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Valtrauta_cool_from_Thor_313

Years ago, when HeroClix’s rebirth was in its infancy, I wrote about this  theme. Now, with a new Valkyrie figure, it’s time to cue up the Wagner and field the choosers of the slain again!

RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES

Valkyrie (Hammer of Thor 055) 145 + Not So Special 3
Valkyrie (Fear Itself 005) 130
Mirage (Wolverine and The X-Men 004) 75 + Camouflage 8
Valkyrie (Sinister 048) 71 + Not So Special 3
Brunnhilde (Sinister 204) 69  + Not So Special 3
Valkyrie (Sinister 047) 60
Samantha arrington Hammer of Thor 101) 55
Mirage (Fantastic Forces 007) 55
Valkyrie (Sinister 046) 44
Valkyrie (Hammer of Thor 012) 38
Valkyrie (Hammer of Thor 012) 38
Valkyrie (Hammer of Thor 012) 38
+ Defenders ATA 20

= 800 points. EDIT: I must’ve been falling asleep at the desk, because this in no way adds up to 800. Here’s the REAL team:

Valkyrie (Hammer of Thor 055) 145 + Not So Special 3
Valkyrie (Fear Itself 005) 130 + Contingency Plan 12
Mirage (Wolverine and The X-Men 004) 75 + Camouflage 8
Valkyrie (Sinister 048) 71 + Not So Special 3
Brunnhilde (Sinister 204) 69  + Not So Special 3
Valkyrie (Sinister 047) 60
Samantha Parrington (Hammer of Thor 101) 55
Mirage (Fantastic Forces 007) 55
Valkyrie (Sinister 046) 44
Valkyrie (Hammer of Thor 012) 38
Valkyrie (Hammer of Thor 012) 38
Valkyrie (Hammer of Thor 012) 38
+ Defenders ATA 24
+ Black Lantern 0
+ Generator 0
+Mjolnir 0

= 900 points is more like it. EDIT: Except that IT’S NOT 900 POINTS. I keep screwing up the math on this. Either drop the C.Plan feat or Camouflage + a Not So Special card to make the team fit.

The last time the Valkyries rode, the team was able to take advantage of some tricks that no longer work (such as transporter Move And Attack being a move action). But it has some new ones that might work better.

  • Big Hammer of Thor Valkyrie is no longer the sole tentpole of the force. Before, the Contingency Plan feat was all but required, to allow the strong but soft-skinned horsewoman to make safe hit-and-run attacks with a decent AV. But now she has help from two more sources…
  • No-cape Fear Itself Valkyrie, who shares the high damage potential and excellent AV of horse Val — and can field the C.Plan for more clicks than Horse Val…
  • The Defenders ATA allows both these Vals to chain their stellar AVs to their three sister Defender-keyworded sisters from Sinister, making for a solid front line of melee offense.

Then there are the curious mortal inductees to the cadre.

  • Samantha, whose low AV was always reason enough to hold her off the team before, finds that weakness addressed by the ATA.
  • Mirage of the upcoming WATX set adds a bit of ranged ability with her -range and Incap (with Sidestep to add even more swing).
  • Finally, there’s Mirage from Fantastic Forces. Though very weak stats-wise, her Running Shot and Penetrating/Psychic Blast could land a light shot against weakened foes. More important still is her taxi ability to carry the less-mobile of the Valkyrior.

A team of Charging Super Strength figs can make good use of the Generator. The Black Lantern, though from DC, is highly thematic for valkyries. And Mjolnir is quite fitting.

I obviously can’t run this team yet because Wolverine and The X-Men is still a few days away from release (AND I no longer own a Samantha Parrington LE). But one day, the Valkyries will descend upon a HeroClix battlefield!

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So I got to a venue too late and too broke to get in the scheduled Fear Itself event and instead joined a battle royale with this team:

Clark Kent (Man of Steel 009) 115
Lois Lane (Man of Steel 00) 39
Harve Bullock (Streets of Gotham 016) 32
Roy Raymond, Jr. (Batman 026) 74
Miranda Tate (Dark Knight Rises 012) 70
Pepper Potts (Iron Man 3 007) 70
= 400 points of plainclothed clix…no costumes, no weapons, nothin.’ I had a few pieces running for the first time.

