There were too many strong figures this year for us at Heroclixin’ to pare down anywhere near to the top 10. And there were even more F.U.N. figures. Almost every single one released could have scored well on our notoriously imprecise scale of Fairness, Utility and Niftyness.

So in a sense, during this 10th year anniversary of Heroclixin’, we’ve come full circle and are just focusing on our Top Ten Favorites again. Mostly they’re mine (Rurouni KJS) but The Baker Taylor weighed in as well to fill out the roster.

No. 10 (tie)

Crystal [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 012] 50 points

FREE Quake. That, along with 9 Sidestep, makes her a solid play as a taxi with teeth. Push her to Perplex on click 2 to make her even more useful. At just 50 points, you don’t mind if she’s got a short life.

She shares this slot with another lady…

Silver Sable [Earth X 002] 50 points

The mercenary is here for her ability to adopt any named keyword and make certain themes fill out on points. Her Leadership and wildcard TA also come in handy. Mastermind might end up harming some of those allies of convenience, but who cares?

No. 9

Black Adam [Rebirth 037b] 200 points / 100 points

Every time I see this fig in the box, I wish I could play it. His Quintessence giving first Willpower and then immunity to Outwit are the first two factors that make this Adam the pinnacle of Adam-ness. He also finally gets them along with 18 starting DV — he’d never gotten all three. His FREE d6 roll to move is a very F.U.N. random element that is Useful but Friendly and Nifty as hell. Super Senses also helps his staying power. Very good 200 points, which is also much cheaper than most other Adams of similar strength. At 100, he’s more glass-jawed but his Steal Energy can get him back on top.

No. 8 (tie)

Asuka [WWE 012] 80 points / 40 points

“Macho Man” Randy Savage [WWE 010] 100 points / 60 points

This tie is for my and Taylor’s respective choices among WWE figs. He liked “Macho Man” Randy Savage (“Because… he’s ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage”) while I decided I was ready for Asuka. I love how mega-aggressive she is, gaining one permanent stat bonus for each KO she makes. Meanwhile, Savage has his +2 self-Perplex (except damage). Or if he Perplexes an enemy, that foe can’t Perplex or Outwit while the Macho Man is talking!

Both wrestlers are Indomitable and, like all WWE figs, have the WWE team ability that gives them FREE move during Round 1, immunity to Outwit and range shots (when on click 1 or they’ve been shot at that turn or are on a blue click) and Bounce and Pin abilities. I like them both better at full cost for those reasons.

No. 7

Red Hood [Rebirth 046] 75 points

This former Robin was nominated by Taylor but I had considered him as well.

12 AV with Running Shot and Energy Explosion is strong and works well with his “Sometimes I Do Things to Annoy People” trait that, on a 4-5 d6 roll, knocks -2AV on a hit foe (and a 6 nerfs ALL hit targets’ AV).
Outsiders team ability is also strong (though you have to be carfeful not to combo it with the Annoy ability), and Batman TA allows him to get safely in range to use it.
But the reason he’s on both our lists is for his final trait “Strict Rule From Batman … No Killing.” He can’t KO unless he’s the last man standing, so he has to be a team player, setting up opponents for his allies to finish. That is F.U.N. to an extreme and we love it!

Did I mention his mid-dial Prob and Poison/Plasticity/Reflexes clicks? Because he’s got those as well. LOVE IT.

No. 6 (tie…sort of)

Okoye [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 038] 65 points and [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati Fast Forces 006] 75 points / 50 points

This tie is because I can’t decide if I want the War Rhinos of the set version or the full-speed Charge of the Fast Forces option. Or if I like 038’s starting Leadership and 18 Toughness (and +1DV to adjacent Wakandans) over the other’s +1 damage (for all Wakandans) when on her side of the map and 18 Reflexes. Unsure whether the rare’s CCE from click 2 on are better than FF006’s longer life at 75 points or the 15 points savings for her lower point dial.

The truest solution is to run both at the same time for the many bonuses they offer each other: if FF006 dies, 038 Okoye potentially gets the Wakanda Forever boost. Her War Rhinos can tote Fast Forces Okoye just as easily, and she can give that +1DV to her sister, who increases both their damages on their half of the map. So many options for them!

No. 5

Doctor Octopus [Earth X 034] 75 points / 50 points

Taylor nominated this figure to fill out my faves and he had to convince me to include him here. He’s definitely a F.U.N. figure. But why was he a fave? I asked him over chat (along with my unspoken thoughts):

No. 4

Shade, The Changing Girl [Rebirth 044] 45 points

This Cosmic girl is a supreme tie-up figure with her Phasing, Plasticity and Shape Change — the last of which gives her the option to make foes target their own allies! Her SP to warp to any unheld object’s square is just gravy. Having only the sole keyword and 1 damage keeps her Friendly enough to be F.U.N. — barely. But this list isn’t entirely about F.U.N., it’s about being a Fave, and so she is.

No. 3

Captain Marvel [Captain Marvel 021] 150 points

I bought a whole gravity feed to ensure pulling this stellar representation of Carol Danvers. That Strafing Run SP (no breakaway necessary!) that gives Charge against a new target after her anti-Stealth Running Shot is top tier — especially since she doesn’t HAVE to attack with the Charge and instead just use it to get out of harm’s way, like a juiced up Hypersonic. She’s also immune to enemy Prob. But her scariest feature is her Energy Absorption that puts her on a goddess click for a turn. Despite all this strength, her regular dial is never overwhelming and keeps her surprisingly fair.

