It’s been a minute, so let me pull a little review article from the vault.

In late 2017’s Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls set, a bunch of figures based on DC Comics’ 1940s-inspired Bombshells (first variant covers, then a whole comic/alternate universe) bounced into the HeroClix scene. In addition to each lady sculpt posing on a WWII bomb, each has this trait:

When [this Bombshell character’s name] makes an attack targeting an opposing character, give her a Bombshell token. FREE: If she has two action tokens, remove two Bombshell tokens, then make a close attack.

Making attacks is what matters. And the more targets, the better: each one garners her a Bombshell token. But using them in the above FREE action is occasionally tricky because of the two action token requirement and the need to be close as well.

The key is swarming the force and pushing appropriately.

So when examining the Bombshells, we’ve got to look them UP (and down):

• MOVE-UP: What’s her mobility like to get in position for Bombshelling?
• CLOSE-UP: Can she survive nearby (since the shell action is a close attack)?
• PUSH-UP: How pushable is she (since she must have two action tokens to use the shells)?
• PUNCH-UP: Can she even do anything with the Bombshell trait (can she deal damage with it)?
• RACK-UP: Can she build bombshells easily (how often/how many can she stack)?
• TEAM-UP: What does she do for the rest of the girls?
• And then I’ll SUM UP how this babe belongs on the chorus line.

---

 

Batgirl [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 037] 70 points

MOVE-UP: She’s a Hypersonic flier, so she will be able to reach targets. Having 0 range means she’ll be in position for Bombshelling — and her Steal Energy is a strong incentive for doing so.

CLOSE-UP: Her Super Senses SP is a very soft defense, even though it also grants a massive +3 DV against fellow fliers. But she becomes Impervious on her vamp clicks. Traited Stealth is unlikely to be useful in melee.

PUSH-UP: She has no Willpower, so that’s problematic. But she has Steal Energy and a “vampire” dial that can heal past her starting click 3, so as long as she hits, she can push pretty well.

PUNCH-UP: She can always deal 3 or more damage, and she has Precision Strike to almost always make it stick.

RACK-UP: She’s one who thrives on attacks, so she’ll build plenty for her own use.

TEAM-UP: She flies and so could be a taxi, and deep in her dial she has Perplex, but she’s just a fighter, really. HSS can’t carry during attacks and she’s going to be attacking almost always.

SUM UP: Batgirl is the lowest rarity HSS for the team and one whose play style is made for the Bombshell trait so she should be on every Bombshell team you can fit her on. Also note: She has the Suicide Squad keyword, so consider that Task Force X Additional Team Ability to help her land that vital attack.

———

Batwoman [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 038] 60 points

MOVE-UP: Batwoman has no movement skills beyond 8 speed Charge. She’ll need help getting in close.

CLOSE-UP: Her 17 Combat Reflexes make her ideal for the Bombshells’ melee sweet spot. But beware the ESD clicks on her end dial.

PUSH-UP: She has no Willpower, but retains the 3 damage Outwit on click 2. Later, she gets Flurry and Incap, though her damage drops to 2 and the Outwit’s lost.

PUNCH-UP: Click 2’s Outwit and 3 damage could work wonders. Her 2 damage on subsequent clicks has much less potential.

RACK-UP: She has 6 range that might give her some attack opportunities from beyond her weak Charge swing. But she’s basically mediocre in this respect.

TEAM-UP: Here’s where she excels: as a team player. First, her Outwit is useful for the Bombshells. But because that makes her a target (especially with no Stealth), it’s better to maybe rely on her Bombshells-only Empower to aid other, more active gal pals in beating down opponents.

SUM UP: Batwoman does not stand out and probably ought to be 10 points cheaper to be a proper play. But she can definitely be a great boon to any Bombshell team she’s on — especially large ones where she can either avoid the heat or draw fire away from more important members.

———

Black Canary [DC Rebirth 049] 65 points

MOVE-UP: Improved Movement: Characters allows her to get right in the middle of the action without a great deal of outside help.

CLOSE-UP: With only Super Senses and, later, Willpower on her defensive track, she’s not very survivable at all in melee. Fortunately, her first click also bears Shape Change to give her marginally better odds at living to fight after pushing.

PUSH-UP: Click 2 has Perplex lasts the rest of her 5-click dial, which sports Willpower on the last two for some real potential to Bombshell.

PUNCH-UP: That Perplex means she might be able to boost her 2 damage to a more wounding 3.

RACK-UP: Here’s where Black Canary really sings. Her opening Running Shot+Pulse Wave combo lets her run into a crowd and immediately gain a RIDICULOUS amount of bombshells. And she can PW right into base with one of her targets so she can possibly Bombshell it when she’s tokened up (if she doesn’t use her trait Force Blast to knock targets back — which she probably ought to do because normally immune foes won’t be during a Pulse Wave attack).

TEAM-UP: Aside from her scoring tons of shells for the team, she can spend one of those shells to make the whole team able to double knockback and affect Charge/Reflexes, or spend one shell to quasi-Incap anyone hit by her next Pulse Wave.

SUM UP: Black Canary is probably the best lead attacker for the team just as soon as she can get off a multi-target Pulse Wave attack — not only for the mass damage potential, but for her role as a “bombshell farmer” for the rest of the squad.

———

Catwoman [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 020] 55 points

MOVE-UP: She has no upfront mobility; Leap/Climb doesn’t come until much later — and even when it does, it’s at putrid speed values of just 5 and 4, down from a far-from-stellar starting speed of 6. She’s gonna need a lot of help here, either from a taxi — or because of her Stealth and the fact that she’s an Outwitter, the enemy will likely come for her.

CLOSE-UP: She sports 17 Super Senses. That’s not great, although she starts with a SP version that allows her to burn shells to boost her chances of succeeding the roll.

PUNCH-UP: Precision Strike is a good fit for slipping in damage on a Bombshells attack. She also gets Perplex and Blades/Claws/Fangs down dial to serve as her lead-in attacks.

PUSH-UP: She holds onto Outwit and all her other powers and stats on click 2. But her slipping values in late dial aren’t inspiring for Bombshell attacks, and she loses her shell-powered SP version of Super Senses.