VERSUS three others in a battle royale:
MATT with Superboy (Teen Titans 026)+Belt, Kid Flash (Teen Titans 039), and something I can’t recall. Solstice, maybe?
DOMINIQUE’s Thanos (Galactic Guardians 045) and Terraxia.
JASON fielding Superman (Man of Steel 101) and Superboy (Teen Titans 026). And I think that’s all.

I knew that Thanos was the big threat, but Matt & Jason went at it first anyway because they’re noobs. I crept about toward Thanos, using Stealth (thanks, Harvey for giving it to yourself and fellow detective Roy) for cover. Eventually, I made my move:

  1. Based Thanos with Roy Raymond Jr. for the -1 DV trick
  2. Knocked down T’s DV further with PD TA
  3. Perplexed it down one more time with Miranda…
  4. …so she could Mind Control him to kill Terraxia nearby!

But Thanos himself missed, leaving me with Miranda taking MC damage and Roy all set to just get one-shot by Thanos. :(

Fortunately, 5 damage is not enough to one-shot Roy, so he lived to use Outsiders TA for many more rounds to come. That proved key to dealing with Matt’s Superboy’s Belt-fed modifications.

In the end, it was only Lois Lane and Kid Flash. A late misplay cost me a shot at a most unlikely victory for the overachieving star reporter.

By piece:
Clark Kent (Man of Steel 009)
Traited Stealth and SP Willpower made him the solid core of my team’s offense. I happily landed on his second such click, with HSS and Perplex. Maybe I erred in healing him off it (though with only a natural 8 AV, who could blame me). Great piece that literally flies under the radar.

Lois Lane (Man of Steel 007)
Amy Adams, as noted above, nearly won the whole shebang with her nosy reporting ways. A fine use of 39 points.

Harvey Bullock (Streets of Gotham 016)
Key for his ability to Stealth fellow cops and detectives. His TA also came into play. All told, he was worth way more than his cost.

Roy Raymond, Jr. (Batman 026)
Been wanting to get this unusual figure on the field. He’s tricky to use because his Outsiders and maxxed-Outwit beg for him to stay away from the fight. But his Combat Reflexes and ability to -1 adjacent DV means he ought to be in foes’ faces. With no Stealth or other defense against range, his 16 DV is an easy target. Use with care…but do use him on plainclothes teams like this one.

Miranda Tate (Dark Knight Rises 012)
Still one of my faves, she had so many ways to mess with the team (Perplex. Outwit. Mind Control). Both underestimated and a priority target, she always served her purpose on this force. On a future build, I’ll want to couple her with Bruce Wayne 003 from her set to gain Batman Ally TA and a Defense boost.

Pepper Potts (Iron Man 3 007)
Great for drawing fire early on — as she need not fear being one-shot — then for fighting after taking the big hit. Gwyneth is a winner for this theme. On a Golden Age team, I’ll run her with Loner for the DV boost.

That is, if I can still fit her on after adding the ultimate plainclothes clix piece: 

crispus

Crispus Allen (Arkham Asylum 101).

—-

Tomorrow, one more installment of “Token Totin’ Titans,” and I think I’m done with the set (minus a few whose high rarity have kept me from readily getting pix: Wonder Girl 065, Wonder Woman 068 and Zookeeer). Then on Friday, a look at a F.U.N. Force I’d like to run.

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There were SO many other feats that were great but couldn’t quite make it to the top 10. Here are some of Heroclixin’s other favorites:

10. Camouflage (Sinister and Secret Invasion):  This 8-pointer was nicely balanced by preventing range attacks but not all line of fire while next to blocking terrain, giving Outwitters a shot at nixing the Shape Change prerequisite. It’s at the bottom of my list because it often restricted mobility on many maps.

9. Loner [Secret Invasion]: 5 points to boost DV on a non-themed character? Sure! The prevalence of themed teams and keywords made this a tough play most of the time, though.

[tie] Rip It Up [Fantastic Forces]: 20 points is a LOT to pay not to ever be able to use heavy objects. But it also ensures a Super Strength team never runs OUT of objects, so it sort of balances out in the end.

8. Opportunist [Crisis]: This might be Heroclixin’s favorite feat for just filling out points. But for the sacrifice of a few early-game actions, this 10-point card can really pay off later by turning near-misses into solid hits. I like that it modifies the die roll, not the attack value, circumventing the Rule of Three.

