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

One of my goal is to play every single HeroClix figure that comes into my possession. Sometimes that requires a Figure Flush: when I have to sit down and play with myself.

Wait, that didn’t sound right.

There simply aren’t enough tournaments, even in the Atlanta region which has at least eight weekly events, to run all these figures. So I just do a massive solo play test of them.

I ran Robots against Mysticals. Soldiers against Scientists. Justice League vs. Avengers.

Warriors came out to play against Armor. And Celebrity faced Metropolis.

Not everyone was run at home, though. A small Hydra force was used to help teach a new player. An unkeyworded swarm opened Pandora’s Box. The Young Avengers stuck it to authority. And a new Beast bounced across a map.

In alphabetical order, here’s how the figures flushed:

1. Agent Coulson [Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD 036]: SHIELD team ability and his present threat of penetrating damage made him more of a factor than expected from a Leadership piece that was lower cost than the rest of the squad. Not great but good.
2. Alfred Pennyworth [Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice 010]: This fig is all about that moment when he can prevent retaliation by an opposing character. And, being one of the figures in this list played in a live game against another person, he got that opportunity. At 30 points, he may be worth it for the role in the future.
3. Ant-Man [Captain America: Civil War 005]: His Outwit made him key for the all-Civil War movie team he was on. His lowish 17 DV, which was a concern on paper, didn’t really hurt him.
4. Batman [WizKids DP16-005]: Surfing Batman served as tie-up but survived the entire match. At 30 points, it’s a perfect role for him.
5. Batman [Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice 001]: Took it on the chin from the Avengers before he could really lay into them. But it took the whole team focusing on him to take him. A great fighting Batman that doesn’t feel like overpowered cheating.
6. Beast [Uncanny X-Men 022]: Just OK. The Outwit was solid, but hardly key for his Scientist keyword team.
7. Beast [Uncanny X-Men 050]: This Beast, though? Even on a “clone” team of all Beasts, he was maxxed-Outwit might. I may attempt to run this piece on a meta team or two.
8. Blackbriar Thorn [World’s Finest 027]: Was pretty much the last one standing in a losing fight between fellow Mystics versus Robots. Not a favorite, but not bad, either.
9. Black Widow [Captain America: Civil War 003]: She was the last standing against three opponents, and until my terrible last misplay [trying to hide her on a destructible object closer to the enemy rather than rubble a few squares away], she had a chance to win it even then!
10. Black Widow [Captain America: Civil War Starter 003]: Not bad…her SP means she needs to get in close, but the opponent in this game, a 225-point Superman, made that suicide. She still got her hits in.
11. Booster Gold [World’s Finest 008]: A surprising disappointment for his Metropolis team. He went down in a single turn despite being the mid-game backup. I got a little too aggressive with him and he paid the price.
12. Brood [Uncanny X-Men 027]: A swarm of four at 50 points helped decimate a team of Iron Man armors.
13. Bruce Wayne [Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice 009]: Being able to use Batman powers gave his Celebrity team a healthy Outwit advantage that helped it overcome Metropolis.
14. Captain America [Captain America: Civil War Starter 001]: Led his Avengers to victory, even though he didn’t get to see the win.
15. Captain Cold [WizKids D16-007]: His moving Barrier skills is something I’ve been wanting to see in the game for years and years. It proved super useful in the tournament, especially backed up with the Willpower granted by Pandora’s Box. This piece could make it to a meta team for me later this year.
16. Casey Jones [Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 012]: His Battle Fury meant it took him a long time to get in the fight on his swarm team, and I misplayed his double attack SP into a loss the first round where I might’ve clawed a win. Still top tier.
17. Crossbones [Captain America: Civil War 012]: I used him in a teaching game for a new player, so I didn’t quite unleash his full nastiness. Actually, it was that his Stealth and -1 stat trait was negated by the enemy’s team ability, leading to a loss.
18. Cyclops [Uncanny X-Men 024]: I misused his sweeping SP, but his Enhancement was still enough to help an all-Cyclops team obliterate an all-Cap team in a friendly match.
19. Deadman [Trinity War 039]: Though a mainstay of his Mystical team, he was not able to come back to life to rescue his crew. Such a neat piece, though!
20. Demon [World’s Finest 032]: A cheap source of lite Perplex for the same team. OK, not great.
21. Doctor Octopus [WizKids M16-001]: Low light in the house made me misread his damage as a 2 instead of 3. He may have wreaked even MORE havoc against the Soldier team his Scientists faced.