RACK-UP: She sports a 3 range to snipe at any enemy unwary enough to venture near whatever stealthy hidey hole she’s picked. But that’s unlikely, as is her racking up many if any attacks due to her earlier noted mobility problems and overall mediocrity of her fighting and defensive prowess.

TEAM-UP: Catwoman is probably the chief Outwit figure for the team — no more, no less.

SUM UP: Heroclixin’ hated this figure in 2017, but maybe she has a small role here.

———

Harley Quinn [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 017] 75 points

MOVE-UP: Charge + Flight via SP is pretty good, as she can taxi while retaining her boot speed symbol to be carried herself.

CLOSE-UP: Only 17 Super Senses protects her at first. She gets 16 Reflexes on her back 2/3 of life.

PUNCH-UP: A couple clicks of Precision Strike in the middle could work, but you don’t want to plan to use them. She only has 2 damage all dial, so she may need her 3 each of Perplex and Outwit to Bombshell effectively.

PUSH-UP: Like most of the other Bombshells in her set (Harley Quinn), her click 2 is identical to the first — which is a problem because Super Senses is a much worse defense in melee than Combat Reflexes.

RACK-UP: Multi-targeting with Quake along with her Flight means she might be able to slam a BUNCH of enemies and get a lot of bombshells at once.

TEAM-UP: Her Perplex is key for the team, and her SP makes her an early game taxi — one that can carry while attacking, unlike her Hypersonic sisters. Also, because she’s a Harley, you can add her pet hyenas Bud [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 019a] or Lou [019b] to the theme (they get her keywords) for 25 points each to gain some SP Probability Control and SP Poison, respectively.

SUM UP: Harley is a key Bombshell thanks to her versatility as a secondary attacker, a bombshell farmer and as a Perplex/Outwit support fig. Just have to protect her unarmored bod.

———

Hawkgirl [WizKids DP18-010] 75 points

MOVE-UP: She starts out Hypersonic with traited Sidestep and IM:Characters. Another taxi is welcome.

CLOSE-UP: Energy Shield is her defense. You really don’t want her in base until she’s knocked onto her Toughness on clicks 3-5.

PUSH-UP: Unlike the original Bombshells, her click 2 is not a mirror copy of her first, as her speed and more importantly her defense both drop 1. In fact, except for click 3, her stats drop all the time. Not very pushable at all.

PUNCH-UP: Her early 3 damage is nice, but again, she should not be run with intent to Bombshell.

RACK-UP: As a 0 range HSS flier, she can get attack opportunities. But with no Willpower, she’s pretty limited here.

TEAM-UP: What she does for the rest of the girls is why you play her. In addition to being a taxi that can’t be tied up, her first three clicks have SP Empower and Enhancement. The former can be VERY useful for the Bombshells’ FREE melee attack as she Sidesteps next to whoever needs the damage boost. After she loses the SP, she gains Prob Control. Finally, in addition to her Sidestep trait, she can burn a bombshell to Perplex a Bombshell keyword fig.

SUM UP: Hawkgirl is a little bit costly for the 5 clicks but a good Bombshell to field nonetheless. If you don’t lean on her as a primary fighter — that’s not her role, EVER — she will pay dividends for the Bombshells.

———

Mera [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 035] 100 points

MOVE-UP: Her mobility sucks despite a good 9 speed Charge.

CLOSE-UP: 18 Super Senses plus trait Toughness makes for a decent defense. She also has the ability to burn bombshells to effectively beef up that Toughness to Invulnerability-plus.

PUSH-UP: There’s no Willpower and her attack and defense drop to 9 and 17, respectively, so she does not score well on pushability at all.

PUNCH-UP: She has 3 damage for most of her dial. It’s only her last two that drop to 2 with no answer to reducers above Toughness.

RACK-UP: She has SP Quake that gives her additional shells for hit targets, potentially doubling the shells from Quaking a crowd. But 9 AV makes that bounty unlikely.

TEAM-UP: She starts with Telekinesis, which is great for the team.

SUM UP: At 100 points, she’s very expensive to be that TK support figure that the team really needs. And for her to slip to 9 AV on click 2 through most of her dial sinks her use as the fighter she’s priced as. The key, I think, is to field her as a frontline fighter at lower builds (she TKs herself in position to Charge/Running Shot next turn(s) depending on her dial) and as a TK specialist on really large Bombshell teams.

———

Poison Ivy [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 018] 50 points

MOVE-UP: She has no mobility aside from a pair of Sidesteps late dial.

CLOSE-UP: She’s not particularly survivable in close, though her 17 or lower Super Senses is bolstered by lifelong Shape Change.

PUSH-UP: Unlike her sisters in the set, her click 2 immediately drops her AV, so she’s not the best at pushing.

PUNCH-UP: 1 damage makes her nigh-useless for the Bombshell attack.

RACK-UP: Her two-target SP Mind Control gives her the ability to gain bombshells 2 at a time. With 6 range and 11 AV, she’s better than most of her sisters to gain shells — though it’s tempting to immediately burn shells to quasi-Incap one or both hit targets.

TEAM-UP: Ideally, Ivy uses her MC to get foes in decent range for the rest of the team to jump on. She’s also a meat shield.

SUM UP: At 50 points, she’s one of the most affordable Bombshells and one of the only ones with AV over 10. That’s enough to warrant her inclusion on every Bombshells team.

———

Raven [WizKids DP19-006] 50 points

MOVE-UP: 12 Phasing is fantastic. She will get anywhere she wants to be.

CLOSE-UP: 18 Defend is not good. She’d depend on her Prob to save her. She also has Mystics team ability to deter some attacks.

PUSH-UP: She loses Prob and gains Perplex on click 2, so she could boost her stats. Her later dial is much less optimal.

PUNCH-UP: She has 10 AV and could use that Perplex to beef her damage to 3 for Bombshell purposes. But…

RACK-UP: … she really is not built for getting her own bombshells, despite a good-for-the-keyword 6 range.

TEAM-UP: Raven’s use is as a team taxi and medic. On her first two clicks, she can carry 4 other Bombshells, even fliers. Then, after moving, she can FREE heal all Bombshells next to her 1 click for the price of just one bombshell token — and give them Stealth until next turn.

