by ·0 Comments

Yes, I ran them again, in another 900 point game (as in Chapter 4 of this post):

V Starhawk 144 + Spotter 5
Phyla-Vell 138 + Protected 8
LE One-Who-Knows 123
Star-Lord 90 + Protected 8
V Major Victory 84 + Contingency Plan 12
Rocket Raccoon 65
Yondu 53 + AP 10
R Aleta 51
Bug 44
+ Warbound (Guardians of the Galaxy) 45
Lila Cheney 6
Lila Cheney 6
=900 points.

FIRST, I faced Andy’s Infinity Watch themed team on the Asgard map: Thanos (Supernova), Adam Warlock (Secret Invasion) + Brilliant Tactician, E Drax the Destroyer, Moondragon (Hammer of Thor), Gamora and Pip the Troll. He used Cosmic Interference Field to kill my Barrier ability, and I didn’t bother to theme-cancel it.

I would regret this.

Landed some solid hits on Thanos in spite of Adam Warlock’s boosting defenses +2 with Brilliant Tactician (a tactic I hadn’t realized he could do with his special power “Him”). But Thanos landed his own hits back in return, and I was never able to finish the mad Titan. Same went for Moondragon, who was hit hard but never eliminated. KO’d Drax but lost Rocket, One-Who-Knows, Yondu and someone else, I think. 0-1.

SECOND match was against Chadd’s Avengers: Dr. Strange (Secret Invasion)+Brilliant Tactician, Captain America (Hammer of Thor), Thor  (Hammer of Thor), U Iron Man  (Mutations & Monsters), Ms. Marvel (Secret Invasion) and Hercules (Secret Invasion). He picked the Arkham Asylum map, not realizing it’d hinder Cap’s effectiveness.

Frightened of all that Running Shot, I proceeded to build Barrier after Warbound-juiced Barrier* between shots with Starhawk (love that 12 range) until the final moments of the game, when Chadd finally quit hiding behind his own walls and took some shots on my barely-exposed team. In the end, though, there were zero KOs. Chadd conceded the match to me since I’d dealt nearly all the damage (Cap was on his final click and Ms. Marvel was on her last Toughness click).

FINAL: 1-1. Not too bad, actually. Maybe would’ve done better had I been able to use a Barrier once or twice (or three times thrice :p ) in the first game to hold off Thanos. BFC cancel FAIL. But I really didn’t mind losing to a proper Infinity Watch team.

* I got some flak for my infinite Barrier action, but considering I was up against four move-attackers, each (thanks to a Brilliant Tactician) able to hit my no-damage-reducers-on-top-dial team for at least 4 clicks from more than 10 squares out? Um, yeah. I’m gonna fight that crew on my terms, thanks.

by ·3 Comments

I am sick of the increasing darkness in modern comics of recent years. So the promise of, if not lighter, at least more heroic fare in Marvel Comics is very welcome in this reader's eyes.

As a HeroClixer, I’m always inspired to make teams based on comics. So when I saw this promo art, I immediately started team-building and ran it only a few days later in an 800-point tournament (from right to left):

Gorilla-Man 61
V Black Widow (Ultimates) 59
Benjamin J. Grimm (Secret Invasion) 100
V Beast (Mutations & Monsters) 73
U Hawkeye (Avengers) 56 + Alpha Flight 0
Captain America (Hammer of Thor) 72 + Alpha Flight 0
Thor (Hammer of Thor) 226
Spider-Man (Secret Invasion) 50
U Iron Man (Mutations & Monsters) 100 + Alias 3

= 800 points.

ROUND ONE: Cosmic Clash! starring Silver Surfer (Avengers), Firelord (Avengers), Stardust (Avengers) and Air-Walker.

No Battlefield Conditions used on the Junkyard map. The player was a bit reckless, immediately pushing to KO Black Widow in a single turn. That left him unable to respond as my whole team attempted to pound his with Running Shots. Aside from some odd misses on Thor’s part (two crits?), it was a very systematic takedown. Wiped his team with Widow being my only loss. 1-0.

ROUND TWO: Siege of Asgard? starring Namor (Secret Invasion), Arkillo, The Riddler (Arkham Asylum), Green Arrow (Justice League), White Martian, Hercules (Secret Invasion) and Iron Fist (Secret Invasion).

This match so named because of my opponent Stephen’s choice of the Rainbow Bridge map, early in it my Running Shots were miserable failures (though not critical) and it seemed I might be heading for a slow loss. But a timely Alias roll saved Iron Man’s Invincible click and soon I started landing attacks while Stephen missed many of his (most notably Namor’s Charge+Flurry on Ben Grimm). KO’d Hercules, Namor and Iron Fist, losing only Alias. 2-0.

ROUND THREE: When Cheese Goes Bad, starring V M’onel, Ms. Marvel (Secret Invasion B) + Protected, Batman (Justice League common) + Protected, Nightshade (x2, one + Armor Piercing), Spider-Man (Secret Invasion) + Vault (x2), Dawnstar, Gee.

Player Charlie freely admitted this was a total cheese team, mitigated only by the lack of Probability Control or Perplex to really make it stinky. So after completely dragging the first teams he faced in the tournament, he took it completely in stride when V M’onel’s Hypersonic alpha strike  with a Meteorite critically missed. He didn’t roll much better all game long (calling it karma for his cheese), which saved Thor by a hair and got me the victory. I’d KO’d Batman, a Nightshade and both Protected feats while losing only Alias.

FINAL: 3-0.

To be a team just tossed together from a piece of promotional art, it performs surprisingly well together! Gorilla-Man is a great tie-up piece for the shooters, being highly survivable on his own. V Black Widow was key to the last win by seeing through Stealth (and loaning the Ultimates TA to Spidey for same). Benjamin J. Grimm provided the additional punching power this otherwise range-heavy team needed. (I selected Grimm over the similarly capable Thing from Secret Invasion because of his Indomitable adding to his ability to press the attack. His trait could also have been useful to give Spider-Man, a fellow Fantastic Four keyword-bearing piece, a damage reduction, though it never came up.) Beast was brilliant as mobile Perplex, of course, and a simple push would provide Outwit if needed.

Avengers Hawkeye, a piece I’ve never respected before (due to his unusable-with-Running Shot SP), proved to be a key extra attacker; when the high AV shooters missed easy shots, the law of averages would make his pithy 9 AV an improbable hit. More importantly, his starting 3 damage made sure it was an effective hit.

Cap and Thor, as evidenced by my recent Top Ten list, were a great tag team of shooting (even though, as I implied above, some of my dice rolls with them weren’t so hot); the latter was the main damager while the former made the sneakier shots needed against targets the thunder god couldn’t reach.

M+M U Iron Man I selected not only because his 100-point cost is slim enough for the build, but also because this new armor should not have the Extremis powers the excellent 188-point Secret Invasion piece does. (I put Alias on him to represent some sort of holographic misdirection.) His SHIELD TA was highly useful because he usually taxied Spider-Man around. The wild card then frequently copied SHIELD TA to boost Tony’s damage. That’s when he wasn’t using the original Avengers TA to help deploy, or to potentially heal or be healed via X-Men or Fantastic Four TA. I’ve already mentioned him using Ultimates.

This is a perfect team for me. It’s theme-y and powerful without being terribly un-fun to play against or too complicated to use effectively. What do you think?

by ·3 Comments

"Wu-Tang AGAIN!?" "Awww yeah, again and again!"

Seriously, it seems I’m always pulling them out. Maybe it’s because even though I tend to try teams that are more comic-accurate than not, their membership has shifted around so much that practically any configuration feels more than plausible.
Maybe it’s because I have yet to use all the available characters to the theme. (I just recently reacquired, for example, One Who Knows, the Limited Edition version of Starhawk.)
Maybe it’s just because I like the title so much; writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning’s work has so improved since their days on the Legion of Super-Heroes (where they started out superb and petered out to a mediocre end).
Maybe it’s because two of the main members made my Top Ten HeroClix of 2009 list, and I like for my theme-y teams to be at least a little competitive.
Or maybe it’s because I love Phyla-Vell so much, even though she did NOT make the Top Ten list.
Perhaps the biggest reason lately is probably the double-fisted cosmic FAIL I had with the team recently.
Whatever the reason, they tend to hit my table (or at least my planning pad) on any build total over 400 points.
Chapter 1.
SCENARIO: 700 points, 50% Floor Hammer of Thor:
V Starhawk 144 + Spotter 5
Phyla-Vell 138 + Protected 8
Star-Lord 90 + Contingency Plan 12 + Inside Information 4
E Vance Astro 70 + Ambidexterous 16
Rocket Raccoon 65
Yondu 53
R Aleta 51
Bug 44
= 700 points.
I found myself facing, first round, this team:
Thor & Loki 362 + Immortal Contempt 10 + Sidestep 10 + two more feats I can’t recall. Surprisingly not Protected or Thunderbolts, though.
Sif 93
Asgardian Warrior 37
Asgardian Warrior 37
Asgardian Warrior 37
Asgardian Warrior 37
Asgardian Warrior 37
Yeah, pretty daunting. He won map and picked the Lab. This caused problems:
1) Not much room to use my several ranged attackers.
2) I put a Dynamostat in a spot that’d hinder eventual Running Shots as effectively as it might’ve slowed down Thor & Loki.
3) I failed to tie up the big duo opponent with the 44-point Bug, allowing them to rather freely beat my 138+ point heavy hitting into near-death (again, thanks to the close quarters). Game-breaking FAIL, there.
I managed to KO four of the five Warriors and Sif, but lost Phyla-Vell, Yondu, Vance Astro, Bug, and Star-Lord. 0-1.
2nd match was against a young lad running
Thor (Hammer of Thor)
Odin
Asgardian Warrior
Balder
I picked the Junkyard. This was a careful tactical match where I was oh-so-careful to keep all adjacent for the Resistance BFC. The Spotter feat was invaluable to help shots on Thor while the hindering terrain kept Balder out of the fight. Having learned my lesson in the earlier game, I totally used Bug to keep Odin occupied long enough to lay enough damage on Thor to send the thunderer running. But although run he did, I was able to chase him down in the end for the win, adding him to the Asgardian Warrior I’d notched earlier. I’d lost Bug, Yondu and Rocket. 1-1.
Finally I faced judge Brian on his Asgard map:
Fenris Wolf
Ronan the Accuser (Hammer of Thor)
Enchantress (Hammer of Thor)
Phyla-Vell
Star-Lord
Fire Demon
I scored an early crippling shot on his Phyla that set the game inexorably in my favor. Although I took plenty of damage, having:
  • a medic in Starhawk,
  • Prob Control in Rocket (which absolutely saved Star-Lord, mid-game) and
  • the Defenders TA shoring up the woundeds’ DVs deep into the game (which made Brian’s mediocre die rolls miss more than not)
made the difference. Wiped his whole team and lost none.
WIN/LOSS: 2-1. You’d think I’d be satisfied with that record, especially after the terrible mental error of failing to use a tie-up figure as just that. But no, I wasn’t.
Not after I realized I’d COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN TO RUN ROOKIE ALETA ALL NIGHT LONG.

