by ·0 Comments

Truth be told, I almost skipped this week. I played zero games last weekend, which is unusual for me. But I had this one in the vault (played back last spring or sometime) and decided to stick to my schedule.

I love playing Atlas even though they’re tough to win with.

Venus
HoT Jimmy Woo
Gorilla-Man
Namora
M-11
AV Thug
AV Thug
AV Thug
AV Thug  
=395 points.

FIRST match was against Lenny and his sharp cheddar cheese team of SI Dr. Strange, OOTS Batman, Gamora, and HoT Captain America on my choice of the Armor Wars Lab map. Ugh! Two pieces with nearly unlimited Line of Fire powers and two ultra-effective cheap fighters — all with an effective 18 or better defense!

This was a real chessmatch at first. Lenny quietly bided his time while I largely refused to attack. If I dared attempt a Charge with Namora, no matter how I positioned her she’d be counterattacked by all four of Lenny’s fighters (thanks to Cap and the Doc’s unique line of fire abilities) and have nearly zero chance to survive. So I made him burn actions with convenient Thugs as targets so I could make a safer approach by tying up Cap and bringing Venus in close to multi-Incap targets (careful to block Batman’s line of fire). Eventually KO’d Cap but lost Gorilla Man and 3 Thugs for the loss. 0-1 (which felt like a win against all that cheese, though).

SECOND was a match against Lenny’s teenage friend Tony: Odin, HoT Spider-Man and Asgardian Warrior. His inexperience won this for me — he refused to push Odin most rounds despite the character’s ability to do so without cost via the Power Cosmic team ability. That allowed my sorely wounded Namora and Venus to escape while Thug after Thug tied up Odin long enough to preserve my 96-28 victory. 1-1.

FINALLY I went vs. Conrad: HoT Cap, Kurse, M+M Wolverine and Spider-Thor, once more on the Armor Wars map. The teenager remains a somewhat reckless player, but this time his tactics were pretty solid as he smashed my cover behind walls, my Accelerator, and constantly stole my reusable Generator to use against me.

Fortunately, Namora was able to land her initial attack, getting Wolverine out for an insurmountable lead. Venus was also invaluable against the Impervious Kurse, Incapacitating him over and over. Lost G-Man and all Thugs but wiped all but Cap for the win.

FINAL: 2-1. This was the first time I’ve really gotten Venus into the thick of things, and she worked out all right with her Incap-everybody SP. I wasn’t afraid sometimes to not use her Mastermind to gain her Perplex. Similarly, as Thugs dwindled and my need for extra actions waned, I opted to push Woo to his Perplex clicks as well, usually using his SHIELD TA to do it.

Namora continued to disappoint. If she misses that initial Charge, she’s kinda done. But when she works, she works oh so well, as in the last match. Gorilla-Man was close to being MVP with his KO of Batman and taking tons of damage for Venus and tying up foes and landing a crit hit on Odin and whatnot.

But the element most key were the Thugs. These pogs, representing the faceless minions of Atlas, served many roles such as blocking LOF, tying up, MM fodder and even the occasional attack. This Modern Age team doesn’t work half as well without them.

by ·0 Comments

They’re looking down on me in contemptuous disappointment. (Except Venus. She’s laughing at me.)

Last time I wrote about this themed team, I fretted about feats. But in the new Modern Age format, feats (and battlefield conditions) are disallowed. Fortunately, the team still works fine — in theory — with just a few bystanders and Special Objects.

Jimmy Woo 46
M-11 59
Gorilla-Man 61
Namora 76
Marvel Boy (Hammer of Thor) 102
Venus 125
Thug (Avengers) 7
Thug (Avengers) 7
Thug (Avengers) 7
Thug (Avengers) 7
+ Yellow Lantern object 5
+ Indigo Lantern object 5
+ Tombstone 0

= 500 points. (Or so I thought.)

FIRST ROUND: As the odd player out, I took a bye round, facing the judge Thomas’s League of Assassins: Ra’s Al Ghul, Talia Al Ghul (both from The Brave and the Bold), Merlyn, a Man-Bat Assassin and two each of League Assassin and League Elite. My first mistake was not caring which end of the Stealth-friendly Dawn of Time map I picked. Bad decision against a dangerous sniper like Merlyn. I crept behind blocking terrain to go after safer game until Thomas came after me.

Marvel Boy had to break away for his life while only a clutch Regen roll saved M-11 from the junkheap. Gorilla-Man went down swinging, and Namora finally got untied to deliver a key blow to KO Ra’s al Ghul.

I lost Gorilla-Man and a pair of Thugs but KOed Ra’s, an Elite and the Man-Bat Assassin for the win. 1-0.

SECOND ROUND: Young Brandon was my opponent. I picked the BPRD water map against his Lex Luthor and Brainiac, Kryptonite Man, BN Atom and Goodness & Mercy. I lost Marvel Boy but somehow got a win anyway by KOing Goodness & Mercy. And it was a win I didn’t deserve, because although the boy has picked up the game very quickly, he was still green enough to thoroughly forget to use the Superman Enemy team ability, which could have wreaked utter and absolute havoc on my team. 2-0.

CHAMP ROUND: It was the League of Assassins again, this time vs. Andy. He ran Bronze Tiger, The Sensei, BB Talia al Ghul, BB Ra’s al Ghul, Merlyn, a Man-Bat, and finally some Assassins and Elites. He picked the Graveyard and arranged his team in a solid defensive formation.

This game was fraught with FAILs.

  • Namora never made an attack due to my inability to get within Charge range of possible targets and my unwillingness to push her…positioning FAIL.
  • I completely forgot about Gorilla-Man in a late-game tag-team round that absolutely cost Namora her life…actions FAIL.
  • I wasted round after round Incapping an Elite with Venus instead of, say, Mind Controlling the guy (or picking a different target to do her bidding)…supreme power-use FAIL.

So while I KOed Ra’s and Merlyn, the loss of my pogs, Marvel Boy, M-11 and Namora were way too much to handle.

FINAL: 2-1. Despite the technically winning record, this wasn’t a good outing for this team at ALL. In addition to the FAIL-infested final round and the preying on Brandon’s inexperience/TA FAIL, I was hobbled by my chosen Special Objects. The Yellow Lantern, while great for M-11 when he took a hit and Marvel Boy’s late-dial, kept the robot from making some needed close attacks early on. The Indigo simply sat uselessly in a corner somewhere. Worst of all, the Tombstone deprived Namora of her much-needed heavy object boost, as she inevitably was the first targeted. She really needed the Kinetic Accelerator to be able to get into the fight earlier.

But, as I insinuated earlier in the team build, I inadvertently overbuilt by a 7-point pog. It didn’t end up making a difference, but I say it’s appropriate that I didn’t win the tourney. I’d be having to return a prize.

I’m determined to run Atlas again in Modern Age. Next time, I’ll use only the Yellow Lantern (it’s still quite useful; if M-11 gets hit off Super Strength and onto Psychic Blast, he actually gets an AV boost), the Accelerator and a normal heavy object to give Namora a real shot in the fight. And I’ll remember that Venus has Mind Control, and use the power, darnit.

In the meantime, I ran half the squad in a rare 200-point tourney:

Wouldja believe this is pretty much the only image of these three together alone?

Namora 76 + Warbound 5
M-11 59 + Warbound 5
Jimmy Woo 46 + Warbound 5 + Book of Destiny 4
+ Kinetic Accelerator, Eleha’al Vine and Generator.

