Continuing this series talking about DC feats and BFC cards that I went back and customized with artwork for fun. (Here’s a link back to the original concept.) Today, Card Arts continues with the first of 2007’s Justice League’s feat cards:
Deadshot aiming at the reader at point blank range, from Jim Califore’s work on Secret Six. It works.
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Next time, Card Arts looks at another feat of 2007’s Justice League set.
Continuing the photographic record of clix from the Teen Titans set with Super Strength that can hold the game’s cardboard object tokens. Today, let’s look at this wild guy, Grunge:
It doesn’t go easily, but the shirtless tat-monger can secure something like a hold on a token upright under his right wrist as shown.
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Back on Thursday for another teen titan with a grip.
Continuing this series talking about DC feats and BFC cards that I went back and customized with artwork for fun. (Here’s a link back to the original concept.) Today, Card Arts continues with the last of 2007’s Justice League’s BFCs:
Technically, the Justice Leaguers in the above image (from the Rock of Ages storyline in JLA) aren’t shrunk, just among much larger heroes of an older universe. But it’s a perfect image to illustrate the card.
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Next week, Card Arts looks at the first of the Feats of 2007’s Justice League.
Continuing this series talking about DC feats and BFC cards that I went back and customized with artwork for fun. (Here’s a link back to the original concept.) Today, Card Arts continues with the next of 2007’s Justice League’s BFCs:
Great image of the mighty Superman giving a love tap courtesy of Carlos Pacheco. The card itself is a great remix of the more abusable “Power Dampening Field,” which replaces damage dealt higher than 3 with 3.
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Next time, Card Arts looks at the last of the BFCs of 2007’s Justice League.
Another installment of the photographic record of how HeroClix figures with Super Strength can hold — in some way — their own object tokens. Here’s a final figure from Man of Steel that’s actually named Superman:
Superman (Man of Steel 100) has a steely grip thanks to his cape and left boot.
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Next week: Token Totin’ might continue Tuesday with more Man of Steel. But I still lack the remaining pieces with the Super Strength power: Kelex (Man of Steel 015) and General Zod (016). We’ll see.
The highlighted figures below retired to Golden Age on July 1, a Monday. I played this team on June 29, a Saturday, for
One.
Last.
Mission.
Steve Rogers (Captain America) 99
Sharon Carter (Chaos War) 45
Ant-Man (Chaos War 026) 43
Valkyrie (Fear Itself) 130
Black Widow (Captain America 006) 85
War Machine (Iron Man 3) 220
Moon Knight (Amazing Spider-Man) 109
Beast (Giant-Size X-Men) 95
Nova (Galactic Guardians) 125
While there are the Avengers Movie/Fear Itself versions of Black Widow and the Fast Forces release of Beast to keep those characters Modern, Steve Rogers as commander of SHIELD is highly unlikely to ever be remade. So the Secret Avengers, in its one truly great incarnation (on paper, at least — the actual team-up in the comic never lived up to its promise thanks to the virtual non-involvement of Nova before his being taken out) will never again grace a Modern Age game.
So how’d it do in its swan song?
MISSION: To beat Mark’s Adam Warlock (Galactic Guardians 032), Quasar (Captain America), Jor-El (Man of Steel 005), Cyborg (Teen Titans 025), Hawkeye (Chaos War), Alfred Pennyworth (Batman), Gizmo and Bruce Wayne (Batman 202a) x 3 on my choice of the Iron Man 3 docks map in a 1000-point, 5-action Modern Age event requiring at least one figure due for retirement July 1.
Key moment: Ant-Man and friends took early Energy Explosion damage from Cyborg, who got TK’d a bunch to get an object-enabled shot.
War Machine and friends took Cyborg down next. Then Valkyrie, warping to Cyborg’s last known spot, pushed to Charge-Flurry Hawkeye to immediate death for an extra margin of victory. Only lost Ant-Man in the end, despite two badly timed consecutive crit misses on my part.
BY PIECE:
Steve Rogers (Captain America) 99
True to his trait’s name, he was “The Focal Point” more than ever in these last few games. Giving fellow Avengers the SHIELD TA helped plenty. When I originally played Rogers, well before the TA’s more recent upgrades, his 7 range was a liability against further-reaching foes. But with the average range value dropping to about 6, he’s working out a lot better. More than a couple of Leadership roll successes kept certain teammates active.
Sharon Carter (Chaos War) 45
Naturally, her “Secret Avengers” trait granting Stealth to Avengers is a key point on this team. But she’s also great for her printed SHIELD TA and 2nd-click Perplex, too. SO much better than the original Sharon in Mutations & Monsters.
