Heroclixin' ...it's all about F.U.N.

Longtime readers know that one of Heroclixin’s favorite themes is teams of all-Black characters and a standing goal of mine is to build a competitive one.

Ambrose Chase (WizKids DP19-005) @ 90 points. Support and range attacker.
Ayo (Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 021) @ 20 points. Leadership, equipper.
Dr. Claire Finn (The Orville 003) 25 points. Medic, mobility.
Duke Thomas (Rebirth 011a) 35 points. Support.
Maggott (House of X 051) 40 points. Melee attacker and support.
Micron (Justice League Unlimited 059b) 40 points. Melee attacker and support.
Teen Lantern (Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 035) @30 points. Taxi, support, range attacker.
Spectral (Mandarin Ring) (MP19-s104) 5 points
Spin (Mandarin Ring) (MP19-s103) 5 points

SIDELINE: Black Manta (Justice League Unlimited 068), Black Vulcan (Justice League Unlimited 072)

Yes, it’s All-Black Everything, with all starting and Sideline characters either African or African-descended. Only Dr. Finn’s frequent patient, the Lt. Yaphit pog, comes along to the cookout.

THE PLAN: Using Yaphit and Ayo, Ambrose gets Spectral since its Precision Strike now works with his multiple targeting “Probabalistic Bullet Swarm” while non-combatant Dr. Finn gets Spin. Beyond that, everything depends on my opponent because I am a reactive player by style. But Yaphit potentially giving the whole team Sidestep is pretty key.

I’d given an Ayo-less version of this team a bye-round test run against a solid Apocalypse (HoX 059b)-led Horseman themed force of Wolverine (HoX 022), Xorn (HoX 029a) and Rogue (HoX 036) to a victory. But on this Juneteenth at a different venue, I had a chance to play it under actual tourney conditions.

ROUND ONE opponent: returning player Luke
He had a hastily built team of WW80 Harley Quinn*, Ferdinand, and starter set versions of Wonder Girl, Medusa, Miss Martian and Circe (and maybe one other piece I can’t recall). I spent much of this game teaching Luke the basics again, suggesting moves for him and somewhat inadvertently hurting my own squad. But he also made moves that turned out to be very key counters to my efforts.

For example, using an Invulnerable Mystics character to block for softer teammates completely stymied my Maggott bystander attacks, forcing me to rely on a much less efficient Outwit+Poison tactic. I also misplaced Yaphit badly and lost him to an easy shot. But this was a also a chance for me to ease into my team’s workings and I still won with a KO of Miss Martian and her 40 points, losing none of my own. 1-0.

ROUND TWO opponent: Chris’s DEVOURER OF WORLDS

He brought Galactus (WizKids M-G001) at 250 points with Dr. Doom (Fantastic Four 021) at 45 points for Enhancement. He won the Utopia map, which gave me some indoor terrain in which to hide, but that wasn’t a long-term strat due to big G’s Elemental Converter making the edges deadly.

Ambrose took big damage early, forcing him to try for healing. Had to overextend to attack Galactus (missing probs) but started landing Empowered hits to wear him down with my action advantage to wipe with 295 points against a loss of just 30. Good result in a strong stress test of my team losing an attacker early on and still being able to bring the pain. 2-0. 
ROUND THREE opponent: JON’s Celebrity

Superman (JLU 035) with a Soul Gem led Blackbeard and Mary Jane Watson (SVAC) on my map of Latveria: A poor choice due to no elevated terrain that Ambrose could exploit. Jon trusted Blackbeard’s full complement of Paparazzi to Mastermind to while Superman staged for later.

Poison from Meany cleared the pogs, allowing short work on Blackbeard. Got lucky on an evasion from Supes when I burned a needed action and wasn’t able to effectively put him down. Still had the game in hand by last action, 90-25.

3-0 on the day, but only second place due to lower points scored in Round 1. The winner had a force that might have ruined mine: a Spider-Man Family theme with Spidey 1776, whose anti-Leadership and autonomous zone is a solid counter to my pogs, which I would need to deal with the Weapon H also on that force. I might need to call out that player for a match.

BY PIECE:

Ambrose Chase: Interestingly, though he’s a third of the team, he’s not really been a lead attacker in any of these games. Instead he hung back using Perplex or Outwit and, occasionally, his 3-square Prob. But he’s a favorite and way better on his top dial than his 60-point line, so until this squad needs 30-40 points of room, he remains this expensive 2nd shooter.

Ayo: Leadership was ABSOLUTELY NEEDED for this team, even though her Wakanda and Warrior keywords match NO ONE and she’s the cheapest on the force except the pogs. But she’s worth the risk for both that extra action and the extra ease of Turn 1 equipping.

Dr. Claire Finn: She proved her worth with the Round 2 heals of Ambrose, that got him back to the supporting clicks the team needed. Her equipping the Spin ring also made mobility simple at key moments. And of course, her Lt. Yaphit does so much by giving anyone Sidestep.

Duke Thomas: Probably the safer tactic would’ve been to keep him way in the back for the +1 AV for swarming melee, but adding his Empower to the front lines’ fighters was way too tempting and useful.

Maggott: Effectively the lead attacker, though he doesn’t actually do much attacking; it’s his pogs Eany (via Exploit Weakness) and Meany (Poison) who did all the work. Also Prob.

Micron: On a team full of key players, this prime was maybe the most key with his Empower to aid the other punchers, his Enhancement pumping the range shots and his own CCE making him the other lead attacker. So versatile, with his ability to attack after a quasi-carry or to retaliate when an ally is KOed.

Teen Lantern: Not only does she literally carry the whole team with Green Lantern TA and bring Prob and range to the table (though her puny 2 damage needs Micron’s Enhancement to work), but her PD TA came in handy, as did her FREE Barrier (when I remembered to use it).

SIDELINERS
I actually forgot to activate Black Manta’s “Let’s Cause Trouble!” trait. But I did NOT forget Black Vulcan’s TroubAlert, bringing him in to put in work (though he eventually self-KO’d on three straight rolls)

———

Looking forward to trying this team out further in future competitive events.

That handy reference for my favorite 140-something figs of the 2010s had me wondering: How much better — or worse — would these get with the changes to HeroClix this year? Especially the No Pushing rule for the non-Indomitable crowd, Great Size Willpower for the big guys and gals, and No Hindered movement changes for all.

REPLACE THEN MODIFY

When the new rules replace the old, what’s the modification of these old favorites’ playability? Some get much better — as much as +3! Others drop due to the changes. A number end up with a net +0.

This review has been done for weeks, but I was waiting on some erratas to say how certain old wordings would proceed. I got … most of them. So let’s see what’s what.

• 121. Animal Man [DC 75th Anniversary 036] 2010: No more pushing damage and unhindered movement really help him out, but as usual he’ll depend a lot on what other Animal keywords are on the board. Barely better: +1 

• 120. Swamp Thing [War of Light 053] 2014: Didn’t improve one bit. In fact, both his Telekinesis and hindering terrain creation skills are actively WORSE. -2
• 119. Martian Manhunter [The Brave and The Bold 036] 2010: No pushing helps him a lot. Except … that’s the *only* thing that’s improved. At his 202-point cost, we’re calling this a +0.
• 118. Gimli [Lord of the Rings 005] 2011: None of the changes affect him except hindering terrain, which is significant due to his 6 Speed. (Short legs.) Still a net +0 thanks to his old Indomitable ability no longer being special at all.
• 117. Amadeus Cho [Incredible Hulk 027] 2011: No change other than the hindering one helps, oh, and he can maybe Outwit someone in Stealth. But he has Energy Shield/Deflection so why would he risk his life getting next to someone with his weak DV? +0

• 116. Titano [Superman/Wonder Woman G005] 2015: No longer pushing is a plus and Great Size’s improved Willpower even more so, with some Close Combat Expert down the stretch as well. Gorilla Warfare got better! +2.5

• (tie) 115. Green Goblin [Web of Spider-Man 058] / Doctor Octopus [Web of Spider-Man 054] 2010: Gobby benefits from No Pushing, but the loss of Perplex on damage nerfs him a little (+0) — but not NEARLY as much as Doc Ock, whose quadruPerplex is near-USELESS since he can’t modify his 1 damage anymore. -3!
• 114. Giant-Man [Chaos War 200] 2012: His old weakness, losing Indom at 75 points, is rectified! +1 for that dial. +0 at full cost. EDIT (10/20/2021): I forgot about Great Size Willpower. Add +0.5 to both.
• 113. Stranger [Galactic Guardians 043] 2012: Not being able to push to his pick-a-power clicks kinda kills him. Also: Opening Pulse Wave is not nearly as good. But a possible big boon is his ability to choose giant or colossal size at beginning of turn so he can get Giant Willpower instead of just the Power Cosmic version. That actually balances out the negatives to maybe a +0.5 for me. (EDIT (10/20/2021): It’s come to my attention/remembrance that he can’t get the giant Willpower due to trigger timing. So actually -0.5

• 112. Aquaman [War of Light 029] 2014: No Pushing works swimmingly for the zombie king of the sea. And the fact that he makes water terrain with every KO on the board means a solid +2.
• 111. Lex Luthor [Superman Fast Forces 004] 2011: No Pushing means he can freely move to whomever needs Enhancement — or who he wants to Mastermind to next turn. Also has some late Willpower that might help him stay active. His mid-life Perplex won’t help his minimal damage anymore. +1
• 110. Crystal [Chaos War 044] 2012: No Pushing is GREAT for her, so she can get more out of either her opening Penetrating/Psychic Blast or Barrier. +1
• 109. Every Last HeroClix Figure with the “Morph: Many Identities” Trait in Age of Ultron: Hank Pym [Age of Ultron 001], Ant-Man [003], Yellowjacket [022], Goliath [043], Giant-Man [044], Hank Pym [201], Ant-Man [202], Goliath [203], Yellowjacket [204], Ant-Man [205], Wasp [206] and Giant-Man [G200]. 2015: Even though their morphing didn’t cause pushing, it’s nice their other actions won’t harm them to take a second token. A number of these have power boosts as well. +1
• 108. Static [Teen Titans 045] 2013: No Pushing helps him, but his old bane, Precision Strike, gains a bit of a step as well. He may need all those Trashcan Lids at once. +0.5
• 107. All the reporters in Superman/Wonder Woman with their “The World Needs To Know” special powers and traits: Newsboy Legion [007], Investigative Reporter [006], Lana Lang [029], Jimmy Olsen [027], Lois Lane [047], Clark Kent [026] and Superman [100]. 2015: Because it’s so vital for each to get within 4 squares for their “TWNTK” skills, No Pushing is super welcome. +0.5
• 106. Blue Beetle and Booster Gold [The Brave and The Bold 052] 2010: They really needed their Perplex on their damage to be effective. No Pushing isn’t enough to balance the loss. No more playtime for these Super Buddies. -1
• 105. Uhura [Star Trek: The Original Series 038] 2017: No Pushing helps her better pick her targets for assassination — especially without hindering slowing her down from Stealth anymore. +1