= 200 points. I’d never used Book of Destiny before, and I never will again, because of the first round: my pal Lenny with a typically min/maxxed team of Captain America (Hammer of Thor)+ Contingency Plan, Iron Fist (Secret Invasion)+ Lunge, and R Mantis. He picked the Graveyard map and set up most of his team behind the wall. Namora failed her Accelerated Charge on Fist and she fell to his and Mantis’ combined assault when the following M-11 was forced to drop Lenny’s Shield Disruptor nearby after Cap knocked him off Super Strength.

  • In retrospect, I completely should have left the Disruptor where it was. Namora was well out of its range and it affected neither M-11 nor Woo. FAIL.
  • It was also foolhardy to make the Charge without enough Acceleration speed to take M-11 along and ensure the Warbound effect could continue unabated. Warbound FAIL.
  • Finally, I neglected to put Namora in adjacent water terrain during the Charge, where she may have had a chance to heal via her SP. Positioning FAIL.
  • Oh, and Book of Destiny, which I thought would negate Iron Fist’s Super Senses? Well, it does nothing of the sort, so I cursed myself for not putting Inside Information on Woo like I started to, which would have been incredibly useful against this enemy team of Martial Artists. Bonus Feat FAIL!
  • Bad as those gaffes were, though, the biggest FAIL here was my actually forgetting to use Woo’s Leadership, robbing him of an absolutely critical shot attempt on a weakened Iron Fist that may have saved Namora. (Seriously, I’m the type who rolls for Leadership when it’ll have no effect at all, just so I won’t forget it when it matters. And here, I forgot it when it mattered. The hell?!?) EPIC FREAKING FAIL.

It came down to Woo against a battered Mantis and full-health Cap; the latter just stood by nursing Contingency tokens while Mantis healed on the Vine from all the damage Woo dealt her (enough to KO her at least twice if not for that dang special object). Woo won the battle but Cap won the war. 0-1.

SECOND round was against young teenager Conrad, who, despite playing steadily, is still a bit reckless and careless. He ran a one-woman team of LE Nova (Critical Mass) who, despite her Power Cosmic team ability allowing her not to be completely outactioned or Outwitted, simply could not stand against the effectiveness of my Warbound combo. Nova dealt damage to Woo but was a relatively quick KO. 1-1.

THIRD, I faced veteran Paul’s bug team: Wasp (Infinity Challenge)+ Contingency Plan, Yellowjacket (Secret Invasion human) and LE Ant-Man. I won the roll and picked the water map. Scored a first strike on YJ, and though he was able to retaliate and take down Namora, M-11 caught up to finish the job. Then it was a matter of rolling high enough to get Ant-Man or Wasp (with their DVs of 20 and 19, respectively), who had to come to me to stand a chance of winning. Both fell.

FINAL: 2-1. I actually ended up winning the tournament, so it wasn’t completely full of FAIL. Still, the sheer number and severity of mental pratfalls in that first round leaves me unsatisfied. Atlas will rise again!

by ·1 Comment
All right, so the initial run of the Agents of Atlas went…not so well at all, actually. Definitely had some changes to make for a real tournament.
Jimmy Woo 46 + Contingency Plan 12
M-11 59
Gorilla-Man 61
Namora 76
Marvel Boy (Hammer of Thor) 102
Venus 125 + Nanobots 10 + Camouflage 8
= 499 points. BFCs were: Bright Lights, Mistrust and something that got killed anyway.
++++++++++++++++++++++
FIRST up was the previous two weeks’ champ, Solomon:
Wonder Woman (Arkham Asylum) 248 + Fortitude 25 + Protected 8
Robin (Crisis) 79
Iron Fist (Secret Invasion) 70
Mister Mind 68
= 498 points. On the BPRD map, I used Bright Lights to rob the Bat Ally and friends of cover to hide in. Setting up Namora on the Kinetic Accelerator, I waited for Wonder Woman to close in. Solomon wouldn’t do it, instead Mind Controlling M-11 to attack Gorilla Man with a heavy object for swift early damage. G-Man pushed and retreated to my Eleha’al Vine to heal.
Marvel Boy, with a SHIELD boost to range and Contingency boost to AV, managed to roll high enough to hit Mister Mind and then Robin off Outwit, and later to hit Iron Fist. That was enough for M-11 to knock Mind and Fist out for good. With Robin taking more fire, Solomon was forced to bring Wonder Woman from hovering just out of range and into the fight — and into Namora’s swing zone!
She took the bait and hit WW for 6…which was Protected away. :( But that left WW tied up and unable to stop the free folks from taking Robin in the final seconds for the win. KO’d Iron Fist and Mister Mind as well, losing none. 1-0.
++++++++++++++++++++++
NEXT, I faced Paul’s Spy team:
Ms. Marvel-b (Secret Invasion) 168 + Armor Piercing 10 + Fortitude 25
Warskrull 110
Winter Soldier 70
Ghost Widow 54
Agent Brand 44 + Contingency Plan 12
Alfred (Hypertime) 6
= 493 points. I picked the BPRD map. We both theme-cancelled each other’s cards.
He got an early OHKO of Woo but that left the offender, Ms. Skrullvel, open to Namora’s successfully crippling Meteorite strike. Gorilla-Man and Marvel Boy teamed up to finish her. Venus, though camped next to blocking terrain for the Camouflage, got her Shape Change countered by Warskrull and had to Mastermind a shot from Winter Soldier to Marvel Boy for big damage.
Marvel Boy ran to the Vine, but Ghost Widow was right there to Poison him. Giving him up pretty much for lost (especially when he failed to break away), I concentrated on fighting Winter Soldier. Venus Incapped him for a push.
Winter Soldier got closer and got a shot on Gorilla-Man. Caught between the sniper and the Warskrull, the ape went down. But Namora and M-11, boosted by the Accelerator, got to Winter Solder for a KO. They were coming for Ghost Widow when time ran out. 2-0.
++++++++++++++++++++++
FINALLY, it was the championship match against Vic’s Skrull team:
Ms. Marvel-b (Secret Invasion) 168
Skrull Emperor 140 + Protected 8
Super Skrull: Avengers 126
Skrull Warrior (Supernova) 30
Skrull Infiltrator (Supernova) 25
= 497 points. He theme-cancelled my Mistrust BFC and put us on the Prison map.
Vic made four Hypersonic Speed-y attack rolls on Namora (thanks to a pair of theme PCs) and failed them all. That left Ms. Skrullvel in range of an easy strike with Namora’s Meteorite Charge.
Which was nullified by a successful Skrull roll. DAMN!!!!!!!
Although Namora was able to KO a neighboring Warrior instead, that single rolled 6 did more to kill my chances of a win than anything else. Vic was able to Hypersonic Speed attack to and from hindering terrain at will for 4+ damage thanks to Skrull Emperor’s Perplex, KOing Namora in the very next turn.
Once Gorilla-Man went down in a single turn as well, I decided I wasn’t going to allow that tactic any longer and ran down the long hall near my starting area. It didn’t work, though, costing Jimmy Woo his life and garnering me just 25 more points as I’d KO’d the Infiltrator before fleeing.
WIN-LOSS: 2-1. OK, so it appears that Agents of Atlas utterly  crumbles against double Hypersonic Speed 4+ damage teams.
But really. Who doesn’t?
Final thoughts.
Jimmy Woo
Contingency Plan was key, mainly to make Namora’s initial attack stick. Better yet was his SHIELD TA, which made Marvel Boy a far more dangerous shooter. A great team player, making the whole squad work better together.
Hmm. Kinda like the leader he’s supposed to be, isn’t it?
M-11
Most of the time simply in Namora’s tow, he was valuable for taking theme PC tokens as well as dishing some damage of his own. In builds with more feat room I might give him Nanoarmor at a minimum, or Opportunist or Automatic Regeneration.
Gorilla-Man
His chief role was as Mastermind fodder for Venus (and his Leap/Climb was indispensable for that), but he dealt some key blows as well. Wish I could’ve added Lunge or Armor Piercing or Automatic Regeneration to him.
Namora
Didn’t disappoint as my big gun (aside from the Protected- and Skrulls-forced whiffs). The Kinetic Accelerator absolutely does wonders for her, enabling her to usually carry M-11 to help finish off whoever she Charges.
Marvel Boy
Otherwise acting as Venus’s taxi and occasional Mastermind sponge, he was the surprise of this team, backed as he was by Woo’s SHIELD TA. Suddenly able to shoot for 4 damage, he becomes a game-changer. Had he been able to even target someone in the last game, who knows how it might’ve gone?
Venus
Lacking in damage and mobility skills, Venus’s use in these games as anything but a decoy was a bit suspect. Never used the Nanobots combo I’d intended, as the objects disappeared all too quickly. Outsmart may have been a better choice. Camouflage was worth it, though. In bigger builds, she’ll have Mental Shields to be a more active battler. Or Knockdown, for the same reason.

