the m0use trap

Thanos Loves Dave!

2012-02-11T01:42:00.017-05:00

Comic books are a wild weird wonderful place where anything can happen. The website Superdickery.com does a great job showcasing some offbeat moments or items that out of context can seem downright out of place. Take Superman screwing with real life musician Pat Boone for instance.

Through the years any number of strange team ups and story lines have been explored, including Thanos's special relationship with Death.

In the Marvel Universe Death is an actual character, a powerful entity pictured in a manner completely opposite the cut pixie goth girl depicted by the distinguished competition.

No, Death in the Marvel U is the classic version - the hooded skeleton wearing dark robes, always silently gesturing. About the only thing the DC an Marvel universes agree on is that Death is a lady... except when she isn't. But more on that later.

Given the lack of vocal chords I can see how Death's relationship with Thanos works. As your typical megalomaniacal conqueror Thanos is obviously prone to talking - telling the heroes all about his plans, boasting and aggrandizing himself constantly. There's always one quiet one in a twosome.

Talk, talk, talk... evil likes to hear itself plot.

Death hasn't always had an exclusive relationship with Thanos however. Among former beaus she counts the Beyonder as a former love interest, as when she shows up for a date with the Mutant Inhuman in Secret Wars II (issue #2).

Now, the Beyonder was "beyond" a little crazy, to the point of Craigslist killer crazy and so it's no surprise that by the end of the date he's completely wiped Death from existence, just to prove to his friend Dave that he can.

And that's when the metaphorical can of worms gets opened, because suddenly nothing can die. The worms in the can have nothing to eat. This is a problem.

The lack of death starts freaking out the *other* crazy omnipotent folk of the Marvel U, like the Molecule Man who confronts the Beyonder.

The issue ends with Dave nobly (or stupidly) offering to sacrifice himself...

And the Beyonder complies restoring balance to the world by transforming Dave into Death.

And that explains the title of this post: Thanos loves Dave.

Transgendered romances are nothing new to comics. Currently there's the asexual Xavin from Runaways...

Good thing he's a shape-shifting Skrull who could easily adopt a female form to woo the once closeted Karolina Dean.

The 90's explored the idea with Shvaughn Erin, girlfriend of Element Lad was revealed to be a man but only after supplies of a gender bending drug (the aptly named Profem) were cut off to Earth during a war with the Dominators.

And the 80's saw the New Defenders member Cloud pull an "In-Betweener" and assume a male form to woo Moondragon.

Oh the delicious irony of that storyline now that Moondragon is out of the closet.

However, in all of the cases above, these "couples" are far from mainstream. Thanos may not exactly be a marquee name but as the villain masterminding the Infinity Gauntlet story arc he certainly has a lot of recognitions. There's a part of me that is really entertained by the notion that Thanos, the all powerful "Mad Titan" loves Dave.

I mean, this is the same Thanos who humbled the lord of Hell.

The Thanos who ascended to god-hood after collecting the Infinity Gems from the elders of the universe.

Thanos who beat the great powers of the universe (including Galactus) and eradicated half of existence all in an attempt to impress Dave.

Who knew the Mad Titan could know such love?

Maybe that's just how they roll on Titan, or maybe his brother Eros, AKA Starfox is to blame. Starfox has been known to turn people faster than you could say "Pink Kryptonite".

But then that's another wild weird and wonderful story for another day.

How to: Make your own girlfriend in 5 steps!

2012-02-10T16:52:00.014-05:00

Thanos is no stranger to love, though it can be said that love is strange to him.

Or rather, his love is strange to the rest of us who watch his romantic aspirations like some twisted, galactic version of The Jersey Shore.

To recap:

Infatuated with the cosmic entity known as Death Thanos kept trying, and failing, to impress the dark spirit. When that failed, Thanos found another gal pal - Terraxia.

Who the heck is Terraxia you might ask? Given the name one might assume, that she's a sidekick/love of Terrax the Tamer. Going just by her costume, one might coin the name "Lady Thanos."

Terraxia's appearance evokes a more feminine version of the Mad Titan, and drums up images of every cliched super hero trope, from teen sidekicks (Kid Thanos!) to ridiculous vehicles (the Thanos-copter!).

Not buying into the Infinity Guantlet storyline from years ago I was perplexed when I saw the Terraxia HeroClix figure in WizKids booth at GenCon this year.

I had to know more about this person that was drawn to intimacy with Thanos. And what I found out... well... it just makes Thanos into an even bigger weirdo.

Terraxia's origin is pretty simple. Thanos, spurned by his girlfriend Death, decides to make Death jealous by creating a new lover. That's right, I said creating. Thanos didn't use matchmaker.com, or try a singles bar - he just went out and built the perfect woman.

Is it any wonder the perfect woman he built looks exactly like him, but with boobs?

So to recap:

Step one: acquire the Infinity Gauntlet.

Step two: Make a wish for a hot girlfriend that embodies every aspect of yourself. Try not to think about how creepy it is that she looks like a female version of you. For practice try necking with a mirror.

Step three: Try not to think how creepy it is that you've created an artificial simulacrum girlfriend without a soul or free will.

Step four: Overcome your moral and ethical objections to creating a submissive love slave.

Step 5: Profit!

With a total of about 5 comic appearances dating back 20 years it came as a surprise when Terraxia was announced as a participation prize for the Infinity Guantlet events. A sort of one-hit wonder, Lady Thanos was brought in as a plot device. To prove how tough she was, she killed Spider-Man and Ironman in one issue (both were later brought back to life through the power of the gauntlet).

There's not much more to say about Terraxia, other than her pitiful demise. The space pirate Nebula banished Thanos and Terraxia to deep space, where Terraxia promptly died as her creator, so focused on making the total package look good, did not think to create her to survive in a vacuum.

And if that story strikes you as a little odd, wait until tomorrow when I point out that the girl sitting on Thanos' knee in the picture below...

SPOILER ALERT!

is really a dude named Dave!

The Glitterati

2011-11-24T14:44:00.014-05:00

Beware Pink Kryptonite!

It makes you FABULOUS!

Lex Luthor found out the hard way when he discovered the rare substance...

and it transformed him into a sequin clad glam gangster.

I suppose the pink love is no surprise, Lex has always had a special place in his heart for Superman, even going so far to have Superman's baby...

In truth, these mods were made by my wife, who wanted a super shiny bedazzled fighting force.

Legion of Superman Lovers Roll Call:

LOIS LANE: Superwoman

Lois is rocking fabulous red glitter boots and gloves by Gucci.

LUCY LANE: Superwoman

The general's daughter sports a fabulous cape-hoodie
combo with bright purple bejeweled accents.

Supergirl

The classic Kryptonian fights crime in a pink spangled cape

Livewire

Knee-high boots and shiny unitard accent her purple lightning

Gangbuster

fighting crime never looked so good!

As a 600 point HeroClix fighting force the team has some synergy with Lucy and Supergirl providing a strong initial assault, with Lex and Lois coming into play late game. The Annony-missus is 2-1 with this team in competitive play, and lost one friendly game where (I kid you not) this team was beaten by Ambush Bug.

But that's a whale of a tale best served for another time...

Quick Change! The Dolphin Symbol

2011-11-15T10:35:00.005-05:00

I'm calling for a minor rules tweak that I think is in order regarding the Dolphin movement symbol, most commonly referred to as "swimming."

Figures that possess this combat ability are meant to represent strong swimmers, underwater breathers, and otherwise masters of their deep domain. Unfortunately to date the only thing the ability does is not hinder them in water.

It's a little ability to be sure, and those without it are forced to slog through puddles and ponds at the same rate as someone trampling through the underbrush. From that perspective the flipper speed subtype doesn't seem like much of a selling point because as written normal boot movement characters move through water with relative ease.

As a further insult to the aquatic acrobats the water terrain on maps is few and far between unless it is the major feature of a map. I'd like to suggest a possible change or two given the nature of what the speed type is supposed to represent.

For starters, I'd like to let all dolphin speed symbol characters break away for free from non-dolphin speed symbol characters, but only (you guessed it) when they occupy water. Someone like Robin shouldn't be able to tie up Namor or Aquaman in their own element... not while trying to tread water anyway.

Likewise Tiger Shark or Attuma should be able to dive below Hawkeye if not just backstroke past him with ease while he struggles to hold his bow and stay afloat. The purpose of the Dolphin symbol is to be able to swim circles around opponents, and this change helps them do just that.