• 104. Peace Machine [What If 0043] 2017: With the loss of both TK attacks and knockback damage, he has no offense. Even his ranged Force Blast SP is no longer so special. -2
• 103. Superior Spider-Man [Deadpool 060] 2014: His late dial Perplex is less welcome. Moreover, his Spider-Bots’ Incap and Plasticity both lost a step. -1.5
• 102. Luke Cage [Captain America 014] 2011: Between No Pushing and later Willpower, he’d be well improved if not for the general nerfing of Super Strength. +0.5
• 101. Question [WizKids D-008] 2013: Perplex’s nerfing means his utility drops a tad, but he has CCE on any click he wants so he still can pump his own damage in melee most times. +1
• 100. Black Widow [Captain America 006] 2011: The end of pushing helps her a lot. She also has a long run of late-dial Willpower, which could be handy. +1
• 99. Cyborg [New 52 Justice League 006] 2012: Pulse Wave got nerfed, so he’s taking a hit. -1

• 98. Aquaman [Superman 048] 2011: No Pushing helps him SO much. In fact, he improves some way on EVERY SINGLE CLICK: His double power action SP on clicks 1-6; CCE on four of those clicks; the improved Mind Control mid-dial; and Willpower on his last four clicks. Still overcosted but better now. +3
• 97. Madrox [Giant-Size X-Men 001] 2011: Although not pushing is a slight boon, losing that ability to push to click 2 with its Perplex is a bit of a blow. But Perplex isn’t what it was, either, so whatever. His late-dial Willpower will come in handier than ever. +0.5
• 96. Chameleon Girl [Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes 031] 2014: No Pushing is great, but she also has a LOT of Perplex that’s no good on her mediocre-for-her-cost damage now. +0
• 95. Cloak [Amazing Spider-Man 202] 2013: Not pushing anymore is really key for his playability, as I used to chafe at the fact he never seemed to be in the right spot to attack when he had zero tokens. Otherwise has zero improvements. +0.5
• 94. Mirage [Wolverine and the X-Men 004] 2013: She starts with Willpower. Too bad she’s saddled with Incapacitate, which is worse than ever (QUIET, TAYLOR), especially with one target. We’ll give her a +1 because of the tempo-busting potential of constant Incap with good Willpower rolls.
• 93. Triplicate Girl [Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes 206] 2014: She doesn’t push anymore. Neither do her pog sisters, so you can’t easy-mode push one to death to give the survivors Willpower for rest of game. But … you can get Willpower for the rest of the game, which is much better than it was. +1.5
• 92. Superman II [Superman/Wonder Woman 019a] 2015: Pushing was his bane. But his SP Incap really takes it on the chin with both the light blue power’s nerfing and the end of pushing damage (his version specifically references it). -1

• 91. Frog-Man [Superior Foes of Spider-Man 048] 2016: So No Pushing WOULD help, as does the ability to finally affect Charge and Reflexes, but he has a whole trait based on knockback damage that’s just GONE now. -2, because it ruins him that badly (he actually still has uses to bust up formations, but…)
• 90. The Spot [Web of Spider-Man 051] 2010: No Pushing helps him a lot, but his low, unPerplexable damage makes it a wash. +0
• 89. Luke Cage [Civil War Storyline 011] 2016: He kinda liked pushing to his better DV click 2, but his Empower is newly relevant, as is his resistance to penetrating damage. Two late clicks of Willpower and CCE are cool. +1
• 88. Batman [Superman/Wonder Woman 061] 2015: Pushing and hindered movement, his old biggest weaknesses, are no longer problems. But he got no material improvements. +0.5.
• 87. Fitz [Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD 021] 2015: Opening Willpower could speed his production of Hoverbots. But no pushing means his clicks of Empower might as well not exist. +0.5

• 86. Element Man [World’s Finest 040] 2016: Pushing was his only weakness. Now he doesn’t have to pick Willpower to act with 1 token (indeed, he CAN’T use Willpower anymore), freeing him for better actions. +2
• 85. Baby Doll [Batman The Animated Series 049] 2018: NP is good. Loss of Perplex on damage doesn’t matter so much because she’s gonna use Energy Explosion anyway. +1
• 84. Veil [Avengers Asemble 023] 2015: Pushing was a big danger for her. That hindering terrain no longer slows movement makes it harder for her to trap opponents, though. -0.5
• 83. Goliath [Civil War Storyline 029] 2016: A mid-dial CCE run feels like a wash with the nerf to heavy objects. Another problem: the nerf to Invincible. But Giant Willpower could yield dividends before he goes down. +0.5

• 82. She-Hulk [Avengers Infinity 024] 2018: Dial-long Close Combat Expert is already great but because it works with her SP it is soooo improved for her — she will be FILING CASES EVERYWHERE +2
• 81. Molly Hayes [Hammer of Thor 041] 2010: One of my biggest regrets in my many years of Heroclixin’ is refusing to push her to try KOing a last-click Ares (who then improbably hit her 19 DV) so it’s nice that’s no longer a concern. Too bad Super Strength is so nerfed.  +0
• 80. Aquaman [Trinity War 201] 2015: Same for him, re: Super Strength. -0.5
• 79. Hulk [Avengers Movie 202] 2012: Giant Willpower might help. Super Strength won’t much. +0.5
• 78. Superman II [Superman/Wonder Woman 6-001] 2015: No pushing is a problem … he’s supposed to! He also gets the Indomitable symbol late dial … to no effect. He at least opens with CCE to give him decent AV and damage to start. On a themed team, the Wonders of the World ATA allows him to “push.” +1
• 77. Mysterio [Web of Spider-Man 056] 2010: Pushing was a big problem. NOW his problem is that his Smoke Cloud keys off Indomitable, which is gone and pretty much ALL figs now are effectively Indom. Still works against Willpower and Senses. +0.5

• 76. Groot [Web of Spider-Man 049] 2010: No pushing. He also gets Giant Willpower. +2
• 75. 3-D Man [Avengers Assemble 013b] 2015: No pushing makes him feel 3 times better. His triple-Plex effectively losing a third of its use is OK because he has a lot of it to spread across his values. And later: the new Hypersonic+Exploit combo! +1.5

• 74. Magik [Wolverine and the X-Men 034] 2013: No pushing! And she’s not slowed down by carry anymore! And she can quasi-push herself or a passenger! +3!
• 73. Miranda Tate [Dark Knight Rises 012] 2012: She starts with the superb Willpower … but can’t push to her CCE/Outwit SP on click 2! She’ll need a teammate to wildcard to be her best. +0
• (tie) 72. Crystal [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 012] 2019: She can’t push to click 2 Perplex anymore but … y’know … Perplex. Also, solo target Quake isn’t quite a thing anymore. And her Smoke Cloud isn’t as good. But hey, mid-dial CCE for the win, right? +0
  Silver Sable [Earth X 002] 2019: Late-dial RCE isn’t nothing. Also hated pushing and now doesn’t have to. Ever. +1
• 71. Nova Prime [Galactic Guardians 001] 2012: Aside from no pushing, he has the new combo of HSS and PenEtrating Blast a click. ONE WHOLE CLICK. Meanwhile, mid-dial Pulse Wave feels bad. +0.5

• 70. Clark Kent [Man of Steel 009] 2013: Heyyyy, opening Willpower! And a Leap/Climb trait so he can get the movement skills with his Charge and HSS — both with 2 targets. Even his Perplex feels better used on his AV. +3

• 69. Sand [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 060] 2017: RCE is better for him, and his Force Blast from range makes that MUCH stronger for defense. +2
• 68. Deathlok [Wolverine and the X-Men 11b] 2013: How does his RCE as CLOSE even work now? DOES it? -1
• 67. Red Hood [Rebirth 046] 2019: So he doesn’t have to push now, which is good. The only other upgrade is he can multi-target with his close attacks. +1

• 66. Spider-Punk [Superior Foes of Spider-Man 062] 2016: Heyyyy, look who doesn’t take pushing damage anymore! And has 2 targets for Charge+Flurry! And CCE to stay good end-dial! Only thing bad is Pulse Wave now on his back half. +2
• 65. Rocket Racer [Web of Spider-Man 044] 2010: He doesn’t push. Otherwise exactly the same. +1
• 64. Timber Wolf [Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes 013] 2014: Mid-dial Flurry combos with Exploit Weakness. But he was already Indomitable, sooooo… +0.5
• 63. Aquaman [New 52 Justice League 005] 2012: Him not pushing is a real improvement. He also gets some late-dial CCE that I don’t care about. +0.5
• 62. Black Adam [Rebirth 037b] 2019: Woooo! He gets Quintessence-fueled Willpower now, which makes up for all the Perplex that isn’t quite as good for his midlife and that Invincible no longer caps damage. +1
• 61. Black Panther [Secret Wars Battleworld 061] 2018: Willpower Cosmic! It’s just too bad about his Pulse Wave click with RCE, now. +1
• 60. The Captain [Giant-Size X-Men 054] 2011: Pushing is no longer a problem for him, true, but it was also one of the best ways for him to get unstuck from his bad “passing out” clicks. +0
• (tie) 59. Batman [DC 75th Anniversary 031] 2010: Boy does he like not having to fret about pushing once he finishes his smoke maneuvering. But boy does he hate that his late dial Perplex not help his weak damage. And Incap is also poor. +1. But his partner
  Robin [The Brave and The Bold 042] 2010: also likes the non-push and benefits from occasional CCE. +1
• 58. Muhammad Ali [WizKids DP17-004] 2017: Late dial his CCE+Flurry combo makes the rope-a-dope more effective than ever. +1

• 57. Giant-Girl [Avengers Infinity G001] 2018: In addition to improved Willpower, her frequent CCE clicks become VERY sweet spots. +2
• 56. Vixen [Streets of Gotham 028] 2012: On the one hand, not pushing will help. But her click 2 was pretty good and now she’ll almost never see it. Like Animal Man, she depends on what’s on the field to use any new combos. +0.5
• 55. Dust [X-Men Xavier’s School 056] 2018: So Smoke Cloud is not as good anymore; she can’t trap victims with her dust storms. Put at least she won’t push! Not that she was, much … given her Sidestep and FREE Smoke ability … sooo … +0.5
• 54. Black Widow [Captain America: The Winter Soldier 003] 2014: Hey, it’s a little easier for her to be on a themed team to do her stealing enemy theme probs thing! Yay! But the number of Probs is like half. Boo! Maybe we are glad for her late clicks of CCE and Incap-plus. +1

• 53. Jakeem Thunder [Joker’s Wild 053b] 2016: Wow, with no pushing, he no longer has to pick Willpower. But he still CAN pick Willpower when he has two tokens and maybe still get to act. And with pick-a-power and 2 targets, he can really weaponize the new multitarget ability in close. +2
• 52. Captain America and Black Widow [Captain America: Winter Soldier 017] 2014: Perplex on damage used to be great on duos like this one. USED TO. -1
• 51. Captain America [Fear Itself 201] 2013: Torn between being glad he doesn’t push and sad that he can’t push to his “Inspiring Defender” 2nd click. A late bit of CCE might be OK? +1
• 50. Black Rider/Ringwraith/Nazgul/One Of The Nine/Servant Of Sauron [Lord of the Rings 016/006/101/102/020] 2011: A key play with these 9 AV guys was to push to 10 AV click 2. That’s over. They’re canceled. -1
• 49. Wildfire [Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes 021] 2014: His double power actions work better in a post-pushing game, but he’s also hurt by the fact that he can’t push to those healing clicks of his. At least he’s got RCE with PW on a couple of mid-clicks to help his flagging attack. +1
• 48. Alloy [World’s Finest 058] 2016: Giant Willpower could really make a big difference in his playability. And because his damage is so naturally high, his Perplex doesn’t feel nerfed as it seems better used on other stats. +1