SUM UP: Raven is the team’s only source of healing … IF she has at least one bombshell to burn. Given that the team will need to push a lot to both build those bombshells and to get to use the Bombshell attack, getting that click back could be huge. It’s too bad that she can’t heal herself, and that the one-turn Stealth she grants her patients is hard to truly use if there’s not enough hindering to hide in. Still, she’s great use of 50 points for her Prob and Defend and mega taxi skills.

… but wait. She has this trait:

(+20 POINTS) DIE TOCHTER DES TEUFELS: The first time this game Raven would be KO’d, instead turn her to click #11. Protected: Pulse Wave.

So this changes EVERYTHING.

MOVE-UP: She’s colossal on this click. 10 Charge. That’s an 8-square swing.

CLOSE-UP: Impervious isn’t bad in close, but she’s frankly unlikely to be in base due to her Giant Reach: 3.

PUSH-UP: Click 11 has Quintessence, so she can push easily with that TA’s Willpower.

PUNCH-UP: 3 damage is somewhat less impressive than you’d like, but it comes with Battle Fury to get past pesky Shape Change.

RACK-UP: The Willpower gets her building her own bombshells much more easily.

TEAM-UP: As a colossal flier, she can carry a smaller flier in this state as well.

SUM UP: Although being 70 points for just 5 clicks of life, and that last click being a big target, might be something of weakness, this last-ditch option is pretty strong.

———

Stargirl [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 036] 65 points

MOVE-UP: Starting with Earthbound/Neutralized is problematic, as she still has the Wing symbol without being carryable. Later, she’s a proper flier complete with Telekinesis for extra mobility prowess at times.

CLOSE-UP: Toughness is good, 16 DV is not. She does have a STOP click to save her, but it’ll warp her back to the starting area the first time she uses it. Afterward, she’s got 17 ESD … not the best for melee AT ALL.

PUSH-UP: Pre-STOP, she has the identical 2nd click. Because she has that STOP click, you can push with less fear of her getting easily KO’d from the shortened dial. Post-STOP, she also can push to a nearly alike click, though as noted above, it’s not ideal for close quarters.

PUNCH-UP: 1 damage early, even with Perplex, is practically worthless. Later, she gets up to 3 damage at least.

RACK-UP: She’s an occasional shooter until she transforms post-STOP, when she can *possibly* get FREE use of Incapacitate, Ranged Combat Expert or TK after costed use of either of the other two as long as she has at least two bombshells. Nothing to count on, but could be useful — especially as this roll doesn’t burn off those bombshells.

TEAM-UP: Stargirl’s melee mediocrity is outshined by her use as a meat shield who won’t ever be one-turned (thanks to her return to the starting area upon STOP), her Perplex (ever useful), and, chiefly, her trait to give ESD to adjacent Bombshells.

SUM UP: She’s an odd duck. Part support figure, then a new TK/Incap/RCE fighter, but one who has to trudge BACK into the fight after taking her STOP hit. She’s full of usefulness but hard to use.

———

Supergirl [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 051] 160 or 130 points

MOVE-UP: She’s a Hypersonic flier with good speed on either dial.

CLOSE-UP: She’s Invincible. Absent the threat of Outwit, she should be very survivable in melee.

PUSH-UP: As one of the few Bombshells with Indom, Supergirl is very pushable.

PUNCH-UP: 4 damage and AV of 11-12 on her start click(s) and Super Strength’s KNOCKBACK make the Bombshell trait attack very strong on her.

RACK-UP: With her HSS, 7 range and Willpower, she will build up bombshells at a faster rate than most of her sisters.

TEAM-UP: Aside from her ability as a taxi when she’s not Hypersonic Speeding, she gives adjacent Bombshells Super Senses. She’s also a Leadership piece at her 160 level.

SUM UP: She’s built to carry the fight, so let her. But beware: she doesn’t get Super Senses herself so don’t let her get swarmed.

———

Wonder Woman [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 052] 120 points

MOVE-UP: Although she flies, her 8 Charge is really poor for her cost.

CLOSE-UP: Traited Combat Reflexes with 18 DV is pretty good — with Invincible as well. She is good in close quarters. She also can burn bombshells to deal adjacent foes damage when she’s shot.

PUSH-UP: She’s Indomitable, so that’s handled.

PUNCH-UP: 4 damage Super Strength makes her a great Bombshell attack candidate.

RACK-UP: Her slow speed might inhibit her ability to make some of the attacks she needs to amass the bombshells for the FREE attack.

TEAM-UP: She is THE leader for the squad, being able to, after her normal Leadership roll, roll a d6 for every Bombshell she can see within 4 squares and remove its tokens and boost AV on a 6.

SUM UP: Though priced as a main attacker, her offensive stats are just a bit lacking. She’ll either need aid from TK or taxis to make her charge attempt, or you’ll trust her high defense to survive her moving in close — especially if she has bombshells to use to get free damage against foes she’s basing — while allies are nearby ready to pounce as well.

———

Zatanna [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 053] 50 points

MOVE-UP: 6 speed Mind Control is terrible. At least she gets Phasing on the back half, though with the same putrid value.

CLOSE-UP: She has Mastermind, so as long as she has a pal to take attacks for her, she might be able to survive in melee. Probability Control can help here as well.

PUSH-UP: She has no Willpower and a short, short dial. But she retains all her powers and stats on click 2, so there’s that.

PUNCH-UP: Her damage is a low 2, so she is not useful for the Bombshell attack at all.

RACK-UP: She has 6 range and, sometimes, a +2 AV. But she won’t be accruing bombshells for the most part.

