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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.

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Continuing this photographic record of figures hefting objects, this time starting an overdue look at figs from the Fear Itself event. First up?

“A” is for Asgardian Troll 002 who, at his 25 point cost, supplants Aquaman (Hypertime ) as the least expensive Super Strength non-bystander in the game. The Troll’s hold on the token is a wedge between the club and his right heel.

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Valtrauta_cool_from_Thor_313

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

RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES

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

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

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

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

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

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

Then there are the curious mortal inductees to the cadre.

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

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

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