7. Alias [Secret Invasion]: 3 little points, small enough to fit on any force, that can get your big guy out of an attack of opportunity. It’s a bit too one-size-fits-all for Heroclixin’s taste, but it’s just right for its disposable nature.

 

6. Inside Information [Mutations + Monsters]: Spend 4 points, get a +2 AV boost against your own keywords. Great little feat that’s almost always worth running.

5. Unstoppable [Fantastic Forces and Justice League]: A nice inexpensive feat that helps ground-pounding bricks a lot — but not TOO much, like the similar but overpowered Swingline did. Ignoring  hindering terrain is fine, and it’s finely balanced by the wall-busting ability only working during move actions.

4. Outsmart [Mutations + Monsters]: It’s not as Outwit-proof as Fortitude, but Heroclixin’ prefers less point-and-click strategies anyway. This 10-point feat has the dual benefit of being way cheaper and helping allies not get countered, too. Don’t get to use this as often as I’d like.

 

3. Not So Special [Brave and the Bold]: The last great feat in Heroclixin’s opinion, this 3-point card is a no-brainer for standard-powered pieces. It’s lost a few steps because there practically ARE no standard-powered pieces any more.

2. Submerged [Icons]: Swimmers have needed all the help they can get. This 5 points to stay unseen in water is among the best help the marine set could pay.

1. Takedown [Mutations + Monsters]: This fan-made feat might be the best feat card ever made, working perfectly in flavor with its prerequisite powers Incapacitate and Plasticity. Priced perfectly at 6 points. It’s perfect!

 

 

 

 

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The two very best feats.

#2

jlF003

20 points. Expensive, but such a simple way to make our whole team better as needed every round. There’s probably no better use of 20 points on a team with, of course, the prerequisite Perlexer and allied beneficiaries.

 

 

# 1

aaF002

5 points. The inexpensive price is what vaults this one to the top of the feat heap. It suddenly makes a HOST of Leap/Climbers and Close Combat Experts highly viable move-and-attack pieces, opening up tons more positioning options than before. But it’s also quite balanced since its two-square reach really isn’t that overwhelming. It’s the perfect example of a great feat card and it’s a real pity that more weren’t this fun and awesome.

 

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 The very worst feats.

 

#2

DCCDBoosterCards.indd

9 points. Even when Soaring was a thing, this feat was useless. +2 movement for move actions really was not a big deal without the ability to carry. Breaking away from other soaring characters came into play about the same number of times more than one character occupied soaring status: almost never. And the cost? At least seven points too many.

 

 #1

mmF002

12 points. Couldn’t have been much worse if they’d just written “only this one Colossus character and that one Wolverine figure can use this feat, once, EVER.” I mean, have you ever seen so many arbitrary conditions to use a power?

  1. Same team symbol required. This kind of makes sense, but cuts out so many combinations.
  2. First must have Super Strength. OK, that’s fine.
  3. Second must have Toughness. Sure, that’s fair. Need to be able to survive the impact. But…
  4. …not Invulnerability. Not Impervious. ONLY Toughness. Here’s where it gets stupid. And we’re not done.
  5. Can’t have more than 3 damage, either. Which is ridiculous, because…
  6. …It costs both a power action. Ugh. So you’re burning up two actions for one light attack! Really?!
  7. Hit or miss, it’s a one-time-use feat…
  8. THAT COSTS 12 POINTS.

Feats are supposed to increase a character’s flexibility. This one is the definition of INflexible. That’s why it’s the worst feat WizKids ever attempted.

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Tomorrow, a bonus: Heroclixin’s favorite F.U.N. feats!

 

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Feats were even more game-warping than Resources, as will become clear as we look back at the top five of the Top Ten feats ever:

#5

muF102 awF003

8 points for the other feat that broke the game. It’s perfectly costed and perfectly balanced but probably should have been one of the game’s few “unique” feats like Loner or Saboteur: one per force. As it was, entire teams would be outfitted with this ultimate “get out of jailhouse damage free” tactic, necessitating the rule change of no more than 10% of a force build being feats.

4

lgF001 awF007

10 points. A simple way to make weenies a legit threat on the board. This feat used to be required to make Energy Explosion any damn good, and Poison still gets a lot of mileage from it. A bit annoying because of the total lack of prereqs.

