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Continuing the series recounting how I added art to DC cards to make ’em prettier. I’m going to switch things up a little by alternating between BFCs and Feats in each set. To wit, this time Heroclixin’ looks at the first Feat of Crisis:

CR_F002_Cannonball

Well, technically it’s the 2nd feat, but F001 is an Alternate Team Ability that was banned when WizKids upgraded to the current Additional Team Ability rules.

Anyhow, the challenge was finding a DC character jumping off a building and NOT FLYING. This crop of two panel of Young Heroes In Love member Thunderhead doing so was the best I could recall and find. Art’s by Dev Madan, who apparently went on to great success as a creator of Sly Cooper.

Next week, another BFC from Crisis.

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It’s tough reviewing these. Heroclixin’ is all about F.U.N. But BFCs were all too frequently the OPPOSITE of fun. Especially these:

Earthquake: Bad for soft non-fliers. At least it only occurred once per game, so it’s the least unfun of the lot.

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Armor Wars: It didn’t make damage reducers completely useless, but close. It also got real complicated if more than one was on the field.

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Isolation: Defend, Blades/Claws/Fangs and a host of team abilities that shared AV or DV were all rendered null and void by this card. Worse, teams that need these effects tend to be utterly ineffective without them. Unfun.

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Poor Teamwork: Whoops; your taxis and TKers are mostly dead weight now. Terrible unfun for any team that needed the mobility.

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Power Dampening Field: On its surface, it looks like the card that helps the little guys and screws the big guys. But when one considers that those little guys are going to have some real trouble digging through the biggies’ tough armor with only 3 damage at a time — barring aid from Outwit or penetrating damage — one sees how everyone loses when this unfun BFC is in play.

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Exhaustion: As if pushing weren’t bad enough, this one doubled the damage for doing so. Worse, it swung the action advantage even FURTHER in Willpower’s direction.

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Disbanded: Nothing’s worse than seeing all those points paid for those team abilities on your team go up in smoke upon this card’s reveal. The one BFC even Galactus fears.

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Bright Lights: Woe to any team that actually used Stealth as a defense. It’s worthless with this BFC on the field. Used almost exclusively to punish players who abused the black Speed power, it also gave a really strong advantage to range-heavy teams.

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 Deep Shadows: This card is mean because Stealth can be mean. But Stealth has a built-in dependence upon hindering terrain that usually limits the degree of its meanness. This card gives all the advantages of being hidden and none of the drawbacks. UnF.U.N. Why the hell was it reprinted over and over and not its more F.U.N. cousin, Darkness?

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Malice: The meanest card out there, bar none. It forces teams to take damage any round it doesn’t attack. Supposedly an anti-turtle tactic, it actually rewards turtle teams more than any other so long as it has a healer available to absorb the self-damage. Meanwhile, it can set up the killbox for teams that CAN’T bide their time, anymore, because of this #$^$% card.

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Usually, Heroclixin’ devotes the first full week of the month to a Top Ten countdown of something. But battling the happy fatigue that follows the great Labor Day weekend nerd prom called DragonCon makes this one short and sweet as yours truly takes a short, sweet break from Heroclixin’. Readers new and old can use the time to catch up on older articles.

Next week, look for the usual rotation to start again:

Monday: Card Art, where I explain my choice of art for DC feats, BFCs and ATAs after WizKids stopped licensing art from DC comics;

Wednesday: F.U.N. Fights, a semi-regular feature of battle reports

Friday: an occasional F.U.N. Friday article starring a team or a figure I’d like to run, or other commentary on the game;

and Token Totin’ Tuesday/Thursday, the photographic record of how characters with Super Strength can visibly and practically hold the game’s object tokens.

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Usually, Heroclixin’ devotes the first full week of the month to a Top Ten countdown of something. But we’re battling the happy fatigue that follows the great Labor Day weekend nerd prom called DragonCon. So this one’s going to be short and sweet as yours truly takes a short, sweet break from Heroclixin’. Readers new and old can use the time to catch up on older articles.

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It’s tough reviewing these. Heroclixin’ is all about F.U.N. But BFCs were all too frequently the OPPOSITE of fun.

  • They were often used as a “screw you” to the other side…
  • …or were fielded in self-defense against unbalanced powergaming tech.
  • Or both.
  • USUALLY both.
  • Or they were so even-handed in how they crippled/enhanced each team that you’d almost rather never play them at all.

When themed teams became a thing, BFCs lost much of their steam as the one you needed to use could all too frequently be canceled away. And so now Heroclixin’ simply shares, in mostly no particular order, its take on the best/worst of the purple-headed cardboard:

F.U.N. ones

Atlantis Rising: Characters with the Dolphin Speed symbols usually work at a disadvantage. This BFC evens matters up for them a bit. And because Swim figures are usually F.U.N. figures, Atlantis Rising’s ability to flood Level 1 of any map isn’t terribly broken.

