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

It’s that time again: A brand-new clix set arrives today. Click the link below for a print-ready pocket checklist to help in your collecting efforts.

AvengersAssemblechecklist

Thanks to all the fellow fans at HCRealms.com for gathering the info. Heroclixin’ couldn’t do it without each one of you!

The new movie’s out today, but we’ve had the clix in our hands for about a month already. Let’s look at their F.U.N. Factors, shall we?

What’s a F.U.N. Factor, you ask? It’s how:

• Friendly a HeroClix piece is. Do you get nervous or dismayed when your opponent fields a certain figure? Then it’s probably not a Friendly one to use.
• Useful a HeroClix piece is. Does the dial bring some Utility to the team, even if it’s not so scary to the other players? Then it’ll score fine in this arena.
• Nifty or Neato or Nerdcore a HeroClix piece is. This measures how well a character fits oddball teams and themes well outside the min-maxers’ attempts to just mix the best powers and numbers to win. 

Iron Man [Avengers Age of Ultron 001]: Ah, Tony Stark; make us feel. With Running Shot/Transporter Move-and-Attack and a sky-high 12 AV with 4 damage Outwit, he’s plenty Useful at his 250-point level — and just a tad unFriendly for the same reason. But only a tad. The Nifty thing about him is his ability to call in a light calvary of Iron Legion generics via a couple of traits.
At 185 points, he’s a lot Friendlier and a little less Useful. In both cases, his Avengers Assemble! trait is one of the less mean examples. OVERALL F.U.N. FACTOR: Moderate

Iron Legion: So we have to look at these differently depending on their role. As part of a team build, Iron Legion is super Useful: 10 AV Running Shot with 3 damage Enhancement for 50 points! There’s always something a little Friendly and Nifty about generics in Heroclixin’s view. Those elements are even better when you factor in the random element of this trait:

“AVAILABLE BACKUP: When Iron Legion is placed in your starting area from outside the game, roll a d6. On a result of 1-3, click it to its blue starting line. On a result of 4-6, click it to its yellow starting line.”

So one never knows if one is adding a close-combat Empower piece to the force, or a range-focused Enhancer. But it’s always going to be F.U.N. finding out. OVERALL F.U.N. FACTOR: High

Captain America [003]: A really short 4 range keep the 125-point Cap quite Friendly despite good AV, highly Useful targeting abilities [through characters and even if he’s based] and his AA trait that either boost allies’ damage or nerfs foes’ AV. His 80-point level starts with his SP, though, “His Enemies Fear Him,” which allows him to use Leadership to throw an action token on one higher-cost enemy or on all lower cost enemies. Good thing this is also limited by his range — and doesn’t cause pushing — or it’d make Cap really mean. Staid old Cap is not the Niftiest figure to build around, either. OVERALL F.U.N. FACTOR: Moderately High

Test Subject: This generic is so random that it can’t help but be Friendly. But it won’t be Useful without highly skilled play — not without running a Baron Strucker from the set, anyhow — and Heroclixin’ is finding it difficult to see the Nifty aspects of this piece. OVERALL F.U.N. FACTOR: Moderately Low

Thor [005]: Lack of Willpower is the flaw that blunts the thunder god’s Useful quotient while raising his Friendliness for the 200-point cost. Both balance out a bit more at the 150 level where he gains Enhancement. There’s also Pulse Wave scattered about, but not enough to keep him from being a F.U.N. figure despite a general lack of Niftyness — he’s a little boring. OVERALL F.U.N. FACTOR: Moderate

Hydra Soldier: Low speed Charge and no range make this mook quite Friendly while still being a Useful one for Nifty Hydra teams, which are usually entirely range-dependent. OVERALL F.U.N. FACTOR: High

Ultron Sentry: One might think a scant three clicks of life make these robots Friendly to the max. But they have an eminently Useful trait that effectively replaces them upon their KO, sometimes with an upgrade to a more powerful version. It’s a Nifty trick that’s super Nerdcore but could be manipulated to unFriendly levels — but probably only on said Nerdcore teams of all-Ultron or something, so that balances out as well. OVERALL F.U.N. FACTOR: Moderately High [but only in timed games]

Hulk [008]: With the cruelest AA trait of all [either take extra damage AND a token now or make Hulk angrier], sky-high stats and not one but TWO stop clicks that pair with a can’t-miss shot at Regeneration, there’s absolutely nothing Friendly about this Hulk at any of his point levels, especially if he’s got friends. OVERALL F.U.N. FACTOR: Low.