• 47. Ms. Marvel [Avengers Assemble 055] 2015: Pushing was her biggest problem, so she’s better. In fact, she’s much better since she can choose to be giant at beginning of turn and gain Giant Willpower. (EDIT: Or so I thought at the time of this writing, but the timing is off, so no Willpower.) Actually, she’s much, MUCH better: She can choose colossal size and also get CCE for that +1 AV and damage. +3

• 46. Wasp [Avengers Infinity 044] 2018: While pushing held her back, she also has a great click 2 that she’ll never see again. And her puny 2 damage down dial can’t be helped by her Perplex. -2
• 45. Captain America [Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD 049] 2015: Starting with Willpower gives him that “self-Leadership” to make up for the fact that somehow he never got REAL Leadership. No Pushing makes his Redwing and Pigeon bystanders much more effective. +1.5
• 44. Cyclops [Uncanny X-Men 033] 2016: No Pushing is so vital to get more mileage from his opening click. He also has a significant run of Willpower down dial, which is better than the nearly-as-long Perplex on the stretch. +1.5

• 43. The Atom [Superman/Wonder Woman G001] 2015: Great Size is the main attraction, but at his 200 and 150 levels, he also starts with CCE. +2
• 42. Hawkman & Hawkgirl [Batman The Animated Series 060] 2018: Absolutely none of the changes improve this pair. +0
• 41. Dee Dee [Batman The Animated Series 015] 2018: No Pushing is the only net bonus. It’s enough. +1

• 40. Colleen Wing and Misty Knight [Amazing Spider-Man 044] 2013: The end of pushing is fabulous for them. Even better, Duo Attack now works with their Incap and BCF at various points in their dials. There’s a little bit of Willpower but a little more Perplex. Still a solid +2
• 39. Batman [Batman and His Greatest Foes Fast Forces 001] 2016: He starts with Willpower, and gets CCE and Flurry combo later, but Reflexes losing its knockback resistance could be a problem going foward. +1.5

• 38. Black Lightning [Batman 045] 2012: Early Willpower works. Even better: his SP granting EE now combos with his PPBlast, and it’s possible the 3-target Incap could combo with EE, too. (EDIT: It doesn’t, as both powers are “instead of normal damage” abilities — gotta pick one.) At minimum, he can use the multi-target Incap in close attack now. +2

• 37. Robin [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 030] 2017: On one hand, him not pushing makes him more a potent fighter. But on the other, he can’t push himself to KO and trigger the mass “incap” of enemies anymore. I’ll just have to settle for middial CCE and him having 2 bolts in melee. +2
• 36. Asuka [WWE 012] 2019: Opening with CCE means no one is ready for Asuka. +1

• 35. Apache Chief [Batman The Animated Series 070] 2018: He will be stomping so much more with no pushing to worry about and a 66% chance at Willpower. BIG MAN INDEED +2
• 34. Clayface [Batman The Animated Series 001b] 2018: Both his Smoke Cloud and Perplex got worse, so he gets worse. -1
• 33. Angel [Days of Future Past 005] 2014: No pushing is very good for him. But his Perplex on later clicks feels bad. +1
• 32. Shade, The Changing Girl [Rebirth 044] 2019: Willpower is great to start and no pushing works for her. But Plasticity and Perplex both lost out a little. +0.5
• 31. Batman [Batman The Animated Series 040] 2018: Him losing knockback protection is a bit of a problem. On his lower dial, not being able to Perplex damage is a BIG problem with him only having 2 damage, making his Batarang equipment much less effective. -1.5
• 30. Daredevil [WizKids MP18-007] 2018: His main issue wasn’t being sightless but pushless. And now that’s not an issue. He also has a nicely placed run of CCE. +1.5

• 29. Cyclops [Giant-Size X-Men 008] 2011: Starting with Willpower, he also gains a massive new trick middial with his Force Blast SP allowing him to do free damage under the right circumstances. Also he’s got RCE in places. +3
• 28. Magma [Wolverine and the X-Men 073] 2013: Pushing was a problem. Better now. +1
• 27. War Machine [Invincible Iron Man 029b] 2013: Not one thing improves for him, and Pulse Wave is markedly worse. Well, I suppose he gets 2 bolts for close combat, which, given that he was a Sharpshooter with Improved Targeting: Adjacency already, is kinda unneeded. +0
• 26. Nova [Avengers Infinity 032] 2018: Being Power Cosmic means he gets Willpower. Late dial RCE is welcome. +1.5
• 25. Falcon [Captain America: The Winter Soldier 006] 2014: He can fly high without pushing now. That feels good. But his mid-dial Perplex feels bad because his damage is low there. At least he ends with Willpower to maybe catch a second (tail)wind. +1
• 24. Grace [Joker’s Wild 046] 2016: She had lost a step when object attacks changed in 2017 and her top clicks are still not nearly as good as when she was new. But the back 2/3 of her dial with CCE makes her superb there. The loss of the Invincible damage cap means she could get blasted past her Impervious. +0.5
• 23. Elijah Snow [Elseworlds 046] 2017: The Perplex half of his SP is a downgrade. At least his Barrier gets a little better with terrain, though his Pulse Wave takes a hit. Markedly worse is his Big Chill, which no longer forces enemies to fear pushing damage. Hmm. -1

• 22. Armor [Giant-Size X-Men 050] 2011: No pushing means she’s stuck on a useless activation click until she can use X-Men TA to heal a pal or she gets hit. She’s almost unplayable. -2
• 21. Mysterio [Amazing Spider-Man 026 and 206] 2013: Being able to do his Smoke Clouding and switcherooing without pushing might make that newly viable. Too bad Smoke just isn’t very good anymore. +0
• 20. Valkyrie [Fear Itself 005] 2013: It was kinda ridiculous that she was subject to pushing damage, so it’s great that’s no longer an issue. +1
• 19. Donatello [Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Heroes In A Half-Shell 025] 2016: Pushing was his weakness. Now he can use Support with abandon, should he choose — and he might, given that Perplex is less useful. +1
• (tie) 18. Okoye [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 038] 2019: Not that she ever did push to her second click for CCE, but now that she would, she can’t. Fortunate she has many clicks of the power so she’s sure to see it (+1), which is better than
  Okoye [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati FF006] 2019, who gets just a little CCE scattered down dial. +0.5
• 17. Hulk [Avengers Defenders War 052] 2017: Cho Hulk’s Perplex and Super Strength and Invincible all got nerfed and nothing about him improved. But at least he’s not actively worse. -1
• 16. Multiple Man [Wolverine and the X-Men 013] 2013: No More Pushing really helps him deploy more effectively. It’s a pity his Perplex + Flurry combo is so poor now. Late-dial CCE is only good on the real Madrox; +0. Multiple Man [Wolverine and the X-Men 205] probably benefits even more from the new no push rule, being able to keep his Mastermind protection, but his second click, with Willpower and Empower, might be more useful. Fortunately, this version of the character has X-Men TA so there’s a slim chance of getting to that second click without depending on the enemy hitting him for 1 damage. +1
• 15. Oya [X-Men Xavier’s School 031] 2018: It’s vital that she takes her shots at multiple targets while she can, so not worrying about push damage benefits her. But the end of push damage takes a weapon away from her as well, so … +0
• 14. Nova Corps Officer [Guardians of the Galaxy Movie 004] 2014: Hey, his IM:Hindering SP is completely useless now. At least he doesn’t push. +0.5
• 13. Wonder Woman [WizKids D-001] 2011: Absolutely nothing about her improved; her SP Perplex got worse. -1
• 12. Captain Marvel [Captain Marvel 021] 2019: Her late-dial RCE will help her attacks on those clicks. Pulse Wave on her mega click is actively a lot worse. -1

• 11. Bat-Knight [WizKids DP17-006] 2017: Multi-target Precision Strike is a huge upgrade, as is Giant Willpower. +2
• 10. Troll [The Mighty Thor 039] 2017: No pushing is both a boon and a bane; her click 2 is really good in melee defensively. +0.5

• 9. Ant-Man and Wasp [Chaos War 053] 2012: Pushing was the worst for this Tiny Size duo. Now Duo Attack works with Exploit Weakness! +2
• 8. Black Panther [Age of Ultron 045] 2015: His Perplex at dial’s end makes him more useless offensively on those two clicks than ever. -1

• 7. Aquaman [Brightest Day 006] 2010: Though it was nice to sometimes push to his higher click 2 DV, having his starting CCE available for both his Charge or Transporter Move & Attack along with no pushing is all good. His later Mind Control also improves a lot. +3

• 6. The Authority [017 Swift, 032 Jenny Quantum, 033 Jack Hawksmoor, 048 Apollo, 049 Midnighter, 060 Engineer and 061 Jenny Sparks] 2014: Most benefit from not pushing.
  • Doctor (016) levels up his Barrier and Force Blast, but loses on Pulse Wave; +1.
  • Swift (017) gets a bump from her CCE in the middle; +1.
  • Jenny Quantum (032) loses on Perplex AND Pulse Wave; -1.
  • Jack Hawksmoor (033) really used to get a lot out of his click 2, which he’ll now never see outside of some corner cases. At least he’s got more CCE to maybe land on; +0.5.
  • Before, you HAD to play Apollo (048) with Midnighter (049) for the Willpower just to play the big guy; now it’s a nice bonus. And oooo, look, RCE makes those clicks SO much better; +2.
  • Speaking of Midnighter, getting to combo Flurry and EW and his anti-CCE trait and his anti-movement SP equals +3.
  • Similarly, Engineer (060) gets to combo so much; +3.
  • Finally, Jenny Sparks (061) no longer fears pushing and doesn’t really care her late Perplex won’t boost damage. +1.5.
• 5. Moon Knight [Avengers Defenders War 062] 2017: Perplex is nerfed. But his middial CCE will help make those formerly weak clicks formidable. +0

• 4. Drax The Destroyer [Guardians of the Galaxy Movie 013] 2014: The end of pushing is very good to him. His mid-life CCE is even better. +2
• 3. Ambrose Chase [005] 2019: Not pushing is the good news. His Perplex option being nerfed is the bad. But still a net positive. +1

• 2. Miss America [WizKids M17-009] 2017: She REALLY does well to not push. Middial CCE keeps her much stronger down the stretch. +2
• 1. Power Girl [Rebirth 022] 2019: The blessing of No More Pushing is paired with the curse of no Colossal Stamina -OR- Giant Willpower (as Willpower is beginning of turn phase and her choice to size up is a FREE during the action phase). She also has a Perplex option that’s a little worse. +0

Alternates/HMs (chronologically):