TEAM-UP: Despite all the above weaknesses, she’s the single most essential Bombshell of all for her ability to FREE shift bombshells from one character to another. She also brings two Probs (hers and that of her detachable bystander bunny, John Constantine) Here’s a guide on shifting bombshells per member and priority of having them:

• Batgirl: Give her +2 bombshells if she’s pushed and needs to Steal Energy. Priority: MODERATE (if she’s based)
• Batwoman: +0. Priority: LOW
• Black Canary: +1, for her Jive and Wail “incap” option. Priority: MODERATE
• Catwoman: +1-2. She burns them for her SP Super Senses. Priority: LOW
• Harley Quinn: +0. Priority: LOW
• Hawkgirl: +1, so she can burn it to Perplex. Priority: LOW
• Mera: +3. She can burn them to bolster her natural Toughness greatly. Priority: MODERATE (HIGH if she’s a main attacker)
• Poison Ivy: +1. Gives her the option to quasi-Incap every time she Mind Controls. Priority: MODERATE
• Raven: +1-2, so she can burn one to do her healing trick. Priority: HIGH
• Stargirl: +2, the minimum she needs to roll the 8 needed to FREE use her Incap/RCE/TK SP options. Priority: MODERATE (until she has the two, then she’s self-sufficient)
• Supergirl: +0. Priority: LOW
• Wonder Woman: +1-5. She can burn them to deal damage in close when she’s shot. Priority: MODERATE (if she’s based)
• Zatanna: +0. Priority: LOW

SUM UP: I repeat — she is MOST ESSENTIAL. Build her on your team, then guard her with all you’ve got. ALWAYS ensure she has someone for Mastermind.

———

The Bombshells are an unwieldy and complicated force to run, especially in total as a 1000-point team. But they’re F.U.N. to the core and thus right in Heroclixin’s wheelhouse.

 

 

 

Finally: the Starfleet vs. Authority/Planetary match at 1000 points between me and Chadd happened at DragonCon 2019.

HIS STARFLEET BEAMED DOWN:

FFTNG001 Captain Jean-Luc Picard 

FFTNG002 Commander William T. Riker 

FFTNG003 Lt. Commander Data 

FFTNG004 Lt. Worf 

FFTNG005 Dr. Beverly Crusher 

FFTNG006 Lt. Geordi La Forge 

TREKRF021 Wesley Crusher 

TREKOS003 Starfleet Security Officer 

TREKOS003 Starfleet Security Officer 

TREKOS006 Lt. Kyle 

TREKOS007 Ensign Chekov 

TREKOS009 Nurse Chapel 

TREKOS022 Yeoman Rand 

TREKOS025 Lt. Leslie 

TREKOS101 Captain Kirk 

TREKOS102 Mr. Spock 

TREKOS103 Mr. Scott 

TREKOS104 Dr. McCoy 

TREKOS105 Lt. Uhura 

TREKOS106 Lt. Sulu

955 points.

 

AND TELEPORTING FROM THE BLEED, MY PLANETARY AUTHORITY

The Drummer

Doctor @ 50

Jakita Wagner

Jack Hawksmoor

Swift

Engineer @ 90

Ambrose Chase @ 90

Midnighter @ 100

Elijah Snow @ 120

Apollo @ 125

Jenny Sparks

= 995 points.

Having an actual named theme team, Chadd easily won map choice and planted us on the fairly wide open Helicarrier map from 2011’s Captain America set.

I blithely chose the wrong starting area (the top one in this image, immediately making it hard for myself. But what was done was done.

I wish I could better remember the details of this fight. But it’s been so long and so much has happened in the world these 12 months since. But here’s what’s at my recall:

TURNING POINTS

• Wary of the Starfleet’s overwhelming range attack threat — phasers are NO JOKE, y’all — I crammed my team indoors. I was safe from the Trekkies but gave myself no attack options in turn.
• Chadd had few close combat options himself. He tried with Worf. Didn’t quite work, as the Klingon brawler was the first casualty of the game. And I found ways to take shots here and there, shielding my shooters with Barrier. So he repositioned the bulk of his force to draw me out.
• I had one chance for a big inning. And using Ambrose Chase, Apollo, Jenny Sparks and, I think Engineer, I got a fruitful couple of turns that changed the course of the game.
• Though Starfleet Security Enhancements stayed a threat, I wore Starfleet down for the eventual concession and win.

So ended this very long series of battles, both practice and actual. I love this hybrid team and can’t wait to try it out again, power creep be damned.

 

 

 

Before I finally report on our planned match of Starfleet vs. Authority/Planetary at 1000 points, there’s one other Titan-ic X-cursion Chadd and I played at DragonCon 2019.

 

Chadd’s Teen Titans/X-Men

RE050 Robin 125

RE055 Starfire 100

WKM19-015 Phoenix 100

WCR012 Colossus 100

WKM-021 Rogue 99

WCR007 Gambit 80

WCR013 Iceman 80

RE010 Nightwing 75

RE013 Cyborg 75

RE018 Jericho 75

RE019 Ravager 75

RE028 Tempest 75

RE033 Superboy 75

RE039 Bumblebee 75

WKM19-013 Storm 75

WCR001E Wolverine 70

WCR002E Cyclops 70

WCR005 Beast 70

RE040 Raven 65

RE038 Beast Boy 60

WCR003 Kitty Pryde 60

WKMP18-001R Blackbird 55

RE005 Kid Flash 50

RE006 Power Girl 50

RE012 Aqualad 50

UXM100 Professor X 50

UXM002 Nightcrawler 50

WXMS101 M’Kraan Crystal Sliver 8

Team Points: 1992 LIKE THE YEAR THE X-MEN CARTOON STARTED.

VS.

an Imperial HIVE of Blood

Imperial Guard:

Gladiator [WizKids MP19-101] 200

Warstar [Wolverine and the X-Men 048] 177

Kid Gladiator [Xavier’s School 057] 120

Lilandra  [Wolverine and the X-Men 052] 93

Hussar [WizKids MP19-102] 60

Manta [WizKids MP19-103] 40

Oracle [Wolverine and the X-Men 49] 49

Starbolt [Wolverine and the X-Men 019] 85

Smasher [Wolverine and the X-Men 036] 86

H.I.V.E.:

Deathstroke [Rebirth 001] 100

Adeline Kane [Rebirth 008] 30

Terra [Rebirth 020] 50

Queen Bee [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 047] 110

HIVE Trooper [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 010] 15 x 4

HIVE Commander [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 010]  40 x 3

and Church of Blood:

Brother Blood [Teen Titans 051] 115

Brother Blood Acolyte [Teen Titans 010] 35 x 6

Brother Blood Acolyte [Teen Titans 206] 43 x 6

Team Points: 1963 LIKE THE YEAR THE X-MEN COMICS STARTED.

