wrestlers with high natural damage value as opposed to reliance on Super Strength. No objects can be placed or brought in the ring except by special means.

STILL MORE SETUP: No ranged attacks can be made by any character.

WHAT IT MEANS: Snipers should not be included on your team…you’ll only be wasting points! One exception/loophole: The Laser Turret special object is not a character, so it may still make ranged attacks!

TURN THE DIAL: At the end of each turn, turn the dial once or a number of times equal to the number of wrestlers knocked out or eliminated during the turn, whichever is more.

WHAT IT MEANS: This dial moves quickly if you have a lot of players or a lot of short-lived Wrestlers, so stay on your toes, especially if you’re trying to dodge the FAIR FIGHT and DISQUALIFIED! conditions.

FAIR FIGHT (cyan, slots 1-5, 10-12): If any character that isn’t a wrestler is given an action that would affect a wrestler, affect any square inside the Ring, or move the character into or through any square of the Ring, give the character an extra action token after the action resolves.

WHAT IT MEANS: This effect will be in play most of the time. Get around it by fielding non-Wrestler figs with some ability to avoid pushing damage in conjunction with Perplex, Telekinesis or Outwit. This way, a non-Wrestler can help his teammate in the Ring without penalty. Even better: use a non-Wrestler with Contingency Plan. It’s not an action, so the FAIR FIGHT condition won’t hurt, and your team is unlikely to use all its action allotment. There may also be some Special Powers that might get around this condition.

POWER BROKER (red, slots 4-11): A wrestler can use Exploit Weakness and Flurry if it does not already possess either or both of those powers. After the resolution of an action in which an wrestler uses a power from this effect, deal the wrestler 1 unavoidable damage.

WHAT IT MEANS: This phase can cause a lot of damage, either via unavoidable clicks from its bonuses or penetrating damage from the enemy. Pick a Wrestler with a pushable dial who stays strong well into the dial. Also consider Fortitude on your Wrestler because POWER BROKER grants Exploit Weakness. Otherwise, don’t rely on damage reducers above high defense values on your Wrestler.

DISQUALIFIED! (black, slots 3-5, 10-11): At the beginning of each player’s turn, he or she rolls a d6 for each character in the Ring who is not a wrestler and has two or more action tokens. On a result of 1 or 2, the character is immediately knocked out.

WHAT IT MEANS: Eventually, non-Wrestlers CAN enter the Ring to (illegally) aid the Wrestler. But it’s really risky. So try using a non-Wrestler with Hypersonic Speed or the Move and Attack ability. When someone can rush into the ring and get out in the same turn, there’s almost no risk of the instant KO condition of DISQUALIFIED!

SUMMING IT UP: While UCW is another dial that really rewards a prepared build, it’s one that tends to nerf most figures equally rather than targeting one group specifically. And anything that stacks the deck a bit more in close combat’s favor is a good thing in my book!

Next, we’ll look at a much simpler dial. (Cosmic power tends to make problems go away.)