• Impulse [DC75 Anniversary 104] 2010: Losing pushing is the only thing that improves. +0.5
• Nightshade [Captain America 027] 2011: No pushing means she can’t get to her click 2 with Mind Control very easily…boo-hoo. Late Incap is InCRAP. +0

• Dee Jay [Street Fighter 010] 2011: His opening CCE works SO WELL with the Street Fighter TA, which pairs well with his Leap/Climb. And there’s that one late click combining Flurry and Exploit. +2
• Superman [Superman 055] 2011: Though Super Strength gets a nerf with heavy objects no longer hitting very hard, at least his penetrating version keeps some bite in those attacks. Worse is that he could get stranded on his mediocre middle clicks. Ending with HSS and RCE is pretty strong, should he land there. +1
• Bard the Bowman [The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug 009] 2013: Doesn’t really improve until his late dial’s RCE and Willpower and can’t push there. On the upside, it’s easier to get his no-defense shots off with no pushing. +0.5
• Silver Samurai [Wolverine and the X-Men 044] 2013: Pushing was his weakness and why he always dies on me. But his new vulnerability to knockback might be exploited. +0.5
• Batman [Gotham City 001] 2013: The hard part is what power to pick for the game: CCE or RCE? The latter makes his free Incap work better, but … y’know … Incap. Opening Perplex feels bad with 2 damage. And his Indom isn’t special. +0.5
• Giganta [Legion of Doom 006] 2014: No pushing seems really good, until I remember how much mileage I got out of her click 2. +0.5
• Shang-Chi [Deadpool 047] 2014: Combined Charge and CCE are big improvements — especially since the latter works with his Counter Block ability. A weakness: knockback. +1.5
• Hulk [Avengers Age of Ultron 104] 2015: Giant Willpower. But Invincible is somewhat less so. +1.5
• Faust [Superman/Wonder Woman 056] 2015: Pushing was his bane. It’s no more. And nothing else he has got materially worse. +1
• Mysterio [WizKids M16-003] 2016: It’s good that he doesn’t push anymore, but bad that he starts with Perplex and Smoke Cloud, which both got a little worse. +0.5
• Crazy Jane [World’s Finest 019] 2016: She doesn’t push anymore, but that was only a concern on her last click due to her unusual pick-a-click mechanic. Clicks 1, 4 and 5 have no real change. Clicks 2 and 3 bear Perplex and Smoke Cloud, which feel bad. But her last click, No. 6, has Willpower, which she can now use at beginning of turn. +0.5
• Patriot [Civil War Storyline 021] 2016: His click 2 was his sweet spot, but can’t push to it anymore. Being formerly Indomitable and Improved Movement: Hindering means he gets no upgrade and even his traited Leadership was supplanted by the general boost to Leadership in 2017. -1
• Batroc [Avengers Defenders War 050] 2017: Zee leepair will no longer push! *laughs in French* +1
• Thor [The Mighty Thor 061] 2017: The change to heavy objects is a blow to his upfront effectiveness. But his end dial with CCE coupled with his Mjolnir equipment is superb. +1
• Photon [Avengers Infinity 036] 2018: Pushing used to be AWFUL for her, as she markedly degrades from her first click but needs to be able to keep on the move to be most effective. +1
• Doctor Octopus [Earth X 034] 2019: A push-free game will help him a lot. Before, the 4-square FREE move was usually the only good choice for his beginning of turn trait. Now any of them will work. +1
• Falcon [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 041b] 2019: He has a SP giving him Close Combat Expert as CLOSE, which no longer actually works since the purple standard damage power is now passive. -1 EDIT: He got an errata giving him CCE via the SP, so while he’s less special than before, he’s lost no actual playability. New rating: -0
• Frenzy [X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga 027] 2019: No real change, unless her no cost CCE after a Leap/Climb is ruled illegal. +0
• Storm [X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga G023b] 2019: With the loss of knock back damage and the nerfing of Pulse Wave, she gets a fair bit worse. But the improvements to Mind Control almost balance it out. -0.5
• Dr. Claire Finn [The Orville ] 2019: The end of pushing is great for her role as a medic. The nerf to Perplex holds her bystander Lt. Yaphit is a dolphin speed fig so that Swim buff will be OK. Her end clicks have the new, improved Force Blast, though her chances are slim of seeing those clicks on her slim 3-click life.  +1.5

In addition to new rules, there’s a new format. So here’s an assessment of Atlantis figs that we covered in earlier F.U.N. Focuses (in 2019 — twice!) that will be legal in Silver Age:

^^^^^ Below 50 points: shrimps and chum ^^^^^

Giganto & Namor [Avengers Infinity G017] 15 points: Only for Retaliation, though they might have some small use as a low Speed taxi thanks to Great Size Willpower.

———

King Aquaman [Elseworlds 045] 20 points: Water generation is more vital than ever and he’s very cheap.

———

Atlantean Warrior [Avengers Defenders War 016] 25 points: Dial-long CCE and No More Pushing makes this generic even better than before.

———

Dolphin [DC Rebirth 036] 30 points: Her Incap loses a step but NMP more than balances that out.

———

Aquaman [Batman The Animated Series 065] 30 points: His Mind Control has 6 range, but his water generation is still just 4 range so he will likely not be able to land that attack. Also note that smaller characters can’t knock back bigger ones, so don’t trust his Average Fish to Force Blast very often.

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

Aqualad [DC Rebirth 012] 50 points: One of his old strengths was pushing to his better-in-close second click after a Charge. Now he shifts to a TK focus until he’s hit. A bit of a wash.

———

Aquaman [DC Rebirth Fast Forces 001] 50 points: His FREE attack combos with BCF and he’s not wasting Perplex on damage anymore. Field with a taxi to take advantage of that ability.

———

Giganto & Namor [Avengers Infinity G017] 50 points: A better taxi than before and his post-move hindering terrain generation no longer bothers the rest of the team.

———

Aquaman [Batman The Animated Series 065] 50 points: No More Pushing™ makes him a better fighter but otherwise no different.

———

Namor [X-Men Regenesis 010] 70 points: A Swim character who’s also a flyer, he’s a rare taxi. New Carry rules means he can full-Speed Charge with a passenger.

———

Namor [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 044] 75 points: Already very expensive for four clicks, he’s now worse because he lacks the Swim keyphrase, so he’s easily shot. Also needs the Power Gem at an additional 5 points to be worth any of his points. BUT … with that gem, he now sports a staggering 13 AV for 5 damage — 6 when either holding an object or attacking a foe with 5+ range and penetrating in that latter case. So he STILL might be worth ALL his points in that case.

———

Tempest [DC Rebirth 028] 75 points: The best non-chase water generator in Silver Age now for Atlantis. Just plan on using him.

———

The Drowned [DC Rebirth 064] 75 points: Her Stealth in water can make her a shield for others even when the enemy draws close.

^^^^^^ 76-100 points: sharks ^^^^^^

Aquaman [DC Rebirth 045] 80 points: He’s still only OK even though his FREE 4-move in water maybe works a bit better now. His Super Strength is worse, though, and Indom is no longer an asset.

———

Namor [Earth X 033] 80 points: Lacks Swim so he doesn’t get the range immunity and his Poison doesn’t work in water. But he’s a taxi so that can work for you.

———

Namor [X-Men Regenesis 010] 100 points: A Swim character who’s also a flyer, he’s a rare taxi. New Carry rules means he can full-Speed Charge with a passenger. Late Close Combat Expert keeps him in the fight.

———

Aquaman [DC Rebirth Fast Forces 001] 100 points: Opening CCE gives him a hard strike in melee. With a taxi, he can get a 12 AV 4 damage attack for FREE thanks to his trait. A little pricey but possibly worth building around.

———

Giganto [Avengers Infinity G007] 100 points: If you can get enough water for him, the new Swim ability can keep him from being long-range-shot to death. But eventually he’s gotta close in and I don’t know if he’s quite enough. Bonus: Mid-dial he can combo his no-cost Quake with Exploit Weakness.

———

Namor [Secret Wars: Battleworld 062] 100 points: With no more Carry penalty, his mega taxi and heal skills make this chase one to look at.

———

Mera [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 035] 100 points: The end of pushing means she is stuck on her opening TK and may not ever see her Quake clicks — not that they’re great with only 9 AV. On the upside, without pushing she has more attack opportunities to get Bombshells to boost her armor.

———

Giganto & Namor [Avengers Infinity G017] 100 points: Twice the life for twice the points as the 50 pointer. Otherwise no more special than before.

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

King Aquaman [Elseworlds 045] 110 points: Unchanged except for the “loss” of Indomitable.

———

Namor [Avengers Black Panther Illuminati 044] 110 points: The Power Gem is better than ever for just 5 points more, granting him a blanket +2 to AV and damage. Empower is newly important as well.

^^^^ Above 125 points: apex predators ^^^^

Namor [Earth X 033] 130 points: Not a swimmer, so he’s not improved at all.

———

The Drowned [DC Rebirth 064] 150 points: As a Dark Knight, Bryce Wayne here gains a lot of DV bonuses even outside water, but beware: Her Stealth-in-water is newly vulnerable to Outwit and other LOF-based powers from adjacent foes. Not that they’re going to be anxious to base her Poisonous, penetrating-damage-dealing bod.

———

Giganto [Avengers Infinity G007] 200 points: At full cost, he just doubles his life. You almost WANT him to get hit before he starts Quake/Exploit attacks. Thanks to Great Size Willpower, he might get more opportunities to do just that.

———

Giganto & Namor [Avengers Infinity G017] 200 points: Double life but not really double value.

———

^^^^^MAPS FOR ATLANTIS^^^^^

The best maps for the theme are all Golden Age: ATLANTIS from Trinity War, PACIFIC OCEAN from Fear Itself and ARUNA TEMPLE from Hellboy And the BPRD.

But this is Silver Age — only from Superior Foes of Spider-Man and forward. So consider:

WEIRDWORLD (Secret Wars: Battleworld): A good 30 percent of the map is water, and with a lot of blocking terrain to grant extra cover from landlocked shooters who have to get close. Beware snipers on elevated terrain who stay far away from the water, forcing you to come to them.

NY HARBOR (Earth X): Like Weirdworld, there’s a lot of water here (even more) and strategically placed blocking terrain. This is also a map with a Location bonus that spawns extra objects, good for a Super Strength-laden keyword like Atlantis. Caution: Also like Weirdworld, there’s elevated terrain easy for snipers to shoot from and hard for swimmers to reach — but in turn, the snipers won’t be able to attack the swimmers in the water.

MUIR ISLAND (X-Men: Xavier’s School): Water on three sides of the map plus a lot of walls and blocking make this an OK field for Atlantis. The downside is that much of the fighting will likely be on dry land no matter what, so the sea is only really good for early defensive positioning.

RUNAWAYS BASE (What If): A long strip of water on one side of the map can keep Atlantis good and safe, forcing foes completely out into the open to engage. The downside is that the enemy can hunker down on elevated terrain to do the same.

WAKANDA X (Earth X): With bits of water and blocking all around,  swimmers might be able to advance semi-safely.

JEAN GREY SCHOOL FOR HIGHER LEARNING GROUNDS (X-Men Regenesis): Decent-sized bodies of water are positioned well away from the elevated portions giving Atlantis both a staging area and retreat zone — though none of it is great for the swimmers.