Here’s my ideal keyword-friendly 600-point version:

Jimmy Woo 46 + Contingency Plan 12
M-11 59 + Nanoarmor 6
Gorilla-Man 61 + Automatic Regeneration 12
Namora 76 + Submerged 5
Marvel Boy (Hammer of Thor) 102
Venus 125 + Outsmart 10 + Camouflage 8 + Knockdown 5
Jimmy Woo 46 (stand-in for ex-SHIELD agent Derek Khanata)
Thug  (Avengers) 7 (old-school Atlas members)
Thug  (Avengers) 7
Thug  (Avengers) 7
= 594 points. Opting to stay as highlander-friendly as possible while keeping the keyword…that’s why I wouldn’t just run another M-11. He’s one-of-a-kind. :)

by ·2 Comments
Jimmy Woo 46
M-11 59
Gorilla-Man 61
Namora 76
Marvel Boy 102
Venus 125
+ Warbound (Agents of Atlas)
= 499 points.
Tried out this Warbound team in a friendly match against a tough trio:
Superman (Justice League) 226
The Sentry (Secret Invasion) 197
Venom (Hammer of Thor) 73
I all but lost the game on my map choice (BPRD) and wrong placement of the Kinetic Accelerator, preventing Namora from reaching the special object with M-11 in tow. When she got an immediate opportunity to attack Sentry with the Com Dish, but failed, she was easy sushi for Supes and Sentry. M-11 didn’t last long, either.
At this point, I only had Marvel Boy left who could deal damage to Superman or Sentry, but his AV wasn’t up to the task of hitting a pair of 18+ DVs. And the one who could, Venus, was too tied up by Venom to do so for most of the game.
Venus still dealt the most damage through a MC of Sentry (who pasted Supes with the Generator), but it cost her life as the feedback knocked her off MM & SC. Marvel Boy and Gorilla-Man double-teamed Vemon for a KO. Woo was the last to fall, only able to run from the HSS tag team.

FAIL.

I’m probably not using this Warbound build again. It just constrains the team’s flexibility too much. If only Venus could Warbound to Gorilla-Man instead of only Namora and Marvel Boy, who are too important as damage-dealers to take her tokens!

Not giving up, though. After the next installment of the Event Dial series, watch this space to see how the team does in a proper tournament!

by ·0 Comments
So in my ongoing quest to play all my HeroClix pieces at least once, I’m pretty much done with Hammer of Thor…except for the Agents of Atlas.
Jimmy Woo 46
M-11 59
Gorilla-Man 61
Namora 76
Marvel Boy 102
Venus 125
= 469 points. Only 31 points left for feats for a team that could really use all 50 points allowed.
Jimmy Woo
His Leadership begs for Contingency Plan, and the team could use a few stat bumps. But most of their AVs and ranges aren’t that bad as is (and his TA can help with damage and range), and maybe the points are better saved for something else.
I was especially concerned about overcosting him because Woo is very lightweight…not able to contribute much in the way of direct fighting. His price point reflects that. The question is whether to put him in harm’s way to get to Perplex faster or to hold him back and use SHIELD TA to the fullest. Either way, I wasn’t sure C.Plan was worth the points to drop on him.
M-11
So lethal to be this inexpensive, the killer robot may be best left featless. Still, he’s such a soft target that one wants to insure him with Automatic Regeneration, maybe. Opportunist, too, could ensure his damage sticks. He’s taxiable enough to collect the tokens. His best use may well be as an offensive meat shield for Namora until she can get in the fight proper. As such, maybe Protected or Nanoarmor is in order.
Gorilla-Man
Pounce fits but makes him expensive! Lunge fits but his damage is low. Auto Regen fits but it’s expensive. Just don’t know. In any case, Gorilla-Man is MM fodder for Venus, I think, until the fight gets close enough for him to contribute.
Namora
Submerged and maybe Opportunist could work, maybe, so long as there’s no HoT Cap America around to ruin things. She’s my main hitter, but should remain a fairly lean one. Got to protect her until she can make her alpha strike. It’s got to count.
Marvel Boy
Mental Shields or Stunning Blow? His 9 AV makes both a bit iffy IMO because landing the initial MC does not ensure the following Incap, especially if he takes feedback. Maybe it’s just better to give him Force Field to bolster his DV?
Despite his mediocre AV, he has some potential to actually be effective. He’s got the best DV at range of the lot, and Woo can nudge his range up a tad. At worst, as Venus’s taxi, he can serve as MM fodder in a pinch.
Venus
Soooo featable. I’ve seen good use of Mental Shields on her. But she’s soft defensively. Camouflage hides her from shooters (again, beware of HoTCap), Outsmart to help fight off Outwitters and, given her ability to Incap all adjacents, Knockdown could be quite fantastic. Trouble is, all that’s piling more points on her already high cost. Contingency Plan is another option, as is Compel. What to do?
Really, the way I feat this team depends on what I’ll be doing with Venus. Her AV says she’s the main attacker, but her damage is way too low. (Oh, for some starting Perplex on this team!) Mind Control? Do I really want her to be 140 points with the all-but-mandatory Mental Shields? OTOH, hiding her next to a wall with Camouflage seems like a bit of a waste…and not even a guarantee.
And then I could just dump all other feats for Warbound. Namora in particular could get great mileage carrying and shuffling tokens off to M-11 or G-Man. Marvel Boy…less so. Same for Venus, dumping tokens off to him (or Namora, the other qualifying member).
The trouble with feating this team is that nothing is a slam dunk for anyone. See what my decisions were and the team’s performance later this week. Tomorrow, I resume the Event Dial series. Be here!

by ·0 Comments

No. 75

avas013b

3-D Man [Avengers Assemble 013b] Original rank: No. 7 for 2015

THEN:  He was too close to meta to be among the F.U.N. figs for my taste with his HSS and triple self-Perplex and more.

