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Mourning in earnest now, even though I should be celebrating what remains of my freedom on this Independence Day here in America:

4

_Adv252AQThink-thumb

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

Brightest_Day_17_Firestorm

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

CommanderRogers Secret_Warriors_Vol_1_11

(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:

hellfireguard 200px-Leech-first

(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.)

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From Modern Age to Golden Age go these, with regret:

6

Scorpion

Scorpion (Captain America 032)

She was one of those figs I kinda liked but could never commit to a team. Did she belong on Hydra? SHIELD? Plus she was a little mediocre in general. But she makes the list for being one of those pieces I wish I’d played more.

 

#5

Sentinels
Sentinel Mark V (Giant-Size X-Men G09)

This was the best of the GSX Sentinels. They’re all decommissioned for Modern Age now, replaced with the far-inferior Chaos War variety. Poor Master Mold stinks even more.

 

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Retirement’s not ALL bad, though, because of figs like this:

rorschach-unmasked

Rorschach (Watchmen Crimebusters Fast Forces 001)

Similar to yesterday’s mort, this Rorschach ONLY saw play in Modern Age games because the main Watchmen set version was every bit as good, maybe better, for 18 points less. Now that both are Golden, you’ll never use this one.

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Tomorrow: Three more.

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Retirement stinks. This time, these sets get the axe from Modern Age:

  • Brightest Day
  • DC 75th Anniversary
  • Giant-Size X-Men
  • Green Lantern Movie
  • Green Lantern Movie Fast Forces
  • Captain America
  • Watchmen Crimebusters Fast Forces
  • Warriors of Asgard Fast Forces
  • Street Fighter

Not counting any pieces among my favorites for their respective years of release — because OF COURSE I’ll miss seeing them in Modern Age — there’s a definite list of figs that I’m sorry to see go. Here are numbers 8 and 7.

8

kilowog_fs 

Kilowog (Green Lantern Movie 008)

It took a LONG time to get a Modern Age Kilowog back in the game. Far too soon, he’s gone again, with no new one in sight. It’s a far cry from 2011, when the game was LOUSY with Green Lanterns galore.

So while he sorta serves as proxy for all the other GLs phasing out, this Kilowog gets the sorrowful wave goodbye for being my favorite of the lot. (Salaak nearly got the slot.)

#7

Deejay
Dee Jay (Street Fighter)

Like the ‘Wog, this happy kickboxing Jamaican represents the whole Street Fighter crew, being my favorite. I never played him half as much as I wanted to, though — he just gets crowded off the highly competitive keyword teams he fits, Celebrity and Martial Artist. Golden Age may help him as he can equip the Lunge feat to combine with the SF TA for a five-square reach for a jump-in light 2-damage attack.

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Retirement’s not ALL bad, though, because of figs like this:

Synthia_'Sin'_Schmidt

Sin (Captain America 209)

At 80 points with mediocre stats, a trait requiring a Golden Age figure to activate AND a 23-points-cheaper version in the same set, there was almost no earthly reason to use this piece in Modern Age. Now, at least, she’ll see some use on Hydra teams unless there’s a cheaper, better version available like Sin (Fear Itself 009) Crossbones .

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Tomorrow: Three more.

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Another July, another round of retirement. This time, these sets get the axe from Modern Age:

  • Brightest Day
  • DC 75th Anniversary
  • Giant-Size X-Men
  • Green Lantern Movie
  • Green Lantern Movie Fast Forces
  • Captain America
  • Watchmen Crimebusters Fast Forces
  • Warriors of Asgard Fast Forces
  • Street Fighter

Not counting any pieces among my favorites for their respective years of release — because OF COURSE I’ll miss seeing them in Modern Age — there’s a definite list of figs that I’m sorry to see go.

And a corresponding list of figs that couldn’t get to Golden Age fast enough for my taste.

Let it begin. Let it begin!

10

Angel

Angel (Giant-Size X-Men 031)

There was a time when Angel’s full-speed Charge and taxi skills for such a low price were rather attractive. Alas, his time quickly passed. Worse, it seems that the upcoming X-Men set won’t feature a feather-winged Warren Worthington III. Sorry to see this one go.

#9

gatecrasher_large
Gatecrasher (Giant-Size X-Men 037)

This intergalactic momma also never quite got her moment to shine in Modern Age, despite the copious early Perplex and some pushability. She’s surprisingly unfeatworthy, so Golden status isn’t her forte, either.

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and one on the crap list:

WLFLASH

Flash (DC 75th Anniversary W-7)

Once the cream cheese of pieces, this high-dollar fig has lost the arms race in a big way. Getting him to GA is almost a mercy. See ya, don’t wanna be ya…

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Tomorrow: Three more.

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Secret_Avengers_new

At last, I was able to run a keyword-themed team of Secret Avengers recently as planned.

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 (Hammer of Thor) 137
Moon Knight (Amazing Spider-Man) 109
Beast (Giant-Size X-Men) 95
Nova Prime (Galactic Guardians) 150

RUN THE MISSION: Secret Avengers is a range-focused team, with six of the nine pieces starting with Running Shot. But it can’t hang TOO far out, because with only one starting Perplexer and relatively low damage output, Outwit from Beast is all but necessary for success. Fortunately, this team is loaded with the SHIELD team ability, thanks to Rogers’ “The Focal Point” trait granting the TA to all adjacent Avengers. It gives the short-ranged members a little more reach and the low-damage shooters a little more oomph when needed.

DON’T GET SEEN: With Sharon Carter’s trait, a veritable wall of Stealth can be built. Moon Knight has his own Stealth, sometimes, and Black Widow, all the time. Rogers’ Leadership is key, and Valkyrie’s can help a bit in the early game.

