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The Iron Campaign.
The first time I played an all-Iron Man team was in February 2008, an 800-pointer made up of Hulkbuster and some of the Armor Wars pieces. It went an anemic 1-2, with one loss being at the hands of an all-Hulk team and my own unwitting, first-time use of the Krakoa The Living Island Battlefield Condition that hurt me WAY more than them, and the other loss being a total wipeout (thanks in no small part to a single-target Pulse Wave that got Probability Controlled FIVE TIMES into a successful hit). A later game that June with the same point build garnered an identical record due to my non-calling for many T-Bolt Mystics damage clicks (though this time I won over an all-Hulk team). Yet another mostly-Iron Swarm team from August (a 2000-pointer half made of the Illuminati and the other half Iron Man figures) got the same 1-2 result.
So, for my birthday last week, I finally got to run a huge swarm of every Iron Man-related figure in my collection!
V Iron Man (X-Plosion) 189 + Trick Shot 20
Iron Man 188 + Brilliant Tactician 20
V Iron Man (Armor Wars) 172
Hulkbuster 165
Iron Man (Supernova) 160 + Stunning Blow 10
Iron Man (Avengers) 154
Tony Stark 150
Iron Man (Ultimates) 144
E Iron Man (Armor Wars) 135 + Mercenary 15
V War Machine 124
Spider-Man (Avengers) 111
E War Machine 109
U Iron Man (Mutations & Monsters) 100 + Protected 8 +Vendetta 6
Anthony Stark 100 + Outsmart 10
U Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89
R Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89
Guardsman 32
= 2300 points.
In a battle royale against Psicardi’s “ladies’ night” team featuring Ms. Marvel (Skrull), Wonder Woman (Arkham Asylum), Moondragon, Chase Spider-Woman and a full 6 Cuckoos, among many more; Lord Timothy (aka Bilbo3000) and his Parallax, CR Mordru, AV Ares, Magus, SN Thanos, Immortus and more; and Lenny’s JL Superman, AV Silver Surfer, SI Iron Man, CR Green Lantern, Gamora, Iron Spider, CR Green Arrow, OOTS Batman and the like.
RESULT: Took 75 points, lost 344, by far the worst showing on the map.
The next day, I got a fun game in a 6-person Battle Royale, again playing an Iron Man squad:
Iron Man 188
U Iron Man (Mutations & Monsters) 100
Paramedic 8
= 296 points.
RESULT: I was the first one wiped, since we had a special rule that prevented teams from pouncing on the nearest enemies (and me from targeting most of the weaker players on the board).
The NEXT day, I got another shot with an Iron Team:
SI Iron Man 188 + Inside Information 4 + Thunderbolts 10 (Ultimates)
AV Spider-Man 111 + Lunge 5
Spider-Girl 77 + Lunge 5
This game was a Father’s Day holdover in which 2 figures on the team had to be a father and his offspring.
RESULT: I beat Nathaniel Richards, his son FF Reed Richards, his son Franklin Richards, V Corsair and his sons V Havok and V IC Cyclops and a couple more pogs. Lost the Spiders, though.
Finally, I played one more Stark swarm:
U Iron Man (Mutations & Monsters) 100
Anthony Stark 100 + Outsmart 10 + Alpha Flight 0
U Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89 + Alpha Flight 0
R Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89 + Alpha Flight 0 + Armor Piercing 10
= 398 points.
against a Warskrull, V Vampire Lackey and White Martian x3 team and a JL team of CR Green Lantern, CR Green Arrow, OR Carter Hall and LE Atom.
RESULT: I was wiped first and scored no KOs.
So, with my weekend record a dismal 1-3, my Stark Industries-centric teams have sunk to a sorry 4-9 record.
This just cannot be tolerated. I REFUSE to leave it at this. I WILL make the Iron Man swarm a success. Looking back at my losses, I see some common factors besides the poor dice rolls:
–the worst BFC selection possible for a match.
–forgetting key abilities like Mystics or the Alpha Flight AV boost.
–not leveraging this theme’s range advantage for all its worth — or having a contingency for when it can’t.
–inability to deal the damage when needed.
Most of the above elements are user error, not build-inherent. And future posts will detail

Thus begins the Iron Campaign.

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I often refer to my Inner-12-Year-Old when I play Iron Man in HeroClix, and the above cover is a big reason why. It was at that age that I first discovered the character.

(Interestingly, the first issue I ever bought was the last one starring Tony Stark in the armor for nearly 2.5 years. As a young black kid yearning for superheroes who looked like me, I was instantly hooked by James Rhodes becoming Iron Man.)

Anyhow, a lot of years have passed since then. It took the great movie to get me truly interested in Iron Man again. But even before then, thoughts of that classic cover always sparked a desire to play an Iron Man swarm team.

