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

No. 8

Zatanna [Trinity War 056]

The famous Justice Leaguer who does magic spells by speaking words backward is made into her best HeroClix version yet with a truly inventive bit of dial design that makes her one of the most F.U.N. figures of 2015:

At 120 points, she’s about 30 points too high to be so soft and short-lived for just 6 clicks. That keeps her pretty Friendly despite some hefty Utility with her Nifty dial. Played normally, she’s a solid — though, as mentioned, overcosted — mid-range shooter with Penetrating/Psychic Blast and Precision Strike with Outwit. But as you start the game, you can choose to swap her dial to click 6 and play her dial backwards, making her into a Sidestepping TK Defend piece with a SP offering a choice of Barrier+Perplex or Enhancement+ProbControl that pushes into Support. Middle clicks sport Pulse Wave and Toughness.

In addition to the sheer Niftyness of her dial, she’s a fixture on Shadowpact and Celebrity themes, as well as Justice League. We at Heroclixin’ are a little sad she doesn’t have the Seven Soldiers keyword, though that’s never going to stop us.

• FELLOWSHIP level: Moderate. Having the Mystics TA docks her a bit here.
• UTILITY level: Really High.
• NIFTYNESS level: Just OK in our estimation. It’s her dial more than anything else that we like, and that’s not worth as much on this scheme.

5102 fo sgif N.U.F. eht fo eno Ylurt!

No. 9

Batman [Superman/Wonder Woman 061]

This version of the vigilante is so unusual for the Batman variants that populate HeroClix — he’s not Bruce Wayne and he’s an actual terrorist. To be fair, he’s fighting against Red Son Superman and Josef Stalin’s totalitarian regimes and tends to give a few minutes’ warning before he blows stuff up, so he’s kind of a good-guy terrorist. But aside from being an interesting take on the Bat, he’s a F.U.N. fig, too.

• He starts with Sidestep and Stealth and only 4 range and 2 damage — and no starting Outwit, Willpower or Perplex on those early clicks, which is unusually Friendly for a Batman. FELLOWSHIP level: High
• That doesn’t mean he’s not rocking Useful stuff anyway. He ignores elevated terrain for movement and sports a trait that, 33% of the time, deals damage when blocking terrain is destroyed or an ally 25 points or more is KO’d. Later in his dial, he gets Outwit in a huge way, able to counter any or all a target’s powers! But at this point, he’s lost both his Stealth and ESD in favor of Charge and Reflexes, so he’s a lot more vulnerable and you really need to put him in harm’s way to truly get the best use of him. UTILITY level: Moderate [because the trait is so left to chance and he’s so soft]
• Aside from Red Son themes, this fig could be used on Russian themes or Elseworlds Batman themes. Overall, though, we rate his NIFTYNESS level fairly Low.

Still, it’s enough to be one of the most F.U.N. characters in HeroClix. So if you’re fortunate enough to obtain this chase figure, be a freedom fighter!

No. 10

Veil [Avengers Asemble 023]

This member of Avengers Academy with the power to turn to toxic gases was a reluctant hero, being more concerned with the danger of her body being unable to re-solidify. Her clix version makes our list of top F.U.N. figures. Here’s why:

• In keeping with the character’s non-interest in super heroics, light damage and no-passenger policy give Veil very high marks on not being a completely negative play experience. FELLOWSHIP level: High
• Being able to Smoke Cloud non-stop via her SP is pretty top tier, especially with its potential to deal damage. Aside from that, she makes an OK meat shield and tie-up fig. But she takes a hit by not being able to use the Carry ability due to a trait. UTILITY level: Moderately Low
• Veil’s Initiative keyword is her raison d’être. She’s a totally Nifty fit on an Avengers Academy team. It’s a shame that WK doesn’t really have a Teen keyword anymore, one that she’d be perfect for. It’s NOT a shame that there’s no Ginger keyword. But she fits that theme, too. NERDCORE level: Low

In years past, this has been where your friendly neighborhood webmaster has shared his personal favorites of the past year. But a friend rather bluntly told me: “Nobody cares about that list.”

It stung a bit, but I had to admit he was right. It might be entertaining — one could say Friendly and Nifty, to invoke the spirit of this blog — to some readers, but was it also Useful? No.

Not until now.

So this time, and going forward, Heroclixin’s last look back at the year will list the Top Ten F.U.N. figs of the year, not just our favorites, in accordance with the F.U.N. acrostic:

• Is the figure FRIENDLY and FELLOWSHIP-worthy? That is, if your opponents see this figure on your team, will their hearts utterly sink at the prospect of dealing with it? If so, it’s not F.U.N.
• Is this figure still USEFUL and full of UTILITY anyway? If so, it may be F.U.N. But it shouldn’t run TOO high on this scale, or it may overwhelm the Friendly portion!
• Does this figure have a NEATO or NIFTY or NERDCORE appeal that goes beyond its just having good stats and powers? Does it have a special place on a team outside of the usual keywords? And does this clix capture the character’s appeal? If so, it may be F.U.N. But the answer can’t JUST be, “I like this character.”