E002 EVOLUTIONARY WAR
This dial is nonstop; that is, it doesn’t have a red line to signify  an endpoint. So it can continue until the last KO or time is called.
WHAT TO BRING: A current Powers and Abilities Chart (PAC) is mandatory for the GENESIS CHAMBER effect later in the dial.
TURN THE DIAL: At the end of each round.
WHAT IT MEANS: Straightforward.
PURIFIERS (black, slots 1-5): At the beginning of each round, each player can declare a special or standard power. All declared powers are ignored until the end of the round.
WHAT IT MEANS: You want to be careful of fielding powers that are key to your early strategy, especially those shared by multiple characters. PURIFIERS will enable opponents to nix them entirely. And note that the powers are ignored, not countered. This means that even team abilities that grant use of certain powers aren’t immune; if a player chooses Stealth, then Batman Allies are suddenly left exposed. It also means you’ll want to pay attention to pure stats over powers when team building. Note, however, that Traits are immune to this effect.
RESTORATION (cyan, slots 4-7): At the beginning of each round, remove all debris tokens from the map. All destroyed walls are no longer destroyed. All clear, grounded, outdoor terrain is hindering terrain. Each player can choose a friendly character that occupies an opponent’s starting area and heal it of 2 damage.
WHAT IT MEANS: Suddenly, there’ll be a lot of hindering terrain for Stealthy characters (assuming they survived the early game and the brief overlap with PURIFIERS isn’t still nerfing them) to hide in and fliers, Phase/Teleporters and Leap/Climbers to move freely over and through. High-speed characters might be a boon for this segment of the game for getting the free healing in enemy starting zones.
GENESIS CHAMBER (red. slots 8-12): Once at the beginning of each player’s turn, each player can choose a target friendly character and declare a combat value (other than range); if the target possesses a standard power of the chosen value, ignore that power until the end of the turn. Then each player who chose a target rolls a d6. On a result of 1-3, the target can use the standard power on that combat value on the PAC that occurs immediately before the ignored power, until the end of the turn. On a result of 4-6, the target can use the standard power of that combat value that occurs immediately after the ignored power, until the end of the turn. (The first standard power of a particular combat value on the PAC is considered to be immediately after the last standard power of that combat value.) At the end of the turn, deal the target 1 unavoidable damage.
WHAT IT MEANS: This is an entirely optional effect that you should be very careful about using! Basically, you get to swap a power on your dial for one before or after it on the Powers & Abilities Chart (PAC). But it’s 50/50 which you’ll get, and the character takes a click either way, so don’t give up a sweet click for this effect. Moreover, you can do this at the start of both YOUR and an OPPONENT’S turn.  Here’s a guide:
On YOUR turn
Never use GENESIS CHAMBER on:
Phasing/Teleport
Charge
Mind Control
Hypersonic Speed
These will stick you with useless (for offense) or far-inferior (for the circumstances) powers.
Always consider using GENESIS CHAMBER on:
Earthbound
Stealth
In this circumstance, the powers you gain will be much more useful. Make sure it’s a click you can afford to lose, though!
Maybe consider using GENESIS CHAMBER on:
Plasticity
Force Blast
Incapacitate
Smoke Cloud
Poison
Mastermind
Exploit Weakness
Perplex
Leadership
You might get a better power or one of equal worth. Again, beware of the self-damage you’ll take regardless.
On ANOTHER’S turn
Never use GENESIS CHAMBER on:
Phasing/Teleport
Charge
Plasticity
Force Blast
Hypersonic Speed
Stealth
Running Shot
any Attack power
Toughness
Mastermind
Impervious
Invulnerability
Battle Fury
Exploit Weakness
Perplex
Outwit
Leadership
Either the new power is useless on defense or simply not worth the click you’ll be sacrificing.
Maybe consider using GENESIS CHAMBER on:
Earthbound (but ONLY to take the click and get OFF Earthbound at the end of the turn without taking a token)
Super Senses
Defend
Barrier
Willpower
Regeneration
Enhancement
…You might gain a power that could help avoid or reduce big damage. Check out the PAC carefully in relation to your current circumstances. (For example, choosing Barrier will land you either Energy Shield/Deflection or Mastermind, so checking if you have any potential fodder adjacent or are in danger of being shot is key before making the swap.)
Any power not listed here is probably not a good risk to use this effect on.
SUMMING IT UP: Evolutionary War is a simple, straightforward event dial. But the last condition, GENESIS CHAMBER, is so byzantine to figure out in mid-game that players may opt to ignore this optional element completely. This is a phenomenon that afflicts many event dials, as further installments of this series will demonstrate.

E002 EVOLUTIONARY WAR

I actually much prefer this image to the one actually used on the dial's card. More "MU-WHA-HA-HA" = much more awesomeness

I actually much prefer this image to the one actually used on the dial's card. More "MU-WHA-HA-HA" = much more awesomeness

WHAT TO BRING: A current Powers and Abilities Chart (PAC) is mandatory for the GENESIS CHAMBER effect later in the dial.

TURN THE DIAL: At the end of each round.

WHAT IT MEANS: Straightforward. Note, though, that this dial is nonstop; that is, it doesn’t have a red line to signify  an endpoint. So it can continue until the last KO or time is called.

PURIFIERS (black, slots A-E): At the beginning of each round, each player can declare a special or standard power. All declared powers are ignored until the end of the round.