UTOPIA (X-Men Regenesis): Actually, scratch that map above. Use this one. It has the same problems but there’s just so much more water and blocking that it’s just better for a swim team.

Avoid these seemingly watery maps:

GJALLERBRU (The Mighty Thor): All the water is on Level 1 and there are few stairs to get to Level 2, making the water more like a shooting barrel except for fliers.

GOTHAM CITY WATERFRONT (Batman The Animated Series): Has all the drawbacks of NY Harbor and Weirdworld with much, much less of the blocking terrain to keep from being shot and a lot more land. Pass.

ARTHUR’S CASTLE -or- OTHERWORLD (What If/House of X): Though there’s a fair amount of water, ALL of it is next to elevated terrain, giving zero protection from shooters. Do NOT.

ICEBERG LOUNGE (Batman The Animated Series): There’s the moat of water in the central part of the map, but the blocking on top of the iceberg means there’s virtually no advantage to said moat. Pass.

It’s high-tide-time for a new Atlantis Attacks F.U.N. Focus — and it’s Heroclixin’ board member Chadd’s birthday and he specifically requested this.

First things first: Every Atlantis piece gets a massive upgrade with the 2021 rules overhaul. The Swim keyphrase bars enemies from drawing lines of fire to dolphin speed characters from beyond 4 squares if the swimmer’s in water.

That’s the good news. The bad: Water no longer hinders movement, so it won’t be hard for foes to get in a swim team’s face — which is not so bad, since most of Atlantis is melee-focused.

Let’s look at what characters are new in Modern Age since the most recent update in December 2019. Then, in part two, we’ll revisit older figs that are legal for the Silver Age play format.

^^^^^ Below 50 points: shrimps and chum ^^^^^

Vil (Future Foundation 012) 10 points

Now the cheapest piece in all Atlantis, Vil is great as point filler even without a proper Captain to give her Sidekick abilities. With Toughness and Close Combat Expert all dial long, she can serve as a shield or tie-up they can’t ignore. TEAM HER UP with Telekinesis for best results. Or a taxi…

Wu (Future Foundation 027) 15 points

…such as brother Wu, who can carry fellow Sidekicks (and ONLY such) and grants his sister Vil the same ability. Wu has Flurry instead of CCE and his damage is only 2. TEAM HIM UP with an Empower fig … or perhaps the next entry at his 35-point level …

Atlantean General (WizKids D19-011) 25 points / 35 points

This resculpt of the old Trinity War Atlantean boasts 3 clicks of Sidestep, Combat Reflexes and Leadership — the last which could be of some use on a big invasion squad. But his full cost at 35 points adds the SP “Water Tactics” that brings Leadership with +1 damage for adjacent dolphin symbol allies. He also has Charge, Precision Strike and Toughness.

Mera (WizKids D19-010) 45 points

In the same OP kit came this latest version of the sea queen. Like earlier renditions, she’s a TK piece for Atlantis. She also gives allies in water the Mystics TA if they’re attacked from outside the water, which runs a bit counter to the new Swim ability. She might be using the new Force Blast to keep knocking foes back. Energy Shield/Deflection and Shape Change are her only protections. Improved Targeting: Elevated with 6 range make a welcome surprise.

Namor (Captain America and the Avengers 069e) 50 points

Invulnerability, Charge, 11AV and Leadership for this cost would be good by itself, but this chase figure also brings the sea with him:

AVENGING SON OF ATLANTIS: Namor starts the game with the Flood marker in his square. // The Flood marker is water terrain. // Smoke Cloud as FREE, but to generate water terrain markers instead of hindering terrain markers. // FREE: Place the Flood marker in Namor’s square.

Your swimmers need never be on dry land again. He also grants a bonus to AV:

MASTER OF THE SEVEN SEAS: (Dolphin symbol). // Friendly characters with (Dolphin symbol) or who share a keyword (with Namor) modify attack +1 if making a close attack while occupying water terrain.

He rounds out his marine might with first Close Combat Expert and then Flurry down-dial along with a defense SP that grants Toughness and, when in water, Regeneration.

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

Aquaman (Justice League Unlimited 029) 60 points

Seven clicks for 60 points isn’t bad. His SP Charge can knock back all adjacent enemies for the price of hitting just one. Mid-dial CCE and late Flurry could yield dividends. His 17 Reflexes (with Defend traited) isn’t impressive but it ramps to 18 Toughness and he also has Regeneration as a trait, too.

Main reason to consider him as your Aquaman for Atlantis over others is if you’re playing a legal team for his Team Up Card:

THEMED TEAM UP: ATLANTIS: If Aquaman is part of the listed themed team, he can use Leadership. When he does and removes an action token from a character with the listed keyword, heal that character 1 click. (After revealing forces, you may replace a game element’s default card with an alternate card. You can’t choose a Team Up card if any characters on your starting force share a name).

It’s a kind of weak effect — especially for not being able to lead a horde of generics — but if you get the card, it’s worth trying out sometime.

Susan, Queen of Atlantis (Future Foundation 051) 70 points

A rare Atlantis figure without the Swim keyphrase, this version of Susan Richards of the Fantastic Four is both a Title Character — the first of the keyword — and an alternate win condition piece. The short version: She can win the game by earning Mission Points for generating water terrain on the opponent’s side of the board. But it takes a long time to get anywhere near the amount needed, requiring other allies to hit while occupying water. She’s better as a Sidestepping taxi, TK and Leadership for Atlantis, or for Barrier (which can be placed on water now), Empower, Outwit and Defend if she’s hit past her opening Invulnerability.

Namor (Captain America and the Avengers 069) 75 points

Everything he did at 50 points he does at full points, only with a printed 12 AV, Invincible to start (then TWO Invulnerability clicks instead just one) and 4 damage.

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

Namor (X-Men Deep Cuts 014) 125 points

Like Susan above, he lacks Swim. A Super-Strong, Impervious Charge piece is what he is. If hit to mid-dial, he gets a SP that keeps him from being targeted by enemies who start the turn beyond 3 squares from him. A bit overcosted but hey, you can paint him.

^^^^^ Over 125 points: apex predators ^^^^^

King Trench (WizKids D19-012) 200 points

Also overcosted but potentially effective is this Monster-keyworded monarch. He has traited Leadership and Mastermind — and the Leadership trait can generate his own MM fodder in the form of The Trench bystanders. But even if he flubs LS rolls, he can POWER generate a couple of pogs at a time. Then, later in his dial, he can eat one or more to boost his SP Regen roll.

He starts with 10 AV, Sidestep and Super Senses, so he’s not the best at offense despite a dial full of either Blades/Claws/Fangs or Steal Energy. And in this No More Pushing (NMP) era of the game, he can’t get to his click 2 SP granting Charge (or HSS in water) — which both combo with Exploit Weakness and BCF. So he’s a rather point-inefficient Outwitter for all practical purposes, sending waves of Trench bystanders Charging at enemies. But still pretty F.U.N.

^^^^^ Additional swimmers ^^^^^

As usual, there are a few figs that lack the Atlantis keyword but could be useful on non-keyword-yet-thematic builds featuring dolphin speed characters. Starting from the cheapest:

Triton (Fantastic Four 032) 40 points

He has this trait:

ALLY TO THE SEAS: When establishing themed teams, choose a friendly character with [Dolphin symbol]. Triton gains that character’s keywords.

So he can fit on most any Atlantis team as long as at least one ally has the dolphin symbol. He brings Probability Control to the team, a very rare support power for the theme.

Black Manta (Justice League Unlimited 068) 40 points / 10 points

When he hits, he can generate water in the target’s square. He also has a 3-6 roll to either token enemies in water or deal them 1 penetrating. That, along with his cheap cost, works well with…

Hydro-Man (Fantastic Four 043) 75 points

He makes water Smoke Cloud like a few other figs do. But unlike Crystal (ABPI 012) or Molecule Man (FFFF 036), he has the dolphin symbol, which is important to combo with Atlantis via:

Blackbeard (Future Foundation 052) 90 points

This alternate universe Thing makes dolphin speed characters into Pirate keyword figs. So you could fold non-Atlantis swimmers into a themed team if you like. But for the purposes of this series, we’re only considering how he works folded into an Atlantis team.

First, he allows any number of non-Atlantis swimmers to join (but be careful; EVERY member will need to be a dolphin speed fig during force construction; an Atlantis fig such as some of the Namors that are fliers instead of swimmers will end up breaking the theme).

Second, he gives Pirates in water +1 AV. So that’s a good boon to an Atlantis force-turned-pirate.

Third, he gets mega-Quake when in water.

Finally, he brings the Invincible-granting Stones of Merlin equipment to the team. However, he risks the enemy picking it up instead of you! So don’t plan your game around this unless you intend to force him to drop the Stones by having him equip another object instead.

———

Next installment: A look again at what’s available in Atlantis in Silver Age.

So WK came out with these “legacy cards” that take old, retired HeroClix pieces and bring them back to Modern play with new traits and updated special powers.

It’s a neat idea. But how F.U.N.?

Friendly? yes and no.

They’re on this terrible holographic foil presentation that is difficult to read. That’s the unfriendly aspect. But each is pretty balanced, playwise.

Useful? Sorta.

Though all are improved, none are really better enough to be meta.

Neato? Yeah.

Like we said, they’re definitely a neat idea. We hope WizKids does more and keep them balanced and F.U.N., never overbearing

Let’s look at them individually, seeing what the figures did originally, how they’re updated, and if the change makes them any F.U.N.

———

L022 XAVIN

THEN: I said, “if he’s on either his first or last click: you can literally turn the dial to any click you want. It’s not quite any power, but with his rainbow dial he basically has access to 14 different powers when on clicks #1 and #6.”

NOW: Xavin doesn’t need to be on their first or last click to pick their click — and, like Moira X (House of X 030), they get to use ALL the powers on lower clicks. But an additional trait puts a further element of risk in the mechanic — if Xavin misses all attacks, they get stranded on the chosen click.

F.U.N.? I thought at first this was a lateral change at best, but this legacy upgrade is super F.U.N. in action. Also note the updated “they/their” pronouns on this non-binary character.

———

L023 SHE-HULK

THEN: She got a bonus to map roll when not on a themed team if the first roll fails, SP Charge+Flurry, and SP “Objection!”: Willpower with Perplex — if she stands next to another Perplexing character.

NOW: She adds a 2nd trait giving her and adjacent allies +1 AV against primes and taking only 1 damage from same. Her Charge Flurry also grants IM:Destroy Blocking while “Objection!” took away the extra requirement for using Perplex. She just gets Perplex now. She’s also five points cheaper on top dial: 125 instead the original 130.

F.U.N.? We appreciate this version of Shulkie leaning more into her lawyerness and 4th-wall-busting. But we do not love the misprint on her card of one of her traits as a nonexistent attack SP.

———

L029 MORG

THEN: His “Execution” trait gave him +2AV against an target with 2 action tokens and he got “Axe Swipe,” an occasional attack SP Quake that dealt 2-4 damage instead, based on a d6 roll.