No. 2

Ambrose Chase [WizKids DP19-005] 90 points / 60 points

Having become a minor fan of Planetary after his three teammates The Drummer, Jakita Wagner, and 2017 Top Ten F.U.N. Fave Elijah Snow showed up in the Elseworlds set that year, Ambrose Chase was an immediate must to add both to that theme and the Black Box (my collection of black/African-descended clix) when he released this summer. But I also love the great Utility of his bullet swarm SP (SIX POSSIBLE ATTACKS!), his Prob (plus self-reroll!) and Outwit/Perplex SP — all of which is still Fair (he can’t attack any of those six more than once that turn, his Prob range is just 3, and he can’t choose both Perplex and Outwit). And how about that Nifty, accurate 0 speed, attack and damage Regen click at the end?

And No. 1 is:

Power Girl [Rebirth 022] 115 points / 75 points

I wrote about this lovely piece earlier this year, and knew she’d find a spot on both this list and the F.U.N. list (that we didn’t do after all) by the end of 2019. Here’s why:

• She’s giant. I love giants on principle ever since their introduction way back when I started playing in 2005. But she’s better than most because she can mitigate their weakness to range by not choosing to be a giant as a FREE action. I love being able to keep her safe behind cover like this. It also allows her to use Equipment.
• She gets giant bonuses. When she does go big, all her stats grow +1, giving her some extra DV against enemy attack and making her offensively fearsome. I love the boost
• She can be giant —or— colossal. So she has even more Giant Reach for a Charge if she chooses the larger size, and can keep attacking with two tokens. I love this ability to press the attack.
• She has some self-healing. When she hits but doesn’t KO a target, her “Remember, We’re The Good Guys” trait gives her a 66% chance of healing, which can pay dividends with her Colossal Stamina.
• She’s an Outwit/Perplex piece. Like No. 2 fave Ambrose Chase, she has the choice of these two FREE powers (but not both, which keeps her in the F.U.N. zone).

Add her traited Super Strength to all this, and it’s no wonder she’s topping my favorites of 2019. And I know Taylor appreciates her as well, as he texted me this note and photo back in July after he played her a tournament:

Yes, Taylor. Yes, she is.

———

That wraps up our Top Ten of 2019 pretty early. But Rurouni KJS is about to try tackling a countdown of his favorite clix of the DECADE, where I look back at all of Heroclixin’s top faves and F.U.N. figs since 2010. What’s aged well? What’s been power creeped into irrelevance? What’s even more beloved than the new hotness? Check in and see over the coming weeks (’cause I think it’s going to take that long).

Merry Christmas, Heroclixin’ readers! Hope you don’t see any of these under your tree.

Usually we rank these and count down to the baddest of the terrible. But honestly, none of these are useless. I can’t even drag them for their flaws like I have in years past. So we’ll just put them in order from cheapest points to highest.

Hydra 011 [Earth X 011] 25 points

Taylor gave me an argument on this one because he loves Incapacitate and I …….. do not. But this Hydra chick ranks among the worst because she’s so much less effective than her Hydra 010 counterpart.

With any held object, Hydra 010 can chuck an object 2 squares further than 011’s 4 range for more damage and for 5 points cheaper. He’s also better on the end dial with Plasticity because of the Close Combat Expert. Hers appearing with Range Combat Expert is a poor combo.

———

Spiders Man [Earth X 013] 30 points

— I rather like the SP. It’s half of what Incapacitate SHOULD be. But that short range and low DV and too-brief life are all problematic. Basing him makes his SP and defense much less effective. So it’s a no.

———

Winter Soldier [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 016] 45

While his opening stats are good, him being vulnerable to Mind Control from being based is doubly bad due to him being a range piece. Especially with the chance of it being permanent. He’s just not good enough with just 6 range to make running him worth the risk.

———

Spider-Girl [Earth X 001] 50 points

I hate Incap in general, and in particular when the range isn’t great and the Running Shot is missing. Maybe if she had Willpower to make up for the lack of first-strike capability, she wouldn’t be on this list, because the AV and 2x targets is what you want in an Incap piece and CCE thrives on pushability. But no, she’s comparatively garbage at this price.

———

Starfleet Admiral [Star Trek To Boldly Go 007] 50 points

Outwit puts her too close to the action while using Mastermind frankly hurts more valuable figs than her. Sure, she has Leadership-plus, but the conditions attached to it makes it not much of a bonus.

———

Jessica Cruz [Rebirth 056] 65 points

No move+attack and just 6 range both mean she’s just a taxi (and her “Leading the Charge” trait is likely wasted). But the no-cost TK is likely hindered by the fact that her lines of fire are blocked by her many passengers. Plus she’ll need to set up objects in prescient fashion to be able to use them well. Add the lack of armor and mediocre defense and you get this not-so-good wackness.

———

Bumblebee [Rebirth 039] 75 / 50 points 

She just doesn’t mesh together. Her SP offers a nice HSS option, but drops her damage to 2. Also, her 2 targets don’t work with Precision Strike and 10 AV is a little underwhelming at her full cost. So what about her 50 point line? Her AV jumps to 11 and she swaps the Precision for Incap, but her damage drops to 2 which means her HSS is wasted on the -1 damage penalty. Outwit isn’t on either top click. She’s fun but kind of a mess.