22. Element Man [World’s Finest 040]: The last standing vs. the Avengers in a losing effort, but he certainly made things difficult for the Marvel squad at first.
23. Elongated Man [Flash 041]: Likewise for this Outwit king, who became an A-one prime target due to his ability to counter key Avengers. Considering him for a meta team at some point…
24. Etrigan [World’s Finest 045]: He also was key for the Mystical team, but not having a Jason Blood to shift to may have been a problem. I also overlooked his attack avoidance SP in late dial — though he may have been KOed right past it.
25. Fugitoid [Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 023]: At first I found him disappointing. But his super Shape Change held off the Mysticals just long enough for the rest of the Robot team to begin its mechanized march over magic.
26. Genoshan Magistrate [Uncanny X-Men 007]: Sometimes you just need a guy to tie up and keep the other team from shooting or moving. With starting Phasing, he does just that. And for 30 points, you really don’t mind if he takes an L in the process.
27. Giant-Man [Captain America: Civil War 010]: Landed the big blows against the Justice League to give the Avengers the upper hand. Giant Reach + Charge got IN.
28. Gold [World’s Finest 042]: Leadership is cool, but for the Metal Men, it’s all about his Running Shot to give the malleable machines some reach.
29. Gorgon [Inhumans 005]: Got double-teamed by two Outwitters but lasted longer than I’d have thought.
30. Hawkeye [Captain America: Civil War 006]: Got one-shot by Superman with an ultra-heavy. That’s because he was a top threat on the Avengers Initiative team he was backing. Lack of moving attack will make him one of the least-picked Hawkeye figs going forward, though — unless I run him with Tiny Size pals for him to deliver via his SP.
31. Hercules [Civil War 005]: Strong with that Plasticity and ability to eliminate enemy-held objects — though I’ll need to be more aggressive with him to really take advantage of both.
32. Hulkling [Civil War 027]: He served mostly as an unneeded bodyguard for his BF Wiccan. Look forward to running him on future Young Avengers teams.
33. Iron [World’s Finest 009]: Holy crud, the damage output this dude can dish out! Definitely one of the reasons the Metal Men can utterly dominate.
34. Iron Man [Avengers Assemble 050]: His crew of Armors was outmatched, but at the 242-point level he was a difficult KO and the last piece standing. Who knows what could have happened if he’d gotten that last break away?
35. Iron Man [Captain America: Civil War 002]: Held an entire swarm of Brood at bay by himself with his Plasticity trait and solid stats — thanks in part to the Iron Man above.
36. Iron Man [TabApp Elite M-001]: This Tony Stark, on the other hand, was kinda overpriced junk due to my not really leveraging his Outwit thanks to a lot of blocked lines of fire.
37. King of the Dead [Return of the King 014]: The first to score a KO in his game, but also the first on his side to be KO’d.
38. Klarion The Witch Boy [World’s Finest 046]: As long as he was in the game, the Mysticals had a chance. Lost Teekl far too early on.
39. Lead [World’s Finest 026]: Took the slowpoke FOREVER to get in the fight, but he was solid once there.
40. Lois Lane [Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice 005]: Nothing more than a stealthy source of Probability Control. Nice but we can do a little better for 40 points. She’s for plainclothes teams only.
41. MACH-IV [Civil War 029]: Failed when I felt he needed to be pushed — and missed. Until that point, though, his Scientist squad was completely in the driver’s seat.
42. Madril [Return of the King 008]: Failed early on with an ill-considered attack on a very hard to hit Iron Man and nearly paid with his life. But he survived long enough to serve as game-saving tie-up later that set up his fellow Warriors for victory.
43. Mercy Graves [Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice 007]: Spent all game tied with Surf Batman. Another one for the plainclothes theme.
44. Metalhead [Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 018]: The first casualty for Team Robot.
45. Mirkwood Guard [Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies 004]: Served their purpose — blocking for bigger figs — well. Map was indoor, though, so his Improved Targeting was useless.
46. Mister Sinister [Uncanny X-Men 060]: Helmed his Scientist squad well from Stealth. But once his hiding spot and Mastermind fodder was gone, so was he, in short order.
47. Morlock [Uncanny X-Men 008]: Such a FUN figure. No matter what opponents selected, the random Morlocks each proved useful.
48. Mumakil Muhad [Return of the King 010]: The surprising MVP for his Warrior team. He’s a rare source of Outwit for the keyword. It should be noted that he had a full stack of Mumakil pogs to back him and the team up.
49. Namorita [Civil War 033]: Performed well for her Celebrity team. I’ll look to her for Atlantis teams in the future.
