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Super scary robot.

Ultron (Hammer of Thor) 174
+ Automatic Regeneration 12
+ Nova Blast 10
+ Protected 8
Phalanx Soldier 31
Phalanx Soldier 31
Phalanx Soldier 31
= 297 points.
>BEGIN TRANSMISSION<
PLAN: Surrounded by my Phalanx Soldiers, I, Ultron, shall advance within Pulse Wave range and destroy any flesh that dares draw near. Or my minions shall surround a target and decimate it attack by attack. Thus shall the Phalanx transmode all flesh into efficient, unfeeling circuitry and order shall be brought to the cosmos. So says Ultron.
STAGE ONE OF THE ERADICATION OF ALL FLESH
Targets:
Mr. Fantastic (Secret Invasion) 100
The Thing (Secret Invasion) 100
Yellowjacket (Secret Invasion, Skrull) 100

LOCUS: A human junkyard, where the fleshlings discard our machine brethren.
ULTRON’S LOG: My minions advanced with care (and ease, due to the use of a Stepladder) but the sight of my hated father caused a curious dysfunction in my processing. Instead of adhering to the battle plan, I used a Kinetic Accelerator to Charge in almost blind with rage, only turning away from my “father” when I scanned him more closely and learned he was but a Skrull impostor of Henry Pym.
Striking at Mr. Fantastic instead, that nearly proved my undoing. Now somehow able to nullify my adamantium shell, Richards opened the way for the brutish Thing to damage some delicate circuits, forcing me to flee. My Soldiers stalled as well as they could, and had I been able to either self-repair or energy-blast Richards even once more, the Phalanx would have been triumphant.
RESULT: Loss of all Phalanx units and no flesh eliminated. DEFEAT.
—
STAGE TWO OF THE ERADICATION OF ALL FLESH
Targets:
none
LOCUS: none
ULTRON’S LOG: Utter defeat required a full round of rebuilding.
RESULT: Forces repaired for next stage of conquest.
—
STAGE THREE OF THE ERADICATION OF ALL FLESH
Targets:
Volstagg 103
Moondragon (Hammer of Thor) 134
M-11 59
LOCUS: Earthen Crash Site previously used by invading Skrull army (see “Secret Invasion”).
ULTRON’S LOG: On this sortie the original battle strategy was adhered to, forcing the enemy forces to advance closer. My first target was the human-built robot M-11. Unable to reprogram it to battle for us, I immediately eliminated it.
I had a golden opportunity to Nova Blast the remaining flesh into oblivion and so ordered as many minions out of range as possible. Unfortunately, my damage yield malfunctioned and was only successful in rendering inoperative the one Phalanx unit that could not escape the blast. It was not a total loss; the remaining units began to successfully engage the corpulent Volstagg.
I charged the human called Moondragon and was startled to see her transform before my eyes into a decidedly NON-human form. Nevertheless, flesh is still flesh and such suet must be eliminated completely. As my minions completed their destruction of the supposed god Volstagg, I used my perfectly logical intelligence to keep Moondragon a non-threat until I could finally destroy her.
RESULT: Loss of 2 Phalanx units and elimination of all targets. SUCCESS.
This venue proved a difficult battle, especially due to an unforseen glitch preventing use of protocols that might have shifted the Battlefield Conditions in our favor. The Phalanx therefore warped to another locale to seek greater success.
—
STAGE FOUR OF THE ERADICATION OF ALL FLESH
Targets:
Volstagg 103
Fandral 101
Hogun 96
LOCUS: Castle walls in ruins (like all other human achievements, with the singular exception of Ultron).
ULTRON’S LOG: Faced with more so-called “gods” — THERE IS NO GOD BUT THE GOD OF THE PHALANX — ULTRON!!!!! — I apparently flew into a jealous-god fit by selecting this locus for the battle. The cursed water moat prevented my minions from advancing with ease and, separated as they were, they no match for these “Warriors Three.” Rare failures on my own part also proved deleterious to the cause of the Phalanx.
Although I was able to forestall defeat for longer than expected, eventually 01001010110 1010101000…
RESULT: Loss of all units and the elimination of the Fandral fleshbag. FAIL.
—
STAGE FIVE OF THE ERADICATION OF ALL FLESH
Targets:
Ch’p 82
Batman (Arkham Asylum) 120
Hand Ninja (Hammer of Thor) 38
Hand Ninja (Hammer of Thor) 38
E SHIELD Sniper 22
LOCUS: Bifrost Bridge in the realm of the “gods.”
ULTRON’S LOG: A quick scan of this clever-for-fleshlings setup required some immediate battlefield shifting; a phased-array band of my Encephalo Ray prevented the enemy from using any of its disgustingly fleshy “team abilities.”
Thus hindered, the targets were easy to whittle down until the enemy made its boldest move by using Telekinesis (via power ring) to place the Batman in close quarters. But despite his strange gadget making my adamantium shell of no effect, the Batman failed both attacks and my 2 remaining minions eliminated him. From there, it was a simple matter to eradicate the rest.
RESULT: Loss of 2 Phalanx units and the elimination of all flesh. SUCCESS.
—
FINAL STAGE OF THE ERADICATION OF ALL FLESH
Targets:
Clint Barton (Ultimates) 75
Iron Man (Avengers) 154
V Scarlet Witch (Fantastic Forces) 62

LOCUS: A human junkyard, where the fleshlings discard our machine brethren.
ULTRON’S LOG: We attempted to assault these humans that so resembled, yet were not the hated Avengers with an Alpha Strike, but both sides nullified each other’s attempt to reframe the battle.
It would be the last stalemate of the contest. I and the Phalanx engaged the Scarlet Witch and survived Iron Man and Barton’s ultimately* futile attempts to save her. Breaking through Stark’s pathetic A.I. firewalls with contemptuous ease, I took command of his armor to fire on Barton with a Full Power blast. So weakened, the two of them easily fell to the Phalanx.
RESULT: Loss of 1 Phalanx unit and the elimination of all flesh. VICTORY!
* That appears to be a pun, or irony. I must run a full diagnostic purge of such human nonsense.
>end transmission<
Well, Ultron and the Phalanx Soldiers are a difficult team to run in 300 points (and its chances are not helped when one forgets to pull Battlefield Conditions like I did in the first tourney! Disbanded or Alpha Strike would have helped a bit against the Skrull TA in the first game). Does one use the movement-challenged Phalanx to tie up enemies for Ultron to shoot? Or is it better to use them as meat shields for the big bad robot, despite their woefully short lives?The balance was difficult to find, and with only three of them on the team, all too soon Ultron may well be swarmed to death.
I also made a choice between the reliable Fortitude feat and the more situational trio of Protected, Nova Blast and Automatic Regeneration. Although I don’t regret my choices, Protected would have cost me the first game even if I HAD landed that last-minute KO blow on Mr. Fantastic; the one Nova Blast I tried whiffed all but the friendly target; Automatic Regeneration failed every single roll.
I’d like to try Ultron + Phalanx in a larger-scaled game; I currently have enough to field a 400 point force.
So, what to blog about next? Infintiy Watch? Or Ragnarok (not the event dial)? Comment and place your vote by 12/12/09!