Ant-Man (Chaos War 026) 43
O’Grady’s lack of speed hurts his effectiveness as a good tie-up piece, but his unusual anti-Outwit/Perplex power can come in handy. Better still is his Tiny Size, which enables him to take a power action to use SHIELD and then hitch a ride with a Running Shot pal to boost said pal’s damage. His short dial is a boon to the following teammate as well…
Valkyrie (Fear Itself) 130
This team has needed a dedicated melee piece and, in her, gets one. So after she’s done clustering with cheaper allies to use her Leadership early on in the game, she either Charges in to Flurry or, more hopefully, warps in the spot of a fallen friend or foe to gain access to more targets. ‘Course, this can just as often lead her to her own early death. But the more fire on her, the less on the dangerous shooters of the team.
Black Widow (Captain America 006) 85
Best used as Rogers’ left hand with his Leadership to take off her tokens. SHIELD helps extend her modest range, too. With traited, unOutwittable Stealth, she’s the one teammate who need not depend on Sharon Carter for cover. A single push gets her to Penetrating Psychic Blast if needed.
War Machine (Hammer of Thor) 137
Nova Prime (Galactic Guardians) 150
These two serves as leadoff or cleanup hitters alike on the team I played back in mid-June. War Machine’s long range proved key for a clutch TTPC, and both are my preferred choices to represent the characters.
War Machine (Iron Man 3) 220
Nova (Annihilators) 125
This Modern Age pair worked differently, with Nova being more pure support through his Worldmind Surge SP granting Perplex to like-keyworded friends. It especially benefited his fellow Soldier, War Machine, who got a generally can’t-miss 13 AV.
Moon Knight (Amazing Spider-Man) 109
He was a HUGE boon with his Perplex. Especially good in crowded environs thanks to his short range. The Full Moon trait makes him a bit of a wild card, as one never quite knows if he’ll be a quietly high-priced support piece or a dangerous threat they won’t see coming.
…even though he wears all white.
Beast (Giant-Size X-Men) 95
Thanks to the Outwit nerf forcing him to get closer to the action, Beast is now a new melee threat and tie-up piece. At worst, he’ll draw fire away from the real offensive threats on the team before going down. And with his late-dial CCE, he WILL draw fire if he’s basing a foe with his natural 11 AV.
The difference couldn’t be greater in this truer incarnation of the Secret Avengers build than the initial one cobbled together in 2010 when the title was first released. And I couldn’t be gladder about it — a comic-accurate F.U.N. team!
Continuing Heroclixin’s photographic record of how sculpts with Super Strength can hold object tokens. Here’s the next entry in the Man of Steel micro-set, General Zod (Man of Steel 003):
KNEEL.
The token fits fine between his cape and his right calf/ankle.
Continuing this series talking about DC feats and BFC cards that I went back and customized with artwork for fun. (Here’s a link back to the original concept.) Today, Card Arts continues with the first of 2007’s Justice League’s BFCs, De-Feated:
I think this was the first point when I stopped just looking in DC comics of the period I owned and began to search the web. I certainly couldn’t find and image of the unworn utility belt on the floor like I wanted to use. This was the closest thing I could find. No idea where it’s from or who the artist is.
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Next time, Card Arts continues with the BFCs of 2007’s Justice League.
The final “piece” in this “Top Ten” list of figures Heroclixin’ will miss in retirement is a whole team:
#1
Aaron Stack, Elsa Bloodstone, Monica Rambeau, The Captain, Tabitha Smith (Giant-Size X-Men)
Equaling a perfect 500-point named keyword team, the Nextwave squad never really got on the field the way I wanted it to. Maybe it was the lack of good top-dial moving attack options in a game which still boasted, at the time, plenty of ranges 8 or longer. A pity that almost as soon as the support powers Outwit and Perplex, which could easily nerf Nextwave before, were themselves nerfed, Nextwave gets relegated to the pasture. Speaking of which, Nextwave didn’t have any of those support powers, either — not without taking a lot of damage. And even though the crew had a decent ATA, it was unusable on a full-power Nextwave themed team in Modern Age unless one doubled up on the weakest member to make a 600-point team.
Nextwave: Not Getting Played In Force Since Q1 2011.
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Retirement has a silver lining though, because this:
Aaron Stack, Elsa Bloodstone, Monica Rambeau, The Captain, Tabitha Smith (Giant-Size X-Men)
The team with the Nextwave ATA added up to 525 points. Now that the team’s in Golden Age, we can throw on the full 50 points of Feats to make this a proper 600-point themed team at last!