WHAT IT MEANS: You want to be careful of fielding powers that are key to your early strategy, especially those shared by multiple characters. PURIFIERS will enable opponents to nix them entirely. And note that the powers are ignored, not countered. This means that even team abilities that grant use of certain powers aren’t immune; if a player chooses Stealth, then Batman Allies are suddenly left exposed. It also means you’ll want to pay attention to pure stats over powers when team building. Note, however, that Traits are immune to this effect.

RESTORATION (cyan, slots D-G): At the beginning of each round, remove all debris tokens from the map. All destroyed walls are no longer destroyed. All clear, grounded, outdoor terrain is hindering terrain. Each player can choose a friendly character that occupies an opponent’s starting area and heal it of 2 damage.

WHAT IT MEANS: Suddenly, there’ll be a lot of hindering terrain for Stealthy characters (assuming they survived the early game and the brief overlap with PURIFIERS isn’t still nerfing them) to hide in and fliers, Phase/Teleporters and Leap/Climbers to move freely over and through. High-speed characters might be a boon for this segment of the game for getting the free healing in enemy starting zones.

GENESIS CHAMBER (red, slots H-L): Once at the beginning of each player’s turn, each player can choose a target friendly character and declare a combat value (other than range); if the target possesses a standard power of the chosen value, ignore that power until the end of the turn. Then each player who chose a target rolls a d6. On a result of 1-3, the target can use the standard power on that combat value on the PAC that occurs immediately before the ignored power, until the end of the turn. On a result of 4-6, the target can use the standard power of that combat value that occurs immediately after the ignored power, until the end of the turn. (The first standard power of a particular combat value on the PAC is considered to be immediately after the last standard power of that combat value.) At the end of the turn, deal the target 1 unavoidable damage.

WHAT IT MEANS: This is an entirely optional effect that you should be very careful about using! Basically, you get to swap a power on your dial for one before or after it on the Powers & Abilities Chart (PAC). But it’s 50/50 which you’ll get, and the character takes a click either way, so don’t give up a sweet click for this effect. Moreover, you can do this at the start of both YOUR and an OPPONENT’S turn.  Here’s a guide:

On YOUR turn:

Never use GENESIS CHAMBER on:

Phasing/Teleport
Charge
Mind Control
Hypersonic Speed

These will stick you with useless (for offense) or far-inferior (for the circumstances) powers.

Always consider using GENESIS CHAMBER on:

Earthbound
Stealth

In this circumstance, the powers you gain will be much more useful. Make sure it’s a click you can afford to lose, though!

Maybe consider using GENESIS CHAMBER on:

Plasticity
Force Blast
Incapacitate
Smoke Cloud
Poison
Mastermind
Exploit Weakness
Perplex
Leadership

You might get a better power or at least one of equal worth. Again, beware of the self-damage you’ll take regardless.

On ANOTHER’S turn:

Never use GENESIS CHAMBER on:

Phasing/Teleport
Charge
Plasticity
Force Blast
Hypersonic Speed
Stealth
Running Shot
any Attack power
Toughness
Mastermind
Impervious
Invulnerability
Battle Fury
Exploit Weakness
Perplex
Outwit
Leadership

Either the new power is useless on defense or simply not worth the click you’ll be sacrificing.

Maybe consider using GENESIS CHAMBER on:

Earthbound (but ONLY to take the click and get OFF Earthbound at the end of the turn without taking a token)
Super Senses
Defend
Barrier
Willpower
Regeneration
Enhancement

…You might gain a power that could help avoid or reduce big damage. Check out the PAC carefully in relation to your current circumstances. (For example, choosing Barrier will land you either Energy Shield/Deflection or Mastermind, so checking if you have any potential fodder adjacent or are in danger of being shot is key before making the swap.)

Any power not listed here is probably not a good risk to use this effect on. And note that you absolutely can’t use it on Special Powers.

SUMMING IT UP: Evolutionary War is a simple, straightforward event dial…mostly. But the last condition, GENESIS CHAMBER, is so byzantine to figure out in mid-game that players may opt to ignore this optional element completely. This is a phenomenon that afflicts many event dials, as further installments of this series will demonstrate.

Whew! That write-up alone was enough to delay this column for months (I wrote it in March or April)! And the next one is no simpler in its way, being another that rewards a proper build and could punish a normal one. Get ready to rumble with Unlimited Class Wrestling!!!