This tweak gives a little more advantage to swimmers without being completely game breaking. I'd go further to suggest that Dolphin Speed Symbol characters can treat water terrain as hindering terrain for Line of Fire purposes, though that might be too much for players to fathom.

Hopefully the next starter set will make a Quick Change to the Dolphin symbol, effectively giving it a new porpoise.

The Fantastic Neighborhood Spider-Man

2011-11-08T07:48:00.006-05:00

WizKids previewed the Alternate F4 flavored Spider-Man yesterday and the complaints started ringing in so fast you'd think the Daily Bugle's editor was running another smear campaign. "Weak Sauce," they said. "F4, or F-Fail" fans cried. Is this figure *really* as bad as they say, or is it just that fans were hoping for more?

Take a look:

The Incredible Hulk expansion's version of Spider-Man is certainly not under-powered. Top dial, while holding a standard heavy object and with proper positioning Spidey can dish out 6 damage with a 12 attack (!) rebuffing the weak sauce comments. Under the right circumstances Spidey can retain that 12 attack for two more clicks.

Even without surprising foes from below or distracting them with witty banter Spidey has very solid attack values retaining a 10 for most of his dial before dropping to 9 on his last two clicks.

Damage values are what you'd expect from the wall crawler - he's capable of feats of Super Strength but doesn't rely on it in the way a Hulk dial has the green attack power the whole dial. Instead Peter has other tricks - with Incapacitate and two targets. Not exactly a failure.

Defensively Spider-Man's got his trademark Spidey (Super) Senses topping at 18 on his second click. The evasion power also helps activate his special banter power. Combat Reflexes rounds out the dial keeping him safe when he's up close and personal. He doesn't have the 50/50 trait of Common Spider-Man from "Web," but he's far from awful.

Perhaps his best feature is the Fantastic Four TA/Spider-Man Ally TA combo that will let him play well with other members of the new FF copying Ghost Rider's Mystic Ability, or borrowing the X-men team ability found among FF members like Storm or Wolverine.

The #38 Spider-Man has also been bashed for its Super Rare status. While the fact that Peter may be harder to find is a downer for his fans, this is a Hulk set after all. Because Spider-Man had a good showing in his own set last year there's probably a good chance that an equal number of Hulk fans would complain if the figure were of a lesser rarity.

This is a Spider-Man pulled from a very specific story - the replacement Fantastic Four from the early 90's (FF#347). He's not meant to be a definitive version, evidenced if not from the limited keywords then by the fact that the sculpt features him clinging to the side of the Baxter Building.

Frustrated critics are more likely upset that this Spider-Man doesn't do everything that they WANT it to do - be highly mobile with move and attack, and better defenses.

It's okay to hate on Spidey though, he's used to it.

Marvel: What If? - part 2, of what might have been

2011-10-25T13:31:00.017-04:00

Continuing from my post on what could have been with DC HeroClix, today I'm looking into the Marvel sandbox to scrounge for burried toys.

First up we have a story of a figure that almost wasn't. This photo of Captain America which has floated around since around the time Supernova was released.

The notorious "Smokey Foot" Cap was pictured on a promotional poster for the Avengers set, and never seen again until Hammer of Thor. In the mean time fans were treated to this monstrosity:

Better known as "Potato Head Cap" this figure was sculpted by the controversial Lukas Little who was often slammed on forums for his bulky looking figures with oversized heads and hands (see also Alan Scott and Martian Manhunter from Origins, Grodd and Johnny Sorrow from Arkham).

"Smokey" was a controversial figure, rumored to be sitting on Brand Manager Mark Tuttle's desk but never released, speculation abounded as to why the figure never saw the light of day. Some sources suggest occasionally a figure was made at the behest of a WK employee with no intention of producing it in the mass market. I guess when you have the keys to the kingdom you can do that sort of thing.

As far as other sculpts commissioned but never released go: Mutations and Monsters was released in the fall of 2007, but the spoilers leading up to the set had it initially named "Gods and Monsters." The "Gods" portion was dropped in favor of more merry mutants (and likely most of the grist of 'gods was saved for Hammer of Thor).

Here's a few that we might have seen under Topps run WizKids as pulled from sculptor's websites.

Exhibit A.) Eternals

Ikaris Done for Wizkids during the Topps ownership. 2007. This was another one where the head and hands had to be oversized. - James Van Shaik, sculptor

An Eternals subset would have made a lot of sense given the Neil Gaimen miniseries which ran from June 2006 to February 2007. Interesting side comment about the head and hands, which sheds some light on Lukas Little's sculpts. Also, in the Kirby vein...

Exhibit B: Medusa

If the Inhumans weren't slated for Mutations and Monsters they fight have followed in Secret Invasion. With its Fantastic Four subset, this would have been a perfect time to include the Inhuman Queen.

Exhibit C: Phoenix

Phoenix 34mm Done for Wizkids during the Topps ownership 2007/2008. - JVS

Another red-head that's both monstrous and god-like, it looks like Jean Grey could have gotten an update back in 'Mutations, but was passed over for the tiny Age of Apocalypse subset.

Exhibit D: Thor

Thor-40mm - My version of Thor. This is NOT a part of any commercial product line or sold. - JVS

The comments with this piece are very interesting. Reading between the lines it seems like James wanted a "classic" Thor, especially given that the common Thor from 'Hammer was the Straczynski update. I know I'd have preferred a Simonson era classic that wasn't part of some ill conceived duo.

Exhibit E: Power Man and Iron Fist

Iron Fist done for Wizkids Secret Invasion expansion. In the final piece the wall was removed for production reasons. The final production peice was also put together differently so that Iron Fist is pointing directly at the ground. - JVS

Not a huge difference, but like Catwoman a minor change. Luke lost the literal "Wallbuster" vision some time between design and production.

Exhibit F: Machine Man

This amazing sculpt of Aaron Stack comes strait from the pages of Nextwave via the mind of WizKids sculptor Ben Misenar. It's a no-brainer why it wasn't included in an official HeroClix expansion. All the bits sticking out of the robot's chest would have made for a difficult mold and a lot of broken, or possibly deformed parts.

Instead WizKids went with a simpler design that unfortunately isn't as cool.

He looks less likely to cut up some fleshbags, and more likely to cut up a large pepperoni pie. He slices! He dices! But wait there's more!

And we'll explore more, later, of what could have been in the Indy universe.

DC Elseworlds - part 1, of what might have been.

2011-10-25T12:21:00.015-04:00

Ever since the Star Trek episode Mirror Mirror pop culture fans obsess over "What If" tales of parallel universes full of goateed evil version and alternate time streams that would take Doc Brown and Marty McFly years to unwind.

Heck even Marty has an alternate universe doppelganger in Eric Stolz, who was replaced by Michael J. Fox after a lot of shooting was completed. In some fringe, alternate universe maybe a goateed Eric stayed with the film.

DC has already put out one Elseworlds theme set, but there's always room for more. Taking a page from the "what could have been" playbook, HeroClix has its own close encounters with alternate reality. For instance, every set goes through a complex pot boiling process that narrows down the list of figures to make it in. When Topps sold WizKids back in November of 2008 fans knew there were still a lot of unmade sculpts, and figures "in the pipe" including the entire Hammer of Thor set.

According to interviews with WizKids staff it's a six to 9 month turnaround from the time a set list was finalized to the time a set is released. With that in mind, the creative team was always working far enough ahead to have a few sculpts that don't make it into a set. Some get held over to the next set.

The Avengers expansion, for instance featured Stingray, Living Laser, the Mandarin, and Guardsman all of whom seem better suited to the Armor Wars theme. Swamp Thing and Human Target were probably edged out of DC75 in favor of more of the Rainbow Lanterns. Morbius, the living vampire was easily a shoe in for Mutations and MONSTERS but didn't find his way into the game until Secret Invasion. Keep looking and you'll find more (Victor Mancha anyone?).

More proof of this theory lies in prototypes and master sculpts of the artists WizKid retained to bring HeroClix to the battle mats. For instance, the incredibly talented James Van Shaik has a few photos of figures that could have made it into a set, but didn't for some reason or another.

Exhibit A: Black Canary

James Van Shaik has this picture of Black Canary with the following caption:

Done for Wizkids during the Topps ownership 2008/2009

I assume James means 2008, because by 2009 Topps really hadn't done anything with the HeroClix property besides sell it. Still, a 2008 sculpt could have put this figure in line for an Arkham Asylum release, which makes since given Dinah's Gotham roots.