NOW: Execution is basically the same while Axe Swipe can now do up to 5 damage. He also got a new trait, “Well of Life,” that if he gets to an enemy start zone and hasn’t been placed (this turn), he can POWER gain Prob, Blades and Steal Energy for the rest of the game.

F.U.N.? His upgrades aren’t quite enough. The restrictions on his new trait are a bit too much given the inherent risk of invading enemy territory like that. And, of course, him not starting being able to use the other abilities is a tough row. His best boost? Being Power Cosmic to use the new Willpower.

———

L037 MR. FANTASTIC

THEN: So he had a trait “Find A Way To Save My Family” giving him a 1-in-6 chance at bringing back a KO’d Fantastic Four team ability user after he heals from the Fantastic Four team ability; an attack SP “Stretch” to punch 10 squares away at a visible target as a double power action; and a damage SP granting Leadership as though he’s 150 points instead of 130 along with Outwit that he can use twice if the second is against an enemy next to a friendly FF keyword fig.

NOW: “Find A Way To Save My Family” prevents KO of any other Fantastic Four keyword fig on a 5-6 roll instead of the several requirements of the earlier version; his attack SP is no longer a DPA but is just Giant Reach: 10 punch as POWER. His damage SP is mostly unchanged, though his Leadership is no longer enhanced to 150 points.

He also got an additional trait, “Marvel’s First Family,” which sheds an action token and boosts all his stats for a round when he heals from the F4 TA.

F.U.N.? He was overcosted and unremarkable in 2012 and this new card doesn’t really change that inconvenient truth. Worse: The card is misprinted with his damage SP marked as a trait and an actual trait listed as a defense SP … which he doesn’t have at all. But at least his Stretch power is actually usable.

———

L038 THING

THEN: A fun figure with the SP to nonstop attack … IF the opponent allowed it.

NOW: He gains Sidestep and Close Combat Expert and the old choice to either keep clobbering or quit at the cost of a last bit of unavoidable damage is now HIS, not the opponent’s. He also gets the “Marvel’s First Family” trait.

F.U.N.? Still a lot of points and his numbers aren’t best. But with enough stat mods to his attack (possible 13) this is a fig that could one-turn nearly any target with even just average attack rolls.

———

L049 MORGAN LE FAY

THEN: Way back, I wrote: “With her ability to make herself a hard shot either in close or at range as needed, and her suPerplex for … Avengers, and her wildcardness, she’s a highly versatile light tentpole.”

NOW: She’s the first legacy figure to get a radical point cost change (from the original 122 to a new choice of 100- or 50-point start lines). She lost the suPerplex (+/-2 anything except damage, a trait only usable on Avengers keyword), her ability to be on Avengers theme teams without breaking theme and her wildcard TA (thanks to the change to Minions of Doom) to gain an additional team symbol in Mystics, regular Perplex, and the ability to merge Avengers and Latveria keywords to make a single themed team (thus allowing her to truly theme with Avengers because she’s Latveria). She kept a trait that made her weak to Blades/Claws/Fangs, while adding a further vulnerability to equipped foes and object attacks.

F.U.N.? Unfortunately, her loss of wildcard status makes her just a little less effective than before and her stats today, which were kinda pedestrian in 2012, are never impressive. 

———

L057 INVISIBLE WOMAN

THEN: Like her brother (see below), her SP never quite worked right, though not nearly as poorly as his. First, she had to take damage to get to her Invisible Barrier SP — maybe too late to use it effectively. Then she lacked the Willpower/Indom to use the Barrier well.

NOW: She gains a keyword (Scientist), a trait (that boosts her stats +1 when the F4 TA triggers) and, most importantly, she starts with the Invisible Barrier instead of having to push to gain it, making the ES/D it grants much more usable. She also gets a +3 range boost instead of the old version’s +2.

F.U.N.? She remains fairly overpriced but is much more playable, at least.

———

L058 HUMAN TORCH

THEN: He made my “Worst of” list for that year: “He’s got to push to even get TO the Special Power that allows him to TRY to add the Nova Flame. Pushing means he loses that [starting] 4 damage AND he’s stuck there for a turn, anyway, on top of that. THEN he’s got to push AGAIN, via double power action, to get the Nova Flame, leaving him a sitting duck AGAIN. Better hope he actually managed to hit something while he’s hurting himself…AGAIN.  [Also] better hope he doesn’t GET hit, because taking ANY LITTLE BIT OF DAMAGE from the attackers who fire at this sitting duck removes the Nova Flame and he’ll have to start all over again.”

NOW: Aside from the fact the card mislabels his Defense SP as a trait, it’s a massive improvement: He gets the Avengers keyword; his Nova Flame grants +1 attack along with the old version’s +1 damage; and the double power action has been made into just SP Pulse Wave, compatible with Running Shot.

Oh, and he actually STARTS with the Nova Flame and its abilities instead of depending on a SP not even on his starting click to ever access it.

F.U.N.? He’s still too many points, but at least he actually functions now.

———

With legacy cards clearly set to be an ongoing feature in HeroClix, look for this to be an occasional series. We’ll review Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary in its next installment.

So usually, heroclixin’ has this handy checklist ready for release day, which was back in late April. But one thing I hate doing is releasing incorrect information. And, well, WizKids took several weeks to correct a TON of incorrect information on its figures and dials (and the errata is still incomplete).

For example, Ferdinand (Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 025) has two differing point costs: 30 on his base and 50 on his character card. Which was right? Until yesterday, we didn’t know (It’s 30. The dial was right).

Another: Zeus (Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 035) has three different costs: 175 and 100 on his card but 200 and 100 on the actual figure. Judging from the above example, one would assume the figure was correct, but no, it’s the card in this case. He’s 175 points on click #1.

There are numerous OTHER errors almost as massive as these in this set. And I’m really tired of them and could help eliminate them, given the chance. I need to put together an actual pitch.

Anyway, here’s a hopefully error-free checklist for your use. The link below has four copies per letter-size paper.

WW80checklist

“They fight…and fight…and fight and fight and fight…fight fight fight, fight fight fight…”

So Lenny and I had another of our massive battles a while back: a sort of rematch of one we waged back in the early days of Heroclixin’: The battle for Asgard!

Back in pre-COVID 2020, we did it again using updated rosters of Asgardian heroes and my Asgardian enemies, now led by the Frost Giant king, Ymir. I won map, picking the Necropolis in Wakanda (Loki found a back way into Asgard from Earth but were surprised by the hosts of Asgard).

This was a truncated fight because we were under a time constraint. My pair of Frost Giants from Giant-Size X-Men soaked up lots of attacks and I took a sizeable lead that JUST held when I advanced a bit too needlessly far with Angrir who barely survived Lenny’s attacks of opportunity.

More than a year later, a few weeks ago we did a rematch with revised teams. Lenny built somewhat to counter my GSX Frost Giants — uselessly, because I didn’t field that one again — and I got some newer pieces to try out this time.

Here are Lenny’s…

…HEROES OF ASGARD

Balder (The Mighty Thor) 80 points

Beta Ray Bill (The Mighty Thor) 225 points

Dino-Thor (Secret Wars: Battleworld) 90 points

Fandral (The Mighty Thor) 60 points

Gharskygt (Hammer of Thor) 61 points

Groot Thor (The Mighty Thor) 175 points

Heimdall (Fear Itself) 169 points

Hogun (The Mighty Thor) 80 points

Iron Man (Fear Itself) 250 points

Lorelei (The Mighty Thor) 45 points

Odin (The Mighty Thor) 230 points

Skurge (The Mighty Thor) 125 points

Sif (The Mighty Thor) 45 points

Thor (Nick Fury Agents of SHIELD) 145points

Thor Odinson (The Mighty Thor) 175 points

Throg (The Mighty Thor) 45 points

Thunderstrike (The Mighty Thor) 115 points

Troll (The Mighty Thor) 60 points

Ultimate Thor (Secret Wars: Battleworld) 125 points

Valkyrie (Avengers Defenders War 065) 75 points

Volstagg (The Mighty Thor) 90 points

vs. my

(RIGHTFUL*) RULERS OF ASGARD

*(According to Loki. He lies sometimes.)

Absorbing Man (Invincible Iron Man 103) 153 points

Angrir (Fear Itself) 235 points

Enchantress (Avengers Black Panther Illuminati) 135 points

Executioner (The Mighty Thor) 120 points

Fenris Wolf (Thor Ragnarok ) 100 points

Frost Giant (The Mighty Thor ) 300 points

Frost Giant (Giant-Size X-Men G06) 100 points

Frost Giant Champion (Avengers Movie) 100 points

Hela (Thor Ragnarok ) 100 points

Loki (Avengers Black Panther Illuminati ) 170 points + Bearer of the Infinity Sword + 5 points

Nerkkod (Fear Itself) 215 points

Rock Troll (The Mighty Thor) 25 points x2

Storm (WizKids MP19-006) 85 points

Ulik (The Mighty Thor) 100 points

Ymir (The Mighty Thor) 550 points

both within 2500-point build. 10 actions plus Leadership.

This time we fought on Bifrost. I picked the Asgard side, having stolen the realm from Odin and Co., forcing the Loki’s dotard stepfather and hammerheaded brother to approach from the Midgard side!

…which was the TURNING POINT of the whole game, I’d come to see.

What I saw immediately: With Bill and Heimdall, I was not going to get the easy shots with Ymir and others I was accustomed to having in the first match. So I had a choice: either hide in my starting area or come out and tussle because this was a HeroClix fight.

Lenny built a bunker of Beta and Heimdall almost right in front of me. And OMG it was the worst. I snuck in a Pulse Wave shot at Jane Thor for a quick KO and lead but lost both generic Frost Giants in single turns to the massive Hypersonic and ranged damage from the hiding-in-plain-sight Asgardians. Nearly the only other attacks I could even make were weak Charges from Hela’s Fallen Warrior pogs.

Even when I managed a few attacks of my own, the dice just tended to fail. Here’s how badly:

• After chewing Groot Thor to his last click, I couldn’t hit 16 DV Shape Change in multiple tries. He easily broke away and ran for his life.
• Absorbing Man finally got a Charge but got hit for 4 finally. That landed him on Flurry to finally begin to deal with Heimdall … who Super Sensed both hits. I’d pushed to make this attack … and rolled a 1, knocking myself out.
• A badly hurt Executioner, on Flurry, missed a relatively easy second attack. That missing click of Steal Energy healing was the difference between survival and being KO’d the next turn.
• SO many attacks missed by 1.
• There was a last gasp by Ymir to use Close Combat Expert against a 17DV: Rolled 3 for a miss.
• Hela had tons of Rise tokens to generate Fallen Warriors but no Mastermind fodder when she needed it (thanks to Thor Odinson’s final plot ability “God of Thunder” turning all my my actions into double token actions) and got KO’d in one turn.
• Even my last trick, a revert from Angrir to The Thing (Fantastic Four 036) to bring in Alicia Grimm, left her no one to heal when he got crit hit for just enough to KO!

Just horrible.

But as I noted earlier, I lost this match as soon as I picked my starting area for … story purposes instead of gameplay. The Midgard side has buildings I could have used for shooters and Probbers to have lines of fire to affect Lenny’s many attacks instead of just my far fewer own rolls.