NOW: Still strong if not fully favored outside of the Agents of Atlas theme.

NEXT: It’s tough to fit primes onto teams sometimes. But maybe I’ll build him on a “Top 10 of 2015” team for a casual game soon.

————

No. 74

wxm034

Magik [Wolverine and the X-Men 034] Original rank: Late bloomer for 2013

THEN: She was the first decent Magik we saw in the game. I liked her super taxi skills and offensive capability.

NOW: She’s been lapped by most every Magik since either having better offense for similar cost or far cheaper expense as a taxi — or both.

NEXT: I want to field a team of all Magik, so she’ll be on that squad. Otherwise, I use her to fill points if the others leave a build way short

———

No. 73

dkr012

Miranda Tate [Dark Knight Rises 012] Original rank: No. 10 of 2012

THEN: She was a prototypical F.U.N. fig; all finesse. And one I always wanted to play, even if she was overcosted.

NOW: Nothing has changed other than she is impossibly overpriced now at 70 points. I wish that in addition to her trait to wildly wildcard team abilities, she could take keywords to fit on more teams.

NEXT: Maybe it’s finally time to let her go? NO, I REFUSE

———

No. 72 (tie)*

Crystal012

Crystal [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 012] 2019 rank: No. 10 (tie)

THOUGHTS: Flying Sidestep FREE Quake. More F.U.N. than Medusa from the same set. And less than half the cost of the previous favorite Crystal at No. 100 on this countdown.

NEXT: She’s in my “Top 10 of 2019” box of faves and will be played a lot in 2020 accordingly, as will the woman she tied with here…

————

SilverSable

Silver Sable [Earth X 002] 2019 rank: No. 10 (tie)

THOUGHTS: Fills out those odd themes that are 50 or more points short, with her ability to pick a named keyword. Leadership is also good.

NEXT: She’s in my “Top 10 of 2019” box of faves and will be played a lot in 2020 accordingly.

* (It just so happened that these two, which tied in 2019, also fell next to each other in this mega list. And it was REALLY helpful when I realized I’d put two No. 64 rankings lower in the list by mistake)

———

No. 71

gg001

Nova Prime [Galactic Guardians 001] Original rank: No. 5 of 2012

THEN: I thought he was a decent if underpowered representation of this veteran leader of the Nova Corps worthy to lead the theme.

NOW: He has been completely replaced by an equally priced version. Nova Prime’s still good, just supplanted.

NEXT: His version of the “Share Through the Worldmind” common trait name on Nova Corps is pretty neat. I want to run a massive Nova team that leverages ALL the STTW traits

———

No. 70

mos009

Clark Kent [Man of Steel 009] Original rank: No. 8 of 2013

THEN: I liked the odd take on Superman not yet being either the paragon of hope or the clean-cut reporter. He’s a key part of my “Kal-El’s Closet” theme of Superman costume variants.

NOW: At 115 points, he’s way expensive for his early dial to not be a leading attacker. I like it but he’s clumsier than ever to field.

NEXT: It seems clear that I need to play another “plainclothes clix” team of characters in normal attire

————

No. 69

hq060

Sand [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 060] Original rank: tied for No. 6 of 2017

THEN: He was a bit of a disappointment after so many years of being unmade, but was still great F.U.N.

NOW: He’s still great, but I don’t run him much.

NEXT: It’s been a while since I played a big JSA team like the one that he completes.

————

No. 68

wxm011b

Deathlok [Wolverine and the X-Men 11b] Original rank: No. 9 of 2013

THEN: Despite his strength and high AV, this prime’s inability to one-shot foes makes it a lot of F.U.N.

NOW: 154 points is hard to justify no matter how F.U.N. it is, especially if he can’t KO by himself.

NEXT: I have a big illegal team for him. But it’s going to take a special scenario for that to happen

————

No. 67

RedHood

Red Hood [Rebirth 046] 2019 rank: No. 7

THOUGHTS: Outsiders, 12AV, Stealth, Prob, Improved Move, 50% of nerfing a counterattack. So many little boons that add up to a lot despite his inability to KO.

NEXT: He’s in my “Top 10 of 2019” box of faves and will be played a lot in 2020 accordingly

———

No. 66

sfsm062

Spider-Punk [Superior Foes of Spider-Man 062] Original rank: No. 5 of 2016

THEN: He won a spot by being the alternate universe version of the Prowler and thus a member of the Black Box collection. Oh, and it’s a good dial, too, even if he felt too strong.

NOW: If he had Willpower or were a little more F.U.N., he’d get more play. Still like it though.

NEXT: I want to roll him onto a F.U.N. force of musicians — Pied Piper, Fiddler, Lila Cheney, Dazzler [Mutations + Monsters] and more

———

No. 65

ws044

Rocket Racer [Web of Spider-Man 044] Original rank: No. 3 for 2010

THEN: I found him to be a prototypically F.U.N. choice, requiring finesse to get use out of his nifty existence.

NOW: He’s even more difficult to play, with his very low combat values not nearly up to snuff these days. Still love him to death, though

NEXT: I wonder if I still have all the pieces for a M.O.D.O.K.’s 11?

———

No. 64

slosh015

Timber Wolf [Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes 013] Original rank: tied for No. 5 of 2014

THEN: I thought he was pricey to be so soft but neat that he was Indomitable and self-healing while fighting.

NOW: His nearly 100-point cost feels even weightier.

NEXT: I still won’t play a Legion team without him, so whatever

———

No. 63

jl52005

Aquaman [New 52 Justice League 005] Original rank: No. 4 of 2012

THEN: A first Aquaman I could use as a front-line bruiser, especially with a Mera pog to sacrifice — though that feels offensive to me.

NOW: There are a lot of similarly or cheaper costed Aquaman figures that fill the role — though he’s still better with the Mera sacrifice tactic, so maybe I oughta just get off my high (sea)horse about it.

NEXT: I want to run a team of nothing but Aquaman! Maybe versus every Namor! Oooo, that’s happening~!

————

No. 62

BlackAdam037b

Black Adam [Rebirth 037b] 2019 rank: No. 9

THOUGHTS: Mobile and hard-shelled, this beastick is what I want in an Adam.

NEXT: He’s in my “Top 10 of 2019” box of faves and will be played a lot in 2020 accordingly. He unfortunately won’t be on my “JSA #50 cover” team because he’s a prime and that team will likely have another prime on it.

————

No. 61

IMG_20190112_135635954

Black Panther [Secret Wars Battleworld 061] Original rank: No. 5 of 2018

THEN: Just being a version of my favorite Marvel character isn’t enough to win a spot. But being this F.U.N. will.

NOW: He’s too many points and too odd a version of BP to be my go-to for the king of Wakanda.

NEXT: I honestly won’t play him much now that he’s “retired” from my Top 10 of the Year box.

————

No. 60

gx054

The Captain [Giant-Size X-Men 054] Original rank: No. 2 for 2011

THEN: Man, did I love the F.U.N. of this figure and its SP that balanced 50% chance of PROTECTED: Outwit, Perplex with a 15% chance of losing all his powers/getting -1 all values.

NOW: He’s pretty overpriced to have that glass jaw AND multiple Earthbound/Neutralized and Battle Fury clicks with bad values. But he’s Nextwave so he remains a fave

NEXT:……WAVE

————

No. 59

an031bb042

Batman [DC 75th Anniversary 031] and Robin [The Brave and The Bold 042] Original rank: No. 2 for 2010

THEN: Though this Batman is one of my very favorites, I can’t play him without a Robin, and this one pairs up SO well.