Exhibit B: Huntress

Done for Wizkids during the Topps ownership 2008/2009.

It appears 'Canary wasn't the only vigilante slated for a remake in Topps owned WizKids. Fellow Birds of Prey teammate Huntress was on the books as well for a much needed update. Aside from Arkham, another possibility was that these two birds were slated for the Brave and the Bold set, which was the DC theme set rumored (and proven) to follow Marvel's Hammer of Thor release. That might have made this pair a duo, so perhaps it's a good thing these two never saw the light of day.

Exhibit C: Catwoman

Another alternate reality probably saw this original Catwoman costumed Selina Kyle on top of the Bat Signal, instead of this updated version that fans got as a brick figure.

James gives us more insight on his image tag saying:

"The buy-it-by-the-brick figure done for Wizkids Brave and the Bold Expansion. Not my choice on the pose/design of this one. They wanted Catwoman laying on a wall originally, I wanted her crouched at his feet but I suggested the Batsignal to try something different."

It's telling that direction from on top also wanted the costume updated with the goggle look, and not the classic duds of the original gray suited cat burglar.

Exhibit 4: Superman

Not much evidence of anything per se, but noteworthy nonetheless. WizKids sculptor Ben Misenar went through the trouble of creating this Red Son Superman for a 'Clix for the Cure event. Given the recent Superman release it's odd that we never got a Red Son Superman in that set, but rather a second Elseworld's version of Son of Darkseid Superman.

Exhibit 5: Blackest Night part 2?

Call me crazy, but I suspect that the big portion of the "Rainbow Corps" from DC75 were jammed into the set, but originally intended for another Fast Forces styled release.

Examine the sculpts of Sinestro, Larfleeze, and Atrocitus and compare them to the Blackest Night starter figures.

The level of detail for some of these figures is off the charts compared to the rest of DC75. Most, if not all of them have that translucent plastic that summons up images of power ring constructs. Kyle is halfway there with the GLC tombstone/marker evoking Larfleeze's base.

I can imagine WizKids kicking around the idea of a second set based on initial sale numbers but balking due to some obscurity issues the set would have. Wonder Woman is a household name. Flash is a good sale point, but Larfleeze? Atrocitus? I doubt they could help carry a set.

With all these unmade sculpts and signs pointing to other planned releases it makes one wonder what else might have been. Stay tuned as next time we look over the fence at what might have been in the Marvel U.

Mod-fodder: The Famle Furies

2011-10-20T11:35:00.019-04:00

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bummed that we didn't get the Furies in Superman. Then I got to thinking about who I could mod into the Furies and it struck me:

The Locust Horde TA seems a *lot* like a Boom Tube.

Locust Horde TA - This character can use Phasing/Teleport. When it does, after actions resolve you may knock back one adjacent opposing character 1 square. Uncopyable.

So then, I started digging further into who would make great mod-fodder for the Furies.

For starters, you can't have the Furies without a respectable Granny Goodness on the team.

Sadly, Clix hasn't given us many versions of this bad Nana. Justice League was saddled with a so-so iteration that stumbled in the SP department, and the Brave and the Bold representation is a duo, from a very specific time in Granny's life.

Here's what I came up with:

As the Leader of the Furies, Granny leads the attack, boom-tubing up with a grenade scatter. I don't have a great explanation for grenades, Troika Blasts, or the Clouds sp, aside from a Mega-Rod.

Next up, Mad Harriet...

She's the most insane and psychotic of the Furies, more wild animal than woman. Kind of like a female Creeper.

Charge, Flurry, and BCF sounds a lot like Harriet, who has a wicked set of energy claws. Range and grenades don't quite fit her though.

Then there's the problem of finding a dial for Stompa. None of the Locust Horde fits her to my liking. Mauler comes the closest, but I feel is too much of a pushover, and not enough of a threat. So I have to dip into another batch of "arcade" clix, HALO.

Stompa's a big brute with a Quake gimmick, and so I'm sold on this SR Master Chief dial for the second click alone - ignoring characters to Charge and Quake.

Everything but the SR price tag sounds good to me, so this more common version of Ken from Street Fighter is a good, cheaper substitute. With Force Blast, Quake, and lots of damage reduction/evasion, I think it works.

So far, all my picks have had one thing in common - the Warrior keyword, which means I can include Lashina - the easiest mod ever!

Leader of the Furies, Lashina already has a good dial from her Arkham Asylum release.

Together, the above dials come in at 391 points with some wiggle room for feats. I don't have Bernadeth yet, or some of the "newer" Furies. Looking over the Keyword Warriors, one figure stands out as a good Malice Vundabar.

Malice hangs out with a shadow creature/cat she calls Chessure which works for her B/C/F, and God of Fear seems to fit what little I know of the character. It might be appropriate for Bloody Mary too.

In any event, I couldn't pass over that Phobos/Malice dial, it's just too good. And by good, I mean EVIL.

I still need Bernadeth though, and unfortunately I don't feel like there's a lot of real good choices in the Warrior keyword. Bernadeth is known for having a hot knife - so one figure comes to mind in the point range that I'm interested.

Backstab just seems like such an Apokalips power that I have a hard time passing it over.

Kind of an expensive mod with the dial belonging to a sought after LE, the dial fits my idea of a figure with a knife that can cut through anything (EW+BCF). At 525-ish points I need one more girl to fill out my roller derby team...

Elsa Bloodstone makes for a good Gilotina, a character known for sharp blades.

Combined this is a 595 point force, that is somewhat modular for fun, theme builds. You can add in special objects, perhaps a Yellow Lantern (+1 av for Psychic Blast and EW) and a Black Lantern (Heal 1 click when an opponent is KO'd), or maybe some Kryptonite.

Another thing to keep in mind is that with the Warrior Keyword in play, several other Apokalips themed figures are available for the force. Veteran Big Barda from Unleashed may be a dud of a dial, but fits the Furies theme as their former leader. There's also room for expansion/filler with the CJ Parademons!

Now only if I had mod skills worth a darn.

Superman: What did you pull, what did you play?

2011-10-05T11:10:00.005-04:00

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
and sorry I could not travel both - Robert Frost

The Road Less Traveled is one of my favorite poems, and a great metaphor for HeroClix sealed events, where one must calculate the odds and opportunity costs of running with one particular team formation.

Because players never get to field everything they get from a booster there's a question that follows them after an event - What If I had used something else? I'm not the only one to think this as Northblade writes in response to my last post about the Superman Sealed events:

Forget Darkseid in your pulls, what would you have played if he wasn't there? What else did you get and what would you have built?

It's a tough question, especially because I have a hard time remembering what my force choices were. I'll break it down figure by figure, for both 300 and 400 point builds.

Setting Darkseid aside, I think these were my choices. I confess that I may be remembering wrong on Bizarro, but for the purposes of this exercise they work.

Here's my pulls:

78 Kryptonian Infiltrator
153 All-Star Bizarro
99 Maxwell Lord
67 Element Woman
90 Bruno Mannheim
125 Superboy
40 Hope Taya
92 Libra
70 Princess Projectra

Maxwell Lord was immediately dismissed as a choice thanks to his low damage values. He was a possible ally of Darkseid (they share a ruler keyword) but in my opinion can't really compete in this format without some kind of beatstick backing him up. Black Adam for instance would double the Outwit, and help shut down a 300 point Superman.

Also dismissed? Princess Projectra. I confess that I've used her in constructed to great affect where her "loaner" Super Senses helped Wildfire out of a jamb. Like Max, I didn't see her Mind Control being of much use.

Libra was kind of a dud pull for me too. He's not bad, per se - he just can't do much that I would considering using Mastermind for. I want to get to that PC, and by that time he's lost his best combat values. I think it's telling that he was the only figure on my force to be KO'd in every game.

Bruno Mannheim, like the 3 above - just didn't seem like a viable choice for the first half of his dial. Sure, I could have some LoSH team synergy with the SE TA, but then I'm forced to use another figure that I didn't want, just to get some Outwit.

So I kind of immediately set those four figures to the side of my figure pool and took a look at the remainder. I can always go back to them if I need to.

Of all the figures I have here, Superboy stands out as the MUST play. Opening TK and Perplex seal the deal, but the Superman TA and strong damage output don't hurt either.