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And then it occurred to the crimelord: "Why should I pay for new landscaping and new security separately when I can get both in ONE?!?"

I got a phone call from my venue owner: two returning clixers were headed in for an impromptu gaming session. Having just scored a seasonal job after many months of total unemployment, I was enjoying my last free afternoon and evening for the next few weeks at least and decided to join them with a team I was planning to bring out to a Friday event but wouldn’t now due to the work schedule:

Marvel martial artists of Hell’s Kitchen.

Kingpin (Hammer of Thor) 78
+ Contingency Plan 12
Daredevil (Hammer of Thor) 81
+ Stunning Blow 10
+ Lunge 5
Elektra (Secret Invasion) 80 (Human)
+ Lunge 5
Tarantula (Secret Invasion) 51
+ Lunge 5
Hand Ninja (Hammer of Thor) 38
Hand Ninja (Hammer of Thor) 38
Hand Ninja (Hammer of Thor) 38
Hand Ninja (Hammer of Thor) 38
Hand Ninja (Hammer of Thor) 38
LE Elektra (X-Plosion) 19
V Hand Ninja (X-Plosion) 16
V Hand Ninja (X-Plosion) 16
V Hand Ninja (X-Plosion) 16
V Hand Ninja (X-Plosion) 16

Not only was this team intended to run nearly all the Hand Ninjas I’ve been slowly acquiring since early fall, but it was also born of my desire to play Tarantula, who’s under-appreciated because she’s just not as beastly-good as the 50-point  Spider-Man also seen in the same set. Finally, I’ve slowly been gaining respect for the new Kingpin figure and wanted to play him in a fairly comic-accurate team of him lording over a horde of hired ninjas (including the still-highly-mercenary Elektra and Tarantula) and Daredevil (presumably being manipulated somehow into working with his archenemy).
It was a battle royale starring, to my left going around:
Vic, who’s notorious for getting into the game, then selling out, then getting right back in:
Super-Skrull: Illuminati (Secret Invasion) 250 (borrowed from me)
Mr. Fantastic (Secret Invasion) 100
Yellowjacket (Secret Invasion) 100 (Skrull)
Rocket Raccoon (Hammer of Thor) 65
Nico Minoru (Hammer of Thor) 84

Tony, the venue owner and a diehard, old-school FF fan who plays them the few chances he gets to play a real game. To wit:
Dr. Doom (Secret Invasion) 200
Reed Richards (Secret Invasion) 100
The Thing (Secret Invasion) 100
Johnny Storm (Secret Invasion) 100
Invisible Woman (Secret Invasion) 100

and Therron:
Hela (Hammer of Thor) 200
Heimdall (Hammer of Thor) 149
+ Warbound 5 [Warrior]
+ Unstoppable 5
Fenris Wolf (Hammer of Thor) 140
Sif (Hammer of Thor) 93
+ Warbound 5 [Warrior]
He had an Asgardian themed team. But I had the umpteen-member Martial Artist theme and easily won map choice, putting us in the X:Men Danger Room indoor map. We decided to play until first team out.
I immediately marched as many of the red Ninjas into that map’s 2 x 10 area of hindering as possible:

No, REALLY. They're just a hedge.

…while keeping Kingpin in the rear (with a single black-clad Ninja as his Mastermind bodyguard) to build up Contingency Plan tokens.
Vic hid his team on the map’s 2 x 10 rooftop in mortal fear of Tony’s Telekinesis-fueled threat of sending either The Thing out to clobber someone with a heavy object or Johnny Storm to Pulse Wave an unwary target. But Tony just reshuffled his team in preparation for a much later strike. Then Theron got his quartet set to attack ninjas at the opportune moment.
I moved the rest of my Ninjas (including both Elektras) onto the remaining hindering terrain within reach, but made a key tactical error with the LE Elektra. Theron saw the threat and Charged her to swiftly KO her with Fenris Wolf’s big bite. And thanks to the big bad wolf’s giant size, none of my other Ninjas could retaliate with their swords.
That was all right with me; I had plenty of shuriken in the form of the Ninjas’ 8 range. And with the Hydra team ability boosting their Attack Values for range attacks, they began to whittle the big dog down.
Meanwhile, Vic decided to finally engage my Ninjas with Skrullowjacket, threatening to take out Kingpin. I took the opportunity to send  Tarantula in to occupy him. It proved a poor decision. She nearly took a crippling knockback punch until the players reminded me that I had tons of themed-team uses of Probability Control to burn. And so I did, forcing about 4 of my 7 available rerolls to save Tarantula from instant death. That proved fortuitous as Tarantula was later to use the Lunge feat to score a bit of real damage (yay BCF!) and hinder Vic’s attempts to take down Kingpin.
Elektra, on the other hand, did little but A) thoroughly miss Rocket Raccoon with her Flurry attacks and B) not get missed by Rocket Raccoon’s followup.
(Or Super-Skrull:Illuminati’s, which was the real trouble.) Daredevil, too, underachieved with big misses against Fenris Wolf. (Seems the critters were the ones giving me problems!)
Fortunately, I still had plenty of Ninjas. Hydra TA scored me lots of little shots on Skrullojacket, persuading Vic to try tying up the main Ninja culprits with Mr. Fantastic. With Mr. F using his SP to bump his DV to an impressive 19, it seemed a decent gamble, even against these two red-clad Ninjas’ free attacks.
It wasn’t. The Ninjas’ hits landed Mr. F onto late life.
As the game wore on, Daredevil at last pulled his weight by scoring a KO blow on the Wolf. With the other Ninjas mopping up the floor with all Vic’s team except Skrulluminati, I began creeping up on Tony and Therron’s respective teams. Therron was nearly all beaten up, with only Heimdall left and Tony wasn’t a whole lot healthier. I took the shots and actually scored two crit hits in a row to take out Therron’s last piece to end the game.
All game long, Tony kept warning that my Ninja Hedge would be a serious problem if Vic didn’t deal with them. But I honestly thought he was overstating things. In the end, though, he was right.

Watch out; that hedge has the nastiest thorns you EVER saw.

Kingpin worked just as I thought he would as the master plotter in the background. I actually never got to get him into full fight mode, as by the time he was actually threatened, the game was over.
Daredevil is a devil to use. His short range limits him and opens him up to retaliation. But he can dole out the pain.

She's better this way.

