by ·0 Comments
M+M E004 CAPTAIN UNIVERSE
Fast-moving, this E-dial is one of the simplest ones.
TURN THE DIAL: At the end of any turn in which any character was knocked out, and at the end of each round.
TOUCHED BY THE ENIGMA FORCE (cyan, slots 2-4, 6): Once during your turn when you make an attack roll, if the result of either of the two dice is a 1, you can reroll one die before determining the attack roll result. You must use the rerolled result.
WHAT IT MEANS: This first condition (which won’t be in effect until turn two), is nothing more than the Lucky Break feat, available once per turn. There’s no way to build for this, so don’t fret it.
UNI-FORCE (red, slots 5,7): At the beginning of each player’s turn, that player rolls 2d6 and subtracts from the result the number of of his or her KO’d figures that have point values of more than 20 points. If the result is a 4 or less, that player chooses one target character on his or her force. Until the end of that turn, the target ignores its team ability and powers, has a range value of 10, and can use the Power Cosmic team ability and the following powers: Energy Explosion, Force Blast, Hypersonic Speed, Incapacitate, Outwit, Phasing/Teleport, Steal Energy, and Super Strength.
WHAT IT MEANS: This condition gives you a shot at turning one of your team into Captain Universe for a turn, your team build will make a difference one way or another. Field cheap sacrifice pieces over 20 points in cost (NOT less), because not only will they tie-up or bait the other force(s), if they’re KOed they improve your chance of rolling low enough to become Captain Universe. When you DO make the roll, give the Captain Universe powerset to a fig with good stats to make best use of them. Also consider one with some sort of Stealth and the Wing symbol. The former will keep it safe until the Uni-Force is active (and possibly protect it from an opposing Captain Universe) and the latter will give it the mobility to move and attack freely as CU. Don’t run a pivotal offensive team ability on your preferred Captain Universe candidate, though because the printed TA will be replaced with the uncopyable Power Cosmic ability until the end of the turn.
SUMMING IT UP: As stated in the outset, this dial is easy to pick up and play, regardless of your team build.

M+M E004 CAPTAIN UNIVERSE

I always found this cover to be rather hilarious.

I always found this cover to be rather hilarious.

Fast-moving, this E-dial is one of the simplest ones.

–

TURN THE DIAL: At the end of any turn in which any character was knocked out, and at the end of each round.

–

TOUCHED BY THE ENIGMA FORCE (cyan, slots B-D, F): Once during your turn when you make an attack roll, if the result of either of the two dice is a 1, you can reroll one die before determining the attack roll result. You must use the rerolled result.

WHAT IT MEANS: This first condition (which won’t be in effect until turn two), is nothing more than the Lucky Break feat, available once per turn. There’s no way to build for this, so don’t fret it.

–

UNI-FORCE (red, slots E, G): At the beginning of each player’s turn, that player rolls 2d6 and subtracts from the result the number of of his or her KO’d figures that have point values of more than 20 points. If the result is a 4 or less, that player chooses one target character on his or her force. Until the end of that turn, the target ignores its team ability and powers, has a range value of 10, and can use the Power Cosmic team ability and the following powers: Energy Explosion, Force Blast, Hypersonic Speed, Incapacitate, Outwit, Phasing/Teleport, Steal Energy, and Super Strength.

WHAT IT MEANS: This condition gives you a shot at turning one of your team into Captain Universe for a turn. Your team build will make a difference one way or another. Field cheap sacrifice pieces over 20 points in cost (NOT less), because not only will they tie-up or bait the other force(s), if they’re KOed they improve your chance of rolling low enough to become Captain Universe. When you DO make the roll, give the Captain Universe powerset to a fig with good stats to make best use of them. Also consider one with some sort of Stealth and the Wing symbol. The former will keep it safe until the Uni-Force is active (and possibly protect it from an opposing Captain Universe) and the latter will give it the mobility to move and attack freely as Cap U. Don’t run a pivotal offensive team ability on your preferred Captain Universe candidate, though.  The printed TA will be replaced with the uncopyable Power Cosmic ability until the end of the turn.

–

SUMMING IT UP: As stated in the outset, this dial is easy to pick up and play, regardless of your team build.

–
Next, we’ll look at one that’s NOT pick-up-and-play. In fact, thanks to some rule changes since its debut, strictly speaking it’s not very playable at all…

by ·0 Comments
E003 UNLIMITED CLASS WRESTLING
Another nonstop dial, UCW, more than most, radically alters the usual HeroClix game with numerous extraordinary conditions.
WHAT TO BRING: a few extra Special tokens.
THE SETUP: Before objects are placed on the map, place four SPECIAL markers on the map so that they mark the outside corners of a 6-square by 6-square area containing as much clear terrain as possible as close to the center of the map as possible; this area is the Ring. Objects can’t be placed in the Ring.
WHAT IT MEANS: This is the main field of battle. Fighting can still go on outside the Ring, though, so don’t get complacent. Immobile objects might be good to play.
MORE SETUP: Each player chooses one friendly character and places it in an unoccupied corner inside the Ring; this character is his or her wrestler. A wrestler can’t leave the Ring, and treats the edges of the Ring as if they are walls that can’t be destroyed. When a player’s wrestler is knocked out or eliminated, that player must choose a friendly character outside the Ring and place it in an unoccupied corner inside the Ring as his or her new wrestler. If a character is carrying an object when it becomes a wrestler, it drops the object in the nearest unoccupied square before being placed in the Ring.
WHAT IT MEANS: Use Wrestlers with high natural damage value as opposed to reliance on Super Strength. No objects can be placed or brought in the ring.
MORE SETUP: No ranged attacks can be made by any character.
WHAT IT MEANS: Snipers should not be included on your team…you’ll only be wasting points!
TURN THE DIAL: At the end of each turn, turn the dial once or a number of times equal to the number of wrestlers knocked out or eliminated during the turn, whichever is more.
WHAT IT MEANS: This dial moves quickly if you have a lot of players or a lot of short-lived Wrestlers, so stay on your toes, especially if you’re trying to dodge the FAIR FIGHT and DISQUALIFIED! conditions.
FAIR FIGHT (cyan, slots 1-5, 10-12): If any character that isn’t a wrestler is given an action that would affect a wrestler, affect any square inside the Ring, or move the character into or through any square of the Ring, give the character an extra action token after the action resolves.
WHAT IT MEANS: This effect will be in play most of the time. Get around it by fielding non-Wrestler figs with some ability to avoid pushing damage in conjunction with Perplex, TK or Outwit. This way, a non-Wrestler can help his teammate in the Ring without penalty. Even better: use a non-Wrestler with Contingency Plan. It’s not an action, so the FAIR FIGHT condition won’t hurt, and your team is unlikely to use all its action allotment.
POWER BROKER (red, slots 4-11): A wrestler can use Exploit Weakness and Flurry if it does not already possess either or both of those powers. After the resolution of an action in which an wrestler uses a power from this effect, deal the wrestler 1 unavoidable damage.
WHAT IT MEANS: This phase can cause a lot of damage, either via unavoidable clicks from its bonuses or penetrating damage from the enemy. Pick a Wrestler with a pushable dial who stays strong well into the dial. Also consider Fortitude on your Wrestler because POWER BROKER grants Exploit Weakness. Otherwise, don’t rely on damage reducers above high defense values on your Wrestler.
DISQUALIFIED! (black, slots 3-5, 10-11): At the beginning of each player’s turn, he or she rolls a d6 for each character in the Ring who is not a wrestler and has two or more action tokens. On a result of 1 or 2, the character is immediately knocked out.
WHAT IT MEANS: Eventually, non-Wrestlers CAN enter the Ring to (illegally) aid the Wrestler. But it’s really risky. So try using a non-Wrestler with Hypersonic Speed or the Move and Attack ability. When someone can rush into the ring and get out in the same turn, there’s almost no risk of the instant KO condition of DISQUALIFIED!
SUMMING IT UP: While UCW is another dial that really rewards a prepared build, it’s one that tends to nerf most figures equally rather than targeting one group specifically. And anything that stacks the deck a bit more in close combat’s favor is a good thing in my book!

M+M E003 UNLIMITED CLASS WRESTLING

Another nonstop dial, Unlimited Classs Wrestling, more than most, radically alters the usual HeroClix game with numerous extraordinary conditions.

Yeah, it's clobberin' time, all right.

Yeah, it's clobberin' time, all right.

WHAT TO BRING: a few extra Special tokens.

–

THE SETUP: Before objects are placed on the map, place four SPECIAL markers on the map so that they mark the outside corners of a 6-square by 6-square area containing as much clear terrain as possible as close to the center of the map as possible; this area is the Ring. Objects can’t be placed in the Ring.

WHAT IT MEANS: This is the main field of battle. Fighting can still go on outside the Ring, though, so don’t get complacent. Immobile objects might be good to play.

–

MORE SETUP: Each player chooses one friendly character and places it in an unoccupied corner inside the Ring; this character is his or her wrestler. A wrestler can’t leave the Ring, and treats the edges of the Ring as if they are walls that can’t be destroyed. When a player’s wrestler is knocked out or eliminated, that player must choose a friendly character outside the Ring and place it in an unoccupied corner inside the Ring as his or her new wrestler. If a character is carrying an object when it becomes a wrestler, it drops the object in the nearest unoccupied square before being placed in the Ring.

WHAT IT MEANS: Try using Wrestlers with high natural damage value as opposed to reliance on Super Strength. No objects can be placed or brought in the ring except by special means.

–

STILL MORE SETUP: No ranged attacks can be made by any character.

WHAT IT MEANS: Snipers should not be included on your team…you’ll only be wasting points! One exception/loophole: The Laser Turret special object is not a character, so it may still make ranged attacks!

–

TURN THE DIAL: At the end of each turn, turn the dial once or a number of times equal to the number of wrestlers knocked out or eliminated during the turn, whichever is more.