50. Nightwing [World’s Finest Fast Forces 004]: Played at 25 points [for an “under 50 points” scenario], he was top tier. Outsiders TA is strong, especially with Sidestep and Stealth.
51. Patriot [Civil War 021]: Once one of Heroclixin’s top needed remakes, this new version of the Young Avengers’ leader is just what we wanted. A Leadership figure for his team. A secondary attacker. Indomitable. A new favorite.
52. Perry White [Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice 015]: His ability to effectively deny Willpower was really effective against Hercules in the Celebrity vs. Metropolis game. I really want to run him on an all-Reporter squad.
53. Platinum [World’s Finest 057]: Her double Outwit was THE game-changer in the Robots vs. Mysticals match, as it allowed easy takedowns of two leading attackers.
54. Poison Ivy [World’s Finest FF 003]: Notable for her Mind Control move getting Genoshan Magistrate out of the way. She also served as a bit of tie-up down the line.
55. Punisher [WizKids M15-015]: The Weapon Cache was so key. Managed to get THREE of them. For 45 points, that was excellent on his 500-point Soldier squad.
56. Radioactive Man [Civil War 016]: It was a little hard to really get his super-Poison really deadly. Then again, he dealt the KO to 150-point Gorgon against the Soldiers.
57. Shark [WizKids DP16-007]: True to the source material, this fish stalked Surfing Batman. FUN piece.
58. Spider-Man [Civil War 013]: Traited Super Senses made Superman miss, and then Spidey went to work with Flurry. Strong for the Celebrity team — and one of the best Spider-Men of the game.
59. Splinter [Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 011]: In his team of below-50-point figures, his Leadership and Empower made him the undisputed MVP of the force.
60. Stature [Civil War 041]: She absolutely dominated for her Young Avengers team. And she will see play on other teams for sure.
61. Streaky [World’s Finest 100]: Bad luck for the super-cat, as she failed to hit her targets or to dodge the counterattacks. Still a solid piece, even if she didn’t do the job for Metropolis.
62. Superman [Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Fast Forces 002]: Speaking of Metropolis, Superman’s miss on an early Charge was catastrophic. But not at first thanks to his DV bonus for having action tokens. And with Outwit, he stood a good chance of coming back.
63. Superman [Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice 016]: Seventy-five points more at 225, this Superman stood a chance of singlehandedly decimating his Avengers opponents. And sure enough, both Cap and Hawkeye easily fell to his might. But he eventually got hit really hard by Giant-Man and swarmed to death by Black Widows.
64. Thor [Thor The Dark World 001]: Helmed his Warrior team to victory over the Iron Man Armor squad.
65. Thranduil [Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies 010]: His Outwit was key in the Mystical team’s early success against the Robots. If I’d noted the Epic Action giving him Barrier, perhaps I could have maintained that momentum.
66. Tin [World’s Finest 010]: Double Perplex is strong.
67. Toymaster [World’s Finest Fast Forces 005]: Worth running with the Robots for his SP Probability Control alone. Sidestep + TK was clutch when one of the Metal Men needed an evac.
68. Ultron-7 (Drone) [Age of Ultron Storyline 053b]: Towered above not only due to being a giant, but also his performance. That “Immobilization Ray” … triple Incap … wow.
69. Vanisher [Uncanny X-Men 018]: For his “under-50” team of EIGHT FIGURES, he was needed to mobilize his squad. In that, he was superbly qualified.
70. Vision [Civil War 003]: He really helped Stature be the giant beast she can be. He himself is rather less impressive. But the Young Avengers work as a team.
71. War Machine [TabApp Elite M-003]: Disappointing for 150 points due to no Willpower and all that Perplex NOT ON HIS FIRST CLICK. I should have pushed him to it for an AV boost to boot.
72. Wiccan [Civil War 031]: Though not the MVP for the Young Avengers, he really is the key figure, being able to back them up in every way.
73. Winter Soldier [Captain America: Civil War 009]: Used him in a teaching game for a new player, leading to a loss. Not bad, though.
74. Winter Soldier [Captain America: Civil War Starter 005]: But this Bucky is better, strong at range and in close. He was lethal in most of the Soldiers vs. Scientist game.
75. Winter Soldier  [Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD 100]: This one outstripped the other two Winter Soldiers, though. Willpower and SP Ranged Combat Expert + Ignores Characters made him the man for the Soldier team.
76. Zatanna [Trinity War 056]: Key fighter for her Celebrity team, with the Outwit and penetrating damage.
77. Zev [Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice 011]: OK, I guess. On his Metropolis team, he had no Henchman Goon to Mastermind to. But he was able to use Force Blast to deal with an Outwitting Bruce Wayne without an attack roll.