NOW: Power creep has not been entirely kind to either of these pieces, which still remain either the only representation of the character in the costume (Dick Grayson as Batman) or the most classic (Damien Wayne as Robin) — and, as it happens, my favorite reps as well. But both are still playable.

NEXT: …… ‾\_(ツ)_/‾

————

No. 58

wkDP17-004

Muhammad Ali [WizKids DP17-004] Original rank: No. 5 of 2017

THEN: I thought he was the Greatest F.U.N. a non-superpowered clix could be.

NOW: I have seen him go down on the canvas too many times too easily to use him too often.

NEXT: I have never actually run him with any character named “Superman.” (I wish he’d work with Superman II, but no.)

————

No. 57

hc_mi_G001

Giant-Girl [Avengers Infinity G001] Original rank: No. 12 of 2018

THEN: She was an instant favorite because I love big girls in clix and IRL, as it happens.

NOW: And I still do and she still is

NEXT: I played her a lot in 2019, so I’m giving her a rest. FOR NOW. But I still have plans for my latest Attack of the 50-Foot Women meta team, soooo

————

No. 56

sog028

Vixen [Streets of Gotham 028] Original rank: No. 1 for 2012

THEN: Both the beneficiary of and reason I ever used an Animal themed team. How I loved her ability to copy any Animal fig’s powers.

NOW: She’s a little bit too pricey at 74 to have such poor combat values (just 10 AV that slips to 8, DV topping at 16) and no Willpower. Still love her — still the best Vixen — but she’s been left behind.

NEXT: But there have been a number of new Animal figs since early decade. Maybe it’s time to pull her out of the bottom of the box…

————

No. 55

xxs056

Dust [X-Men Xavier’s School 056] Original rank: No. 9 of 2018

THEN: A F.U.N. nominee not only from me but from Heroclixin’ board members Taylor and Sceritz, she got on my favorite list for her free Smoke and 11AV Precision and excellent price of 50 points.

NOW: Nothing’s changed. Love her lots.

NEXT: She was on the Top Figs of 2018 team, so I played her a lot. She’s also a go-to X-Men member.

————

No. 54

catws003

Black Widow [Captain America: The Winter Soldier 003] Original rank: No. 8 of 2014

THEN: I love a Widow with the Stealth, Running Shot and IM:Hindering she deserves, even at 114 points.

NOW: There are too many Widows with better cost and range to stick with this one, even if she’s my favorite.

NEXT: But she IS MY FAVORITE so she GONNA GET PLAYED. Probably on a Widows Red Room team

————

No. 53

jw053b

Jakeem Thunder [Joker’s Wild 053b] Original rank: No. 2 of 2016

THEN: Once the most expensive fig I ever opted to buy, and a meta darling, he was most favored by me for his Justice Society connection.

NOW: Since his fall from the meta and the addition of more great primes in the JSA, he’s no longer the must-play even though I still like him a lot.

NEXT: He’ll be the prime on that JSA # 50 Cover team I’ve been wanting to run since I started playing the game.

————

No. 52

catws017

Captain America and Black Widow [Captain America: Winter Soldier 017] Original rank: Late bloomer for 2014

THEN: 130 points is a lot for no Running Shot and duos are tricky to use.

NOW: The cost is still a problem, but duos are better nowadays (no damage modification, easier taxi options) so maybe it’s time for a comeback.

NEXT: The presence of Cap has kept me from using this on a Red Room team forever. Maybe I should allow him anyway. I love this figure.

————

No. 51

fi201

Captain America [Fear Itself 201] Original rank: No. 7 of 2013

THEN: As the much improved version of Bucky Barnes as Captain America, he intrigued me with his mix of +1 DV to pals, auto-hit Support on cheaper allies and perma-bonus stats to an ally after he’s been KO’d.

NOW: He was so clumsy to use that I don’t often. But they’ve never improved on Bucky Cap, so he remains in the collection for a clixy day.

NEXT: I haven’t done a “Star Spangled Man With The Plan” of Captain Americas in ages. Maybe it’s time to pull one together — especially with the new Cap-centric set nearing release.

————

NEXT: Enter the top 50 of Heroclixin’s faves!

by ·0 Comments

Welcome back to Heroclixin’s Top Tens, something we haven’t done since 2013. It used to be a nearly monthly feature, but we got away from it. [A little bit like how we got away on a vacation and didn’t update the blog from the road. Hotel didn’t have computer access.]

Anyway, we’ve been looking at the power creep LEAP in the game. And there are some figures that, while they aren’t game-breaking necessarily, they are still at least a little too strong for the character represented. For each, we offer our F.U.N. Fix suggestion of how it SHOULD have been done and, if you’re a F.U.N. player, how you can run it without being a jerk.

———

No. 10

Falcon [Avengers Assemble] gets 12 speed with a SP allowing him to effectively full Charge and use Close Combat Expert. Even with the balancing prerequisites of no action tokens and not being able to carry, it’s a bit much for him to hit for 4 from so far away. The F.U.N. Fix, then, is to split the CCE modifiers or stack on Attack to hit for light damage.

———

No. 9

3D Man: I read the comics where he joined the Agents of Atlas, and I saw nothing to suggest he had anything approaching Hypersonic Speed — not for the Speed values he got. The F.U.N. Fix: Something like Nova’s locked-speed version would be better. So opt to use it at half-speed, or to not hit-and-run.

———

No. 8

Iron Man [Invincible Iron Man 001] at 300 points. That dial is way better than that classic armor should be capable of performing. The F.U.N. Fix: Run him at the still-strong but more plausible 150 level.

[tie]

Iron Man [Classic Avengers 004]: This is supposed to be Tony Stark’s first suit of armor built in his real lab, but this dial is nearly as capable as the red-and-gold suit built much later. I know there’s power creep LEAP to contend with, but COME ON.

F.U.N. Fix this by never playing this armor at 150 points. The 100-pointer, while still a super dial, at least seems like an optimized version of Stark’s clunky early armor.

———

No. 7

Speed Demon [Deadpool]: Improved Movement: Hindering and Characters along with his very high Speed makes him overpowered and inaccurate. He has a move to run AROUND a foe and send him flying. The F.U.N. Fix: He should have to rely on his HSS-granted Improved Movement to put more actual risk into the power. Never run through an enemy square if he’s trying to spin that person.

———

No. 6

Entities: Should really work for Lanterns only. In the comics, only actual members of each Corps get possessed, right? And even they seem to lose some of their real personalities or control of their actions. There ought to have been some risk to using the entities, such as this F.U.N. Fix: Occasionally, due to the overwhelming power, the character gets an action token and can’t act. So when you pick the power and values, roll a d6 and force a token on yourself on a 1.

———

No. 5

Batman [Trinity War]: Bats has a lot of tricks in his Utility Belt, but nothing that should allow him to use Pulse Wave over and over! The F.U.N. Fix: Only pick each power ONCE per game. It’s conceivable that Batman would have ONE E.M.P. generator in his belt. More than that? Doubtful.

———

No. 4

Electro [Deadpool 064]: Isn’t the whole point of zombies is that they eat and infect people by biting them? So how does this character feed and infect from range? Shooting shouldn’t allow eating! The F.U.N. Fix is to just ignore his ability to rack up Food tokens with ease and only get them from adjacent characters, although this is not strictly allowed by the rules of the zombies’ ability.