———

Deathstroke [Rebirth 017] 75 points

— Incap works well with his Defiance trait that lets him maybe heal after hitting. What’s wrong is that his first and second clicks should be swapped to make him actually useful for his cost. He’s just not worth anything outside the Defiance theme — one that’s already hobbled by not having a proper build total:

Deathstroke 75
Power Girl [Rebirth 022] 115
Jericho [Rebirth 002] 60
Rose Wilson [Rebirth 003] 60
Terra [Rebirth 004] 65
Kid Flash [Rebirth 021] 75
= 450 points

What the heck is that? And why didn’t Adeline Kane [Rebirth 008], the character who actually formed Defiance, get the keyword?

———

Maximus [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 060] 90 points

His plusses (mass Perplex of friendlies if you build same-name teams, incapacitating Mind Control, TK) are dragged down by his non-optional trait that has a 33% chance of Battle Fury-ing him (so much for that 6 range), or keeping him from costed actions (so much for his Indom). He belongs on such specific teams that he’s bad otherwise.

———

Professor X [X-Men Dark Phoenix Saga 035] 100 points

I want to like him (ranged Leadership and being able to shoot/Outwit through walls is good) but losing his Influence upon clearing hurts him too much in early game and his dial’s so short. Better than last year’s No. 1 Worst, Professor X, Dreamer [Xavier’s School 049] but that’s not saying much, esp. at 2x cost!

———

This is probably the most clix with 11 AV or better to ever end up on a Worst Of list. Just shows how good figures are this year … nothing is out-and-out terrible.

Well, except this Dishonorable Mention from the Orville starter set.

HM: Commander Kelly Grayson [The Orville 002] pre-errata

Aside from the Enhancement, this 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????

(Power now reads: “Enhancement. Once per turn, when a friendly character that’s adjacent or has the Planetary Union keyword rolls for Leadership, Shape Change, or Super Senses, you may reroll that roll.”)

———

That’s the trash out of the way. Next time Heroclixin’ reveals our favorite figures of the year 2019.

So ever since Heroclixin’ launched a decade ago, we’ve done a Top Ten list of the best figs (more or less) of the year.

Until now.

We’re giving up.

It’s just too hard this year.

There were a LOT of good dials. A partial list:

Medusa [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 030]: An uncommon so good that it changed the pauper format to highlander.

Astronomer [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 048]: Improved Targeting Elevated might be the most powerful of IT and he’s got it with ELEVEN RANGE and with PROB and DOUBLE TK and he gets any one gem for just +5 points.

Mister Oz [Rebirth 052]: Meta teams for me are 260 points because this 40-pointer is the first thing on every team for his TK manipulation and see-all Prob.

Vulture [Earth X 019b]: It got Watch Listed for good reason. Endless attacks on short-dialed foes is one thing but he’s easily juiced into a master killer for less than 100 points. Way less.

Kobik [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 069]: Swapping team abilities shouldn’t be a thing, yet here we are.

Jean Grey [047]: Mega Mind Control shenanigans — and an explosive finish.

Q [Star Trek Resistance Is Futile]: Die replacement remains a broken ability, no matter how WizKids tries to rein it in, bit-by-bit, every time it tries to keep it in the game.

Wendigo [X-Men Dark Phoenix Saga G018]: That ridiculous multiple attacks ability AND healing? Sheesh

Voyager [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 017]: Mega TKer. Mega taxi. Can’t Outwit her. Perplex. Might be the best 50 points one can spend.

Thanos [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 067]: So many positive modifiers. For a tentpole with virtually no move+Attack, he’s awfully effective.

Starfire [Rebirth 055]: HSS Energy Explosion! 50-point Pulse Wave! Quintessence! STOP click! Free healing with other Titans!

Billy Batson/Shazam [Rebirth 026/037a]: Cheap Perplex with a STOP and a great alter-ego mechanic.

Eddie Guerrero [WWE 017]: For his triple Flurry, STOP-plus, superProb.

Captain Venom [Earth X 062]: Gives Monster teams theme prob.

Dr. Claire Finn [The Orville 003]: Possibly the game’s best medic, with one of the game’s best pogs.

And that’s just more or less off the tops of our heads. I’m sure there are more.

So……. yeah. It’s just too much for me. And Sceritz, who’d normally help me figure out the meta stuff, has been pulled away from Heroclix to run his website Do You Even Comic Book and his creator-owned comic series, Scorpio. And Taylor has taken a step back as well.

So sorry, no Top Ten of 2019.

There’s not even going to be a Top Ten F.U.N. Figures of 2019 list from us.

The reason?

There’s just too many!!!!

2019 was a year where the vast majority of figures score well on our F.U.N. Factor:

• Is the figure FRIENDLY and FAIR? That is, if your opponents see this figure on your team, will their hearts utterly sink at the prospect of dealing with it? If so, it’s not F.U.N.
• Is this figure still USEFUL and full of UTILITY anyway? If so, it may be F.U.N. But it shouldn’t run TOO high on this scale, or it may overwhelm the Friendly portion!
• Does this figure have a NEATO or NIFTY or NICHE or NERDCORE appeal that goes beyond its just having good stats and powers? Does it have a special place on a team outside of the usual keywords? And does this clix capture the character’s appeal? If so, it may be F.U.N. But the answer can’t JUST be, “I like this character.”

Like, even a good portion of the candidates for best fig still feel kinda Friendly and Fair. Not all, but a LOT of them. But it’s hard to find figs this year that weren’t Useful somehow. And most all were pretty Nifty in some way. So it’s too difficult to even do the F.U.N. list this time around.

But we are still going to do a Top Ten WORST of the year. Stinkers do exist.

And I will still list my favorites, as will Taylor (maybe). So the Top Ten isn’t dead.

