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E001 MUTANT MASSACRE
Based on the classic X-Men crossover circa issue 210 or so of the Uncanny X-Men series.
BRING: Character cards (or an official keyword list).
TURN THE DIAL: At the end of any turn in which a character that has a point value of more than 30 points is knocked out or eliminated.
WHAT IT MEANS: Unlike many other dials, which turn at the end of each round, Mutant Massacre only turns when characters leave the game. This means that various conditions can affect your game for a pretty long time, especially the first:
MASSACRE (Black, slots 1-8): Before the beginning of the first turn, each player declares a keyword. During the active player’s turn, if an opposing character that has the keyword named by the active player takes damage, after it takes damage deal that character 1 unavoidable damage. Critical hits to all characters deal an additional 1 damage.
WHAT IT MEANS: Any character with a keyword could be a target for extra harm, and this condition lasts a LONG time. You’ll want to seriously consider fielding characters without keywords. They will not be as vulnerable to the MASSACRE condition. By the same token, you should avoid theme teams entirely.
HELP FROM ARTIE AND LEECH (red, slots 3-4, 7-9): At the beginning of your turn, roll a d6. On a result of 4-6, a single character on your force that can’t already use Outwit can use Outwit once during that turn. In addition, if the result was a 6, you can also give an action token to one opposing character that has zero action tokens.
WHAT IT MEANS: Consider fielding Power Cosmic/Quintessence figures. They’ll essentially be immune to this condition. Anti-Outwit feats/powers like The Society, Outsmart, Fortitude and Stealth will help as well. Willpower and Indomitable will be less vulnerable to the token dump, at least.
EMERGENCY TRIAGE (cyan, slots 5-6): At the beginning of your turn, all of your characters that have two action tokens are healed of 1 damage.
WHAT IT MEANS: Another good reason to invest in characters who can push freely through Willpower or other means to gain free healing.
SUMMING IT UP: Mutant Massacre can truly make for a rough game for the unprepared. This is one dial that’s infinitely more fun when you can build for it. At the very least, avoid keyword themes.

Ugh. OK. So I said I’d have this installment up “some time this weekend?” Yeah. Didn’t happen. So I’m not making those kinds of promises anymore. Just look out for new posts, all right? All right. :)

E001 MUTANT MASSACRE

Based on the classic X-Men crossover circa issue 210 or so of the Uncanny X-Men series.

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BRING: Character cards (and/or an official keyword list).

TURN THE DIAL: At the end of any turn in which a character that has a point value of more than 30 points is knocked out or eliminated.

WHAT IT MEANS: Unlike many other dials, which turn at the end of each round, Mutant Massacre only turns when characters leave the game. This means that various conditions can affect your game for a pretty long time, especially the first:

MASSACRE (Black, slots A-H): Before the beginning of the first turn, each player declares a keyword. During the active player’s turn, if an opposing character that has the keyword named by the active player takes damage, after it takes damage deal that character 1 unavoidable damage. Critical hits to all characters deal an additional 1 damage.

WHAT IT MEANS: Any character with a keyword could be a target for extra harm, and this condition lasts a LONG time. You’ll want to seriously consider fielding characters without keywords. They will not be as vulnerable to the MASSACRE condition. By the same token, you should avoid theme teams entirely.

HELP FROM ARTIE AND LEECH (red, slots C-D, G-I): At the beginning of your turn, roll a d6. On a result of 4-6, a single character on your force that can’t already use Outwit can use Outwit once during that turn. In addition, if the result was a 6, you can also give an action token to one opposing character that has zero action tokens.

WHAT IT MEANS: Consider fielding Power Cosmic/Quintessence figures. They’ll essentially be immune to this condition. Anti-Outwit feats/powers like The Society, Outsmart, Fortitude and Stealth will help as well. Willpower and Indomitable will be less vulnerable to the token dump, at least.

EMERGENCY TRIAGE (cyan, slots E-F): At the beginning of your turn, all of your characters that have two action tokens are healed of 1 damage.

WHAT IT MEANS: Another good reason to invest in characters who can push freely through Willpower or other means to gain free healing.

SUMMING IT UP: Mutant Massacre can truly make for a rough game for the unprepared. This is one dial that’s infinitely more fun when you can build for it. At the very least, avoid keyword themes.

Next time, we’ll look at the next phase of event dial development: Evolutionary War.

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300 points. Character-card sets only.

