From most to least expensive, I’ve done a mini-review of each Stark-designed piece of armor in the HeroClix game based on its usefulness as part of a Stark-themed scheme. I also list feats that work and give each a general rating and an “Iron” rating based on how well they work on an Iron-themed team.
Sorry for the delay in this update and post-mortem on the Iron Campaign. But I just had to stick with the notion of finding and scanning all this artwork in addition to writing the text. From most to least expensive, I’ve done a mini-review of each Stark-designed piece of armor in the HeroClix game based on its usefulness as part of a Stark-themed scheme. I also list feats that work and give each a general rating and an “Iron” rating based on how well they work on an Iron-themed team.
V Iron Man (X-Plosion) 189
One of the earliest Iron Men and one of the worst. Tipping the scales at nearly 200 points, it looks like the points all went to range and Ranged Combat Expert. One click of 10 attack and a steady drop from there, though, makes his fairly impressive damage potential worthless. Which makes him fairly worthless. Don’t play him unless you have a huge team (think 1500 points and up) that you can hide him behind in the background. Feats that work: Trick Shot. With him safely in the background, he can actually be a highly effective sniper.
GENERAL RATING: 1.5 of 5
IRON RATING: 2 of 5.
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Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188
Good 'n' sober.
Great numbers on Attack (11), Defense (18) and Damage (4) almost make you not care how expensive he is. Then you see his Special Power “Extremis” granting him Perplex, Outwit and Super Senses all together for the first third of his dial. Quite simply the best Iron Man to date, SI Iron Man makes the Stark Industries theme build viable in an unprecedented fashion. Feats that work: Brilliant Tactician fits him, well, brilliantly. It’s hard to recommend much more on top of that, even though Outsmart, Coordination and the Avengers feats Thunderbolts and Alpha Flight are great fits as well.
GENERAL RATING: 4 of 5
IRON RATING: 5 of 5.
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Veteran Iron Man (Armor Wars) 172
Sometimes sober.
His high Attack Value, 10 range and Outwit are nice, but at a full 72 points less there’s another Iron Man that does all that save the Outwit. Attack values slack off too quickly and precipitously, and his damage is never that great (making his double targets mostly useless). Try to keep feats light: either Outsmart to guard against enemy Outwit or Nanobots to take advantage of all that 2 damage. Or stick with the minimally-costed Avengers alternate team abilities (ATAs) Thunderbolts or Alpha Flight for the very best bang per buck.
GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5
IRON RATING: 3 of 5.
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Hulkbuster (Mutations & Monsters) 165
'Ey!! It's "Fat Tony!"
Although his Attack and Damage stats are a bit lightweight for his cost, “Buffet” Iron Man brings a well-appreciated close combat expertise to the Iron team. His theme-best defense (18+Impervious) is also a boon to him. Feat him either with Unstoppable to allow him to bust open firing lanes for the others or with Lunge to grant some small move+attack ability on his post-“Flight Stabilizers” clicks.
GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5
IRON RATING: 4 of 5.
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Iron Man (Supernova) 160
SHINY.
As though Running Shot with 11 Attack and 4 damage weren’t enough, Silver Centurion suit adds both Incapacitate (with 2 targets) and Outwit to the mix. That’s more than enough to make up for his less-than-optimal 8 range and to make him absolutely essential for any Iron Swarm greater than 400 points. One of the first truly good Iron Man figures. Feat him with Stunning Blow; it makes him expensive but also delivers a potentially crippling blow to the enemy and is worth dropping T-Bolts from the team to fit it on.
GENERAL RATING: 3.5 of 5
IRON RATING: 5 of 5.
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Iron Man (Avengers) 154
The first alternate universe Iron Man of the list, this one isn’t bad with his high 10 range, high 4 damage and, best of all, his Stealth-busting Ultimates team ability. Starting with Impervious and spiking to 11 Attack Value is a great bonus, too. Sad that he’s got one of the bar-none worst Special Powers in the game, though you needn’t actually use it. No feats.
GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5
IRON RATING: 3.5 of 5.
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Tony Stark (Armor Wars) 150
I THINK this is the right image for this suit...