(I’m also considering a look back at Heroclixin’s Top Ten of the Decade, seeing how we’re still in our 10-year anniversary. It will be interesting — and probably mortifying — to revisit some of those original picks after the many changes and power leaps the game has undergone.)

Almost as soon as we updated our review of all Atlantis pieces, not one but TWO dropped into the game. Let’s take a look:

^^^^^^ 50-75 points: barracudas ^^^^^^

Namor [X-Men Regenesis 010] 70 points

Starting with the great Charge+Flurry combo with the possibility of full 8 Speed in a direct path is nice-looking. His 10 AV is just OK for the price, though, as is his 17 DV, and the lack of Super Strength or Indom is a problem. Still, he’s the absolute cheapest Namor in the game, and traited Regeneration in water can come in handy.

Namor [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 044] 75 points

Four short clicks of life seem, well, short for this cost. Indomitable 17 DV Invincible isn’t bad, but one Outwit can ruin his day. He sports a nifty trait that drops an action token from him if an enemy rolls 1-2 on Leadership, but that’s nothing to count on. And just ignore his damage SP; it’s unusable in this point range.

But don’t give up on him completely…

^^^^^^ 76-100 points: sharks ^^^^^^

Namor [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 044] 75 points*

… especially considering his actual price tag is 80 points to pay for the either of the Infinity Gems the figure is designed to use via this 5-point optional trait:

Namor starts the game with either the [ABPaI] Power Gem or [ABPaI] Time Gem equipped.

The Time Gem is tempting to use because it grants Probability Control, a very rare power on Atlantis teams. But the Power Gem is the way to go: It gives him Ranged Combat Expert (useless) and Close Combat Expert (highly useful) as well as a basic +1 damage modifier (and 1 extra penetrating damage on a 10 roll or higher). Charging and hitting for 4 even without an object is way better than the 75-pointer’s printed 3.

Moreover, a Power Gem’d Namor can use his damage SP:

MY FURY IS AS THE TEMPEST UNLEASHED: Battle Fury. When Namor attacks with the [ABPaI] Power Gem equipped and targets only characters with printed range values of 5 or more, modify his damage +1 and the damage dealt is penetrating.

Because his life is so short, he’s best on bigger teams that can fit Telekinesis on to get him in striking range of the long range shooters he likes to beat down or simply have bigger threats to draw fire.

Namor [X-Men Regenesis 010] 100 points

At full points, this Namor gains a bit of speed and a click of 11AV. But the same Strength-less 3 damage and lack of Willpower plague him. The good news is that his full-dial Regen-in-water could keep him alive even longer with 7 clicks. DO NOT PLAY HIM WITHOUT WATER.

^^^^^ 101-125 points: maneaters ^^^^^

Namor [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 044] 110 points*

Top dial, he starts with mostly the same numbers and powers as his 75-point level: 10 Charge, 11 Super Strength, 17 Invincible. 3 damage. This Namor is also a team player with Empower. Those are the basics. But like the cheaper version, you’re paying the extra 5 for one of the gems.

Time not only grants Prob Control, but gives him Flurry on his Charge SP. If he had his 4 damage on click 1 instead of click 2, this would be the ideal choice. But maybe the Power Gem is better because like most Charge figures, he’s going to get hit, and will likely get more use from the constant CCE and +1 damage the gem gives.

———

And we’re all caught up, finally! Going to be much better about this ongoing series from now on.

Two practice games in, I still believed I was playing the Apokolips team incorrectly by advancing with Granny Goodness and company and by using Darkseid’s Outwit to soften targets.

So I ran this practice again one more time. I found the Supergirl piece on sale for just a few dollars and so added her in at last. She’s a lot stronger on this force than either the Lex Luthor or the Superman, with her being another Psychic Blasting anti-Stealth piece and, as such, a potent Superman Enemy user. I needed to run her, Barda and Granny as a ranged unit while I sacrifice Female Furies to activate Granny’s damage bonus for other Apokolips pieces. It’s how Chadd ran an earlier, Darkseid-free version of this squad and I now saw that Supergirl is the essential element.

———

“THIRD TIME IS CHARM?”

For this third game, I used the ROC Ziplines map. It’s almost perfect for Darkseid, as only the scattered solo squares of elevated terrain block his line of fire at all. It’s less perfect for the rest of Apokolips, as there’s a lengthwise river of water that stops walkers, so I was going to have to commit to one half or the other with the boot speed characters.

Apokolips went first, and Darkseid immediately KO’d the Accelerator, joined by Barda and Supergirl. A Parademon Scout carried Harriet and was followed by Lashina safely behind across the river while Granny and the rest of the Furies bided their time.

Authority TK’d Apollo out to HSS and hit Lashina, whom I’d thought safe. Much of the rest of the team holed up behind the elevated squares for cover and Eli built Barrier and used Chill In Your Bones on MOVE actions to hinder Darkseid’s phase-then-shoot maneuver.

Apokolips needed to keep Authority from gaining momentum — especially being unable to safely attack with Darkseid — so I tied up much of the team with Harriet, Lashina and a Scout. But they were KO’d and Elijah ended the turn using Barrier and Chilling POWER actions.

Normally, Granny Goodness’ SP boosts Female Furies’ damage when a Fury goes down. But the Barrier eliminated that threat.

Which meant Barrier had to go. Being able to ignore all but elevated terrain for range, an Enhanced Darkseid (using his phase-then-shoot SP to get around the inability to make POWER actions) got an angle on both Elijah Snow and Jenny, knocking the former off his Outwit/Perplex SP and her off Running Shot. Steppenwolf and Knockout respectively teleported and ziplined to tie up Engineer and Eli deep in enemy territory.