 #3

lgF003

10 points per character. Point for point, for a long time this was possibly the best 20 (or more) points one could spend in HC. If you had the Oracle (Legacy) figure, so much the better.

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WizKids used to just throw away money on these stinkers that no one wanted to even pull, let alone play, like the #5 worst feat:

aaF103

5 points. I don’t like disposable feats in general; paying points for a one-time effect seems unwise. But if the effect is more or less guaranteed, then it’s not so bad.

This one is so bad.

It requires getting hit to work. It requires taking DAMAGE from that hit to work. It requires the hit being close combat to work. And all of this has to happen to a character of 60 points or more, so no putting it on a fig one might not mind risking the points to use this feat.

We’re not done with the drawbacks. It requires a high die roll of 9 or higher to work. All to deal just 1 damage (or maybe 2 if it’s a crit). Better hope the target doesn’t have Toughness.

Succeed or fail, it’s costing you 5 points. There’s just no reason to ever field this weak attempt at payback. Can you believe this was a TOURNAMENT PRIZE?

#4

MV_DoFP_Cards.indd

2 points per character. Gets on the list partly for teasing me every time I thought I’d found a cheap feat to fill out those last few leftover points on a team. Then I’d be cruelly reminded that it’s 2 points per character. So on the average force, you’re paying 6 to 10 points for a feat that only works once.

  • …When you’ve already lost your bigger pieces.
  • …Then you give up the feat’s 6-10 points to the opponent, too, after its single use..

“Revenge” is what you’ll seek against the dude who MADE this feat and put it in a collector set, of all things. But it wouldn’t be the last:

#3

2099F001

10 points. So it’s like using Support, except you remove action tokens — and clicks of life! No thanks. No thanks at ALL.

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Tomorrow: The very best of the feats…and the worst of all.

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Feats have pretty much gone the way of the dodo outside of Golden Age games. As we look at the best, it becomes clear why WizKids scaled them back.

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#8 

avF001 lgF007

10 points. For a long time it was the only way to make Incapacitate a relevant power, due to Incap’s high cost for such little effect. This feat brought it into the limelight. Now, Stunning Blow is even better, allowing it to tack on regular damage on top of the penetrating variety available against pushed targets.

#7

muF100

5 points per character. This feat broke the game for a while there. Allowing a strong attacker nonstop actions round after round is beyond powerful.

#6.

lgF008

20 points. What blocked line of fire? So frustrating to play against, so good to use. WizKids tried to redo this concept in a more balanced fashion with 2009’s same-cost Elite Sniper back when feats were still legal in Restricted (the Modern Age of the day) but no one uses that card anymore if this one’s available.

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Feats as bad as #8 probably contributed to the mechanic’s demise:

muF002

6 points. So ineffective — it has a penalty of -1 AV, can’t affect foes with Charge, Multibases, and now, Combat Reflexes — and for what? To get enemies a few squares away, only for them to just base you again? You’d have better odds at just making a breakaway roll. Overcosted by half at least.

 #7

mmF007

15 points. It’s a great idea: Take a cheap shot at a foe (with an AV bonus!) to rile them up into doing something rash. Two problems, though. 1) It was easy for opponents to get around the Taunt effect by taking every other action possible, thus eliminating the feat’s ability to REALLY manipulate his actions. 2) The card’s too dang expensive to not have a guaranteed effect. Bleh.

#6

ioF007

20 points. This feat would’ve been great if it allowed the wildcard to still actually be a wildcard so that fellow wildcards could use the Siphoned TA. But to actually LOSE abilities while gaining more should cost a LOT LESS than 20 points.

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Tomorrow: Some of the very best and worst of the feats.

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Once upon a time in HeroClix, long before the game-warping reality of Relics and Special Powers and Resources, there were Feats.

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They’ve pretty much gone the way of the dodo — the last one released was the print & play Frog Legs way back in fall 2010. So Heroclixin’ is quite confident that this Top Ten list should be its definitive one on the subject.

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Heroclixin’ really tried to avoid ties this time, to the degree that great feats including Nova Blast and Nanobots got shoved off the list. But two 12-point feats refused to be ignored for the #10 spot:

mmF001

12 points. Because Regen still hasn’t been fixed and paints a bull’s eye on any piece that bears it, this feat is money on anyone with more than a click of the power.