“Human” Secret Invasion Elektra (seen here in my repaint) is a real feast-or-famine piece for me. Sometimes she’s a total buzzsaw that shreds teams singlehandedly, but more often she takes a beating like a bowl of eggs and gets fried to boot. Tonight was the latter.
But she sure looked good doing it. 😀
I’ll have to run something like this again in the future. In the meantime, watch this space for an attack from space against all flesh…

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OK, so I went to my 5th 300-point sealed game of HoT so far, right? And there’s a decent turnout for a Sunday afternoon. Here’s what I pulled from my first booster:
Pluto
Marvel Boy
Sif
Bi-Beast
Malekith
Yeah, somewhat underwhelming. Don’t get me wrong; Sif is a winning piece, and Malekith’s Telekinesis is good, too. But he’s not worth much beyond that, and with this assortment of characters, I stood a chance of being out-ranged, out-maneuvered and underbuilt. So I opened the next booster:
Pluto
Marvel Boy
Sif
Bi-Beast
Malekith.
REALLY. So now I’ve got to build a team out of this duplicate crud, and the underbuilding concerns just got amplified. I decided to go for high AV’s and higher build total over TK mobility: Sif, Pluto, Bi-Beast. Basic strat: Sif carries Pluto to a building and he shoots next turn if possible while Bi-Beast slowly gets into the fight.
ROUND ONE against teenager Morrison’s Daredevil, Phalanx Soldier, Captain America, Namora and Hand Ninja went well. He’s a great player, but his team’s general lack of damage reduction made my eventual hits hurt. Wiped his team, losing none. 1-0.

ROUND TWO against Morrison’s neighbor Conrad’s Phyla-Vell, Rocket Raccoon, Pip the Troll, Spider-Man and Fire Demon*. I scored an early hit on Phyla-Vell when he unwisely moved within Pluto’s line of fire. Or, at least I would’ve, had not Rocket Raccoon seen it and forced the reroll, which she Super Sensed out of. I tried basing the team but he rocked me like a hair band in the 1980s. I got the Fire Demon but was wiped out. 1-1.

ROUND THREE was against Jay’s Balder, Venom and Star-Lord. He played the most cautious, not giving my Pluto that first shot. But he got just a little too close, and Sif was able to base Star-Lord (taxiing Pluto), who missed his counterattack and was gone a turn later. Wiped Jay’s team and lost none for a solid 2nd-place finish.

Sometimes a pig with lipstick will kick your...!

(*Yeah, for the second week in a row I played someone using a way-overbuilt team. I have GOT to start checking behind other peoples’ math!)

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At long, long last, HeroClix Organized Play is BACK! For those who don’t know, Organized (or Approved) Play is a system of tournaments held at gaming and comics shops nationwide where HeroClix players can compete for Limited Edition prizes that cannot be found in random boosters like the other pieces.
One popular format for both players and the company is Sealed, in which each player buys a couple of boxes and builds a team out of what’s inside. It’s a great equalizer between the veteran collector with thousands of characters to choose from and the new player who only owns an even dozen.
Today’s battle report is on the 300 points sealed Hammer of Thor tournament! Here’s what I ran:
Heimdall 149
Fandral 101
Rock Troll 45
= 295 points. This “Asgardian” keyword team lacked range, but I hoped Fandral’s Leap/Climb and Heimdall’s immunity to most move & attack powers would mitigate that weakness somewhat. The Troll was both filler and a damage-soaking tie-up piece. Now I turn it over to my “narrator”…

Heimdall, guardian of the Bifrost Bridge, gate of the golden realm of Asgard:

“At long last, we of the golden realm of Asgard hath exited our year-long sleep to enter the light of HeroClix day! But no sooner hath we blinked the matter from our eyes than we find the realm assailed by invaders!!
BATTLE ONE:
“Immediately I recognized the wicked Amora the Enchantress leading the miscreants: the lord of rock trolls Ulik and a Phalanx Soldier from a galaxy in Midgard’s heavens. They would not escape mine eyes. Battle was joined; our compelled Rock Troll drew Amora’s wrath as Fandral and I battled the incredibly tough-skinned Ulik. Even sharp-witted Fandral could find no chink’s in the fiend’s armor. The Rock Troll was defeated after many, many blows from Ulik and Enchantress and mine own forbearance against Ulik nearly cost us everything when he managed to wrest himself from our grasp. A merry chase they led us on, but eventually we ran them to ground. FOR ASGARD!!!
As we caught our breath and tended our wounds, we were startled to find our selves facing yet more invaders from the mortal realm’s heavens…”
BATTLE TWO:
“One calling himself Air-Walker and his dimunitive, furred companion Rocket Raccoon claimed Asgard for his master Galactus. Having seen long ago his dismissal from his role as herald for that infernal planetbreaker, I for my part dismissed his threat as mere bluff, but soon found that he was not to be taken lightly.
Fandral suggested we approach slowly, for while I could see his movements to avoid his attacks, he and our troll could not. And indeed, Air-Walker dealt his share of wounds to my stalwart ally. But we fought on bravely, waylaying the duo with blows that would have done even Thor proud, forcing this artificial being to self-repair again and again. Meanwhile, we also ran the animal to ground.
I know not when Fandral fell, but eventually it was I alone against the herald. And I failed, giving him a chance to self-repair and flee once more. At last my own sight failed as well and I took grievous harm. No longer able to strike with my usual vigor, I could not stop him from self-repairing one last time to seal my defeat.
It was fortunate indeed that this Air-Walker had not been in the thrall of his celestial master.”
BATTLE THREE:
“And yet it was not ended! A third group of interlopers appeared at the gates of Asgard: the reformed villain Songbird, Thor Odinson’s mortal ally Captain America, both accompanied by a Valkyrie of the realm and…by Odin’s beard!…another Fandral?!??
‘This deviltry needs be met with care,’ Fandral said. And so with care did we tread: myself using the Bifrost Bridge to widen my zone of movement and Fandral using his wits and agility to keep his opposite number in sight at all times. Meanwhile, we sent the troll ahead to act as diversion.
Mine eyes had seen what Captain America was capable of with that shield of his; not for nothing does he command Thor’s immortal respect. Fortunately, whatever madness impelled him to assault the golden realm also prevented him from fully using his ability to ricochet his shield to even unseen targets. Instead, his companion Songbird flew him into the fountains. And now it was time to strike.
The troll was ready to obey my command to rush forward to engage, but the woman surrounded him in solid sound–and nearly ensnared me. But I was free and clear to attack in the next moment, and did, rendering her utterly unconscious. Fandral then joined the now-free rock troll in engaging the Captain while the other Fandral engaged me. But the troll fell to the combined assault of the Captain’s fists and the rogue Valkyrie’s spears.
Now it was Fandral’s duty to engage the Captain, and I was left to battle dark Fandral alone. Alas, I could not best him. The last thing I saw before darkness took me was Fandral defeating the Captain, yet somewhat the worse for wear compared to his doppelganger.
“And now it falls to me, Fandral the Dashing, to relate the end of this grim tale. It is said that one who flees may live to duel again, and thus did I to the nearest rooftop. My doppelganger followed. Pushed to the edge of endurance, I successfully kicked him stoutly enough that we were now at the same level of endurance and forced him to draw his blade and show me the full measure of his skill.
He lunged. I parried and riposted. My blade struck true and deep; my opposite number went down and I was the victor.”
“And so we defended the gates of Asgard with enough success to call it a truly Legendary Day.”
======================
Three excellent games. The one against Air-Walker may well have been my win if not for three solid Regen rolls by Tim, the venue judge and my opponent…a very epic game. The first round vs. Scott found him a bit stymied by his slight lack of grasp of rules that hampered his planning. He still played fine…he never made any serious errors. The last game came down to Fandrals on the same BCF/CR click against a towering 19 DV and I won out with a game-ending 5 BCF roll.
Went to another venue for another game. Pulled and played Air-Walker (seeing how effective he is in this format), Jimmy Woo, and MOLLY HAYES, who, as it happens, will be our narrator this time.
=======================
“YAY! I got on the team!
The leader of the team was Air-Walker. He does walk on air, sorta, ’cause he can fly. He also dresses in pretty colors and is flaming. The other guy on the team was Jimmy Woo, who’s totally opposite. He wears a normal suit and looks totally normal. But I could tell  he was a little scary, too, in his own way. (And just between us, I think he was the REAL leader, not Mr. Walker.)
Me? I’m PRINCESS POWERFUL!!!!
Anyway, we got in a fight with some robots. Ultron was the scary-looking one and M-11 was the kinda hokey-looking one. Oh, and there was a ninja, too. We had the fight in a real CASTLE!
Ultron was scarier than the last time I remember. Mr. Walker’s first few attacks didn’t even scratch him! But now it was MY turn to fight! Mr. Walker brought me right in front of Ultron and I dared him to try and hit me.
M-11 tried to shoot Air-Walker but Mr. Walker dodged while I was dodging Ultron over and over. (I guess I’m smaller than he’s used to.) For some reason the Ninja jumped out of the open to fight me, but he couldn’t hurt me either. So while I was pounding on Ultron, Mr. Walker speeded away with Mr. Woo.
Then, because Mr. Walker has Cosmic Power or something like that, he and Mr. Woo shot Ultron with a HUMONGOUS energy blast. Then I hit Ultron with a humongous punch that knocked him out cold! YAY!
Mr. Walker and Mr. Woo shot M-11 right off the castle wall and in the moat. Then Mr. Walker double-shot the robot and the Ninja at the same time and we won!”
FIGHT TWO
“We went to a lab that looked like it was Iron Man’s or something and we fought some sorcerers named Enchantress (who’s really pretty) and Malekith (who’s not). And there was that Thunderbolt, Penance. He’s scary-looking.
Mr. Air-Walker and Mr. Woo told me to be careful because punching the magic man and lady would hurt me back like grabbing a live wire. I hate it when grown-ups try to tell me what to do! (Even when they’re right.)
Anyway, we were wondering how we were gonna get to the bad guys until they shot a hole in the lab wall. (OK, I guess THAT works.) Mr. Walker used his Cosmic Power to fly out and shoot Malekith really hard. Mr. Woo told Mr. Walker to carry me up to the hole because I’m the strongest and toughest one of us all. And I proved it when Penance tried to hit me and it didn’t even hurt! (But I hurt MYSELF trying to hit him one time.)
Both the grown-ups made short work of the bad guys, and we won again!”
FIGHT THREE
“We were in space now, but it was really weird. There was a fat guy, the Kingpin. And then there was an Asgardian Warrior, who looked and acted like a real-life Viking. There was Ultron AGAIN!!! Didn’t I punch him out? But the weirdest thing was seeing my friend Karolina Dean on the other team!! That’s not FAIR!!
Things started slow. Mr. Walker shot Karolina, sending her back to shield Ultron. (How wrong is THAT?) Mr. Woo told me to fight Ultron again, so I did. But this time I also had to fight the viking AND the Kingpin, who kept telling the other bad guys where to hit me so it hurts! SO UNFAIR!!!!
The worst part was that I was so scared that I hurt myself trying to fight again. And that made the viking knock me out with his sword.
Ugh, I HATE LOSING!
Mr. Walker told me later that Mr. Woo was so sorry I got hurt that he ran up to fight Ultron by himself, and lost. Then Mr. Walker was all alone but winning when he ran out of time. He said he was so sad about me that he forgot to focus on beating the Warrior instead of Ultron, which would’ve made us win ’cause he’d KOed Karolina already.

Two crit-misses. Poop.

Well, DUH! He SHOULD’VE hit the Warrior, ’cause the Warrior hit ME! Sheesh.
Anyway, it didn’t have a good ending, but it was still a cool adventure. Mr. Air-Walker is really awesome in this sort of random fighting and Mr. Woo works good too ’cause he’s a secret agent of SHIELD. At least that’s what he says.
Y’know something, though? Nobody was paying attention then, but I’m not a dumb little kid like people think. Karolina TOTALLY shouldn’t have been on that team. Not only is she my friend, but:
Ultron 174
Kingpin 78
Asgardian Warrior 37
Karolina Dean 55
= 344 points. I think someone’s math was really off.

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

M+M E004 CAPTAIN UNIVERSE

I always found this cover to be rather hilarious.

I always found this cover to be rather hilarious.