Mistake.

Engineer picked Plasticity, Poison and Outwit to ping Steppenwolf off his 19 Invincible, then Sidestepped out of Ambrose Chase’s way as he got two of his possible three RANGE attacks off. Then Engineer successfully evac’d Snow from the back row for possible healing and Invigoration near the main force.

Mistake.

With Eli pushed, and with Barda getting another Leadership/Enhancement roll to untoken Darkseid for ANOTHER phasing shot (sidestepping Eli’s penalty on RANGE this turn), it was simplicity to P/T then KO Eli easily, opening up the Running Shot from Supergirl to wound Apollo (Alias feat failed — and I forgot Super Senses). Jakita Wagner was also in a bit of trouble, tied up after a miss vs. Granny and losing health.

On Authority’s turn, Doctor tried for a Pulse Wave attack but failed.  All this carrying got a lot of Air tokens on Swift. So after getting Invigoration from Engineer, she picked up Midnighter to get in close to take on Darkseid & Co. while Jack Hawksmoor moved to back up Jakita.

Mistake.

After yet another Leadership from Barda on Darkseid, Supergirl used Superman Enemy to Outwit Swift’s Combat Reflexes and push and hit her with this SP:

SCATTER THE HUMAN RABBLE: Supergirl can use Super Strength and Quake. When Supergirl has two action tokens, she can use Quake as a free action.

and this trait:

DARKSEID’S ASSASSIN: When Supergirl hits with an attack, after actions resolve, give each hit character an action token. If one or more hit characters were unable to be given an action token, remove an action token from Supergirl…

So she hit for 3, tokened Swift to push her, then Quaked again for another 3 and KO in just one costed action.

Then Darkseid one-shot Midnighter (Alias feat failed).

Then Granny beat up Jack and Stompa double-Quaked him and Jakita, KOing her.

Then Barda used Running Shot to finish Jack off.

Four Authority/Planetarys down in ONE ROUND … Two from full health!

But all that drew fire from Doctor, who pushed to get a solo PW of Darkseid for three. Apollo, healed back to full, got an Enhanced Precision HSS shot to ping Supergirl (she got Impervious) followed by a harder shot from Jenny. Then Ambrose got a clutch breakaway from Knockout to Running Shot to elevated and shoot at six targets, KOing Granny and, most importantly, getting Barda off that Leadership SP.

And just like that, the momentum was solidly with the Authority, despite being down 5 figures.

I think I made my last mistake with Apokolips when I forgot Barda’s range after she lost her Running Shot. A hail mary range attack against Ambrose’s 20 could have yielded results. Supergirl’s HSS attack on Jenny was unsuccessful (Super Senses) and Apokolips never recovered, especially after Ambrose pushed next turn.

He, Apollo, Jenny, Engineer, Doctor and Drummer were all left standing.

LESSONS LEARNED

I need to respect the power of the Authority more. In this third game, even with the advantages to Apokolips and better play of the team on my part, the Authority completely reversed what should have been a game-shattering loss of force in that one round. The second match, I thought the game was completely lost in the early going but the team recovered. And in the first game, even I was a bit shocked how quickly the tide turned after Midnighter got shot.

Speaking of which, I have not figured how to keep that dude from getting alpha struck. I need him to be ready to make an alpha strike of his own sometime, but it seems that leaves him far too vulnerable. I think I need to completely rethink how I deploy him.

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. So the series continues next week!

Some years ago, I got these two posters and decided to build two then-Modern Age HeroClix teams to match — one for me to play and my friend Lenny, the other.

It was a monstrosity of a game, with the build totals topping 2000. Avengers took it because it was a themed team with JUST ENOUGH theme probs to make a crippling alpha strike miss while the Justice League — not quite themed due to the lack of the keyword on Hawkgirl — lacked the rerolls needed. Lenny never quite recovered.

Much later, I looked at the much-lower average point cost of these characters and wondered: How cheaply I could build both 12-person squads — and, this time, ensure that BOTH were themed?

The answer: 800 points.

EARTH’S MIGHTIEST HEROES: The Avengers

Vision [Avengers Defenders War 006] 50

Thor [Avengers Infinity 025] 100

Nick Fury [Avengers Age of Ultron] 45

Black Widow [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 013a] 35

Captain America [Avengers Defenders War 011] 50

War Machine [Captain America: Civil War 004] 105

Falcon [WizKids M17-007] 50

Hulk [WizKids F18-001] 100

Captain Marvel [The Mighty Thor 036] 95

Hawkeye [Avengers Infinity 004] 50

Iron Man [Avengers Infinity 001] 60

Black Panther [Avengers Infinity 002] 60

=800 points

The Justice League: WORLD’S GREATEST HEROES

Green Lantern [Elseworlds 004] 55

Wonder Woman [DC Rebirth Fast Forces] @ 50

Green Arrow [WizKids D16-004] 85

The Flash [DC Rebirth Fast Forces] @ 50

Superman [Batman The Animated Series 036] 100

Cyborg [DC Rebirth Fast Forces] @ 50

Hawkgirl [Batman The Animated Series 073] @ 50

Batman [Batman The Animated Series 040] @ 60

Supergirl [Superman 010] @ 100

Aquaman [DC Rebirth Fast Forces] @ 50

Billy Batson [DC Rebirth ] @ 40

Martian Manhunter [DC 10th Anniversary] @ 100

= 790 points

I gave Lenny the choice of which team to play: He chose Justice League and won map, selecting Regenesis Month 2. due to water for Aquaman and plenty of wide spaces for shooters.

