The quest continues.
He don’t hold it well, but SHIELD Cyborg [Nick Fury 020a] manages.
Her face isn’t the only ugly thing about Man-Killer [029]: Her hold is sloppy, too.
The stat slot and gun hand are the best U.S. Agent [037] can do.
Miss America [039] has a surprisingly solid grip with a little effort.
Longtime readers know that one of Heroclixin’s favorite themes is teams of all-black characters. But we did a cuter version of the team a few months ago:
Black Manta [Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes 039] 97
Black Widow [Avengers: Age of Ultron 105] 75
Black Adam [Trinity War] 270
Black Talon [Deadpool] 60
Black Mask [Arkham Origins] 100
Black Mask Thug [Arkham Origins] 40
Black Death [Kick-Ass 2] 35
Flock of Bats (Black) 13
=690 points.
It faced Robert’s John Constantine [Trinity War], Green Arrow [Trinity War 208], a pair of STAR Labs Technicians and full-points Batman [Trinity War] and Superman [Trinity War] on my brand-new Avengers Age of Ultron starter map.
I had to be very careful of Green Arrow. It was vital to keep at least one of the following between him and my force at all times:
to deny him any easy shots at me and force him, at minimum, to not be able to choose any of his extra-damaging options:
TURNING POINTS
By piece:
Black Adam was the proverbial “beastick” of the team. Though lacking in ranged ability, his immunity to non-Mysticals’ Outwit made him the best possible brick to hurl at the enemy team’s collective face.
Black Widow completely over-performed. Shape Change isn’t much of a defense. Once again, we’re glad that Hypersonic Speed is no longer an automatic breakaway.
Black Mask was played for the first time in this game. His main contribution was the free move he offered his Thug. This isn’t really the team for him.
Black Mask Thug, on the other hand, was more of a boss than, well, his boss. The Batman Enemy TA worked well with…
…Black Manta, whose wild card status, Sidestep, Penetrating/Psychic Blast and traited Carry makes him a lock for this theme just about every time. As is…
…Black Talon. His friendly Mind Control ability is straight-up meta. He’s the engine that makes this team work despite it not being anything close to optimized.
Flock of Bats (Black) tend to underperform due to their inability to either move quickly or be taxied. They’re purely filler.
Black Death, OTOH, is another one we’ll look at as more than filler. He’s a key meat shield — thanks to opening Shape Change — and tie-up piece, with his top clicks of Combat Reflexes and later Plasticity/Poison/Toughness combo.
This “black” team was F.U.N. and surprisingly effective, enough so that we planned to try it out again sometime.
That time came with a Eight Is Enough game for the first weekend of the eighth month: 800 points, exactly eight figures. We kept Black Manta, Death, and Talon while adding:
Black Widow [Avengers Assemble 06 ] 200
Black Panther [Age of Ultron] 140
Black Kinght [Age of Ultron] 115
Black Lightning [Batman] 87
Black Canary [Streets of Gotham ] 62
= 769 points
This time it’d go through a whole tournament. How would it do? See this space next week!
A while back there was this event:
600 points Modern Age, six figures. No more, no less.
That I built this force for [first mentioned last December]:
Nick Fury [Captain America: Winter Soldier 015] 98p + Avengers Response Unit ATA 3
Captain America [Captain America: Winter Soldier 001] 125p + Avengers Response Unit ATA 3
Black Widow [Captain America: Winter Soldier 003] 114p + Avengers Response Unit ATA 3
Agent 13 [Captain America: Winter Soldier 013] 55p
G.W. Bridge [Deadpool 041] 68
Falcon [Captain America: Winter Soldier 006] 105p
+ Power Plant 10
+ Matter Rearranger 2
+Black Light 2
+Vortex Ring 2
+Impact Beam 2
+Disintegration Beam 2
+Flame Blast 2
=596 points.
Here’s how this Six Pack fared. In each round, I note how well Cap’s, Widow’s, Fury’s and 13’s Espionage traits worked out.