———

No. 3

Banshee: This piece is still so mean. Back from the 2014 Top Ten countdown:

“He renders worthless most of the game’s defensive powers (Super Senses, Impervious, Invincible, Invulnerability) just by being a little close — without resorting to Pulse Wave — AND penalizes the characters using those powers with extra damage. He doesn’t care about Stealth OR elevated terrain and, sometimes, even blocking terrain.”

The F.U.N. Fix would be to reel the anti-defense trait’s range in to 4 instead of 6, or to have it affect friendlies as well. But there’s really no getting around this figure’s unfriendliness.

———

No. 2

Bullseye [Deadpool]: There is no reason why Bullseye should have normal Probability Control. A Special Power version for his own attacks, sure. But not this. F.U.N. Fix it by only using it on his own attacks.

[tie]

Science Police [SLOSH 004] : These goons routinely call in the Legion of Super-Heroes for backup, for goodness’ sake. They shouldn’t be dealing free damage JUST FOR STANDING AROUND. There really isn’t a F.U.N. Fix outside of WizKids issuing an erratum to make the effect not stack, at least.

———

No. 1

Felix Faust

This comes as no surprise after the piece’s domination at Worlds this year. Although the results of his d20 roll appear at first glance to be random enough to not be that terrible, in practice it’s incredibly powerful. Here’s what I wrote about it over on HCRealms.com:

—–

“If Faust’s d20 lands on the second special power on his card, “Green Bell of Uthool,” it’s as though the equivalent of three Black Panthers [81 points] had together used Outwit to counter:

    1. Flurry.
    2. Charge.
    3. Mind Control.
    4. Force Blast.
    5. Sidestep.
    6. Hypersonic Speed.
    7. Running Shot.
    8. Blades/Claws/Fangs.
    9. Energy Explosion.
    10. Quake.
    11. Incapacitate.
    12. Penetrating/Psychic Blast.
    13. Smoke Cloud.
    14. Precision Strike.
    15. Poison.
    16. Steal Energy.
    17. Telekinesis.
    18. Barrier.
    19. Regeneration.
    20. Ranged Combat Expert.
    21. Support.
    22. Exploit Weakness.
    23. Enhancement.
    24. Close Combat Expert.
    25. Empower.
    26. Perplex.
    27. Outwit.
    28. Leadership.
    29. Sharpshooter.
    30. Split.
    31. Merge.
    32. Duo Attack.
    33. Move And Attack.
    34. Throw A Grenade.
    35.  Targeting/Movement

…all without even needing range or line of fire, and against EVERY OPPOSING CHARACTER ON THE FIELD. 

It would require TWENTY-FIVE THIRTY-FIVE Rookie Black Panther figs on a build of 7001000 or greater to almost duplicate this effect using Outwit, against a SINGLE character, much less a whole force. (And even here, A. 35 clear lines of fire would be needed — better put the old Coordination feat on a bunch of ’em — and B. the BPs would ALL have to be in Stealth because even they can’t otherwise prevent the target from shooting.)

Felix costs 80 and does it from the safety of his starting area, or wherever. And the target can’t shoot.

That’s just one of six such debilitating SPs his Necronimicon offers.”

—–

Now, in practice, we’re actually only talking about, say, seven or eight Panthers: Three or four to handle abilities such as Flight, Indomitable and Improved Targeting, and one each to counter Speed, Attack, Defense and Damage powers, respectively. That’s still nearly THREE TIMES Felix’s cost and only effective against a solo target of all that Outwit.

This was a badly, badly designed piece, all reward and negligible risk. The only F.U.N. Fix that won’t mangle it entirely is to give Felix a non-free action EVERY TIME he rolls the d20, and don’t roll it if he can’t.

 

by ·0 Comments

Welcome back to Future F.U.N., where Heroclixin’ looks at recently released or upcoming figures that we’re itching to field on a force. Despite this month’s Avengers Assembled set being one of our less-liked sets overall, there’s still a lot we’re liking about it.

  • Our Archery Club theme team gets a shot in the arm with three new additions: Hawkeye, Kate Bishop and Trick Shot. With their being common, uncommon and rare rarity, respectively, I suppose it’s not outside the realm of possibility that one could make an all-archer sealed team from this. But Heroclixin’ is more likely to take this 273-point trio and add a mostly-full Power Plant resource to fill the gap.
  • Long ago, I endeavored to own three copies of Spider-Man [Avengers 051] to represent the post-Civil War trio of Initiative members wearing the Iron Spider armor. I’m not sure the team ever happened, what with it equalling 333 points, a beyond-awkward total. But now we’re ecstatic to get a generic designed to work together as a team at a much better cost of 180. This is my next 200-point team!
  • I was a big fan of Avengers Academy before it was obliterated by the disgusting but really readable snuff-fest that was Avengers Arena. So Heroclixin’ will certainly be fielding a team of Hazmat, Mettle, Reptil and Veil for 291 points. 
  • …but NOT with fellow Initiative member Juston Seyfert [Avengers Assemble 020], who’s only useful on the team when paired with a Robot keyword figure to make his “Sentinel.” There are no Initiative figures with the Robot keyword, so he’ll either break the themed team or be unable to use his trait or either of his special powers. And him on any Sentinel-themed team with more than a single actual Sentinel pretty much obliterates the “F” in F.U.N. for us. 
  • Cammi [Avengers Assemble 019], another one who doesn’t play well with her frenemies in Avengers Arena, gets to play well with her pal Drax. Despite the fact that she hasn’t worked with the team officially, we’re looking forward to sticking her onto Guardians of the Galaxy builds since she won’t break them when Drax is around.

 

There’s more additions to themes we’re always adding to for eventual massive throw downs:

  • Whirlwind [Avengers Assemble 030] for the Masters of Evil
  • Nova [Avengers Assemble 039] and Steve Rogers [Avengers Assemble 061] for the Nova Corps
  • Black Widow [Avengers Assemble 001 and 065] for the Red Room [all Black Widow team]
  • Rage [Avengers Assemble 016] for the Luchador theme build!

 

Finally, there are a couple of pieces that got us excited at first, but have us MORE excited to use when Age of Ultron OP and Nick Fury sets drop in June and July, respectively:

  • Falcon [Avengers Assemble 017]: We wanted to try him on an updated Atlanta Falcons theme team or on a Modern-only team of Sam Wilson figs. But both versions’ points don’t add up well at all without adding 40-plus points of F.U.N.-destroying resources, and so many versions of the character need a Captain America or two to work with for best results.
    That’s why we’re biding our time until July for the release of Sam Wilson Captain America, who may not only help the points fill out, but also give an all-Sam Wilson team a Captain America to key off of at last! Waiting and seeing. 
  • And then there’s 3D Man [Avengers Assemble 013b], which had us champing at the bit to revive those old Agents of Atlas builds Heroclixin’ loved in the early days of the blog. But the news that a new Jimmy Woo is on the way in Nick Fury has us wanting to hold off and see what the real new version of the team will be like.

 

by ·4 Comments

Finally, the top two figures that need a remake. These make people say: “Did you even read the actual comic?”

Lady Shiva

She’s the DCU’s premier martial artist, second to none. But when she was made way back in the second DC set, Cosmic Justice, she only rated a 9 Attack Value that sank to eights, sevens and even an unthinkable 6 AV.

Second to none? Maybe second to the worst.