How did I forget hair (and cleavage) THIS big???

The presence of a figure that not only bears the Telekinesis power, but Barrier as well would have TOTALLY changed the complexion of the Thor & Loki fight, giving me first strike options, a chance to avoid retaliation, or to pull the wounded out for healing…
Already outgunned by far, I was playing with a handicap even greater than her 51 points represented.
Chapter 2.
So when I learned my next tournament was 500 points, this was the team I fielded, ready to redeem my bad performance:
Phyla-Vell 138
Star-Lord 90 + Inside Information 4
V Major Victory 84
Rocket Raccoon 65
R Aleta 51
Bug 44
+ Guardians of the Galaxy 24
= 500 points. Trying out the team’s alternate team ability. It hurts the normally Power Cosmic Phyla-Vell a bit, robbing her of her pushing ability, but frankly, pushing to her Hypersonic clicks might be worth it.
FIRST faced Vic on the Space map: Scientists Mr. Fantastic (Secret Invasion) + Brilliant Tactician, Hulkbuster, Living Laser, Rip Hunter.
He played Disruption while I placeholdered. Scored an early hit on Living Laser with Star-Lord. But that was the extent of my KOs while Mr. Fantastic boosted all others to top form, costing me Bug, Star-Lord and the Major. Disruption truly, truly cost me as it kept me from attacking much at all. I really should have killed that card with my theme team cancel (which I ended up not using at all). Another big fat tactical FAIL. 0-1.

THEN I faced Lenny, again on the Space map: Marvel Knights Power Man & Iron Fist, Daredevil (Hammer of Thor), Elektra (Secret Invasion), Shang-Chi, Cloak & Dagger (Secret Invasion).
I used a similar strategy as last time, since it was the BFC that beat me more than anything. The Accelerator gave Star-Lord another quick strike to nerf Elektra and Shang-Chi early on. He paid dearly, getting clocked hard by Power Man and Iron Fist within an inch of his life. Fortunately, I’d declared he’d take Combat Reflexes knock back and, even more fortuitously, the path took him directly between his teammates and out of retaliatory range.
I used Bug to tie up DD, Cloak & Dagger and Elektra from taking shots at Rocket on the building, but I mis-positioned, giving Power Man & Iron Fist easy Charge access to him. Bug still ate up seven attack rolls before going down — mission accomplished.
Now Lenny tried to hunt down Star-Lord trying to heal on the Vine, but Aleta was able to jank him away with TK back to my starting area, and then again to the back of the map when DD chased him further for a “saved by the bell” win having KO’d Elektra and lost only Bug. 1-1.
FINALLY I faced young Donovan (last seen here in the Runaways battle royale) on the Days of Future Past map; he ran Thor (Hammer of Thor), Malekith, Heimdall.
He’s gotten better with the rules and came close to beating me thanks to several Super Senses hits with Heimdall. But once I concentrated fire on Thor, I was able to wear him down and got both the Asgardians, losing Star-Lord and Bug for my part.
WIN/LOSS: 2-1. Again, I come away unsatisfied, because I played with such a handicap in the first round by letting Disruption stand. Sure, I hoped to save my cancel for a more injurious card, but really. Another FAIL, another pointless loss.
Chapter 3.
Next game: a 500-point floor event.
Phyla-Vell 138 + Protected 8
One Who Knows 123 + Protected 8
Star-Lord 90 + Contingency Plan 12 + Alias 3
Rocket Raccoon 65
R Aleta 51
= 498 points.
FIRST round was again against Vic. He had a pretty min-maxed team of Phyla-Vell and Kurse + Lunge with AA Zoom and Moonstone, most with In Contact With Oracle (ICWO) equipped. I picked the BPRD water map to slow down Zoom. Can’t recall what BFC I used, if any.
So, let’s see. I’m playing Guardians of the Galaxy again, right? So it must be time for another cosmic FAIL.
This time, after picking the water map for the express purpose of keeping Zoom from using Hypersonic Speed to Flurry me, I fly One Who Knows and Aleta both to land, where a taxied Zoom could easily use Hypersonic Speed to Flurry One Who Knows for an immediate crippling.
Seriously. Why did I DO that? I just don’t know what the hell I was thinking. Shorn of my main hitter, I got wiped. No KOs. 0-1.
SECOND round. I faced Lenny on his Avengers tank base map and his stupid stealth team of Captain America (Hammer of Thor) + Thunderbolts + Contingency Plan, Daredevil (Hammer of Thor) + Stunning Blow, Gamora + Protected, SI Iron Fist + Lunge and at least 4 Hand Ninjas. I opted not to use my theme team cancel, letting his Deep Shadows stand, reasoning that it’d force Cap to come close instead of hiding behind the tank. What I didn’t hear the very soft-spoken Lenny say was that Cap was picking Batman Ally via Thunderbolts. Helloooo, perma-Stealth.
So. I only had two legal targets at any given time with my range-focused team, and both were kept well behind a Stealth wall. And then, thanks to a C.Plan boost to Daredevil’s range, Aleta got hit off Telekinesis, killing my team’s ability to actually reach said targets. Thanks to my self-imposed utter inability to actually, y’know, FIGHT, I lost all but Phyla and KO’d none.
FINAL: 0-2. Not one, but TWO huge FAILs, and one a total repeat of the one before (failing to use the themed team BFC cancel).
“Disgusted” isn’t strong enough a word. My performance makes me want to puke on myself. Heck, I’d be less disgusted if other people puked on me.
Chapter 4.
Therefore, I build one more GotG team, for a 900-point tournament:
V Starhawk 144 + Spotter 5
Phyla-Vell 138 + Protected 8
LE One Who Knows 123
Star-Lord 90 + Protected 8
V Major Victory 84 + Contingency Plan 12
Rocket Raccoon 65
Yondu 53 + AP 10
R Aleta 51
Bug 44
+ Warbound (Guardians of the Galaxy) 45
Lila Cheney 6
Lila Cheney 6
=900 points. I have just one opponent: Lenny and his Sinestro Corps:
Superman Prime 318 + Fortitude 25 + Protected 8
SR Sinestro 146
Arkillo 126
Lyssa Drak 72
Amon Sur 70
Yellow Lantern 65
AA Manhunter 64
I picked the Danger Room outdoor map to make sure I could best use my range advantage. But Lenny found a way to bunker up really well and give his crew a safe zone to TK from. I still got early (though unsuccessful) shots on Yellow Lantern to remove the Defend threat. Wasted several theme PCs trying to get Yondu’s Armor Piercing Energy Explosion to land and tag Yellow Lantern, Arkillo, Amon Sur and Superbrat clustered together. Finally had to push to do it.
Meanwhile, Phyla got crithit by Sinestro, and I didn’t bother to Protect the shot away, preferring her Hypersonic Speed to her Perplex. That was a mistake.
What wasn’t a mistake was One Who Knows flying to cover her, Warbounding the token to his taxied pal Rocket Raccoon, then attacking Sinestro from 12 squares out (thanks, Contingency Plan!) next turn and using Barrier to defend the pushed Yondu incessantly with Warbound.
Lenny wasn’t taking another shot from Starhawk AND One Who Knows. TKing Arkillo, he Charged (and missed) Starhawk, safely out of the PCers’ line of fire. But there he’d stay, failing breakaway rolls again and again.
After taking another Energy Explosion from Yondu, Superbrat was pinged off HSS and had to make a TK-assisted Charge on me, forcing Star-Lord to burn Protected. Phyla pushed to HSS Superbrat for 4, but that left her way open to his successful break away to ChargeFlurry her to death (with Protected unusable) and Star-Lord deep into his dial. That left Superbrat pushed…and vulnerable to a swarming KO, unable to use Protected!
Sadly, I went one missed attack from achieving that easy KO.
Lenny kept taking shots to KO Star-Lord (who, with his bare 17 DV, was definitely the easiest shot to take) while I kept trying to finish Superbrat and Sinestro (who’d joined him), leaving Star-Lord open to these shots. Eventually, the sheer number of die rolls got Superman Prime to KO (Bug, TKed by Aleta, scored the winning shot) and One Who Knows finally taxied Star-Lord to the safety of hindering terrain before his luck ran out.
From there it was clean-up, as Lenny’d lost pretty much all his hitters. Amon, Yellow and Lyssa were all now wounded and Arkillo couldn’t break away ever. Wiped the Sinestro Corps and lost only a Lila, a Protected feat and Phyla.