This Limited Edition version has great range + Perplex to help his other mediocre stats, but he’s a bit too costly for what you get, especially since he can’t push off that first click and keep the power. Only good for Brilliant Tactician if you can’t run the Secret Invasion version; feat him with such (and if running a lot of Avengers, use Coordination to ensure he can always keep line of fire open to them). The Avengers ATAs fit, too.
GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5
IRON RATING: 3 of 5.
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Iron Man (Ultimates) 144
8 range and lower defense numbers make him the inferior Ultimate Iron Man by far (despite double-target Energy Explosion and stuff). Only field him if running an Ultimates armor theme or as a point filler for a truly massive Stark team. Don’t bother with feats.
GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5
IRON RATING: 2.5 of 5.
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E Iron Man (Armor Wars) 135
Boasts Running Shot plus a great 10 range along with Perplex to help his other mediocre stats. Works wonderfully on this team as a sniper and support piece without costing a lot. No TA, though. Feat with Mercenary if you run one of the Ultimates along with him. Otherwise consider Improvise.
GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5
IRON RATING: 3.5 of 5.
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V War Machine (Armor Wars) 124
BLACK (andsilver) POWER!!!!!
Mediocre damage and attack values are balanced by great defense. Not the first to reach for, though, especially with no team ability to add to the team. No feats needed.
GENERAL RATING: 4 of 5
IRON RATING: 3.5 of 5.
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Iron Widow (Avengers) 117
not bad for a suit with about 8 pages of panel time.
A 3rd alternate Iron Man. I didn’t run her at all during the campaign due to forgetting she actually counts as a Stark suit. If I had, I’d have found her an effective anti-Stealth solution that works well with the cheap SHIELD pieces used as fodder when she’s inevitably targeted and hit. No feats really needed, but Fortitude or Outsmart can make her a tough KO on her back end.
GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5
IRON RATING: 3 of 5.
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Spider-Man (Avengers) 111
Iron Spidey
For the Iron squad, he’s best employed as mobile (via Leap/Climb) Outwit and Super Strength (though he’s not the cheapest for the role). Survivable and taxiable, he’s the one of the first non-Iron Man pieces to consider when deviating from the theme. Feat him with Lunge sometimes.
GENERAL RATING: 4 of 5
IRON RATING: 4 of 5.
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E War Machine (Armor Wars) 109
So wait, is this Rhodey, or Tony? I'm stumped
While a fairly stellar piece in its own right, for the Iron Man squad its damage, attack and range values are all a bit too low for the points when compared with the cheaper Free Comic Book Day Iron Man. Still a fine piece, esp. with the Thunderbolts feat.
GENERAL RATING: 4 of 5
IRON RATING: 3.5 of 5.
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U Iron Man (Mutations & Monsters) 100
I have this poster framed on my wall. :)
10-range and high AV make him good either as a relatively cheap first-striker or as deadly cleanup piece. The “Invincible” power isn’t a killer either. The SHIELD TA is ironically a bit wasted since he’s going to be attacking more than supporting, but try to plan to use it anyhow. Feat with Vendetta and maybe Protected to get the most out of “Invincible.”
GENERAL RATING: 4 of 5
IRON RATING: 4.5 of 5.
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Anthony Stark (Armor Wars) 100
"Rehab" armor.
As the cheapest Outwit and Super Strength available to the team, this old-school-sculpted piece is a good roleplayer as such. Feat with Outsmart sometimes in addition to the Avengers ATAs.
GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5
IRON RATING: 3.5 of 5.
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Unique Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89
Oldie but...well, not so good actually
With weak stats and range, this figure is useful only as the tieup and Super Strength threat if Hulkbuster, Anthony Stark or Iron Spidey don’t fit the team. Pretty but empty. No feats aside from the ATAs.
GENERAL RATING: 2.5 of 5
IRON RATING: 2 of 5.
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Rookie Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89
Terrible damage is only salvaged by 8 range + RS. He does get Ranged Combat Expert down the stretch, and his starting Invulnerability may just land him on those clicks after a hit. But this is one of the last Iron Men to pick in any case. Feat: Armor Piercing if anything beyond the ATAs.