(tie) Contingency Plan 

jlF007 

12 points. Another feat that made us take notice of a power — in this case, Leadership — that was just so much junk before. Its time is a bit past, now, but it’s still one of the best feats ever made.

#9. Fortitude

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25 points. One sure way to deal with the threats of Outwit and Exploit Weakness turning your man of steel into such a dude of kleenex. One didn’t run a tentpole team without it in Golden Age — at least, not before the age of the Resource dial.

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Not all feats were good. Some were awful wastes of points. Here’s the #10 worst feat ever:

Large Object

lgF005

3 points per 100. The effect — trading object damage for attack bonus — was a good idea. It was the stupid cost scaling that makes it fail. Losing the damage output was enough. It would have topped the list had it been worded in non-optional language.

9. Tactics

svF005

20 points. I can’t think of this feat without hearing the Rurouni Kenshin closing credits song in the same name in my head. The card’s not absolutely terrible — it does gives Leadership another boost — but the cost is way high at 20 points. There are way better feats to use on the power.

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Tomorrow: More of the best and busts of the feats.

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Secret_Avengers_05_pencil

The highlighted figures below retired to Golden Age on July 1, a Monday. I played this team on June 29, a Saturday, for

One.

Last.

Mission.

Steve Rogers (Captain America) 99
Sharon Carter (Chaos War) 45
Ant-Man (Chaos War 026) 43
Valkyrie (Fear Itself) 130
Black Widow (Captain America 006) 85
War Machine (Iron Man 3) 220
Moon Knight (Amazing Spider-Man) 109
Beast (Giant-Size X-Men) 95
Nova (Galactic Guardians) 125

While there are the Avengers Movie/Fear Itself versions of Black Widow and the Fast Forces release of Beast to keep those characters Modern, Steve Rogers as commander of SHIELD is highly unlikely to ever be remade. So the Secret Avengers, in its one truly great incarnation (on paper, at least — the actual team-up in the comic never lived up to its promise thanks to the virtual non-involvement of Nova before his being taken out) will never again grace a Modern Age game.

So how’d it do in its swan song?

MISSION: To beat Mark’s Adam Warlock (Galactic Guardians 032), Quasar (Captain America), Jor-El (Man of Steel 005), Cyborg (Teen Titans 025), Hawkeye (Chaos War), Alfred Pennyworth (Batman), Gizmo and Bruce Wayne (Batman 202a) x 3 on my choice of the Iron Man 3 docks map in a 1000-point, 5-action Modern Age event requiring at least one figure due for retirement July 1.

Key moment: Ant-Man and friends took early Energy Explosion damage from Cyborg, who got TK’d a bunch to get an object-enabled shot.
War Machine and friends took Cyborg down next. Then Valkyrie, warping to Cyborg’s last known spot, pushed to Charge-Flurry Hawkeye to immediate death for an extra margin of victory. Only lost Ant-Man in the end, despite two badly timed consecutive crit misses on my part.

BY PIECE:

Steve Rogers (Captain America) 99

CommanderRogers

True to his trait’s name, he was “The Focal Point” more than ever in these last few games. Giving fellow Avengers the SHIELD TA helped plenty. When I originally played Rogers, well before the TA’s more recent upgrades, his 7 range was a liability against further-reaching foes. But with the average range value dropping to about 6, he’s working out a lot better. More than a couple of Leadership roll successes kept certain teammates active.

Sharon Carter (Chaos War) 45

sharoncarter00
Naturally, her “Secret Avengers” trait granting Stealth to Avengers is a key point on this team. But she’s also great for her printed SHIELD TA and 2nd-click Perplex, too. SO much better than the original Sharon in Mutations & Monsters.

Ant-Man (Chaos War 026) 43

irredeemable ant-man
O’Grady’s lack of speed hurts his effectiveness as a good tie-up piece, but his unusual anti-Outwit/Perplex power can come in handy. Better still is his Tiny Size, which enables him to take a power action to use SHIELD and then hitch a ride with a Running Shot pal to boost said pal’s damage. His short dial is a boon to the following teammate as well…

Valkyrie (Fear Itself) 130

valkyrie
This team has needed a dedicated melee piece and, in her, gets one. So after she’s done clustering with cheaper allies to use her Leadership early on in the game, she either Charges in to Flurry or, more hopefully, warps in the spot of a fallen friend or foe to gain access to more targets. ‘Course, this can just as often lead her to her own early death. But the more fire on her, the less on the dangerous shooters of the team.