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White Noise:  Outwit and Perplex could be annoying sometimes. But it’s also a pain not to have them at all. The partial solution was this BFC that made the free action powers riskier to use. It’s a help to a team that doesn’t have those powers yet won’t completely hose those with them.

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Bizarro World: There are several BFCs that mess with the world of crit hits and misses (Extraordinary Day, Madness, Critical Strike, Great Arena) but none that equal F.U.N. for everyone like this one, which takes the sting out of getting hit with either the 12 or the 2 roll.

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Infiltration: This neat BFC allows select characters — Stealthers, Teleporters, Swimmers — to start a little closer to the action in their terrain of choice. It’s a risk/reward move, as it puts some closer to being alpha-struck. But it doesn’t screw any player over for building a team, so it’s nice and F.U.N.

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Darkness: Long range can be really hard for some teams to deal with. This little BFC just cuts it all to a manageable 6. It does hurt snipers a bit, but ranged combat has enough advantages already. This card alone won’t beat ’em. A quintessentially F.U.N card that levels the field.

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Ordinary Day: It just cancels the other guy’s BFC; the ultimate defense against deleterious BFC effects. Or it used to be, before themed teams, which now just as often kill off THIS card.

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Resistance: A very F.U.N. card that rewarded old-school “theme” play of characters with the same team symbol, it was balanced by requiring adjacency to gain immunity to Outwit.

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Assembled: Another “theme” card that encouraged old-school “theme” play. (Although I tend to forget to use its effect — +1 AV when a same-team-symbol friend is adjacent — whenever I use the card.)

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Pacification: Back in the old days, many clix couldn’t take a hit, so nerfing high damage was a must to survive an alpha strike. (The more things change, right?) This BFC helped a little without taking ALL the teeth out of natural heavy hitters and B/C/F figs the way Power Dampening Field did.

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Debris: Heroclixin’ has noted the problem associated with a lack of objects in the game. This F.U.N. BFC reverses that by adding six EXTRA objects to a game. A boon to the Super Strong and the Stealthy, to be sure, but not one that breaks the game into an unwinnable slog for teams lacking same.

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TOMORROW: The Top Ten most unF.U.N. BFCs ever made. 

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Continuing this photographic record of figures hefting objects, this time we look at a quartet of red females in the Fear Itself expansion. Starting with that ginger foe of the Avengers, Titania:

She really can’t do much more than lamely lean the token on her right boob. At least it makes it plain that she’s holding the object and not standing on it.

Things improve once it’s hammertime and she becomes Skirn:

Said hammer makes for a fine grip.

The ginger theme goes even further with the dark-haired but red-skinned Red She-Hulk 006, who sports two holds. First is this tenuous one wedged between her hair and the small of her back:

…but it only works with the older, thinner object tokens. Otherwise, you’ll need to lean her a bit to the right to fit a token under her left arm:

What about when she goes Mighty? Red She-Hulk 020 shows what’s what:

It tucks right under her chin.

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Future editions of Token Totin’ Thursday will highlight more Fear Itself until it’s all shown.

And hey! if you’re coming to DragonCon this weekend, look for yours truly in the HeroClix gaming area as I’m a member of the judging staff again this year. I’ll be one of the short black guys with glasses. (I may or may not have blonde hair.)

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watchmen

Dr. Manhattan (Watchmen 005) 276
Dr. Manhattan (Watchmen 011) 105
Comedian (Watchmen Fast Forces 006) 100 + Not So Special 3
Silk Spectre (Watchmen Fast Forces 002) 75
Nite Owl (Watchmen Fast Forces 003) 75 + Utility Belt 13
Ozymandias (Watchmen Fast Forces 004) 75 + Brilliant Tactician 20
Rorschach (Watchmen 001) 57
799 points.

Ran this last summer.

FIRST vs. Lenny with Supergirl (Fast Forces), Eradicator and Superman (Superman 001) among others from Metropolis I can’t recall on the Days of Future Past map. I had to work very hard to get shots on big Supes and Supergirl and Eradicator, having to bust walls and sacrifice Rorschach to do so. Alas, I was not able to take out either before running out of time.

SECOND vs. Stephen’s Haunted Tank, David Cain and other Soldiers on the Dr. Manhattan’s Lab map. The tall Dr. got an early long-range Running Shot on a target that I almost chased down for the win — but I wound up having to win on a roll-off. The sitting Dr. M. resisted all attempts to hit him — narrowly.

FINALLY against Henry on the Bridge: Iron Spider, Hawkeye (Chaos War) Mockingbird (Chaos War) and more. Still a new player, he moved too aggressively and I made him pay for it. A more seasoned opponent would have made it much harder for me and I probably would not have won. I lost Rorschach, Silk Spectre and Comedian but KOd Hawkeye, Mockingbird and Iron Spider for the advantage.