In a 400 point battle, I'd back him with:

Bizarro - Superboy's TK and Perplex would help me get an opening strike with the big brute.
Hope - again, TK and Perplex lends itself to a nice alpha atrike with a disposable piece
Kryptonian Infiltrator - a great dial for some sets this figure is just outclased here. Still, not a bad attack piece. I didn't read the fine print on the SP and thought it only worked with Kryptonian Keyword figures, but it also works with Superman Allies.

I'd play that 400 point team with Superboy starting as a TK cannon, coming into the fight fresh, later in the game after his teammates had softened up the opponent. I think it would do fairly well given average dice rolls (7's) and sheer damage output. My hope would be that opponents would have such a hard time pegging down Bizarro that Hope and Infiltrator would get less attention on the map.

In 300 points, the decision of what to play is a lot less clear. I WANT to use both Bizarro and Superboy but have no filler. In 300 I can't even guarantee that Superboy will survive an alpha strike, so I'd steer towards Bizarro. At that point it boils down to who else I can fit on a team with him.

Element Woman and the Kryptonian are possibilities, but I don't like how they play (no move and attack!). I'd probably go back to my "cast offs" and sort through, picking up Maxwell Lord to play with Hope Taya and Bizarro.

Maxwell Lord might have a decent shot at surviving because of Super Senses and the inability to be targeted. Most importantly, he brings Outwit to the board, something Bizarro might need to stick damage to opponents.

In 300 points, I can see where my team would have fared poorly against Imperirex, but may have been average (or a little below average) otherwise. I think the key to winning with my 300 point team would be Mind Control/Incapacitate from Maxwell Lord as often as possible. I expect Max would get some serious nosebleeds from feedback damage and pushing, but to win he MUST use the opponents figures to deal damage.

Superman Sealed Review

2011-10-02T15:06:00.006-04:00

Those of you who read the Superman Marquee Primer on HCRealms.com may be interested to read this follow up report, featuring the figures I rated after seeing them in play.

I played in a 400 point, two booster sealed event and pulled Darkseid, Libra, and Hope Taya as my force. Darkseid was a must play, and it came down to who else would fit. Hope was a shoe in for my team, and if I had anyone cheaper I would have tried to shoehorn Element Woman in as well. As it was I went with the not so obvious choice of Libra because he can attack immediately following Darkseid's Boom Tube.

The following are the teams I played against, and how I think they performed.

First Round:
Sun Boy - Performed exactly how I expected him to. He hit once and then crumpled like tissue paper. Opening Pulse Wave caught me by surprise (I had chosen to Outwit Manchester Black's TK instead), but fortunately he only rolled a 7 on his attack, hitting my Mastermind fodder.

Manchester Black - got his TK/PB Outwit often. Didn't get to do much, but put the hurt on Hope. I can see where he'd be a good figure to field, just not against the team I was playing. I think I rated him right, though maybe he's closer to 3.5 stars. When he gets based he's absolutely shut down.

Lois Lane, Superwoman got chased around the board by Hope. I was trying to get an Alpha Strike on her, but my opponent was far too clever to let me. Lois probably transformed a little too late in the game - by the time she had changed she was stuck with two tokens on her and had to clear while Darkseid set up and followed through with Omega Beams to vaporize her. She's sub par for this set unless you can push her and get her into battle right away.

Parasite couldn't counter any of Darkseid's powers. He got Mind Controlled by Libra to attack Manchester, and then was vaporized in short order by the Omega Effect. Parasite could have been more formidable against another team where he could have Outwit... something.

I think only Libra was KO'd this round. My opponent hadn't played much and was a little rusty. His combination of figures wasn't horrible, and with some strategy he could have really made a dent in my force (Parasite, for instance could have used Super Strength stolen from Hope).

Second Round:

All-Star Bizarro Moved a little too close on his first turn. Darkseid's Boom Tube, and Outwit, and an a followup attack from Libra for 3 damage softened him up. Bizarro pushed onto his 16D Impervious, and Darkseid finished him the following round with Omega Beams. Bizarro was more of a threat to me than Supergirl and had I not memorized his dial he could easily have torn me apart.

200 point Supergirl lasted the longest, but had to push to keep up (and away) from Darkseid. She also did enough damage to KO all my Mastermind fodder, and at one point if she landed one attack roll could have won the game by dealing 6 clicks to a bare defensed Darkseid. Overall a solid performer on her front dial, but one that fades fast.

Hope Taya Performed as expected - a minor annoyance who dealt a little damage and was quickly seared out of existence by Omega Beams. For the cost, and outstanding figure.

Third Round:

Seven Deadly Brothers - proved annoying. "Deal with me" he said, leaping next to Darkseid and shutting down the Omega Beams. Hope Taya softened him up before Darkseid opened a Boom Tube to reposition the team away from Imperirex's oncoming drills.

Brainiac 5 - put himself in the line of fire and suffered a round 2 Omega Beam. After Boom Tubing away from the drills Libra finished off the Colluan. B5 Proved to be a minor annoyance with Outwit/PC/Perplex and i could see where the Double Outwit (from Imperirex) wrecked may teams before me.

Imperiex was feared. Drills, high defense, and massive damage made Darkseid cautious on approach. Imperirex's downfall was positioning - Hope Taya destroyed blocking terrain that opened a line of fire for Omega Beams. Rather than retaliate, 'Rex repositioned the drills and the stony lord of Apokalips finished him with more Omega Beams.

Again, only Libra was KOd (notice a theme?).

Final Round:

Seven Deadly Brothers (x2) - fell fast to Omega Beams, but served their purpose - blocking Line of Fire to Zod and Non. In that sense they were better than I expected (but not great!).

Non - Left himself open to Omega Beams and didn't move close enough to charge on his second turn (he's a little slow). He fell, but not before dealing enough damage to KO Hope and injure Libra. Indomitable made both Zod and Non capable of pumping out a lot of damage very fast. Darkseid was angry that he could not counter Non's Super Strength.

Zod - suffered a dose of Omega effects, but then came back strong, critically hitting Darkseid. Darkseid never made the attack rolls necessary to recover and so Zod made Darkseid kneel before him. Had I been thiking strait, I would have based Zod and shut down his Psychic Blast. As it was, I didn't want to waste an action when I could have fried Zod at range. Whoops.

As far as impressions of my team go:

Libra was chosen over rulers Maxwell Lord and Princess Projectra ONLY for sharing another keyword with Darkseid to use with Boom Tube. Libra never used Mastermind so he could get to Probability Control faster. Libra never stole energy but did Mind Control once. Despite being on a winning team Libra did not do much to help win, except act as a meat shield. Libra did throw up all over himself (rolling a crit miss) on the first attack of my first round. I attribute it to motion sickness after being Boom Tubed, though it was, in effect, an accurate showing for his dial. I am unconvinced this figure will do well in constructed, as his performence in sealed was marginal at best.

Hope Taya earned her 40 points in every game, either hitting once for 4, or by tying up opponents and forcing them to move away from her. Hope was a solid investment, and only ended up as a bullet shield once.

Darkseid proved to be a stony lord of Apokalips, decimating everything in his path. I got lucky in the fight with Supergirl and rolled a Critical Miss with him, bumping him to better defenses after he had lost his minions. He's surprisingly fragile, though annoyingly mobile. The combination of Phasing/Teleport followed by a free "minion" attack really proved annoying to my opponents and let me get a first strike in when needed. It also felt dirty, like cheating the NAAT rules. Off his top dial, his attack values drop to average and he becomes less of a threat.

In every game my opponents let me get away with Psychic Blasting through damage reducers only to Outwit something more important. Had they based Darkseid, his PB would have been shut down forcing him to choose to use Outwit on damage reducers or move away. You don't win a lot of games by running, and so I wasted a lot of time frying the small guys - Hope, 7DB, etc. While the remainder of my team tied up the opposition.

In all, I feel like everyone at the venue had solid pulls and the set played well, if only lending itself to some very fast games. Oddly no one pulled a Common Superman.

My Gencon Experience: Friday

2011-09-22T13:01:00.003-04:00

Friday during my free time I tried stopping by WizKids booth early to play a Battle Royal, and fell flat on my face as the lines just kept growing. I had what can only be described as a sour experience, waiting in a line just to sign up for an event, only to be told I couldn't wait to sign up because they had no sign up sheets out. They also didn't know when sign up sheets were going to be put out.

It turned into a catch-22 fustercluck, and I was told to wait at the back of a new line despite being first at the table for the next wave of sign-ups. By the time it was over I got moved to three different lines and ended up so far away that no one could hear their names being called. I also got chewed out by staff for making a mistake when signing up and asking "stupid" questions, which as a first time con goer with no clue what was going on was very disheartening.

