No. 2

Every Last HeroClix Figure with the “Morph: Many Identities” Trait

Although one of these Hanks made the Top HeroClix of 2015 list, all of them still rate high on the F.U.N. scale. In fact, Heroclixin’ got halfway through an article about how best to morph to each version. Then the late summer/early autumn convention season and the Realms Open Championship World Cup both happened and the thing got shelved for a while. And THEN the new size rules kicked in and really aborted the whole shebang. So we’ve repurposed it for this retrospective.

Hank Pym [Age of Ultron 001]: Jumpsuit Henry is made for sealed, what with his anti-Ultron traits. Though Sidestep and Pulse Wave are never unwelcome on a fig, one chiefly fields him for the full dial of Outwit. He also sports Prob Control also with Outwit on his starting and alternating special-powered clicks. On his 50-point level, he loses the Pulse Wave and must push to the SP. This Pym is for the Utility.

Ant-Man [003]: With Stealth, Sidestep and Charge AND Poison AND Improved Movement: Characters, Hindering AND Exploit Weakness AND Combat Reflexes, this piece is ready to rumble in close. He also bears a trait allowing him to make an adjacent normal-sized ally tall or small for a turn. The 50-point dial trades the Poison for Precision Strike and the EW for Perplex. 

Yellowjacket [022]: If Ant-Man above looked fisticuffs-ready, get a load of YJ’s combo of EW and Precision. He’s also the sole new Pym able to Morph into the old CW figs. If facing any Morph figs like other Pyms or Beast Boy, push to a SP giving him +2 AV and damage fighting them. At 50 points, he starts with this SP. This is the Pym for when you’re ready to get Nifty in a Golden/”Silver” Age game and bring in the old-school Hanks. 

Goliath [043]: The first of several larger-than-normal Hanks, he is the most durable of all the Morphers with Invulnerability. Use his Indomitable ability to push the attack. Don’t forget his trait to grow to colossal size, and his Trample SP to Charge in a direct path and step on foes in it for damage. Also note that as a giant, he can serve as a taxi. His 50-point dial functions well in this role as he loses the Charge SP. 

Giant-Man [044]: This big boy is softer than the above with only Toughness, though his AV and DV are each a point higher. He also lacks Indom and Charge, instead starting with Plasticity — not the best match to Giant Reach. But he can be a decent taxi and has Empower. At half-cost, he starts with Outwit and three clicks of his object and wall-busting Quake SP. You’ll want to push him off Toughness and 9 AV to higher attack values and Invulnerability ASAP.  

Those are the regular Age of Ultron booster pieces, and they’re fairly F.U.N. on their own, being not too scary (despite one being a Heroclixin’ Top Ten piece) but still bringing the Utility and the Niftyness of the Morph trait. But it’s their compatibility with the following pieces from the Legacy of Hank Pym box set and their Ant Swarm bystanders traits that get them near the top of the F.U.N. countdown. 

Hank Pym [201]: Similar in form and function to his sculpt predecessor from Chaos War, the first of the box set Pyms is a Telekinesis/Barrier fig to start, who then pushes to Outwit/Mastermind with a SP granting Blades and EW. 50 points buys the same with the MM on top click. Ant Swarms get Empower when he’s on the board, which can significantly boost a team’s damage output.

Ant-Man [202]: Plays a bit weird with Phasing and Poison but just 17 DV Super Senses for defense. He’s got 5 range, though, with Precision and Perplex, the real reason to run him at 100 points. At 50, he’s a dangerous tie-up fig that swaps in Close Combat Expert instead of the Perplex and gains 16 DV with a SP bundling Combat Reflexes, Toughness and the ability to heal by KOing Ant Swarms, which also get to “stick” to foes similar to how War of Light standout Despotellis does when this fig is on the board. 

Goliath [203]: Much more of a straight-up giant Indomitable brick than the others. He also gets both Super Senses and Prob Control when shot at to counter the greatest vulnerability of Great Size figs. The 50-point Goliath is stripped of his Charge and S.Strength in favor of a sole click of Plasticity+CCE and later clicks of Perplex. As a giant, he can taxi Ant-Swarms. If Morphed into the game, he can swap an adjacent one for a Giant Ant bystander for extra bite:

Note: It’s not boosted by the other Ant Swarm-related traits. 

Yellowjacket [204]: Running Shot, 11 AV Penetrating/Psychic Blast and Energy Shield/Deflection make this Pym the shooter of the lot at full cost. Half-price buys Force Blast and Willpower to go along with P/PB and Exploit, the latter of which he grants to friendly Ant Swarms as well. 

Ant-Man [205]: Once again, Puck Pym is all about sky-high 20 DV at the expense of Speed (a putrid Stealthy 4) and offense (8 AV Incapacitate with 6 range). But he’s being fielded for his Outwit as well for his 100 points. At 50, he’s only got 17 Super Senses but adds Sidestep and Poison to start with the same Outwit. Ant Swarm allies, when attacked, deal penetrating damage to non-attacking adjacent foes when the attack fails, like trying to swat the wasp and missing and just making it angry. 

Speaking of wasps…

Wasp [206]: Another shooting Pym (Running Shot + 5 range + double target Energy Explosion), this one also has Leadership, which could be useful if there are a lot of Ant Swarms (who also get Flight, +3 Speed and Stealth when he’s around). 50 drops RS, EE and Toughness for Sidestep, Blades and Willpower. 

Giant-Man [G200]: At 100 points, this Pym is more than just an Indomitable, colossal bruiser. He also brings Outwit — twice per turn if he damages his target — and Flurry with his Charge to help the odds of hitting 3 squares out thanks to colossal Giant Reach. Invincible gives him a bit of defense against stuff like P/PB, though the 17 DV is only average. At the 50 level, he doesn’t start with the Outwit+Flurry SP, taking more of a supporting role with Sidestep and Empower. Like Goliath 203, he creates a Giant Ant.

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All these figures rate pretty High on the FELLOWSHIP level, with none being straight up Negative Play Experience pieces. But each brings its own High level of UTILITY to score well on that portion of the acrostic, too. Finally, though, it’s the sheer NIFTYNESS of a swarm of Pyms and his ant friends that give the whole lot of them a High mark here as well. The only reasons the Pyms don’t take the top spots are 1) that one of them is a meta piece, 2) using the whole lot of them can be an overwhelmingly complex affair and can dampen the actual fun of play and 3) come on, there’s a WHOLE LOT OF THEM. We’re not going to make the No. 1 spot a 10-way tie.