Chadd picked Titans Tower. And despite his best play, using Storm to give Stealth cover against my shooters and more, my force seriously had the upper hand when we ran out of time …

… and I lost! Too many Brother Blood Acolytes had taken the dirt nap! LOL. They’re the absolute worst.

As is customary with Heroclixin’, here’s the mostly complete pocket checklist for the set (thanks to all the previews and crowdsourcing out there, mostly compiled at HCRealms.com).

preview image here; actual link below:

Spider-ManCarnagechecklist

There’s a missing spot for what would be the release day Organized Play figure (set number 100). Due to the ongoing pandemic severely curtailing in-person, in-store gaming, WizKids is not releasing any further OP kits this year, leaving the LE figure unrevealed as of this writing.

Normally this time of year, Heroclixin’ would be recovering from DragonCon, the annual Labor Day Weekend nerdfest in Atlanta. But we’re in Corona World now, and mass gatherings of thousands upon thousands of people in one place simply IS NOT SAFE and so we’re not going — because the city and the con’s organizers wisely didn’t hold the event.

So here’s a flashback to DragonCon 2019 (and a 2018 game) and, finally, a continuing of the “Ruling the World” series I started writing last fall.

---

 

Heroclixin’ has written about The Authority a number of times, it being a whole team that was my collective No. 2 favorite of 2014. and my No. 6 favorite(s) of the whole DECADE.  In 2017, it was joined by Planetary to combine for one of the two most damaging rounds ever played.

Itching to play this team, I wound up accepting/making a challenge against my good buddy (and new Heroclixin’ board member) Chadd to see if I could keep my success streak with the squad going. Three practice games in, I found it was good as ever, as least with the feat cards I’d built in.

Despite all this, it was all academic: in between the first two playtests, Chadd messaged me saying he was thinking of not packing the Apokolips team after all, leaving me throwing up my hands, saying, “What am I doing all this for, then?”

Then he had a different team idea: Star Trek Away team vs. Authority/Planetary.

I immediately loved it, even being willing to lower my build total.

But it was gonna be a trap.

---

(—- Flash back to May 2018 —-)

Chadd wanted to run his new-ish Starfleet starter set figures, and I got a comic-accurate idea to face it:

Cosmic Boy (Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes 001) 90

Saturn Girl (Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes 202) 102

Lightning Lad (Legion of Super-Heroes 001) 70

Chameleon (Unleashed 037) 30 

Brainiac 5 (Superman 008) 88

Shadow Lass (Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes 035) 78

+ Legion Lost ATA 24 points

=482 points

I was looking for a fun, comic-inspired match. What I got was a Starfleet destroying my favorite keyword and me playing one of my worst games.

Everything I did was wrong.

• Wrong map. I selected the old swamp map from SLOSH starter. Aside from patches of hindering, it’s wide open — a factor that played right into Starfleet’s phaser trigger-happy hands.
• Wrong team ability. I chose Superman Enemy as my TA via Legion Lost, giving Outwit to the higher-costed of each member. But Outwit meant venturing into range. And with the team being all fliers, that also would eat up actions just to get into position.It’s almost the worst choice I could have possibly made.
  Batman Ally would have given much needed Stealth.
  Superman Ally would have aided in shooting through the plentiful hindering.
  JSA would have helped my defense as things started heading south, maybe buying me time for a comeback — as would Titans or Suicide Squad to get some needed clicks back.
  Even sharing attack with Batman Enemy would have been better.
• Wrong attack. I got lured out to take an early shot at Lt. Sulu. But I missed thanks to his DV boost from hindering and Dr. McCoy. Worse, I blocked my own Prob Control and so had to eat the miss.
• Wrong Shady. I should have used Shadow Lass for her Absolute Darkness trait’s impenetrable Smoke Cloud. That would have prevented a load of counterattacks — perhaps all of them.
• Wrong move. ….with Saturn Girl. She was my Prob and I wound up not only blocking her LOF early on, but also making her a target to get one-turned.
• Wrong field. I started to hole up indoors behind cover but didn’t and paid for the mistake.

---

So despite it looking like a bunch of mediocre-stat peons, that Trek Away Team is actually very dangerous to my Planetary/Authority squad, with its starter set members granting +1 stats for EVERYONE.

And the team is even more dangerous with their next gen brethren who can use a lot of passive abilities at a 3 square range: Empower, Enhancement, PROTECTED Outwit, Support, Defend and protection from enemy modifications. All through walls!

---

 

But FIRST! There were other games at DragonCon with my friend, including:

His Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vs. my Bat-Family 600

Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Heroes in a Half Shell 028) 100 
Raphael (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Heroes in a Half Shell  027) 100
Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Heroes in a Half Shell 026) 100
Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Heroes in a Half Shell 025) 100
Casey Jones (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Heroes in a Half Shell Fast Forces 006) 50
Renet Tilley (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 024) 70
Splinter (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 011) 40
April (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Heroes in a Half Shell 005) 40
=600 points

VS

Batgirl, Shadow of the Bat (Batman The Animated Series 052) 70
Batman (Batman The Animated Series 040) 125
Bat-Knight (WizKids DP17-006) 60
Batwoman (Batman 036) 61
Robin (Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 030) 40
The Signal (DC Rebirth 011b) 60
Clayface (DC Rebirth 053) 100
Orphan (DC Rebirth 034) 75 + League of Assassins ATA 7

=598 points

 

He got map (my Bat-fam is comic-based, not keyword based) and picked ROC Assassin Alley. Rooftops suited me fine, as Bat-Knight was not hindered much from getting lines of fire and I had a number of pieces with Improved Movement: Elevated. He got Batwoman but I KO’d Leo, Splinter, Casey and Renet for the win.

The Turtles are just outmatched in that fight.