My take: Power Pack #6 “theme team”
Lightspeed 25
Mass Master 30
Energizer 35
Gee 40
SI Spider-Man 50
+ Lunge 5
+ Loner 5
SI Cloak & Dagger 109
= 299 points
See my blog, heroclixin.wordpress.com for this write-up!
Round ONE
Easton, 12-year-old from Huntsville, AL
On a shaved-down Indy map (the Evil Lab, I think), I took on his Stardust, SI Captain America, M+M Marvel Girl and AV Scarlet Witch. He played a great game, easily KOing first Gee, then Mass Master for an early lead. But Spidey and Cloak+Dagger began landing their respective double attacks, taking out Cap, Scarlet Witch and Marvel Girl. Stardust, still at full health, critmissed a big attack, enabling my two Phasers Lightspeed and C+D to run from the herald until Spidey could finally hit it — and then to run from it when it gained HSS. A 2nd critmiss spared Energizer’s life and the grownups finished the now-hittable Stardust for the wipeout. 1-0.
Round TWO
Clark, a 12-year-old former Atlanta kid now in Florida but back for Dragon*Con.
On the Crashed Spaceship map, this slightly spacey kid fielded a team of bi-coastal Avengers: Lionheart, U.S. Agent, Ronin, Moon Knight and AV Scarlet Witch. Not nearly as sharp a player as my last opponent, but much better than when I last played him, Clark took down Mass Master and Energizer and very, VERY nearly got Cloak & Dagger; a miss from a weakened Lionheart allowed the duo to Phase away and support a well-beaten-down Spidey from afar. Managed to hold on for a win despite frequent sniping from the hidden but nearby Moon Knight and Clark’s semi-secret weapon, Ronin. Got U.S. Agent and Lionheart. 2-0.
Round THREE
Nathan, a former S. Carolina player moved to Wisconsin back for Dragon*Con. On the HorrorClix Carnival map, he dealt me a vicious beating with a team lacking anything resembling a blind spot: SI Nick Fury + Contingency Plan with Skrully Ms. Marvel — both Warbound. And Lila Cheney just to round out. By not covering Gee in my initial move, a Kinetic-Accelerated Ms. Skrullvel took him, and any chance I had of winning, out in one shot. I retreated to force him to overextend a bit, though it cost me Mass Master in the next turn. And it worked some; by basing Lightspeed with Lila (outwitting her P/T to force Lightspeed to fight, he said) he’d left an opening for Spider-Man to Lunge-attack Lila (missing), then Nick Fury, hitting him and forcing a L.M.D. warp away from Ms. Skrullvel and thus negating the constant Warbound attacks. The team was actually able force a critmiss from her and knock Fury to hit late dial and even get KO points for Lila before getting wiped by this incredibly effective trio. 2-1.
Round FOUR
A guy whose name and hometown I’m blanking on. Did I ever ask?
I picked the Castle to face his Justice League of America: Starro Green Lantern, OOTS Batman, JL Zatanna and JL Black Canary. Again incautious with Gee placement, I got my TK first Outwitted, then lost outright to Green Lantern’s Running Shot off the bat. Fortunately, Cloak & Dagger would remain safely Stealthed on the Kinetic Accelerator, no matter what. Mass Master was my first casualty, blocking Batman’s fire for his brother. Energizer (via Lightspeed) proved her worth by disintegrating the object Bats sat on, leading to shots from Cloak & Dagger and a Spider-Lunge that took him to eventual KO. Both girls fell to enemy fire, but the Fantastic Four TA healed Gee back to TK, enabling him to push and move Cloak & Dagger forward to take out Zatanna. All four kids were lost but I wiped all but Green Lantern for the win.
Win/Loss: 3-1. I built this team just for kicks, being a great fan of the old-school ‘Pack. But it proved to be way more effective than I dreamed.
A couple of days later, we had a 200-point unrestricted game, and I saw a chance for another Power Pack-heavy team:
Lightspeed 25
Mass Master 30
Gee 40
R Shazam! 105
= 200 points. “Kid” keyword makes it a themed team. See my blog, heroclixin.wordpress.com for this write-up, too!
Round ONE
I was late, so I had to take a bye round. :(
Round TWO
A relatively new player whose name I can’t remember. He played, on a shaved-down old “Mall” map: Gamora, Spider-Man (Armor Wars) and The Question (Arkham Asylum). I was able to bunker my kids in an interior room to block nearly all line of fire from enemy fire and Outwit. Thus Shazam was able to easily beat down the whole team for a wipeout. But not without cost: Question crithit Gee into a wall for a one-hit-KO (OHKO). 1-0.
Round TWO
Now I faced Scott, a local player and friend. A master modder, he ran half of his Offenders team: an awesome Red Hulk (on the Hercules (Secret Invasion) dial) and Tiger Shark (Captain Mako repainted with a fin) on the Crashed Spaceship map. I used the terrain (and Mass Master’s Smoke Cloudform) to slow down the close-combat specialists. But they quickly based, then KO’d the boy when Shazam failed 4 attempts at hitting Rulk (burning both theme PCs and a push). Both fliers got the team away, forcing the Offenders to trudge back through hindering terrain. Shazam landed on his Billy clicks and hid in a corner with Gee blocking access to him. Gee fell, but it was enough time to get back to Captain Marvel power. One successful Impervious roll later, sole survivor R Shazam was able to chase down Rulk and then Shark for a come-from-behind win. 2-0.
Round THREE
Now in a battle for third place, I again faced young Easton’s nigh-unbeatable team of The Flash (Legacy) + Alias, V Spoiler + Loner and R Destiny. And when I neglected to block line of fire to Shazam and got his Hypersonic Speed countered, I was pretty screwed. Had to sacrifice nearly the whole Pack to block line of fire to try for additional attacks. It didn’t go well; failed the Kingdom Come roll and then the consolation attack on Destiny. Made a 2nd mistake when I neglected to move to my Telephone Booth to get off my Billy clicks. Only a successful Regen roll got me back in fighting shape. Constant Outwitting of KC’s Outwit kept me Invulnerable and safe from him, but unable to catch up to him to make an attack. So I pushed and rolled for the moon and failed due the Alias feat. Game Over! At least I got the other two. 2-1
TOTAL RECORD: 5-2. So OK, both Pack teams got utterly dragged by completely min-maxed builds played by master players, and certainly didn’t deal many KOs (only Gee got any, and it was a character half his points — R Destiny). They still well outperformed my and my opponents’ expectations.
Gee: As one of the game’s cheapest TK characters, he’s already a staple of teams worldwide. But he especially makes this team work, giving both my main attackers Spider-Man and Cloak & Dagger the reach they needed to use their respective Lunge-Flurry and duo attacks effectively. In the Kid team, Gee was instrumental in yanking Shazam out of harm’s way after a failed Charge attempt.
Lightspeed: The game’s most efficient taxi did the job here, too, getting Spidey or her brothers and sister in place over and over again.
Energizer: mostly served only as sacrificial tie-up but got that great move against Batman. She also scored an Exploit Weakness hit on U.S. Agent.
Mass Master: Also limited to tie-up, though he drew Outwitters’ ire away from more dangerous opponents.
And that’s really the Power Pack’s strength; while these swarming preadolescents are pretty weak on their own and even as a unit, they tend to make any grown-up figures on the team work better. For example, a Lunge-enabled Spider-Man, already beastly, is twice as effective when paired with cheap TK (Gee) or cheaper air taxi (Lightspeed). Shazam depended on the kids to block LOF from Question, Charge lanes from Gamora and to absorb the extra objects “Red Hulk” carried. And Energizer can be OOTS Batman’s worst nightmare.
The kids are INDEED all right.
One of the greatest comics Marvel's ever produced.