Whew, that’s a lot of first-time figures — almost 80! — fielded in just over a week’s time! Cleaned out the never-played box just in time to start filling it back up again with stuff from the new Superior Foes of Spider-Man set.

And so it begins again…

We’re looking forward to these figs in the SFSM set:

Serpent Society

Cottonmouth, Black Mamba, Death Adder, Puff Adder, Rattler and even the remade-too-soon Anaconda are fairly high on Heroclixin’s wish list for the mass keyword team we’d like to play or even face! Wish we’d gotten Bushmaster here!

Sinister Syndicate

The other SS of the set, this is a keyword I’ve tried to be a completist on. Will this set break me?

Same for Masters of Evil. I suppose I still have dreams of running a huge squad like in the assault on Avengers Mansion story or that big Crimson Cowl lineup from the first Thunderbolts run.

More Mysterio

It’s not the piece we were hoping would make us forget the great 2013 version — or, better yet, make those more viable — but we’ll never turn our noses up at this, our favorite villain from way back.

Tarantula

Speaking of old villains, it’s amazing how glad I was to see this classic pointy-shoed Latino in clix at last.

Miles Morales Spider-Man

This character’s star has risen considerably since his introduction. Nice to see him return in HeroClix, and with a much-improved dial.

Stilt-Man

This is the kind of ridiculous-but-cool villain I like.

Betty Brant and J.Jonah Jameson

At first, I wasn’t a bit interested in these two. But both have traits similar to those of the Reporter figures from last fall’s Superman/Wonder Woman set. So now we want to surround a foe with EVEN MORE reporters saying “The World Needs To Know…!”

And how about the marquee character, Spider-Man? The Super Rare is doggone perfection.

Here’s the link for the pocket checklist for the set.

SuperiorFoeschecklist

So my Clix pal Rob threw down this gauntlet recently:

“Challenge of the week ..1000 points 1 hour time limit…named theme team…if u beat me you can have any chase prime or figure you want..this is a week long challenge”

Realizing that I actually had some time to play a game this week due to my work schedule, I thought of a few options. But this one rose to the top: THE AUTHORITY

Apollo [The Flash 048] 200
Engineer [The Flash 060] 175
Jenny Sparks [The Flash 061] 125
Doctor [The Flash 016] 110
Midnighter [The Flash 049] 100
Jenny Quantum [The Flash 032] 95
Swift [The Flash 017] 90
Jack Hawksmoor [The Flash 033] 85
= 985 points. I had room for a pair of objects, Hulkbuster Torso and Weapon Drop, but forgot them.

Rob’s team to beat? X-Men galore!

Vampire Wolverine, M10 Marvel Girl, AvX Cyclops, and Uncanny X-Men’s SRs Malice, Iceman, Rogue, Quicksilver with non-primes Kitty Pryde, Sunfire, Emma Frost. All with the X-Men: Blue ATA.