=============================================================
WHO IT FACED
The Flash [The Flash 202] 149
+ Predator entity 25
Krona [War of Light ]
+ Proselyte entity 25
Void [Streets of Gotham] 70
Captain Marvel [Guardians of the Galaxy 007b] 82
ESPIONAGE: Stephen’s Cosmic theme got no map bonus thanks to Cap, enabling me to choose the Fallen Asgard map for its very large central patch of special hindering terrain. But no objects were fielded for Fury to place, and my opponent had all the PC he’d need in Krona and Void, making Widow’s trait almost as useless. Agent 13 at least could hold the Cosmics to a single free action apiece.
I had an immediate problem; the map’s elevated terrain enabled Krona to shoot at will with 9 range. And Cap Marvel could safely give him a nearly unhittable 19 DV with Defend.
TURNING POINTS
But time ran out and I lost the roll off. Oh well! 0-1
ROUND TWO
Ms. Marvel [Fear Itself]
Tyr [Fear Itself]
Raizo Kodo [Fear Itself]
Monkey King
Speedball
and Jennifer Kale [ASM]
ESPIONAGE: No theme team or objects were fielded, so Cap and Fury were useless as spies and Black Widow had no enemy probs to steal — not that Thomas needed theme with J.Kale around to double PC. Agent 13 picked the Mystical keyword to hold back Raizo and Jenn and Monkey King, to little avail. It looked like Espionage was a big ‘ol waste, here. But…
TURNING POINTS
KO’d Ms. Marvel, Raizo, Monkey King and Jenn, losing only Agent 13. 1-1
By piece:
Captain America [Captain America: Winter Soldier 001]: Map choice was vital for this team that needs lots of Stealth — not least of which, Cap himself — and open lines of fire. This Cap is swiftly growing to be one of my preferred versions.
Black Widow [Captain America: Winter Soldier 003]: Until now, this latest Widow had done little else but die hard and fast despite Stealth, 17 Reflexes AND Shape Change to protect her. But today her PC trait turned a tight match into a rout. Still costs a bit too much for what she does, but she’s more than F.U.N. enough to warrant a future outing.
Falcon [Captain America: Winter Soldier 006]: Once again, he makes this team work, alternately pumping damage via Empower/Enhancement and shifting formations with Sidestep+Carry for both himself and Cap
Nick Fury [Captain America: Winter Soldier 015]: As the “easy” target among the mostly Stealthed crew, Fury took a lot of early fire. But of course, his “Stop” click surprises.
G.W. Bridge [Deadpool 041]: Aside from inviting the essential Falcon to the team, he shone for his Outwit and cleanup hitting skills.
Agent 13 [Captain America: Winter Soldier 013]: A final secret weapon on a team loaded with them. Her trait slows down opponents to better match SHIELD’s pace of attack, and she works both as a great tie-up fig and as one that can open the way for the rest of the squad with her defense-canceling SP. Just superb here.
Oh, and that Power Plant resource? I almost entirely forgot to use it. That’s how well this team worked. 🙂
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Looking forward to what the new Nick Fury has to offer now.
Woooo!! Two new pocket checklists in a row!
Finally, the last pieces were revealed, so Heroclixin’ can present you a complete checklist. Download and print the PDF today!
My pulls:
Alexis
Ant-Man x 2
Yellowjacket x 2
Ultron-8 x 2
Black Knight
Ultron-5
Hercules
ID Cards Machine Man and Vision
No super rares like in my two previous events from Month One [Goliath and Quasar, respectively], but the ones in green were figs I didn’t have, at least.
I was initially torn between a Masters of Evil team of Ultron-5 with the two Yellowjackets, or an Avengers squad composed of Herc, Black Knight and Ant-Man at 50 points. I tend to lean toward pieces I’ve never run. But that’s a bad idea in actual competition.
Plus, I’ve been on a bit of a MoE kick anyway. So EVIL it was:
Ultron-5 [Age of Ultron 051a] 120
Yellowjacket [Age of Ultron 007] 85 x 2
+ Avengers Round Table with Hank Pym ID card
+ Sideline Ant-Man [Age of Ultron 003] @ 50 points
= 300 points
The idea was to shrink one of the ‘Jackets each turn and use the other to taxi both the others with Sidestep each turn until an attack could be made. All matches were prescribed by the judge to occur on the Thebes map, one with lots of blocking terrain but only tiny patches of hindering.