One of the greatest comics Marvel’s ever produced.

If I had to point to one comic that’s responsible for my near-lifelong love of comics, it’s this one: POWER PACK. Ever since I spied this promo ad in the spring of 1984, I knew this book could be something really special. I wasn’t disappointed: a deft melding of superheroics and the kids of the Narnia Chronicles, Power Pack was a comic well ahead of its time yet more innocent than most of  today’s fare.

Power Pack is also the reason I glommed onto HeroClix as both a game and as a collectible. Only the HeroClix line made room for not only the marquee characters like Superman or Spidey but also for Z-list characters largely unseen in comics for a decade or more like Ambush Bug or Zzzax. So I knew that if HeroClix lasted long enough, eventually I’d see my beloved superkids in playable, miniature plastic form.

Gee, Lightspeed, Mass Master, and Energizer. Aren't they cute.

Gee, Lightspeed, Mass Master, and Energizer. As ‘clix. Aren’t they cute.

Were they worth the wait? Well, yes and no. Yes, it was great to get them in ‘Clix and all at once…no waiting across different sets like fans of larger teams have had to. And given that HeroClix soon suffered a yearlong near-death experience mere months later, I’m glad they showed when they did.

But no. Not only are the sculpts a bit lacking, being influenced by the cute-but-inferior revamp of the 2000’s, but the dials aren’t right, either. Most of the problem is that it seems that the game designers couldn’t figure out which version of each character to emulate, leaving us with an oddly amalgamated Pack that doesn’t represent either very well.

I control gravity -- G POWER! Get it?"

“I control gravity — G POWER! Get it?”

Gee: Originally, the oldest Power kid (age 12.5, not 15 like his card says) could only affect the gravity of people and objects he touched, making some version of Super Strength and the Carry ability a shoo-in. But the current revamp recasts him as more of a standard telekinetic, and that’s the clix we got. It’s OK, but not accurate.

.

.

"I can fly -- so fast you can hardly see me! Is that the speed of light, Alex?"

“I can fly so fast you can hardly see me!”

Lightspeed: Also mis-aged on her character card, Julie only flew real fast at first. Much, MUCH later she learned to teleport, but that was never her main power. The current Lightspeed (in the kids’ books, not the teenaged runaway seen in recent years) has been treated as much as a speedster as anything, and even the original broke the sound barrier early in her career. Would it have been too much to give her at least ONE click of Hypersonic Speed, even with super-low attack and damage values?

.

"I'm MASS MASTER, punk! Don't you forget it!"

“I’m MASS MASTER, punk! Don’t you forget it!”

Mass Master: the greatest disappointment of the four, thanks to his way-too-low defense numbers. Think of it; he’s an intangible cloud most of the time (and a 5-inch-high, 60-pound “Jack Hammer” the rest). He should have 17 DV at minimum with Defend or something, not to mention Phasing/Teleport for his ability to slip through any crack in his cloud form. Drop his damage to 0 with Close Combat Expert.

.

.

"I just touched stuff and it disintegrated."

“I just touched stuff and it disintegrated.”

Energizer: the original Katie was considerably more destructive than the new incarnation that the ‘clix version seems based on. Always relied upon to either disintegrate or smash walls and such, the youngest deserves some 3 damage clicks.