Then it was Chadd’s Jean Greys (he loves that chick)

Dark Phoenix (Mutant Mayhem 220)
Dark Phoenix (Marvel 10th Anniversary 021)
Phoenix (Giant-Size X-Men 047)
Phoenix (WizKids M19-015)
Jean Grey (Uncanny X-Men 025)
Jean Grey (Wolverine and the X-Men 209) 100
Marvel Girl  (X-Men: Xavier’s School 002)
Jean Grey (Wolverine and the X-Men 017) 

1987 points

vs. my Cyclopses (my favorite X-Man)

Dark Phoenix Cyclops (Avengers Vs. X-Men G001) 1000
Cyclops (X-Men Regenesis 102) 100
Cyclops (X-Men: Xavier’s School 001) 50
Cyclops (X-Men: Xavier’s School 052) 150
Cyclops (X-Men: Xavier’s School 063) 100
Cyclops (Giant-Size X-Men 008) 110
Cyclops (Uncanny X-Men 033) 85
Cyclops (Uncanny X-Men Fast Forces 001) 50
Cyclops (Uncanny X-Men 024) 100
Cyclops (Avengers Vs. X-Men 009) 150
Cyclops (X-Men Regenesis 002 ) 70

1965 points

He picked the old DragonCon vinyl outdoor map, which had a lot of scattered elevated. That made the colossals the only real targets and targeters.

It proved that DP Cyclops was the difference, being able to outmaneuver the older Dark Phoenix and go after the other threatening Phoenixes so the rest of the Cykes weren’t one-shot.

Also key: No. 29 favorite of the decade, Cyclops (Giant Size X-Men 008) and his ability to X-Men-heal two clicks instead of one, helping DP Cyke shrug off his counterpart’s damage dealt.

I don’t recall the final score but Cyclops and Co. definitely won the day. Or, more to the point, my superior play did. It had been a long time since Chadd had played and I was much more familiar with both the rules since 2017 and the old rules and abilities of his force. He definitely forgot a few powers that may have swung the game in his direction at key moments.

 

---

 

Then came the aforementioned Starfleet vs. Authority/Planetary at 1000 points. But that’s a tale for another post. In the meantime, look for a downloadable printable pocket checklist for the latest set: Spider-Man and Venom: Absolute Carnage, due for release Sept. 9.

During these quaran-times, I’ve been wanting to do more solo play in lieu of the online or in-person games that Corona World has demanded or denied, respectively. Games like this one fit the bill.

  

Which band of X-Babies wins?

NEW MUTANTS…

Cannonball (X-Men Regenesis 017) 60

Cypher (X-Men Xavier’s School 021) 70

Karma (X-Men Xavier’s School 022) 40

Legion (X-Men Dark Phoenix Saga 036b) 75

Lila Cheney (WizKids M17-015) 25

Magik (X-Men Deep Cuts 007) 50

Magma (Wolverine and the X-Men 073) 77

Moonstar (X-Men Regenesis 104) 65

Sunspot (Wolverine and the X-Men 018) 76

Warlock (Wolverine and the X-Men 046) 164

Wolfsbane (WizKids M15-002) 64

= 766 points

…or GENERATION X

Artie (X-Men Xavier’s School 008) 25

Banshee (X-Men Xavier’s School 040) 75

Chamber (X-Men Xavier’s School 041) 70

Gateway (X-Men Xavier’s School 054) 50

Husk (X-Men Xavier’s School 009) 40

Jubilee (X-Men Xavier’s School 026) 50

Leech (X-Men Xavier’s School 024) 30

M (X-Men Xavier’s School 042) 90

Mondo (X-Men Xavier’s School 027) 70

Penance (X-Men Xavier’s School 028) 75

Skin (X-Men Xavier’s School 029) 50

Synch (X-Men Xavier’s School 011) 45

White Queen (X-Men Xavier’s School 059b) 100

= 770 points

The match was played on the Latveria map from Fantastic Four Cosmic Clash. Generation X mostly got carried by Gateway on the elevated portion, forcing the less-mobile New Mutants to come to them. But get to the younger class they did. And although the mid-’90s squad held its own, the upperclassmen had a decided lead until the late game, when the depleted Gen X roster took down like FOUR figs in a single turn to make a real fight of things. It came literally down to the last two standing.

By piece:

Cannonball (X-Men Regenesis 017) put in work to give his team a shot at busting up the Gen X formation over and over again — though ensuring his “Blast Off” was clear of friendlies was tough to do at first. Grade: Excellent

Cypher (X-Men Xavier’s School 021) was even more useless in this fight than the classic character himself, with no ability to fight down the stretch, no enemy Outwit to thwart (White Queen never landed on the power and M never had access to it) and my failure to use him as a shield for the others. When I tried to push him to his fighting clicks in the late game, he got spun to KO before taking a single action. Grade: Unsatisfactory

Karma (X-Men Xavier’s School 022) made a solitary mid-game Mind Control and a clutch TTPC later. Unremarkable otherwise. Grade: Needs Improvement

Legion (X-Men Dark Phoenix Saga 036b) underachieved because he kept landing on his click #7, one he can’t push from but is also better than his other option, being far better defensively with Impervious and Prob. He still got KO’d there thanks to clutch Gen X rolls. Grade: Needs Improvement

Lila Cheney (WizKids M17-015) was the all-important taxi to get the Mutants into the fight proper. She didn’t last beyond that because I ensured she didn’t for the Gen X cause. Grade: Satisfactory

Magik (X-Men Deep Cuts 007) was only on the team because she was an unplayed piece. I had the points to fit the Regenesis version onto the force for an equally good taxi but better attacker. This one’s Prob Control was OK while it lasted, though. Grade: Needs Improvement

Magma (Wolverine and the X-Men 073) posed enough of a threat to draw attacks from better figures, but she never works like I hope she will. Grade: Needs Improvement

Sunspot (Wolverine and the X-Men 018) took some time to get into the fight and did OK once there, KOing Banshee with one heavy object shot. Grade: Satisfactory

Warlock (Wolverine and the X-Men 046) never truly pulled his weight due to his early game Telekinesis potential being snuffed and his whole life in the late game. 160 points is a lot to pay for a Perplexer. Grade: Needs Improvement