By piece:
Dr. Manhattan (Watchmen 005)
Lotus-position Dr. M spent too time TKing and not enough time shooting. His lack of Willpower is also a liability. But it’s nice knowing he’s a potent piece of backup for the rest of the team.

Dr. Manhattan (Watchmen 011) 105
The tall Doc, OTOH, was a real workhorse. He was the most mobile shooter of the team, a second taxi, a barrier builder (instrumental in my last win) and a boon to other shooters through his Enhancement. Oh, and there’s that 2x Energy Explosion thing, too.

Comedian (Watchmen Fast Forces 006) 100 + Not So Special 3
Despite his great AV, he never quite had the effect on the game I expected. I used him over the longer-ranged, double-targeted original for the damage boost. Perhaps I should consider the older piece in the future and use an additional feat card to make up the points difference.

Silk Spectre (Watchmen Fast Forces 002) 75
With both her boyfriends on the team, SS is a legit melee threat well worth the extra point cost, even though she took a lot of fire.

Nite Owl (Watchmen Fast Forces 003) 75 + Utility Belt 13
Definitely a linchpin of the team due to his ability to carry Silk Spectre, Ozymandias, Comedian and, most importantly, sitting Dr. Manhattan into position for next-round attacks. The Utility Belt is VERY thematic on the Watchmen universe’s Batman analogue. The Willpower helps a lot, too. Today, with the release of the Batman Cowl, I’d add that costume for Stealth action.

Ozymandias (Watchmen Fast Forces 004) 75 + Brilliant Tactician 20
He’s a bit tricky to use because you want to have him carted about by Nite Owl, but his LOF to the rest of the team tends to get blocked that way. But of course Brilliant Tactician makes him superb for the team.

Rorschach (Watchmen 001) 57
He’s a needed Stealth wall and Leap/Climb tie-up for the rest of the team. With the boost to CCE, maybe he’s a potential fighter, too.

I like running the Watchmen more than ever with the superior Fast Forces versions. This team will see the map again.

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Continuing this photographic record of figures hefting objects, this time starting a multi-week look at figs from the new Wolverine and the X-Men full set. First up? Colossus (Wolverine and The X-Men 002 and 202) .

ColossusWAXM

Just nudge the big Russian back a bit and the token fits fine under his left wrist.

A surprise is Toad 006, who can get any attack power on his late dial:

The hold is quite bad, as only the newer, thicker objects found in starter sets since 2012 can wedge between his butt and calves…barely.

Another: Shi’ar Guard 206 from the countertop primer set:

He can hold it well as shown.

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Thursdays for a while will feature pix from Fear Itself, with Tuesdays continuing the coverage of Wolverine +The X-Men. Tomorrow, read about a F.U.N. Fight.

And Friday? It’s all about DragonCon in Atlanta on Friday.

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Continuing the series recounting how I added art to DC cards to make ’em prettier.

Last time, I promised another feat from 2007’s Justice League set. But the remaining feats of the set were either too laden with text to work — such as Contingency Plan — or are outright banned, like the Alternate Team Ability feats. So we’re moving on to cards from the next DC set, 2008’s Crisis.

CR_BF001_Skyscrapers

When I read the issue of Starman that this excellent art came from, I knew it was the best choice to illustrate this battlefield condition — one which could not be used at all on a lot of the more recent maps in the game, according to this Player’s Guide ruling:

This card can‘t be played if any of the starting areas is made up exclusively of elevated terrain.

Next week, more BFCs from Crisis.

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With Wednesday’s release of the Wolverine and the X-Men set, the core roster of the not-so-mighty GLA is complete.

Great_Lakes_Avengers1_9471

  • Mr. Immortal: 46 points of undying frequently dying tie-up;
  • Doorman: 45-point taxi extraordinaire with 11 Speed and the ability to open a wall or blocking terrain for a round;
  • Dinah Soar: The other taxi. Not quite as fast but makes it up in quantity by carrying 3 GLA teammates for 20 points less;
  • Flatman: A conditional Outwitter of 100-points-or-less figures;
  • and Big Bertha: Just 4 clicks long for 56 points but with Charge and Plasticity and a DV power that only takes one click at a time. Strong, too.

= oh, look! They’re exactly 200 points! …withOUT their tailor-made Additional Team Ability. 🙁

This team has great mobility options in Dinah and Doorman, and Mr. I and Bertha are good tie-up. But it’s sorely lacking in damage output. None of the characters have greater than 2 printed damage and most have ONES almost the entire dial! Outside of Bertha’s brawn, the GLA will often NEED Flatman’s limited Outwit SP to be able to deal with even the lightest armor.

