#2

Barry Allen  (DC 75th Anniversary #054)

Good cop:

  • Hypersonic Speed is the best power in the game. 
  • He’s got solid numbers backing it up.
  • Mid-dial Exploit Weakness with Combat Reflexes give him a reason to not just hit-and-run all the time.
  • If he does get hit to deep clicks, then he can Flurry with his SP…and Flurry anyone on the board. 
  • A little Outwit in the end can be a rude surprise for the enemy.

Bad cop:

  • His JLA TA is largely wasted on his 119-point cost.

Final report: Overall, he brings that extra little bit of close combat prowess that the Police are largely lacking, a bit of a tentpole’s effect on a game but without the tentpole’s high price tag. All this earns Barry the #2 spot among HeroClix’s cops.

#1

 

Hal Jordan (DC 75th Anniversary #053)

Good cop:

  • Running Shot + 8 range, 11 AV and 4 damage make him a solid first-string, first-strike piece for the Police.
  • Two targets is also good with that high damage. Hedge your bets and make it hurt!
  • He’s Indomitable,  so you don’t need to fear pushing. But if you do decide to take the pushing damage, on click #2…
  • …behold Penetrating/Psychic Blast for when you’ve got tough hides to crack. He’s got three straight clicks of this power.
  • Perplex shows up soon for a couple of slots, making him solid support during his mid-dial.
  • His SP “One-Man Justice League” allows use of any standard attack power not showing on your squad, giving him extreme flexibility even after taking big hurt.
  • It’s his trait that makes him great for fellow cops, though. “The Aviator” gives pals Flight when he makes move actions. 
  • And thanks to the JLA team ability, his move actions are free!

Bad cop:

  • He’s one of the most expensive Police keyword pieces out there. May not be able to get him on a proper team.
  • Most times, he’ll be making tentpole-style attacks rather than using his Aviator trait. 
  • For the same reasons, his JLA team ability is basically an utter waste most of the time.
  • He has a very soft mid-dial.

Final report: In the end, though HeroClix is a superhero game, and Hal’s a superhero cop. So it’s no surprise he’s the #1 Police keyword figure in the game.

Monday: Heroclixin’s honorable mentions the other top cops in ‘Clix!

#4

Bishop (Mutations and Monsters #014)

Good cop:

  • Running Shot + 8 range, 11 AV and 3 damage make him a solid first-string, first-strike piece for the Police.
  • Leadership is also good, with many of his cohorts being cheaper than his 100-point cost.
  • Push easily to Outwit on click #2 in case you’ve got tough hides to crack. He’s got more clicks down-dial, too.
  • Mid- and late-dial Ranged Combat Expert keeps him a consistently dangerous shooter.
  • A couple of Regeneration clicks can get him back in great fighting shape.

Bad cop:

  • He’s pretty soft, defensively, starting with Energy Shield/Deflection instead of the Toughness scattered on his dial.
  • His X-Men team ability is wasted points on virtually all cop squads.

Final report: Bishop is an ideal leader of smaller friends and he needs the help.

#3

Gotham City Detective  (Arkham Asylum #006)

Good cop:

  • Enhancement is very good for a theme that does a lot of shooting. It also works hand-in-hand with his…
  • …PD team ability.
  • Pushes easily to Plasticity and Willpower, making him a good tie-up piece in a pinch and one who can act 2 of 3 turns.
  • All for a low 27 points.

Bad cop:

  • Not very strong on his own.

Final report: But come on! For that cost — same as the #10 piece on this list, R Mandroid Armor — he makes the whole team better. Run multiples.

Tomorrow: the top two cops in ‘Clix!

#6

Nightwing (Crisis #029)

Good cop:

  • Leadership followed by Perplex make Mr. Grayson a superb support piece.
  • His triad of team abilities keep him safe and aid in his great support ability.
  • He’s hard to hit, sporting an effective 19 or better DV almost no matter what.
  • He’s very featable, too, qualifying for many of the best. Try not to go overboard!

Bad cop:

  • His low damage is a problem, especially at…
  • …His not-low 79-point cost.
  • It’s a problem that he has to push to gain the more useful Perplex over his Leadership. 

Final report: You’ll have to make sure other pieces can crack through enemy Invulnerable hides, because Dick here won’t be without help. His need for support keeps him off the top 5.

#5

Abin Sur  (Green Lantern Fast Forces #006)

Good cop:

  • Gotta love that “carry anybody” SP! He provides an unequalled level of mobility. Especially with…
  • The Green Lantern team ability. As most Police characters are walkers, he can transport 8 of ’em at a time.