TURNING POINTS

• The 1000-point no-feats-allowed build. That forced me to run the annoying Jenny Quantum on the team, banning multiple Probability Controls and +3 modifiers. That last one kept Apollo from one-shotting Cyclops for an immediate lead. Then I made my first mistake.
• Not following up with Swift or Doctor. Either might’ve been able to finish Cyke. But he was able to get evacuated by Telekinesis. In the meantime, I’d used Swift to fly Midnighter to hindering where he could counter Iceman. HUGE MISTAKE.
• Vampire Wolverine got TKed to make a Charge on Midnighter, then Quicksilver finished him off. Suddenly I was down a man and lost Apollo’s source of Willpower!
• But Jenny Quantum got a solid single-target Pulse Wave on VW, stranding him on probably his weakest click of life.
• Then I couldn’t hit a 6 to KO Quicksilver to follow up and VW carried the speedster away, surrounding himself with meat shields. Meanwhile, Jenny Sparks failed her attacks, including a desperate push to get Wolverine that landed him on his last click instead of KOing him. And that’s when the 1-hour limit was up.

We played on. Finally I remembered that Jack Hawksmoor could begin punishing the figs still in starting areas with penetrating damage each turn. And Jenny Sparks survived a Quicksilver Flurry and Sunfire Pulse Wave to land on this power:

Wolverine, who’d gotten a good Regen roll, was actually super-vulnerable with only a 16 DV and none of the Stealth protection he’d had earlier. Surrounded by allies as he was, he was forced to take a staggering EIGHT damage — twice the amount needed to KO him. And Rogue, too, got knocked out from the extra damage.

Meanwhile, though knocked half down their dials, Doctor and Apollo — with help from an untouched Jenny Q — were wearing down Iceman, Emma and Kitty, while Jack’s effect had all but KOed Cyke and Marvel Girl in the back — and Swift, who’d survived on her last click for too many turns, finally took out Cyclops.

In the end, I’d lost Midnighter, Swift and Doctor but wiped the X-Men out. So it was a loss in terms of the challenge but another win down the stretch with the Authority.

Lessons Learned:

• I’d forgotten my chief strategy with Midnighter. Never again.
• Must start Jack Hawksmoor in a better spot, especially on a map not playing to his strengths.
• I’d originally planned to go for the immediate TK+PW with Jenny Q, as she’s as much an impediment as a boon to my team. But the lure of one-shot kill on Cyclops was too strong, and had I been more focused on that new goal, I’d have had a much more successful game.
• I keep forgetting Engineer can pick Outwit.

Next in the challenge:

Been too busy this summer to keep the blog up to date. Need to fix that. So let’s look at some token toting figures from this year’s Monthly OP kits: Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, She-Hulk and Red Hulk

We attended Realms Open Championship States tournament for Georgia this year instead of running one like in 2015. After testing a number of teams, we settled on one whose majority of pieces were due to rotate out of Modern Age by July. If we were going to see how this force was going to fare in top-flight competition, this was the time.

INHUMANS

Thane [Guardians of the Galaxy 060] 115
Maximus [Guardians of the Galaxy 038] 75
Ms. Marvel [Avengers Assemble 055] 66
Lockjaw [ Inhumans Fast Forces 006] 25
Triathlon ID card 5
Nova ID card 5
SHIELD Level 1 ID card 5
Pym Particles  2

Sideline: Alpha Primitive [Guardians of the Galaxy 018], Hydra Agent H [Nick Fury:Agent of SHIELD 014b] 30 or SHIELD Recruit [Nick Fury:Agent of SHIELD 007a], Nova [Guardians of the Galaxy 031], Triathlon [AvAs 013a]

= 298 points. The point of this team was to play Ms. Marvel on a competitive team. Thane is the obvious threat, but she’s the hidden weapon that’ll surprise and score. And though the team lost in a play test vs. friend Rob’s vicious force, it only did so due to missing nearly every attack. Considering another team I tried got utterly obliterated even with better dice rolls, I felt OK about this one’s chances of meeting my personal goal: To win at least twice in four rounds.

ROUND ONE

WHO + WHAT: The super-nice player Chase brought a not-so-nice team: Brainiac Skull Ship, Adam Strange and Solaris with Pandora’s Box.

WHERE: My United Nations.

HOW IT WENT DOWN: I gave the Ship a very wide berth, opting to maybe take on the weaker figs on Chase’s force.