Enough griping, though. The fact is, barring a sudden explosion in their popularity, the Pack we have is likely all the Pack we’ll get. And I’ve been hankering to run them in a team. I got the opportunity at Dragon*Con last weekend, the first big HeroClix tournament in many, many months.

SCENARIO/BUILD RULES: 300 points. Character-card sets only. This is only sets from summer 2007 and newer.

My take: Power Pack #6 “theme team” (both Spidey and Cloak & Dagger made cameos)

Lightspeed 25
Mass Master 30
Energizer 35
Gee 40
Spider-Man (Secret Invasion) 50
+ Lunge 5
+ Loner 5
SI Cloak & Dagger 109

= 299 points

Round ONE

Against Easton, 12-year-old from Huntsville, AL

On a shaved-down Indy map (the Evil Lab, I think), I took on his Stardust, Captain America (Secret Invasion), Marvel Girl (Mutations and Monsters) and Scarlet Witch (Avengers). He played a great game, easily KOing first Gee, then Mass Master for an early lead. But Spidey and Cloak+Dagger began landing their respective double attacks, taking out Cap, Scarlet Witch and Marvel Girl. Stardust, still at full health, critmissed a big attack, enabling my two Phasers Lightspeed and C+D to run from the herald until Spidey could finally hit it — and then to run from it when it gained HSS. A 2nd critmiss spared Energizer’s life and the grownups finished the now-hittable Stardust for the wipeout. 1-0.

Round TWO

Clark, a 12-year-old former Atlanta kid now in Florida but back for Dragon*Con.

On the Crashed Spaceship map, this slightly spacey kid fielded a team of bi-coastal Avengers: Lionheart, U.S. Agent, Ronin, Moon Knight and AV Scarlet Witch. Not nearly as sharp a player as my last opponent, but much better than when I last played him, Clark took down Mass Master and Energizer and very, VERY nearly got Cloak & Dagger; a miss from a weakened Lionheart allowed the duo to Phase away and support a well-beaten-down Spidey from afar. Managed to hold on for a win despite frequent sniping from the hidden but nearby Moon Knight and Clark’s semi-secret weapon, Ronin. Got U.S. Agent and Lionheart. 2-0.

Round THREE

Nathan, a former S. Carolina player moved to Wisconsin back for Dragon*Con. On the HorrorClix Carnival map, he dealt me a vicious beating with a team lacking anything resembling a blind spot: Nick Fury (Secret Invasion)+ Contingency Plan with Skrully Ms. Marvel (Secret Invasion) — both Warbound. And Lila Cheney just to round out. By not covering Gee in my initial move, a Kinetic-Accelerated Ms. Skrullvel took him, and any chance I had of winning, out in one shot. I retreated to force him to overextend a bit, though it cost me Mass Master in the next turn. And it worked some; by basing Lightspeed with Lila (outwitting her P/T to force Lightspeed to fight, he said) he’d left an opening for Spider-Man to Lunge-attack Lila (missing), then Nick Fury, hitting him and forcing a L.M.D. warp away from Ms. Skrullvel and thus negating the constant Warbound attacks. The team was actually able force a critmiss from her and knock Fury to hit late dial and even get KO points for Lila before getting wiped by this incredibly effective trio. 2-1.

Round FOUR

A guy whose name and hometown I’m blanking on. Did I ever ask?

I picked the Castle to face his Justice League of America: Starro Green Lantern, OOTS Batman, JL Zatanna and JL Black Canary. Again incautious with Gee placement, I got my TK first Outwitted, then lost outright to Green Lantern’s Running Shot off the bat. Fortunately, Cloak & Dagger would remain safely Stealthed on the Kinetic Accelerator, no matter what. Mass Master was my first casualty, blocking Batman’s fire for his brother. Energizer (via Lightspeed) proved her worth by disintegrating the object Bats sat on, leading to shots from Cloak & Dagger and a Spider-Lunge that took him to eventual KO. Both girls fell to enemy fire, but the Fantastic Four TA healed Gee back to TK, enabling him to push and move Cloak & Dagger forward to take out Zatanna. All four kids were lost but I wiped all but Green Lantern for the win.

Win/Loss: 3-1. I built this team just for kicks, being a great fan of the old-school ‘Pack. But it proved to be way more effective than I dreamed.

A couple of days later, we had a 200-point unrestricted game, and I saw a chance for another Power Pack-heavy team:

Lightspeed 25
Mass Master 30
 + Fantastic Four o
Gee 40
R Shazam! 105

= 200 points. “Kid” keyword makes it a themed team.

Round ONE

I was late, so I had to take a bye round. :(

Round TWO

A relatively new player whose name I can’t remember. He played, on a shaved-down old “Mall” map: Gamora, Spider-Man (Armor Wars) and The Question (Arkham Asylum). I was able to bunker my kids in an interior room to block nearly all line of fire from enemy fire and Outwit. Thus Shazam was able to easily beat down the whole team for a wipeout. But not without cost: Question crithit Gee into a wall for a one-hit-KO (OHKO). 1-0.