ROUND ONE vs. Bob’s Hercules @ 130 and Machine Man + Jocasta with Iron Man ID Card. A melee team that I could get first shot on, perhaps, but could utterly maul me once he got in close.
Turning Point
ROUND TWO vs. Brandon’s Victor Manchas — one with Jocasta — and Monica Chang, plus ID cards for Iron Man and Wasp. The TK was going to be a problem, as was Monica, the best fire support piece in the set.
Turning Point
ROUND THREE vs. Morrison’s Black Panther, Alexis and Yellowjacket. This was a tough matchup; Thebes is full of blocking terrain, which Black Panther can use to block lines of fire drawn to him via his special power and Sidestep when he’s adjacent. I wouldn’t be able to shoot him at all, likely.
Turning Points
ROUND FOUR vs. Charlie’s She-Hulk, Hank Pym and Wasp. 300 points of Outwit, Incap and massive melee damage on the way.
Turning Points
But…4-0. After scoring only 15 points the first two rounds. Still can’t believe it! Makes up for Month One where I went a terribad 1-3. I’m now a close second in the standings.
A little something for the scorching days of August. The theme is obvious.
Captain Cold [The Flash 038] 100
Chillblaine [The Flash 011] 55
Golden Glider [The Flash 025] 60
Icicle [Justice League 007] 72
Mr. Freeze [Batman 048] 118
Blizzard [Invincible Iron Man 026] 75
Killer Frost [Trinity War 045] 121
Frost Giant Champion [Avengers Movie 031] 90
= 691 points.
I got to play it in a bye round against a force of Kaiju from Pacific Rim in a “silver age” event allowing all figures but banning non-object- or themed team-related tactics. It was a win for the villains, who simply managed to out-action the colossal monsters, especially as played by the inexperienced Cameron.
By piece:
Blizzard [Invincible Iron Man 026]: Pulse Wave is, as always, boss. Especially in a game against Mystics/Arachnos/Kaiju team ability. Blizzard was a key leading jab.
Captain Cold [The Flash 038]: Wasn’t really much of a captain in this game, what with failing Leadership at the key times and not having targets susceptible to his Ice Blocks.
Chillblaine [The Flash 011]: He was just along for the ride to benefit Golden Glider. But he had a role as tie-up, too, being one of the game’s best.
Frost Giant Champion [Avengers Movie 031]: His Battle Fury-inflicting ability was useless against range-less Kaiju. But he carried his weight in getting the big damage attack to set up the others. Not sure this game is won without him!
Golden Glider [The Flash 025]: Another tie-up fig mostly wasted against Great Size characters, she was surprisingly clutch with her late-game Exploit clicks.
Icicle [Justice League 007]: He was fielded for the Copsicles SP, but was useless due to the size of the enemies and lack of line of fire.
Killer Frost [Trinity War 045]: Never landed a single shot all game, despite many, many attempts.
Mr. Freeze [Batman 048]: the MVP. After the Frost Champion softened the Kaiju up, Freeze cooled them off considerably more.
––––––
This was a nice team. I’d like to see how it works against a more standard opponent. Sometime in the future, we could do a “Winter Is Coming” theme with added heroes such as Polar Boy and Iceman to replace the Golden Age figs on this force.
Back in January, Heroclixin’ revealed that the entire Authority themed team was our No. 2 favorite character[s] of 2014. In spring, after the initial flush of newness had worn off, we fielded the crew in a game. Would the team’s F.U.N. Factor hold up?
THE BUILD: 750 points Modern Age, 5 actions
Apollo @ 200
Jenny Sparks 125
Midnighter 100
Engineer @ 90
Swift 90
Jack Hawksmoor 85
Doctor @ 50
Envy relic 8
=748 points.
ROUND ONE vs. Aaron and his Age of Ultron set Avengers: Captain America [102], Thor [103] @ 150 points, Iron Man [001] @ 250 points and Hulk [008] @ 250 points. I chose Central City, a map I’m accustomed to running the Authority on.