WHAT IT MEANS: This dial moves quickly if you have a lot of players or a lot of short-lived Wrestlers, so stay on your toes, especially if you’re trying to dodge the FAIR FIGHT and DISQUALIFIED! conditions.

–

FAIR FIGHT (cyan, slots 1-5, 10-12): If any character that isn’t a wrestler is given an action that would affect a wrestler, affect any square inside the Ring, or move the character into or through any square of the Ring, give the character an extra action token after the action resolves.

WHAT IT MEANS: This effect will be in play most of the time. Get around it by fielding non-Wrestler figs with some ability to avoid pushing damage in conjunction with Perplex, Telekinesis or Outwit. This way, a non-Wrestler can help his teammate in the Ring without penalty. Even better: use a non-Wrestler with Contingency Plan. It’s not an action, so the FAIR FIGHT condition won’t hurt, and your team is unlikely to use all its action allotment. There may also be some Special Powers that might get around this condition.

–

POWER BROKER (red, slots 4-11): A wrestler can use Exploit Weakness and Flurry if it does not already possess either or both of those powers. After the resolution of an action in which an wrestler uses a power from this effect, deal the wrestler 1 unavoidable damage.

WHAT IT MEANS: This phase can cause a lot of damage, either via unavoidable clicks from its bonuses or penetrating damage from the enemy. Pick a Wrestler with a pushable dial who stays strong well into the dial. Also consider Fortitude on your Wrestler because POWER BROKER grants Exploit Weakness. Otherwise, don’t rely on damage reducers above high defense values on your Wrestler.

–

DISQUALIFIED! (black, slots 3-5, 10-11): At the beginning of each player’s turn, he or she rolls a d6 for each character in the Ring who is not a wrestler and has two or more action tokens. On a result of 1 or 2, the character is immediately knocked out.

WHAT IT MEANS: Eventually, non-Wrestlers CAN enter the Ring to (illegally) aid the Wrestler. But it’s really risky. So try using a non-Wrestler with Hypersonic Speed or the Move and Attack ability. When someone can rush into the ring and get out in the same turn, there’s almost no risk of the instant KO condition of DISQUALIFIED!

–

SUMMING IT UP: While UCW is another dial that really rewards a prepared build, it’s one that tends to nerf most figures equally rather than targeting one group specifically. And anything that stacks the deck a bit more in close combat’s favor is a good thing in my book!

Next, we’ll look at a much simpler dial. (Cosmic power tends to make problems go away.)

by ·0 Comments
E002 EVOLUTIONARY WAR
This dial is nonstop; that is, it doesn’t have a red line to signify  an endpoint. So it can continue until the last KO or time is called.
WHAT TO BRING: A current Powers and Abilities Chart (PAC) is mandatory for the GENESIS CHAMBER effect later in the dial.
TURN THE DIAL: At the end of each round.
WHAT IT MEANS: Straightforward.
PURIFIERS (black, slots 1-5): At the beginning of each round, each player can declare a special or standard power. All declared powers are ignored until the end of the round.
WHAT IT MEANS: You want to be careful of fielding powers that are key to your early strategy, especially those shared by multiple characters. PURIFIERS will enable opponents to nix them entirely. And note that the powers are ignored, not countered. This means that even team abilities that grant use of certain powers aren’t immune; if a player chooses Stealth, then Batman Allies are suddenly left exposed. It also means you’ll want to pay attention to pure stats over powers when team building. Note, however, that Traits are immune to this effect.
RESTORATION (cyan, slots 4-7): At the beginning of each round, remove all debris tokens from the map. All destroyed walls are no longer destroyed. All clear, grounded, outdoor terrain is hindering terrain. Each player can choose a friendly character that occupies an opponent’s starting area and heal it of 2 damage.
WHAT IT MEANS: Suddenly, there’ll be a lot of hindering terrain for Stealthy characters (assuming they survived the early game and the brief overlap with PURIFIERS isn’t still nerfing them) to hide in and fliers, Phase/Teleporters and Leap/Climbers to move freely over and through. High-speed characters might be a boon for this segment of the game for getting the free healing in enemy starting zones.
GENESIS CHAMBER (red. slots 8-12): Once at the beginning of each player’s turn, each player can choose a target friendly character and declare a combat value (other than range); if the target possesses a standard power of the chosen value, ignore that power until the end of the turn. Then each player who chose a target rolls a d6. On a result of 1-3, the target can use the standard power on that combat value on the PAC that occurs immediately before the ignored power, until the end of the turn. On a result of 4-6, the target can use the standard power of that combat value that occurs immediately after the ignored power, until the end of the turn. (The first standard power of a particular combat value on the PAC is considered to be immediately after the last standard power of that combat value.) At the end of the turn, deal the target 1 unavoidable damage.
WHAT IT MEANS: This is an entirely optional effect that you should be very careful about using! Basically, you get to swap a power on your dial for one before or after it on the Powers & Abilities Chart (PAC). But it’s 50/50 which you’ll get, and the character takes a click either way, so don’t give up a sweet click for this effect. Moreover, you can do this at the start of both YOUR and an OPPONENT’S turn.  Here’s a guide:
On YOUR turn
Never use GENESIS CHAMBER on:
Phasing/Teleport
Charge
Mind Control
Hypersonic Speed
These will stick you with useless (for offense) or far-inferior (for the circumstances) powers.
Always consider using GENESIS CHAMBER on:
Earthbound
Stealth
In this circumstance, the powers you gain will be much more useful. Make sure it’s a click you can afford to lose, though!
Maybe consider using GENESIS CHAMBER on:
Plasticity
Force Blast
Incapacitate
Smoke Cloud
Poison
Mastermind
Exploit Weakness
Perplex
Leadership
You might get a better power or one of equal worth. Again, beware of the self-damage you’ll take regardless.
On ANOTHER’S turn
Never use GENESIS CHAMBER on:
Phasing/Teleport
Charge
Plasticity
Force Blast
Hypersonic Speed
Stealth
Running Shot
any Attack power
Toughness
Mastermind
Impervious
Invulnerability
Battle Fury
Exploit Weakness
Perplex
Outwit
Leadership
Either the new power is useless on defense or simply not worth the click you’ll be sacrificing.
Maybe consider using GENESIS CHAMBER on:
Earthbound (but ONLY to take the click and get OFF Earthbound at the end of the turn without taking a token)
Super Senses
Defend
Barrier
Willpower
Regeneration
Enhancement
…You might gain a power that could help avoid or reduce big damage. Check out the PAC carefully in relation to your current circumstances. (For example, choosing Barrier will land you either Energy Shield/Deflection or Mastermind, so checking if you have any potential fodder adjacent or are in danger of being shot is key before making the swap.)
Any power not listed here is probably not a good risk to use this effect on.
SUMMING IT UP: Evolutionary War is a simple, straightforward event dial. But the last condition, GENESIS CHAMBER, is so byzantine to figure out in mid-game that players may opt to ignore this optional element completely. This is a phenomenon that afflicts many event dials, as further installments of this series will demonstrate.

E002 EVOLUTIONARY WAR

I actually much prefer this image to the one actually used on the dial's card. More "MU-WHA-HA-HA" = much more awesomeness

I actually much prefer this image to the one actually used on the dial's card. More "MU-WHA-HA-HA" = much more awesomeness

WHAT TO BRING: A current Powers and Abilities Chart (PAC) is mandatory for the GENESIS CHAMBER effect later in the dial.

—

TURN THE DIAL: At the end of each round.

WHAT IT MEANS: Straightforward. Note, though, that this dial is nonstop; that is, it doesn’t have a red line to signify  an endpoint. So it can continue until the last KO or time is called.

—

PURIFIERS (black, slots A-E): At the beginning of each round, each player can declare a special or standard power. All declared powers are ignored until the end of the round.

WHAT IT MEANS: You want to be careful of fielding powers that are key to your early strategy, especially those shared by multiple characters. PURIFIERS will enable opponents to nix them entirely. And note that the powers are ignored, not countered. This means that even team abilities that grant use of certain powers aren’t immune; if a player chooses Stealth, then Batman Allies are suddenly left exposed. It also means you’ll want to pay attention to pure stats over powers when team building. Note, however, that Traits are immune to this effect.

—

RESTORATION (cyan, slots D-G): At the beginning of each round, remove all debris tokens from the map. All destroyed walls are no longer destroyed. All clear, grounded, outdoor terrain is hindering terrain. Each player can choose a friendly character that occupies an opponent’s starting area and heal it of 2 damage.

WHAT IT MEANS: Suddenly, there’ll be a lot of hindering terrain for Stealthy characters (assuming they survived the early game and the brief overlap with PURIFIERS isn’t still nerfing them) to hide in and fliers, Phase/Teleporters and Leap/Climbers to move freely over and through. High-speed characters might be a boon for this segment of the game for getting the free healing in enemy starting zones.

—

GENESIS CHAMBER (red, slots H-L): Once at the beginning of each player’s turn, each player can choose a target friendly character and declare a combat value (other than range); if the target possesses a standard power of the chosen value, ignore that power until the end of the turn. Then each player who chose a target rolls a d6. On a result of 1-3, the target can use the standard power on that combat value on the PAC that occurs immediately before the ignored power, until the end of the turn. On a result of 4-6, the target can use the standard power of that combat value that occurs immediately after the ignored power, until the end of the turn. (The first standard power of a particular combat value on the PAC is considered to be immediately after the last standard power of that combat value.) At the end of the turn, deal the target 1 unavoidable damage.

WHAT IT MEANS: This is an entirely optional effect that you should be very careful about using! Basically, you get to swap a power on your dial for one before or after it on the Powers & Abilities Chart (PAC). But it’s 50/50 which you’ll get, and the character takes a click either way, so don’t give up a sweet click for this effect. Moreover, you can do this at the start of both YOUR and an OPPONENT’S turn.  Here’s a guide:

On YOUR turn:

Never use GENESIS CHAMBER on:

Phasing/Teleport
Charge
Mind Control
Hypersonic Speed

These will stick you with useless (for offense) or far-inferior (for the circumstances) powers.