Black Widow (Captain America 006) 85

black-widow-jg-jones
Best used as Rogers’ left hand with his Leadership to take off her tokens. SHIELD helps extend her modest range, too. With traited, unOutwittable Stealth, she’s the one teammate who need not depend on Sharon Carter for cover. A single push gets her to Penetrating Psychic Blast if needed.

War Machine (Hammer of Thor) 137
Nova Prime (Galactic Guardians) 150

war-machineNovaPrimeIAmAnAvenger
 These two serves as leadoff or cleanup hitters alike on the team I played back in mid-June. War Machine’s long range proved key for a clutch TTPC, and both are my preferred choices to represent the characters.

War Machine (Iron Man 3) 220
Nova (Annihilators) 125
 This Modern Age pair worked differently, with Nova being more pure support through his Worldmind Surge SP granting Perplex to like-keyworded friends. It especially benefited his fellow Soldier, War Machine, who got a generally can’t-miss 13 AV.

Moon Knight (Amazing Spider-Man) 109

MoonKnight
He was a HUGE boon with his Perplex. Especially good in crowded environs thanks to his short range. The Full Moon trait makes him a bit of a wild card, as one never quite knows if he’ll be a quietly high-priced support piece or a dangerous threat they won’t see coming.

…even though he wears all white.

Beast (Giant-Size X-Men) 95

beast
Thanks to the Outwit nerf forcing him to get closer to the action, Beast is now a new melee threat and tie-up piece. At worst, he’ll draw fire away from the real offensive threats on the team before going down. And with his late-dial CCE, he WILL draw fire if he’s basing a foe with his natural 11 AV.

The difference couldn’t be greater in this truer incarnation of the Secret Avengers build than the initial one cobbled together in 2010 when the title was first released. And I couldn’t be gladder about it — a comic-accurate F.U.N. team!

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The final “piece” in this “Top Ten” list of figures Heroclixin’ will miss in retirement is a whole team:

#1

Nextwave

Aaron Stack, Elsa Bloodstone, Monica Rambeau, The Captain, Tabitha Smith (Giant-Size X-Men)

Equaling a perfect 500-point named keyword team, the Nextwave squad never really got on the field the way I wanted it to. Maybe it was the lack of good top-dial moving attack options in a game which still boasted, at the time, plenty of ranges 8 or longer. A pity that almost as soon as the support powers Outwit and Perplex, which could easily nerf Nextwave before, were themselves nerfed, Nextwave gets relegated to the pasture. Speaking of which, Nextwave didn’t have any of those support powers, either — not without taking a lot of damage. And even though the crew had a decent ATA, it was unusable on a full-power Nextwave themed team in Modern Age unless one doubled up on the weakest member to make a 600-point team.

Nextwave: Not Getting Played In Force Since Q1 2011.

________

Retirement has a silver lining though, because this:

Nextwave

Aaron Stack, Elsa Bloodstone, Monica Rambeau, The Captain, Tabitha Smith (Giant-Size X-Men)

The team with the Nextwave ATA added up to 525 points. Now that the team’s in Golden Age, we can throw on the full 50 points of Feats to make this a proper 600-point themed team at last!

First, spend 25 points on Warbound on all characters with the Nextwave keyword. This feat, which really kinda fits this close-knit team that’s more like a family, eliminates some of the movement/action challenges the squad has at this point level. The taxis, which are also the big hitters, can shunt tokens off to the cheaper passengers (only Tabby is too inexpensive for them to Warbound to). Or the cheaper ones, when finally in position to do something, can dump their tokens off to the others, as in this illustrative pic:

Tabitha Smith (Giant-Size X-Men 015) makes a close combat attack and uses Warbound to give the token to adjacent friendly character more than half her 58-point cost, Aaron Stack (Giant-Size X-Men 016). He then pushes to make a close combat attack of his own because he's Indomitable and can use Willpower. Tabby will be free next turn to act — say, setting her Timebombs in distant squares or just making a ranged attack, because no generic cop HeroClix figure is standing up after getting kicked for 3 damage twice in a row. (Dont' worry, it's OK, it's a BAD cop they're kicking.)