I don't entirely blame them for the situation, but rather how they handled it was pathetic. I could see their frustration levels rising at a situation they had limited control over, and I know what it's like being an overworked, unpaid volunteer. Still, I can't believe how rudely I was treated by the staff, and official envoys of WizKids in the process of me trying to give them money. If I had been a casual or new player this experience would have turned me off for life.

After nearly two hours (and most of my free time that morning) I eventually got to play in a King of the Hill event against... surprise! 2009 World Champion Ben Cheung, the maker of the notorious Nightcrawler. Ben had great pulls and played a Soldier team with 2x Steve Rogers, Maria Hill, and a Howling Commando, to my somewhat lousy pulls (I played Klaw, Phobos, Adaptoid and Bucky-Cap). Ben won roll-off and picked the Crater Map making it a shooting gallery for himself. I trudged my team up the side hiding behind Adaptoid and with my average attack roll being 5's wasn't much of a threat.

My spirits were kind of defeated already from the long wait in line to finding out Ben was my opponent to his map advantage choice, and I think it translated to bad chi for my dice which never made a successful Leadership, Super Sense, or Shape Change roll. I pushed on, hoping he'd roll a critical miss at some point, but never got that lucky and I only managed to take out his Howling Commando.

I headed off again to help run Stratego and Stomple demos and decided I was pretty much done with HeroClix for the weekend. Too much disorganization on WizKids part. Still, I had bought enough generic tickets that I wanted to burn up, and I really wanted that convention exclusive Wonder Woman LE, so I sucked it up and managed to get in a Battle Royal at the end of the day, with a lukewarm partner that wanted to drop right away from the game after opening his boosters.

We lost the BR, and I lost most interest in playing competitive 'Clix at the convention which is expensive - I plucked down nearly 40 dollars to pick up figures I already owned just for a chance to win one of those gorgeous Horsemen of Apocalypse.

In hindsight I can see where WizKids tried to be too accommodating to everyone, offering more scenario play this year at the expense of table space for grinders and battle royals. There needed to be some penalty for people that dropped immediately from play (after seeing the contents of their booster and what an opponent pulled), and a better way to sign up for events so players could manage their time.

Scarlet Witch: Creeping Me Out for Years

2011-09-20T12:30:00.008-04:00

I hated Brian Michael Bendis for taking one of my favorite characters and turning her into a raving loon as a vehicle for rebooting the Avengers. And then perusing some older issues of the Avengers I realized, maybe BMB wasn't that far off.

Wanda's always walked a fine line between helping her teammates and killing them with her uncontrollable "Hex" powers. Like the Witch from Wundagore mountain shows, she's forever been on the edge of losing her mind, a loose cannon capable of accidentally harming friend and foe alike.

Take this exchange between Scarlet Witch and Electro for instance.

Wanda pulls a Vader Force Choke on this poor two-bit villain, and could have easily killed him. It's not the act so much that bothers me, but her teammate's reactions.

Captain America for instance. A guy who has fought in the bloodiest war in history, and has no doubt seen gruesome dismemberments, Nazi torture victims and the like takes one look at Wanda and has a WTF moment.

Rather, it was "What the Blazes?!?!?!", but we know what you meant comics code Cap.

Is that fear in your eyes Steve? His response says it all. "UM.... Yes!" So what do you expect from someone who can bend reality to shape her will, giving birth to mutant twins from an android father, or wiping the mutant gene out of existence.

Or most of the mutants anyway (since we can't just get rid of Marvel's best selling titles!). Still, with that kind of power cap is right to be scared. Scarlet Witch could conceivably do anything, including making Steve Rogers her love slave. SHe wouldn't do that though.... would she?

So in hindsight, the crazy was there to begin with. Brian Michael Bendis just connected the dots.

Superman or Elseworlds?

2011-09-14T17:39:00.006-04:00

So the Superman checklist was revealed, (awhile ago, I know...I know) and compared to my list there's actually a lot of difference. Many of the characters I figured would be in the set, didn't make the cut.

No Lana Lang Insect Queen? Now she'll never get made. And what about the Furies? And then there's just the bizarre choices. No Jimmy Olsen? No Mxyzptlyk? No Krypto? Sigh.

Here's where my list matched up with WizKids:

#1 Intergang Agent
#7 Superman Robot
#8 Gangbuster
#9 Zod
#11 Sun Boy
#14 Steel
#18 Parasite
#19 Ursa
#20 Supergirl
#22 Superman
#26 Superwoman (Lois)
#29 Maxwell Lord
#31 Superboy (classic)
#33 Silver Banshee
#34 Non
#35 Bruno Mannheim
#37 Magog
#39 Lex Luthor
#43 Lobo
#44 Brainiac 5
#52 Eradicator
#54 Darkseid
#58 Cyborg Superman

24/60. In short, I suck at predicting these things.

It is interesting to note that this is the closest thing we've had to an Elseworlds set ever. Between the All Star contingent, the Flashpoint sub-theme, and the variant chases, there's no less than 15 out of continuity figures. And that doesn't even include the Kingdom Come guys, or the Legion who are constantly going through alternate timeline reboots.

There's also a few figures I suspect are holdovers from DC75. Human Target, for instance isn't exactly a Superman staple, and while Swamp Thing has had encounters with the Man of Steel, he more or less screams 75 years of DC! Swampy probably had to be delayed due to storyline reasons, I'm not sure it was known that he came back with the Brightest Day when 75 was released.

Seven Deadly Brothers feels completely out of place (and is another that was better suited for DC75, which just adds to my conspiracy theory that DC75 had a bunch of Skittle Lanterns shoved into it at the expense of a few other figures.

My GenCon Experience: Thursday

2011-09-14T13:54:00.012-04:00

Thursday morning came fast and with it the long walk to the convention. Fortunately as insiders we bypassed the legion of gamers lined up to get in we helped set up the Spinmaster tournament area then had a couple hours to walk about and take in the 'Con, enjoying all the colorful costumes and people along the way.

We stumbled into the paint and take where I fell in love with this Hillbilly Goblin model from Wyrd miniatures,

while my wife painted this Mouseling pirate. Both minis and paint were FREE (with con admission).

Captain Frosttail of the Icy Seas...

We then went to work helping run the Stratego events while demoing Stomple at the next table over. Stomple caught on like a super-flu virus, contagious to passers by as the shine of the marbles, and the CLACK sounds they made when falling through the board, drew people in like rubberneckers at a train wreck.

The more people we taught, the more they wanted to show their friends how to play. Because the rules are so simple it got to a point where people I had just taught how to play were explaining it to their friends (and other strangers) and so on.

After the Exhibit hall closed and the last Stratego event ran, I quick changed into my Mouse tee

and we headed over to the Old Spaghetti Factory for the HCRealms.com member appreciation dinner, where I finally got to meet and greet many people I have only known through online communication. We sat with a table of gamers from the Boston area and enjoyed dinner and conversation that didn't just revolve around games.

Later in the hotel lobby we had a four player Battle Royal of Epic Proportions - my Mole Man was on the prowl looking for objects to steal, and I managed to snatch up a Scorpio Key, A Black Lantern, and the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak before XLII's X-men thwarted my heist.

Play of the night went to a Juggernaut-empowered Moloid who KO'd Larry's (HCRealms Tyroman) FF Sinestro - no easy feat with Sinestro being on his Invulnerable clicks and Molo-naut having only a 2 damage.

Heh.

My GenCon Experience: Wednesday

2011-09-14T13:37:00.008-04:00

The Best Four Days in Gaming isn't just a hype filled slogan, it's truth. I realize I'm a bit late in posting this, but since this was my first big convention I thought it was worth sharing my experience.

My wife and I arrived in Indianapolis Wednesday night to help the Spinmaster team as demo monkeys, and I got on the floor just in time to see the exhibit hall as it was being set up, with forklifts dumping carpeting and crates everywhere in a flurry of activity.

The Redakai Booth

I made the rounds looking at booths and marking out where I wanted to go the next day, including the Cool Mini or Not area, Reaper booth, and WotC castle.

Reaper Minis

I also stopped by WizKids to geek out over some unrealesed 'Clix previews including the Pathfinder minis, Lord of the Rings sculpts, and Halo clix. My personal highlight - DC Superman sneak peeks including Sensor Girl/Princess Projectra, a split (100/200 point) dial Supergirl, and Silver Banshee.