Current GotG record: 12-9.

I may give it a rest for a while, now. But don’t be surprised if you see them in this space again soon. This record should be a bit better…or, at least, I shouldn’t be so at fault for the losses.
LESSONS LEARNED from this less-organized continuation of the Guardians of the Galaxy campaign:
  • Warbound on One-Who-Knows and Rocket Raccoon and Aleta and Bug is pretty broken. It’s a good thing the feat eats up so much point room.
  • Use my stinkin’ theme team BFC cancel if the enemy’s BFC hurts me even a little. Does no good to save it for later if I never win into the later rounds!
  • Pick my terrain carefully and use it correctly. I did this horribly on the water map and pretty well in the last game.
  • Remember that Stealth is no help against Pulse Wave! I forgot this in the Deep Shadow’d match.

by ·1 Comment
All right, so the initial run of the Agents of Atlas went…not so well at all, actually. Definitely had some changes to make for a real tournament.
Jimmy Woo 46 + Contingency Plan 12
M-11 59
Gorilla-Man 61
Namora 76
Marvel Boy (Hammer of Thor) 102
Venus 125 + Nanobots 10 + Camouflage 8
= 499 points. BFCs were: Bright Lights, Mistrust and something that got killed anyway.
++++++++++++++++++++++
FIRST up was the previous two weeks’ champ, Solomon:
Wonder Woman (Arkham Asylum) 248 + Fortitude 25 + Protected 8
Robin (Crisis) 79
Iron Fist (Secret Invasion) 70
Mister Mind 68
= 498 points. On the BPRD map, I used Bright Lights to rob the Bat Ally and friends of cover to hide in. Setting up Namora on the Kinetic Accelerator, I waited for Wonder Woman to close in. Solomon wouldn’t do it, instead Mind Controlling M-11 to attack Gorilla Man with a heavy object for swift early damage. G-Man pushed and retreated to my Eleha’al Vine to heal.
Marvel Boy, with a SHIELD boost to range and Contingency boost to AV, managed to roll high enough to hit Mister Mind and then Robin off Outwit, and later to hit Iron Fist. That was enough for M-11 to knock Mind and Fist out for good. With Robin taking more fire, Solomon was forced to bring Wonder Woman from hovering just out of range and into the fight — and into Namora’s swing zone!
She took the bait and hit WW for 6…which was Protected away. :( But that left WW tied up and unable to stop the free folks from taking Robin in the final seconds for the win. KO’d Iron Fist and Mister Mind as well, losing none. 1-0.
++++++++++++++++++++++
NEXT, I faced Paul’s Spy team:
Ms. Marvel-b (Secret Invasion) 168 + Armor Piercing 10 + Fortitude 25
Warskrull 110
Winter Soldier 70
Ghost Widow 54
Agent Brand 44 + Contingency Plan 12
Alfred (Hypertime) 6
= 493 points. I picked the BPRD map. We both theme-cancelled each other’s cards.
He got an early OHKO of Woo but that left the offender, Ms. Skrullvel, open to Namora’s successfully crippling Meteorite strike. Gorilla-Man and Marvel Boy teamed up to finish her. Venus, though camped next to blocking terrain for the Camouflage, got her Shape Change countered by Warskrull and had to Mastermind a shot from Winter Soldier to Marvel Boy for big damage.
Marvel Boy ran to the Vine, but Ghost Widow was right there to Poison him. Giving him up pretty much for lost (especially when he failed to break away), I concentrated on fighting Winter Soldier. Venus Incapped him for a push.
Winter Soldier got closer and got a shot on Gorilla-Man. Caught between the sniper and the Warskrull, the ape went down. But Namora and M-11, boosted by the Accelerator, got to Winter Solder for a KO. They were coming for Ghost Widow when time ran out. 2-0.
++++++++++++++++++++++
FINALLY, it was the championship match against Vic’s Skrull team:
Ms. Marvel-b (Secret Invasion) 168
Skrull Emperor 140 + Protected 8
Super Skrull: Avengers 126
Skrull Warrior (Supernova) 30
Skrull Infiltrator (Supernova) 25
= 497 points. He theme-cancelled my Mistrust BFC and put us on the Prison map.
Vic made four Hypersonic Speed-y attack rolls on Namora (thanks to a pair of theme PCs) and failed them all. That left Ms. Skrullvel in range of an easy strike with Namora’s Meteorite Charge.
Which was nullified by a successful Skrull roll. DAMN!!!!!!!
Although Namora was able to KO a neighboring Warrior instead, that single rolled 6 did more to kill my chances of a win than anything else. Vic was able to Hypersonic Speed attack to and from hindering terrain at will for 4+ damage thanks to Skrull Emperor’s Perplex, KOing Namora in the very next turn.
Once Gorilla-Man went down in a single turn as well, I decided I wasn’t going to allow that tactic any longer and ran down the long hall near my starting area. It didn’t work, though, costing Jimmy Woo his life and garnering me just 25 more points as I’d KO’d the Infiltrator before fleeing.
WIN-LOSS: 2-1. OK, so it appears that Agents of Atlas utterly  crumbles against double Hypersonic Speed 4+ damage teams.
But really. Who doesn’t?
Final thoughts.
Jimmy Woo
Contingency Plan was key, mainly to make Namora’s initial attack stick. Better yet was his SHIELD TA, which made Marvel Boy a far more dangerous shooter. A great team player, making the whole squad work better together.
Hmm. Kinda like the leader he’s supposed to be, isn’t it?
M-11
Most of the time simply in Namora’s tow, he was valuable for taking theme PC tokens as well as dishing some damage of his own. In builds with more feat room I might give him Nanoarmor at a minimum, or Opportunist or Automatic Regeneration.
Gorilla-Man
His chief role was as Mastermind fodder for Venus (and his Leap/Climb was indispensable for that), but he dealt some key blows as well. Wish I could’ve added Lunge or Armor Piercing or Automatic Regeneration to him.
Namora
Didn’t disappoint as my big gun (aside from the Protected- and Skrulls-forced whiffs). The Kinetic Accelerator absolutely does wonders for her, enabling her to usually carry M-11 to help finish off whoever she Charges.
Marvel Boy
Otherwise acting as Venus’s taxi and occasional Mastermind sponge, he was the surprise of this team, backed as he was by Woo’s SHIELD TA. Suddenly able to shoot for 4 damage, he becomes a game-changer. Had he been able to even target someone in the last game, who knows how it might’ve gone?
Venus
Lacking in damage and mobility skills, Venus’s use in these games as anything but a decoy was a bit suspect. Never used the Nanobots combo I’d intended, as the objects disappeared all too quickly. Outsmart may have been a better choice. Camouflage was worth it, though. In bigger builds, she’ll have Mental Shields to be a more active battler. Or Knockdown, for the same reason.

Here’s my ideal keyword-friendly 600-point version:

Jimmy Woo 46 + Contingency Plan 12
M-11 59 + Nanoarmor 6
Gorilla-Man 61 + Automatic Regeneration 12
Namora 76 + Submerged 5
Marvel Boy (Hammer of Thor) 102
Venus 125 + Outsmart 10 + Camouflage 8 + Knockdown 5
Jimmy Woo 46 (stand-in for ex-SHIELD agent Derek Khanata)
Thug  (Avengers) 7 (old-school Atlas members)
Thug  (Avengers) 7
Thug  (Avengers) 7
= 594 points. Opting to stay as highlander-friendly as possible while keeping the keyword…that’s why I wouldn’t just run another M-11. He’s one-of-a-kind. :)

by ·2 Comments
Jimmy Woo 46
M-11 59
Gorilla-Man 61
Namora 76
Marvel Boy 102
Venus 125
+ Warbound (Agents of Atlas)
= 499 points.
Tried out this Warbound team in a friendly match against a tough trio:
Superman (Justice League) 226
The Sentry (Secret Invasion) 197
Venom (Hammer of Thor) 73
I all but lost the game on my map choice (BPRD) and wrong placement of the Kinetic Accelerator, preventing Namora from reaching the special object with M-11 in tow. When she got an immediate opportunity to attack Sentry with the Com Dish, but failed, she was easy sushi for Supes and Sentry. M-11 didn’t last long, either.
At this point, I only had Marvel Boy left who could deal damage to Superman or Sentry, but his AV wasn’t up to the task of hitting a pair of 18+ DVs. And the one who could, Venus, was too tied up by Venom to do so for most of the game.
Venus still dealt the most damage through a MC of Sentry (who pasted Supes with the Generator), but it cost her life as the feedback knocked her off MM & SC. Marvel Boy and Gorilla-Man double-teamed Vemon for a KO. Woo was the last to fall, only able to run from the HSS tag team.

