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Mind Control is one of the most expensive powers in the game, and in the early days, it wasn’t hard to see why. Not only did it gain control over a character not on your force, allowing you to move it or make it attack its allies or deactivate one of its powers, but it also gave said character an action token, possibly pushing him/her. Essentially, it combined most of the effects of Telekinesis, Incapacitate and Outwit in one power.

Trouble was, Mind Control’s cost in the point formula isn’t even double ONE of those pricey powers, much less all three — it MIGHT cost as much as Incap OR Outwit. Consequently, it’s been steadily scaled back in a couple of ways:

  • Damage reducers are no longer optional and thus Mind Control can’t turn them “off.” (This used to be a vicious way of circumventing Impervious.)
  • The Mind Control action no longer gives the controlled character an action token.

While MC is still a potent power, it’s also very high-risk. Not only does the initial MC roll have to land (and not be Super Sensed), but then the target frequently has to make its own rolls to either attack its friendlies or try to break away from them. There’s a great chance that this high-risk power could yield very low reward.

Additionally, unlike most other offensive powers, Mind Control has no moving-attack option other than Telekinesis. The power does gain a bit of extra utility when used with extra targets, though the chance of extra self-damage rises, too.

“What’s the big deal?” some might say. “Other powers are pretty situational, too!” But those other powers are much less expensive than Mind Control is. For Mind Control to share a similar price point as the likes of Outwit or Running Shot, it needs to be a power worth using whenever it shows on a dial — one that begs using instead of simply doing a regular attack.

Even setting aside the playability issues, Mind Control also just doesn’t reflect the comics so well. Most of the time, MC is used as a ranged attack and thus requires line of fire. The trouble? Mind Control in the comics doesn’t always require line of fire to the target. Ways mind control occurs in comics:

  • Telepathy (Professor X, Saturn Girl)
  • Illusions (Princess Projectra, Mysterio)
  • Gas or pheromones (Mysterio, Purple Man, Daken, Deadly Nightshade)
  • Hypnotism (Gorgon, Ringmaster)
  • Attached devices (Red King, Mad Hatter)
  • Gobs and gobs of money (Bruce Wayne)

In fact, in many cases it’s more comic-accurate to say the target needs the line of fire to the Mind Controller, not the other way around!

With these things in mind, the #6 most needed change to HeroClix should be this:

MIND CONTROL: Give this character a power action; it makes a close combat or ranged combat attack (minimum range value 4) as a free action using 3 dice (ignore 1 for the result) that deals no damage and ignores Stealth and Shape Change. A successfully hit target becomes friendly to your force. Each target hit may be assigned one action as a free action, immediately after which the target becomes an opposing character again. Deal this character 1 unavoidable damage for each 100 points of the successfully hit targets’ combined point value.

It’d be another light blow to Shape Change, but given all those methods of mind control that just don’t care WHAT the target looks like, I don’t see why Shape Change should ever really work against Mind Control. And again, so many methods of Mind Control can’t be prevented by mere camouflage, so no Stealth. Finally, the “roll-3-use-2” change reflects Mind Control’s difficulty to evade, as it’s usually an unseen attack. It also gives players a reason to try it rather than simply making a standard attack.

That puts us halfway through the list. Have a Merry Christmas and rejoin us tomorrow for the first of the top 5 changes needed for HeroClix!

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Some time ago, I did a Top Ten on Barrier, writing something about how it’s one of those sleeper powers that can totally steal the show when built right.

But Barrier has one big, stupid problem: It can only be used on clear terrain.

"So I can use my powers to make shields of ice, but can't turn the water around me INTO ice? LAME."

Barrier should be air-tight; the appearance of unoccupied hindering terrain or water terrain or special terrain shouldn’t preclude the placement of the Barrier token.

Therefore, the #7 most needed change to HeroClix is the change of this line to Barrier from this:

“place up to four blocking terrain markers in adjacent squares of clear terrain that are all within this character’s range (minimum range 1)”

to this:

“place up to four blocking terrain markers in adjacent squares of unoccupied non-blocking terrain that are all within this character’s range (minimum range 1)”

The only wrinkle is how would it interact with objects in squares. I’d rule they can coexist, but there might be a ruling I’m overlooking.