We picked up our weekend uniforms, tee-shirts featuring classic Stratego icons and then strolled over to restaurant row where we enjoyed some boneless chicken wings.

Heading back to the hotel we found the lobby buzzing with gamers, including HeroClix and I got to chat up Mike and Mike from Calgary, who were both playtesting World Championship teams. I ended up playing a pick up game and had a lot of fun losing. Little did I know the fun was only just beginning.

Just Read It: Apathy

2011-07-24T09:39:00.000-04:00

Apathy and Other Small Victories by Paul Neilan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"The world is your oyster, and you are addicted to shellfish," reads the bumper sticker logo that becomes a life motto for Shane, the lead character of Apathy. Fans of Chuck Palahniuk will love this book that reads like a murder mystery/film noir for the Gen X & Y crowd - those disaffected, jaded and cynical souls fed up with consumerism and societal norms will find there's some humorous life commentary for them on every page. The lead character is one you don't necessarily root for, but follow because he's just so strange that you wonder what he'll say or do next. Packed full of oddball (yet interesting) characters from deaf Marlene to the firework peddling Mobo the prose somehow keeps these larger than life personalities all in the realm of believability, and the writing style keeps the pages turning, which is everything you want in a good read.

View all my reviews

Gen Con 2011: Stomple and Stratego!

2011-07-22T09:55:00.009-04:00

Yesterday I wrote about Stratego, a game with simple, easy to learn rules that is capable of layers of complex strategy. Today I'll mention Stomple, another Spin Master game that falls into the same category (think: Chess, Go!, Pente, Catan, etc.) of easy to learn rules, with layers of possible tactics.

Stomple is a multi-player (2-6) game where the goal is to score points by being the last man standing. The game board is a simple grid, with multicolored marbles spread randomly throughout. Each player is given a "Stomper" with the objective on their turn to "stomp" out another player's marbles by pushing down on them (marbles drop into the bottom half of the board). If you begin your turn and don't have any marbles adjacent to your stomper, you're out!

There's a few other intricacies; "chain" stomping an opponent's row of the same colors for instance will get you closer to victory. Players can also warp at any time to a marble with the same color as their Stomper, possibly providing a lifeline to someone who gets painted into a corner (at the expense of Stomping that color - making it a one time trick).

The real strategy is how to rack up points effectively. The game awards points to the last player on the board, with bonus points for other remaining marbles that do not correspond to Stompers in play like tiger eyes. Beware - in desperation to stay in the game those Tiger Eyes are often sacrificed. The key to victory is making sure you isolate your own color of marbles from others so opponents can't knock out a "warp" spot that could save you late in the game.

It's a fun family game that is enjoyed by players of all ages. There's also a glorious cutthroat aspect lurking underneath as well, the kind that can easily turn into one of those long standing blood feuds between competitive siblings (not that I'd know *anything* about that).

I mention Stomple and Stratgeo here, not just because they're great games, but also because I will be working at GenCon this year helping promote these game lines. Spin Master has some great tournaments lined up in Indianapolis, with events for both adults and the 12 and under crowd, and they're offering some good prizes to boot.

Come on out, bring the kids, sign up, have some fun and say hi! I guarantee you'll have fun even if it means losing all your marbles. I also recommend giving the updated Stratego a try as well! Hope to see you there!

Strategy and Stratego

2011-07-22T08:56:00.010-04:00

I've recently been addicted to an updated version of Stratego, the classic board game of capture the flag warfare that combines elements of chess and concentration in one tidy package. Similar to Battleship, each player has their forces hidden to the other player, with each piece having a designated power number attached to it. The higher the number, the stronger the piece. Unlike chess, attacking a piece does not insure it will be removed from the field.

For the uninitiated the main challenge of Stratego has always been the unknown factor of figuring out what your opponent's game pieces are while memorizing their location on the game board so you can position to eliminate them with a higher numbered piece of your own. Simultaneously, you must craft a strategy to protect your side of the map from an invasion.

Stratego teaches basic strategy on a grid-like map that is no stranger to HeroClix players. In fact, I suspect Stratego may be a great "gateway drug" to HeroClix, as the two share many similarities beyond the map. Positioning, pawn sacrifice, and a battle plan are the three major components to reaching a victory in both games.

I was delighted to find an updated version of Stratego on shelves now by Spin Master, makers of the widely popular Bakugan collectible element game and the party game Stomple. Packaged and presented to the Halo generation of gamers this new edition comes with a few changes that streamlines game play and speeds up play time.

For starters, the new set removes 10 pieces from each side, effectively tightening up the board which automatically makes games faster by placing the flags a row closer to the opponents. Additionally there are a few new pieces that have a move and attack ability.

The Scout for instance, can move full speed vertically or horizontally to "check" a piece, or capture a flag. With a power level of 2, Scouts are not very strong though they do trump a few figures like the Spy (whose sole job is to assassinate the opposing #10 piece) and the other move and attack piece - the Spotter.

The Spotter is an entirely new figure to the game, and has an ability to "guess" what an opposing piece is before he checks it. If the guess is correct that piece is removed from the game no matter what it is. All pieces from 10's to Bombs fear the Spotter who does not have to give up ground when he attacks (as in chess a Stratego piece normally occupies the square of a piece they removed from the board).

The game keeps staple mechanics like the unmoving Flags and Bombs, and bombs still have the ability to eliminate any figure that "checks" them - except Miners (and Spotters). The nice thing about the new game is speed - average game time, from set up to finish is probably around 30 minutes or less, depending on the experience you have with the board. The more you play the faster it goes. I highly recommend the new "Halo" Stratego to anyone who likes board games that have simple rules and are also capable of complex strategies.

Power vs Flavor...

2011-06-28T11:41:00.020-04:00

...Or why we'll probably never see a unique never before figure made by a HeroClix World Champion.

Power gamers. Min/Maxers. They go by many names, but the definition is roughly the same: players who capitalize on all the strengths of a particular game and avoid the weaknesses of certain strategies, (character builds, deck builds, team builds etc). Power gamers usually don't give a whit about flavor - by which I mean theme teams, unique character builds, or tactics that are otherwise average but evoke a lot of fun to play, but a player using flavor without Min/Max tactics usually gets steamrolled by a Power Gamer.

Power Gamers like to win. Playing to win is fun for them, and if they don't win - odds are they don't have fun. I've watched in disbelief as grown men throw tantrums over lost games like they were the John McEnroe of plastic toys. Flavor Gamers also play to win, but more importantly they play for fun. It's entirely possible for a Flavor gamer to go 0-3 and unlike a Power Gamer still have a good time at the venue.

HeroClix has an interesting mix of Power Gamers and Flavor Gamers due to the rich history from which the game draws its characters. Unlike Magic the Gathering (a game that tends to skew toward the Min/Max set) which built a universe from the ground up and populated it with characters that first appeared on cards and later appeared in novels. HeroClix has nearly 80 years of comic book, radio, television, and movie stories to fascinate its players, a built in audience to draw from. Thus, HeroClix players break into two main groups, fans of the characters and fans of the game mechanics. This isn't to say everyone who plays the game is one or the other, rather think of it like a Venn Diagram where a large subgroup is composed by the two types.

I've gotten to know many Power Gamers through the years, and they almost always have one thing in common - they don't know a majority of the "second tier" characters in the game. They aren't drawn to the game to see if the Serpent Society can beat the Detroit Justice League, they show up to see if their team can beat everyone.

Certain power combinations thrill Power Gamers the way some character combos can excite Flavor Players. If the figure isn't headlining their own movie or spotlighted in their own comic, and if the figure doesn't break the game or inject a winning strategy element they don't care.

Cypher: from zero to hero with 1 trait.

It doesn't take much to connect the dots then. Power Gamers like to win. They use figures that are easy to win with (Bullseye, Nightcrawler, Batman, Thor). They follow iconic characters that always win in their own medium. Wolverine. Punisher. Green Lantern. Superman.

At a championship level, the entrants are people who are playing for a prize, whether it be an actual physical prize, or a title to prove their greatness. Any time you have a high stakes competition some people will use whatever they can to get an advantage to win. Following this logic World Championship events will always skew toward Power Gamers, or at least Power Gamers will have the edge in these events over Flavor Gamers who may make a sub optimal game mechanic decision to maximize theme.

Over equipped or prepared for everything?