Or they can get a little help from other keyworded friends:

  • Squirrel Girl: With a good run of Exploit Weakness and then Incap and BCF, she gives the group a little oomph. Unfortunately, her 59 point cost is awkward.
  • Hawkeye (Avengers 056): Finally a bit of actual 3 damage for the team. His 9 AV is suspect, since he’ll need to use Running Shot instead of sitting still for the +2 AV standing still version. At 56 points is also tough to tack on to the rest of the team’s 200.
  • Then there’s Hawkeye (Chaos War), a nearly perfect fit to make the team 300 points. The trouble with him is he still prevents use of the ATA and his natural Spider-Man Ally TA is completely wasted on this team. Same goes for…
  • Deadpool (Web of Spider-Man): Way expensive at 158 points, but worth every one as he gives the GLA what it sorely needs to help its fighting strength: Perplex. Though he’s such a good fig that he threatens to steal the show…like Deadpool NEVER, EVER does in the comics. 😉
  • What about Hawkeye (Fear Itself)? 135 points allows another pal such as Squirrel Girl to get in on the action in a 400 point game. His Revert click works well with CW Hawkeye. The only drawback is that the GLA ATA is STILL crowded out.

But IS that ATA even worth using?

“During an attack made by a character using this team ability, opposing characters cannot use Probability Control unless a friendly character has already used Probability Control during this attack. Uncopyable.”

3 points just to stop enemies from forcing rerolls on your attacks seems overcosted.

Anyway, the Great Lakes Avengers are only supposed to be a F.U.N. team: certainly Friendly, kinda Nifty….barely Useful.

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Wolvies

My favorite thing to do in HeroClix is to run teams composed of various iterations of the same character. This time is was comics’ most popular Canucklehead’s turn:

Wolverine (Giant-Sixe X-Men) 103
Wolverine (Giant-Sixe X-Men Fast Forces) 75
Wolverine (Web of Spider-Man) 105
Wolverine (Armor Wars 095) 60
Wolverine (Fantastic Forces) 71
Wolverine (Wolverine and the X-Men 201) 113
Wolverine (TabApp) 100
Wolverine (Chaos War) 90
Wolverine (Incredible Hulk) 70
Weapon X (Captain America) 72
Weapon X (Marvel 10th Anniversary) 71
Colonel Logan (Days of Future Past) 70
+ Eleha’al Vine
+ Kinetic Accelerator
+ Dynamostat
= 1000 on the nose. BFCs included Overconfidence, Darkness and Resistance.

FIRST, I faced Paul’s excellent Mystical team of Dracula (Fear Itself), full-power Scarlet Witch (Fast Forces), 50-point Enchantress (Justice League) 3 Vampire Lackeys, 2 Astral Dr. Stranges and Trinity of Sin’s Phantom Stranger and Pandora, all led by a Warbound pair of Dr. Stranges (Secret Invasion and Galactic Guardians 206) on the Gridreality Park map. My BFC (Overconfidence, to stop Lotus Strange’s Brilliant Tactician) was nixed. I fought off Dracula but only KO’d a single Rookie Lackey for a horrible loss in which my opponent consistently made at least 2 attacks for every one I attempted.

SECOND round was against Bill’s N.O.W.H.E.R.E. team of Harvest, Omen, Rose Wilson (Teen Titans 030), Warblade (Teen Titans 055), N.O.W.H.E.R.E. Soldier (Teen Titans 205) and the rest of the team filled out with at least four N.O.W.H.E.R.E. Soldiers (Teen Titans 009) on the Metropolis map. Again, my chosen BFC, Resistance, was killed, and again I found myself thoroughly outactioned, outgunned and outdone, only scoring 126 points in the final minutes while losing Wolverine after Wolverine. And it could have been far, far worse, if Omen’s Mind Controls had actually borne fruit.

In the FINAL round, a bye against the judge, I finally found a little success, winning map roll to get Shadowlands (which ironically made my last BFC, Darkness, superfluous). This meant my Wolverines could actually do some fighting at last. And fight they did, KOing Green Lantern Batman and Caped Crusader (both of 2012’s Batman set) while surviving attacks from Thing (Galactic Guardians), Hawkeye (Chaos War), Kid Flash (Teen Titans 039) and Raizo Kodo, common Red She-Hulk and Valkyrie all of Fear Itself. Only lost WAXM Wolvie.

I’d wanted to play an all-Wolverine team for a long time. In fact, it was the sole reason I even still own some of these figures. But today’s 1-2 record tournament has me considering…well…NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN.

That means I’m dumping some Wolvies outta my collection.

So…which Wolverines should stay? Which should go? Post your opinions in the comments! A future F.U.N. Friday article will reveal the results of the Wolverine Purge.