He came with Adam Strange and missed, leaving me a huge opportunity — one that I ruined the turn before thanks to the Avalanche Effect I’ve talked about in earlier posts. Here’s how I essentially lost:

• Using the Alpha Primitive’s free action movement, I moved within Solaris’ line of fire, planning to close in on Chase’s starting area hidey-hole. At his cheapest point cost, Solaris couldn’t attack my guy.
• But Solaris was able to Outwit all Alpha Primitive’s powers.
• That meant I had to burn an action to bring in the other Alpha Primitive. [I needed the Empower, I thought].
• I also had to use an action to Call In ID character Triathlon, whose 2nd Flurry attack failed thanks to Shape Change.
• And then I was out of actions, unable to finish off Strange before he was able to teleport to safety. All because I moved that Alpha Primitive.

0-1.

ROUND TWO

WHO + WHAT: Lindy again, whom I face in the second round of WizKids Open just a few weeks ago. She ran Mr. Mxyzptlk, Freddy Freeman, and Yondu with Pandora’s Box.

WHERE: My Jean Grey Grounds.

HOW IT WENT DOWN: Early on, I lost an Alpha but forced Lindy to waste an ultra heavy in the process and overextend a little. But then it was pretty much miss, miss, miss and miss AGAIN, either outright or thanks to Mxyzptlk.

Seriously, I was on the verge of quitting this whole game for good during this round. [Nah, not really.] Especially when Freddy, who’d been hit once to mid-dial, healed to full while Pulse Waving my whole force. I’m done.

Or I was until Thane one-shot the two-tokened Freddy for 6 penetrating damage and an unlikely win. 1-1.

ROUND THREE

WHO + WHAT:  Derek Cook Jr. fielded Nick Fury [Nick Fury:Agent of SHIELD 056], Engineer, and astral Professor X [Uncanny X-Men LE]

WHERE:  UN.

HOW IT WENT DOWN: I holed up and took an early lead when Derek based me with Professor X, who died easy. He then used a savvy ID Call In to bust down my door, forcing me to split my team. But scored Engineer with Thane as Alphas tied up Nick long enough for the bell. 2-1.

ROUND FOUR

WHO + WHAT:  Grant used Nick Fury, Gluttony, SHIELD Space Rig, Shazam lite

WHERE:  His Danny the Street

HOW IT WENT DOWN: He was all set to shoot with impunity for turns after turn before I could get to him on this restrictive map. I saw one chance: Perplex Thane’s range, TK him to roof, Running Shot in zigzag motion to Pulse Wave Nick. Crit hit for a one-shot! Wiped the rest eventually. 3-1! I made the cut to Top 8!

ROUND FIVE

WHO + WHAT:  Jennifer used chase Sunfire, Nick Fury and Mercury with Pandora’s Box.

WHERE: UN.

HOW IT WENT DOWN: As is my usual game plan on this map, I crept around to her side to hole up in the room as Jenn got Fury positioned. My called-in Nova missed him, but Thane didn’t, landing Fury on another good click. But his Shape Change thwarted Triathlon’s potentially winning Flurry, allowing Jenn to slip away again! This girl seems to have my number, and not in the good way.

3-2 with a Top 8 finish was way better than I hoped. But……

I don’t think Ms. Marvel landed a single attack all tournament long, despite her being my supposed secret weapon. Instead she called in ID cards or just whiffed her many tries.

One of Heroclixin’s goals is to discover which figures with Super Strength can hold their own action tokens. Because boys’ toys hold their weapons.

Here we show how those in a Civil War hold their heavies and lights awesomely [Ms. Marvel, Stature, Vision], lamely [Hercules, Doc Samson, Spider-Man, Hulkling] and hilariously [Goliath].

We’re on a quest to take photos of every character in HeroClix with the Super Strength power holding their object tokens.

Today we feature a figure that was unavailable to us when we documented the Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD set back in 2015:

Hulkbuster Mark II [Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD G001] achieves one of the best-looking holds we’ve ever seen in our investigation.

Heroclixin’s on a mission to document how every fig with Super Strength can hold its own weapons.