The first time I played an all-Iron Man team was in February 2008, an 800-pointer made up of Hulkbuster and some of the Armor Wars pieces. It went an anemic 1-2, with one loss being at the hands of an all-Hulk team, and the other loss being a total wipeout (thanks in no small part to a single-target Pulse Wave that got Probability Controlled FIVE TIMES into a successful hit).

A later game that June with the same point build garnered an identical record due to my non-calling for many T-Bolt Mystics damage clicks (though this time I won over an all-Hulk team). Yet another mostly-Iron Swarm team from August (a 2000-pointer half made of the Illuminati and the other half Iron Man figures) got the same 1-2 result.

So, for my birthday last week, I finally got to run a huge swarm of every Iron Man-related figure in my collection!

V Iron Man (X-Plosion) 189 + Trick Shot 20
Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188 + Brilliant Tactician 20
V Iron Man (Armor Wars) 172
Hulkbuster 165
Iron Man (Supernova) 160 + Stunning Blow 10
Iron Man (Avengers) 154
Tony Stark 150
Iron Man (Ultimates) 144
E Iron Man (Armor Wars) 135 + Mercenary 15
V War Machine 124
Spider-Man (Avengers) 111
E War Machine 109
U Iron Man (Mutations & Monsters) 100 + Protected 8 +Vendetta 6
Anthony Stark 100 + Outsmart 10
U Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89
R Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89
Guardsman 32

= 2300 points.

In a battle royale against Psicardi’s “ladies’ night” team featuring Ms. Marvel (Skrull), Wonder Woman (Arkham Asylum), Moondragon, Chase Spider-Woman and a full complement of six Cuckoos, among many more; Lord Timothy (aka Bilbo3000) and his Parallax, CR Mordru, AV Ares, Magus, SN Thanos, Immortus and more; and Lenny’s JL Superman, AV Silver Surfer, SI Iron Man, CR Green Lantern, Gamora, Iron Spider, CR Green Arrow, OOTS Batman and the like.

RESULT: Took 75 points, lost 344, by far the worst showing on the map.

The next day, I got a fun game in a 6-person Battle Royale, again playing an Iron Man squad:

Iron Man (Secret Invasion) 188
U Iron Man (Mutations & Monsters) 100
Paramedic 8

= 296 points.

RESULT: I was the first one wiped, since we had a special rule that prevented teams from pouncing on the nearest enemies (and me from targeting most of the weaker players on the board).

The NEXT day, I got another shot with an Iron Team:

SI Iron Man 188 + Inside Information 4 + Thunderbolts 10 (Ultimates)
AV Spider-Man 111 + Lunge 5
Spider-Girl 77 + Lunge 5

This game was a Father’s Day holdover in which 2 figures on the team had to be a father and his offspring.

RESULT: I beat Nathaniel Richards, his son FF Reed Richards, his son Franklin Richards, V Corsair and his sons V Havok and V IC Cyclops and a couple more pogs. Lost the Spiders, though.

Finally, I played one more Stark swarm:

U Iron Man (Mutations & Monsters) 100
Anthony Stark 100 + Outsmart 10 + Alpha Flight 0
U Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89 + Alpha Flight 0
R Iron Man (Armor Wars) 89 + Alpha Flight 0 + Armor Piercing 10

= 398 points
against a Warskrull, V Vampire Lackey and White Martian x 3 team and a JL team of CR Green Lantern, CR Green Arrow, OR Carter Hall and LE Atom.

RESULT: I was wiped first and scored no KOs.

So, with my weekend record a dismal 1-3, my Stark Industries-centric teams have sunk to a sorry 4-9 record.

Crunched.

Crunched.

This just cannot be tolerated. I REFUSE to leave it at this. I WILL make the Iron Man swarm an unqualified success. Looking back at my losses, I see some common factors besides the poor dice rolls…mostly elements of user error, not build-inherent. Future posts will detail those errors, team-by-team, build-by-build…and I’ll analyze the strengths, weaknesses and roles for each Stark-designed suit made in HeroClix.

And I will play Stark Industries swarm teams until I win out!

Thus begins the Iron Campaign.

Stay tuned.