FAIL.

I’m probably not using this Warbound build again. It just constrains the team’s flexibility too much. If only Venus could Warbound to Gorilla-Man instead of only Namora and Marvel Boy, who are too important as damage-dealers to take her tokens!

Not giving up, though. After the next installment of the Event Dial series, watch this space to see how the team does in a proper tournament!

by ·0 Comments
So in my ongoing quest to play all my HeroClix pieces at least once, I’m pretty much done with Hammer of Thor…except for the Agents of Atlas.
Jimmy Woo 46
M-11 59
Gorilla-Man 61
Namora 76
Marvel Boy 102
Venus 125
= 469 points. Only 31 points left for feats for a team that could really use all 50 points allowed.
Jimmy Woo
His Leadership begs for Contingency Plan, and the team could use a few stat bumps. But most of their AVs and ranges aren’t that bad as is (and his TA can help with damage and range), and maybe the points are better saved for something else.
I was especially concerned about overcosting him because Woo is very lightweight…not able to contribute much in the way of direct fighting. His price point reflects that. The question is whether to put him in harm’s way to get to Perplex faster or to hold him back and use SHIELD TA to the fullest. Either way, I wasn’t sure C.Plan was worth the points to drop on him.
M-11
So lethal to be this inexpensive, the killer robot may be best left featless. Still, he’s such a soft target that one wants to insure him with Automatic Regeneration, maybe. Opportunist, too, could ensure his damage sticks. He’s taxiable enough to collect the tokens. His best use may well be as an offensive meat shield for Namora until she can get in the fight proper. As such, maybe Protected or Nanoarmor is in order.
Gorilla-Man
Pounce fits but makes him expensive! Lunge fits but his damage is low. Auto Regen fits but it’s expensive. Just don’t know. In any case, Gorilla-Man is MM fodder for Venus, I think, until the fight gets close enough for him to contribute.
Namora
Submerged and maybe Opportunist could work, maybe, so long as there’s no HoT Cap America around to ruin things. She’s my main hitter, but should remain a fairly lean one. Got to protect her until she can make her alpha strike. It’s got to count.
Marvel Boy
Mental Shields or Stunning Blow? His 9 AV makes both a bit iffy IMO because landing the initial MC does not ensure the following Incap, especially if he takes feedback. Maybe it’s just better to give him Force Field to bolster his DV?
Despite his mediocre AV, he has some potential to actually be effective. He’s got the best DV at range of the lot, and Woo can nudge his range up a tad. At worst, as Venus’s taxi, he can serve as MM fodder in a pinch.
Venus
Soooo featable. I’ve seen good use of Mental Shields on her. But she’s soft defensively. Camouflage hides her from shooters (again, beware of HoTCap), Outsmart to help fight off Outwitters and, given her ability to Incap all adjacents, Knockdown could be quite fantastic. Trouble is, all that’s piling more points on her already high cost. Contingency Plan is another option, as is Compel. What to do?
Really, the way I feat this team depends on what I’ll be doing with Venus. Her AV says she’s the main attacker, but her damage is way too low. (Oh, for some starting Perplex on this team!) Mind Control? Do I really want her to be 140 points with the all-but-mandatory Mental Shields? OTOH, hiding her next to a wall with Camouflage seems like a bit of a waste…and not even a guarantee.
And then I could just dump all other feats for Warbound. Namora in particular could get great mileage carrying and shuffling tokens off to M-11 or G-Man. Marvel Boy…less so. Same for Venus, dumping tokens off to him (or Namora, the other qualifying member).
The trouble with feating this team is that nothing is a slam dunk for anyone. See what my decisions were and the team’s performance later this week. Tomorrow, I resume the Event Dial series. Be here!

by ·0 Comments

Hey, this is like the opening shots of one of those '90s Batman films. Only cool, actually...AND NO BAT-NIPPLES!

Back from Christmas and continuing the series.

Next day was a 800-point game using the Ragnarok event dial. Here’s the team:
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
V Drax 184 + Protected 8 + Unstoppable 5 + Cannonball 4 + Alias 3
Adam Warlock (Secret Invasion) 160 + Contingency Plan 12 + Invigorate 10
Phyla-Vell 138 + Protected 8
Star-Lord 90 + Contingency Plan 12
Gamora 73 + Protected 8 + Maneuver 8
Rocket Raccoon 65
Lila Cheney 6
Lila Cheney 6
= 800 points. Threw in a pair of pogs because I had room (after nearly maxing out on the 10% feat limit) and because Lila, being a space-faring teleporter, will probably meet them sooner than later.
FIRST MATCH vs. Paul and his Robots:
Air-Walker 201 + Armor Piercing 10
Beta Ray Bill (Hammer of Thor) 159
Skull-Brother 75
Bi-Beast 73
Ahab 68
M-11 59
Phalanx Soldier 31
Phalanx Soldier 31
Phalanx Soldier 31
Phalanx Soldier 31
Phalanx Soldier 31
On the Asgard map, I had to dig through Phalanx hordes while weathering Air-Walker and Beta Ray Bill attacks. Was simply unable to finish off any piece over 31 points, and the final condition of the Ragnarok event dial erased all the victory points I did score. (Paul clearly built his team for this event dial, a point I will certainly make when I cover Ragnarok in my ongoing “Building for the Event Dial” series.) Lost both pogs, Star-Lord and Gamora. 0-1.
SECOND MATCH vs. Azul and his
Psycho-Man 151
Enchantress (Hammer of Thor) 141
Ronan the Accuser (Hammer of Thor) 130
Green Arrow (Crisis) 104
Gambit 90
Miss Martian 76
Amanda Waller (Arkham Asylum) 75
V Scourge 21
He was tired of the Asgard map (as was I), so he picked my Dockyard. I picked the land end to force him down the narrow causeway.
Had to deal with Psycho-Man first. Fortunately, one of the early conditions of Ragnarok gives Outwit and consequently offered a chance for Star-Lord to take an early, though unsuccessful, shot. That scared Azul enough, I think, to TK Psycho-Man to base and attack Star-Lord for solid damage. But the rest of my team was able to dogpile him for the first KO.
Azul’s relative inexperience continued to work horribly against him as he brought Amanda Waller and Green Arrow in close, leaving her without Mastermind fodder and him pushed off his Stealth click. That cost him Amanda (c/o Star-Lord). I was working on Ronan (actually passed up an easy KO of him to chase after a fleeing Green Arrow) when time expired. Lost no one. 1-1.
THIRD MATCH vs. Bryce and his
The Mighty Thor 286 + Spotter 5
Thor (Hammer of Thor) 226
Fenris Wolf 140
Hogun 96
Asgardian Warrior 37. There was a Vendetta feat in there, too, but it was on The Mighty Thor and therefore mostly useless due to almost no characters with higher points to target.
This young but savvy player wasted no time attacking. On the Asgard map, I managed to dodge some big early damage with PC and Super Senses. When Fenris Wolf missed his strike, I took the opportunity to dogpile him with Gamora and Drax and Star-Lord for the first KO.
From there, Bryce’s rolls really went cold while I started landing repeated shots with Phyla-Vell (thanks to Adam’s Invigorate) to whittle down the Thors. Got a full-power heal on Drax to take him from near-KO to back useful. Wiped out the whole team, losing only my sacrificial pogs.
Win/Loss: 2-1 in this tournament, 5-3 overall. Not bad! (I somewhat wish I’d tried out the Guardians of the Galaxy alternate team ability for this game to defend against the “Treacherous Loki” condition that gives any character Outwit for a round. But…I didn’t. :p )
Still more coming from that weekend…keep watching this space!

by ·1 Comment
After a somewhat disappointing debut for this team, I decided to drop Mantis to make extra feat room (and to make it a true Guardians of the Galaxy #1 team, as she was not a field operative of the team). She filled her role on my team as a decent L/C tieup piece and meat shield, but was otherwise just lost points.
This was for a 1000-point 50% Hammer of Thor floor format.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
V Drax 184 + Protected 8 + Unstoppable 5 + Cannonball 4 + Alias 3
Adam Warlock (Secret Invasion) 160 + Contingency Plan 12
Phyla-Vell 138 + Elite Sniper 20 + Protected 8
Moondragon (Hammer of Thor) 134
Star-Lord 90 + Contingency Plan 12
Gamora 73 + Protected 8 + Maneuver 8
Rocket Raccoon 65
Bug 44 + Vampirism 12
= 988 points.
FIRST MATCH I missed because I was late. :(
SECOND MATCH was against newbie A.B. and his
Wonder Woman (Arkham Asylum) 248
Ragnarok Surtur 233
V Maxima 160
Hercules (Secret Invasion) 142
Ulik (Hammer of Thor) 118
Malekith 91
R Destiny 20
…which, I’m again noting too late, was an illegal team (1012 points AND less than 50% Hammer of Thor).
I put us on the Prison map from the Sinister set to cut down on his Telekinesis advantage. The close quarters worked exceptionally well for me, cutting off Destiny’s ability to force rerolls with Probability Control and giving my Sharpshooters Star-Lord and Phyla-Vell plenty of targets. A.B., an inexperienced player, also played too conservatively, never committing Wonder Woman or RagSurtur to the fray (after maybe overextending with Ulik). I only KO’d Ulik, though Hercules and Malekith each were a single hit from defeat by the end. I lost only Gamora’s Protected.
THIRD MATCH was against Chad and his
Thor (Hammer of Thor) 226
Heimdall 149 + Fortitude 25 + Repulsor Shield 25
Enchantress (Hammer of Thor) 141
Ulik (Hammer of Thor) 118 + Fortitude 25 + Repulsor Shield 25
Sif 93
Malekith 91
Thor Girl 81
He picked the Days of Future Past map and I started outdoors, setting up the Kinetic Accelerator behind some blocking terrain to guard against early Running Shots from Thor. It almost didn’t help, though, when the Indomitable Thor took a pushing Running Shot anyway. Fortunately for me, it was a critical miss.
Now Thor was open to fire from Phyla, Moondragon and Star-Lord. Gamora, though, was stuck unable to attack thanks to Heimdall (who’s immune to most move & attack powers) blocking one route and poorly-placed hindering terrain on my part blocking the other.
I took an early lead by KOing Ulik but subsequent losses of Star-Lord and Bug and an inability to finish off Thor made this a much closer match — two points! — than it appeared. Still, ugly wins still = wins. Got a Blood Oath feat as the sole undefeated player and brought the GotG overall record to 3-2. But I’m not done yet…!