Winter Soldier [Captain America: Civil War 009] grips the token under his robo-arm, slightly:

…while Giant-Man [010] has to settle for this crotch grab.

This was originally going to be an exhaustive article listing Heroclixin’s top things we’re going to miss that’s retiring this summer and those elements we can’t wait to be gone. But it got too hard, especially once we:

• removed all our Top Ten Favorites affected. Because then…
• it was difficult to find other figs we cared about as much. Also…
• The list of stuff we disliked was pretty much just “every resource and team base and Marvel Zombie and War of Light entity.” Boring.
• We also wanted to do it set-by-set…at least one from each. But there’s a LOT of stuff rotating out. It began to look fairly daunting.

We found ourselves in a bind with small sets such as AvX. Our favorite there is Black Panther, but we’ve been non-plussed with that figure from the beginning. So we weren’t all THAT sorry to see him go, especially with 3 superior versions now in Modern Age and a fourth on the way in summer’s Civil War.

So we’ll be missing our favorites:

• Deathlok [Wolverine and the X-Men 011b]
• War Machine [Invincible Iron Man 029b]
• Aquaman [War of Light 029]
• Swamp Thing [War of Light 053]
• Drax The Destroyer [Guardians of the Galaxy Movie 013]
• Black Widow [Captain America: The Winter Soldier 003]
• Legionnaires Timber Wolf, Chameleon Girl, Wildfire and  [Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes]
• Nova Corps Officer [Guardians of the Galaxy Movie 004]
• Angel [Days of Future Past 005]
• Superior Spider-Man [Deadpool 060]
• Falcon [Captain America: The Winter Soldier 006]
• Triple M’s of Mirage, Magik and Magma [Wolverine and the X-Men 004, 034, 073]
• Multiple Man [Wolverine and the X-Men 013]
• Captain America and Black Widow [Captain America: The Winter Soldier 017]
• Batman [Gotham City Strategy Game 001]

But there are also these that will be mourned here in Heroclixin’ land.

Giganta [Legion of Doom Fast Forces 006] I made her SO effective but no more giant Quaking taxi action.

Superboy [SLOSH] Just like that, Modern Age Legion teams lost a great inspiration.

Captain Marvel [ 019a] She’s leaving just when this team showed but before it got its final member, Ms. America [who is a long shot to appear in mid-summer’s Spider-Man if at all this year].

Shang-Chi [Deadpool], who never seemed to perform up to his promise.

And — ironically, because we hated them — we’ll miss the sheer creativity that resources and entities admittedly allowed for in the competitive scene. It’s too soon to say what the modern de-emphasis on such off-the-map effects will do, but Heroclixin’ hopes the game doesn’t slip into a different sort of rut.

—or— “How To FAIL at HeroClix in Every Conceivable Way.”

So I played my Ginger Girl team of
Giganta [Legion of Doom Fast Forces 006] 100
Crystal [Inhumans Fast Forces] 100
Harlequin [World’s Finest] 90
+ Hulkbuster Torso 10

= 300 points

Heroclixin’s written about Giganta before. The same tactic of pushing her to start non-stop Quaking enemy formations was still viable, so I wanted to field her one more time in Modern Age before her June 1 retirement. Same went for FF Crystal, who would be my chief support piece and secret weapon with her supreme Barrier and Smoke Cloud and Telekinesis skills. Finally, Harlequin was the face of the future and the lead attacker on this mini-swarm crew. The Torso would give her the armor needed to survive to the end of these matches.

I was under no illusion that this team would make the cut to the four elimination rounds, or even have an overall winning record. But I was going to have some F.U.N. trying, and would claw at least one earned win, I figured.

I sort of figured wrong.

ROUND 1, In Which I Meet My Once-Per-Tournament Game-Killing Rookie Error Quota

Faced Nick “Balls of” Fury [NFAOS 056] equipped with Brainiac [SM/WW], Jean Grey [Uncanny X-Men Fast Forces 002], Weasel, Blind Al, and Indigo Power Battery which would force me to get very close to fight. Fine; that’s what I wanted anyway. According to plan, I soon got to where Giganta could Quake the first three listed about. But both Fury and the Decoy-assigned Jean got their Shape Change rolls, and Weasel wasn’t KO’d either, leaving me in a bad spot. From there, it was a hard-fought game of trying to counterattack the unscathed Fury to recover from the lost attack opportunity, especially with Jean able to keep him and his support extra mobile.