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

–

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

–

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

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

–

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

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

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

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

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Way back in December, I set about reacquiring a Dr. Psycho from 2005’s Collateral Damage set so I could play this team:
The Society
From left: Talia, Black Adam, Lex Luthor, Deathstroke, Dr. Psycho, Calculator.
Essentially the anti-Justice League, but worse than that, since each of these characters have been able to singlehandedly challenge entire teams with their machinations. Together as The Society’s inner circle? Nigh-unstoppable.
As an 800-point HeroClix team, though, they are somewhat less terrifying. Four of them — Luthor, Deathstroke, Calculator and Dr. Psycho — are wild cards with no team ability to copy from the team-less Talia and Black Adam. So immediately, I have to bend the theme somewhat to get any real playability from them.
Here’s my first take and my first match.
The Society
Black Adam (Crisis) 254
Lex Luthor (Justice League) 161
Deathstroke (Crisis) 156 + Outsmart 10
Dr. Psycho 100
Calculator 55 + Outsmart 10
Gotham City Detective 27
Talia (Batman Alpha) 20 + Loner 5
=798 points
vs. the Justice League of…well, Lenny.
Superman (Justice League) 226 + Fortitude 25 + ICWO 10
R Shazam 105
Green Arrow (Crisis) 104
Wonder Woman (Justice League) 94
Batman (Justice League) 75 + ICWO 10
Gamora 73
Cosmic Boy (Legion of Super-Heroes) 70
= 792 points
For shame, busting up a perfectly good DC team with that green cheesecake chick from Marvel. 🙂
Lenny won the roll and picked the Days of Future Past map. I holed up inside. No BFCs played.
Black Adam parked on the Kinetic Accelerator. Lenny TK’d Gamora to attack him, but she missed and got pounded for a quick KO. Superman snaked his subsequent attack, losing the Meteorite vs. Black Adam. Adam, Calculator and Deathstroke ganged up on R Shazam, keeping him Outwitted until he was done.
OOTS Batman sat on an object but lost it from an Enhanced attack from Talia. That didn’t save Dr. Psycho, who missed his Mind Controls and got pincushioned by Green Arrow. Lex Luthor also underperformed and fell to a double KO by Superman (which he Masterminded to the GCD) and Wonder Woman (no one left to MM to). At least Calculator got to the Vine to heal (dodging a shot from WW) as Black Adam, now on Hypersonic Speed, successfully took on Superman, Batman and Green Arrow with Deathstroke in tow. Cosmic Boy went down and WW was the last to fall. I had BA and Ds left.
Played the same team the next day against Scott’s semi-cosmic team:
Annihilus 126
Proteus 180
Magus 184
The Mighty Thor 286
= 776 points.
On the Junkyard map, I ran Infiltration and got Poor Teamwork’d. Deathstroke hunkered down safe in the map’s swath of hindering terrain, but Talia got OHKO’d by Thor right off. Psycho successfully Mind Controls Thor to attack Annihilus but the enthralled Asgardian fails. The bad Dr. takes 2 (and needn’t call anyone when he wakes from his impending KO). Lex Luthor gets tied by Magus. I return the favor, pushing Gotham City Detective  to cuff Annie and prevent the space buglord from Psychic Blasting Adam. GCD doesn’t last a turn.
Delay of game penalty.
Calculator takes Obsessive click (after lonnnnnng check on the computer to  check for common keywords on older figs), then takes a KO by TK’d Dumpsterator. Time’s up just before I can finish laying into Thor (due to that slooooooow-loading computer) so I take the time-limit loss, having KO’d no points to Scott’s 217.
We play on. Thor fails his Flurry and falls to combined Deathstroke/Black Adam assault as Dr. Psycho gets hit off board. Now Hypersonic and Super Strong, Adam starts beating down Magus and Proteus as Lex pushes to weaken, then KO Annihilus. Alas, the “Price” is not right and Lex goes down from his own Perplex. But now Black Adam and Deathstroke can’t be stopped and they again clear the board of all foes.
Because it takes a while to get KOs, this team isn’t very good in the time limit, but when played to the last, the two high-pointers tend to win out. I made an adjustment for a game played a few weeks later:
Black Adam (Crisis) 254 + Fortitude 25
Deathstroke (Crisis) 156 + Outsmart 10
Lex Luthor (Crisis) 113
Dr. Psycho 100
Calculator 55 + Outsmart 10
Gotham City Detective 27
Talia (Batman Alpha) 20 + Loner 5
R Ragman 25
=800 points. I just didn’t seem to be getting results from Lex, and since Alex was the REAL power behind the Society, having disguised himself as Lex, it fits.
Couldn’t resist the temptation to mutilate the theme by adding a conveniently brainwashed R Ragman to the team. 🙂
First, I played Mohammed, a very young player still very shaky on the rules. He had a cobbled-together team of borrowed figures:
Dr. Doom (Fantastic 4) 200
The Flash (Justice League) 114
Yellowjacket (Secret Invasion) 100
Yellowjacket (Skrull) (Secret Invasion) 100
Batman (Arkham Asylum) 64
Robin (Arkham Asylum) 66
The Caped Crusader 50
E Deathstroke (Cosmic Justice) 50
We played on the Dawn of Time map. My victory was never in doubt — the poor kid’s not a solid player yet — but my score wasn’t very high due to coaching him through the rules and Skrullojacket making too many Shape Change/Skrull rolls to KO him early enough to add more than that 100 points to my victory points.
Second round was against Lenny, who ran:
Silver Surfer (Avengers) 231 + Protected 8
Susan Richards (Fantastic 4) 120
Mr. Fantastic (Fantastic 4) 100 + Brilliant Tactician 20
Johnny Stom (Fantastic 4) 100
Benjamin J. Grimm (Fantastic 4) 100
Winter Soldier 70
Spider-Man (Secret Invasion) 50
Battlefield conditions: He Sabotaged me by tokening Black Adam (I missed my roll) while I tried to cause Telekinetic Strain. But he got to choose the Fantastic Four map, which played to his strengths and hurt many of mine.
I used the Sabotage to immediately push Adam to Hypersonic Speed and the Kinetic Accelerator, pretty much ensuring that he could reach any target on the map once he cleared. I also clustered the rest around him in case Surfer tried to alpha-strike my big gun. But Lenny was much more careful than that, positioning his whole team so that any Adam attack would leave him open to a massive counterattack.
I took the bait anyway, successfully hitting Winter Soldier within a click of his life. Nearly paid dearly for it when Sue TK’d Grimm a short distance  to try hitting with a Meteorite (missed), then Johnny Running Shot Adam for 5 clicks (hit) and Surfer tried a HSS driveby (crit-missed).
Psycho Mind-Controlled Surfer away to double target Winter Soldier and Sue (only hit him, though) then end up in easy range for Alex to Psychic Blast him (missed, though). More shots on Grimm landed but failed to KO. And somehow, time ran out before any more KOs could occur. Lost none.
Finally, I face Lord Timothy’s quartet of Deities:
Ares (Avengers) 275 + Protected 8
Thor (Ultimates) 186 + Protected 8
Hercules (Secret Invasion) 142 + Protected 8
Circe (Arkham Asylum) 149 + Alias 3
On the Dawn of Time map, I Infiltrated half my team into the bushes. Tim used no Battlefield Conditions, since the one he would have played — Skrull Kill Krew — would have hurt his Circe worse than me.
Using the Dynamostat to cover Adam on the Accelerator, I immediately tried Mind Controlled Herc to beat Thor. Thor got his Impervious, though. My backup plan to Psychic Blast Thor with Alex worked a bit better.
Tim ran Herc behind Thor, which opened the Norse thunder god to Dr. Psycho’s MC. He took 2 more clicks of damage into utter deadweight, but it was worth it: Circe took 5 clicks from the hammer and Thor took 1 from the Mystics.
Ares had just failed his Running Shot at Adam with a ridiculously low roll (13 on 19 missed? Really?) so it was time to return the favor. Only I did too well, with another ridiculously low roll into a miss. Feh. At least the taxied Talia managed to follow up with an actual solid hit…especially with Deathstroke countering Impervious. Too bad Protected swallowed it up, and Circe Outwit her sword next time. Black Adam, now on Flurry, landed another hit but was rapidly taken out by Herc and Ares. Talia didn’t last much longer. Neither did Circe…Alex took her down.
Now Ares closed in on my Detective and Calculator. While Calc took the defeat, Deathstroke, well-Perplexed, took on the god of war and came out on top while Herc was tied up by GCD’s Plasticity…I thought. Good thing I Outwit his Wrestler SP (was concerned about Charge and Flurry and had forgotten Herc’s Plasticity)! Herc couldn’t take on two Outwitters alone and fell.
3-0! Nice, but with Adam Fortituded, the Outsmarts were a waste. So in a later game, I swapped them out:
Black Adam (Crisis) 254 + Fortitude 25
Deathstroke (Crisis) 156
Lex Luthor (Crisis) 113
Dr. Psycho 100 + Compel 15
Calculator 55
Gotham City Detective 27
Talia (Batman Alpha) 20 + Loner 5
R Ragman 25
= 795 points.
There was weird format in this game…a special third die was rolled with every attack roll:
1=nothing
2=knockback x 2
3=heal after the attack (1d6-2, like Support)
4=automatic crit miss
5=automatic crit hit
6=nothing
FIRST match I faced John and his
Thanos 267
Trigon 263 + Protected 8
Darkseid 210
Doombot 5953 40
We were on the Crash Site map. I used the hindering to keep just out of range of that range-heavy team. Again Dr. Psycho did his thing, forcing Darkseid to punch Trigon in the shins and take Mystics feedback. But that just made Trigon start tossing Dopplegangers out and forced me to Outwit that so Psycho could get taxied to the Eleha’al Vine and start tokin…uh, I mean healing up.
My opponent was highly frustrated with my solid Stealth bunker, as I was with Black Adam’s inability to hit his lone lead man, Thanos. So he closed in on me. But it was too late as time ran out. I got the points for Protected for the win.
Then there was Christian’s cheese pizza:
Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188 + Fortitude 25
Iron Man 154
Mr. Fantastic 100 + Brilliant Tactician 20
R Kang (Supernova) 87
Ant-Man (Infinity Challenge) 50
E Dr. Mid-Nite 43
R Mandroid Armor 28
R Black Panther  (Infinity Challenge) 27
V Lockjaw 38
R Destiny 20
R Paramedic 8
I stuck us on the Armor Wars map. I managed to get Lockjaw and then Kang. But a Compel, a pair of missed attacks, an untimely (for me) Impervious roll and a tactical failure to tie up AV Iron Man with Ragman left a pushed Black Adam way too open to a massive pair of Running Shots from the Tonys that dealt him 10 clicks when he could only take 8. That was the game.
So how’d this cadre of villainy wind up working?
Black Adam: the beater really has to pull his weight at this point level. In the first build, the Outsmart combos really encouraged me to hold him back, causing the rest of the team to take a lot of early fire and forcing him into a cleanup role too late in the game for timed matches. In the later builds, he was often the first to go into battle and usually paid for it by getting pounded by multiple counterstrikes. It’s hard to find a proper balance.
Lex Luthor: Key example of a piece forced to do too much in the first build. Great AV, but his defense always took that first hit into less usefulness. He’d probably do better in the Ragman build…if the points allowed! That 161 cost and my general insistence on sticking to the villain theme kept Rags out the first go ’rounds.
Deathstroke: Like Adam, he’s one of the main fight engines of the team. But he lacks the mobility to really get into it alongside Adam. Still one of the major keys to this team’s viability.
Alex Luthor: Quite the upgrade from Lex for nearly 50 points less. He made room for more TAs to copy and better feats. His upfront Perplex also made him more effective as a backrow type to boost the real fighters’ attacks or defenses. Still disappointed that I NEVER got to use his BFC-canceling SP!
Dr. Psycho: If not for this theme, I’d never play him again. He was highly, HIGHLY ineffective in the first build for want of decent die rolls. He simply can’t afford to miss those Mind Control rolls when he’s going to be taking the next attack thanks to that dismally low defense. With Bat-Stealth, though, he had new life. It was more than worth taking multiple clicks of self-damage from feedback and pushing to make the enemy do some of my work for me.
Calculator: Similarly, Calc is suspect as a piece. Sure, he’s got built-in Brilliant Tactician, sorta, and Outwit. But that Outwit is gimped by the keyword factor — he’s toast against themed teams — and losing his single Stealth click is really dangerous for him. And there’s not enough Mastermind fodder to help him AND Psycho. Maybe I need to invest in pogs…
Gotham City Detective: the corrupt cop on the villains’ take. Basically only there as Mastermind fodder and, more importantly, a source of TA for the four wildcards on the team, especially Dr. Psycho (who’s useless without a TA to copy). Also served well to tie-up thanks to 2nd-click Plasticity.
R Ragman: NOT a villain. Just conveniently “brainwashed” by Dr. Psycho into aiding them. 🙂 Perma-Stealth for these wildcards, well, wildly increases their effectiveness. For the 25-40 points that the Alex Luthor build offers, there’s no better DC clix for the role he plays here. Maybe none in the game at all.
Talia: most of the time, she was just tie-up fodder. But sacrificing that 25 points wasn’t so bad if it meant Black Adam lived to fight another round or two. Which it usually did, to my benefit. And when enemy Outwit is focused on a 20-point piece instead of elsewhere, that’s pretty OK, too.