Wolfsbane (WizKids M15-002) got superb rolls on her trait over and over, effectively always on her best click and dealing lots of damage — or soaking up same. Grade: Satisfactory

 

GENERATION X

Banshee (X-Men Xavier’s School 040) was used as mostly an additional taxi, a decision that left him out of the fight and with a Teacher’s Assessment of Needs Improvement

Chamber (X-Men Xavier’s School 041) existed as a threat but didn’t get deployed as such until deep in the mid-game. He forced a devil’s choice to push or get poisoned (and dealt some Poison indeed) at least but still Needs Improvement

Gateway (X-Men Xavier’s School 054) did his job as a taxi and Prob Control. Teacher Assessment: Satisfactory

Husk (X-Men Xavier’s School 009) performed well down the stretch with Plasticity and heavy armor like Invincible, keeping attacks from more important teammates. Clutch Regen made her last deep into the late game. Grade: Excellent

Jubilee (X-Men Xavier’s School 026) landed Generation X’s first big blow with mass Energy Explosion of half the whole New Mutants team. She was also the first KO of the game, sadly. Grade: Satisfactory

Leech (X-Men Xavier’s School 024) pulled his weight with his Lockdown trait keeping Warlock from using TK to deploy his friends. His Outwit came into play in the late game, though never able to weaponize it on multiple targets as designed. Grade: Satisfactory

M (X-Men Xavier’s School 042) never got to use Outwit due to the New Mutants lacking the power, but she sure went for Perplex every time Warlock used it. Monet was one of the last Gen X figs standing because she’s Miss Perfect. Grade: Excellent

Mondo (X-Men Xavier’s School 027) was able to go it alone with his hindering terrain warp skills and was able to weather some attacks. But a crit miss during a Gen X trait attack left him in fatal shape. Grade: Needs Improvement

Penance (X-Men Xavier’s School 028) was probably the key to Gen X’s success, lending needed Battle Fury at clutch moments and being very effective with the Gen X trait and her claws. Grade: Excellent

Skin (X-Men Xavier’s School 029) kept the Mutants from gaining much early opportunity to attack with his zoned Plasticity. And his late game Barrier probably led to the unlikely KO of Legion. Grade: Satisfactory

Synch (X-Men Xavier’s School 011) is a terrible representation of the character but he really works on this Gen X team, with so many powers to take and boost with Perplex in addition. Grade: Satisfactory

White Queen (X-Men Xavier’s School 059b) was the better headmaster by far than Banshee, beefing up the class with ranged Empower deep in the fight. But she never landed a single Leadership, ever. Grade: Satisfactory

 

The last two standing?

Artie (X-Men Xavier’s School 008), who surged in the late game with multiple clutch Mind Controls that helped lead to several KOs. One of the crappiest Heroclix figures of all (No. 2 Worst of 2018) became the hero of this team — but in the end he couldn’t claim victory, with only 1 damage against an Invulnerable opponent. Grade: Satisfactory

Moonstar (X-Men Regenesis 104) landed the first and last attacks of her team to claim victory for the original X-Babies, the NEW MUTANTS. Grade: Excellent

 

While in quarantine, I’ve taken a bit of time to play some solo matches to try out new figs. Here’s one such game at 400 points:

JUSTICE LEAGUE

Big Barda (Justice League Unlimited 056) 50

Dr. Fate (Justice League Unlimited 004) 65

Dr. Fate (Justice League Unlimited 004) 10 x 4

The Flash (Justice League Unlimited 102) 60

Hawkgirl (Justice League Unlimited 045) 60

Huntress (Justice League Unlimited 033) 40

The Question (Justice League Unlimited 031a) 40

Shazam! (Justice League Unlimited 014) 45

= 400 points

vs.

INJUSTICE LEAGUE

Amazo (Justice League Unlimited 012) 75

The Cheetah (Justice League Unlimited 016) 45

Copperhead (Justice League Unlimited 017) 40

The Joker (Justice League Unlimited 010) 50

+ Time Bombs On The Strip 20

Lex Luthor (Justice League Unlimited 066) 40

Sinestro (Justice League Unlimited 019) 75

Ultra-Humanite (Justice League Unlimited 062) 50

= 395 points. I opted not to play a Location, as I wanted the match to be even.

The heroes would have an overwhelming action advantage, with the +3 granted between starter Flash and the Fates. And with 11 on the starting force to the villains’ nine, initiative went to the Justice League, which opted to invade the hall of doom.

That would be the first TURNING POINT, because

• Poor TK lanes prevented easy deployment of the JL. Still, the JLU got first blood…
• Huntress EE’d Joker, forcing the 1st Joker bomb. But…
• Flash failed his attacks and was open to Ultra-Humanite, who Mind Controlled him to leave him isolated and KO’d
• Thanks to a bunch of Shape Changes, the Jokers started to swarm but couldn’t effectively Poison with the Dr. Fates flying away with Phasing/Teleport.

FINAL TURNING POINT

Amazo took Running Shot + Pulse Wave from Sinestro to not only hit the JLA but also to detonate Jokers for even more damage. Took down 70% of the heroes in two turns this way. Having Luthor cakes helped

———

What I learned:

• Jokers are the truth. Pushing them to bomb is a good tactic.
• Amazo is amazing. Mistakenly played him at 40 and he STILL practically ran table.
• Flash was disappointing. IM:Characters is a weakness as it forces him to potentially overextend to use his SP.
• Forgot Huntress’ dial switch, but didn’t matter vs. Poison.
• Ultra-Humanite’s super MC is bananas.
• The Question was the key to JLA — once he was gone, it was done.
• But Barda was solid even at just 50 points. Ran afoul of Shape Change.

As is customary with Heroclixin’, here’s the pocket checklist for the set (thanks to all the previews and crowdsourcing out there, mostly compiled at HCRealms.com) a little ahead of schedule.

The above is just a low-res preview. Click below for the PDF download:

FantasticFour2020Checklist

You’ll get four copies you can print and cut out for yourself and friends.

As a bonus, we also present a set of mini-checklist for all the small sets released so far this year: Black Widow, Cosmic Clash, X-Men Deep Cuts, and Avengers Vs. Masters of Evil Battlegrounds! Click below for a solo PDF download of all four:

CHECKLIST2020SmallSets

And, as always, have F.U.N. Heroclixin’!