It wasn’t until round 2 that I remembered Giganta’s Battle Fury.

ROUND 2,  In Which I Suffer The Worst Critical Hit Ever And Am Buried In An Avalanche

Here I faced Superman [Trinity War 050] equipped with Parallax and with the Sinestro Corps Battery. Whoof…-2 AV against a steady 20 DV. I had to ensure  as much attack opportunities as possible to have a chance, so I forced him to over extend a bit, giving me a shot on Superman with Harlequin’s Jack In The Box. I needed an 11 to hit but didn’t mind trying because Giganta’s Flurry, Harlequin’s Psychic Blast, and Crystal’s penetrating damage Smoke Cloud were all coming behind it.

I rolled the absolute worst: a 12.

The critical hit knocked him out of range of ALL those other attacks and didn’t even result in any more damage because of Invincible. Worse still, Superman’s SP immediately healed the damage done.

Later in the round, after losing both teammates, Harlequin made a half-Sidestep to stay in hindering terrain. But she got stranded there by his Hypersonic Speed hit and I couldn’t do a SINGLE ______ THING to even give her a chance at fighting back, running away, any useful thing because of that solitary, meaningless Sidestep…the Avalanche Effect.

ROUND 3, In Which I Am Blindsided and Distrust My Own Gut and Am Undone By A Judge’s Ruling

My opponent fielded Iceman [Uncanny X-Men 051] equipped with Proselyte and assigned Greed [Trinity War S104], Greed [Trinity War 065] equipped with Ion and assigned Omega Drive, and Atomica [Crime Syndicate Fast Forces 007] all with the Indigo Battery. Winning map, he selected the Thunderbolts Sub and crept up the hall with Sidestep, using free Barrier to wall up.

I guess after two straight losses, I got skittish and forgot my game plan: to rush the enemy before they are ready. And so I passed up a chance to Charge Giganta up to smash his Barrier and punch him while carrying Harley who could Sidestep in the gap and sic Jack on ’em. Thus I was shocked when he Outwitted Giganta through walls (Omega Drive) so the Super Strength-imbued Iceman could one-shot her.

From there, I found Harlequin unable to act when Iceman used Sidestep to activate his Ice Wall attack that froze her completely in place until the end of the turn. And here is where the judge killed any chance of my comeback: He ruled that the Ice Wall’s end-of-turn removal prevents end-of-turn free actions. I didn’t think it was the right ruling, but I couldn’t argue why at the time.

Here’s why, as told in the official WizKids Info Network’s rules forum, in relation to another “end of the turn” effect with identical timing:

• Free actions may be given during the end of the turn phase, but not after clearing action tokens.

So yeah. I could have at least put up a fight with the free actions granted by her trait. Maybe it’s enough to KO Atomica, at least.

ROUND 4, In Which I Am Denied A Fair Fight.

My poor showings and other players dropping out left me with a bye.

ROUND 5, In Which Wits and Dice Fail. 

My final foe had a two-headed team of Steve Rogers [NFAOS 051] equipped with Ion and Balls Fury. He got map and picks the Age of Ultron New York map, one that has virtually no cover against Fury. So I forced him to come to me, a little bit. Out of caution, I built a Barrier for Crystal, knowing the building was no cover against this pair.

I am SO TIRED of losing to off-map stuff. In this case, I didn’t build quite enough Barrier to cover for Ion-granted TK and Crystal was crippled.

I wasn’t out of it yet, though, managing to KO Fury and wear Rogers down good and well even after Giganta and Crystal fell. But in the end, I couldn’t roll a stupid 6 to hit a stupid 16 for just a stupid two damage in three stupid tries to win.

———

Sigh. I’m so glad so much of what doomed me in Rounds 2 and 3 — batteries and entities — is going away. I need to figure out how to stop pratfalling like in Rounds 1 and 5 and avalanching like in Round 2. And I suppose I need to be ready to argue the general rules that I seem to know better than most. This is the second time I’ve been undone by a reasonable-sounding but incorrect ruling on basic powers and timing at one of these big events this year.