I holed up on one of the buildings to start since Stealth would be no defense against Avengers Initiative TA. Aaron, seeing the trap if he dared set up for an attack, positioned clear on the other side of the map, well out of my easy swing range. I used the opportunity to carry Jenny (using Swift’s free move action via Air tokens) to a better fighting zone. Aaron, in turn, got a chance to successfully use Cap’s SP Leadership to free up his whole team to re-position without pushing to make attacks on her and Swift next turn.
Uh-oh.
TURNING POINT
ROUND TWO saw Brian field a variant of a team I had considered for this event, Green Lanterns of Earth: War of Light figs Hal Jordan [102], Kyle Rayner [107], John Stewart [105] @ 165, Jade [106] and token alien GL Soranik Natu. He also had the Net, Wall and Spotlight constructs attached.
I set up in the same hidey-hole as before, but it didn’t go nearly as well this time: Brian had all the range his team needed to one-shot Doctor and keep my force stuck with free Net and Barrier tokens. A rather desperate shot with Jenny Sparks to cripple Kyle Rayner failed miserably and she was crippled in turn immediately after. Meanwhile, Swift kept getting shot at and only a lowish roll or two kept Kyle’s Energy Explosion from really doing my team harm.
TURNING POINT
So far, Authority teams have had a winning record. I haven’t lost except A) to one other Authority team or B) to a Golden Age Yugioh team that literally could win without ever having to land an attack roll. The wins never come easily — low-scoring games like this one tend to be the norm — and they absolutely require careful play and determination to not give up.
>
It’s become one of our clix goals here at Heroclixin’ to collect Masters of Evil keyword figures. Recently, we got the chance to field this massive 1500-point force:
Piledriver [Invincible Iron Man 027] @ 55 points
Bulldozer [Invincible Iron Man 014] @ 70
Thunderball [Invincible Iron Man 039] @ 75
Wrecker [Invincible Iron Man 060] @ 90
Crimson Cowl [Invincible Iron Man 031] 57
Constrictor [Deadpool 039] 110
Whiplash [WizKids M-014] 99
Swordsman [Avengers Assemble 029] 85
Moonstone [Avengers Assemble 031a] 126
Blizzard [Invincible Iron Man 025] 75
Melter [Invincible Iron Man 034] 86
Absorbing Man [Invincible Iron Man 103] 153
Titania [Fear Itself 008] 105
Yellowjacket [Age of Ultron 007] 85
Black Talon [Deadpool 043] 60
Grey Gargoyle [Invincible Iron Man 046] 99
+ Masters of Evil ATA
This force faced Robert’s Hydra squad: Red Skull [Avengers Assemble], Red Skull [Avengers Movie 041], Deadpool and Bob, Sin and Crossbones [Invincible Iron Man 045], Richard Fisk, Taskmaster [Chaos War], Wolverine Agent of Hydra, Whirlwind [Avengers Assemble], Silver Samurai [Wolverine and The X-Men], Thule Society Priest and two Snakeroot Clan Ninja.
The Masters got map choice and selected Hank Pym’s Lab to storm.
It was a disaster.
TURNING POINTS
CHAOS. Sin and Crossbones’ trait thoroughly interfered with my team, leaving characters double-tokened and pushed at inopportune times. It would lead to trouble down the road.
CENTER ROOM OVEREXTENSION. So on this map, there’s a central area that draws a lot of the action. And there was a Thule Society Priest just ripe for the taking, so I struck [cue Bond song riff] with Thunderball. This would leave the Wrecking Crew member open to mass counterattack, if not for the Barrier-building Blizzard backing him up.
BAAAAD BARRIER. Unfortunately, I didn’t place the Barrier in the optimal spot and Robert was able to break two squares and get two hard blows on T-Ball to easily wreck him, thanks again to my central room overextension.
MERGE. Titania had taken a good amount of damage, but the notoriously hard to hurt Absorbing Man was in prime condition to initiate the Merge into the duo Absorbing Man and Titania, giving my offense a needed shot in the arm.