“Becoming a Jedi requires the DEEPEST commitment … the most serious mind.”

— Yoda to Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strike Back

Substitute “HeroClix player” for “Jedi” in the above and it mostly fits. I have not seen many new players who stuck with the game without a dogged determination to do so. (The existence of this website shows that “the most serious mind” isn’t totally necessary, though.)

Heroclix has a steeeeeeep learning curve.

It also doesn’t help that TPTB haven’t always aided in that climb. So here are 5 things that new players need and WizKids MUST provide to improve the beginner experience.

1. Include quick start versions of the core rules in every Fast Forces.

I get that starters are a bigger investment for both the company and the consumer. So meet the latter halfway. Possibly also include a simplified Powers And Abilities card (PAC).

2. Include team ability rules on character cards.

It is terrible that for so many years — YEARS! — a new player could buy a starter, read the core rulebook cover to cover and memorize the PAC and still not know what that Avengers “A” symbol on their favorite Thor figure means other than looking cute. I understand that licensing rules/costs probably prevent making a single printed/printable document. But it shouldn’t prevent this step.

Thankfully, it appears that putting team ability rules on cards will be a standard feature starting with the Fantastic Four set this month.

3. Scale back the gimmicks.

Overpowered SPs/traits and Additional Game Elements add a huge extra obstacle for new players in an already overwhelming game. Game Design should remember that any high-reward ability should also have high risk. (Popular meta tactics of Colossal Retaliation and ID cards do not.)

4. Focus on the core game.

So this is a criticism of the WWE line of figures. It’s a nice idea. It opens a new market. But why add a whole other PAC and a whole other rulebook? It’s confusing to established players and will only confuse the newbies further when they either move to the core game or are being taught by the still-confused veterans.

 

But if nothing else gets changed, this one thing absolutely MUST.

5. QUALITY. CONTROL.

A while back, I wrote this in my 10 Worst Clix of 2019 post about one of the pieces in the Orville starter set:

Aside from the Enhancement, [Commander Kelly Grayson’s] SP is supposed to function sort of as a Probability Control of normally unProbable rolls.

But

1. You can’t use Shape Change or Super Senses on your turn

2. You can’t use Leadership in the action phase, when you can activate FREE actions like this SP

3. Which makes this power 98% USELESS and UNWORKABLE (there’s a corner case where you might get caught in a friendly Energy Explosion and need to reroll Super Senses. WAYYYYY OVER INNA CORNER case). But even if it were usable…

4. …You could put the game into infinite rerolls because there’s no limit to the rerolls.

5. This is in a starter set for new fans

6. They had to issue errata for A STARTER SET

7. HOW IS A NEW FAN GONNA FIGURE WHERE ERRATA IS????

A starter set piece had a power that didn’t work at all and was clearly not playtested one whit.

But then it happened again. In the Justice League Unlimited starter set, one of the included maps’ special rules required errata.

And then it happened again with Human Torch in the Fantastic Four Cosmic Clash starter set, where his Flame Trail trait needed rewording to not harm friend as well as foe. Also, many of the included bystanders in the set required errata for their powers and team abilities to work. AND a map needed a rules rewrite.

And now it’s happening AGAIN with WizKids’ upcoming Battlegrounds starter set! An Iron Man piece has a special defense power that DOES NOT APPEAR on the actual dial, according to the visible dial on the card. (I’ve gotten word that they’re working on a solution, but it’s wild that it’s still necessary.)

It’s absolutely intolerable for even one starter set to require errata.

But here we have FOUR STRAIGHT RELEASES of them.

DO BETTER, WIZKIDS!!

 

Another pre-Corona World flashback, featuring the Boy Wonder (and a couple of wonderful girls, too)

 

LONG ago, I wrote a bit about how I’d like to run a force of nothing but Robins. There have been a LOT more added to the game since then and I’ve tried it out a few times. Here’s the latest:

Robin [Batman The Animated Series 002] 35

Robin [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 031] 40

Robin [WizKids DP19-009] 40

Robin [Elseworlds 048] 45

Robin [Batman The Animated Series 102] 50

Robin [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 031] 55

Robin [Batman The Animated Series 041] 75

Robin [Rebirth 050] 75

Batcycle [WizKids DP19-010] 40

Duke Thomas [Rebirth 011a] 35

= 490 points.

My opponent, David, is an occasional returning player who’s relearning the rules, so I often coached him as to some of his best move options. His team: X-Men

Cable [X-Men The Dark Phoenix Saga 015] 75

Colossus [Avengers V X-Men 012] 125

Gambit [X-Men The Dark Phoenix Saga 025] 65

Magik [Avengers V X-Men 013] 125

Storm [WizKids M19-003] 75

= 465 points

Dave had just bought the Earth X starter set, so he selected the Wakanda X map.

That was the first of the game’s TURNING POINTS:

• Too much Stealth meant he had to close in on my team eventually, severely blunting the threat represented by Storm’s 12 AV Running Shot. So he had to cart Colossus in close with Magik. But the big guy got one-turned (he was on his short dial) and Magik was beat up, too. I left her alone in favor of engaging the rest of Dave’s team.

TURNING POINT

• I did not notice Magik’s Pulse Wave.
• I DID notice the CRIT HIT Dave rolled using it.

Between them all being clumped together and getting knocked back into the edge of the map or blocking terrain, my team took a whopping 22 clicks of damage!

It was something of a last gasp, though. The Robins were all more than healthy enough to continue swarming Cable, Storm and Gambit to defeat — especially after 030 “Thrillkiller” Robin fell to the Mystics TA, KOing Magik and tokening up those remaining X-Men to ruin David’s tempo for a comeback.

———

MVP(s):

I spent a little too much money acquiring Batcycle Robin, but yo, he might be my favorite Boy Wonder right now. And of course Thrillkiller Robin (and No.10 and 37 Favorite of the 2017 and the Decade, respectively) always puts in work.

———

I have a much larger team of Robins planned for some future throwdown with a similar swarm, maybe with point costs capped at 100 or less. IDK 🙂