Let’s look at one of my unrecognized favorites from 2014 along this new F.U.N. scale:

Captain America and Black Widow [Captain America: Winter Soldier 017]

• At 130 points, lack of Running Shot and having just 3 damage isn’t THAT scary. The duo is also generally untaxiable, forcing them to move about on their own most of the time, and can’t equip a number of tactics that could make them broken. FELLOWSHIP level: Moderate
• That Duo Attack tho. Via Special Power[s], CapWidow’s damage output can ramp up exponentially with modifiers. Being a single-base duo also allows them to be TK’d. Sidestep with SHIELD TA make them a boon to other shooters on the force and Avengers Initiative helps both their targeting and movement case. Finally, there’s Indomitable, IM:Characters and treated Stealth to make one wonder how this fig loaded with Utility didn’t make 2014’s actual Top Ten. UTILITY level: High
• “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” remains the best of the Marvel Studios movies, and this fig is a Nifty representative in HeroClix.Also, good duos are rare in the game. But Black Widow is one of my favorites so that’s why she’s here, too. NIFTYNESS level: Low

According to the new FUN scale, this is a fig that would make my favorites list of past years but wouldn’t QUITE make the F.U.N. one. Keep visiting Heroclixin’ all week to see what 2015 proper had to offer as the most F.U.N. figs of the year!

No. 1

Vandal Savage [Trinity War 048] 

Back in the Top Ten of 2015 list, we looked at One Man Army figs and commented on how improved they have generally become.

Vandal is the proverbial exception to the trend.

At 250 points, he’s bringing just 10 AV and just 3 damage and just 17 DV Toughness and just 7 Charge to start — which doesn’t work with his SP Close Combat Expert. That means he’s completely depending on Shape Change to keep him safe until next turn. Better hope he doesn’t land on click 2, where the speed spikes to 9 — too late — while the AV drops to 9.

NINE. On click 2 of a 250-point figure. The mind reels.

He gets better stats and powers down dial, and his Leadership trait can boost his and allies’ AV. But look out: Just when you’ve landed on a sweet spot click like No. 3 (Flurry, 11 Super Strength), his other trait auto-heals him at turn’s end if he’s got two action tokens. Liked that Stealth + Outwit click you pushed to? Sorry, it’s gone and he’s open to shooters again…AND the power you just countered on the enemy came back ’cause you healed off Outwit.

This Neanderthal belongs in the annals of extinction.

No. 2

Cammi [Avengers Assemble 019]

At first glance, she looks OK. Self-Perplex, Penetrating/Psychic Blast, IT:Hindering. But that 5 range with no Willpower or Stealth or Running Shot are big problems in making any real use of her shooting prowess. She could well be based before ever getting a shot off — or KO’d outright through her short, 4-click dial guarded only by 16 DV Energy Shield/Deflection and her SP:

• ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES: Give Cammi a free action and place a Mine marker in an adjacent unoccupied clear square if there are two or less friendly Mine markers on the map. Even if this power is lost, whenever an opposing character moves through one or more squares containing Cammi’s Mine markers and actions resolve, remove those markers from the map and deal that character 3 damage.

Sounds nice…until one notices that with just two Mines allowed on the map, it’s really easy to get around any she’s planted — assuming she didn’t drop them way away from the action, or that she hasn’t gotten hit off the power before using it.

She also wastes points on her trait if she’s not on a team with Drax. And with her nearly useless keywords of Pilot and Pirate, she’s not going to be on many teams without Drax.

She’s OK with a Drax — sort of — but is otherwise a little piece of junk and so nearly tops Heroclixin’s list of crap figures of 2015.

“Stupid. Weak. Slow.”

No. 3

Son of the Serpent [Avengers Assemble 004]

Running Shot with 9 AV and 1 damage isn’t worth the 33 points, not even with Ranged Combat Expert. Good thing he’s got this trait to help:

Wait. So you have to run at least two of these losers. And only one can make the actual attack at a time; the other needs to make the power action to activate the bonuses. Hope you have enough actions for all this — and that you have a target with enough same-colored slots to make the attack worth making.

But you probably just actually wasted those 66 or more points.

No. 4

Vision [Avengers Age of Ultron 011]

He starts with Phasing, Super Senses and Outwit — not a terrible combo. Although one kinda wishes that, for 100 points, he had some actual offense such as Running Shot.

Or range at all.

But Vision has 0 range. So to do any fighting, he’s got to Phase his soft Super Sense-protected synthetic bod right on the enemy and hope he can use Indom to fight back next turn.

However, with just 17 DV, he’s likely to get hit, hard. That lands him on his back half-dial, which sports Plasticity, Invincible and Perplex. All of which are FAR more useful than the opening clicks. But at this point, he’s well on his way to being knocked out.

Paying a 100 points for a tie-up figure that doesn’t BECOME a tie-up figure until it’s been hit hard is a great tactic in team building used by no successful player ever.

No. 5

Nightmask [Avengers Assemble 054]

His powers really aren’t in the right spots to be useful at all. I mean, sure, he starts kinda OK with Perplex and Running Shot and Precision Strike. And if he’s facing Armor or Robots or Vehicles, his traited Mind Control gets a boost. But he costs a hefty 120 points for stats and powers found on much less expensive figs.

What’s packing on the points is this strong-sounding SP:

…but it doesn’t appear until mid-dial, then goes away until late dial. And with a lack of reducers except for a bit of late-dial Toughness, he may not survive long enough to use either that power or the temporary stat bump he gets when wounded.

If he started with his Energy Portals, he’d be an OK fig. But he’s a decidedly mediocre piece that somehow costs the same as Heroclixin’s No. 1, Nick Fury. What the actual hell…

Cart him the hell outta here

No. 6

Hawkeye [Avengers Assemble 002] 

Turn 1: get Aim token.

Turn 2: Clear.

Turn 3: Hope there’s a target that’s in Running Shot range that’s behind elevated OR outdoor blocking. NOT both. OR that you’re on a wide-open map for the 14-range option.

And that his 5-click life hasn’t exhausted.

Lacking the starting Willpower to immediately use that Aim token to attack is a serious handicap. And building up more is useless because ALL are used to get just ONE effect. After two superb Hawkeye versions in the movie sets, this one is trash.

No, he’s not OK. Not running him is the right thing to do.