Always consider using GENESIS CHAMBER on:

Earthbound
Stealth

In this circumstance, the powers you gain will be much more useful. Make sure it’s a click you can afford to lose, though!

Maybe consider using GENESIS CHAMBER on:

Plasticity
Force Blast
Incapacitate
Smoke Cloud
Poison
Mastermind
Exploit Weakness
Perplex
Leadership

You might get a better power or at least one of equal worth. Again, beware of the self-damage you’ll take regardless.

On ANOTHER’S turn:

Never use GENESIS CHAMBER on:

Phasing/Teleport
Charge
Plasticity
Force Blast
Hypersonic Speed
Stealth
Running Shot
any Attack power
Toughness
Mastermind
Impervious
Invulnerability
Battle Fury
Exploit Weakness
Perplex
Outwit
Leadership

Either the new power is useless on defense or simply not worth the click you’ll be sacrificing.

Maybe consider using GENESIS CHAMBER on:

Earthbound (but ONLY to take the click and get OFF Earthbound at the end of the turn without taking a token)
Super Senses
Defend
Barrier
Willpower
Regeneration
Enhancement

…You might gain a power that could help avoid or reduce big damage. Check out the PAC carefully in relation to your current circumstances. (For example, choosing Barrier will land you either Energy Shield/Deflection or Mastermind, so checking if you have any potential fodder adjacent or are in danger of being shot is key before making the swap.)

Any power not listed here is probably not a good risk to use this effect on. And note that you absolutely can’t use it on Special Powers.

—

SUMMING IT UP: Evolutionary War is a simple, straightforward event dial…mostly. But the last condition, GENESIS CHAMBER, is so byzantine to figure out in mid-game that players may opt to ignore this optional element completely. This is a phenomenon that afflicts many event dials, as further installments of this series will demonstrate.

Whew! That write-up alone was enough to delay this column for months (I wrote it in March or April)! And the next one is no simpler in its way, being another that rewards a proper build and could punish a normal one. Get ready to rumble with Unlimited Class Wrestling!!!

by ·0 Comments
E001 MUTANT MASSACRE
Based on the classic X-Men crossover circa issue 210 or so of the Uncanny X-Men series.
BRING: Character cards (or an official keyword list).
TURN THE DIAL: At the end of any turn in which a character that has a point value of more than 30 points is knocked out or eliminated.
WHAT IT MEANS: Unlike many other dials, which turn at the end of each round, Mutant Massacre only turns when characters leave the game. This means that various conditions can affect your game for a pretty long time, especially the first:
MASSACRE (Black, slots 1-8): Before the beginning of the first turn, each player declares a keyword. During the active player’s turn, if an opposing character that has the keyword named by the active player takes damage, after it takes damage deal that character 1 unavoidable damage. Critical hits to all characters deal an additional 1 damage.
WHAT IT MEANS: Any character with a keyword could be a target for extra harm, and this condition lasts a LONG time. You’ll want to seriously consider fielding characters without keywords. They will not be as vulnerable to the MASSACRE condition. By the same token, you should avoid theme teams entirely.
HELP FROM ARTIE AND LEECH (red, slots 3-4, 7-9): At the beginning of your turn, roll a d6. On a result of 4-6, a single character on your force that can’t already use Outwit can use Outwit once during that turn. In addition, if the result was a 6, you can also give an action token to one opposing character that has zero action tokens.
WHAT IT MEANS: Consider fielding Power Cosmic/Quintessence figures. They’ll essentially be immune to this condition. Anti-Outwit feats/powers like The Society, Outsmart, Fortitude and Stealth will help as well. Willpower and Indomitable will be less vulnerable to the token dump, at least.
EMERGENCY TRIAGE (cyan, slots 5-6): At the beginning of your turn, all of your characters that have two action tokens are healed of 1 damage.
WHAT IT MEANS: Another good reason to invest in characters who can push freely through Willpower or other means to gain free healing.
SUMMING IT UP: Mutant Massacre can truly make for a rough game for the unprepared. This is one dial that’s infinitely more fun when you can build for it. At the very least, avoid keyword themes.

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

E001 MUTANT MASSACRE

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

89071-4706-mutant-massacre_large

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

by ·24 Comments
During this extended downtime between new sets and Approved Play tournaments, players may be seeking some new scenarios to play. Now is a perfect time to try out some of the event dials released each set since 2007’s Monsters and Mutations!
For those who’ve never played or seen an event dial before, here’s a primer: they’re like playing under ever-changing, multiple Battlefield Conditions. I’ve only played a few, but they can be a total blast…WHEN players are able to build a team for the dial beforehand.
Not all event dials are created equal in terms of team builds. More to the point, some have particular build restrictions that prevent you from simply playing any old team and expect to do well — or even be able to legally play it! And all of them can be confusing.
This series is designed to advise players on how to interpret the sometimes byzantine rules of the event dials, and what sort of team to build or avoid for each one. I’ll quote the rules and conditions (along with the color circle associated with it) found on the folding card that comes with each dial and then give a “WHAT IT MEANS” translation along with tips on what to field or not field when building a team for the chosen dial! Finally, I’ll sum up the event and list extra material players should pack in addition to the usual HeroClix gear.

E001

During this extended downtime between new sets and Approved Play tournaments, players may seek some new scenarios to play. Now, then, is a perfect time to try out some of the event dials released each set since 2007’s Monsters and Mutations!

For those who’ve never played or seen an event dial before, here’s a primer: they’re like playing under ever-changing, multiple Battlefield Conditions. I’ve only played a few, but they can be a total blast…WHEN players are able to build a team for the dial beforehand.

Not all event dials are created equal in terms of team builds. More to the point, some have particular build restrictions that prevent you from simply playing any old team and expect to do well — or even be able to legally play it! And all of them can be confusing.

This series is designed to advise players on how to interpret the sometimes byzantine rules of the event dials, and what sort of team to build or avoid for each one. I’m using the following format:

WHAT TO BRING: Any extra elements needed or recommended besides the usual items used in normal HeroClix games will be listed here.

THE SETUP: Here I quote the special rules for the event dial that are marked with the checked box on the event dial card. Then I give a “WHAT IT MEANS” translation along with tips on what to field or not field when building a team for the chosen dial! I also do the same for each condition that appears on the dial (along with the color circle representing it and which slots they appear on).

Update (01/11/10): Turned this into a prologue for newcomers to the blog and series.