Round TWO

Now I faced Scott, a local player and friend. A master modder, he ran half of his Offenders team: an awesome Red Hulk (on the Hercules (Secret Invasion) dial) and Tiger Shark (Captain Mako repainted with a fin) on the Crashed Spaceship map. I used the terrain (and Mass Master’s Smoke Cloudform) to slow down the close-combat specialists. But they quickly based, then KO’d the boy when Shazam failed 4 attempts at hitting Rulk (burning both theme PCs and a push). Both fliers got the team away, forcing the Offenders to trudge back through hindering terrain. Shazam landed on his Billy clicks and hid in a corner with Gee blocking access to him. Gee fell, but it was enough time to get back to Captain Marvel power. One successful Impervious roll later, sole survivor R Shazam was able to chase down Rulk and then Shark for a come-from-behind win. 2-0.

Round THREE

Now in a battle for third place, I again faced young Easton’s nigh-unbeatable team of The Flash (Legacy) + Alias, V Spoiler + Loner and R Destiny. And when I neglected to block line of fire to Shazam and got his Hypersonic Speed countered, I was pretty screwed. Had to sacrifice nearly the whole Pack to block line of fire to try for additional attacks. It didn’t go well; failed the Kingdom Come roll and then the consolation attack on Destiny. Made a 2nd mistake when I neglected to move to my Telephone Booth to get off my Billy clicks. Only a successful Regen roll got me back in fighting shape. Constant Outwitting of KC’s Outwit kept me Invulnerable and safe from him, but unable to catch up to him to make an attack. So I pushed and rolled for the moon and failed due the Alias feat. Game Over! At least I got the other two. 2-1

TOTAL RECORD: 5-2. So OK, both Pack teams got utterly dragged by completely min-maxed builds played by master players, and certainly didn’t deal many KOs (only Gee got any, and it was a character half his points — R Destiny). They still well outperformed my and my opponents’ expectations.

I spent some lines writing about what’s wrong with the ‘Pack. But what’s right about them?

Gee: As one of the game’s cheapest TK characters, he’s already a staple of teams worldwide. But he especially makes this team work, giving both my main attackers Spider-Man and Cloak & Dagger the reach they needed to use their respective Lunge-Flurry and duo attacks effectively. In the Kid team, Gee was instrumental in yanking Shazam out of harm’s way after a failed Charge attempt.

Lightspeed: The game’s most efficient taxi did the job here, too, getting Spidey or her brothers and sister in place over and over again.

Energizer: mostly served only as sacrificial tie-up but got that great move against Batman. She also scored an Exploit Weakness hit on U.S. Agent.

Mass Master: Also limited to tie-up, though he drew Outwitters’ ire away from more dangerous opponents. That free Smoke Cloud occasionally helped, too. Finally, pushing to his 2nd click made him an actual threat worthy of the enemy’s attacks as a decoy.

And that’s really the Power Pack’s strength; while these swarming preadolescents are pretty weak on their own and even as a unit, they tend to make any grown-up figures on the team work better. For example, a Lunge-enabled Spider-Man, already beastly, is twice as effective when paired with cheap TK (Gee) or cheaper air taxi (Lightspeed). Shazam depended on the kids to block LOF from Question, deny Charge lanes to him from Gamora and to absorb the extra objects “Red Hulk” carried. And Energizer can be OOTS Batman’s worst nightmare.

The kids are INDEED all right.

OK. Enough postponing on the event dials articles…! Next time.