Taking a quick break from the Event Dials series to deliver some battle reports.

Way back in December, I set about reacquiring a Dr. Psycho from 2006’s Collateral Damage set so I could play this team:

The Society

From left: Talia, Black Adam, Lex Luthor, Deathstroke, Dr. Psycho, Calculator.

From left: Talia, Black Adam, Lex Luthor, Deathstroke, Dr. Psycho, Calculator. From Villains United #1.

Essentially the anti-Justice League, but worse than that, since each of these characters have been able to singlehandedly challenge entire teams with their machinations. Together as The Society’s inner circle? Nigh-unstoppable.

As an 800-point HeroClix team, though, they are somewhat less terrifying. Four of them — Luthor, Deathstroke, Calculator and Dr. Psycho — are wild cards with no team ability to copy from the team-less Talia and Black Adam. So immediately, I have to bend the theme somewhat to get any real playability from them.

Here’s my first take and my first match.

The Society

Black Adam (Crisis) 254
Lex Luthor (Justice League) 161
Deathstroke (Crisis) 156 + Outsmart 10
Dr. Psycho 100
Calculator 55 + Outsmart 10
Gotham City Detective 27
Talia (Batman Alpha) 20 + Loner 5

=798 points

vs. the Justice League of…well, Lenny.

Superman (Justice League) 226 + Fortitude 25 + ICWO 10
R Shazam (Origin) 105
Green Arrow (Crisis) 104
Wonder Woman (Justice League) 94
Batman (Justice League) 75 + ICWO 10
Gamora 73
Cosmic Boy (Legion of Super-Heroes) 70

= 792 points

For shame, busting up a perfectly good DC team with that green cheesecake chick from Marvel. 🙂

Lenny won the roll and picked the Days of Future Past map. I holed up inside. No BFCs played.

Black Adam parked on the Kinetic Accelerator. Lenny TK’d Gamora to attack him, but she missed and got pounded for a quick KO. Superman snaked his subsequent attack, losing the Meteorite vs. Black Adam. Adam, Calculator and Deathstroke ganged up on R Shazam, keeping him Outwitted until he was done.

OOTS Batman sat on an object but lost it from an Enhanced attack from Talia. That didn’t save Dr. Psycho, who missed his Mind Controls and got pincushioned by Green Arrow. Lex Luthor also underperformed and fell to a double KO by Superman (which he Masterminded to the GCD) and Wonder Woman (no one left to MM to). At least Calculator got to the Vine to heal (dodging a shot from WW) as Black Adam, now on Hypersonic Speed, successfully took on Superman, Batman and Green Arrow with Deathstroke in tow. Cosmic Boy went down and WW was the last to fall. I had BA and Ds left.