First, spend 25 points on Warbound on all characters with the Nextwave keyword. This feat, which really kinda fits this close-knit team that’s more like a family, eliminates some of the movement/action challenges the squad has at this point level. The taxis, which are also the big hitters, can shunt tokens off to the cheaper passengers (only Tabby is too inexpensive for them to Warbound to). Or the cheaper ones, when finally in position to do something, can dump their tokens off to the others, as in this illustrative pic:
Tabitha Smith (Giant-Size X-Men 015) makes a close combat attack and uses Warbound to give the token to an adjacent friendly character more than half her 58-point cost, Aaron Stack (Giant-Size X-Men 016). He then pushes to make a close combat attack of his own because he’s Indomitable and can use Willpower. Tabby will be free next turn to act — say, setting her Timebombs in distant squares or just making a ranged attack, because no generic cop HeroClix figure is standing up after getting kicked for 3 damage twice in a row.
(Don’t worry, parents, it’s OK— it’s a BAD cop they’re kicking.)
That leaves 25 more points left for feats in the 10% allowed for feats. Each character’s gonna get one.
Monica!
Lacking Special Powers or Traits, she will microwave the buttocks off most of the newer figures in the game thanks to Not So Special giving her an AV boost against those that do have SPs. That’s 3 points. 22 to go.
Tabby!
Her no-attack-roll-necessary SP only deals a low 1 or 2 damage. So feat her with Armor Piercing, which has always put teeth into multi-target Energy Explosion, which Tabitha (aka Boom Boom aka Meltdown) has in spades on her non-SP clicks to give foes the explodo with this clever use of 10 points.
Aaron!
The robotic hero full of useful devices and sock-drawer-organizing skills would have the Inside Information on other Avengers, Heavy Metal, Nextwave, Robot, S.H.I.E.L.D., and West Coast Avengers-keyworded foes for a healthy AV boost against them for just 4 more points. Play it!
Elsa!
The English-accented monster hunter can further her monster hunting ways with the 3-point Monster Hunter feat.
The Captain!
In an appropriately gonzo sort of way, Alias is actually a pretty fitting feat for a guy who’s called himself just about every Captain [insertwordhere] in the Marvel Universe. Gameplay-wise, as he’s liable to lead the charge with his Impervious hide and potential Outwit/Perplex immunity, it gives him a little protection.
Feat total comes to 48 points, 2 under the cap, bringing the team to 573.
So let’s put a Resource on Aaron Stack, who, as noted before, is full of very useful devices approximating the powers of a half-complete Infinity Gauntlet:
And, of course, his time with the Celestials means he can access robot godhood … eventually.
The most useful aspect of a Gauntlet on Aaron is the early Telekinesis he offers the team. He is the pilot of Nextwave’s ship, the Shockwave Rider, after all.
Finally, some Battlefield Conditions will round things out:
598 points. Can’t wait to try this out!
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Next week: back to regular features.
Mourning in earnest now, even though I should be celebrating what remains of my freedom on this Independence Day here in America:
4
Aquaman (DC 75th Anniversary)
Overshadowed by my REAL favorite Aquaman (from Brightest Day), this one will still be missed for his high natural damage and water-based powers — especially now that there are a few more pieces that can grant water even on dry maps. In Golden Age, he’s liable to be crowded out by much better Atlantis pieces like the BD version and Secret Invasion Namor. Alas.
#3
Firestorm (Brightest Day)
Another one of those pieces I just wish I’d played more. His lack of any viable keywords did that damage, and will likely continue to.
#2
(tie) Steve Rogers (Captain America 031)
Gorgon (Captain America 046)
Steve is leader of my personal-fave theme Secret Avengers, which I got to finally play as a complete Modern Age team just ONCE before retirement. (I’ll tell you about it someday.) Now, the Black Widow, Beast and Steve Rogers clix used for the team are retired.
But while I can sub in any one of three decent versions of Natasha (Avengers Movie 007, 035 or The Covert Avenger) or the Fast Forces Beast (inferior though he be), Steve Rogers is the super soldier in a specific role and place in time…Cap with no red-white-and-blue shield, but a pistol. He’s not going to be remade, not with Nick Fury Jr. running the black ops Avengers now (and wearing the above uniform). Commander Rogers is forever retired.
(sniff) It’s like Cap dying all over again.
Then there’s Gorgon, this wicked, wicked Secret Warriors villain whose clix figure fascinated me. Of all the pieces on this list, he’s the one that’s somehow become a favorite anyway.
I think it’s because I like samurai swords.
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Retirement leads to joy as well:
(tie) Hellfire Club Guard (Giant-Size X-Men 004)
Leech (Giant-Size X-Men 026)
Both these pieces were hell to deal with if you weren’t prepared for them. The Guards in particular really mucked up the works because characters barely associated with the club in question gained huge dividends from it. Anyone who’s fought a GSX Magneto gets this. Leech, on the other hand, was an equal opportunity nerf stick, with an area of effect that was at least two squares too wide IMO.
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Tomorrow: the conclusion. (There may be another tie.)