I had a lot of unplayed pieces to run as usual and built this Robot-themed team:

Cyborg (52 Justice League 006) 100
Vision  (Chaos War 013) 27 + Secret Avengers ATA 5
Ultron (Chaos War 208e) 90
Masque (Chaos War 206) 50 + Secret Avengers ATA 5
Masque Duplicate (Chaos War 007 ) 27
Masque Duplicate (Chaos War 20 ) 27

= 399 points, plus replacement/sideline Iron Man Drone (Chaos War 002r) x3 and Ultron Drone (Chaos War 003r).

And boy, do those Drones make a difference.

FIRST I faced a duo of Thanos (Galactic Guardians 045) and Nova (Galactic Guardians 201). Here, I got a bit lucky when my opponent forgot Thanos’ stat boost upon KOing a foe, allowing me to barely land a clutch attack. But beyond that, I only needed a single break away roll to keep the mad Titan locked down for the KO and win.

In the SECOND round, I picked the lower decks of the Helicarrier to stymie the Hypersonic threat of Supergirl (Fast Forces) and Lucy Lane while blocking lines of fire for Batman (52 Justice League) and Zatanna (52 JL). Using the free action movement of the Drones to gain positioning superiority, I got enough first shots to wipe the board.

FINALLY, I faced Odin (Avengers Movie) and Larfleeze (Fast Forces) on the open Helicarrier map. It was tough to overcome the range disadvantage. But I benefited from a few key Turning Points:

• Cyborg landed a light Pulse Wave to get them off top-click.
• Odin missed a much-needed Running Shot, leaving him in range of my slowly encroaching force.
• Cyborg GOT the heavy single-target Pulse Wave I was looking for.

From there, Anthony Hopkins couldn’t do enough damage to stop the full robotic army from winning.

Piece-by-piece:

• Cyborg (52 Justice League 006): What an offensive threat this piece is! Running Shot and 6-range Pulse Wave, making it easy to get those single-target shots off. His dial never gets poor. I will play this piece often.
• Vision (Chaos War 013): The team’s needed natural taxi. Being able to Indomitably break away and Charge targets came in big in the second game. This is my go-to Vision now.
• Ultron (Chaos War 208e): The key to the team with her ability to pull in extra points and solid stats and powers. I want to try her 160-point dial more, though.
• Masque (Chaos War 206): a surprising clutch backup fighter with 9 AV Psychic Blast, including Willpower on the 2nd click. Never got to use her sacrifice click.
• Masque Duplicate (Chaos War 007 ): These actually made better tie-up and meat-shields than the Drone, freeing the latter for their more essential taxi duties. End-dial Support came into play, too. Never got to use their sacrifice clicks, either.

But as stated before, it was the Iron Man Drone swarm that made the team really work. With their ability to freely move 4 squares while in range of Ultron, they could:

• move 4 for free, then move normally for 6 to gain a full 10-square shift or, if carrying, move 3 then 4 for 7 total;
• or vice versa, spend the action to move 6 then free-action move a few more to, say, evacuate a pal from trouble;
• Move up to 4 freely then use the normal action to make an attack.

Superb utility, yet not at all overbearing (for the Drones’ stats range from mediocre to dirt-poor at this point range). I was pretty surprised how well they helped my team adapt to anything.