Played the same team the next day against Scott’s semi-cosmic team:

Annihilus 126
Proteus 180
Magus 184
The Mighty Thor 286

= 776 points.

On the Junkyard map, I ran Infiltration and got Poor Teamwork’d. Deathstroke hunkered down safe in the map’s swath of hindering terrain, but Talia got OHKO’d by Thor right off. Psycho successfully Mind Controls Thor to attack Annihilus but the enthralled Asgardian fails. The bad Dr. takes 2 (and needn’t call anyone when he wakes from his impending KO). Lex Luthor gets tied by Magus. I return the favor, pushing Gotham City Detective  to cuff Annie and prevent the space buglord from Psychic Blasting Adam. GCD doesn’t last a turn.

Calculator takes Obsessive click (after a lonnnnnng check on the computer to  check for common keywords on older figs), then takes a KO by TK’d Dumpsterator. Time’s up just before I can finish laying into Thor (due to that slooooooow-loading computer) so I take the time-limit loss, having KO’d 0 points to Scott’s 217.

We play on. Thor fails his Flurry and falls to combined Deathstroke/Black Adam assault as Dr. Psycho gets hit off board. Now Hypersonic and Super Strong, Adam starts beating down Magus and Proteus as Lex pushes to weaken, then KO Annihilus. Alas, the “Price” is not right and Lex goes down from his own Perplex. But now Black Adam and Deathstroke can’t be stopped and they again clear the board of all foes.

Because it takes a while to get KOs, this team isn’t very good in the time limit, but when played to the last, the two high-pointers tend to win out. I made an adjustment for a game played a few weeks later:

Black Adam (Crisis) 254 + Fortitude 25
Deathstroke (Crisis) 156 + Outsmart 10
Lex Luthor (Crisis) 113
Dr. Psycho 100
Calculator 55 + Outsmart 10
Gotham City Detective 27
Talia (Batman Alpha) 20 + Loner 5
R Ragman 25

=800 points. I just didn’t seem to be getting results from Lex, and since Alex was the REAL power behind the Society, having disguised himself as Lex, it fits.

Couldn’t resist the temptation to mutilate the theme by adding a conveniently brainwashed R Ragman to the team. 🙂

First, I played Mohammed, a very young player still very shaky on the rules. He had a cobbled-together team of borrowed figures:

Dr. Doom (Fantastic 4) 200
The Flash (Justice League) 114
Yellowjacket (Secret Invasion) 100
Yellowjacket (Skrull) (Secret Invasion) 100
Batman (Arkham Asylum) 64
Robin (Arkham Asylum) 66
The Caped Crusader 50
E Deathstroke (Cosmic Justice) 50

We played on the Dawn of Time map. My victory was never in doubt — the poor kid’s not a solid player yet — but my score wasn’t very high due to coaching him through the rules and Skrullojacket making too many Shape Change/Skrull rolls to KO him early enough to add more than that 100 points to my victory points.

Second round was against Lenny, who ran:

Silver Surfer (Avengers) 231 + Protected 8
Susan Richards (Fantastic 4) 120
Mr. Fantastic (Fantastic 4) 100 + Brilliant Tactician 20
Johnny Stom (Fantastic 4) 100
Benjamin J. Grimm (Fantastic 4) 100
Winter Soldier 70
Spider-Man (Secret Invasion) 50

Battlefield conditions: He Sabotaged me by tokening Black Adam (I missed my roll) while I tried to cause Telekinetic Strain. But he got to choose the Fantastic Four map, which played to his strengths and hurt many of mine.

I used the Sabotage to immediately push Adam to Hypersonic Speed and the Kinetic Accelerator, pretty much ensuring that he could reach any target on the map once he cleared. I also clustered the rest around him in case Surfer tried to alpha-strike my big gun. But Lenny was much more careful than that, positioning his whole team so that any Adam attack would leave him open to a massive counterattack.

I took the bait anyway, successfully hitting Winter Soldier within a click of his life. Nearly paid dearly for it when Sue TK’d Grimm a short distance  to try hitting with a Meteorite (missed), then Johnny Running Shot Adam for 5 clicks (hit) and Surfer tried a HSS driveby (crit-missed).

Psycho Mind-Controlled Surfer away to double target Winter Soldier and Sue (only KO’d him, though) then end up in easy range for Alex to Psychic Blast him (missed, though). More shots on Grimm landed but failed to KO. And somehow, time ran out before any more KOs could occur. Lost none.

Finally, I face Lord Timothy’s quartet of Deities:

Ares (Avengers) 275 + Protected 8
Thor (Ultimates) 186 + Protected 8
Hercules (Secret Invasion) 142 + Protected 8
Circe (Arkham Asylum) 149 + Alias 3

On the Dawn of Time map, I Infiltrated half my team into the bushes. Tim used no Battlefield Conditions, since the one he would have played — Skrull Kill Krew — would have hurt his Circe worse than me.

Using the Dynamostat to cover Adam on the Accelerator, I immediately Mind Controlled Herc to beat Thor. Thor got his Impervious, though. My backup plan to Psychic Blast Thor with Alex worked a bit better.

Tim ran Herc behind Thor, which opened the Norse thunder god to Dr. Psycho’s MC. He took 2 more clicks of damage into utter deadweight, but it was worth it: Circe took 5 clicks from the hammer and Thor took 1 from the Mystics.

Ares had just failed his Running Shot at Adam with a ridiculously low roll (13 on 19 missed? Really?) so it was time to return the favor. Only I did too well, with another ridiculously low roll into a miss. Feh. At least the taxied Talia managed to follow up with an actual solid hit…especially with Deathstroke countering Impervious. Too bad Protected swallowed it up, and Circe Outwit Talia’s little sword next time. Black Adam, now on Flurry, landed another hit but was rapidly taken out by Herc and Ares. Talia didn’t last much longer. Neither did Circe…Alex took her down.

Now Ares closed in on my Detective and Calculator. While Calc took the defeat, Deathstroke, well-Perplexed, took on the god of war and came out on top while Herc was tied up by GCD’s Plasticity…I thought. Good thing I Outwit his Wrestler SP (was concerned about Charge and Flurry and had forgotten Herc’s Plasticity)! Herc couldn’t take on two Outwitters alone and fell.

3-0! Nice, but with Adam Fortituded, the Outsmarts were a waste. So in a later game, I swapped them out:

Black Adam (Crisis) 254 + Fortitude 25
Deathstroke (Crisis) 156
Lex Luthor (Crisis) 113
Dr. Psycho 100 + Compel 15
Calculator 55
Gotham City Detective 27
Talia (Batman Alpha) 20 + Loner 5
R Ragman 25

= 795 points.