by ·4 Comments

From left to right: Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, Star-Lord, Adam Warlock, Drax, Phyla-Vell. All coming to an 800-point HeroClix game near you.

This is a love story.
When Hammer of Thor’s release was still some weeks away, I barely had a clue who any of the Guardians of the Galaxy were (besides already-made members such as Mantis, V Drax and Gamora). And aside from Rocket Raccoon, I didn’t care one whit. I didn’t read Marvel’s “cosmic” titles and had no interest in starting.
But as more info on the set began to filter out, I found myself intrigued more and more by both previously unknown characters and the ones I knew.
Then I saw her.

Now I'm a believer!!!!

I was so impressed by the sculpt alone (let alone the solid dial) that I got interested in the Guardians of the Galaxy comic. And, in a scant six weeks or so (thanks in large part to my friend and fellow player Lenny loaning me the majority of the series for one of those weeks), I’ve become a big fan. All because of my love-at-first-sight with Miss Phyla-Vell above.
Anyway, I’ve been wanting to play this team for weeks but didn’t want to do it halfway. I also had to reacquire Vet Drax from Supernova first…

The dial is right...but the sculpt isn't.

and then I wanted to modifiy him to match his current look:

Better now.

Turned out great. One day, I’ll do a post or series of posts featuring all my mods. I’m hardly the best out there, but I like my work.
Here’s the team.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
V Drax 184 + Unstoppable 5
Adam Warlock (Secret Invasion) 160
Phyla-Vell 138 + Protected 8
Star-Lord 90
Gamora 73 + Protected 8
V Mantis 67
Rocket Raccoon 65
= 798 points.
FIRST MATCH vs. Charlie (RockMan on HCRealms) and his team full of classic Avengers:
Thor (Hammer of Thor) + Protected + Inside Info
Iron Man (Secret Invasion) + Protected
Giant-Man (Avengers)
Captain America (Hammer of Thor)
Hawkeye (Avengers)
Quicksilver (Avengers Super Rare)
Wasp (Avengers Super Rare)
Scarlet Witch  (Avengers Super Rare)

…and some other cards I can’t recall. He picked the Dawn of Time map. I picked the wrong side. Tons of hindering terrain forced my crew to assemble in a wide kill zone where Thor and Iron Man could take easy shots and get easy rerolls from Prob Controls. I’d have to hope my Kinetic Accelerator would give Gamora enough of a boost to get to someone. (An ideal build would’ve given me some way of double-teaming her with Drax. But no, not this team.)
Complicating that early-strike idea was Quicksilver swiftly moving to base Gamora and Mantis. Simply could not have that, so Drax Charged him to KO with the Meteorite. (Didn’t mind doing it because Drax has his own Exploit Weakness to work with.) Thus freed, Gamora got enough extra speed from the Accelerator to get to Iron Man. But her attack was Probability Controlled into a miss, and that’s all she wrote aside from tying up Tony for a while longer.
Mantis got healed by Adam Warlock after taking a hard shot from Iron Man but fell to Thor once she got back in the field while Drax pushed and utterly failed against Giant-Man. Stuck on Combat Reflexes and unable to Outwit any Avengers of note, he sucked massive damage straight to KO. Star-Lord took it even worse when a Perplexed Thor one-shot him.
EDIT (01/5/10): And now, as I recall, Charlie’s Earthquake BFC going off didn’t help much either!
Never quite got Star-Lord, Phyla-Vell or Rocket Raccoon into the fight for real…landed a shot on Iron Man but that was it. I lost Drax, Star-Lord, Gamora, Mantis and only got Quicksilver and a Protected feat. 0-1.


SECOND MATCH vs. Lenny
Thor (Hammer of Thor) + Fortitude + Protected + Alias
Beta Ray Bill (Hammer of Thor)
Heimdall
Sif
Spider-Man (Hammer of Thor)

Again I was forced onto the Dawn of Time map, but I picked a better side this round, giving me a little more cover and him only one direction of attack. Star-Lord again took an uru mallet to the face, but thankfully this was only for 5 damage, sending him to Adam Warlock’s healing ways.
This time Drax was the first to Accelerate to Thor, using Unstoppable to run through the water. But he was forced to waste his Meteorite on an adjacent Asgardian Warrior when Thor got his Alias roll.
Gamora came next (once the others cleared out the other A. Warriors shielding Thor) and the whole team began to work on Thor as Heimdall and Sif moved in to support him. Beta Ray Bill got some killing shots on Drax but gave Star-Lord something to try Galactic Marksmanship on so he could lay some big hurt on Thor (once Phyla and others got Spider-Man out of the way).
Thor whiffed a couple of key attacks and breakaways, sealing his fate. Got Thor, Spidey and both Asgardian Warriors (to my losses of Drax, Gamora and Mantis again) for a win. 1-1.


THIRD MATCH vs. Derek
Thor & Loki
Valkyrie (Hammer of Thor Super Rare)
Valkyrie (Hammer of Thor common)
Valkyrie (Hammer of Thor common)
Valkyrie (Hammer of Thor common)
Asgardian Warrior
Asgardian Warrior
Asgardian Warrior
V Hand Ninja (X-Plosion)
I won roll and picked the Space Map. Gamora got an early Charge on Thor & Loki but Shape Change thwarted her. Star-Lord got a much lighter shot on them.
Asgardians surrounded the big duo, forcing me to whittle them away. Poor Mantis, on the map’s rooftop, took down a generic Valkyrie but was woefully overmatched by SR Valkyrie. Rocket Raccoon tried to gain a rooftop vantage to PC, but only got Outwitted once Gamora actually got to hit Thor & Loki to that point in their dial.
Drax pushed and Charged in for a crit hit on Thor & Loki that was nullified when they made their Shape Change again (retroactively, because it’s non-optional). Drax was gone before the next turn, shot in the back by SR Valkyrie and Charged by Asgardian Warriors.
Gamora, on her Flurry+Blades click, rolled a 1 & 2 on the attacks. And then game was over after she was gone. I was incredibly mortified to realize that her base 3 damage would have KO’d Thor & Loki and won me the game instead of losing it — even with the Mystics feedback!
KO’d 2 Warriors and Valkyries each but lost Drax, Gamora and Drax…AGAIN.
These results were less than optimal: 1-2. Mantis and Gamora and Drax were casualties in every game. Gamora did her part despite her loss, but Drax really underperformed because I was just too reckless with him, pushing to make his attacks almost every time.
I kinda found a rhythm by the last game: taxi Gamora to the Kinetic Accelerator on turn one with Phyla, Charge on turn 2 then get Drax on the Accelerator for a push Charge with a Meteorite. I wasn’t able to do this plan of attack in round one and paid for it. Also flubbed it in round two. Almost pulled it off in the last one but Thor & Loki’s Shape Change is a killer and a half.
Even better would be to taxi Gamora first with Phyla, then Drax with Adam, hopefully scoring a 1-2-3 KO with 1) a push shot from Phyla, 2) an Accelerated Charge from Gamora, opening the Accelerator for Drax (hopefully) and 3) Drax coming in with a heavy a turn later.
I was now determined to win with this team, though, because they were still pretty competitive; it was more user error than anything that doomed me. I had a 1000-point game the next Friday and an 800-pointer Saturday. Both would be GotG builds…I SWORE IT*!!!!
*(not really. But I DID play a LOT more GotG teams. Watch this space for more on the space-farers!)