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After largely dominating in a pair of friendly games, it was time to put the Seven Soldiers of Victory through a real test in a tournament.
ROUND ONE
Opponent: PAUL
Team:
Spider-Man (Avengers)
Hercules (Secret Invasion)
Wasp (Universe Starter)
Spider-Woman (Armor Wars)
Sersi
Ant-Man (Infinity Challenge)
Hmmmm. Yes, this team was a bit more optimized than the one he’d played last night, with a great lead hitter in Herc and solid support in Sersi (TK) and Spidey (Outwit). Plus he had a themed team and picked the Avengers map. I picked the trench side with a Kinetic Accelerator special object to give me a shot at a first strike with Bulleteer and her Meteorite.
Paul use Spidey to counter Bulleteer’s Charge and thus prevent her getting to Hercules. In the meantime, I needed to get into position for actual fighting, but in a way that wouldn’t leave anyone open to Hercules’s Charge range after being moved by Sersi’s Telekinesis. Zatanna carried Klarion to a large patch of hindering to hide in, just beyond Hercules’ Charge range.
Or so I thought. Klarion WAS in the big demigod’s reach and took both hits of a Meteorite-boosted Flurry! Only Toughness saved the witchboy from instant KO.
Well, the bait was good and taken (though I hadn’t exactly planned it thus). I needed Bulleteer to retaliate, so I took a Running Shot with Frankenstein to ping Spider-Man off Outwit and get my Charge back. Thus re-empowered, Bulleteer would have just the boost she needed from the Kinetic Accelerator to Charge through the hindering (thanks to Unstoppable) with the Meteorite.
But first, I needed a good Regeneration roll for Klarion. Got the best, to land on his best click: Stealth + Duo Attack-granting SP + Probability Control. Nice!
Bulleteer landed her attack, which softened up Hercules considerably for Guardian and Klarion to finish him off. Frankenstein, for his part, was a bit tied up with Ant-Man, Wasp and Spider-Woman but someone managed to tag both ladies to send Spider-Woman running and Wasp off the board.
Paul retreated to his healing Eleha’al Vine and my forces gave chase (Miracle taxiing Guardian ahead and Zatanna carting Klarion). Bulleteer had Spider-Man cornered on his Vine when time was called. I’d lost none and KO’d Wasp, Spider-Woman and Hercules. 1-0.
ROUND TWO
Opponent: TIM
Team: Stone-faced cosmic despots
Thanos (Supernova) +
Darkseid (Crisis) + Outsmart + Protected
=495 points
OK, here was a real test! I picked the Icons park map. At all costs would I avoid the vast killing field in the middle, instead planning to bunker on a rooftop and use a Kinetic Accelerator to perhaps get a first Charge in a Meteorite. But Tim decided to rush me down, basing Bulleteer (and Outwitting her Strength) before she could move.
Had to proceed very carefully here, in order to stand a chance.
1. Break Bulleteer away by plunking Shining Knight diagonally between her and Darkseid.
2. Fly Zatanna to a back edge of the roof where she can see Bulleteer’s eventual attack square —
3. — and so her passenger Klarion can see Frankenstein for Perplex.
4. Hold Frank back a little bit longer to build up one more Opportunist token.
Next turn, Bulleteer picked up the Meteorite, Charged through the hindering terrain and hit Thanos for a solid 4 with the Meteorite. Frankenstein followed with an Opportunist-boosted Running Shot to turn a Probability Control-forced miss into a hit for three damage (thanks to Klarion’s  Perplex). To wrap up, I walked Klarion between Bulleteer and Darkseid so the latter couldn’t Outwit the shiny gal’s Invulnerability — the only thing that saved her from swift oblivion when Thanos punched her in the face for 7 damage (natural 5 + Close Combat Expert).
I should have taxied Klarion instead of walking him; I found myself on prime fighting clicks after Darkseid’s counterattack but unwilling to push for it. At least Darkseid took Mystic damage and burned his Outwit on countering Shining Knight’s Flurry.
Thanos got smacked to Regen and then out of the game, as did Guardian. But now it was my whole team on Darkseid, and he eventually fell. 2-0.
ROUND THREE
Opponent: LENNY
Team: Gotham
Batman (Arkham Asylum chase #99) + Opportunist
Batman (Arkham Asylum)
Nightwing + Contingency Plan + Takedown
Batman (Justice League)
Robin (Arkham Asylum)
Captain Gordon (Arkham Asylum)
Thanks to his fielding a themed team (Gotham) Lenny won the map roll and picked the Dawn of Time. I played Rushed Assault to blunt his assault. That turned out to be a mistake, as Lenny didn’t take the bait and bided his time WAY longer than he had any need to. Meanwhile, my outgunned team simply could not afford to waste a single attack on the Rushed Assault penalty, especially knowing that then nothing would slow the Bats from whaling on me. So we literally went at least 40 minutes of the 50-minute game without making any attack rolls.
I really wanted to chide Lenny for waiting so long. With Perplex, a full Contingency Plan stock, a team nearly full of double-digit Attack Values and three theme-team Probability Controls (provided he shut off his Bat-Stealth for line of fire first), he really had little chance of missing that first attack. To be fair, though, I didn’t give him easy targets: Mister Miracle with 19 Defense (thanks to Loner) + Super Senses or Frankenstein with Invulnerable 19 DV (thanks to a snatched Tombstone of Lenny’s).
Finally, Lenny took a shot at Frankenstein, who I’d set up ready to attack Nightwing (having forgotten that he had Takedown). The intentional whiff took out the Tombstone, giving Watchtower Batman an easy shot for three.
I gave the game away then, when, to tie-up that Batman, I Perplexed Guardian’s speed to Charge him in a failed attempt (despite having Probability Control). Batman did not fail to Flurry Guardian for the game’s only KO, as time ran out just two minutes later.
In retrospect, then, Rushed Assault was a horrible choice with no way to counter its effects myself. Halfway through the game, I should have broken someone away to threaten Captain Gordon.
WIN/LOSS 2-1. 4-1 total record.
This team looks like a hot mess on paper: only two team abilities, no wildcards to benefit. Only one character with greater than 6 range, and she can’t crack Invulnerability without help. The heavyweight starts with just a 9 Attack Value. Bulleteer is overcosted. At this point level, they seem plain outclassed.
What they do bring to the table is a pair of Perplexers and Probability Control to help out the low Attack Values. A few feats also bring out extra potential:
Opportunist on Frankenstein is superb…you have to hold him back early in the game, but once he starts, the Indomitable monster doesn’t have to stop and those built-up tokens make it hard for him to miss.
Shining Knight is MADE for Double-Time. While Frank’s biding his time, she can taxi either Guardian or Bulleteer in close to a target of opportunity, tying up the foe for a Charge next round. And with her Defense double-Perplexed by teammates, she might survive to push and Flurry (again, double-Perplexed) the next round to finish off or soften up whoever her fare Charges and hits.
Bulleteer + Unstoppable = a surprisingly capable attacker, either as a backup or frontliner. Twice in these games, the feat got her in position to make improbable hits. Invulnerability makes her short dial seem longer.
Loner makes the highly-mobile Perplexer Mr. Miracle nigh-untouchable. If he IS touched hard enough, he gets to take over PC duties from Zatanna.
As for the non-feated, they work out in the end, too. Klarion is a linchpin of the team; his Stealth and Mystic TA protect him from a lot of attacks while his Perplex makes the rest of the team work. He becomes a solid fighter down his dial.
Zatanna serves well to fly him around and help with Probability Control — as well as serving as bait for attacks. That worked out for me as she was able to make Frankenstein more dangerous with her Enhancement.
And Guardian truly shines on this team, as he’s the ultimate clean-up guy, Charging in after Frankenstein has softened everyone up. It’s when I failed to use him as clean-up that he fell.
And so a team I intended to play just for fun has turned out to be a true dark-horse winner. It’s not top-tier by any stretch — the final match showed that — but it’s better than you’d think!
Next post will either be a battle report on today’s “Zero-Range Brawl” — no ranged attacks allowed) or the first of a series of articles on how to build teams to play the controversial Event Dials first released in the Mutations and Monsters set of fall 2007. Keep an eye out for it!
Did they stand or fall in a real tournament?