There was weird format in this game…a special third die was rolled with every attack roll:

1=nothing

2=knockback x 2

3=heal after the attack (1d6-2, like Support)

4=automatic crit miss

5=automatic crit hit

6=nothing

FIRST match I faced John and his:

Thanos 267
Trigon 263 + Protected 8
Darkseid 210
Doombot 5953 40

We were on the Crash Site map. I used the hindering to keep just out of range of that range-heavy team. Again Dr. Psycho did his thing, forcing Darkseid to punch Trigon in the shins and take Mystics feedback. But that just made Trigon start tossing Dopplegangers out and forced me to Outwit that so Psycho could get taxied to the Eleha’al Vine and start tokin…uh, I mean healing up.

My opponent was highly frustrated with my solid Stealth bunker, as I was with Black Adam’s inability to hit his lone lead man, Thanos. So he closed in on me. But it was too late as time ran out. I got the points for Protected for the win.

Then there was Christian’s team:

Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188 + Fortitude 25
Iron Man 154
Mr. Fantastic 100 + Brilliant Tactician 20
R Kang (Supernova) 87
Ant-Man (Infinity Challenge) 50
E Dr. Mid-Nite 43
R Mandroid Armor 28
R Black Panther  (Infinity Challenge) 27
V Lockjaw 38
R Destiny 20
R Paramedic 8
+ Thunderbolts 15 (Defenders)

Wow. That’s a full T.O.P.P.S.-style Pit Crew*, there. I actually got the taste for a pizza after seeing all that cheese.

I stuck us on the Armor Wars map. I managed to get Lockjaw and then Kang. But a Compel, a pair of missed attacks, an untimely (for me) Impervious roll and a tactical failure to tie up AV Iron Man with Ragman left a pushed Black Adam way too open to a massive pair of Running Shots from the Tonys that dealt him 10 clicks when he could only take 8. That was the game.

So how’d this cadre of villainy wind up working? Basically went 6-1 (technically 5-2, but the loss against Scott within the time limit would be invalidated had that keyword check taken 1 minute instead of 5). Piece-by-piece:

King of PAIN.

King of PAIN.

Black Adam: the beater really has to pull his weight at this point level. In the first build, the Outsmart combos really encouraged me to hold him back, causing the rest of the team to take a lot of early fire and forcing him into a cleanup role too late in the game for timed matches. In the later builds, he was often the first to go into battle and usually paid for it by getting pounded by multiple counterstrikes. It’s hard to find a proper balance.

Dunno what HE'S so happy about, getting KOed all the time.

Dunno what HE'S so happy about, getting KOed all the time.

Lex Luthor: Key example of a piece forced to do too much in the first build. Great AV, but his defense always took that first hit into less usefulness. He’d probably do better in the Ragman build…if the points allowed! That 161 cost and my general insistence on sticking to the villain theme kept Rags out the first go ’rounds.

He got his own series because he never got KO'd in any of these matches. :)

He got his own series because he never got KO'd in any of these matches. 🙂

Deathstroke: Like Adam, he’s one of the main fight engines of the team. But he lacks the mobility to really get into it alongside Adam. Still one of the major keys to this team’s viability.

Younger model. Smarter model. And dresses 100% fruitier. (Which is saying something. You SEE that purple & green getup?)

Younger model. Smarter model. And dresses 100% fruitier. (Which is saying something. You SEE that purple & green getup?)

Alex Luthor: Quite the upgrade from Lex for nearly 50 points less. He made room for more TAs to copy and better feats. His upfront Perplex also made him more effective as a backrow type to boost the real fighters’ attacks or defenses. (In fact, he’d be a great Brilliant Tactician for his fellow Calculators…something to consider in future runs.) Still disappointed that I NEVER got to use his BFC-canceling SP!

Short but slow.

Short but slow.

Dr. Psycho: If not for this theme, I’d never play him again. He was highly, HIGHLY ineffective in the first build for want of decent die rolls. He simply can’t afford to miss those Mind Control rolls when he’s going to be taking the next attack thanks to that dismally low defense. With Bat-Stealth, though, he had new life. It was more than worth taking multiple clicks of self-damage from feedback and pushing to make the enemy do some of my work for me. In any future runs, I may try using Mental Shields instead of Compel on him. In a build without Bat-Stealth, I think I’ll go with Contingency Plan and keep him well out of the fray.

Love the megalomania evident in this cover.

Love the megalomania evident in this cover.

Calculator: Similarly, Calc is suspect as a piece. Sure, he’s got built-in Brilliant Tactician, sorta, and Outwit. But that Outwit is gimped by the keyword factor — he’s toast against themed teams — and losing his single Stealth click is really dangerous for him. And there’s not enough Mastermind fodder to help him AND Psycho. Maybe I need to invest in pogs…

Gotham City Detective: the corrupt cop on the villains’ take. Basically only there as Mastermind fodder and, more importantly, a source of TA for the four wildcards on the team, especially Dr. Psycho (who’s useless without a TA to copy). Also served well to tie-up thanks to 2nd-click Plasticity.

R Ragman: NOT a villain. Just conveniently “brainwashed” by Dr. Psycho into aiding them. 🙂 Perma-Stealth for these wildcards, well, wildly increases their effectiveness. For the 25-40 points that the Alex Luthor build offers, there’s no better DC clix for the role he plays here. Maybe none in the game at all. That said, I’d much rather run an Alfred pog in his place instead. Anyone want to sell me one? 🙂

Best 20 points in HeroClix?

Best 20 points in HeroClix?

Talia: most of the time, she was just tie-up fodder. But sacrificing that 25 points wasn’t so bad if it meant Black Adam lived to fight another round or two. Which it usually did, to my benefit. And when enemy Outwit is focused on a 20-point piece instead of elsewhere, that’s pretty OK, too.

So much for the bad guys! Next comic-accurate theme is likely to be the Inhumans Royal Family. But that’ll have to wait until I get another string of 800-point games to play. In the meantime, enjoy a return to the Event Dial series. Ciao!

* ( Telekinesis. Outwit. Perplex. Probability Control. Support. A “Pit Crew” contains figures whose sole purpose is to cheaply provide one of these powers.)

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

M+M E003 UNLIMITED CLASS WRESTLING

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

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

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

WHAT TO BRING: a few extra Special tokens.

–

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

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

–

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

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

–

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

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

–

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

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

–

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

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

–

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

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

–

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

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

–

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

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

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

E002 EVOLUTIONARY WAR

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

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

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

—

TURN THE DIAL: At the end of each round.

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

—

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

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

—

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

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

—

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

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

On YOUR turn:

Never use GENESIS CHAMBER on:

Phasing/Teleport
Charge
Mind Control
Hypersonic Speed

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

Always consider using GENESIS CHAMBER on:

Earthbound
Stealth

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

Maybe consider using GENESIS CHAMBER on:

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

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

On ANOTHER’S turn:

Never use GENESIS CHAMBER on:

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

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

Maybe consider using GENESIS CHAMBER on:

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

E001 MUTANT MASSACRE

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

89071-4706-mutant-massacre_large

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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