If the character existed in the real world, the quite amoral Lady Shiva would probably kill the designer with a heart-stopping death palm just to make a statement.

Redesigning Shiva shouldn’t be hard. It’d be as simple as taking the best non-superpowered martial artist HeroClix figure in the game, giving her the same abilities and then juicing up the stats some. Think GG Gamora, but a little less super.

But there ought to be some aspect of Shiva’s “alpha-predator-of-the-martial-arts” ferocity in there, somehow. Perhaps a trait that A) forces -1 AV to all non-Martial Artist foes against her and B) forces her to attack or attempt to base the highest-point Martial Artist on the other team and scores extra points if she KOs it.

In any case, fixing Lady Shiva would correct the second greatest miss in HeroClix design history, making her Heroclixin’s #2 most needed remake.

______

The #1 FAIL, though?

Marvel Boy The Uranian

This Agent of Atlas, as seen in Hammer of Thor, is as poorly made a figure as we’ve ever seen in HeroClix:

  • The name’s wrong. The character had stopped calling himself “Marvel Boy” decades ago. He goes by the code “The Uranian” now, in homage to his adopted homeworld of Uranus (…it’s a long story).
  • The sculpt’s wrong. Not only has he long stopped using his red-and-blue costume of the ’50s, but it also was bare-legged, not blue-trousered as in the HeroClix figure.
  • The powers are wrong. As Marvel Boy, he was kinda your basic flying brick via his energy- and gravity-manipulating wristbands. The HeroClix figure doesn’t reflect much of that at all. As The Uranian, he’s more of a psychic, with telepathic powers and strong illusion-casting abilities. The HeroClix figure doesn’t reflect much of that at all, either.

Uranian’s other chief contribution to the team is his mentally controlled spaceship that serves as their transport. If only there were a way to symbolize that in HeroClix.

Oh, there is, you say?

“LEAPFROG: Chase Stein can use Leap/Climb. Chase Stein can use the Carry ability to carry up to eight friendly characters that must have the Kid, Runaways, or Teen keyword. Chase Stein can carry friendly characters with the Runaways keyword regardless of their attack and speed symbols. Chase Stein’s speed value is not modified by the Carry ability.”

Wow. And it was in the VERY SAME SET. Instead, Marvel Boy got a horribad SP that does nothing but bloat his cost to an unusable 102 points of ineffectiveness — especially with his 9 and 8 AVs:

“TELEPATHIC PROJECTION: Marvel Boy can use Mind Control. After a successful attack by Marvel Boy using Mind Control, he can use Incapacitate as a free action targeting the same character.”

Really. Every other member of the team is a decent piece. How did this solitary one go so incredibly wrong in every way?

A proper Uranian would have some frontloaded Outwit or Perplex (or both), the ability to carry multiples of his Atlas teammates a la Chase Stein’s power above (complete with some damage reducers for the ship’s hull and Ranged Combat Expert for his ship’s big gun, the Meteor Smasher) and, of course, a more proper sculpt, as seen near the end of My Custom Mods series. In the comics, he’s very much the linchpin of the team as the backfield support figure.

For just plain comic accuracy AND game playability, Marvel Boy / The Uranian is Heroclixin’s number one needed remake.

by ·3 Comments

Left to right: Ant-Man, Valkyrie, Moon Knight, Beast, Nova, Steve Rogers, Black Widow. (Not pictured: Sharon Carter (

I love the Secret Avengers lineup and comic. It’s the best of Marvel’s Heroic Age Avengers launches. But I thus far cannot truly make the team work in HeroClix.
Part of the problem is that they’re not all made, yet. Ant-Man Eric O’Grady is a different guy from the five versions of Dr. Hank Pym as Ant-Man in the game. He’s decidedly not smart enough to rate even the Supernova Rookie’s single click of Outwit or the Experienced’s and Vet’s multiple Perplex clicks. (Maybe one. But not multiple clicks of it.) The old Stealth-heavy LE, on the other hand, could work as O’Grady, who’s a bit of a coward and would hide out until the battle’s done. But the points don’t quite work out. Consequently, I tried crossing universes to sub in The All-New Atom. The movement’s a little low, but he works for the character, right down to the surprising close combat ability.
(gallery or-figure-046)
(hoping the official heroclix.com script works here. If not, you know where to go to see the official dial.)
The other character who’s not quite right in his existing clix forms is Nova Prime. Whether of his Vet  Nova version or the LE Super-Nova, they simply don’t represent the character’s power level well at all.

This guy...

…does not equal…

...THIS guy. At ALL.

