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After what’s probably the hugest FAIL factor game I’ll ever play, you’d think I wouldn’t so much as touch a team composed of all the Alter Ego figures in HeroClix:

  • With no fliers, phasers or Leap/Climbers, this weak swarm team is pretty immobile.
  • They’ve got hardly any range, or damage reduction, or speed.
  • They take forever to get deployed, and constantly have an action deficit.

I’m kinda stubborn this way, though: I don’t mind playing at a handicap if I think the idea’s neat enough. More importantly, I’m still convinced I can make the team work as long as I don’t make a solid dozen user errors again.

Norman Osborn  (Web of Spider-Man #023) 66 + T-Bolts 8 + Contingency Plan 12
Peter Parker  (Web of Spider-Man #008) 50
Clark Kent (The Brave and The Bold #002) 48
Bruce Wayne  (The Brave and The Bold #001) 48 + Outsmart 10
Jason Blood  (The Brave and The Bold #00)  44
Eddie Brock (Web of Spider-Man #010) 42
Ben Reilly (Web of Spider-Man #024) 38 + Lunge 5
Walter Kovacs (Watchmen #0) 38 + Loner 5 + Infiltrate 2
Hal Jordan (Green Lantern Gravity Feed #002) 35
Diana Prince (The Brave and The Bold #003)  32 + Invigorate 10

Again, I T-Bolted to Ultimates. My opponent Paul was using the following Brotherhood team:

Juggernaut (Giant-Size X-Men #046) 193
Pyro  (Giant-Size X-Men #034) 
Sabretooth (Giant-Size X-Men #040) 93
Esme Cuckoo (Mutations & Monsters #101) 50
Unus The Untouchable (Mutations & Monsters #042) 90

Another themed team, it got easy map choice, placing us on Oa from Green Lantern Fast Forces.

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WS Norman Osborn 66 + T-Bolts 8 + Contingency Plan 12

It’s fair to say that this team rises and falls with this piece. The only one with any range, plus Outwit and the Thunderbolts ATA, he delivers nearly all the early offense. I got a break when Juggernaut had to move just within Osborn’s line of fire (or, rather, where Osborn was going to be once I moved him — thank you Ultimates TA for ignoring hindering terrain for movement), forcing the big guy to either close in or remain Outwitted and unable to Charge in for a long time. That gave Osborn the chance to fight back and whittle Juggy down.

WS Peter Parker 50 

My chief Perplexer survived in this role throughout the game, never having to switch to either Spidey.

BB Clark Kent 48

Unlike last game, Kent was very much a part of this game, continually Perplexing up Osborn’s damage and defense on alternating turns while absorbing Mastermind damage to get to his Alter Ego, Superman (The Brave and The Bold #017). At that point, my team could really start delivering the attacks and had gained a needed taxi in the big blue boy scout.

BB Bruce Wayne 48 + Outsmart 10

Though the Outsmart feat was completely wasted again, his Outwit was another key to the game, despite the problem of his low, low speed. I had to take great care to draw the needed lines of fire to make sure Juggernaut was good and vulnerable. Eventually got him to switch Batman once my initial Perplexer was unavailable.

Jason Blood 44 + Endurance 5

Mr. PC did his thing until the end of the game, even taking the occasional swing. The feat? Just filler.

Eddie Brock 42

This time, Venom got a chance to attack and land a hit or two against Sabretooth before exiting the game. His ability to switch IDs early in the game is important to this team.

Ben Reilly 38 + Lunge 5

Still stinging from the horrible failure of last game, I was much more conscientious of wildcarding to the right team abilities with him. He was still an early KO, barely getting to switch to Scarlet Spider (Web of Spider-Man #040) before dropping, but copying Mystics at least made sure he hurt ’em along the way.

Walter Kovacs 38 

Used his Stealth and, more importantly, his Special Power to much better effect to tie down before eventually switching to Rorschach.

GF Hal Jordan 35

Where he was a key factor in the last game, Hal was an early casualty in this game. He still served to block access to more valuable figures.

BB Diana Prince 

Didn’t set her up right to best use the Invigorate feat due to the lack of actions to move her at first, but she worked out later as Superman emerged. Better still, her solid DV down the line enabled her to survive long enough to switch to Wonder Woman (The Brave and The Bold #018) and land the game’s final KO blow.

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In the end, I wiped the Brotherhood out and only lost Hal, Ben and Eddie for a commanding victory over a team that was arguably stronger than the one that decimated me before. It just goes to show what decent play will do for your chances of winning.

In a Modern Age game, I’d toss in Madrox (Giant-Size X-Men #001) as a sort-of Alter Ego piece in 500 points to make it work. In 600, I’d use two of ‘im and add the mighty morphing Beast Boy (DC 75th Anniverasary) for 597 points of figure switching action. Hope to try it sometime!