And in classic super-villain self-sabotage mode, I messed up with my very team’s build in a key way. But before that, let’s look at the game …

…by piece

Beta Ray Bill (The Mighty Thor): This was the center of Lenny’s whole game, this piece that prevents him and adjacent allies from targeting at all beyond 4 squares. And it was used MUCH better than last game, I have to say. Salute.

Fandral (The Mighty Thor): In the late game, he served as very effective tie-up.

Gharskygt (Hammer of Thor): One of the few pieces I could even target.

Groot Thor (The Mighty Thor): Protected by Bill, his Giant Reach ruined my meager attempt at a comeback with Storm. (One of those misses by 1 missed him and left her open to that giant Charge.)

Heimdall (Fear Itself): The other center of Lenny’s whole game, he prevents enemies from getting inside of 3 squares of him, preventing my Charge-heavy team from doing much.

Hogun (The Mighty Thor): Timely hits on Absorbing Man with his Knobbed Mace (-2 AV to hit targets) kept me in check.

Iron Man (Fear Itself): A late addition to Lenny’s team, this overcosted Stark shines in a game this big.

Lorelei (The Mighty Thor): Annoying little Perplex piece I couldn’t get to. So glad the power’s changing because she boosted damage a LOT.

Odin (The Mighty Thor): His +1 to Asgardians freed up Perplexers to boost damage. I got the old man to last click twice but those misses by 1…

Skurge (The Mighty Thor): Both an annoyance and a dangerous cleanup hitter.

Sif (The Mighty Thor): Speaking of annoyances, she was one until she scored an improbable hit on Hela’s 18 DV for that one-turn KO.

Thor (Nick Fury Agents of SHIELD 050): One of the few foes I could even target, Jane Foster got completely destroyed without making an attack.

Thor Odinson (The Mighty Thor): Over and over, he was able to HSS hit and run and hide with Bill. It was gross.

Throg (The Mighty Thor): Another Perplexer. Too much!

Thunderstrike (The Mighty Thor): Completely destroyed without making an attack, but he was only bait, to be honest. And he worked.

Troll (The Mighty Thor): My favorite Asgardian worked against me this time, landing that first Exploit hit on Executioner

Valkyrie (Avengers Defenders War): She never got that crazy “cut through everybody” trait off, but she landed the final blow of the game.

Volstagg (The Mighty Thor): Tied up the dregs of my team.

For my part:

Absorbing Man (Invincible Iron Man 103): Already talked about the horrid dice that took him out. And his low, low DV certainly helped Odinson more than anyone on my team. But I really can’t complain about him; he dodged a LOT of damage across the game.

Angrir (Fear Itself): Barred by Heimdall from making much of an impact until far too late. One of those misses by 1 really cost me.

Enchantress (Avengers Black Panther Illuminati): A key support of my team. But lacking that safe LOF for making attacks or using Prob on non-giants (or defensively at all) meant she was otherwise wasted. Further dice problems: Lenny NEVER rolled a 1 or 2 on his Leadership to trigger her own token removal.

Executioner (The Mighty Thor): Barred by Heimdall from making much of an impact until far too late. And I mentioned his end.

Fenris Wolf (Thor Ragnarok): Barred by Heimdall from making any impact at all. Biggest disappointment of the whole bad matchup.

Frost Giant (The Mighty Thor): A colossal, he was one of the few figs that could actually attack. But though he got points almost immediately, he was felled by 5 Asgardian counterattacks the next turn.

Frost Giant (Giant-Size X-Men G06): Another colossal one-turned.

Frost Giant Champion (Avengers Movie): I needed to use his ability to Battle Infuriate enemy shooters, but Beta Ray Bill prevented him from the needed line of fire.

Hela (Thor Ragnarok): At one point, she had 7 Rise tokens. But she died with 5 remaining due to “God of Thunder.” I kept pushing Fallen Warriors to try to score hits and KOs, to no avail.

Loki (Avengers Black Panther Illuminati): Here’s where that self-sabotage I mentioned happened.

So I wanted to play THIS Loki, right? Not the illusion-creating trickster (The Mighty Thor 002) but this Infinity Sword-wielding god. But:

• I picked a map side with poor lines of fire, barring his Prob and, later, Outwit, along with his range attacks.
• I picked the wrong gem to start him with. The Power Gem SEEMED like a good idea (+1 damage, along with RCE and CCE) over the Mind Gem he gets a specific bonus for using, but really any the other gems available to me would have been an improvement: Space Gem to carry Charge pieces to get to Heimdall, Reality Gem for Perplex and TK (REALLY needed here), Time Gem for a range boost, Soul Gem for a DV boost.
• And, of course, this Loki is riddled with weaknesses that shouldn’t be on a 175-point figure: no move+attack, no armor, no Indomitable, no Outwit resistance…No CHANCE!

Nerkkod (Fear Itself): Barred by Heimdall from making much of an impact until far too late. Also ruined by my non-map choice. Got blasted past all his Revert clicks to boot!

Rock Troll (The Mighty Thor): I used one of these Trolls to wield the Healing Casket to decent effect so I can’t say they weren’t worth their points.

Storm (WizKids MP19-006): Barred by Heimdall from making much of an impact even though she could have been the answer to the Beta Ray Bill problem. (But I would have had to put the Reality Gem on Loki for THAT to work)

Ulik (The Mighty Thor): Barred by Heimdall from making much of an impact until far too late. And when he did have the chance? Missed by 1.

Ymir (The Mighty Thor): The mighty king of Jotunheim was the extent of my offense for many, many rounds. But one can only withstand so many 13-14AV attacks before they start to whittle one down. And so he was.

———

FINAL SCORE: 2570 to 741

We’ve made tentative plans to take this to a final, best-of-three match sometime after the rules change, which will remove Lenny’s Perplex-on-damage tactic used here and make the “God of Thunder” plot ability far less game-wrecking, as well as freeing up our forces from fears of pushing damage. But until then:

In spring 2019, HeroClix saw a great movie-based micro set in Captain Marvel. One of the surprise F.U.N. hits from the set were the Kree figures and their “Kree Supremacy” traits.

Let’s get into it before the set retires to Golden and Silver Age this summer on July 1 — with an eye to how the 2021 rules will affect them.

Things we’ll look at:

1. how useful is this Kree Supremacy on a Basic level? That is, if you have allies that are adjacent friendlies or non-adjacent Kree

2. how useful is this Kree Supremacy on a Kree level? if you have allies that are adjacent AND Kree

3. how useful is this Kree Supremacy on Solo level? What if this character is the ONLY Kree on the team, and how it works with its powers

4. How useful is this piece, period? What is its SUPREMACY LEVEL? Low, Moderate, High or Supreme?

———

Kree Soldier [Captain Marvel Movie 002]

25 points

Kree Supremacy: Elite Forces: Once per turn, when a friendly character that’s adjacent or has the Kree keyword rolls for breakaway and the result is 1, you may reroll that die. If that character is both adjacent and has the Kree keyword, instead you may reroll a result of one or two.

1.  Basic level: It’s good to grant a breakaway bonus — especially with changes to Plasticity. And because she is an Enhancement piece after her first click, it could be helpful to a based Running Shooter.

2.  Kree level: An even better bonus here certainly isn’t bad.

3.  Solo level: She gives herself the Basic bonus. With her being a range fighter, breakaway is potentially vital for her to either get that a Running Shot off to retreat to Enhance a different shooter.

SUPREMACY LEVEL: LOW. Willpower could help her stay mobile but that short 4 range may not keep her safe and a 3-click dial means Enhancement might never see play. She needs to coordinate with tie-up allies for best results.

———

Att Lass [Captain Marvel Movie 005]

50 points

Kree Supremacy: Deep Cover: Friendly characters that are adjacent or have the Kree keyword modify defense by +1 against close attacks. If that friendly character is both adjacent and has the Kree keyword they also modify defense by +1 against range attacks.

1.  Basic level: Offering a DV bonus in close is good for melee or if foes decide to close in.

2.  Kree level: Get that DV bonus from range too.

3.  Solo level: He needs to be in melee ASAP for the bonus (and his Combat Reflexes)

SUPREMACY LEVEL: MODERATE. Att Lass is one of those tie-up figs who could work OK with the Kree Solider. Don’t let his 5 range and Precision Strike bait you into using him as a shooter unless you’re wanting to boost DV for other, better adjacent shooters.

———

Yon Rogg [Captain Marvel Movie 006]

50 points

Kree Supremacy: For Hala!: Once per turn for all characters with this trait, when a friendly characters that’s adjacent or has the Kree keyword hits, Action Total +1. If that character is both adjacent and has the Kree keyword, Action Total +2 instead.

1.  Basic level: Can help a swarm team a lot to either get more attacks or more actions.

2.  Kree level:  Try to have a Kree shooter either next to Yon here or next to another Kree to help trigger the potential +3 actions.

3.  Solo level: He’s mostly a Telekinesis and Leadership piece, so he’ll rarely activate the ability himself.

SUPREMACY LEVEL: HIGH. TK is a premium supporting power. With Toughness on top, he’s likely to see his Stealth/Willpower/Perplex clicks later on.

———

Kree Combatant [Captain Marvel Movie 007]

25 points

Kree Supremacy: Peerless Warriors: Once per turn, for all characters with this trait, when an opposing character rolls to break away from friendly characters that are adjacent or have the Kree keyword and the roll is a 6, you may reroll that die. If at least one of those friendly characters is both adjacent and has the Kree keyword, instead you may reroll a result of 5 or 6.

1.  Basic level: Making pals better at tie-up isn’t worthless.

2.  Kree level: Making pals GREAT tie up is better still.

3.  Solo level: Works great for him acting as tie up with his Reflexes and melee powers of Exploit Weakness and Close Combat Expert.

SUPREMACY LEVEL: LOW. A rare melee specialist for the Kree, his short dial is problematic for his survival, like his sister Kree Soldier. But tie-up is important and that opening Charge Exploit move could yield victory.

———

Minn Erva [Captain Marvel Movie 011]

75 points

Kree Supremacy: Protected by Superior Technology: Friendly characters that are adjacent or have the Kree keyword have Protected: Outwit on their speed powers. If that friendly character is both adjacent and has the Kree keyword they also have Protected: Outwit on their attack powers.

1.  Basic level: Nice to not have most move+attack powers Outwitted.

2.  Kree level: Double the Outwit resistance, though a bit less important than keeping the moving powers

3.  Solo level: It’s certainly OK but not vital to keep her Running Shot free from Outwit.

SUPREMACY LEVEL: MODERATE. She’s a lot of points, even if she starts with a solid 11 AV Penetrating Blast. More important is her Probability Control. Strong defense in Invincible.

———

Att Lass [Captain Marvel Movie 014]

75 points

Kree Supremacy: Empowered by Superior Technology: Friendly characters that are adjacent or have the Kree keyword have Protected: Outwit on their defense powers. If that friendly character is both adjacent and has the Kree keyword they also have Protected: Outwit on their damage powers.