It's a given then, that with more Power Gamers competing than Flavor Gamers, a Power Gamer will win the World's Championship. And because a Power Gamer's favorite characters are A-listers, it's just as likely that the winner will pick another Wolverine, Ironman, or an already made five times over figure. As proof, I submit Ben Cheung's Nightcrawler, a character who had 5 separate HeroClix figures before Ben chose to update the Blue Elf.

George Massu, last year's winner picked Black Adam, another character that had 6 figures, two versions of which were already World Championship figures.

And that's why Vibe never stands a chance of officially getting made into a HeroClix.

In truth it would be smart of a Championship winner to pick a un-Clixed figure, one that was obscure and unlikely to get remade in the future due to the unique nature of that character. After all, if the game continues for a few years more, these A & B list choices like Nightcrawler and Black Adam will get remade in regular expansions. A Champion who picks the Rainbow Raider can rest assured that his is the one and only Rainbow Raider anyone will ever use.

Wolverines, Supermen, and Hulks will come and go, but a Rainbow Raider is forever. The one and only definitive version. EVER.

I'd love for someone to prove me wrong and that a character like Angle Man would be the next winner's chosen piece,

but somehow I get the feeling we'll be stuck with another version of Hal Jordan or Tony Stark.

Who is Donna Troy?

2011-06-22T11:57:00.023-04:00

There's really no easy answer to that question, which has been asked time

and time

and time again.

Donna Troy has an impressive comic book resume: Wonder Woman, Justice Leaguer, Teen Titan, Amazon, Titan of Myth, Black Lantern, White Lantern, Dark Angel, Challenger from Beyond, Darkstar, and so on. At just a glance it appears writers don't know what the heck to do with her. Has it always been this way? How did it get this way?

Donna Troy has about as much of convoluted history as it gets so I will try to make what follows as simple as her original (Golden Age) origin. As a girl whose parents were killed in a fire, Donna was taken by Wonder Woman to Paradise Island to be trained by the Amazons and given powers by the Purple Ray. Amber Alert creepiness aside, this is a walk in the park compare to the updated (Post Crisis) version which goes something like this.

Donna was indeed rescued from a fire but by the dying energy of one of the Titans of Myth, who were banished into deep space by the Olympian gods (cementing a connection with the Amazons). Donna is a imbued as a "seed" of power and is transported to the Titans pimped out moon headquarters where she learns to use her powers and is sent back to earth an amnesiac, a fate many readers wished on this storyline.

Those reader's wishes came true with the Post-Post-Crisis origin, which I'll get to in a minute.

But first, I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up the whole "Team Titans" arc, which featured groups of Teen Titans (with iconic members like Prestor John and Kilowat!) from the future traveling to the past to kill Donna Troy before she could give birth to her son,

a human baby born with the omnipotence which drives him mad to the point where he ages himself to adulthood calls himself Lord Chaos and throws the biggest tantrum of all time.

To prevent this Donna willingly forgoes her powers and becomes a normal human so that her baby is also normal, which is a shame when the baby, and the father die in a crash a short time later (off panle no less!). This event leaves Donna powerless and alone, and she eventually hooks up with Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner)

and joins the Darkstars (an intergalactic police force like the Green Lanterns). For about 3 years Darkstar Donna Troy policed the galaxy as an officer of the peace. Before the Darkstars got their butts handed to them by Darkseid's son, and disbanded. Somehow she got her original powers back...

As it was revealed in the Post-Post-Crisis origin where things get even weirder. Donna Troy is no longer human but a simulacrum of a golem, as she was created by sorceress using a magic mirror to create an reflective identical image of Wonder Woman intended to be a playmate for young Diana on Themysciria.

There's more to it than that - but involves even more time travel, space travel, the cosmic multiverse, and whole bunch of headache inducing plot devices. What you really need to know are these highlights. Donna rejoins the Titans,

only to be killed by a Superman robot

and then when brought back to life by the Titans of Myth where she learned she was also once the Anti-Monitor's version of Harbinger (as Dark Angel).

Later she became Wonder Woman for a short time during 52...

and was killed (again) in Blackest Night by Nekron...

and brought back to life (again) with a White Lantern ring,

Joined the Justice League

and is now likely to get another layer added with the DC Universe Flashpoint reboot.

She's like Marvel's Phoenix, a character that keeps dying and combing back new to the point of parody. Hopefully the reboot will get her origin right and drop the humdrum Space Opera origin for one as streamlined as this costume.

He's back, and ready to dance!

2011-06-21T10:56:00.014-04:00

No, I'm not talking about Felix Faust.

Vibe (and Steel) returns to the DCU this summer as the DC Retroactive event resurrects the greatest incarnation of the Justice League:

For the uninitiated DC Retroactive is a company wide event preceding the much ballyhooed Flashpoint reboot. It's too early to tell if Retroactive will be retconning some history in the new DCU, or if it is just an attempt to tell stories "Lost In Time." Here's hoping that Felix Faust travels back in time, and somehow prevents the death of Vibe, so he's alive and well in the DCnuU.

Each Retroactive issue comes packed with a new story from that era as well as a reprint from that time, so readers can understand the context, dialogue, and fashion choices.

Whatever the case may be, I don't care about the specifics because I get another chance to follow the Detroit League in an all new adventure. I'm curious to see what the reprint adventure will be, as there weren't too many one shot issues that didn't focus on a single character, that were not also double sized issues or Annuals.

The initial story arc that introduced the JL:D (in JLofA #233) featured the Cadre and was several issues long, featuring connecting covers that spotlit the whole team as a giant poster.

Other highlights were also two or four parters like when the League took on Amazo, or when Despero was upgraded from a weakling who played mind games to a musclebound powerhouse.

There were a few solo issues featuring Steel in a Crisis crossover, Vixen facing her evil uncle, Zatanna with her ascent to the God-head (a tale best left forgotten) so for the most part I can't imagine the "definitive" Justice League Detroit tale to be reprinted, but it may be this:

A story showcasing that the JL:D were better than the Trinity's combined powers. Whatever the case may be, I'm looking forward to spending money on this issue and diving headfirst into the shallow end of the nostalgia pool.

Why the World Needs A Superman

2011-06-20T12:49:00.014-04:00

How I Became a Die Hard Man of Steel Fan:

Over the years I've heard many Marvel fans complain that DC characters just aren't human enough, that do-gooders like Superman are just... boring. Boring? How can that be? This is a guy who moves planets after all, an act which makes children's eyes wide with excitement opening a universe of possibilities to their imaginations.

That same planet moving is less inspiring to a jaded adult who might merely roll their eyes at the thought of a person shoving a world through the universe. Children cling to heroes like Superman because they still believe in magic, and don't yet know the science of physics and the boundaries that adults take for granted.

So I understand the "Superman is boring" mindset, as I flip flopped from DC to Marvel in my early reading years. DC grasped my attention early on with its headlining larger than life four color characters - heroes who rarely struggled with control of their powers or asked themselves if they did the right thing.

Marvel Comics, to my young eyes were about as much fun as reading a newspaper because they were so wrapped up in the real world, presenting social issues and moral dilemmas that were too complex for a seven year old.

As I grew older, my tastes changed and as I started to question the science behind the heroes and my suspension of disbelief started wavering. "Flying in Space? How does Superman breathe? He has all these powers and he only helps others, not himself? Yeah right...." and so on. Add to it that there was no Gotham City in my universe that I could visit, no Metropolis to take a field trip to and this lack of reality helped further the divide, cementing the line between fact and fiction and pushing me toward "realer" Marvel.

Around the time that I started becoming more conscious of myself and others (Junior High) I switched over to be an almost exclusively Marvel reader. Stan Lee was a genius, making characters ordinary readers could relate to - kids with real world problems (Spider-Man, the X-men), adults with disabilities (Daredevil, Iron Man), and in truth, to my teen eyes the world of DC, where heroes wore their colorful underwear on the outside of their pants, and had few (if any problems) seemed silly to me. So I gravitated to someone I could relate to.

I even got to that point where I had to wonder why the Batman never just killed the Joker and ended the menace there once and for all, the way the Punisher used a rifle to solve all his problems. If nothing else following a darker, grittier hero in those High School years at least made you feel like less of a geek for reading comics.

As I've grown older my world view expanded and my tastes have changed again. I've come to view my comic reading as an escape from reality and unfortunately Marvel has always been excellent at merging the real world with its "616" canon universe. In short, I want a world full of bright colorful heroes that aren't fighting a Civil War, a world where teen heroes aren't persecuted by the public or adults are climbing into bottles. After all, I live in a world where people are persecuted, fighting, and alcoholic every day.