by ·1 Comment
Sorry for the delay in this update and post-mortem on the Iron Campaign. But I just had to stick with the notion of finding and scanning all this artwork in addition to writing the text. 🙂 From most to least expensive, I’ve done a mini-review of each Stark-designed piece of armor in the HeroClix game based on its usefulness as part of a Stark-themed scheme. I also list feats that work and give each a general rating and an “Iron” rating based on how well they work on an Iron-themed team.
V Iron Man (X-Plosion) 189
One of the earliest Iron Men and one of the worst. Tipping the scales at nearly 200 points, it looks like the points all went to range and Ranged Combat Expert. One click of 10 attack and a steady drop from there, though, makes his fairly impressive damage potential worthless. Which makes him fairly worthless. Don’t play him unless you have a huge team (think 1500 points and up) that you can hide him behind in the background. Feats that work: Trick Shot. With him safely in the background, he can actually be a highly effective sniper.
GENERAL RATING: 1.5 of 5
IRON RATING: 2 of 5.
Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188
Great numbers on Attack (11), Defense (18) and Damage (4) almost make you not care how expensive he is. Then you see his Special Power “Extremis” granting him Perplex, Outwit and Super Senses all together for the first third of his dial. Quite simply the best Iron Man to date, SI Iron Man makes the Stark Industries theme build viable in an unprecedented fashion. Feats that work: Brilliant Tactician fits him, well, brilliantly. It’s hard to recommend much more on top of that, even though Outsmart, Coordination and the Avengers feats Thunderbolts and Alpha Flight are great fits as well.
GENERAL RATING: 4 of 5
IRON RATING: 5 of 5.
Veteran Iron Man (Armor Wars) 172
His high Attack Value, 10 range and Outwit are nice, but at a full 72 points less there’s another Iron Man that does all that save the Outwit. Attack values slack off too quickly and precipitously, and his damage is never that great (making his double targets mostly useless). Try to keep feats light: either Outsmart to guard against enemy Outwit or Nanobots to take advantage of all that 2 damage. Or stick with the minimally-costed Avengers alternate team abilities (ATAs) Thunderbolts or Alpha Flight for the very best bang per buck.
GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5
IRON RATING: 3 of 5.
Hulkbuster (Mutations & Monsters) 165
Although his Attack and Damage stats are a bit lightweight for his cost, “Buffet” Iron Man brings a well-appreciated close combat expertise to the Iron team. His theme-best defense (18+Impervious) is also a boon to him. Feat him either with Unstoppable to allow him to bust open firing lanes for the others or with Lunge to grant some small move+attack ability on his post-“Flight Stabilizers” clicks.
GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5
IRON RATING: 4 of 5.
Iron Man (Supernova) 160
As though Running Shot with 11 Attack and 4 damage weren’t enough, the Silver Centurion suit adds both Incapacitate (with 2 targets) and Outwit to the mix. That’s more than enough to make up for his less-than-optimal 8 range and to make him absolutely essential for any Iron Swarm greater than 400 points. One of the first truly good Iron Man figures. Feat him with Stunning Blow; it makes him expensive but also delivers a potentially crippling blow to the enemy and is worth dropping T-Bolts from the team to fit it on.
GENERAL RATING: 3.5 of 5
IRON RATING: 5 of 5.
Iron Man (Avengers) 154
The first alternate universe Iron Man of the list, this one isn’t bad with his high 10 range, high 4 damage and, best of all, his Stealth-busting Ultimates team ability. Starting with Impervious and spiking to 11 Attack Value is a great bonus, too. Sad that he’s got one of the bar-none worst Special Powers in the game, though. No feats.
GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5
IRON RATING: 3.5 of 5.
Tony Stark (Armor Wars) 150
This Limited Edition version has great range + Perplex to help his other mediocre stats, but he’s a bit too costly for what you get, especially since he can’t push off that first click and keep the power. Only good for Brilliant Tactician if you can’t run the Secret Invasion version; feat him with such (and if running a lot of Avengers, use Coordination to ensure he can always keep line of fire open to them). The Avengers ATAs fit, too.
GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5
IRON RATING: 3 of 5.
Iron Man (Ultimates) 144
8 range and lower defense numbers make him the inferior Ultimate Iron Man by far (despite double-target Energy Explosion and stuff). Only field him if running an Ultimates armor theme or as a point filler for a truly massive Stark team. Don’t bother with feats.
GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5
IRON RATING: 2.5 of 5.
E Iron Man (Armor Wars) 135
Boasts Running Shot plus a great 10 range along with Perplex to help his other mediocre stats. Works wonderfully on this team as a sniper and support piece without costing a lot. No TA, though. Feat with Mercenary if you run one of the Ultimates along with him. Otherwise consider Improvise.
GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5
IRON RATING: 3.5 of 5.
V War Machine (Armor Wars) 124
Mediocre damage and attack values are balanced by great defense. Not the first to reach for, though, especially with no team ability to add to the team. No feats needed.
GENERAL RATING: 4 of 5
IRON RATING: 3.5 of 5.
Iron Widow (Avengers) 117
A 3rd alternate Iron Man. I didn’t run her at all during the campaign due to forgetting she actually counts as a Stark suit. If I had, I’d have found her an effective anti-Stealth solution that works well with the cheap SHIELD pieces used as fodder when she’s inevitably targeted and hit. No feats really needed, but Fortitude or Outsmart can make her a tough KO on her back end.
GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5
IRON RATING: 3 of 5.
Spider-Man (Avengers) 111
For the Iron squad, he’s best employed as mobile (via Leap/Climb) Outwit and Super Strength (though he’s not the cheapest for the role). Survivable and taxiable, he’s the one of the first non-Iron Man pieces to consider when deviating from the theme. Feat him with Lunge sometimes.
GENERAL RATING: 4 of 5
IRON RATING: 4 of 5.
E War Machine (Armor Wars) 109
While a fairly stellar piece in its own right, for the Iron Man squad its  damage, attack and range values are all a bit too low for the points when compared with the cheaper Free Comic Book Day Iron Man. Still a fine piece, esp. with the Thunderbolts feat.
GENERAL RATING: 4 of 5
IRON RATING: 3.5 of 5.
U Iron Man (Mutations & Monsters) 100
10-range and high AV make him good either as a relatively cheap first-striker or as deadly cleanup piece. The “Invincible” power isn’t a killer either. The SHIELD TA is ironically a bit wasted since he’s going to be attacking more than supporting, but try to plan to use it anyhow. Feat with Vendetta and maybe Protected to get the most out of “Invincible.”
GENERAL RATING: 4 of 5
IRON RATING: 4.5 of 5.
Anthony Stark (Armor Wars) 100
As the cheapest Outwit and Super Strength available to the team, this old-school-sculpted piece is a good roleplayer as such. Feat with Outsmart sometimes in addition to the Avengers ATAs.
GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5
IRON RATING: 3.5 of 5.
Unique Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89
With weak stats and range, this figure is useful only as the tieup and Super Strength threat if Hulkbuster, Anthony Stark or Iron Spidey don’t fit the team. Pretty but empty. No feats aside from the ATAs.
GENERAL RATING: 2.5 of 5
IRON RATING: 2 of 5.
Rookie Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89
Terrible damage is only salvaged by 8 range + RS. He does get Ranged Combat Expert down the stretch, and his starting Invulnerability may just land him on those clicks after a hit. But this is one of the last Iron Men to pick in any case. Feat: Armor Piercing if anything beyond the ATAs.
GENERAL RATING: 2 of 5
IRON RATING: 2 of 5.
Guardsman (Avengers) 32
Normally, this piece is OK as a taxi…but on a team of flyers, like the Iron Men? Not so much. No, instead this cheap piece works great as tie-up…sacrificing these 32 points saved more than one game. And the SHIELD TA is SO good on a team full of shooters like this one. Always have as least one Guardsman on the team. No feats.
GENERAL RATING: 1.5 of 5
IRON RATING: 4 of 5.
Rookie Mandroid Armor (Clobberin’ Time) 28
This little guy revolutionized my efforts when I realized that the Mandroids count as Stark-built armor just as the Guardsman does. Telekinesis is a huge bonus, helping to both enhance and redress the Iron Man’s dependence on range. Hulkbuster needs to get within Charge range? Mandroid. V AW Iron Man need to take a shot this turn but not a hit the next? Running Shot with him, then yank him back with Mandroid. And even when his single click of TK is gone, he’s more than worth his points for the SHIELD TA or as a meat shield down the stretch. No feats needed.
GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5
IRON RATING: 5 of 5.
OTHER ESSENTIAL IRON SWARM TIPS:
If you use Thunderbolts, pick Ultimates, always. Just do it. This is a shooting team that works best from 10 squares or more out (thanks to Perplexed or SHIELD-boosted range values), so take the variant of hindering terrain out of the equation completely.
Sometimes you won’t have room for Thunderbolts with so many Avengers on the team and will have to settle for Alpha Flight. Bring a slip of paper to help keep track of who each piece selects as their target.
Battlefield Conditions to consider: Bright Lights, always; the only time it’ll ever hurt your team is if Hulkbuster takes a ton of damage (he’s got Stealth late-dial). Otherwise, this range-centric team can only benefit.
Atlantis Rising and Earthquake do little to hurt this team of nearly all fliers.
Isolation doesn’t affect your team in the slightest (unless you use the Kinetic Accelerator special object…more on that later), so stick it in your hand if you expect Blades/Claws/Fangs or JSA or something.
Finally, consider Wasteland to give your ranged fighters a wide field of vision to take shots. Be careful not to use this if you have problems dealing with Stealth, though.
Ones to avoid like the plague: Krakoa, The Living Island. This BFC denies you not only the cover of hindering terrain, but also the great sniper positions of rooftops. Never, ever play this.
Deep Shadows or Darkness or Shrunk: Again, these anti-range BFCs are absolutely no good for this team, taking away the Iron Man’s one great strength — ranged combat.
Alpha Strike: There are too many Avengers on the team. You’d only give the enemy more chances to rack up bonus points.
Armor Wars: The other strength of the Stark swarm is that nearly all the pieces start with Invulnerability or better. This BFC practically nullifies that. NEVER PLAY IT!!!!
Assembled: With all the Avengers on this theme, this seems like a great choice…until you realize most of them share the same name, “Iron Man,” disallowing the bonus.
Special Objects:
Dynamostat. Although wide-open maps serve the Iron Men well, this little bit of extra blocking terrain to Running Shot from behind can help a lot to set up your attacks…or prevent the enemy’s.
Kinetic Accelerator. If you have it, this is best for Hulkbuster to make him a threat even at long range.
Tombstone. Gives a Super-Strong tie-up piece like U Armor Wars Iron Man a little better shot at absorbing an attack for the bigger pieces on your team.
Meteorite. For Hulkbuster. Although he doesn’t NEED it, per se, thanks to his Exploit Weakness.
Thanks everyone for reading this record of my weeks-long indulgence of my Inner 12-Year-Old’s love of all things Iron Man. Upcoming at last will be the first parts of a series on team-building for the controversial Event Dials introduced in Mutations and Monsters back in Fall 2007. Look for it soon!

ironmanual

Sorry for the delay in this update and post-mortem on the Iron Campaign. But I just had to stick with the notion of finding and scanning all this artwork in addition to writing the text. 🙂 From most to least expensive, I’ve done a mini-review of each Stark-designed piece of armor in the HeroClix game based on its usefulness as part of a Stark-themed scheme. I also list feats that work and give each a general rating and an “Iron” rating based on how well they work on an Iron-themed team.

V Iron Man (X-Plosion) 189

ironmanDoubleFeatureOne of the earliest Iron Men and one of the worst. Tipping the scales at nearly 200 points, it looks like the points all went to range and Ranged Combat Expert. One click of 10 attack and a steady drop from there, though, makes his fairly impressive damage potential worthless. Which makes him fairly worthless. Don’t play him unless you have a huge team (think 1500 points and up) that you can hide him behind in the background. Feats that work: Trick Shot. With him safely in the background, he can actually be a highly effective sniper.

GENERAL RATING: 1.5 of 5

IRON RATING: 2 of 5.

_____________________________

Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188

Good 'n' sober.

Good 'n' sober.

Great numbers on Attack (11), Defense (18) and Damage (4) almost make you not care how expensive he is. Then you see his Special Power “Extremis” granting him Perplex, Outwit and Super Senses all together for the first third of his dial. Quite simply the best Iron Man to date, SI Iron Man makes the Stark Industries theme build viable in an unprecedented fashion. Feats that work: Brilliant Tactician fits him, well, brilliantly. It’s hard to recommend much more on top of that, even though Outsmart, Coordination and the Avengers feats Thunderbolts and Alpha Flight are great fits as well.

GENERAL RATING: 4 of 5

IRON RATING: 5 of 5.

_____________________________

Veteran Iron Man (Armor Wars) 172

Sometimes sober.

Sometimes sober.

His high Attack Value, 10 range and Outwit are nice, but at a full 72 points less there’s another Iron Man that does all that save the Outwit. Attack values slack off too quickly and precipitously, and his damage is never that great (making his double targets mostly useless). Try to keep feats light: either Outsmart to guard against enemy Outwit or Nanobots to take advantage of all that 2 damage. Or stick with the minimally-costed Avengers alternate team abilities (ATAs) Thunderbolts or Alpha Flight for the very best bang per buck.

GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5

IRON RATING: 3 of 5.