Did they stand or fall in a real tournament?

After largely dominating in a pair of friendly games, it was time to put the Seven Soldiers of Victory through a real test in a tournament.

ROUND ONE

Opponent: PAUL’s Avengers

Spider-Man (Avengers)
Hercules (Secret Invasion)
Wasp (Universe Starter)
Spider-Woman (Armor Wars)
Sersi
Ant-Man (Infinity Challenge)

Hmmmm. Yes, this team was a bit more optimized than the one he’d played last night, with a great lead hitter in Herc and solid support in Sersi (TK) and Spidey (Outwit). Plus he had a themed team and picked the Avengers map. I picked the trench side with a Kinetic Accelerator special object to give me a shot at a first strike with Bulleteer and her Meteorite.

Paul used Spidey to counter Bulleteer’s Charge and thus prevent her getting to Hercules. In the meantime, I needed to get into position for actual fighting, but in a way that wouldn’t leave anyone open to Hercules’s Charge range after being moved by Sersi’s Telekinesis. Zatanna carried Klarion to a large patch of hindering to hide in, just beyond Hercules’ Charge range.

Or so I thought. Klarion WAS in the big demigod’s reach and took both hits of a Meteorite-boosted Flurry! Only a low Meteorite roll and the witchboy’s Toughness on the 2nd hit saved him from instant KO.

Quite the marksman with Opportunist!

Quite the marksman with Opportunist!

Well, the bait was good and taken (though I hadn’t exactly planned it thus). I needed Bulleteer to retaliate, so I took a Running Shot with Frankenstein to ping Spider-Man off Outwit and get my Charge back. Thus re-empowered, Bulleteer would have just the boost she needed from the Kinetic Accelerator to Charge through the hindering (thanks to Unstoppable) with the Meteorite.

But first, I needed a good Regeneration roll for Klarion. Got the best, to land on his best click: Stealth + Duo Attack-granting SP + Probability Control. Nice!

Bulleteer landed her attack, which softened up Hercules considerably for Shining Knight (who’d jumped between Herc and Klarion to protect the latter) from further attack), Guardian and Klarion to finish him off. Frankenstein, for his part, was a bit tied up with Ant-Man, Wasp and Spider-Woman but someone managed to tag both ladies to send Spider-Woman running and Wasp off the board.

Paul retreated to his healing Eleha’al Vine and my forces gave chase (Miracle taxiing Guardian ahead and Zatanna carting Klarion). Bulleteer had Spider-Man cornered on his Vine when time was called. I’d lost none and KO’d Wasp, Spider-Woman and Hercules. 1-0.

ROUND TWO

Opponent: TIM’s stone-faced cosmic duo of despots

Thanos (Supernova)
Darkseid (Crisis) + Outsmart + Protected

OK, here was a real test! I picked the Icons park map. At all costs would I avoid the vast killing field in the middle, instead planning to bunker on a rooftop and use a Kinetic Accelerator to perhaps get a first Charge in a Meteorite. But Tim decided to rush me down, basing Bulleteer (and Outwitting her Strength) before she could move.

Had to proceed very carefully here, in order to stand a chance.

1. Break Bulleteer away by plunking Shining Knight diagonally between her and Darkseid. This also would deny Darkseid an attack upon or further Outwit of Bulleteer
2. Fly Zatanna to a back edge of the roof where she can see Bulleteer’s eventual attack square —
3. — and so her passenger Klarion can see Frankenstein for Perplex.
4. Hold Frank back a little bit longer to build up one more Opportunist token.

BANG!

BANG!

