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A brief survey of Heroclixin’ (or clicking on the “About Heroclixin'” link above) shows that this website isn’t very focused on the meta aspects of this game. But darn if the metagame doesn’t make you anyway.

Lately there have been quite a few figures and mechanics release which go pretty counter to the F.U.N. aesthetic of Heroclixin’ and, even worse, sometimes against the very characters they represent.

Take, for example, Ziran the Tester. His “Testing” trait at all but his lowest point level can deal free automatic damage to any team that’s actually built to challenge a powerful colossal, while a team that can actually pass all his tests — in Modern Age, at least — wouldn’t have a prayer of winning. Taking damage just for building your team? On the Power Leap Factor scale of 1 to 5, this unprecedented mechanic rates the maximum.

But that’s a 600-1800-point colossal. You expect that sort of incredibly unfair and potentially un-fun stuff from that lot. But what about a street-level set like Dark Knight Rises?

Sadly, there’s a fair bit of power leap there, too. Almost every single piece is a bit overpowered somehow.

The Dark Knight 001: has 3 starting clicks of Invulnerability. Why’s he get to be more durable than many characters with the Armor keyword? This is on top of being permaStealthy and able to Outwit through walls. A more character-accurate balance would’ve been for him to have ONE click of Invulnerability on top. As is, this piece has a Power Leap Factor of 3.

Shadow Assassin 002a: for 3 fewer points, he has a longer dial and a much-improved version of Hand Ninja 003’s Special Power; this time, it works with Blades/Claws/Fangs. Only the fact that BCF isn’t top-dial keeps the Power Leap Factor from being more than a modest 1.

Bruce Wayne 003: somehow this billionaire playboy is able to rock a high 18 Defend and counteract Outwit while using the power himself. And all this is pretty well in keeping with Christian Bale Bruce Wayne’s out-of-uniform Bat-tricks, if a little too efficient in my opinion (I’d have nudged the DV down to 17, myself). What cranks the Power Leap Factor from 1 to 3 is the appearance of Leap/Climb. Bruce Wayne does not carry Bat-cables in his business suit! (Caveat: I haven’t seen Dark Knight Rises as of this writing.) Drop the L/C!

Arkham Asylum Inmate 004: Both dials are very efficient for 40 points. The “A” version’s ability to get either free breakaway or a second attack after a miss deserves a Power Leap Factor score of 2. 004b only gets better stats and Batman Enemy TA. Power Leap Factor: 1

GCPD Officer 005a: Why does a beat cop get the smartest power there is, Outwit? That’s ridiculous. Power Leap Factor: 5

Catwoman 006: her trait depends on both adjacency and the randomness of rolling doubles, so her Power Leap Factor is 0; she’s otherwise a perfectly character-accurate representation of Selina Kyle.

The Joker’s Henchman #1: Again, this is a dial thoroughly justified by the film, with low stats balancing out the useful bits. Power Leap Factor: 0

Mercenary 008: But now we’re getting a little ridiculous again. 45 points for Indomitable, solid stats and the ability to crack Invuln. on most clicks is enough to earn Power Leap Factor 3 for the A version — and that’s without a Bane to boost his AV or damage even higher! The B version somehow rates super Support (which better be a reference to Bane’s Venom Pump or something) though with lower stats. Only Power Leap Factor 1 here.

Two-Face 009: Indomitable makes sense for him. His SP giving him, occasionally, a free attack on a 2nd target, also makes sense. Having Super Senses does NOT. When did he get as nimble as Spider-Man or intangible/shielded like Zatanna? And how does flipping a coin rate Probability Control? Power Leap Factor: 3, not because he’s so effective — he’s not — but because he’s not accurate for the sake of a little extra playability.

Falcone Bodyguard 010b: This would be a great dial for the Shadow Assassin, or Shang Chi, the master of kung fu. NOT for a Mafia thug, even an elite one! When, in either of the first films, do you EVER see any of such get through Batman’s armor? Yet that’s what this piece does ALL DIAL LONG. The worst thing is the Leap/Climb for the first two clicks; he deserves it even less than Bruce Wayne earlier. Power Leap Factor 5.