WRECKER IN THE WRONG. He has a trait to boost the AV of adjacent Wrecking Crew allies. So of course I never had him next to his crew while they were making attacks, largely due to the constant threat of Sin and Crossbones’ Chaos. I paid most dearly when AbsTitania missed a KO of Taskmaster by one — which Wrecker’s +1 would have totally made a hit. That started an avalanche that I couldn’t recover from, as I lost fig after fig and barely managed KOs of even the Snake Ninjas, for crying out loud.
So many things went wrong in this game, mostly mental things. But this Hydra team was pretty awesome in its own right. I highly underestimated it, and paid the price.
Still, the whole point of the game was to field the Masters of Evil en masse, and in that, the day was a rousing success. By piece:
Absorbing Man [Invincible Iron Man 103]: A good lead attacker due to his damage resistance.
Black Talon [Deadpool 043]: Essential member thanks to his friendly Mind Control skills. The mostly melee MoE needs the boost.
Blizzard [Invincible Iron Man 025]: Between his Pulse Wave and Barrier, he can be invaluable. Kept me in this game longer than I had any right to be with my poor early positioning.
Bulldozer [Invincible Iron Man 014]: Like Absorbing Man, he’s a vital lead man with his special “Head Down” trait blocking line of fire.
Constrictor [Deadpool]: His short range mostly negates his role as a shooter for the MoE.
Crimson Cowl [Invincible Iron Man 031]: Her Leadership and Telekinesis would have been much better if not for Chaos saddling her with tokens from Black Talon’s Mind Controls. She still was the last Master standing, even getting a parting shot and scoring one of my few KOs. At under 60 points, you don’t NOT include her.
Grey Gargoyle [Invincible Iron Man 046]: He seems to work much better on paper than on the field. But Chaos was a big problem for him this game.
Melter [Invincible Iron Man 034]: Despite his wall-busting shots, Melter was mostly a non-factor thanks to an early push from Themed Team Probability Control.
Moonstone [Avengers Assemble 031a]: I misplayed her terribly by overlooking her Outwit until deep into the game.
Piledriver [Invincible Iron Man 027]: Always surprises with his dial depth for just 55 in cost.
Swordsman [Avengers Assemble 029]: A good addition to the melee-heavy MoE, he held off Taskmaster for several turns.
Thunderball [Invincible Iron Man 039]: Gone too soon, but that’s more due to user error than the piece itself. I really was relying on his Outwit and wish I’d held him back.
Titania [Fear Itself 008]: Her anti-Super Strength bonus was useless against a Hydra team devoid of the green attack power. Still an awesome brick that belongs on every Golden Age MoE team.
Wrecker [Invincible Iron Man 060]: A key to the MoE with his ability to freely break walls and supply extra objects. If I run him more effectively in this game, perhaps I’d have made a better showing of it.
Yellowjacket [Age of Ultron 007]: A rare taxi for the team, she gave the MoE a great deal of flexibility that kept it going
+ Masters of Evil ATA: This, more than anything, was a blunder. With two Outwitters and a fairly high degree of damage dealing, this large squad didn’t need the “armor piercing” effect. Better to drop this expense to upgrade one or all of the Wrecking Crew to their higher-cost, better-armored, Masters of Evil team ability using levels.
_______
Future F.U.N.
Next foray for the Masters? Probably another turf war against villains from a different universe: the Legion of Doom. We’re dropping Constrictor, Whiplash and the MoE ATA in favor of adding the Wrecking Crew ATA, Whirlwind [Avengers Assemble], Ultron-5 [Age of Ultron] and upgrading Wrecker to full cost. Look for a F.U.N. Fights report whenever that matchup happens.
Continuing the quest to get shots of all the Super Strong clix holding object tokens.
Old-school Iron Man [Age of Ultron 017] has a solid grip using his helmet and antenna.
Though phasing, Vision [031] has a surprisingly solid grasp of object tokens.
Though called the prince of power, Hercules [033] can only manage the most tenuous of holds.
Ultron-5 [041b] is not only a Master of Evil, but a master of holding this object token.
Giant-size Ultron-7 [Age of Ultron 053a and 053b] has a three-point balancing hold with the end of his fist, his wrist, and under his chin.
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Wave Two’s pix aren’t ready, what with the boosters being unavailable for at least a week.