Next week: a return to Diana’s Wardrobe.

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Heroclixin’s photographic record of Super-Strength characters who can hold their own object tokens continues! Today we look at an occasional teammate of last Tuesday’s Token Totin’ figure (Bane), the goth-y Black Alice, who holds her token similarly:

 

Bet you didn’t realize her hand wasn’t glued to her extra sculpt element, either!

Be back Thursday for another edition of Token Totin’!

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Continuing my new feature (replacing “My Custom Mods”) in which I talk a bit on how I selected artwork for feats and battlefield conditions that didn’t come with art, originally, let’s look at:

I had to move the text up higher on the card considerably to make room for the art, and at this early stage of the CardArt project (when I wasn’t even very serious about it), I did a lot of things pretty sloppily. If you look closely, you can see where I just moved the text, background and all.

Even more problematic was the art. Though the inspiration was never in doubt — it was from the conclusion of a JLA arc in which half the team was mind-controlled by villain Despero into fighting the rest — the scan was an issue, given that the double-paged spread had a big honking seam in it.

The final version of the card is mostly corrected in Photoshop, but you can still totally see where the seam was. It’s certainly better than my original effort, though:

And it’s crooked, to boot. As I’ve said, I didn’t care so much back then.

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ha-dOOOUUUU-KEN!!!

It’s time for another F.U.N. Friday column. Usually I review a team or figure that fits the F.U.N. acronym: Friendly (not annoying overpowerful for the other player), Useful (not annoyingly weak for yourself) and Nifty (possessing some amusing quality or theme about it). This time, though, I’ll be looking at the new 1 vs. 1 rules designed for the brand new Street Fighter set that released this week.

Here’s a link to the 1 v 1 rules,but here’s the short version:

  • Higher-point characters get minus half the point difference for KOing cheaper opponents.
  • Lower-point characters get PLUS half the point difference for KOing pricier opponents.
  • Wins don’t matter. POINTS DO.

So yeah, a player could field Galactus in 1v1 rules and KO all foes and still lose because he’d get the same 0 points and thus tie the game, forcing a roll-off for the win. Therefore, it pays to not be a powergaming jerk in 1v1 games. That’s the Friendly part.

‘Course, there are some very effective low-point figures who could really shine in this setup, and they actually have a decided advantage against higher-cost pieces that might not be as efficient. I suppose that’s the Useful part.

Finally, the Nifty thing about 1v1 rules is the new play dynamic, shifting HeroClix from a team-oriented game to…something else. Will it prove as fun, or as balanced? Only moves made, tokens placed and dice rolled will tell!

Here are some definite DOs and DON’Ts in playing 1v1:

DON’T: Play high-point tentpoles, now that you’re certain of not getting swarmed. Not only will you hurt the play experience for your opponent, you probably won’t even win since victory is based on points, not KOs.

DO: aim toward using cheaper figs. If you build too high, you’ll struggle to score the points needed to win. Lower-cost figs who KO higher ones get a huge points advantage.

DON’T: field characters who need others to work best. Mastermind, Superman Enemy, Support, Enhancement, HYDRA/PD, Fantastic Four, Defend, wildcards…all these and others are abilities that are just so much wasted points in this format. Consider your fighter carefully.

DO: field characters who can push. Whether they use Willpower or just get better down the dial, being able to take action more often will yield dividends.

DO: field characters who can heal themselves. The most fun (and, IMO, balanced) way to do 1v1 rules is to not heal damage between each match. To that end, being able to Regen or Steal Energy can be a good advantage to have. Finally…

DON’T: play characters who can’t break through Invulnerability. The last thing you want is to need a critical hit just to ping a powerful enemy, particularly in a must-win round of the tournament (i.e., getting knocked out would surrender more points than you can gain back later). Whether it’s through penetrating damage, either of the Combat Expert powers, Outwit, Super Strength or just plain 3+ damage value, make sure most of your clicks can fight!

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So I got a phoned invitation from a friend across town to play a game. I happened to be free and halfway there already and decided to make the trip. And though I was packing a Diana’s Wardrobe team, I had another team I’d been aching to try out: wall-to-wall Alter Egos!