Hawkeye [009]: Stealthy and able to advance and attack without gaining action tokens most of the time, the Hawk’s another of these pieces that is highly Useful and equally unFriendly. So play up his Nifty factor by teaming him with all-archers or something. OVERALL F.U.N. FACTOR: Low

Scarlet Witch: her Usefulness cranks to 11 as she moves about, boosting with Perplex and, via Willpower, gets the two tokens she needs to super-boost a pal. How Friendly she is depends on who those pals are. OVERALL F.U.N. FACTOR: Moderate [Low if she’s teamed up with any “Hulk”]

Vision: A little too Friendly with his slim Super Senses defense and no moving attack to cover his role as 100-point Outwit piece. The back half of his dial is better with Plasticity, Perplex and Invincible, but again it’s not great Usefulness at all. And he’s not that Neato, either. OVERALL F.U.N. FACTOR: Moderately Low

Ultron Mk I: Like the Sentry generic, Mk 1 gets less Friendly with each additional copy of the piece you have at your disposal, as he can respawn and possibly upgrade upon KO. But his modest stats keep him from being overbearing, while going full Nerdcore with an all-Ultron team draws out maximum Utility. OVERALL F.U.N. FACTOR: High

Black Widow 013: Lacking any moving attack powers and only having a paltry 4 range puts her in the low Utility zone, even if she does have Perplex and Stealth and Willpower. She’s super-Friendly as a result; even her AA trait is pretty darn mild [either you can’t ignore pushing damage or you can’t attack her]. She doesn’t even rack up Niftiness points, really. OVERALL F.U.N. FACTOR: Moderately Low [but not because she’s too good, for once]

Quicksilver: Hypersonic Speed and Force Blast and self-Probability Control are nerfed by his low damage, taking his Usefulness down a notch while making him one of the Friendlier HSS figs. Not a great deal Nifty about him at first blush, though. OVERALL F.U.N. FACTOR: Moderate

Nick Fury: Alone, he’s not much. But go Nerdcore with an Avengers theme, and his Usefulness shoots right up as he gains Leadership and Outwit. He’s also a boon to the AA traited characters. His Friendly factor fluctuates based on which Avengers he’s teamed with, consequently. OVERALL F.U.N. FACTOR: Moderate to Moderately Low

Baron Strucker: He’s really no good unless you play Nerdcore and go all “Hail Hydra” and add Test Subject-keyword figs to the mix. Then his Mastermind, his ability to pull in Test Subject 004 figs and his stat boosts when they die all work to make him Useful for his nearly 100-point cost. He’s still pretty finessey and thus Friendly. OVERALL F.U.N. FACTOR: Moderately High

 
Hulkbuster: Another attempt at doing a One-Man-Army fig right, Hulkbuster is sooooo unFriendly to giants, colossals, vehicles and team bases. But since many of THOSE characters are mean in their own rights, we guess turnabout is fair play. 🙂 He’s decently Useful and there’s nothing Niftier than a Hulkbuster armor clix. OVERALL F.U.N. FACTOR: Moderate

Ultron Prime: Like his brethren in the set, Mr. No-Strings has the power to respawn. But he gets zero bonuses or upgrade options and is limited to Move And Attack as his best offensive ability, so he’s surprisingly Friendly for a 250-point beatstick. That said, he’s not THAT Friendly: Charge with 12 AV and 5 damage Exploit Weakness and 3-bolt Energy Explosion is very Useful and his Utility only rises when he’s on a properly Nerdcore team of other robots he can Mastermind to. OVERALL F.U.N. FACTOR: Moderate

Heroclixin’ thought these photos from the Deadpool set were lost forever, split between an old, broken-down computer and a camera phone no longer in service. But slowly, we’re getting caught up in documenting how these Super Strength figures can hold their object tokens the way a good action figure SHOULD.

Here’s Tiamat [Deadpool 057]:

Continuing our photographic record of how tokens can be held by Super Strong clix. Here’s one from last year’s Deadpool set, the merc with a mouth himself:

…empowered by the hammer of Thor, [un]naturally.

This CTD set has some really good pieces. Here are the ones that can tote tokens:

Hulk

Hulkbuster

Iron Legion

Coming to the end of our look at the TW figures:

We’re still missing shots of Superwoman, Outsider [031b], and Wonder Woman. They’ll perhaps appear randomly in future TTT installments.

Continuing Heroclixin’s photographic record of how figures with Super Strength can hold object tokens on their person.

Wait, how does a ghost like Deadman [Trinity War 039] hold anything, much less have actual Super Strength? Game Design is smoking crack. 🙂 Use his collar as shown to get this less-than-firm hold.

Ultraman [025] snorts Kryptonite for his Super Strength, on display above.

Harry Potter Tim Hunter [055] uses his copious book smarts to copy the Super Strength of allied Mystical characters to tote his tokens.

More pics of object lessons

Freddy’s hold is less than impressive…just the old “lean on chest in the stat slot.” But it works

The Martian’s hold is pretty tenuous. But it looks great.

More on Thursday, probably.

Bring on the bad guys! Vandal Savage [Trinity War 048]:

…and Despero [059]