Tabitha Smith (Giant-Size X-Men 015) makes a close combat attack and uses Warbound to give the token to an adjacent friendly character more than half her 58-point cost, Aaron Stack (Giant-Size X-Men 016). He then pushes to make a close combat attack of his own because he’s Indomitable and can use Willpower. Tabby will be free next turn to act — say, setting her Timebombs in distant squares or just making a ranged attack, because no generic cop HeroClix figure is standing up after getting kicked for 3 damage twice in a row.
(Don’t worry, parents, it’s OK— it’s a BAD cop they’re kicking.)

That leaves 25 more points left for feats in the 10% allowed for feats. Each character’s gonna get one.

Monica!

Rambeau

Lacking Special Powers or Traits, she will microwave the buttocks off most of the newer figures in the game thanks to Not So Special giving her an AV boost against those that do have SPs. That’s 3 points. 22 to go.

Tabby!

TabbyCANwalk&chewgum

Her no-attack-roll-necessary SP only deals a low 1 or 2 damage. So feat her with Armor Piercing, which has always put teeth into multi-target Energy Explosion, which Tabitha (aka Boom Boom aka Meltdown) has in spades on her non-SP clicks to give foes the explodo with this clever use of 10 points.

Aaron!

aaronstack

The robotic hero full of useful devices and sock-drawer-organizing skills would have the Inside Information on other Avengers, Heavy Metal, Nextwave, Robot, S.H.I.E.L.D., and West Coast Avengers-keyworded foes for a healthy AV boost against them for just 4 more points. Play it!

Elsa!

Elsa

The English-accented monster hunter can further her monster hunting ways with the 3-point Monster Hunter feat.

The Captain!

captain-avenger

In an appropriately gonzo sort of way, Alias is actually a pretty fitting feat for a guy who’s called himself just about every Captain [insertwordhere] in the Marvel Universe. Gameplay-wise, as he’s liable to lead the charge with his Impervious hide and potential Outwit/Perplex immunity, it gives him a little protection.

Feat total comes to 48 points, 2 under the cap, bringing the team to 573.

So let’s put a Resource on Aaron Stack, who, as noted before, is full of very useful devices approximating the powers of a half-complete Infinity Gauntlet:

  • Soul Gem (or “Death to fleshy ones!”)
  • Power Gem (Close Combat Expert on early dial. Range Combat Expert on 2nd half)
  • Space Gem (using extendible arms to Carry pals and stride past foes with his extendible legs akin to giants)

And, of course, his time with the Celestials means he can access robot godhood … eventually.

The most useful aspect of a Gauntlet on Aaron is the early Telekinesis he offers the team. He is the pilot of Nextwave’s ship, the Shockwave Rider, after all.

Finally, some Battlefield Conditions will round things out:

  • Mistrust. Nextwave have no team symbols to share, so they’re unaffected by this card. (And, as noted before, Nextwave is Love.)
  • Overconfidence. There’s no Perplex on the team, either, unless Aaron picks it later via Gauntlet (Assuming he’s not actually complete and utter ****). Conversely (because I may not actually have the above card in my collection anymore) I could use White Noise because, again, I have virtually no Outwit on the team.
  • Extraordinary Day. This just fits Nextwave’s penchant for **** and **** and people getting kicked. ESPECIALLY PEOPLE GETTING KICKED.
  • There’s also Debris. The Captain and Aaron both start with Super Strength, so it might be worth having a bunch more objects to use.

598 points. Can’t wait to try this out!

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Next week: back to regular features.

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The_Breakfast_Club

Had a series of “Breakfast Club” games where no one could share keywords. By team:
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Captain America (Chaos War 203) rolled a lot of Leadership and made some attacks. Aside from the stellar Rare from 2011’s Captain America set, this piece might be the most Cap-like of them all and may well be my first choice to represent the character in future games.

Despite being a crook, Hired Goon (Batman 203) benefited greatly from Cap’s Leadership (“He was in ‘Nam” was the brilliantly F.U.N. explanation given by my opponent in the match) and scored some great shots with his Ranged Combat Expertise.

Blue Beetle (DC 10th Anniversary 009) was the Goon’s Boss, but he was better used for Running Shots to Pulse Wave, having ended up on that power combo thanks to Mystics damage. It worked. Never had to use his self Prob Control. I like this Reyes kid. Eventually I want to run a team of Hispanics like him…

…and fellow hero of the Latin persuasion, The Question (Streets 015b), who I used correctly this time. Her free little Smoke Cloud was super for the stealthy Hired Goon, and Probability Control is always welcome (on my team).