1.  Basic level: VERY nice to not have defense powers Outwitted.

2.  Kree level: Double the Outwit resistance is good.

3.  Solo level: Un-Outwittable defense is really important for him as he’s got good reducers and ends with Regeneration.

SUPREMACY LEVEL: SUPREME. He’s a Hypersonic piece with Leadership who guards all defenses for a Kree team. Do not field without him if possible!

———

Yon Rogg [Captain Marvel Movie 015]

75 points

Kree Supremacy: We Shall Win This War: Friendly characters that are adjacent or have the Kree keyword modify attack by +1 when targeting only characters that can use Shape Change or Stealth. If that friendly character is both adjacent and has the Kree keyword, it can use Targeting: Hindering, Characters

1.  Basic level: Pretty situational but not bad.

2.  Kree level: Being able to shoot past characters is really good, especially with Yon Rogg acting as a blocker or Enhancer (or both)

3.  Solo level: He doesn’t get the Improved Targeting, so he’s not great vs. Stealth with him being a ESD range fighter, and Shape Change is always a challenge. What good is +1 AV if you can’t target?

SUPREMACY LEVEL: MODERATE. He’s a little pricey at his role as a midline supporter but works as a secondary attacker with his combo of RCE and Energy Explosion, where his bonus against Stealth/Shape Change could pay off (assuming ALL the targets have one of those two powers).

———

Bron Char [Captain Marvel Movie 016]

75 points

Kree Supremacy: Live Kree Or Die!: Once per turn for all characters with this trait, when a friendly character that’s adjacent or has the Kree keyword is KO’d, after resolutions you may deal 1 damage to each opposing character that was adjacent to the KO’d character. If that friendly character is both adjacent and had the Kree keyword, the damage dealt is penetrating.

1.  Basic level: Only triggers on your allies being KO’d, which can be perilous.

2.  Kree level: Can be hard to set up the supreme penetrating version due to his Battle Fury and his boot speed.

3.  Solo level: Not penetrating damage since he’s not adjacent to himself.

SUPREMACY LEVEL: LOW, unless you devote some effort into setting him up to leverage his effects. But here’s where his sculpt-mate, the Kree Combatant can pay off, even in death, and Bron himself can hit VERY hard with Charge+Flurry 4 damage.

———

Korath [Captain Marvel Movie 019]

75 points

Kree Supremacy:You Shall Not Escape: When a friendly character that’s adjacent or has the Kree keyword hits, after resolutions that character may move 1 square. If that friendly character is both adjacent and has the Kree keyword, instead all friendly characters with the Kree keyword may move 1 square.

1.  Basic level: So you get a little bit of extra movement. This can be very powerful with a few niche figures.

2.  Kree level: This can increase the mobility of a Kree team greatly. But the characters still have to break away, so keep that in mind.

3.  Solo level: Can get him out of counterattack range, I guess maybe. Not something to depend on.

SUPREMACY LEVEL: MODERATE. Though Korath has good numbers and has seen some meta play, he’s still pretty mediocre for the cost. But top Enhancement is never worthless and Invulnerability means he’ll land on his later RCE clicks to stay on offense.

———

Ronan [Captain Marvel Movie 020] 

100 points

Kree Supremacy: You Stand Accused: POWER: If no friendly character has been placed this turn, choose an opposing character that dealt damage to a friendly character that’s adjacent or has the Kree keyword since your last turn. Place Ronan adjacent to that opposing character, then make a close attack that deals penetrating damage targeting that character.

1.  Basic level: It works a lot like a colossal retaliation. It’s a generally okay and occasionally great way to get him deployed.

2.  Kree level: This works no differently from the Basic level, making it the most flexible of the Kree Supremacy traits.

3.  Solo level: Works same when he is damaged, too, so it’s fully useful for himself.

SUPREMACY LEVEL: HIGH. With proper placement, he could use Close Combat Expert to weaponize his “retaliation” effect to wreck whole teams (perhaps, depending on how what it means to “use” a passive power like CCE, going forward. But I suspect a rewrite may be coming.)

———

Captain Marvel [Captain Marvel Movie 021]

150 points

Kree Supremacy: Cosmic Awareness: Friendly characters that are adjacent or have the Kree keyword have Protected: Opposing Probability Control. If a friendly characters is both adjacent and has the Kree keyword, it can use Probability Control, but only to target itself.

1.  Basic level: It’s nice for Kree or adjacent allies to be unProb-able by enemies.

2.  Kree level: Her teammates get self-Probability Control…

3.  Solo level: …But not her. She only gets the first benefit.

SUPREMACY LEVEL: HIGH. Protecting against enemy Prob is good, and she herself is a very strong piece (though not as unkillable as she looks on paper).

 ———

 The full “Kree Supremacy” team comes up to 775 points. Double up on either the Soldier or the Combatant for a round 800. Or if you insist on highlander rules on named characters, dropping the rare versions of Att Lass and Yon Rogg get you down to 625 for a 700-point build (add 2-3 of the generics to fill) while the pricier versions bump up to 675 with room left for a single generic. Splitting between the common and rare versions is 650.

The most story-accurate build will exclude Captain Marvel and the generics, leaving it at 475.

Whatever you choose, have F.U.N. doing it!

We talked a lot a few posts back about the changes as we learned of them. Now we’re looking at all the powers and abilities to see what’s better and what’s worse in HeroClix 3.0.

UPDATE: The full Comprehensive Rules finally got released. And yes, a few more changes were revealed.

It’s a lot, so let’s get into it.

SPEED POWERS

FLURRY: BUFFED. Benefits from new general rule allowing multiple targets in melee.

F.U.N. or nah? We said a few posts ago that getting to split the damage of both attacks to, for example, clear out a swarm of pogs, could be great F.U.N. OK with this change.

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WizKids surprised us a bit with its early announcement of rotation (which doesn’t happen until July 1)

Silver Age and 2021 Rotation

What’s going?

5-Figure Booster Sets

• DC HeroClix: Batman The Animated Series … is canceled

• Marvel HeroClix: Secret Wars: Battleworld … calls a cease-fire and cease EXISTENCE
• Marvel HeroClix: Earth X … gets X’ed out

Fast Forces Packs and Starter Sets

• Marvel HeroClix: Secret Wars: Battleworld Fast Forces: Bye-bye, Runaways

• DC HeroClix: Batman The Animated Series Starter Set
• Marvel HeroClix: Earth X Starter Set

It’s more the maps we’ll mourn from these latter two than anything.

Micro Sets

• Marvel HeroClix: Captain Marvel Movie: 2019 fave Captain Marvel 021 will be missed, even though she’s been power-leaped by the SR from Captain America and the Avengers.

2018 Convention Exclusives and Limited Edition Game Elements

• WK DP18-001 Starro (and his WKDP18-002 through 005 minions)
• WK DP18-006 Batman (a.k.a. Commissioner Gordon Batman)
• WK DP18-007 Power Woman
• WK DP18-008 Orion
• WK DP18-009 Joker
• WK DP18-010 Hawkgirl (one of the subjects of our Bombshells F.U.N. Focus)
• WK DP18-101 Captain Cold
• WK DP18-102 Heatwave
• WK DP18-103 Impulse

• WK MP18-002a Thanos-Copter
• WK MP18-002b Cube-Powered Thanos-Copter
• WK MP18-003 Thanos
• WK MP18-004 Gwenpool
• WK MP18-005 Lockjaw
• WK MP18-006 Shadowcat
• WK M18-007 Daredevil (a 2018 fave)
• WK M18-101 Bishop
• WK M18-102 Black King
• WK M18-103 Forge
• WK M18-104 Death’s Head
• WK M18-105 Mandarin
• WK M18-106 War Machine
• WK M18-G001 Tri-Sentinel

• WK S18-001 Captain Kirk & Uhura

There are also a few WKM17 holdovers that will certainly be added to this list: Lila Cheney, Longshot, Dazzler. A few others I can’t think of. But they’re not gone forever because WK also announced a whole new official format in addition to Golden and Modern:

SILVER AGE.

This format allows all new-style card sets (from Superior Foes of Spider-Man onward). It also wisely starts with both a ban list and watch list of problem figures:

Ban List

WK MP-18 001 Blackbird: We’re not sure why this immediately banned. Perhaps there’s a weird interaction with the Krakoan Revival trait we’re not seeing, or WizKids just doesn’t want resources in the game anymore. In any case: Plane is decommissioned and grounded.

FF JW 004 The Penguin: This fig’s ability to make itself target of friendly attacks has the potential to lead to infinite loops and easy wins with certain Mission Points win conditions, among other things. So yes, Penguin is jailed.

Watch List

JW 053b Jakeem Thunder: I would say he’s not going to be a problem after his errata adding Shape Change to the powers he can only choose one from. But the 2021 rules expand his versatility even further. So this young Black man is getting profiled for good reason.

TMNT3 Mini Shredder: Aside from the fact that free damage should never be a thing in this game, the elimination of speed penalty for Carry means this little guy could become problematic in a hurry. Keep him under the microscope!

WI 040 Goblin King: See Jakeem Thunder, but add Power Cosmic Willpower. Could get even uglier than he is.

TMT 058 Uni-Mind: 2021 rules make him even grosser and top of mind for this watch list.

JW 060 The Joker: With all the new power interactions and his resistance to KOs, this Joker is no laughing matter.

FF HQGG 006 Corrupt GPCD Cop: This addition is a curious one, but clearly WK is concerned about any and all of the “don’t die” figures and mechanics. Internal Affairs will be WATCHING you, girl.

SW:BW 061 Black Panther: See Goblin King, except he’s not ugly. Also death-resistant. This king could lose his immunity.

EAX 017b Vulture: He’s needed to be addressed forever anyway. He better fly low or get his wings clipped!

EAX 054 Daredevil: Another death-resistant figure. His license could get suspended.

XTAS 011b Magneto, XTAS 023b Sabretooth, XTAS 043b Mister Sinister: These three figs are here for the same reason: Don’t Die.

HOX 030 Moira X: Another Don’t Die figure, she’s also loaded with powers.

XTAS G014 Proteus: His Barrier-like ability could get out of hand.

XTAS G018 Wendigo: So many free attacks he can do, and the 2021 rules boost him even more.

XTAS G020 Dark Phoenix: Already a top meta figure, the 2021 rules boost her even more.

AI G001 Giant-Girl: Perhaps less of a problem now that she can’t be spammed to boost initiative, but still warrants a look.

AI G017 Giganto & Namor: New Swim ability eliminates most of the big guy’s weakness to long range. One to keep an eye on.

AI G025 Groot: Walking Woods were problematic before. Maybe worse now that they can get two tokens without dying.

FF AI G001 Giant-Girl: Free retaliation. ‘Nuff said!

TMT G001 Surtur:  Good God, just ban him already.

TMT G004 Carnage: See Groot, but shave 10 points.

WK MP-18 G001 Tri-Sentinel: Any retaliation that can dole out free damage belongs here. And so he is.

All ID Cards: Just ban them already. No off-the-map stuff, please.

All this is a good move. Even a ban isn’t the end; Golden Age will continue to exist for local venues. The best and most hopeful thing is that maybe some rulings and questions about retired stuff can finally be answered, especially if this format will be a WizKids-supported deal for future WKOs and more.

Sounds like F.U.N.!