_____________________________

Hulkbuster (Mutations & Monsters) 165

'Ey!! It's "Fat Tony!"

'Ey!! It's "Fat Tony!"

Although his Attack and Damage stats are a bit lightweight for his cost, “Buffet” Iron Man brings a well-appreciated close combat expertise to the Iron team. His theme-best defense (18+Impervious) is also a boon to him. Feat him either with Unstoppable to allow him to bust open firing lanes for the others or with Lunge to grant some small move+attack ability on his post-“Flight Stabilizers” clicks.

GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5

IRON RATING: 4 of 5.

_____________________________

Iron Man (Supernova) 160

SHINY.

SHINY.

As though Running Shot with 11 Attack and 4 damage weren’t enough, Silver Centurion suit adds both Incapacitate (with 2 targets) and Outwit to the mix. That’s more than enough to make up for his less-than-optimal 8 range and to make him absolutely essential for any Iron Swarm greater than 400 points. One of the first truly good Iron Man figures. Feat him with Stunning Blow; it makes him expensive but also delivers a potentially crippling blow to the enemy and is worth dropping T-Bolts from the team to fit it on.

GENERAL RATING: 3.5 of 5

IRON RATING: 5 of 5.

_____________________________

Iron Man (Avengers) 154

The first alternate universe Iron Man of the list, this one isn’t bad with his high 10 range, high 4 damage and, best of all, his Stealth-busting Ultimates team ability. Starting with Impervious and spiking to 11 Attack Value is a great bonus, too. Sad that he’s got one of the bar-none worst Special Powers in the game, though you needn’t actually use it. No feats.

GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5

IRON RATING: 3.5 of 5.

_____________________________

Tony Stark (Armor Wars) 150

I THINK this is the right image for this suit...

I THINK this is the right image for this suit...

This Limited Edition version has great range + Perplex to help his other mediocre stats, but he’s a bit too costly for what you get, especially since he can’t push off that first click and keep the power. Only good for Brilliant Tactician if you can’t run the Secret Invasion version; feat him with such (and if running a lot of Avengers, use Coordination to ensure he can always keep line of fire open to them). The Avengers ATAs fit, too.

GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5

IRON RATING: 3 of 5.

.

_____________________________

Iron Man (Ultimates) 144

8 range and lower defense numbers make him the inferior Ultimate Iron Man by far (despite double-target Energy Explosion and stuff). Only field him if running an Ultimates armor theme or as a point filler for a truly massive Stark team. Don’t bother with feats.

GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5

IRON RATING: 2.5 of 5.

.

_____________________________

E Iron Man (Armor Wars) 135

Boasts Running Shot plus a great 10 range along with Perplex to help his other mediocre stats. Works wonderfully on this team as a sniper and support piece without costing a lot. No TA, though. Feat with Mercenary if you run one of the Ultimates along with him. Otherwise consider Improvise.

GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5

IRON RATING: 3.5 of 5.

.

_____________________________

V War Machine (Armor Wars) 124

BLACK (andsilver) POWER!!!!!

BLACK (andsilver) POWER!!!!!

Mediocre damage and attack values are balanced by great defense. Not the first to reach for, though, especially with no team ability to add to the team. No feats needed.

GENERAL RATING: 4 of 5

IRON RATING: 3.5 of 5.

.

.

_____________________________

Iron Widow (Avengers) 117

not bad for a suit with about 8 pages of panel time.

not bad for a suit with about 8 pages of panel time.

A 3rd alternate Iron Man. I didn’t run her at all during the campaign due to forgetting she actually counts as a Stark suit. If I had, I’d have found her an effective anti-Stealth solution that works well with the cheap SHIELD pieces used as fodder when she’s inevitably targeted and hit. No feats really needed, but Fortitude or Outsmart can make her a tough KO on her back end.

GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5

IRON RATING: 3 of 5.

.

_____________________________

Spider-Man (Avengers) 111

Iron Spidey

Iron Spidey

For the Iron squad, he’s best employed as mobile (via Leap/Climb) Outwit and Super Strength (though he’s not the cheapest for the role). Survivable and taxiable, he’s the one of the first non-Iron Man pieces to consider when deviating from the theme. Feat him with Lunge sometimes.

GENERAL RATING: 4 of 5

IRON RATING: 4 of 5.

.

_____________________________

E War Machine (Armor Wars) 109

So wait, is this Rhodey, or Tony? I'm stumped

So wait, is this Rhodey, or Tony? I'm stumped

While a fairly stellar piece in its own right, for the Iron Man squad its  damage, attack and range values are all a bit too low for the points when compared with the cheaper Free Comic Book Day Iron Man. Still a fine piece, esp. with the Thunderbolts feat.

GENERAL RATING: 4 of 5

IRON RATING: 3.5 of 5.

.

.

_____________________________

U Iron Man (Mutations & Monsters) 100

I have this poster framed on my wall. :)

I have this poster framed on my wall. 🙂

10-range and high AV make him good either as a relatively cheap first-striker or as deadly cleanup piece. The “Invincible” power isn’t a killer either. The SHIELD TA is ironically a bit wasted since he’s going to be attacking more than supporting, but try to plan to use it anyhow. Feat with Vendetta and maybe Protected to get the most out of “Invincible.”

GENERAL RATING: 4 of 5

IRON RATING: 4.5 of 5.

_____________________________

Anthony Stark (Armor Wars) 100

"Rehab" armor.

"Rehab" armor.

As the cheapest Outwit and Super Strength available to the team, this old-school-sculpted piece is a good roleplayer as such. Feat with Outsmart sometimes in addition to the Avengers ATAs.

GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5

IRON RATING: 3.5 of 5.

.

.

_____________________________

Unique Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89

Oldie but...well, not so good actually

Oldie but...well, not so good actually

With weak stats and range, this figure is useful only as the tieup and Super Strength threat if Hulkbuster, Anthony Stark or Iron Spidey don’t fit the team. Pretty but empty. No feats aside from the ATAs.

GENERAL RATING: 2.5 of 5

IRON RATING: 2 of 5.

.

.

_____________________________

Rookie Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89

Terrible damage is only salvaged by 8 range + RS. He does get Ranged Combat Expert down the stretch, and his starting Invulnerability may just land him on those clicks after a hit. But this is one of the last Iron Men to pick in any case. Feat: Armor Piercing if anything beyond the ATAs.

GENERAL RATING: 2 of 5

IRON RATING: 2 of 5.

.

_____________________________

Guardsman (Avengers) 32

Normally, this piece is OK as a taxi…but on a team of flyers, like the Iron Men? Not so much. No, instead this cheap piece works great as tie-up…sacrificing these 32 points saved more than one game. And the SHIELD TA is SO good on a team full of shooters like this one. Always have at least one Guardsman on the team. No feats.

GENERAL RATING: 1.5 of 5

IRON RATING: 4 of 5.

_____________________________

Rookie Mandroid Armor (Clobberin’ Time) 28

The Wal-Mart version of Starktech.

The Wal-Mart version of Starktech.

This little guy revolutionized my efforts when I realized that the Mandroids count as Stark-built armor just as the Guardsman does. Telekinesis is a huge bonus, helping to both enhance and redress the Iron Man’s dependence on range. Hulkbuster needs to get within Charge range? Mandroid. V AW Iron Man need to take a shot this turn but not a hit the next? Running Shot with him, then yank him back with Mandroid. And even when his single click of TK is gone, he’s more than worth his points for the SHIELD TA or as a meat shield down the stretch. No feats needed.

GENERAL RATING: 3 of 5

IRON RATING: 5 of 5.

OTHER ESSENTIAL IRON SWARM TIPS:

If you use Thunderbolts, pick Ultimates, always. Just do it. This is a shooting team that works best from 10 squares or more out (thanks to Perplexed or SHIELD-boosted range values), so take the variant of hindering terrain out of the equation completely.

Sometimes you won’t have room for Thunderbolts with so many Avengers on the team and will have to settle for Alpha Flight. Bring a slip of paper to help keep track of who each piece selects as their target.

Battlefield Conditions

Consider: Bright Lights, always; the only time it’ll ever hurt your team is if Hulkbuster takes a ton of damage (he’s got Stealth late-dial). Otherwise, this range-centric team can only benefit.

Atlantis Rising and Earthquake do little to hurt this team of nearly all fliers.

Isolation doesn’t affect your team in the slightest (unless you use the Kinetic Accelerator special object…more on that later), so stick it in your hand if you expect Blades/Claws/Fangs or JSA or something.

Finally, consider Wasteland to give your ranged fighters a wide field of vision to take shots. Be careful not to use this if you have problems dealing with Stealth, though.

Avoid like the plague: Krakoa, The Living Island. This BFC denies you not only the cover of hindering terrain, but also the great sniper positions of rooftops. Never, ever play this.

Deep Shadows or Darkness or Shrunk: Again, these anti-range BFCs are absolutely no good for this team, taking away the Iron Man’s one great strength — ranged combat.

Alpha Strike: There are too many Avengers on the team. You’d only give the enemy more chances to rack up bonus points.

Armor Wars: The other strength of the Stark swarm is that nearly all the pieces start with Invulnerability or better. This BFC practically nullifies that. NEVER PLAY IT!!!!

Assembled: With all the Avengers on this theme, this seems like a great choice…until you realize most of them share the same name, “Iron Man,” disallowing the bonus.

Special Objects:

Dynamostat. Although wide-open maps serve the Iron Men well, this little bit of extra blocking terrain to Running Shot from behind can help a lot to set up your attacks…or prevent the enemy’s.

Kinetic Accelerator. If you have it, this is best for Hulkbuster to make him a threat even at long range.

Tombstone. Gives a Super-Strong tie-up piece like U Armor Wars Iron Man a little better shot at absorbing an attack for the bigger pieces on your team.

Meteorite. For Hulkbuster. Although he doesn’t NEED it, per se, thanks to his Exploit Weakness.

Thanks to everyone for reading this record of my weeks-long indulgence of my Inner 12-Year-Old’s love of all things Iron Man. Upcoming at last will be the first parts of a series on team-building for the controversial Event Dials introduced in Mutations and Monsters back in Fall 2007. Look for it soon!

by ·3 Comments
Q: What do these HeroClix figures have in common (besides all being Tony Stark-related characters)?

Q: What do these HeroClix figures have in common (besides all being Tony Stark-related characters)?

It was just me and 12-year-old Bryce this time, so we played a 1000-point game.  Although I wanted to wrap up my Iron Campaign, I actually decided to mix things up by not playing the best figures for the theme. So here’s my Iron team du jour:

V Iron Man (Armor Wars) 172
+ Inside Information 4
+ Alpha Flight 0
Tony Stark 150
+ Brilliant Tactician 20
+ Coordination 6
+ Alpha Flight 0
E Iron Man (Armor Wars) 135
V War Machine 124
E War Machine 109
+ Alpha Flight 0
Anthony Stark 100
+ Alpha Flight 0
R Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89
+ Alpha Flight 0
U Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89
+ Alpha Flight 0

= 998 points.

A: They're all from the Armor Wars set of Marvel HeroClix from Fall 2005.

A: They're all from the Armor Wars set of Marvel HeroClix from Fall 2005.

It’s all Armor Wars pieces, a theme I’d wanted to try some time ago once I realized I had all the Iron Men (and such) of that set. But it’s a much more fragile team than the other 1000-pointers I’ve played recently. With no natural damage above 3, only one click of AV higher than 10 and nothing better than Invulnerability on defense, I expected some problems against Bryce’s team:

The Mighty Thor 286
+ Thundering Blow 20
Magog 209
Dr. Doom (Fantastic 4) 200
Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188
Batman (Icons promo) 102

…which I’m only now realizing was 5 points over. >:(

I win the map roll and pick the wide-open Rooftops map to give Doom and Batman little cover. Bryce plays Bizarro World while I Bright Lights up the field to completely nerf the Batman Ally ability.

First moves.
I start by moving out the old Iron Man suits to pick up objects. This is bad for Anthony Stark, who’s immediately hit hard for FIVE (thanks to SI Iron Man’s Outwit and Perplex via Extremis) by The Mighty Thor. Just like that, half my opening Outwit — and the heavy object A.Stark was holding — is GONE. And with the rest of Bryce’s team marching in for next turn, things look bleak already.

Not Going Out Alone.
Anthony Stark WILL be KO’d in another turn by Thor, who simply cannot miss his 15 DV. But Bryce has moved Batman in range of a Running Shot from one untokened Iron Man, so I take the shot. Then I call Alpha Flight and boost Anthony’s AV for a KO of Batman. This pushes Anthony to Outwit SI’s Extremis, forcing a “wasted” attack on Anthony to regain it. An early shot on Magog neuters him a little bit.

Things get worse.
I next get a couple of shots on The Mighty Thor, who wins the Impervious roll both times. Then my V AW Iron Man is hit for 4 down to his 8 AV click (which doesn’t belong on the middle of a dial this expensive). In an attempt to save the Vet, U AW bases bad Iron Man to stall him (and perhaps the fire of the still-free Dr. Doom) in a total sacrifice move. Fortunately, Iron Man missed his attack, enabling U AW Iron Man to survive that round and the Vet to retreat to the backfield.

One last push.
Meanwhile, R AW Iron Man tumbles under massive fire, but not before proving his worth by blocking for bigger guns and getting an Alpha Flight + Perplexed RCE hit on Thor. The Asgardian is KO’d after concentrated fire from both War Machines for the win within regulation time.

We play on. SI Iron Man & Doom hit E AW for a solid 3, but E AW busts back for 4 to get Doom off Perplex at last. Now I have two firing every turn. Doom flees too far to use PC so Iron Man starts taking heavy fire. Eventually, V AW Iron Man gets back in Outwit range and the War Machines finish off the rest of Bryce’s team. And, as it turned out, Thundering Blow never came into play, so the slight illegality of his team was never a concern.

Armor Wars set? We salute you.

Armor Wars set? We salute you.

Iron Campaign final record: 12-11.

Mission accomplished: I’ve taken the Stark Armory from a dismal 4-9 record to a winning one after about 5 weeks of focused play. It was especially gratifying to do so A) with a not-quite-optimized build (lacking the awesome 188-pointer and the oh-so-handy Mandroid Armor) that resembles the poorer teams I started with in 2008; and B) against Byrce, a young player who’s played in fewer than 8 tournaments since starting the game last summer but yet is a very sharp player who makes few mistakes.

Be here next time for a round-up of all the Iron Man/Stark Industries pieces I’ve used in this campaign. And as always, thanks for reading!

by ·0 Comments
A week after the previous post, I played Morrison again for a shot at ending the Iron Campaign at last with a winning record for my Stark armory teams. This time the build total was 600 points:
Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188 + Brilliant Tactician 20 + Alpha Flight 0
V Iron Man (Armor Wars) 172 + Alpha Flight 0
LE Iron Man (Supernova) 160 + Alpha Flight 0
Guardsman 32
R Mandroid Armor 28
= 600 points exactly.
and Morrison had a Soldier team of
Uncle Sam 140
The Thing (Secret Invasion) 100
August General in Iron 100
Captain America (Avengers) 95
The Punisher (Secret Invasion) 83
Dum Dum Dugan (Secret Invasion human) 75
and picked the Arkham map. He also played the game-changing Deep Shadows battlefield condition, rendering my vast range advantage completely moot. Both of us fielded Eleha’al Vines; I used a Kinetic Accelerator and he had a Tombstone.
He moved out first, hefting a Tombstone with Cap, and I saw a chance to take a free first strike despite the shorter range by doing a Running Shot with Vet Iron Man then TKing him back to the start area with Mandroid armor.
Here I made a horrible mistake. I sent V AW Iron Man to take his shot, boosting his Speed to do so, only to miss the target. But I’d wound up putting him JUST OUTSIDE Mandroid’s Deep Shadows-truncated Telekinesis range and so was forced to leave him a wide open target for Thing’s “Clobberin’ Time” attack.
From that point on I was completely on the defensive, again making a terrible error late in the game when I got V AW on the healing Vine but didn’t block the doorway with the Mandroid he’d taxied FOR THAT VERY PURPOSE and thus gave up easy, easy points to Uncle Sam’s Transporter move & attack. In the end, I’d KOed no one and lost all but Secret Invasion Iron Man and the Mandroid.
Attempt to end the Iron Campaign today with a winning record? FAIL.
With plenty of tournament time left, we played a second game, a rematch. This time Morrison picked the Sinister Prison map. My Wasteland got Ordinary Day’d. But with my full range powers back, I was able to blow down multiple walls to get early shots on his team and keep HIM on the defensive all game, losing no one and KOing Uncle Sam and Dugan.
So again the Iron Campaign holds at an even win/loss record: 11-11. The first match shows how truly range-dependent this team is. I rather wish I’d swapped out Vet Iron Man for Hulkbuster after all (if only to avoid making that disastrous first move). Similarly, the second game illustrates how dominant the team can be even on super-cramped field like the Prison.

A week after the last game, I played Morrison again for a shot at ending the Iron Campaign at last with a winning record for my Stark armory teams. This time the build total was 600 points:

Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188 + Brilliant Tactician 20 + Alpha Flight 0
V Iron Man (Armor Wars) 172 + Alpha Flight 0
LE Iron Man (Supernova) 160 + Alpha Flight 0
Guardsman 32
R Mandroid Armor 28

= 600 points exactly.

Morrison had a Soldier team of

Uncle Sam 140
The Thing (Secret Invasion) 100
August General in Iron 100
Captain America (Avengers) 95
The Punisher (Secret Invasion) 83
Dum Dum Dugan (Secret Invasion human) 75

and picked the Arkham map. He also played the game-changing Deep Shadows battlefield condition, rendering my vast range advantage completely moot. Both of us fielded Eleha’al Vines; I used a Kinetic Accelerator and he had a Tombstone.

He moved out first, hefting a Tombstone with Cap, and I saw a chance to take a free first strike despite the shorter range by doing a Running Shot with Vet Iron Man then TKing him back to the start area with Mandroid armor.

Here I made a horrible mistake. I sent V AW Iron Man to take his shot, boosting his Speed to do so, only to miss the target. But I’d wound up putting him JUST OUTSIDE Mandroid’s Deep Shadows-truncated Telekinesis range and so was forced to leave him a wide open target for Thing’s “Clobberin’ Time” attack.

Which didn’t miss.

From that point on I was completely on the defensive, again making a terrible error late in the game when I got that same V AW Iron Man figure on the healing Vine but didn’t block the doorway with the Mandroid that he’d taxied FOR THAT VERY PURPOSE and thus gave up easy, easy points to Uncle Sam’s Transporter move & attack. In the end, I’d KOed no one and lost all but Secret Invasion Iron Man and the Mandroid.

ironmansmashed

Attempt to end the Iron Campaign today with a winning record? FAIL.

With plenty of tournament time left and no other players, we played a second game, a rematch. This time Morrison picked the Sinister Prison map. My Wasteland got Ordinary Day‘d. But with my full range powers back, I was able to blow down multiple walls to get early shots on his team and keep HIM on the defensive all game, losing no one and KOing Uncle Sam and Dugan.

So again the Iron Campaign holds at an even win/loss record: 11-11. The first match shows how truly range-dependent this team is. I rather wish I’d swapped out Vet Iron Man for Hulkbuster after all (if only to avoid making that disastrous first move). Similarly, the second game illustrates how dominant the team can be even on super-cramped field like the Prison.

Next post, early next week, will continue the coverage Iron Campaign endgame. Will the Stark Industries-inspired figures soar in triumph at last or stumble further into mediocrity?

by ·1 Comment
OK, so it’s quite a bit later than Monday, when I intended to post this. I apologize for overpromising and underdelivering. Here’s the 1000-point Stark team I chose this time:
Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188 + Brilliant Tactician 20 + Improvise 7 + Thunderbolts 5
V Iron Man (Armor Wars) 172 + Thunderbolts 5
Hulkbuster 165 + Unstoppable 5
LE Iron Man (Supernova) 160 + Stunning Blow 10 + Thunderbolts 5
U Iron Man (Mutations + Monsters) 100
Anthony Stark 100 + Thunderbolts 5
Guardsman 32
R Mandroid Armor 28
in a battle royale on the Great Arena map against (clockwise from my left):
BRYCE’S
The Mighty Thor 286
Doom (Secret Invasion) 249
Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188
Iron Man (Avengers) 154
Super Skrull: X-Men 106
PAUL’s goofy clix
Bizarro #1 (Arkham Asylum) 199
Mordru (Cosmic Justice) 109
Ch’p 82
Plasmus 80
Impossible Man 72
Batzarro 69
Mr. Mind 68
Red Ghost 59
Super Apes Peotor 50
Ambush Bug 50
Val-Or 23
Joe Chill x 2
and more I can’t recall.
and TIM’s villains
Mordru 245 (Crisis)
Immortus 157
Clown Prince of Crime (Arkham Asylum) 150
Circe (Arkham Asylum) 149
Doctor Destiny 99
and one more I can’t remember.
By round 3, the “shock the turtle” effect would come into play (in which every round a “shock barrier” would move a square closer to the center of the map, dealing 1 unavoidable damage to anyone caught in it and thus shrinking the effective map size). That’d keep me from hanging back to use my range advantage for very long.
And It Went a Little Something Like This
Paul, hoping I’d do his dirty work for him, helpfully Outwitted Bryce’s Iron Man’s Invulnerability and I took the bait, delivering a 5-click Stunning Blow to unhelmeted Tony.
Bryce, while a very sharp player for one so young and relatively unseasoned, made a critical error in pushing to retaliate. Although he hit my powerless FCBD Iron Man (thanks to Doom’s “Powerless” super-Outwit option) for a whopping 5 clicks with Mighty Thor, he’d planted both Thor and Doom where they’d take Shock-the-Turtle damage next turn.  I concentrated my efforts on keeping Doom’s Powerless countered while I finished off Bryce’s Iron Man and then Thor for an insurmountable lead before time ran out.
The next day, I had to field a different 1000-point team because Bryce accidentally walked off with my U Iron Man (Mutations + Monsters).
Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188 + Brilliant Tactician 20 + Improvise 7 + Alpha Flight 0
V Iron Man (Armor Wars) 172 + Alpha Flight 0
Hulkbuster 165 + Unstoppable 5
LE Iron Man (Supernova) 160 + Stunning Blow 10
Spider-Man (Avengers) 111 + Alpha Flight 0
Anthony Stark 100 + Alpha Flight 0
Guardsman 32
R Mandroid Armor 28
My plan: sit back and pile on Improvise tokens until targets present themselves. With the Mandroid’s TK, I had some flexibility in attack options.
There were three players, so I got the first bye.
MORRISON
14-15 year-old occasional player. Very skilled.
His team: AVENGERS
Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188 + Brilliant Tactician 20
Namor (Secret Invasion) 150
Dr. Strange (Secret Invasion) 149
Hercules (Secret Invasion) 142
U Iron Man (Mutations + Monsters) 100 + Vendetta 6
Spider-Girl 77
Spider-Man (Secret Invasion) 50
After watching Conrad squander his Green Lantern team’s range advantage by rushing down to the center of the map, there was no way I’d repeat such an error. Using Perplex and TK, I took superlong-range shots with V AW Iron Man, trying to hit Iron Man’s 21 DV (double-Perplex+terrain). I constantly missed, but Morrison was completely unable to retaliate due to my range advantage. It was only a matter of time, then before I either hit his Iron Man or another character.
So he ventured out to destroy my Kinetic Accelerator and thus opened up the battle for true. It ended with my taking his Iron Man and Dr. Strange while losing none.
CONRAD
14-year-old occasional player. Not very skilled.
Ganthet 286
Kyle Rayner (Crisis) 182
Alan Scott 171
Green Lantern (Crisis) 157
Colossus (Mutations + Monsters) 158
Again I played a highly conservative game, only venturing out to blow up a Meteorite. The game turned when Conrad TK’d Alan out to Running Shoot V AW Iron Man for 4. That left the soft Alan open for severe punishment and KO. Hulkbuster managed to barely survive Conrad’s focused onslaught to preserve  my win (although even losing him would have meant a ONE-POINT MARGIN of victory).
Win/loss: 2-0
Iron Campaign: 10-10. First goal reached! Now I’ll try to end with a winning record before my sparring partners get COMPLETELY sick of the red & gold.

OK, so it’s quite a bit later than Monday, when I intended to post this. I apologize for overpromising and underdelivering. Here’s the 1000-point Stark team I chose this time:

Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188 + Brilliant Tactician 20 + Improvise 7 + Thunderbolts 5
V Iron Man (Armor Wars) 172 + Thunderbolts 5
Hulkbuster 165 + Unstoppable 5
LE Iron Man (Supernova) 160 + Stunning Blow 10 + Thunderbolts 5
U Iron Man (Mutations + Monsters) 100
Anthony Stark 100 + Thunderbolts 5
Guardsman 32
R Mandroid Armor 28

in a battle royale on the Great Arena map against (clockwise from my left):

BRYCE’S

The Mighty Thor 286
Doom (Secret Invasion) 249
Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188
Iron Man (Avengers) 154
Super Skrull: X-Men 106

PAUL’s goofy clix

Bizarro #1 (Arkham Asylum) 199
Mordru (Cosmic Justice) 109
Ch’p 82
Plasmus 80
Impossible Man 72
Batzarro 69
Mr. Mind 68
Red Ghost 59
Super Apes Peotor 50
Ambush Bug 50
Val-Or 23
Joe Chill x 2
(and more I can’t recall)

and TIM’s villains

Mordru 245 (Crisis)
Immortus 157
Clown Prince of Crime (Arkham Asylum) 150
Circe (Arkham Asylum) 149
Doctor Destiny 99

and one more I can’t remember.

By round 3, the “shock the turtle” effect would come into play (in which every round a “shock barrier” would move a square closer to the center of the map, dealing 1 unavoidable damage to anyone caught in it and thus shrinking the effective map size). That’d keep me from hanging back to use my range advantage for very long.

And It Went a Little Something Like This
Paul, hoping I’d do his dirty work for him, helpfully Outwitted Bryce’s Iron Man’s Invulnerability and I took the bait, delivering a 5-click Stunning Blow to unhelmeted Tony.

Bryce, while a very sharp player for one so young and relatively unseasoned, made a critical error in pushing to retaliate. Although he hit my powerless FCBD Iron Man (thanks to Doom’s “Powerless” super-Outwit option) for a whopping 5 clicks with Mighty Thor, he’d planted both Thor and Doom where they’d take Shock-the-Turtle damage next turn.  I concentrated my efforts on keeping Doom’s Powerless countered while I finished off Bryce’s Iron Man and then Thor for an insurmountable lead before time ran out. Fairly easy win for the Stark team that put it at 8-10.

The next day, I had to field a slightly different 1000-point team because Bryce accidentally walked off with my U Iron Man (Mutations + Monsters).

Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188 + Brilliant Tactician 20 + Improvise 7 + Alpha Flight 0
V Iron Man (Armor Wars) 172 + Alpha Flight 0
Hulkbuster 165 + Unstoppable 5
LE Iron Man (Supernova) 160 + Stunning Blow 10
Spider-Man (Avengers) 111 + Alpha Flight 0
Anthony Stark 100 + Alpha Flight 0
Guardsman 32
R Mandroid Armor 28

My plan: sit back and pile on Improvise tokens until targets present themselves. With the Mandroid’s TK, I had some flexibility in attack options.

There were three players, so I got the first bye.

MORRISON
14-15 year-old occasional player. Very skilled.

His team: AVENGERS

Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188 + Brilliant Tactician 20
Namor (Secret Invasion) 150
Dr. Strange (Secret Invasion) 149
Hercules (Secret Invasion) 142
U Iron Man (Mutations + Monsters) 100 + Vendetta 6
Spider-Girl 77
Spider-Man (Secret Invasion) 50

After watching Conrad squander his Green Lantern team’s range advantage by rushing down to the center of the map, there was no way I’d repeat such an error. Using Perplex and TK, I took superlong-range shots with V AW Iron Man, trying to hit Iron Man’s 21 DV (double-Perplex+terrain). I constantly missed, but Morrison was completely unable to retaliate due to my range advantage. It was only a matter of time, then before I either hit his Iron Man or another character.

So he ventured out to destroy my Kinetic Accelerator and thus opened up the battle for true. It ended with my taking his Iron Man and Dr. Strange while losing none.

CONRAD
14-year-old occasional player. Not very skilled.

Ganthet 286
Kyle Rayner (Crisis) 182
Alan Scott 171
Green Lantern (Crisis) 157
Colossus (Mutations + Monsters) 158

Again I played a highly conservative game, only venturing out to blow up a Meteorite. The game turned when Conrad TK’d Alan out to Running Shoot V AW Iron Man for 4. That left the soft Alan open for severe punishment and KO. Hulkbuster managed to barely survive Conrad’s focused onslaught to preserve  my win (although even losing him would have meant a ONE-POINT MARGIN of victory).

Win/loss: 2-0

Iron Campaign: 10-10. First goal reached! Now I’ll try to end with a winning record before my sparring partners get COMPLETELY sick of the red & gold.

by ·0 Comments
As promised last time, here’s a look back at the first Iron Man-themed swarm I ever played.
DATE PLAYED: 2/16/08
POINT TOTAL: 800
SCENARIO: 10% feats, no pogs
TEAM:
Tony Stark and his remote A.I.-driven spare Iron Man armors
Tony Stark 150
+ Alpha Flight 0
+Brilliant Tactician 20
+Protected 8
Hulkbuster 165
V AW Iron Man 172
+ Alpha Flight 0
NGN Iron Man 160
+ Alpha Flight 0
V War Machine 124
= 799 points
This was well before the 10% feat cap became an official rule. As such, it was good training for that eventuality!
First game was vs. Lee and his team of E Jade, R Gotham Undercover x2, E Metropolis SCU, E CD Green Lantern, Dream Girl, V Icons Raven, R Brainiac 5, E Jinx, Easy Co. Medic x2, JL Batman, R Huntress, V OR Booster Gold and Cosmic Boy in the Hulk Arena. This was a fairly easy match, since Lee didn’t meat-shield Jade when she carted a bunch of fig onto hindering, giving me a shot on her. With Vet Iron Man’s range boosted to 11, he could fire from beyond anyone’s Probability Control range. Subsequent shots on Green Lantern kept him running to medics and unable to mount a real offense. In the end, I was able to KO Jade, GL and Dream Girl without losing a suit. 1-0.
Lessons learned:
Range is king with this team. It would take me several more games to truly apply this knowledge, though.
Second match was against Galactus (I think) and his team of Green Scar, Maestro (both with Fortitude), AV Hulk and Rampaging Hulk. I played my just-traded-for Krakoa and boy did that screw me up. Not only did I thus deny myself the rooftops to snipe from and lose a huge tactical advantage, but I RunShot with Vet IM to blow up a Tombstone and unthinkingly placed him next to hindering, and his all-too-precious Outwit was soon gone. My 2nd great error was “using” Ramp.Hulk’s Squash to place an object to activate Krakoa next to giant Hulk 1) after the big guy already had two tokens and 2) where Green Scar could (and did) EASILY grab it and paste Hulkbuster one. Add that to the fact that too many of my attacks missed like Tony had decided to “fortify himself” with a bottle of rum before the fight and you end up with a crushing defeat…which is USUALLY how Hulk vs. Iron Man fights go!  I lost Vet Iron Man, War Machine and NGN Iron Man, only getting Ramp.Hulk in return. 1-1.
Lessons learned:
Never play a Battlefield Condition half-cocked. With a team of fliers that’s so range-dependent against a ground-pounding team that has NO range, it was a game-breaking decision to not be able to use the rooftops.
Hulkbuster is NOT the equal of Hulk in comics…OR ‘Clix! ‘Nuff said.
Finally, I faced Thrash’s Future theme of Time Trapper, Cosmic Boy+CP, Dream Girl, SR Flash, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Ultra Boy, KC Hawkman and V Emerald Empress in the Arena. Again, it seemed that Tony was drunk and affecting the rest of his remote-controlled A.I.-driven suits. The Separation Field was too close to Phantom Girl, allowing Ultra Boy to land a big hit on NGN Iron Man. Lightning Lad then RS to ping my Vet off Outwit. But Hulkbuster, War Machine and Tony were still on full, so all was not lost…
…until Cos TK’d out V Empress for a single-target PW on Tony. She missed.
And missed.
And missed.
And missed.
And…missed.
And on his LAST theme-PC roll, she hit.
No longer able to boost my attack values to counterattack Stark’s drunken die rolls, I was at a serious disadvantage. But my worst mistake was a Running Shot by Hulkbuster to finish off Lightning Lad to avoid Time Trapper’s line-of-fire for PC…putting myself IN range of his Psychic Blast after the Lad was gone! Bye-bye Impervious and all Hulkbuster’s good clicks. By this time, KC Hawkman was in the fray, KOing Iron Men with every attack. I was wiped out but at least I took down Lightning Lad, Empress and Ultra Boy with me!
Just goes to show…you can’t fight the future!
WIN/LOSS: 1-2. Thus began a string of 1-2 tournaments with Iron Man-centric teams.
Lessons learned:
Again, range is a big deal that I didn’t really leverage enough. I should have struck from 11 squares out for every attack until he was forced to get within everyone else’s zone.
Perplex and other stat boosts are also highly necessary. Particularly with these older Iron Man pieces, which each lack something in their combat values. Tony Stark’s AV and damage top out at 10 and 3 respectively and wane from there. Hulkbuster has poor range and mediocre AV and damage for his points. V AW Iron Man’s 3 damage keeps him from being the hard hitter he needs to be for his cost. SN Iron Man and V War Machine’s 8 range holds them back from greatness. It’s amazing how much more effective all these pieces have since become with the help of Perplex and the new SHIELD ability to boost range.
Hulkbuster is junk. Well, that’s the lesson I THOUGHT I’d learned. But as I showed last time, what matters is how you play him. Now I can hardly conceive of NOT playing him on one of these teams unless the build is under 500 points.
Last weekend, I played another three rounds of the Iron Campaign. With an overall record now of 7-10, I had a chance to reach .500! See if I did on Monday!

As promised last time, here’s a look back at the first Iron Man-themed swarm I ever played.

DATE PLAYED: 2/16/08
POINT TOTAL: 800, 10% feats, no pogs

Tony Stark 150 + Alpha Flight 0 +Brilliant Tactician 20 +Protected 8
Hulkbuster 165
V AW Iron Man 172 + Alpha Flight 0
NGN Iron Man 160 + Alpha Flight 0
V War Machine 124

= 799 points. This was well before the 10% feat cap became an official rule. As such, it was good training for that eventuality!

First game was vs. Lee and his team of E Jade, R Gotham Undercover x2, E Metropolis SCU, E CD Green Lantern, Dream Girl, V Icons Raven, R Brainiac 5, E Jinx, Easy Co. Medic x2, JL Batman, R Huntress, V OR Booster Gold and Cosmic Boy in the Hulk Arena. This was a fairly easy match, since Lee didn’t meat-shield Jade when she carted a bunch of fig onto hindering, giving me a shot on her. With Vet Iron Man’s range boosted to 11, he could fire from beyond anyone’s Probability Control range. Subsequent shots on Green Lantern kept him running to medics and unable to mount a real offense. In the end, I was able to KO Jade, GL and Dream Girl without losing a suit. 1-0.

Lessons learned:

Range is king with this team. It would take me several more games to truly apply this knowledge, though.

Second match was against “Galactus” (I think) and his team of Green Scar, Maestro (both with Fortitude), Hulk (Avengers) and Rampaging Hulk. I played my just-traded-for Krakoa and boy did that screw me up. Not only did I thus deny myself the rooftops to snipe from and lose a huge tactical advantage, but I RunShot with Vet IM to blow up a Tombstone and unthinkingly placed him next to hindering, and his all-too-precious Outwit was soon gone. My 2nd great error was “using” Ramp.Hulk’s Squash to place an object to activate Krakoa next to giant Hulk 1) after the big guy already had two tokens and 2) where Green Scar could (and did) EASILY grab it and paste Hulkbuster one. Add that to the fact that too many of my attacks missed like Tony had decided to “fortify himself” with a bottle of rum before the fight and you end up with a crushing defeat…which is USUALLY how Hulk vs. Iron Man fights go!  I lost Vet Iron Man, War Machine and NGN Iron Man, only getting Ramp.Hulk in return. 1-1.

Lessons learned:

Never play a Battlefield Condition half-cocked. With a team of fliers that’s so range-dependent against a ground-pounding team that has NO range, it was a game-breaking decision to not be able to use the rooftops.

Hulkbuster is NOT the equal of Hulk in comics…OR ‘Clix! ‘Nuff said.

Finally, I faced “Thrash’s” Future theme of Time Trapper, Cosmic Boy+CP, Dream Girl, SR Flash, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Ultra Boy, KC Hawkman and V Emerald Empress in the Arena. Again, it seemed that Tony was drunk and affecting the rest of his remote-controlled A.I.-driven suits. The Separation Field was too close to Phantom Girl, allowing Ultra Boy to land a big hit on NGN Iron Man. Lightning Lad then RS to ping my Vet off Outwit. But Hulkbuster, War Machine and Tony were still on full, so all was not lost…

…until Cos TK’d out V Empress for a single-target PW on Tony. She missed.

And missed.

And missed.

And missed.

And…missed.

And on his LAST theme-PC roll, she hit.

No longer able to boost my attack values to counterattack Stark’s drunken die rolls, I was at a serious disadvantage. But my worst mistake was a Running Shot by Hulkbuster to finish off Lightning Lad to avoid Time Trapper’s line-of-fire for PC…putting myself IN range of his Psychic Blast after the Lad was gone! Bye-bye Impervious and all Hulkbuster’s good clicks. By this time, KC Hawkman was in the fray, KOing Iron Men with every attack. I was wiped out but at least I took down Lightning Lad, Empress and Ultra Boy with me!

Just goes to show…you can’t fight the future!

Get used to this feeling, Iron Man.

Get used to this feeling, Iron Man.

WIN/LOSS: 1-2. Thus began a string of 1-2 tournaments with Iron Man-centric teams.

Lessons learned:

Again, range is a big deal that I didn’t really leverage enough. I should have struck from 11 squares out for every attack until he was forced to get within everyone else’s zone.

Perplex and other stat boosts are also highly necessary. Particularly with these older Iron Man pieces, which each lack something in their combat values. Tony Stark’s AV and damage top out at 10 and 3 respectively and wane from there. Hulkbuster has poor range and mediocre AV and damage for his points. V AW Iron Man’s 3 damage keeps him from being the hard hitter he needs to be for his cost. SN Iron Man and V War Machine’s 8 range holds them back from greatness. It’s amazing how much more effective all these pieces have since become with the help of Perplex and the new SHIELD ability to boost range.

Hulkbuster is junk. Well, that’s the lesson I THOUGHT I’d learned. But as I showed last time, what matters is how you play him. Now I can hardly conceive of NOT playing him on one of these teams unless the build is under 500 points.

Last weekend, I played another three rounds of the Iron Campaign. With an overall record now of 7-10, I had a chance to reach .500! See if I did on Monday!