GCPD Riot Officer 011a: Invulnerability on a 45-point cop? Sure, why not? It’s an arms race now, with Mafia goons able to punch through Iron Man’s armor like it isn’t there. Actually, this makes sense as representative of the bulletproof riot shield, and being followed by a couple of bare clicks balances it pretty nicely. Consequently, this is just Power Leap Factor 2.

Miranda Tate 012: Y’know, I think I’ll pick up here next week, after I’ve seen The Dark Knight Rises, to see if this click rates a Power Leap Factor. And, of course, we’re not even half done deconstructing this set. See you here next Friday!

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One of my standing goals in my HeroClix hobby is this: to play every single piece in my collection at least once.

I mean, I bought ’em…so I oughta play ’em!

This was an easy goal to meet when I could get to 3-4 tournaments each week and the pace of releases weren’t so frenetic. But now, my modest tackle box dedicated to unfielded figures has overflowed by a factor of at least two.

Fortunately, I got a couple of extra friendly matches under my belt (thanks, Lenny!) the last couple of weeks to clear out a fair number of figures. First, I picked a green theme to the tune of 900 points:

Loki (Avengers Movie 015): The trickster wound up being the MVP of the match, thanks to his early-game TK to help the immobile team and his much-needed Outwit to soften up the opposition. I like that he never becomes useless, ever, being able to break heavy armor all the time. I never got his Mind Control to work, though, and I really wanted to. Result: I’ll play him again sometime.

Hulk (Avengers Movie 014): I used him horribly, completely forgetting his top-dial SP granting Flurry. When he starts with a fairly putrid-for-140-points 9 AV, you can’t neglect free attacks like that (and it probably cost me a sweet 1-2 KO of Ms. Marvel)! I still might’ve gotten some good use out of him if I could’ve made either of those breakaway rolls, but I got a 2 each time. Result: I’ll play him again sometime…I must redeem myself!

Skrull Infiltrator (Avengers Movie 207a): Double FAIL here. A) I picked the wrong dial, using the “A” version instead of the Stealthy “B” version. Consequently, I B) completely forgot the sweet SP guarding against range attacks. Still, this 40-pointer did well to tie up an enemy Thor for quite a few turns. Result: I’ll play him again in a Skrull team for sure, even using this inferior dial.

Vision (Chaos War 205): More double FAIL: He’d gotten knocked to his last click before I realized he was Indomitable, and I’d illegally used him as a flier (he’s not). I made up for it with a full Regen roll. Result: I’ll play him again on a Young Avengers team if the points work out.

Eowyn (Lord of the Rings 017): Though deservedly reviled as the worst HeroClix figure of 2011, the White Lady of Rohan proved that even terrible figures can be highly successful. On a large team like this one, she always had ample targets for her conditional Perplex. And she made more than one healing roll with her also-conditional Support. Finally, her Willpower gave her some actual attack opportunities in the endgame. It’s saying far too much to call her an MVP, but…well, she was in the running. Result: Far better than expected.

Merry & Pippin (Lord of the Rings 022): I’d intended to hold them back with Eowyn to maybe do some big-time triage healing tricks with their epic power. But it was awkward to try because they’d have to be healed first, and their top-dial Willpower and Shape Change make it less likely they’ll need healing. So I instead used them as a sacrificial tie-up piece to buy more important fighters some time. Result: a bit of a letdown for this chase. Say no to drugs, kids!

Super Skrull (Galactic Guardians 034): The heavy hitter of the team and one of its few taxis, SSkrull lasted until the last vestiges of the game. Result: I’ll always be torn between him, the 100-point version and the Supernova classic. 

Skrull Assassin (Galactic Guardians 202): Another one that held on through nearly the whole match (thanks mostly to a heal from Eowyn), Assassin did OK. Result: I probably won’t use her if I’ve got the AVM Infiltrators instead.

Ronan The Accuser (Galactic Guardians Fast Forces 006): The 100-point level was what I could fit on the team. He worked all right. Result: I’ll play him again with Inhumans.