by ·2 Comments
Way back in December, I set about reacquiring a Dr. Psycho from 2005’s Collateral Damage set so I could play this team:
The Society
From left: Talia, Black Adam, Lex Luthor, Deathstroke, Dr. Psycho, Calculator.
Essentially the anti-Justice League, but worse than that, since each of these characters have been able to singlehandedly challenge entire teams with their machinations. Together as The Society’s inner circle? Nigh-unstoppable.
As an 800-point HeroClix team, though, they are somewhat less terrifying. Four of them — Luthor, Deathstroke, Calculator and Dr. Psycho — are wild cards with no team ability to copy from the team-less Talia and Black Adam. So immediately, I have to bend the theme somewhat to get any real playability from them.
Here’s my first take and my first match.
The Society
Black Adam (Crisis) 254
Lex Luthor (Justice League) 161
Deathstroke (Crisis) 156 + Outsmart 10
Dr. Psycho 100
Calculator 55 + Outsmart 10
Gotham City Detective 27
Talia (Batman Alpha) 20 + Loner 5
=798 points
vs. the Justice League of…well, Lenny.
Superman (Justice League) 226 + Fortitude 25 + ICWO 10
R Shazam 105
Green Arrow (Crisis) 104
Wonder Woman (Justice League) 94
Batman (Justice League) 75 + ICWO 10
Gamora 73
Cosmic Boy (Legion of Super-Heroes) 70
= 792 points
For shame, busting up a perfectly good DC team with that green cheesecake chick from Marvel. :)
Lenny won the roll and picked the Days of Future Past map. I holed up inside. No BFCs played.
Black Adam parked on the Kinetic Accelerator. Lenny TK’d Gamora to attack him, but she missed and got pounded for a quick KO. Superman snaked his subsequent attack, losing the Meteorite vs. Black Adam. Adam, Calculator and Deathstroke ganged up on R Shazam, keeping him Outwitted until he was done.
OOTS Batman sat on an object but lost it from an Enhanced attack from Talia. That didn’t save Dr. Psycho, who missed his Mind Controls and got pincushioned by Green Arrow. Lex Luthor also underperformed and fell to a double KO by Superman (which he Masterminded to the GCD) and Wonder Woman (no one left to MM to). At least Calculator got to the Vine to heal (dodging a shot from WW) as Black Adam, now on Hypersonic Speed, successfully took on Superman, Batman and Green Arrow with Deathstroke in tow. Cosmic Boy went down and WW was the last to fall. I had BA and Ds left.
Played the same team the next day against Scott’s semi-cosmic team:
Annihilus 126
Proteus 180
Magus 184
The Mighty Thor 286
= 776 points.
On the Junkyard map, I ran Infiltration and got Poor Teamwork’d. Deathstroke hunkered down safe in the map’s swath of hindering terrain, but Talia got OHKO’d by Thor right off. Psycho successfully Mind Controls Thor to attack Annihilus but the enthralled Asgardian fails. The bad Dr. takes 2 (and needn’t call anyone when he wakes from his impending KO). Lex Luthor gets tied by Magus. I return the favor, pushing Gotham City Detective  to cuff Annie and prevent the space buglord from Psychic Blasting Adam. GCD doesn’t last a turn.
Delay of game penalty.
Calculator takes Obsessive click (after lonnnnnng check on the computer to  check for common keywords on older figs), then takes a KO by TK’d Dumpsterator. Time’s up just before I can finish laying into Thor (due to that slooooooow-loading computer) so I take the time-limit loss, having KO’d no points to Scott’s 217.
We play on. Thor fails his Flurry and falls to combined Deathstroke/Black Adam assault as Dr. Psycho gets hit off board. Now Hypersonic and Super Strong, Adam starts beating down Magus and Proteus as Lex pushes to weaken, then KO Annihilus. Alas, the “Price” is not right and Lex goes down from his own Perplex. But now Black Adam and Deathstroke can’t be stopped and they again clear the board of all foes.
Because it takes a while to get KOs, this team isn’t very good in the time limit, but when played to the last, the two high-pointers tend to win out. I made an adjustment for a game played a few weeks later:
Black Adam (Crisis) 254 + Fortitude 25
Deathstroke (Crisis) 156 + Outsmart 10
Lex Luthor (Crisis) 113
Dr. Psycho 100
Calculator 55 + Outsmart 10
Gotham City Detective 27
Talia (Batman Alpha) 20 + Loner 5
R Ragman 25
=800 points. I just didn’t seem to be getting results from Lex, and since Alex was the REAL power behind the Society, having disguised himself as Lex, it fits.
Couldn’t resist the temptation to mutilate the theme by adding a conveniently brainwashed R Ragman to the team. :)
First, I played Mohammed, a very young player still very shaky on the rules. He had a cobbled-together team of borrowed figures:
Dr. Doom (Fantastic 4) 200
The Flash (Justice League) 114
Yellowjacket (Secret Invasion) 100
Yellowjacket (Skrull) (Secret Invasion) 100
Batman (Arkham Asylum) 64
Robin (Arkham Asylum) 66
The Caped Crusader 50
E Deathstroke (Cosmic Justice) 50
We played on the Dawn of Time map. My victory was never in doubt — the poor kid’s not a solid player yet — but my score wasn’t very high due to coaching him through the rules and Skrullojacket making too many Shape Change/Skrull rolls to KO him early enough to add more than that 100 points to my victory points.
Second round was against Lenny, who ran:
Silver Surfer (Avengers) 231 + Protected 8
Susan Richards (Fantastic 4) 120
Mr. Fantastic (Fantastic 4) 100 + Brilliant Tactician 20
Johnny Stom (Fantastic 4) 100
Benjamin J. Grimm (Fantastic 4) 100
Winter Soldier 70
Spider-Man (Secret Invasion) 50
Battlefield conditions: He Sabotaged me by tokening Black Adam (I missed my roll) while I tried to cause Telekinetic Strain. But he got to choose the Fantastic Four map, which played to his strengths and hurt many of mine.
I used the Sabotage to immediately push Adam to Hypersonic Speed and the Kinetic Accelerator, pretty much ensuring that he could reach any target on the map once he cleared. I also clustered the rest around him in case Surfer tried to alpha-strike my big gun. But Lenny was much more careful than that, positioning his whole team so that any Adam attack would leave him open to a massive counterattack.
I took the bait anyway, successfully hitting Winter Soldier within a click of his life. Nearly paid dearly for it when Sue TK’d Grimm a short distance  to try hitting with a Meteorite (missed), then Johnny Running Shot Adam for 5 clicks (hit) and Surfer tried a HSS driveby (crit-missed).
Psycho Mind-Controlled Surfer away to double target Winter Soldier and Sue (only hit him, though) then end up in easy range for Alex to Psychic Blast him (missed, though). More shots on Grimm landed but failed to KO. And somehow, time ran out before any more KOs could occur. Lost none.
Finally, I face Lord Timothy’s quartet of Deities:
Ares (Avengers) 275 + Protected 8
Thor (Ultimates) 186 + Protected 8
Hercules (Secret Invasion) 142 + Protected 8
Circe (Arkham Asylum) 149 + Alias 3
On the Dawn of Time map, I Infiltrated half my team into the bushes. Tim used no Battlefield Conditions, since the one he would have played — Skrull Kill Krew — would have hurt his Circe worse than me.
Using the Dynamostat to cover Adam on the Accelerator, I immediately tried Mind Controlled Herc to beat Thor. Thor got his Impervious, though. My backup plan to Psychic Blast Thor with Alex worked a bit better.
Tim ran Herc behind Thor, which opened the Norse thunder god to Dr. Psycho’s MC. He took 2 more clicks of damage into utter deadweight, but it was worth it: Circe took 5 clicks from the hammer and Thor took 1 from the Mystics.
Ares had just failed his Running Shot at Adam with a ridiculously low roll (13 on 19 missed? Really?) so it was time to return the favor. Only I did too well, with another ridiculously low roll into a miss. Feh. At least the taxied Talia managed to follow up with an actual solid hit…especially with Deathstroke countering Impervious. Too bad Protected swallowed it up, and Circe Outwit her sword next time. Black Adam, now on Flurry, landed another hit but was rapidly taken out by Herc and Ares. Talia didn’t last much longer. Neither did Circe…Alex took her down.
Now Ares closed in on my Detective and Calculator. While Calc took the defeat, Deathstroke, well-Perplexed, took on the god of war and came out on top while Herc was tied up by GCD’s Plasticity…I thought. Good thing I Outwit his Wrestler SP (was concerned about Charge and Flurry and had forgotten Herc’s Plasticity)! Herc couldn’t take on two Outwitters alone and fell.
3-0! Nice, but with Adam Fortituded, the Outsmarts were a waste. So in a later game, I swapped them out:
Black Adam (Crisis) 254 + Fortitude 25
Deathstroke (Crisis) 156
Lex Luthor (Crisis) 113
Dr. Psycho 100 + Compel 15
Calculator 55
Gotham City Detective 27
Talia (Batman Alpha) 20 + Loner 5
R Ragman 25
= 795 points.
There was weird format in this game…a special third die was rolled with every attack roll:
1=nothing
2=knockback x 2
3=heal after the attack (1d6-2, like Support)
4=automatic crit miss
5=automatic crit hit
6=nothing
FIRST match I faced John and his
Thanos 267
Trigon 263 + Protected 8
Darkseid 210
Doombot 5953 40
We were on the Crash Site map. I used the hindering to keep just out of range of that range-heavy team. Again Dr. Psycho did his thing, forcing Darkseid to punch Trigon in the shins and take Mystics feedback. But that just made Trigon start tossing Dopplegangers out and forced me to Outwit that so Psycho could get taxied to the Eleha’al Vine and start tokin…uh, I mean healing up.
My opponent was highly frustrated with my solid Stealth bunker, as I was with Black Adam’s inability to hit his lone lead man, Thanos. So he closed in on me. But it was too late as time ran out. I got the points for Protected for the win.
Then there was Christian’s cheese pizza:
Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188 + Fortitude 25
Iron Man 154
Mr. Fantastic 100 + Brilliant Tactician 20
R Kang (Supernova) 87
Ant-Man (Infinity Challenge) 50
E Dr. Mid-Nite 43
R Mandroid Armor 28
R Black Panther  (Infinity Challenge) 27
V Lockjaw 38
R Destiny 20
R Paramedic 8
I stuck us on the Armor Wars map. I managed to get Lockjaw and then Kang. But a Compel, a pair of missed attacks, an untimely (for me) Impervious roll and a tactical failure to tie up AV Iron Man with Ragman left a pushed Black Adam way too open to a massive pair of Running Shots from the Tonys that dealt him 10 clicks when he could only take 8. That was the game.
So how’d this cadre of villainy wind up working?
Black Adam: the beater really has to pull his weight at this point level. In the first build, the Outsmart combos really encouraged me to hold him back, causing the rest of the team to take a lot of early fire and forcing him into a cleanup role too late in the game for timed matches. In the later builds, he was often the first to go into battle and usually paid for it by getting pounded by multiple counterstrikes. It’s hard to find a proper balance.
Lex Luthor: Key example of a piece forced to do too much in the first build. Great AV, but his defense always took that first hit into less usefulness. He’d probably do better in the Ragman build…if the points allowed! That 161 cost and my general insistence on sticking to the villain theme kept Rags out the first go ’rounds.
Deathstroke: Like Adam, he’s one of the main fight engines of the team. But he lacks the mobility to really get into it alongside Adam. Still one of the major keys to this team’s viability.
Alex Luthor: Quite the upgrade from Lex for nearly 50 points less. He made room for more TAs to copy and better feats. His upfront Perplex also made him more effective as a backrow type to boost the real fighters’ attacks or defenses. Still disappointed that I NEVER got to use his BFC-canceling SP!
Dr. Psycho: If not for this theme, I’d never play him again. He was highly, HIGHLY ineffective in the first build for want of decent die rolls. He simply can’t afford to miss those Mind Control rolls when he’s going to be taking the next attack thanks to that dismally low defense. With Bat-Stealth, though, he had new life. It was more than worth taking multiple clicks of self-damage from feedback and pushing to make the enemy do some of my work for me.
Calculator: Similarly, Calc is suspect as a piece. Sure, he’s got built-in Brilliant Tactician, sorta, and Outwit. But that Outwit is gimped by the keyword factor — he’s toast against themed teams — and losing his single Stealth click is really dangerous for him. And there’s not enough Mastermind fodder to help him AND Psycho. Maybe I need to invest in pogs…
Gotham City Detective: the corrupt cop on the villains’ take. Basically only there as Mastermind fodder and, more importantly, a source of TA for the four wildcards on the team, especially Dr. Psycho (who’s useless without a TA to copy). Also served well to tie-up thanks to 2nd-click Plasticity.
R Ragman: NOT a villain. Just conveniently “brainwashed” by Dr. Psycho into aiding them. :) Perma-Stealth for these wildcards, well, wildly increases their effectiveness. For the 25-40 points that the Alex Luthor build offers, there’s no better DC clix for the role he plays here. Maybe none in the game at all.
Talia: most of the time, she was just tie-up fodder. But sacrificing that 25 points wasn’t so bad if it meant Black Adam lived to fight another round or two. Which it usually did, to my benefit. And when enemy Outwit is focused on a 20-point piece instead of elsewhere, that’s pretty OK, too.