Next turn, Bulleteer picked up the Meteorite, Charged through the hindering terrain and hit Thanos for a solid 4 with the Meteorite. Frankenstein followed with an Opportunist-boosted Running Shot to turn a Probability Control-forced miss into a hit for three damage (thanks to Klarion’s Perplex). To wrap up, I walked Klarion between Bulleteer and Darkseid so the latter couldn’t Outwit the shiny gal’s Invulnerability — the only thing that saved her from swift oblivion when Thanos punched her in the face for 7 damage (natural 5 + Close Combat Expert).

I should have taxied Klarion instead of walking him; I found myself on prime fighting clicks after Darkseid’s counterattack but unwilling to push for it. At least Darkseid took Mystic damage and burned his Outwit on countering Shining Knight’s Flurry.

Thanos got smacked to Regen and then out of the game, as did Guardian. But now it was my whole team on Darkseid, and he eventually fell. 2-0.

ROUND THREE

Opponent: LENNY’s Gotham Knights

Batman (Arkham Asylum chase #99) + Opportunist + Protected
Batman (Arkham Asylum)
Nightwing + Contingency Plan + Takedown
Batman (Justice League)
Robin (Arkham Asylum)
Captain Gordon (Arkham Asylum)

Thanks to his fielding a themed team (Gotham) Lenny won the map roll and picked the Dawn of Time. I played Rushed Assault to blunt his assault. That turned out to be a mistake, as Lenny didn’t take the bait and bided his time WAY longer than he had any need to. Meanwhile, my outgunned team simply could not afford to waste a single attack on the Rushed Assault penalty, especially knowing that then nothing would slow the Bats from whaling on me. So we literally went at least 40 minutes of the 50-minute game without making any attack rolls.

I really wanted to chide Lenny for waiting so long. With Perplex, a full Contingency Plan stock, a team nearly full of double-digit Attack Values and three theme-team Probability Controls (provided he shut off his Bat-Stealth for line of fire first), he really had little to no chance of missing that first attack. To be fair, though, I didn’t give him easy targets: Mister Miracle with 19 Defense (thanks to Loner) + Super Senses or Frankenstein with Invulnerable 19 DV (thanks to a snatched Tombstone of Lenny’s).

Finally, Lenny took a shot at Frankenstein, who I’d set up ready to attack Nightwing (having forgotten that he had Takedown). The intentional whiff took out the Tombstone, giving Watchtower Batman an easy shot for three.

I gave the game away then, when, to tie-up that Batman, I Perplexed Guardian’s speed to Charge him in a failed attempt (despite having Probability Control). Batman did not fail to Flurry Guardian for the game’s only KO, as time ran out just two minutes later.

In retrospect, then, Rushed Assault was a horrible choice with no way to counter its effects myself. Halfway through the game, I should have broken someone away to threaten Captain Gordon.

WIN/LOSS: 2-1. 4-1 total record.

This team looks like a hot mess on paper: only two team abilities, no wildcards to benefit. Only one character with greater than 6 range, and she can’t crack Invulnerability without help. The heavyweight starts with just a 9 Attack Value. Bulleteer is overcosted. At this point level, they seem plain outclassed.

What they do bring to the table is a pair of Perplexers and Probability Control to help out the low Attack Values. A few feats also bring out extra potential:

Opportunist on Frankenstein is superb…you have to hold him back early in the game, but once he starts, the Indomitable monster doesn’t have to stop and those built-up tokens make it hard for him to miss.

Horsewoman of this apocalypse.

Horsewoman of this apocalypse.

Shining Knight is MADE for Double-Time. While Frank’s biding his time, she can taxi either Guardian or Bulleteer in close to a target of opportunity, tying up the foe for a Charge next round. And with her Defense double-Perplexed by teammates, she might survive to push and Flurry (again, double-Perplexed) the next round to finish off or soften up whoever her fare Charges and hits.

Bulleteer + Unstoppable = a surprisingly capable attacker, either as a backup or frontliner. Twice in these games, the feat got her in position to make improbable hits. Invulnerability makes her short dial seem longer.

Loner makes the highly-mobile Perplexer Mr. Miracle nigh-untouchable. If he IS touched hard enough, he gets to take over PC duties from Zatanna.

As for the non-feated, they work out in the end, too. Klarion is a linchpin of the team; his Stealth and Mystic TA protect him from a lot of attacks while his Perplex makes the rest of the team work. He becomes a solid fighter down his dial.

Zatanna serves well to fly him around and help with Probability Control — as well as serving as bait for attacks. That worked out for me as she was able to make Frankenstein more dangerous with her Enhancement.

Freeze, POLICE!!!!

Freeze, POLICE!!!!

And Guardian truly shines on this team, as he’s the ultimate clean-up guy, Charging in after Frankenstein has softened everyone up. It’s when I failed to use him as clean-up that he fell.

And so a team I intended to play just for fun has turned out to be a true dark-horse winner. It’s not top-tier by any stretch — the final match showed that — but it’s better than you’d think!

Next post will either be a battle report on today’s “Zero-Range Brawl” — no ranged attacks allowed) or the first of a series of articles on how to build teams to play the controversial Event Dials first released in the Mutations and Monsters set of fall 2007. Keep an eye out for it!