Hulk (Infinity Challenge 199): His low, low stats relegated old Hulk to mere tie-up status in the vain hope that he could get hit into his powerful clicks. Once it happened, though, he was easily KO’d before he could even push to attack.  Result: I’ll never play him again unless I need a cheap Hulk — and the upcoming 10th Anniversary one will fill that bill soon enough!

Infected Marine (Halo 020): His poor 8 AV buffs up to a potential 11 when tokened enemies are nearby, making this Monster a bit of a push-ready terror (especially with a dialful of Steal Energy). Wound up being something of the secret weapon of the team.  Result: I’ll play him again sometime on a Monster team for sure, provided there are enough “Silver” Age games to do so.

About a week later, I was able to get in a 200-point match to finally field this Monster-ous little crew of Halo figs:

Infected Elite (Halo 021): Of the unofficial “Flood” theme, this one is the mobile attacker (Charge) and Stealth shield for the others. If only I’d used him as such. 🙁 A surprisingly long dial for a trim 55 points means … Result: I’ll try it out again sometime.

Flood Carrier (Halo 025): Free attacks after melee attacks, hit or miss, was a lot of fun in spite of the minimal damage and attack values. Fortunately, my target was soft. In the future, Armor Piercing will make this putrid-looking dude dangerous. Result: I want to get a second one.

Flood Infection (Halo 011): They’re designed to move more or less in unison, so each attacking one can get +1 AV for each adjacent ally. So what’d I do? Each one of the two I was running was basically alone when they attacked. They died even before they could Poison anybody. Result: Far better than the way I played.

The team was rounded out by a final cheap Monster, Dinah Soar (Chaos War 012): A superb cheap taxi, even without being on an Avengers team.

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A problem with playing tons of unplayed characters is that I make a lot of errors simply based on not being aware of powers and whatnot. Whereas the powergamers who use the same stupid 20 overpowered characters over and over again have another advantage in knowing those same stupid 20 overpowered characters inside and out.

I mean, there’s thousands of figures to play with. THOUSANDS!!!!!!

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Got shots of a few more Super Strengthers in Chaos War:

From left, we have The Unspoken, who pretty handily holds his fun-Token as shown. The Sentry’s fits under his cape. And the latest Ms. Marvel’s right fist and sash belt work together nicely to make a firm grip.

More Chaotic action on Thursday. Tomorrow, look for a rather unconventional battle report.

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Back to regular rotation of talking about DC feats and BFC cards I went back and customized with artwork for fun.

Still on Collateral Damage set, but moving on to its feats, here’s Inspiring Command:

There’s no DC character that evokes this card’s spirit better than Superman, and this stirring Howard Porter panel from the end of Grant Morrison’s classic JLA run fit the card to a tee.

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A few weeks ago, I shared Heroclixin’s Top Ten Needed Remakes. But similar how the list of 2011’s Worst inadvertently left out the truly #1 worst figure of last year, there’s one that should’ve made the list of remakes. And since we’ve now learned that a new Scarlet Witch is due to appear in today’s power leap era of clix, I think we can squeeze this guy on:

Hobgoblin (Infinity Challenge /  Universe)

Even by the standards of this earliest HeroClix set, the loaded-down-with-the-too-expensive-Incapacitate-power Hobby we saw in these sets was a worthless pile of garbage that didn’t come close to representing one of Spider-Man’s greatest foes.

Any new Hobgoblin dial ought to resemble the latest Green Goblin we got (Web of Spider-Man 058) — heck, a sculpt mod and repaint would be welcome! — with a trait reflecting original Hobgoblin Roderick Kingsley’s penchant for dumping off ringers dressed in spare Hobgoblin suits to evade capture and preserve his secret identity. Something like this:

“HOBGOBLIN UNMASKED…? At the beginning of the game, secretly choose a character with a lower point value than Hobgoblin (but more than half his value) and write its name on a piece of paper. Once per game, when Hobgoblin would be KO’d, if the chosen character is within 6 squares of Hobgoblin, reveal it, KO it instead and place Hobgoblin on his last non-KO click in the square it occupied. Hobgoblin can immediately use Regeneration as a free action.”