TURNING POINTS

From the get go, Len split his team, with an advance squad behind blocking and the rest closer to home. He didn’t anticipate War Machine’s range being Perplexed to 9 for first shot on Cyborg. From there, Len kinda wasted actions moving the advance squad back to the core.

But he got a great attack off with Green Arrow to likely cripple War Machine — one that backfired because of A) my TTPC and B) his advancing too far with GA out of range of HIS potential theme probbers. Especially when the final roll was a 2. OUCH!

In fact, although he likes to blame his poor dice and my less-untimely misses compared to my hits, his eventual loss was due as much to misplays galore.

• He didn’t use Batman’s Batarang, due to the attack’s low damage. But a free attack is a free attack.
• He overlooked Superman’s Justice League Unlimited trait and his Leadership the entire game.
• Similarly, he overlooked the bonuses Wonder Woman and Aquaman give each other (though in fairness, the timing to use them is tricky).
• What isn’t tricky is the FREE attack Aquaman gets when he’s dropped in water. I know Len sneered at the low damage, but…
• He kept ignoring Thor’s Call The Lightning SPECIAL squares, giving me way too many free strikes at him.
• He never used the Green Lantern TA to carry multiple figures — and completely overlooked his chance to give Green Arrow a chance at shooting after a carry.
• And speaking of GA, he was so focused on that big attack on War Machine that he ignored the archer’s 3 targets to possibly split that damage around — and, later, to Trick Arrow into a mass Energy Explosion.
• He took harder shots at higher defenses rather than considering attacking some lower DV targets — targets that I punished him with later.
• He had to contend with Hawkgirl’s Occasional Weakness multiple times due to mistimed attacks, even when he had easy ability to lead with her.

I wasn’t without my own failings, though.

• I left War Machine open to that shot, trusting too much in his Impervious.
• I wandered Panther to elevated, forgetting Supergirl’s anti-Stealth Running Shot
• I simply could not finish Hawkgirl, who eventually KO’d Hulk — even with the DV bonus
• I completely forgot Panther’s FREE Charge after a KO and the mistake nearly swung the momentum against me

But here’s the kicker: After my win (with both Caps, Vision, Nick, Widow, Falcon, Hawkeye, and Iron Man left standing), we played a second, shorter game on the Ha-Ha-Hacienda (my choice). He opted to use the JL again. And he made the majority of the above mistakes AGAIN (though racking up a lot more KOs this time so only the Caps, Hawkeye, Widow, Vision and Panther remained).

He’s not really this bad a player. This was a case of a team — both these teams, really — playing more to my style as a player than his. Lenny likes powerful, high-damage strikes to establish a commanding lead and is incredibly frustrated when they don’t land. I’m a more technical player who doesn’t mind taking small shots at a time and using even my misses to my advantage, but I’m constantly challenged to score enough points down the stretch. And then there’s my tendency to snowball small fielder’s choice “errors” into full-blown losses.

Anyway, he’s been keeping score, apparently, between these big matches. Next is a fight between his Inhumans and my Guardians of the Galaxy — the latter being an old favorite theme that Lenny is largely responsible for introducing me to. The Inhumans have gotten a LOT of new juice lately, while GOTG has waned a bit. Heroclixin’ will report how that game goes whenever we get a chance to play it.

Heroclixin’ has written about The Authority a number of times, it being a whole team that was my collective No. 2 favorite of 2014. In 2017, it was joined by Planetary, and it got challenged to a potentially tough fight against a high-point Apokolips keyword team. So I opted to run a practice game — one that Apokolips lost.

I thought I needed to run this practice again because I accidentally forgot to actually put a certain figure in the Apokolips starting area, and I also remembered I had Superman, God of Strength to stand in for the 200-point Supergirl piece (removing the Lex Luthor). Finally, I wanted to see how the team would do on a less constricted map.

The ROC Sporting Arena fit the bill, with its only token attempts at hindering or elevated and no blocking terrain at all. Darkseid would see all.

This time I actually remembered to field the Kinetic Accelerator and Eleha’al Vine special objects to give the Authority some extra tactical options.

BUILDS:

Bernadeth [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 040] 50

Knockout [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 006] 50

Mad Harriet [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 022] 50

Stompa [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 007] 50

Lashina [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 056] 75

Big Barda [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 023a] 125

Granny Goodness [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 046] 125

Steppenwolf [Superman/Wonder Woman 058] 135

Brimstone [Superman/Wonder Woman G003] 20

Superman, God of Strength [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 061] 200 (standing in for the Supergirl I didn’t yet have)

Darkseid [Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes 044] @ 350 (in place of the Darkseid I don’t own)

=1260 points

And here’s “Planetarauthority”

Ambrose Chase @ 90 + Force Field 10

Apollo @ 200 + Alias 3

Doctor @ 110 + Force Field 10

The Drummer 40

Elijah Snow @ 120 + Stunning Blow 10

Engineer @ 175 + Invigorate 10

Jack Hawksmoor + Lunge 5

Jakita Wagner 80 + Unstoppable 5

Jenny Sparks 125 + Contingency Plan 12

Midnighter @ 100 + Opportunist 10 + Infiltrate 2  

Swift 90 + Lunge 5

=1297 points.

TURNING POINTS

Despite my building some Barrier and blocking terrain with Elijah and Jack, respectively, to shield Midnighter waiting on the Accelerator, Darkseid was again able to get a first shot off on him thanks to Barda blasting a hole — and this time, Barda was able to properly Enhance the damage up for a one-shot kill (Alias feat failed).