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DATE PLAYED: May 3, 2009
POINT TOTAL: 600 points
SCENARIO: Must be either all Teen Titans or X-Men.
My take: 80s X-Men
M+M Colossus 158
M+M Storm 100
Sinister Wolverine 94
+ Cannonball 4
AW V Psylocke 75
+ Takedown 6
Longshot 66
+ Lunge 5
Dazzler 48
V Havok 44
=600 points.
My plan: Use the Kinetic Accelerator to get Wolvie in the fight at the best moment, Longshot to force re-rolls, and support from range with Psylocke, Colossus and Storm.
Only one opponent: Paul, who fielded the New Mutants:
V Sunspot + Armor Piercing
V Cannonball + Damage Shield + Armor Piercing
V Moonstar
U Warlock
E Magik
V Magma
V Karma
V Wolfsbane
Sadly, his team didn’t qualify for a theme bonus, and he really needed it despite winning the map roll (I forgot to apply my theme bonus to my roll, thinking he had a themed team at first. Double-checking revealed our error). He picked the Prison map to blunt my range advantage. I fielded Bizarro World (appropriate given the X-Men fighting the junior team in a jailhouse) and Paul plunked down Low Gravity.
I moved second turn, getting an immediate long-range shot on Magik with Storm before bunkering in hindering with Psylocke and Colossus. I knew she was in Cannonball’s Charge range but trusted her 19 defense and Takedown combo to protect her. A Kinetic-Accelerated Charge on Moonstar (who’d missed a crucial Psychic Blast at Colossus) with Wolverine failed to boost his speed enough to reach her, leaving him out and vulnerable. Fortunately, her push attempt on him failed as well. 
Cannonball’s crithit on Storm was foiled by a theme-PC by Psylocke; though it left her pushed, Storm was saved from damage. That left ol’ Sam tied up by Storm, Psylocke (who Tookdown him in a later attack, knocking him past Impervious) and Colossus (who eventually KO’d him with the Satellite Dish 3D object). Warlock carried Karma in for a Mind Control attempt on Longshot but the lucky guy forced a failing re-roll, and Dazzler took advantage of the Low Gravity BFC to bounce Karma off the walls again and again to KO both her and Moonstar. 
When time was called, I’d scored Cannonball, Moonstar, Karma, and Warlock, losing none for the win. We played on and Wolverine was the only X-Man to fall, with Magma being the last New Mutant standing.
This was a fun team, but I really missed Perplex. In a future trial, I may swap out the feats I used in favor of Contingency Plan on one of the Leadership pieces to give the team that extra little oomph. 

 

In this week’s scenario, the build limit was 600 points with all characters having to be either all Teen Titans or all X-Men.

My take: 80s X-Men

M+M Colossus 158
M+M Storm 100
Sinister Wolverine 94 + Cannonball 4
AW V Psylocke 75 + Takedown 6
Longshot 66 + Lunge 5
Dazzler 48
V Havok 44

=600 points.

My plan: Use the Kinetic Accelerator to get Wolvie in the fight at the best moment, Longshot to force re-rolls, and support from range with Psylocke, Colossus and Storm.

Only one opponent: Paul, who fielded the New Mutants:

V Sunspot + Armor Piercing
V Cannonball + Damage Shield + Armor Piercing
V Moonstar
U Warlock
E Magik
V Magma
V Karma
V Wolfsbane

Sadly, his team didn’t qualify for a theme bonus, and he really needed it despite winning the map roll (I forgot to apply my theme bonus to my roll, thinking he had a themed team at first. Double-checking revealed our error). He picked the Prison map to blunt my range advantage. I fielded Bizarro World (appropriate given the X-Men fighting their own junior team in a jailhouse) and Paul plunked down Low Gravity.

I moved second turn, getting an immediate long-range shot on Magik with Storm before bunkering in hindering with Psylocke and Colossus. I knew Psylocke was within Cannonball’s Charge range but trusted her 19 defense and Takedown combo to protect her. A Kinetic-Accelerated Charge on Moonstar (who’d missed a crucial Psychic Blast at Colossus) with Wolverine failed to boost his speed enough to reach her, leaving him out and vulnerable. Fortunately, her push attempt on him failed as well. 

Cannonball’s crithit on Storm was foiled by a theme-PC by Psylocke; though it left Psylocke pushed, Storm was saved from big damage. That left ol’ Sam tied up by Storm, Psylocke (who Tookdown him in a later attack, knocking him past Impervious) and Colossus (who eventually KO’d him with the Satellite Dish 3D object). Warlock carried Karma in for a Mind Control attempt on Longshot but the lucky guy forced a failing re-roll, and Dazzler took advantage of the Low Gravity BFC to bounce Karma off the walls again and again to KO both her and Moonstar. 

When time was called, I’d scored Cannonball, Moonstar, Karma, and Warlock, losing none for the win. We played on and Wolverine was the only X-Man to fall, with Magma being the last New Mutant standing.

This was a fun and surprisingly potent team, but I really missed Perplex. In a future trial, I may swap out the feats I used in favor of Contingency Plan on one of the Leadership pieces to give the team that extra little oomph. And to be fair, it was the New Mutants I faced. Not exactly heavy hitters!

 

Next time, I’ll tell the story of how Superman fled in mortal terror of Black Manta.