It’s been 10 years, WizKids. Time to do justice to this worker of INjustice. It’s one of Heroclixin’s most-needed remakes — so readers, feel free to replace the choice you disagreed with most with this one.

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Pretty behind on this set, as money issues are keeping me from getting much of it at all. I’m also late getting this up. But that won’t stop this photographic record of how each Super-Strong character can hold object tokens on the sculpt.

From left: Ultron Drone holds it easily among the smoke. Space Phantom (who can temporarily use Super Strength sometimes via their respective Special Powers) holds his more tenuously, leaning it on his chest and barely trapped with his elbow. Wonder Man holds his securely just like his future self (and sculpt-swap) Hollywood did in Galactic Guardians. Iron Man Drone does as Space Phantom does, but a little better.

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I’ll surely have a bit more after Saturday’s sealed game. Probably. In the meantime, Friday will act as an addendum to the Most Needed Remakes list from several weeks back, and perhaps I’ll get another installment of Card Art up.

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Sorry, readers for the lack of updates last week.

I had planned to do my customary Top Ten list in the first week of the month like I do most months, this time on the new rules that kicked in July 1. But every time I sat down to write it up, I found myself either uninspired and bored with it or unable to write a decent countdown.

I don’t think I’m burning out. It’s just that unlike in last year’s rule overhaul, it was much harder to I.D. clear winners and losers, much less rank them.

So, here’s a super-condensed version for you:

WINNERS

  • Sharpshooters: With the 2012 rules, they can draw line of fire past opposing characters all the time, not just when attacking. This is huge for Probability Control, Perplex and Outwit.
  • Great Size: They got the ability to move right over even characters as big as themselves.
  • Duos: Got the new Split ability to swap in the component characters instead of the duo figure. Certain duos could really benefit.
  • Tiny Size: Finally, there’s a mechanic for the little guys in HeroClix to finally make them feel more like the characters they represent.
  • Expensive Super-Strength characters and Stealth: This is because of the new Ultra Heavy Object mechanic. Ultra heavies deal +3 damage, can only be lifted by 100-plus-cost characters, can’t be thrown or TK’d and require 4 damage to wreck (making them good hiding places for Stealth).
  • Earthbound/Neutralized: Wait, what? It’s true. Where before it killed off the character’s abilities, now it only changes the symbols, allowing the affected character to use abilities from an outside source.
  • Multi-base figures: Before they needed openings large enough to move their entire base through. Now they only need one square like normal characters.
  • Pulse Wave now ignores even hindering terrain!
  • Leap/Climb: now ignores characters for movement, allowing it to circumvent some special powers and team abilities.

LOSERS

  • Other duos: Some duos have no component characters to Split into (Gertrude Yorkes and Old Lace, for one), and some aren’t priced right to split (Merry and Pippin).
  • Cheap Super Strength: They’re locked out from using ultra heavy objects.
  • Multi-base characters: Can’t be carried or placed diagonally. (Exception: peanut bases can still end up diagonal.)
  • Telekinesis: Can’t handle the new ultra heavy objects.
  • Alter Egos and other figure-swap characters: now there’s a two-per-hundred-points limit on figures you can have on the “sideboard.” Could be a problem for Beast Boy or Hank Pym, who each have three or more figs they can switch to. But only rarely.

So you see, there really wasn’t a whole lot to write home about this year. S’okay. Now it’s on to the new Chaos War set releasing this Wednesday. Expect the latest Heroclixin’ pocket checklist and a Chaos War edition of Token Totin’ this week as well.

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Welcome again to the photographic record of how all the sculpts of characters with the Super Strength power can hold object tokens.

I’m pleased to present a brand-new piece, Chaos War’s THOR:

He holds it under his arm (and hammer handle) and on the base. It’s not the best hold out there, but it’ll get the job done.

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Tomorrow will either be the introduction to the new monthly Top Ten list or a callback to an old one.