But looking over other figures with the Nova Corps keyword, I find that Air-Walker from Hammer of Thor is absolutely a match for the current character. He’ll work for builds of 800 or higher.
(gallery th-figure-044)
(In fact, I was inspired to make a Nova Prime mod to go on this dial. You’ll see it eventually in My Custom Mods feature, updated every Monday!)
Steve “Ex-Captain America” Rogers isn’t in the game, so one must substitute an existing Cap. The Hammer of Thor version is as good as any.
Here’s the base 800-point team I played, then:
Air-Walker 201 (as Nova Prime)
Valkyrie 145
HoT War Machine 137
M+M Beast 73
HoT Captain America 72
CL Black Widow 59
Sharon Carter 50
AV Moon Knight 38
R The All-New Atom 24 (as Ant-Man Eric O’Grady)
= 799 points. It went an anemic 1-2, due to multiple mental FAILures.
FIRST game, I picked the Space Map but faced a team of Kingdom Come Flash, Superman & Flash, and The Flashes that was able to first-strike me from clear across the board anyway. It cost me Valkyrie and Black Widow for a loss that even taking out SuperFlash couldn’t prevent. My main FAIL, besides giving up the alpha strike, was running Atom-as-Ant-Man well away from everything to tie-up The Flashes. Um, WHY? They’re Hypersonic. It worked a little bit, as he drew some attention and survived thanks to a Super Senses roll. But still…bad move, when he could have blocked some line of fire to bigger targets.
SECOND game was on the Junkyard against my bud Lenny. His team of Green Scar, OOTS Batman, BB Wizard Shazam, M+M Marvel Girl, Gamora and someone else I can’t recall was formiable but beatable. But I made two terrible FAILs that cost me everything:
  • Did not cover Air-Walker-as-Nova, giving OOTS Bats a free shot that killed his move+attack powers and blunted the cosmic hero’s effectiveness for the rest of the game.
  • Forgot that Green Scar had the Unstoppable feat and so did not use the 24-point Atom-as-Ant-Man to tie up the monster. Cost me Air-Walker and the game.
  • On top of that, every potential KO hit was Probability Controlled into a miss by The Wizard Shazam via his no-line-of-fire-needed Special Power.
THIRD was on the Graveyard against The Wizard Shazam AGAIN, SR Loki, and some other characters I can’t remember that gave my range-heavy team fits. My FAILs?
  • Moving Atom-Ant-Man first, leaving Valkyrie with no cover when I moved her last. The enemy Wiz got an improbable hit on her to immediately send her running for the Vine. Atom-Ant at least eventually tied up Loki to keep him out of the fight, but I truly lacked much opportunity to lay fire on the one guy I could safely attack.
  • Again getting Nova-Walker pasted early and often through careless positioning. A must-hit RCE shot (instead of a more conservative HSS run)negated by WizShazam left him open to multiple counterblasts taking him out in short order.
Other general FAILure:
  • Moon Knight was useless in these battles, as I thoroughly FAILed to use him as the Stealth wall or tie-up piece he is.
  • Really needed Outwit a time or two. FAILed to realize Beast has it on his 2nd click.
Disappointed by this outing of my newest favorite team. But I recently got a chance to make amends with a feated-up 900-point version!
Air-Walker 201 (as Nova Prime) + Elite Sniper 20
Valkyrie 145 + C.Plan 12 + Inside Info 4
HoT War Machine 137 + Warbound 5 (Soldier)
M+M Beast 73 + Lunge 5
HoT Captain America 72 + C.Plan 12 + Warbound 5 (Soldier)
CL Black Widow 59 + Opportunist 10
Sharon Carter 50
AV Moon Knight 38 + Warbound 5 (Soldier)
LE Yellowjacket 41 (as Ant-Man Eric O’Grady) + Takedown 6
= 900 points (82 in feats).
FIRST game I beat the Asgardian team of Thor & Loki, the Warriors Three, and 2 each of Asgardian Warriors and HoT Valkyries I’d brought as a backup team(which the young host of the shebang played against me in this bye round). I picked the Prison map which helped me against the big duo’s range even though it hampered my Cap. Once Thor & Loki overextended, I was able to Charge with Valkyrie for big damage (using the Com Dish) and others got him to his final click. A final click Moon Knight pushed to use his self-damaging SP to KO the duo first for the margin of victory.
2nd match was on the Junkyard (my pick) against HoT Ronan the Accuser, Immortus, BN Wonder Woman, 2 Jason Bloods, Clark Kent and someone else I can’t recall. I dealt plenty of damage but no KO blows due up to 4 PC rolls per attack. We had a draw and I won the roll-off. My FAIL in this game was not pushing Beast to Outwit sooner to make sure more of my damage stuck (as Immortus did a lot of Masterminding to Ronan and/or PC’d my rolls) or attacking softer targets for easier points.
3rd and champ match was against veteran Paul’s Skrull team of Ms. Skrullvel, two Warskrulls, Capt. Skrull-Vell, Skrullojacket, and a passle of Skrull generics on his choice of the Lab map. My FAIL? “Nova” critmissing the game’s first attack, stranding him in full view of the enemy team and forcing me to drop his passenger Moon Knight in front as a sacrifice. It was only dumb luck that Nova didn’t take any damage after Moon Knight was gone. My next FAIL was jumbo-sized Valkyrie blocking what little line of fire I had after fairly clobbering Ms. Skrullvel with a key Charge, preventing my team from ganging up on her and enabling the impostor to break away and run just as the time ran out.
We played on, though, giving me still more opportunities to FAIL:
  • After successfully using Yellowjacket to tie up and block enemy Outwit, I got extra careless and gave a Warskrull a narrow view to counter Valkyrie’s defenses, enabling enemies to easily gang up on her and take her down. Ant-Man FAIL…AGAIN.
  • Earlier Outwit FAIL with Beast also contributed to that tragedy.
  • Feat FAIL. Because this tournament was at a slumber party full of mostly kids, I didn’t use the superior Trick Shot feat over the slightly less-useful Elite Sniper. But really, feat use is optional. I didn’t have to use it against the kids, and I needed it against Paul thanks to the Valkyrie-in-the-way FAIL.
  • More feat FAIL. I forgot to use Inside Information. It would have helped against the Warskrulls.
  • And MORE feat FAIL: Warbound kept Cap from taking more shots. Maybe if Moon Knight had been around to take a token for Cap…but no. FAILed to make that happen, even before the unfortunate loss of Moon Knight.
  • One more bit of feat FAIL: Similarly, building up Opportunist tokens kept Widow from making more of an impact. This team can’t afford the lost actions, it turns out.
In the end, I still won, getting Paul’s whole force. But all that FAILure troubles me.
SECRET AVENGERS sum-up of FAILure.

Ouch!

“Ant-Man”
Played by two stand-ins — The All-New Atom and LE Yellowjacket — he did fine as a tie-up piece and cheap blocker. When I actually used him as such. These games probably go a lot better if I were consistent in this tactic.
Beast
I used him as what he is — the team’s ONLY source of Perplex and Outwit. Trouble is, he really ought to offer more for his points while the cheapies  should fill his role. But they don’t. So inthe backfield he must remain.

"I'm not a cowardly lion...why must you treat me as one?"

Black Widow
She ought to be great. She really should. Anti-Stealth, Willpower, 3 damage and Incap…but she really only took damage early and often. Only the Opportunist feat, which held her back at first, made her worthy after taking the damage (since she retains the prerequisites most of her dial). I guess that’s something, but…

Oh, for--! Stop being so dramatic and GET UP!!!

Captain America
He invariably never seemed to get into the game until far too late. Was I being too conservative with him? But then, I’m forgetting that in at least half these games he was hampered by walls.
Moon Knight
He’s pretty much just a meat shield or diversion. He’s either a total non-factor or he’s 38 points given up.

This is what happens when you try to sneak up on armed criminals at night wearing all WHITE, boys and girls.

That’s what I want to say, anyhow. But he did land the KO blow on a piece 9.5 times his cost and saved Nova “Air-Walker” Prime from near-certain death in that last game. So he’s won a permanent spot on this team in my book.
“Nova”
Air-Walker was a huge bust. Best used for that opening HSS but unable to take so much as a critical miss or Mystics feedback, he’s way too fragile at over 200 points with 17 DV and Super Senses. On the other hand, he’s the 1st strike piece this range-heavy team kinda needs when faced with constricting maps and Stealth.

Hypersonic FACEPLANT.

Sharon Carter
Another cheap Stealth shield I could never quite leverage for anything ELSE. But that’s mainly due to Wizard Shazam (or just plain poor rolls) causing her SHIELD beneficiaries to miss whenever she made her damage-enhancing action. I wonder if I should push her more freely to get to her diet Perplex SP.
Valkyrie
Ah, Brunnhilde. So versatile with both Charge and hit&run skills. So mighty. So fragile. The team fairly rises and falls with her. If she does fall, or can’t hit, they’re done. If she can land at least that one titanic hit while on her topdial, they’ll win.

Alas. It's all too often this.

War Machine
His reliance on range is a problem. He’s only been KOed in one game so far, but he hasn’t laid down the KOs he really ought to be, either.

I don't think I'm using him right.

Actually, that’s not it. It’s that these Secret Avengers lack a dedicated brick or two. (Compare to this Heroic Age team.) They need someone who can Charge a big ol’ rock into someone’s face and stay there to deliver continued beatdowns despite retaliation. War Machine could be that guy, if he weren’t such a Running Shooter. Valkyrie could do it, if only she weren’t stuck with Super Senses. Ditto for Air “Nova Prime” Walker.
The team is also short on support powers. (Again, compare to the Heroic Age Poster team). No PC. No starting Outwit…and to get it, you give up the only real Perplex. No Support. No TK. Val’s mid-dial Enhancement you hope you never see. And Sharon’s SHIELD ability is only good for range, which is not the S.Avengers’ weak point.
(Maybe I really should relent and use the Rookie Ant-Man anyway. Eric O’Grady’s not that stupid.)
Ah well. I love the comic so far, and I think the team still has what it takes to be competitive. Just need to watch out for those FAIL moments. Speaking of which…my next article looks to be about the Agents of Atlas. And yes…it’s also kinda full of FAIL. Keep an eye out.