Norman Osborn  (Web of Spider-Man #023) 66 + T-Bolts 8 + Contingency Plan 12
Peter Parker  (Web of Spider-Man #008) 50
Clark Kent (The Brave and The Bold #002) 48
Bruce Wayne  (The Brave and The Bold #001) 48 + Outsmart 10
Jason Blood  (The Brave and The Bold #00)  44 + Endurance 5
Eddie Brock (Web of Spider-Man #010) 42
Ben Reilly (Web of Spider-Man #024) 38 + Lunge 5
Walter Kovacs (Watchmen #0) 38 + Loner 5 + Infiltrate 2
Hal Jordan (Green Lantern Gravity Feed #002) 35
Diana Prince (The Brave and The Bold #003)  32 + Invigorate 10

…and, of course, all their alternate identities. My friend was using the following Hellions team:

Emma Frost (Giant-Size X-Men #011) 81
Cypher  (Giant-Size X-Men #012) 38
Empath (Giant-Size X-Men #013) 47
Wolfsbane (Web of Spider-Man #029) 65
Roulette (Giant-Size X-Men #014) 35
Tarot (Giant-Size X-Men #021) 47
Cannonball (Giant-Size X-Men #022) 82 
Firestar (Web of Spider-Man #020) 81

Cypher was able to make them all Mystics, thanks to Jason Blood’s presence, and the swarming themed team got easy map choice, placing us on the wide-open Bridge map from Web of Spider-Man.

Those were only the first things to go wrong for my team. In fact, this game was such an utter debacle, I’ve had to come up with a new FAIL SCALE to account for it:

  1. Minor, purely circumstancial stuff like a missed roll or having a feat that only wastes points.
  2. Misremembering a power / enemy dial or underestimating enemy tactics leading to a poor situation.
  3. A tactical move or non-use of a power/ability/feat on my part that causes me to lose points.

Because I made some sort of FAIL for every single character on my team.

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WS Norman Osborn 66 + T-Bolts 8 + Contingency Plan 12
He made one of my only successful attacks in a crit hit of Cannonball, but he got forced to push to AE to Green Goblin, still in range of Tarot’s automatic-damage “Devil” power. FAIL level: 1

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WS Peter Parker 50 
As Spider-Man, pushed to hit a Mystic. It scored my only points, but KO’d him, too. It was a last gasp in a losing effort, so the FAIL level: 1

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BB Clark Kent 48

  • Trusted  Osborn’s Mastermind to get him to AE clicks rather than push. Didn’t work out. FAIL level 1
  • Perplexed GL’s AV instead of damage to Running Shoot Cypher, landing the New Mutant on his last click instead of KO and extending the Mystics TA problem through the whole game. FAIL level: 2

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BB Bruce Wayne 48 + Outsmart 10

  • The feat turned out to be utterly wasted on this team. FAIL level: 1
  • Moved him (as Batman) not far enough to avoid Wolfsbane’s Charge near the end of the game. But that was only about FAIL level 2 because of the next entry…

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Jason Blood 44 + Endurance 5
Moved him behind said Batman instead of using him to block the Charge. At least he’d have A) had a chance to force a reroll and B) caused Mystics damage if hit. FAIL level 3.

He's got a reason to pout.

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Eddie Brock 42
Scared to push AND hit Mystics, I never got an attack off despite him becoming Venom. FAIL level 2.

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Ben Reilly 38 + Lunge 5
Forgot to wildcard to Mystics in the one early turn it mattered. He was the first KO in two incredible rolls of nine or better, not even causing feedback damage, practically costing me the rest of the match. FAIL level 3.

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Walter Kovacs 38 + Loner 5 + Infiltrate 2
Failed a breakaway roll to get Rorschach out of a deadly triple-team…having thoroughly forgotten that the Infiltrate feat made the roll unnecessary. (Worse still, the move I was trying to make would have saved Venom above at minimum by tying up a foe or two and blocking LOF.)  FAIL level 3.

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GF Hal Jordan 35

  • As Green Lantern, crit-missed a final attack on a final-click Cypher. Technically only  FAIL level 1, but far more costly, especially when my better move may have been to try targeting Tarot.
  • Trying to get him to the Vine to heal, boneheadedly moved him in range of Tarot’s Devil zone for automatic KO. FAIL level 3.

A pic from the film is about the best "fail" image I can think of for GL.

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BB Diana Prince 
Trying to get out of Tarot’s range, and not thinking far enough ahead at all, I moved her into the water…still well within Cypher’s Charge range. FAIL level 2.

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As you can see, it was not one of my better-played games. What really gets my goat is that making any one of those user errors dramatically affected the match, yet I made over a dozen of them.

But did I learn my lesson about running a weak team like this crowd of Alter Egos? Oh, nooooo. Apparently I hadn’t had enough. See next week for what happened then…

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Heroclixin’s photographic record of Super-Strength characters who can hold their own object tokens continues! Today we look at a remake of one of the earliest Token Totin’ figures, Bane!

Despite — or because of — the Bat-breaking sculpt, Bane can hold a token in addition to Mr. Wayne.

Be back Thursday for another edition of Token Totin’!

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This is a new feature (replacing “My Custom Mods”) in which I talk a bit on how I selected artwork for feats and battlefield conditions that didn’t come with art, originally.