Taking a quick break from the Event Dials series to deliver some battle reports.

Way back in December, I set about reacquiring a Dr. Psycho from 2006’s Collateral Damage set so I could play this team:

The Society

From left: Talia, Black Adam, Lex Luthor, Deathstroke, Dr. Psycho, Calculator.

From left: Talia, Black Adam, Lex Luthor, Deathstroke, Dr. Psycho, Calculator. From Villains United #1.

Essentially the anti-Justice League, but worse than that, since each of these characters have been able to singlehandedly challenge entire teams with their machinations. Together as The Society’s inner circle? Nigh-unstoppable.

As an 800-point HeroClix team, though, they are somewhat less terrifying. Four of them — Luthor, Deathstroke, Calculator and Dr. Psycho — are wild cards with no team ability to copy from the team-less Talia and Black Adam. So immediately, I have to bend the theme somewhat to get any real playability from them.

Here’s my first take and my first match.

The Society

Black Adam (Crisis) 254
Lex Luthor (Justice League) 161
Deathstroke (Crisis) 156 + Outsmart 10
Dr. Psycho 100
Calculator 55 + Outsmart 10
Gotham City Detective 27
Talia (Batman Alpha) 20 + Loner 5

=798 points

vs. the Justice League of…well, Lenny.

Superman (Justice League) 226 + Fortitude 25 + ICWO 10
R Shazam (Origin) 105
Green Arrow (Crisis) 104
Wonder Woman (Justice League) 94
Batman (Justice League) 75 + ICWO 10
Gamora 73
Cosmic Boy (Legion of Super-Heroes) 70

= 792 points

For shame, busting up a perfectly good DC team with that green cheesecake chick from Marvel. :)

Lenny won the roll and picked the Days of Future Past map. I holed up inside. No BFCs played.

Black Adam parked on the Kinetic Accelerator. Lenny TK’d Gamora to attack him, but she missed and got pounded for a quick KO. Superman snaked his subsequent attack, losing the Meteorite vs. Black Adam. Adam, Calculator and Deathstroke ganged up on R Shazam, keeping him Outwitted until he was done.

OOTS Batman sat on an object but lost it from an Enhanced attack from Talia. That didn’t save Dr. Psycho, who missed his Mind Controls and got pincushioned by Green Arrow. Lex Luthor also underperformed and fell to a double KO by Superman (which he Masterminded to the GCD) and Wonder Woman (no one left to MM to). At least Calculator got to the Vine to heal (dodging a shot from WW) as Black Adam, now on Hypersonic Speed, successfully took on Superman, Batman and Green Arrow with Deathstroke in tow. Cosmic Boy went down and WW was the last to fall. I had BA and Ds left.

Played the same team the next day against Scott’s semi-cosmic team:

Annihilus 126
Proteus 180
Magus 184
The Mighty Thor 286

= 776 points.

On the Junkyard map, I ran Infiltration and got Poor Teamwork’d. Deathstroke hunkered down safe in the map’s swath of hindering terrain, but Talia got OHKO’d by Thor right off. Psycho successfully Mind Controls Thor to attack Annihilus but the enthralled Asgardian fails. The bad Dr. takes 2 (and needn’t call anyone when he wakes from his impending KO). Lex Luthor gets tied by Magus. I return the favor, pushing Gotham City Detective  to cuff Annie and prevent the space buglord from Psychic Blasting Adam. GCD doesn’t last a turn.

Calculator takes Obsessive click (after a lonnnnnng check on the computer to  check for common keywords on older figs), then takes a KO by TK’d Dumpsterator. Time’s up just before I can finish laying into Thor (due to that slooooooow-loading computer) so I take the time-limit loss, having KO’d 0 points to Scott’s 217.

We play on. Thor fails his Flurry and falls to combined Deathstroke/Black Adam assault as Dr. Psycho gets hit off board. Now Hypersonic and Super Strong, Adam starts beating down Magus and Proteus as Lex pushes to weaken, then KO Annihilus. Alas, the “Price” is not right and Lex goes down from his own Perplex. But now Black Adam and Deathstroke can’t be stopped and they again clear the board of all foes.

Because it takes a while to get KOs, this team isn’t very good in the time limit, but when played to the last, the two high-pointers tend to win out. I made an adjustment for a game played a few weeks later:

Black Adam (Crisis) 254 + Fortitude 25
Deathstroke (Crisis) 156 + Outsmart 10
Lex Luthor (Crisis) 113
Dr. Psycho 100
Calculator 55 + Outsmart 10
Gotham City Detective 27
Talia (Batman Alpha) 20 + Loner 5
R Ragman 25

=800 points. I just didn’t seem to be getting results from Lex, and since Alex was the REAL power behind the Society, having disguised himself as Lex, it fits.

Couldn’t resist the temptation to mutilate the theme by adding a conveniently brainwashed R Ragman to the team. :)

First, I played Mohammed, a very young player still very shaky on the rules. He had a cobbled-together team of borrowed figures:

Dr. Doom (Fantastic 4) 200
The Flash (Justice League) 114
Yellowjacket (Secret Invasion) 100
Yellowjacket (Skrull) (Secret Invasion) 100
Batman (Arkham Asylum) 64
Robin (Arkham Asylum) 66
The Caped Crusader 50
E Deathstroke (Cosmic Justice) 50

We played on the Dawn of Time map. My victory was never in doubt — the poor kid’s not a solid player yet — but my score wasn’t very high due to coaching him through the rules and Skrullojacket making too many Shape Change/Skrull rolls to KO him early enough to add more than that 100 points to my victory points.

Second round was against Lenny, who ran:

Silver Surfer (Avengers) 231 + Protected 8
Susan Richards (Fantastic 4) 120
Mr. Fantastic (Fantastic 4) 100 + Brilliant Tactician 20
Johnny Stom (Fantastic 4) 100
Benjamin J. Grimm (Fantastic 4) 100
Winter Soldier 70
Spider-Man (Secret Invasion) 50

Battlefield conditions: He Sabotaged me by tokening Black Adam (I missed my roll) while I tried to cause Telekinetic Strain. But he got to choose the Fantastic Four map, which played to his strengths and hurt many of mine.