Doctor got TK’d to do a mass Pulse Wave but Jakita and Apollo’s HSS tries at Darkseid flopped from TTPC and Jenny’s whiffed as well. Worse, Ambrose crit missed next turn on a push. Jakita got pounded to death’s door by Superman and pushed herself through said door on a thoroughly unsuccessful Flurry after. And a turn later, a pushed Apollo (double Outwitted by Darkseid then Superman Enemies) was spun right through his dial to KO.

It’s here that Granny Goodness did her once-per-game Boom Tube thing to isolate and destroy Jenny Sparks and Engineer.

TURNING POINTS

But again, that’s where it went wrong for Apokolips.

The Drummer had been left atop elevated near his starting area to see the Furies and nix some of their attempts to Superman Enemy Outwit stuff. Jack was also able to erect some blocking to hamper Lashina’s Plasticity zone. Most of all, Jenny lucked out when Superman, God of Strength missed an attack that would have crippled her.

Ambrose, having been evac’d by Swift, got healed by Engineer, and it finally clicked for me that he can use both targets for his RANGE Special, allowing him to potentially hit SIX foes instead of the three I’d been shooting at in earlier games. So that was a major Turning Point, as was my finally also remembering Eli’s “Chill In Your Bones” trait to hinder Apokolips’ POWER, then CLOSE, then RANGE actions. Both bought Engineer enough time to heal and Invigorate the remaining team, which then laid down enough attacks to finish Mad Harriet, Bernadeth, Darkseid, and Superman.

Steppenwolf, Stompa, Barda and Lashina were not nearly enough to deal with the resurgent Planetary/Authority. Engineer, Jenny, Jack, Ambrose, Swift, Elijah and Drummer were left standing — more than half on their opening clicks.

———

I believed I was playing the Apokolips team incorrectly. Each game, I’d thought advancing with Granny and co. would be the knockout lockdown move, and both times it simply led to her KO and the crumbling of her Furies.

Also, each time I decided to use Darkseid’s Outwit to soften targets, thinking he was safe at his 10 range through friendlies to do so. But his having to maneuver around blocking left him slightly open to retaliation both times and he’s paid for it dearly. More to the point, the actual Darkseid I’d be facing has no Outwit until very deep dial, so I shouldn’t be using it here.

And so I ran this practice again one more time. Check next week to see how that went.

So early this summer, I got the latest Falcon pieces and built this force:

Falcon [Sinister 055] 30
Falcon [Sinister 056] 46
Falcon [WizKids M17-007] 50
The Hydra (Falcon) [Earth X 026] 50
Sam Wilson [Sinister 207] 53
Falcon [Sinister 057] 57
Snap Wilson [Sinister 219] 60
Falcon [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati] 60
Falcon [Civil War Storyline 023] 70
Falcon [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati] 75
Falcon [Avengers 036] 75
Falcon [Avengers Assemble 017] 75
Falcon [Captain America Winter Soldier 103] 75
Falcon [Captain America 030] 79
Falcon [Captain America Civil War 008] 85 + I’m With Cap 5
Falcon [Captain America Civil War 004] 95 + I’m With Cap 5
Falcon [Captain America Winter Soldier 006] 105
Captain America [Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD 049] 130

=1280 points of every single Samuel Wilson/Falcon in HeroClix. Needed something suitable to face it with. Hey, look what added up to just about the same points?

Archangel [Critical Mass 042] 68
Warren Worthington III [Critical Mass 214] 71
Angel [Danger Room 003] 50
Archangel [Mutations and Monsters 034] 95
Archangel [Giant-Size X-Men 104] 86
Archangel [Giant-Size X-Men 049] 99
Angel [Giant-Size X-Men 031] 50
Archangel [Wolverine and the X-Men 067] 99
Angel [Days of Future Past 005] 74
Dark Angel [Uncanny X-Men 049] 200
Angel [Uncanny X-Men 035] 75
Angel [Uncanny X-Men Fast Forces 003] 50
Angel [Xavier’s School 061] 60
Angel [Xavier’s School 051] 60
Angel [WizKids M-019] 65
Angel [X-Men Regenesis 015] 70
Angel ID card [Xavier’s School XID-016] 5

=1277 points of (nearly) every Warren Worthington III in HeroClix circa July 2019.

Played on the ROC Ziplines map.

Angels made the first move, having the range advantage. GSX Angel’s full Charge with a light object nailed 105-point WS Falcon despite his being almost on the back row, costing his ability to give himself and Cap Sidestep or Enhancement or Empower, which would have been a problem against Dark Angel:

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST: Opposing characters of 75 points or less modify their attack and damage values by -1 when attacking Dark Angel.

And Dark Angel was the next big attack to come, especially after the advance Falcons (Civil War and prime) AND one of Redwings UTTERLY failed against GSX SR Archangel due to dice and Shape Change.

Dark Angel landed another hit on WS Falcon to remove him from the board and Regenesis Angel Charged deep into the midst of the shooting Falcons to prevent them from ganging up on the elevated Dark Angel — bashing LE Falcon (and costing the team one of its Leaderships) in the process.

The Falcons now needed to either break away from or KO these two Angels (Regenesis and GSX) to try to deal with Dark Angel. But first things first: Civil War Falcon used his auto breakaway Charge to Quake SR Archangel and a corps of other Angels centered around the XXS SR for a massive critical hit! That would free up prime Falcon to try against Dark Angel after the big guy hopefully got softened up by Captain America and the ranged Falcons over 75 points.