Last time, I debuted with Madness. I’m sticking with Icons’ Battlefield Conditions for the next installment, INFILTRATION:

There’s no one better suited for the card art than Batman, but I’m not particularly a fan, so I didn’t own many comics starring the hero. Fortunately, I was an occasional reader of  JSA. This image came from an issue of JSA in which ol’ Bats is caught sneaking around a crime scene. And honestly, I can’t think of many other images of Batman that better illustrate this BFC!

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When guest writer Morrison began his review of characters with the Soldier keyword, the Captain America set was still only half-revealed. Well, there were enough standout military-style pieces to warrant this, his final segment. Enjoy!

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 Captain America (Captain America #001)

Few pieces come this good. At under 90 points his combat values are excellent, with 4 clicks of 10 or better attack, an 18 starting defense, and the ability to crack Invulnerability on every click. Oh, and did I mention he has Perplex? A great leader (even without Leadership) or a great solo fighter, the former Bucky has learned well.

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Howling Commando (Captain America #201)

Both versions are good, but for this review look no further than Howling Commando (201b). Here’s how you should use him. Your force moves out. He walks into Stealth and starts Perplexing. 40 pts is a bit much to invest in a 2 trick pony, but positioned well, that Stealth should keep him on the top click for a while. He is also the cheapest source of Perplex for soldier and certainly the most useful for low cost.

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Nick Fury (Captain America #207)

Not quite Nick Fury: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., but this guy has what I would call effective dial design. Early high movement and Stealth mean that you should position him in hindering terrain where others can’t see him, then next turn push him to get to the Outwit. Say, that strategy sounds an awful lot like…

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Captain America (Captain America #040)

Another solid Cap. For 83 pts, three clicks of 11 attack and a chance to deal either 3 damage to two hit characters or have a 20 def at range ain’t too shabby. As far as keywords go, this is WWII Cap. Despite a low tail end defense, you might actually get to use that late Outwit. Hit the Hun! Buy Liberty Bonds!

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Crimson Dynamo (Captain America #042)

In Soviet Russia, scientists make power armor-man as good as dirty capitalist American Stark, no. Dimitri deserves a place (like War Machine) on both the Armor and Soldier review. The Indomitable ability makes him truly a powerful primary ranged attacker.

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Darkstar (Captain America #043)

For that free Smoke Cloud trait alone, Darkstar has a place on many teams. A suggested strategy: play her with a squadron of S.H.I.E.L.D. snipers — er, KGB operatives. Push to use Telekinesis in your early turns to set up your force and enjoy the 3 damage Penetrating/Psychic Blast.

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Ursa Major (Captain America #044)

Beast Boy, eat your heart out. Take a look at the offensive potential on this guy. At 102 pts, this beaststick will be found on many teams. I dig the Invulnerability and Shape Change combo. If feats are allowed, Not So Special makes this guy an even bigger threat.

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Captain America (Captain America #060)

For 68 points, I just don’t see how you can argue with indomitable, 12 attack, and 3 damage. Steve here certainly provides a lesson in diplomacy by any means, and patience.

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The Captain (Captain America #062)

A very steady and powerfully consistent brick for a decent cost. Between its placement and the prevalence of Outwit, Cap’n Hammer will only rarely see that 12 attack. But it’s still there.

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Ursa (Superman #044)

Ursa is another great figure to have that treasured combo, Running Shot and Penetrating/Psychic Blast; her unique twist is 4 damage and that she ignores Stealth (while herself having some). As only a rare, we can be sure that she is going to see some major tournament play. She tops it all off with Superman Enemy team ability, which while good, is only good if you have other figures with the ability. Figures like…

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"KNEEL."

Zod (Superman #053)

Zod offers some straitforward offense, and then offers some very tactical options with his special damage and speed powers. This guy will definitely be giving the big blue boy scout some grief, and will only be giving it harder with some friends around.

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 And that concludes Morrison’s look at Soldiers. Thanks for reading!

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Heroclixin’s photographic record of Super-Strength characters who can hold their own object tokens continues! Today we’re looking at how the rest of the candidates from the new Captain America set (having already seen LUKE CAGE, Power Man) tote their tokens:

The Secret Warrior, Stonewall:

You can just barely wedge it between the edge of the base and the rivets on his armbands.

Jack Flag, latest member of the Guardians of the Galaxy:

It wedges under his mask!

The villainous Mister Hyde:

Wedge it between his forearm and left thigh.

The robotic Super-Adaptoid (who doesn’t have Super Strength but can gain it through his SP):

Another one that fits in the stat slot and under chin.

Armadillo:

This one's a tad tricky. It barely wedges, at an angle, under his forearm and on the base.

and last but not least, Winter Guard strongman Ursa Major:

In Soviet Russia, workers are carrying TWO objects for glory of Motherland!!!

Be back Tuesday for another edition of Token Totin’!