I used the Sabotage to immediately push Adam to Hypersonic Speed and the Kinetic Accelerator, pretty much ensuring that he could reach any target on the map once he cleared. I also clustered the rest around him in case Surfer tried to alpha-strike my big gun. But Lenny was much more careful than that, positioning his whole team so that any Adam attack would leave him open to a massive counterattack.

I took the bait anyway, successfully hitting Winter Soldier within a click of his life. Nearly paid dearly for it when Sue TK’d Grimm a short distance  to try hitting with a Meteorite (missed), then Johnny Running Shot Adam for 5 clicks (hit) and Surfer tried a HSS driveby (crit-missed).

Psycho Mind-Controlled Surfer away to double target Winter Soldier and Sue (only KO’d him, though) then end up in easy range for Alex to Psychic Blast him (missed, though). More shots on Grimm landed but failed to KO. And somehow, time ran out before any more KOs could occur. Lost none.

Finally, I face Lord Timothy’s quartet of Deities:

Ares (Avengers) 275 + Protected 8
Thor (Ultimates) 186 + Protected 8
Hercules (Secret Invasion) 142 + Protected 8
Circe (Arkham Asylum) 149 + Alias 3

On the Dawn of Time map, I Infiltrated half my team into the bushes. Tim used no Battlefield Conditions, since the one he would have played — Skrull Kill Krew — would have hurt his Circe worse than me.

Using the Dynamostat to cover Adam on the Accelerator, I immediately Mind Controlled Herc to beat Thor. Thor got his Impervious, though. My backup plan to Psychic Blast Thor with Alex worked a bit better.

Tim ran Herc behind Thor, which opened the Norse thunder god to Dr. Psycho’s MC. He took 2 more clicks of damage into utter deadweight, but it was worth it: Circe took 5 clicks from the hammer and Thor took 1 from the Mystics.

Ares had just failed his Running Shot at Adam with a ridiculously low roll (13 on 19 missed? Really?) so it was time to return the favor. Only I did too well, with another ridiculously low roll into a miss. Feh. At least the taxied Talia managed to follow up with an actual solid hit…especially with Deathstroke countering Impervious. Too bad Protected swallowed it up, and Circe Outwit Talia’s little sword next time. Black Adam, now on Flurry, landed another hit but was rapidly taken out by Herc and Ares. Talia didn’t last much longer. Neither did Circe…Alex took her down.

Now Ares closed in on my Detective and Calculator. While Calc took the defeat, Deathstroke, well-Perplexed, took on the god of war and came out on top while Herc was tied up by GCD’s Plasticity…I thought. Good thing I Outwit his Wrestler SP (was concerned about Charge and Flurry and had forgotten Herc’s Plasticity)! Herc couldn’t take on two Outwitters alone and fell.

3-0! Nice, but with Adam Fortituded, the Outsmarts were a waste. So in a later game, I swapped them out:

Black Adam (Crisis) 254 + Fortitude 25
Deathstroke (Crisis) 156
Lex Luthor (Crisis) 113
Dr. Psycho 100 + Compel 15
Calculator 55
Gotham City Detective 27
Talia (Batman Alpha) 20 + Loner 5
R Ragman 25

= 795 points.

There was weird format in this game…a special third die was rolled with every attack roll:

1=nothing

2=knockback x 2

3=heal after the attack (1d6-2, like Support)

4=automatic crit miss

5=automatic crit hit

6=nothing

FIRST match I faced John and his:

Thanos 267
Trigon 263 + Protected 8
Darkseid 210
Doombot 5953 40

We were on the Crash Site map. I used the hindering to keep just out of range of that range-heavy team. Again Dr. Psycho did his thing, forcing Darkseid to punch Trigon in the shins and take Mystics feedback. But that just made Trigon start tossing Dopplegangers out and forced me to Outwit that so Psycho could get taxied to the Eleha’al Vine and start tokin…uh, I mean healing up.

My opponent was highly frustrated with my solid Stealth bunker, as I was with Black Adam’s inability to hit his lone lead man, Thanos. So he closed in on me. But it was too late as time ran out. I got the points for Protected for the win.

Then there was Christian’s team:

Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188 + Fortitude 25
Iron Man 154
Mr. Fantastic 100 + Brilliant Tactician 20
R Kang (Supernova) 87
Ant-Man (Infinity Challenge) 50
E Dr. Mid-Nite 43
R Mandroid Armor 28
R Black Panther  (Infinity Challenge) 27
V Lockjaw 38
R Destiny 20
R Paramedic 8
+ Thunderbolts 15 (Defenders)

Wow. That’s a full T.O.P.P.S.-style Pit Crew*, there. I actually got the taste for a pizza after seeing all that cheese.

I stuck us on the Armor Wars map. I managed to get Lockjaw and then Kang. But a Compel, a pair of missed attacks, an untimely (for me) Impervious roll and a tactical failure to tie up AV Iron Man with Ragman left a pushed Black Adam way too open to a massive pair of Running Shots from the Tonys that dealt him 10 clicks when he could only take 8. That was the game.

So how’d this cadre of villainy wind up working? Basically went 6-1 (technically 5-2, but the loss against Scott within the time limit would be invalidated had that keyword check taken 1 minute instead of 5). Piece-by-piece:

King of PAIN.

King of PAIN.

Black Adam: the beater really has to pull his weight at this point level. In the first build, the Outsmart combos really encouraged me to hold him back, causing the rest of the team to take a lot of early fire and forcing him into a cleanup role too late in the game for timed matches. In the later builds, he was often the first to go into battle and usually paid for it by getting pounded by multiple counterstrikes. It’s hard to find a proper balance.

Dunno what HE'S so happy about, getting KOed all the time.

Dunno what HE'S so happy about, getting KOed all the time.

Lex Luthor: Key example of a piece forced to do too much in the first build. Great AV, but his defense always took that first hit into less usefulness. He’d probably do better in the Ragman build…if the points allowed! That 161 cost and my general insistence on sticking to the villain theme kept Rags out the first go ’rounds.

He got his own series because he never got KO'd in any of these matches. :)

He got his own series because he never got KO'd in any of these matches. :)

Deathstroke: Like Adam, he’s one of the main fight engines of the team. But he lacks the mobility to really get into it alongside Adam. Still one of the major keys to this team’s viability.

Younger model. Smarter model. And dresses 100% fruitier. (Which is saying something. You SEE that purple & green getup?)

Younger model. Smarter model. And dresses 100% fruitier. (Which is saying something. You SEE that purple & green getup?)

Alex Luthor: Quite the upgrade from Lex for nearly 50 points less. He made room for more TAs to copy and better feats. His upfront Perplex also made him more effective as a backrow type to boost the real fighters’ attacks or defenses. (In fact, he’d be a great Brilliant Tactician for his fellow Calculators…something to consider in future runs.) Still disappointed that I NEVER got to use his BFC-canceling SP!

Short but slow.

Short but slow.

Dr. Psycho: If not for this theme, I’d never play him again. He was highly, HIGHLY ineffective in the first build for want of decent die rolls. He simply can’t afford to miss those Mind Control rolls when he’s going to be taking the next attack thanks to that dismally low defense. With Bat-Stealth, though, he had new life. It was more than worth taking multiple clicks of self-damage from feedback and pushing to make the enemy do some of my work for me. In any future runs, I may try using Mental Shields instead of Compel on him. In a build without Bat-Stealth, I think I’ll go with Contingency Plan and keep him well out of the fray.

Love the megalomania evident in this cover.

Love the megalomania evident in this cover.

Calculator: Similarly, Calc is suspect as a piece. Sure, he’s got built-in Brilliant Tactician, sorta, and Outwit. But that Outwit is gimped by the keyword factor — he’s toast against themed teams — and losing his single Stealth click is really dangerous for him. And there’s not enough Mastermind fodder to help him AND Psycho. Maybe I need to invest in pogs…

Gotham City Detective: the corrupt cop on the villains’ take. Basically only there as Mastermind fodder and, more importantly, a source of TA for the four wildcards on the team, especially Dr. Psycho (who’s useless without a TA to copy). Also served well to tie-up thanks to 2nd-click Plasticity.

R Ragman: NOT a villain. Just conveniently “brainwashed” by Dr. Psycho into aiding them. :) Perma-Stealth for these wildcards, well, wildly increases their effectiveness. For the 25-40 points that the Alex Luthor build offers, there’s no better DC clix for the role he plays here. Maybe none in the game at all. That said, I’d much rather run an Alfred pog in his place instead. Anyone want to sell me one? :)

Best 20 points in HeroClix?

Best 20 points in HeroClix?

Talia: most of the time, she was just tie-up fodder. But sacrificing that 25 points wasn’t so bad if it meant Black Adam lived to fight another round or two. Which it usually did, to my benefit. And when enemy Outwit is focused on a 20-point piece instead of elsewhere, that’s pretty OK, too.

So much for the bad guys! Next comic-accurate theme is likely to be the Inhumans Royal Family. But that’ll have to wait until I get another string of 800-point games to play. In the meantime, enjoy a return to the Event Dial series. Ciao!

* ( Telekinesis. Outwit. Perplex. Probability Control. Support. A “Pit Crew” contains figures whose sole purpose is to cheaply provide one of these powers.)