SAVE THE WORLD. Nova Prime and War Machine work as long-ranged one-two punches with 4-damage Running Shots. But I expect Val to do a lot of the KOs, especially with help from Rogers’s sky-high AV and Moon Knight’s starting Perplex.

_____

MISSION ONE: To beat Dominique’s Hulked Out Heroes (with ATA) plus Amadeus Cho and Don Blake. I foolishly picked the Alien City map — one with almost no natural hindering terrain — against it. So much for “Don’t Get Seen.”

Key moment: Ant-Man tying up a Utility Belt-equipped Hulklops. The easily KO’d O’Grady triggered Valkyrie to Hulklops’ side and she Flurried him near to death to seal the win. Also KO’d IceHulk and, nearly, both Wolverage and Hulkmariner.

MISSION TWO: To beat Morrison’s armored team of Iron Men (Secret Invasion #024, 10th Anniversary #012 and Iron Man 3 #200), Rocket Red (Batman), Batman (beyond), Rookie Mandroid Armor, Doombot 5953 and a 70-pt. Iron Man Drone on the enemy’s home field of the Bell Tower — another site all but devoid of hindering.

Key moment: Again warping to the side of KO’d Ant-Man, Valkyrie soon joined him in Valhalla after heavy fire from multiple shooters before she could even make an attack, leaving me in a deep 178-point hole. But now I was ready to counterattack with multiple uses of SHIELD-enhanced ranges and damages. One by one, I took down two of the Iron Men and Batman for a solid comeback victory, 353-273.

MISSION THREE: To beat Matthew’s new-set Teen Titans consisting of Superboy (026), Red Star, Nightwing (022), 50-point Robin (001), Wonder Girl (008), Solstice (013), Red Robin (018) and a Utility Belted Kid Flash (039). He won map and picked my least favorite: the Gridreality Park.

Key moment(s): An immediate Running Shot with 13 range (War Machine + three SHIELD deputized by ol’ Focal Point himself, Steve Rogers) sent Changeling running to Kid Flash in the back, who was able to freely heal him back. But the heal dealt KF Teen Titans TA damage, making his alpha strike much less injurious.

This put much more of the impetus on Red Star to carry the early offense, and he only left himself open to counterattack by my team, which took full advantage of the copious hindering terrain to stay Stealthy. Took Red Star, Changeling, Superboy and Nightwing, losing none.

RESULT: 3-0 for a 2nd-place tourney win (couldn’t match the victory points of a Justice League team base force, though). Definitely a far cry from the failures of years before with this team.

Top ten’s coming next week, but as I plan to run a Modern Age variation of this team one more time before this year’s retirement phase kicks in after the weekend, look for a final wrapup on Secret Avengers soon.

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Another installment of the photographic record of how HeroClix figures with Super Strength can hold — in some way — their own object tokens. Here are a couple from Man of Steel that aren’t actually named Superman:

Nam-Ek (Man of Steel 010) has a typical giant-size figure’s hold on the token. Not very secure but an easy-to-achieve one, at least. (His sculptmate Nam-Ek (104) does not have Super Strength.)

The below representation of pre-cape Superman rounds out today’s look:

Just tilt the Clark Kent (Man of Steel 009) figure back a bit until you can wedge the token under his crossed arms and in the stat slot.

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Next week: The Top Ten figures I’ll most miss from Modern Age when the latest waves of retirement hit July 1 (and 10 I WON’T miss).

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One rarely thinks of Superman without thinking of Super Strength. Naturally, most versions of the character have the power.

Most.

Superman (Man of Steel 001), shown above, does NOT have Super Strength. But he does share a sculpt with Superman (Man of Steel 101) who DOES. Hence, the photo above.

There’s a far older piece actually named Man of Steel (Collateral Damage 222) that belongs in Token Totin’:

manofSteel

 

He and identical setmate Superman (Collateral Damage 218) hold the token securely under the cape.

Tomorrow’s my birthday, so I may skip updates. Token Totin’ will continue Thursday with more Man of Steel.

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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 Legion of Super-Heroes set’s cards.

First, Defiance:

LO_BF001_Defiance

A big ol’ shot of the LSH charging in was called for here. But this image, from the Legion of Three Worlds limited series of 2008 actually post-dates the card’s summer 2007 release (breaking one of my original rules). But I’m too lazy to go back and actually change it to the image it probably should bear:

LegionWeAre

We’ll live, I think.

Here’s the feat from the set, Drag:

Drag

This was one (using art from the 2004 Legion series) that I passed on initially because the text squeezed out almost all room for the text. It’s why I didn’t add art to Thwart in the Origin set’s rotation in this series. And looking at what I attempted, above, you see how I won’t be doing this **** again.

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So much for LSH. Next time, Card Arts continues with the first BFC of 2007’s Justice League.

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More token-holding action in Teen Titans. First, behold the biggest brat of all comics, Superboy Prime (Teen Titans ):

 

 

Objects fit neatly between his cape and left armor tubing.

 

Not to be outdone, the REAL Kryptonian hero Superman (066) makes his appearance in Token Totin’:

 

 

 

Next week, Token Totin’ will continue down this path to highlight the Man of Steel.

 

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More token-holding action in Teen Titans, after a bit of a long break. (Longer than intended, actually, as I meant to publish this last Tuesday. Button didn’t work — or my BRAIN didn’t.)

Here’s a look at Aquaman (Teen Titans 015), the king of the seas, and a gal who dresses like she ought to be swimming in the seas, Fairchild (003):

Both grip their tokens high and hard.   Gizmo (044), who doesn’t actually have Super Strength but can get it temporarily via his SP, has a great hold: It’s wedged upright under his left pistol.

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More to come Thursday, maybe. Recently suffered a hard drive crash — my first ever — and lost a lot of stuff I was planning. But Heroclixin’ shall endure!!!