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Originally, both Injustice League and Masters of Evil got this identical team ability:

“When two or more friendly Injustice League team members are adjacent to the same opposing character, each team member may use this team ability to be given a close combat or ranged combat action which may target only that adjacent opposing character. The total number of actions given using this team ability during a turn requires only one action from your available actions for the turn, but each Injustice League team member given an action using this team ability receives an action token after the action has been resolved.”

Back when the rules allowed actions after being carried by a flier, this TA was pretty powerful and worth its points. But that hasn’t been the case since about 2003 or so. It got especially useless when the 2008 rules pretty much killed off ranged attacks in adjacency.

See, it seems that any ability that grants extra actions in a turn is priced pretty highly in the point formula. That’s why so many Masters of Evil characters seem to be at least a little overpriced compared to otherwise similar figures.

I’m thinking of you, M+M Wrecker.

Masters of Evil got a nifty upgrade in 2006 that made the expensive TA better worth its cost (I mean, can you imagine how incredibly bad that Wrecker would be with the old TA? Brrrrr). But Injustice League TA lingered in its old state for many years more…no doubt due, in part, to HeroClix’s unfortunate year-long dirtnap lasting from about this time in 2008 through 2009.

Finally, in 2010, there was this from the then-rules arbiter:

“When we were reviewing the team abilities, we knew that this was the one that needed a change. Like its predecessor, Masters of Evil, the team ability as worded just never sees very much play. Instead of just making it change to follow Masters of Evil, we tried to make the team ability more functional within the spirit of its original intention.”

That spirit was the Masters of Evil essentially all curb-stomping one guy at once.

So it got this rewrite: “Whenever a character using the Injustice League team ability attacks an opposing character that was attacked by another character using the Injustice League team ability this turn, the action does not count toward your available actions this turn.”

That’s basically the same thing as before, only it doesn’t require adjacency, finally letting the dastardly villains gang up on enemies from a distance. It’s a very positive change.

It’s still sub-par.

It still only saves actions from being eaten up. But on your average 300-point team, using up actions is not likely to be a problem at all, given the 95-point average cost of Modern Age Injustice League team members. (So you’ve only used one action of the three in your pool. So what? You only had three characters anyway.) Sure, you could bolster your swarm by adding wild cards, but it’s still a weak ability for the point cost.

At the same time, I’m not a fan of simply making it a clone of Masters of Evil again. Doing so the first time was just lazy design, in my opinion. Apparently, WizKids thought so, too.

Perhaps IL should take a hint from this year’s change to Leadership. Instead of simply granting some extra, but largely unneeded (and conditional) actions, what if it really increased action totals by also removing tokens like Leadership can now? That way, it benefits not only the swarms but also the higher-priced two-member squads.

Therefore, the #8 most-needed change to HeroClix is this rewrite to the Injustice League team ability:

When a character using this team ability makes an attack, after actions resolve another character using this team ability can immediately make an attack on the same opposing character that doesn’t count toward your available actions this turn. At the end of your turn, remove an action token from each character that used this team ability to make an unsuccessful attack this turn.

Saving actions is fine, but getting more consecutive actions is better. This version keeps the gang-pile spirit of the power but makes it better for bigger-cost Injusticers and their lower-AV friends.

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Welcome back to the photographic record of Super-Strength characters who can hold their own object tokens. Today we’re looking at more from the HULK set!

Icehulk (Incredible Hulk #048, center) and A.I.Marine Hulk (#100, right) hboth holds their tokens neatly in the ice formation and under his right arm, respectively. But Hulk Robot (#006, left) really doesn’t grip the token nearly as well as it looks like he does here.

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Thundra  (#012) and her daughter and sculpt-mate Lyra (#016) both hold the token easily under their left arm.   (Doc Samson (#030) does it even better and more dynamically!

