At last, I was able to run a keyword-themed team of Secret Avengers recently as planned.
Steve Rogers (Captain America) 99
Sharon Carter (Chaos War) 45
Ant-Man (Chaos War 026) 43
Valkyrie (Fear Itself) 130
Black Widow (Captain America 006) 85
War Machine (Hammer of Thor) 137
Moon Knight (Amazing Spider-Man) 109
Beast (Giant-Size X-Men) 95
Nova Prime (Galactic Guardians) 150
RUN THE MISSION: Secret Avengers is a range-focused team, with six of the nine pieces starting with Running Shot. But it can’t hang TOO far out, because with only one starting Perplexer and relatively low damage output, Outwit from Beast is all but necessary for success. Fortunately, this team is loaded with the SHIELD team ability, thanks to Rogers’ “The Focal Point” trait granting the TA to all adjacent Avengers. It gives the short-ranged members a little more reach and the low-damage shooters a little more oomph when needed.
DON’T GET SEEN: With Sharon Carter’s trait, a veritable wall of Stealth can be built. Moon Knight has his own Stealth, sometimes, and Black Widow, all the time. Rogers’ Leadership is key, and Valkyrie’s can help a bit in the early game.
SAVE THE WORLD. Nova Prime and War Machine work as long-ranged one-two punches with 4-damage Running Shots. But I expect Val to do a lot of the KOs, especially with help from Rogers’s sky-high AV and Moon Knight’s starting Perplex.
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MISSION ONE: To beat Dominique’s Hulked Out Heroes (with ATA) plus Amadeus Cho and Don Blake. I foolishly picked the Alien City map — one with almost no natural hindering terrain — against it. So much for “Don’t Get Seen.”
Key moment: Ant-Man tying up a Utility Belt-equipped Hulklops. The easily KO’d O’Grady triggered Valkyrie to Hulklops’ side and she Flurried him near to death to seal the win. Also KO’d IceHulk and, nearly, both Wolverage and Hulkmariner.
MISSION TWO: To beat Morrison’s armored team of Iron Men (Secret Invasion #024, 10th Anniversary #012 and Iron Man 3 #200), Rocket Red (Batman), Batman (beyond), Rookie Mandroid Armor, Doombot 5953 and a 70-pt. Iron Man Drone on the enemy’s home field of the Bell Tower — another site all but devoid of hindering.
Key moment: Again warping to the side of KO’d Ant-Man, Valkyrie soon joined him in Valhalla after heavy fire from multiple shooters before she could even make an attack, leaving me in a deep 178-point hole. But now I was ready to counterattack with multiple uses of SHIELD-enhanced ranges and damages. One by one, I took down two of the Iron Men and Batman for a solid comeback victory, 353-273.
MISSION THREE: To beat Matthew’s new-set Teen Titans consisting of Superboy (026), Red Star, Nightwing (022), 50-point Robin (001), Wonder Girl (008), Solstice (013), Red Robin (018) and a Utility Belted Kid Flash (039). He won map and picked my least favorite: the Gridreality Park.
Key moment(s): An immediate Running Shot with 13 range (War Machine + three SHIELD deputized by ol’ Focal Point himself, Steve Rogers) sent Changeling running to Kid Flash in the back, who was able to freely heal him back. But the heal dealt KF Teen Titans TA damage, making his alpha strike much less injurious.
This put much more of the impetus on Red Star to carry the early offense, and he only left himself open to counterattack by my team, which took full advantage of the copious hindering terrain to stay Stealthy. Took Red Star, Changeling, Superboy and Nightwing, losing none.
RESULT: 3-0 for a 2nd-place tourney win (couldn’t match the victory points of a Justice League team base force, though). Definitely a far cry from the failures of years before with this team.
Top ten’s coming next week, but as I plan to run a Modern Age variation of this team one more time before this year’s retirement phase kicks in after the weekend, look for a final wrapup on Secret Avengers soon.