Ensign Anton Chekov (Star Trek Away Team 007b) supplied plenty of Telekinesis. I may have forgotten to use his Tricorder SP to expose a Stealthy target, though. Useful and Nifty enough to make my eventual Russian team.

Bofur the Dwarf (Hobbit 014) rounded out this force. With TK to help his low Speed, Bofur did his share of leadoff fighting. He’s better played in a crowd with his 17 Defend, though.

—

There was a shortened match in which I used some archers.
Arsenal (Streets 045) did nothing, really, as all targets were too far away to even so much as use Outsiders on. But I was prepared to do just that against a Utility Belt-equipped opponent. It’s the one thing he’s really good for.

Green Arrow (New 52 Justice League 007) also did nothing for the same reasons as Arsenal above, having to hide behind a League of Assassins member to avoid being possibly one-shot by ReMAC. It worked, but time ran out before I could force my opponent from his hiding spot with the long-range RCE of Manticore.

—

A third “Breakfast Club” team:
Frost Giant Champion (Avengers Movie 031) kept an enemy Psychic Blaster ineffective thanks to his Battle Fury-endowing SP, and dealt a great deal of the KOs of my game.

Frank Drake (Amazing Spider-Man 013a) also was able to fully nerf that target with his double Outwit against mystics and monsters. He happily fits two of the F.U.N. theme teams I’ll be highlighting in an upcoming regular feature.

Godiva (Batman 029) took so long to get into the action, the fight was basically over. I almost pushed her just to see what she’d do, but decided against it with only one target at the time.

Even without Thanos to give her Perplex, Terraxia (Infinity Gauntlet 009) works out as a solid brick. Can’t imagine playing her again without her “pa” though.

At first, I thought Batman (Batman 053a) was just a pale weak shadow of a certain Caped Crusader (his prime version). But in practice, using his Flock of Bats gave him some nice Poison tricks (during beginning phase, free action detach Grey Flock, free action Outwit defenses, then free action Poison = WINNING). He’s also a decently powered piece besides, and well-priced. This Batman’s gone from the “I’ma trade/sell him soon as I play him” to “I’d like to run this piece again!”

The next day, I played an even larger version of the Breakfast Club theme:

Ezio Auditore de Firenze (Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood 001) didn’t do a whole lot despite his solid stats and powers. Still, he’s the only one of the set I wanted, so I’ll try his out again. Sometime.

Catwoman (Batman 204) was part of my main offense. Too bad no one fielded a relic in this friendly little game. Despite the fact that I played her with the following piece to take advantage of her Support trait, it never came into play.

Batman (Streets of Gotham 052) anchored the team early on, but he wound up falling apart and leaving me in dead last place. The black BatGhost is too soft for his cost. But he’s destined for a future team for sure.

Rhino (Amazing Spider-Man 204) was played with the understanding that “along the path” meant he could hit squares adjacent to his path, but in retrospect, I see we played it wrong. But I still might consider him over the more costly (and effective) main set Rhino to save the 30-plus points because he’s Indomitable and can more easily set up his straight-line Charges.

Spider-Girl (Amazing Spider-Man 027) worked well to evacuate Rhino to heal him after his crit miss, then to draw fire from him. This is a good piece. I want to mod one into her original Araña costume.

Bifur The Dwarf (Hobbit 010), another rare Dwarf with range, managed to contribute a bit with Running Shot and Incap (though I really should have just used his 2 damage instead of pushing the target because A) The target only had Toughness so the net damage would be the same and B) I rolled a crit hit). Nothing really distinctive about him otherwise, though.

I was far too overconfident with Speed (Chaos War 021) and got him good and KO’d early on. He’s for Young Avengers teams only. And who knows when I’ll play them again? They need their leader Patriot redone.

Johnny Blaze (Amazing Spider-Man 007) was played even more recklessly. NEVER PUSH HIM, no matter how enticing that shotgun power seems, unless you’re guaranteed to get penetrating damage out a landed hit.

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All right. There’s one more week of Figure Flush to go. But next week is the beginning of another month, meaning it’s time for another Top Ten. What’ll it be of? Stay tuned.