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The Prince of Power, Hercules  (#026)  easily grips the token under his left arm. And, in center, Spider-Man (#038) surprises you: his hands aren’t glued to the wall, so a token can be held most excellently. Finally, Mrs. Green Scar Caiera (#039) perfectly cradles the token in her open arms like the mother she is. (Then she’ll smash your enemies with it like the baaaaaad mutherhushyomouf she also is.)

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 Skarr (#015 and #207) obviously takes after his parents, Caiera above and Green Scar (Mutations & Monsters #033) below:
…but before we digress too far off the Hulk SET path…

Tiger Shark (#033) grips the token well for a guy who’s frequently all wet. 🙂

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And to wrap up, the Mighty Thorr (#050) uses the lightning to heft his object.

I want to publicly thank fellow players David of Griffin, Lenny of Lawrenceville and Paul of Decatur for allowing me to paw and photograph their brand-new figures for this edition of Token Totin’, as I only own the first three featured (Hulk Robot, Icehulk and A.I.Marine Hulk) due to car repairs eating up my already-meager clix funds.

Christmas is upon us, and I want to celebrate a little by continuing my Top Ten Changes I Want for Clix throughout the holidays! Check in daily starting tomorrow for #8!

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Outsiders team ability reads: “Once at the beginning of your turn as a free action, characters using the Outsiders team ability may choose a character (including itself) within 10 squares to which it has a clear line of fire. Until the beginning of your next turn, the target’s combat values can’t be modified. This team ability can’t be used by wild cards.”
There’s something about being an Outsider. (No, it’s got nothing to do with the S.E. Hinton-penned classic novel. (Which I have not read.)) Chiefly, the appearance of this team ability nearly always coincides with an overcosted, less-than-efficient dial.
That means the TA is probably pretty expensive, and with good reason. Outsiders TA can, with but a glance, essentially kill off all of the following:
  • Perplex
  • Close Combat Expert
  • Ranged Combat Expert
  • Energy Shield/Deflection
  • Combat Reflexes
  • Super Strength
  • SHIELD TA
  • Enhancement
  • and any number of Special Powers and Traits that cause modifications of stats.
 In fact, the Mutations & Monsters figure Danger showed us just how good a similar ability could be via her own uncounterable Special Power that nixes stat modifications automatically on sight. Because of that potential, Outsiders is limited in a couple of important ways:
  1. Unlike other budget-busters like Superman Enemy or Masters of Evil, it can’t be copied by wild cards.
  2. It’s only usable at the beginning of the turn.
 It’s that second part that really hinders Outsiders from being good. Unlike similarly powerful (and expensive) free-action abilities like Perplex or Outwit (or the not-so-pricey, non-action, but still powerful Probability Control), Outsiders is a lot harder to use well.
  • You can’t be taxied and then use it.
  • You can’t be TKed and then use it.
  • You can’t even move and then use it.
If you’re not where you want or need to be to use Outsiders on a target at turn’s start, you just can’t use it at all. Meanwhile, opponents have a large window of opportunity to cut off the Outsider’s line of fire, making it likely that the Outsider will NEVER get to use its expensive team ability to any degree.
Thus, the #9 most-needed change to HeroClix ought to be this rewrite to the Outsiders team ability:
As a free action, characters using the Outsiders team ability may choose a character (including itself) within 6 squares to which it has a clear line of fire. Until the beginning of your next turn, the target’s combat values can’t be modified. This team ability is uncopyable.
This way, it’s actually of actual use by characters other than Crisis Nightwing. Reining in the range should keep it from passively overwhelming the game.
Next post, I think I’ll dip once more into the vaults for another HULK edition of Token Totin.’ Then join me for the #8 Change Needed for Clixmas!

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She-Hulk, Hulk, Abomination and Red Hulk

Welcome back to the photographic record of Super-Strength characters who can hold their own object tokens. Today we’re looking at several freakish-looking characters…and no, it’s not Halloween again. It’s the HULK set!

She-Hulk (Incredible Hulk #007 & #204): holds her token neatly under her right arm.