GENERAL RATING: 2 of 5
IRON RATING: 2 of 5.
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Guardsman (Avengers) 32
Normally, this piece is OK as a taxi…but on a team of flyers, like the Iron Men? Not so much. No, instead this cheap piece works great as tie-up…sacrificing these 32 points saved more than one game. And the SHIELD TA is SO good on a team full of shooters like this one. Always have at least one Guardsman on the team. No feats.
GENERAL RATING: 1.5 of 5
IRON RATING: 4 of 5.
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Rookie Mandroid Armor (Clobberin’ Time) 28
The Wal-Mart version of Starktech.
This little guy revolutionized my efforts when I realized that the Mandroids count as Stark-built armor just as the Guardsman does. Telekinesis is a huge bonus, helping to both enhance and redress the Iron Man’s dependence on range. Hulkbuster needs to get within Charge range? Mandroid. V AW Iron Man need to take a shot this turn but not a hit the next? Running Shot with him, then yank him back with Mandroid. And even when his single click of TK is gone, he’s more than worth his points for the SHIELD TA or as a meat shield down the stretch. No feats needed.
GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5
IRON RATING: 5 of 5.
OTHER ESSENTIAL IRON SWARM TIPS:
If you use Thunderbolts, pick Ultimates, always. Just do it. This is a shooting team that works best from 10 squares or more out (thanks to Perplexed or SHIELD-boosted range values), so take the variant of hindering terrain out of the equation completely.
Sometimes you won’t have room for Thunderbolts with so many Avengers on the team and will have to settle for Alpha Flight. Bring a slip of paper to help keep track of who each piece selects as their target.
Battlefield Conditions
Consider: Bright Lights, always; the only time it’ll ever hurt your team is if Hulkbuster takes a ton of damage (he’s got Stealth late-dial). Otherwise, this range-centric team can only benefit.
Atlantis Rising and Earthquake do little to hurt this team of nearly all fliers.
Isolation doesn’t affect your team in the slightest (unless you use the Kinetic Accelerator special object…more on that later), so stick it in your hand if you expect Blades/Claws/Fangs or JSA or something.
Finally, consider Wasteland to give your ranged fighters a wide field of vision to take shots. Be careful not to use this if you have problems dealing with Stealth, though.
Avoid like the plague: Krakoa, The Living Island. This BFC denies you not only the cover of hindering terrain, but also the great sniper positions of rooftops. Never, ever play this.
Deep Shadows or Darkness or Shrunk: Again, these anti-range BFCs are absolutely no good for this team, taking away the Iron Man’s one great strength — ranged combat.
Alpha Strike: There are too many Avengers on the team. You’d only give the enemy more chances to rack up bonus points.
Armor Wars: The other strength of the Stark swarm is that nearly all the pieces start with Invulnerability or better. This BFC practically nullifies that. NEVER PLAY IT!!!!
Assembled: With all the Avengers on this theme, this seems like a great choice…until you realize most of them share the same name, “Iron Man,” disallowing the bonus.
Special Objects:
Dynamostat. Although wide-open maps serve the Iron Men well, this little bit of extra blocking terrain to Running Shot from behind can help a lot to set up your attacks…or prevent the enemy’s.
Kinetic Accelerator. If you have it, this is best for Hulkbuster to make him a threat even at long range.
Tombstone. Gives a Super-Strong tie-up piece like U Armor Wars Iron Man a little better shot at absorbing an attack for the bigger pieces on your team.
Meteorite. For Hulkbuster. Although he doesn’t NEED it, per se, thanks to his Exploit Weakness.
Thanks to everyone for reading this record of my weeks-long indulgence of my Inner 12-Year-Old’s love of all things Iron Man. Upcoming at last will be the first parts of a series on team-building for the controversial Event Dials introduced in Mutations and Monsters back in Fall 2007. Look for it soon!
Great read, definitely worth the wait. I’ve always enjoyed your character reviews, and this was an excellent follow-up to the Iron campaign. Look forward to the Event dials!