Bad cop:

  • For the latter half of his dial, he’s not carryin’ nobody. 
  • A bit weak on offense.

Final report: At just 50 points, he’s by far the cheapest source of the GL TA and, as such, is a great war wagon to cart around a lot of cops.

Tomorrow, #3 and #4.

#8

Lt. Marcus Stone (Web of Spider-Man #021)

Good cop:

  • Hey, Outwit! Even though he’s got to get close to use it, it’s still welcome.
  • His trait  makes him a boon to ANY adjacent fellow Police officers.
  • He’s not too expensive at 45 points for all that.

Bad cop:

  • His stats aren’t too hot, especially his range.
  • He WILL be a priority target, and one that will pretty much have to be in the thick of things to fully leverage his powers. Keep that in mind.

Final report: But since his Outwit SP is used at short range anyhow, it’s not a real drag on him. Lt. Stone is a low-cost fig that only makes cops better, so he’s easily #8.

#7

Roy Harper Jr.  (Legacy #202)

Good cop:

  • Running Shot with 3 damage makes him an inexpensive cop who can hurt.
  • He pushes to Stealth on click two to make him a nice hidden sniper who can lay down cover fire…
  • …or lend aid with the PD team ability.
  • At just 39 points, he’s not breaking the bank even a little bit.

Bad cop:

  • Horrible horrible HORRIBLE defense numbers, even for the time.
  • That second target? Almost useless. Imagine he’d be barely more than 30 points without it!

Final report: Strictly a secondary or tertiary attacker on a Police squad, but one that will likely be underestimated.

Tomorrow we hit the city streets and the starlit skies…

#10

Rookie Mandroid Armor (Clobberin’ Time #007)

Good cop:

  • low cost. At 28 points, this generic’s the game’s cheapest source of Telekinesis, a power in short supply among Police.
  • SHIELD team ability.  Even down his dial, this keeps him useful for the mostly range-oriented cop squads.

Bad cop:

  • Only one click that’s any good. 

Final report: A good filler piece that offers more than any of the other, cheaper generics, this is Heroclixin’s #10 officer.

#9

Chun-Li (Street Fighter #104)

Good cop:

  • She’s a rare tie-up piece for a Police theme thanks to a near-full run of Combat Reflexes.
  • Street Fighter team ability makes sure she can get off a potential attack during that tie-up action.
  • Or she can take an easier shot with 3 range. Options!
  • Her Flurry lasts a few very pushable clicks to deal out a fair amount of damage to soft targets.

Bad cop:

  • Lack of early Leap/Climb makes her a bit less great at tie-up.
  • Low damage, too.

Final report: She fills a specialized role on Police teams better than any other and thus earns Heroclixin’s #9 spot.

Tomorrow we climb up the chain of command…

We in the U.S. look back on 9/11, the day 10 years ago that changed everything. One thing that event made stark to us is how very much we are continually indebted to the heroes in our midst — the first responders. The ones who, while the rest of us run from danger, are running toward it.

And although this describes any given superhero most of the time, too, there’s something more noble about the characters who are sworn to protect and serve when they’re not in the super-suits as well. In HeroClix, they’re represented by the Police keyword.

_____________________

Some criteria:

  • I’m looking at HEROES. No bad cops allowed. (I’m thinking of you, AA Zoom.)
    RRRAAATTTTSS!!!”
  • I’m also ranking them according to how well they work with other Police, it being one of the more selective generic keywords.

Be here starting next Monday for the first of the Top Ten of Heroclixin’s Finest!

Continuing the photographic record of Super-Strength characters who can hold their own object tokens. With the Superman set right around the corner, here’s his half-clone, Superboy:

 

Superboy holds it, sorta, on his chest or under his chin. No Token Totin’ next week, as it’s time for another end-of-month Top Ten list. (Haven’t quite decided what it’s going to be exactly, though!)

Continuing this feature (replacing “My Custom Mods”) in which I talk a bit on how I selected artwork for feats and battlefield conditions that didn’t come with art, originally. This Monday, let’s look at Ordinary Day from Icons.

Oh, I didn’t do Ordinary Day from Icons. I forgot there even WAS an Ordinary Day in Icons. So much for BFCs in the set. Let’s move on to the feats!

 

This much-needed boon to swimmers was quickly nerfed by a ruling saying certain team abilities ignored it. (That’s been rectified, happily.)

Being an Aquaman fan, I didn’t have a great amount of trouble digging up a solid image. This one, I believe, was scanned from issue 16 of the last completed series. I then flipped it to show the character swimming deeper rather than toward the surface.