Unfortunately, out of five separate attacks, only one range and one close attack each against Dark Angel succeeded and he was left on his deadly Hypersonic Flurry Blades clicks with two of the Falcon squad ripe for the wings of death, no breakaway even needed.

TURNING POINT

Dark Angel missed both attacks, one critically.

That sent him running (and willingly pushing) to a far corner to eventually heal with his SP Regen. But without that massive threat on the Angels’ side (and him being harrassed and forced to rely on his heals rather than fighting in earnest), eventually the Falcons were able to overwhelm the mutants, despite a valiant stand.

I am going to replay this match next year (with build total boosted to 1400, likely) when the new Captain America-centric set is released, as another version of Falcon as Cap will be available. Then I can add in both the Regenesis LE prize Archangel and the new Dark Phoenix set SR (and maybe one of the old Critical Mass figs that were relegated to ID Card duty this go-round) and see if the mutants will be ascendant this time…!

Heroclixin’ has written about The Authority a number of times, it being a whole team that was my collective No. 2 favorite of 2014. 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 Chadd to see if I could keep my success streak with the squad going.

At first we were going to do a simple, friendly 1300-point match with him playing an appropriately villainous squad of Crime Syndicate. But when Ambrose Chase was revealed in spring 2019, it threw the points off. Then Chadd came up with an Apokolips force to be reckoned with: a bunch of Female Furies from Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls set joined by Steppenwolf, Brimstone (both from 2015’s Superman/Wonder Woman) and led by the fearsome Darkseid [Justice League Strategy Game 005]!

Whoa, so strong. This 1400-point team hurls the Furies at you, tying you up with Knockout, Stompa, Harriet and especially Lashina while Bernadeth poisons you slowly. Meanwhile, Granny, Barda and Supergirl PPB you to death from range.

And then there’s Darkseid in the back, shooting through nearly everything with a double power action SP for penetrating damage.

I saw no way to victory or even a fun game with Jenny Quantum on the team. Having 3-4 Probs on a team but only ever getting to use one takes away one of my main weapons. And she and Jenny Sparks don’t exist in the same time, anyway. So she had to go and we took the build total down to 1300 points.

But I was still worried for my squad. Most of these pieces are nearly 5 years old and power creep in Heroclix is real, y’all. If I was going to stand any chance in this matchup, I needed to bring my A (for “Authority”) game and not play by the seat of my Planetary as usual.

I built this stand-in force to practice:

Bernadeth [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 040] 50

Knockout* [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 006] 50

Mad Harriet [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 022] 50

Stompa [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 007] 50

Lashina [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 056] 75

Big Barda [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 023a] 125

Granny Goodness [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 046] 125

Steppenwolf [Superman/Wonder Woman 058] 135

Brimstone [Superman/Wonder Woman G003] 150

Lex Luthor [Rebirth 051] @100 (standing in for the Supergirl I didn’t yet have)

Darkseid [Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes 044] @ 350 (in place of the Darkseid I don’t own)

=1260 points

This Darkseid has similar Outwit resistance and 10-range line of fire cheating as the SJLSG version — for lighter damage (5 damage, non-penetrating) but greater swing (Running Shot) and greater frequency of attack. He might be *better* than the other one.

And here’s “Planetarauthority”

Ambrose Chase @ 90 + Force Field 10

Apollo @ 200 + Alias 3

Doctor @ 110 + Force Field 10

The Drummer 40

Elijah Snow @ 120 + Stunning Blow 10

Engineer @ 175 + Invigorate 10

Jack Hawksmoor + Lunge 5

Jakita Wagner 80 + Unstoppable 5

Jenny Sparks 125 + Contingency Plan 12

Midnighter @ 100 + Opportunist 10 + Infiltrate 2  

Swift 90 + Lunge 5

=1297 points.

Lots of feats. Part of this practice game’s purpose was to see if they’re necessary.

I chose a semi-random map among three old ROC prizes. Ended up indoors, an advantage to Authority but not much.

Immediately, my initial intended moves with the Authority (TK with both Engineer and Jack) were nullified by having absolutely no lines of fire. So I set up very conservatively behind blocking.

On the Apokolips side, I also advanced immediately out of the start zone to not get caught in the Jack Hawksmoor effect.

TURNING POINTS

Despite a double-layered Barrier built by Snow, Lex and Barda smashed it to give Darkseid a shot on Midnighter, who barely lived. Then I BoomTubed with Granny and Sidestepped Lashina to thoroughly gum up attack lanes. No one was going to be able to move without encountering her 3-square Plasticity zone.

But in advancing her, I’d miscalculated the number of range attacks Lashina was vulnerable to and still had enough actions left to deal more clicks. Lashina was KO’d, Granny was grievously hurt (by Jenny), and Bernadeth was left near death while Midnighter got evac’d to get healed by Engineer the same turn (and de-tokened by Invigorate).

It was still a tough fight for the Authority, as Brimstone, Luthor and Stompa really put some work in. But while their momentum slowed and Darkseid ever threatened, the good guys never lost progress, eventually taking even him down with Ambrose, Apollo, Engineer, Elijah and Jakita left standing.

———

“REMATCH”

I thought I needed to run this practice again. I accidentally forgot to actually put Knockout on the team, and I thought she could be a really key addition for just a few extra points. I also remembered I had Superman, God of Strength to stand in for the 200-point Supergirl piece (removing the Lex Luthor). Finally, I needed to see how the team would do on a less constricted map.

Current mood/situation: