New Comic Day Battles: Watching the WATCHMEN

Dr. Manhattan (#005) 276
Ozymandias 83
The Comedian (#006) 83
Rorschach 57
Nite Owl  (#003) 53
Silk Spectre (#002) 46 
= 596 points. 

Ever since I scored the $100 collector’s set for a simple trade of a chase figure, I’ve been hoping for a 600-point build to run the whole team in. Finally got the chance last Wednesday in a four-way against:

Brian and his Brotherhood: Magneto, Juggernaut, Mystique, Pyro (all from Giant-Size X-Men) and Black Tom Cassidy;

Bill’s William Stryker, three Predators X, and five Purifiers;

Terry’s White Lanterns: Flash, Sinestro, Bart Allen and Deadman.

The battlefield was two fitted-together 2 x 3 GridReality maps, so our starting areas were set up like this (mine in red):

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instead of this:

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MY STRATEGY:

With Dr. M taking up the lion’s share of the team build and the only one who could so much as break a wall without help, I’d need to be careful that he didn’t get KO’d too soon. Trouble was, he lacks moving attack ability, so first strike is almost impossible. Therefore, I’d need to try to use Comedian and Silk Spectre to ping targets with Running Shot or Charge/Flurry respectively on foes softened up by Ozymandias’ Outwit.

The White Lanterns were directly across from me, but there were fortunately plenty of walls between us. The Brotherhood  was engaging the Purifiers on my left, giving me a little breathing room there as well.

TURNING POINTS

  1. Comedian took early shots on Juggernaut (unsuccessfully) and Pyro, leading to the latter’s KO. Silk Spectre later won a KO on Black Tom.
  2. The White Lanterns retreated to my side of the board to regroup after defeating Stryker to cripple the Purifiers. I decided it was time to deal with them and moved in close with Dr. M. Didn’t work so well, though, and he took  damage. Only moving in close with Nite Owl to tie up the Psychic-Blasting Sinestro saved Big Blue.
  3. Unfortunately, Nite Owl’s attempts to fight failed, but he stalled the foes long enough for the rest of the team to support one by one.
  4. But they started to get hit one by one, too. Rorschach crit missed against Deadman. Bart Outwitted Ozy and he went down. Silk Spectre tried tying up, but only for a while. Dr. M crit missed himself and had to teleport for the Vine to heal back to a good click.
  5. With the Brotherhood completely wiped out, the remaining Purifiers tangled with the Lanterns, taking the heat off my depleted Watchmen. This gave both Spectre and Comedian a chance to heal on the Vine while the Lanterns began to drop under the Predator X assault.
  6. In the end, an Enhanced Comedian, surrounded by Predators X, wore them down with Sharpshooter shots until all three of my figs could take out all three of the beasties in a single turn (to avoid the stat boosts they get when one is KO’d) for the win.

I didn’t expect an actual win, but this team played about as I expected.

  • Dr. Manhattan: The team rises and falls with him, of course. Interestingly, though, he really didn’t deal the most damage. Instead, he drew most of the fire and used support powers of TK and PC even more often to enhance the rest.
  • Ozymandias: He was fine in the early game with his Leap/Climb mobility and Outwit, but he’s usually a quick KO when I play him despite his above-average DV+Super Senses. It’s very difficult to use his extra Outwit without pushing, and he really can’t afford to be pushed.
  • Comedian: the MVP. Even though his damage is low, he somehow managed to deal more clicks than Dr. M! Running Shot and Sharpshooter ability gave him the flexibility to fight as needed even when based. His consistent AV made his shots actually land.
  • Rorschach:  Usually one of the best Watchmen, he was almost utterly ineffectual this time around. Still he was fine as tie-up just long enough to keep Deadman from healing others, at least.
  • Silk Spectre: MVP runner-up. For a chick with 1 damage all dial long, she sure had a big impact. She scored a solo KO on Black Tom, and, late-game, was able to Vine up to her mid-dial Enhancement to help Comedian make his game-winning performance. She even got to use her range-granting SP to take out one of the Predators X.
  • Nite Owl: It seems he always only serves as weak, easily KO’d tie-up fodder. Such was the same today, but his contribution was vital nonetheless.

Watchmen are nothing like a min/max team. But they can be played with finesse to pull off surprising feats.

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