Hulk  (Incredible Hulk #001 & #201): holds his in his forearms as shown. I forgot to see if sculpt-mates Spear-chucking Hulk and Cosmic Hulk (Incredible Hulk #043 & #045, respectively) can as well, with their extra sculpt elements!

Abomination  (Incredible Hulk #013 & #206): there’s a crevice on the right side of his neck that might be able to hold the token as shown. Otherwise, he’s actually unable to reliably tote his token.

Finally, Red Hulk  (Incredible Hulk #028 & #210): The token actually has to be bent to fit (look closely and you’ll see). If you’re a stickler for pristine object tokens, you may wish to tread carefully here.

Me, I don’t care. I got 20 or more object tokens.

I wanted to get more Token Totin’ up, but time escapes me, and I really need to finish my long-delayed Top Ten Changes We Want for Clixmas before year’s end — it’s already too late to finish it for Christmas! Don’t get left out in the cold: be here tomorrow for the #9 most needed change to HeroClix!

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Event dials were like dynamic, ever-changing Battlefield Conditions. But they never caught on, really, because they weren’t useable in tournament settings (since any player could vote down the use of Event Dials).
And rightly so. Just as many BFCs have the potential to either greatly enhance or hamper particular characters or team builds, so too do certain Event Dials. Indeed, as my Building for The Event Dial series showed last year, certain teams CAN’T be played with certain Event Dials at ALL.
But then came one final Event Dial unlike all the others: the Intrinsic Field Experiment 15 (Watchmen E-001). Like modern Special Objects, it has a point cost on your force. But just like other, no-cost Event Dials, it can be voted off the island HeroClix table.
And, just like that, you’ve lost 40 points of your force.
Because it’s literally a part of its player’s force, an opponent should not be able to nix its use without paying his own points to do so (as he would to use, say, Batman & Catwoman’s trait to remove an object from the game right off).
Hence, the #10 most-needed rule change for HeroClix:
Event Dials with a point cost must be played when on a force. 
It’s only at the bottom because A) there’s only the above solitary example of the problem and B) event dials are pretty much a dead mechanic. But with this rule change, perhaps they could become a dynamic, balanced element in the metagame rather than the random, overly complicated thing they are.
Or were. Whatever.
But wait! Apparently, after I wrote the above text and was ready to post it up, it was revealed that one of the limited edition Special Objects in the Incredible Hulk set’s prize kit was essentially a new event dial, complete with point cost. So it seems that, in a small way, this change has been made, sort of.
Be here tomorrow for the INCREDIBLE HULK set edition of Token Totin’, the photographic record of how each Super-Strong figure can physically hold an object token. Then we continue the Top Ten Changes We Want for Clixmas!

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A new full-sized set of HeroClix was due  today. Here’s Heroclixin’s customary pocket checklist for you!

(I’d intended this to be available earlier, but the “Publish” button on WordPress’s Quick Post feature  appears to be non-function on my browser at the moment.)

Be back next week for the resumption of Token Totin’ — finally! — and  the true beginning of my long-delayed Top Ten Changes Needed in HeroClix.

HULKpocketchecklist

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With another HeroClix release comes another of my checklists reminiscent of the ones WizKids used to include in every booster from late 2005 to early 2008. Here’s a list for Lord of the Rings’ gravity booster set and the starter game.
LOTRpocketchecklist

Then, as a bonus, go ahead and grab this compiled list of the Fast Forces of the year: Green Lantern, Thor, Watchmen, Hulk and Superman.
FastForces2011

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Generally, I’m a glass-half-full kind of person. I’m good with the vast majority of the annual rule tweaks in the game, as I realize that game balance is a tricky thing to manage. And with this game being in the best shape it’s been in, well, ever, it’s really not right to complain.

But.

There really are some elements and powers and whatnot in the game that haven’t been right for years, and it’s high time something was done. Stay tuned for the next coming weeks before Christmas for Heroclixin’s countdown of the Top Ten changes that really need to occur in HeroClix sooner than later.

Number 10 is one that makes me glad I postponed this series, due to recent revelations of the upcoming Hulk set…