The real world is already full of misery, suffering and imperfection, why would I expose myself to it any further than I have to for entertainment purposes? That would be like watching the news rather than going to the movies. Politicians resign in scandal, sports stars have affairs that destroy their careers, and other role models are equally flawed. Which is why I like the do-gooder Superman.

I never have to worry about Clark Kent taking a bribe to bury an expose on big oil, or getting killed because he was investigating a mob enforcer or covering a war torn region. As a Kryptonian journalist, the truth will prevail, mostly because Kal-El is bulletproof.

It's that same immunity to ballistics that has many adults rolling their eyes at the Man of Steel, and it always makes me wonder if they see the hypocrisy of their distaste when combined with other forms of entertainment. People enjoy a good Superman story for the same reason that people go see Die Hard movies.

We all know Detective John McClane isn't going to die, we all know he's going to triumph over the villains even if it means leaping off exploding skyscrapers and bouncing off the top of F-16s Wile E Coyote style while chasing the villain. The audience shows up for the explosions and for the action, not because we really believe it could happen. Newsflash: it doesn't get much more explosive action than with Superman.

I mean the guy doesn't even flinch when he gets shot in the eye with a bullet.

If that's boring to you than I feel sorry for your loss of childhood awe and wonder.

How awesome would it have been if Hans Gruber had tried taking over the Daily Planet? Sure the fight would have been over in seconds, but it would have been satisfying to see Superman just wade through the gunfire and crush their pistols while the terrorist-bank robbers stood awestruck and helpless. There's no greater satisfaction than watching as an oppressor suddenly realizes they have no power over the oppressed, a moment often denied in the real world thanks to brutal violence and intimidation, two things that won't work against Superman because he's the biggest, toughest opponent out there.

In closing, I want to live in a world with a Superman, a world where heroes don't solve problems with bullets, a better world where evil never stands a chance of winning. Is it corny? Yes. Unrealistic? Sure. If I want to wrap myself up in realism, I'll open the local news. In the meantime, leave me to my Action Comics where, when that blue and red blur shows up on panel you know the villain has no chance, and you can delight in the righteous victory so often denied in the real world.

Tanks for all the memories!

2011-05-24T13:21:00.004-04:00

Okay, recent revelations about Superman (namely it being a 54 figure set) have severely crimped my plans to finish my dream set. So far with the Flashpoint sub-theme, and the revelation of the World Champ's figure (Black Adam) taking a spot, I've given up hope that this would be on par with Web of Spider-Man. No way am I getting all my wants, so now I'm just rooting for Lois, Jimmy, and their Super Powered versions. If I don't get a mutated Turtle Boy I may cry.

Speaking of mutant freaks, Tank Girl has for years hung out with a pack of Kangaroo men. Because I highly doubt we'd ever see a Gorillaz/Tank Girl action pack I broke down and commissioned a custom clix from a friend who is a very talented artist. For years I've wanted a Tank Girl Heroclix, and now I finally have one:

I couldn't be happier with the detail from the Teddy bear to the cigar, and everything in between. Tanky is on GSX Bonebreaker's dial and provides a lot of firepower to the battlefield with Indomitable and the ability to break away and ignore characters and hindering terrain for those full move Running Shots.

I've played about a half dozen games against her so far, and she's a formidable opponent. Pictured above she's teamed with GSX Pretty Boy, Gideon, and Omega Sentinel who all have that "post apocalyptic" feel. Her foes on the airbase map (featuring a tank - duh) were three Moloids, Mole Man, and two Mindless Ones.

Tank Girl won a few, and lost a few - the two teams were evenly balanced. The highlight of one game was having a Moloid pick up the Crimson Gem of Cytorrak and defeating Gideon on his own, before finishing off a wounded Pretty Boy! All Hail the Mugger-Noid!

All Star Superman part 7 - Chase figures and prize pack.

2011-03-01T13:50:00.011-05:00

While it seems to many the obvious choice for the final four chase figures for a superman set would be updates of the Reign of Supermen characters (the four Supermen that appeared after the epic battle between Doomsday and Clark: Superboy, Steel, the Eradicator, and Cyborg Superman)

New Wizkids has been anything but obvious, surprising fans with "I can't believe they made *that* figure" choices like Frog Thor, Rocket Raccoon and Lockheed. It's obvious that someone of influence in the office likes animal characters, and so what better way to round out the set than with the Legion of Super Pets?

The 'Pets make for good chase figures from the grumbling "I don't want them" set, players who would never think of using a corny character over, say, the Punisher. For die-heard Man of Steel fans these four would be welcome additions. Continuing the WoS set trend they take the place of:

#61 Spider-Hulk SR = Streaky
#62 Doppelganger SR = Beppo
#63 Bombastic Bag-Man SR = Comet
#64 Cosmic Spider-Man SR = Krypto

But wait, there’s more! Every set has to have a brick figure, 5 LEs and 2 special tokens. LEs are easy to round out using generics and repaints or renaming other figures...

#101 Jose Delgado (Gangbuster)
#102 Light Lass (Lightning Lass)
#103 Jeanette (Silver Banshee)
#104 Superman (black "Death of Superman" suit)
#105 Dr. Emil Hamilton

For the brick figure, someone iconic, the villain from the Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow story from Alan Moore:

#100 Brainiac/Luthor

Finally, this set could contain many different version of Kryptonite special object tokens...

Green Kryptonite, Red Kryptonite, Plaid Kryptonite - anything to meet your fashion needs. And finally, who wouldn't want a...

Phantom Zone Projector

Capable of blasting entire worlds into the void, or otherwise incapacitating foes (batteries not included).

The final set list gels together nicely, with several versions of Superman and his powerful allies available in the rarity tiers the way Thor was easily available in the Hammer expansion. There's plenty of top names (Lobo, Steel, Supergirl, Cyborg Superman), second tier fan favorites (Booster Gold, Ambush Bug, Mister Miracle), and those bordering on obscurity (Codename: Assassin, Gangbuster, Atomic Skull).

Plenty of "full teams" in the way of the Legion, JLI, Darkseid's Elite and Female Furies. Generic lovers will go crazy over new Intergang goons, War Hounds, and various military-police types, and the rarity of Legion of Super Pets chases shouldn't disappoint too many as internet posts seem to shun the inclusion of these figures.

Here's the set list put together:

Commons

#1 Intergang Agent
#2 Metallo Man
#3 STAR Labs technician
#4 Squad K
#5 Metropolis SCU
#6 War Hound
#7 Superman Robot
#8 Gangbuster (AE Superman)
#9 Zod
#10 Jimmy Olsen
#11 Sun Boy
#12 Ferro Lad
#13 Lightning Lass
#14 Steel
#15 Insect Queen (Lana Lang)
#16 Stompa

Uncommons

#17 Intergang Elite
#18 Parasite
#19 Ursa
#20 Supergirl
#21 Captain Maggie Sawyer
#22 Superman
#23 President Luthor (AE)
#24 Elastic Lad (AE)
#25 General Sam Lane
#26 Superwoman (Lois)
#27 Booster Gold
#28 Big Barda
#29 Maxwell Lord
#30 Lois Lane
#31 Superboy (classic)
#32 Mad Harriet

Rares

#33 Silver Banshee
#34 Non
#35 Bruno Mannheim
#36 Atomic Skull
#37 Magog
#38 Orion
#39 Lex Luthor (AE)
#40 Guardian
#41 Codename: Assassin
#42 Kalibak
#43 Lobo
#44 Brainiac 5
#45 Flamebird & Nightwing (duo)
#46 Desaad
#47 Mister Miracle
#48 Gilotina

The Super Rares

#49 Giant Turtle Boy
#50 Superman (Red Son)
#51 Prankster
#52 Eradicator
#53 Maxima
#54 Darkseid
#55 Highfather
#56 Mxyzptlyk
#57 Ambush Bug
#58 Cyborg Superman
#59 World’s Worstest (Bizarro/Batzarro)
#60 Bernadeth

The Chase

#61 Streaky
#62 Beppo
#63 Comet
#64 Krypto

Brick Figure
#100 Brainiac/Luthor

Prize kit

#101 Jose Delgado (Gangbuster)
#102 Light Lass (Lightning Lass)
#103 Jeanette (Silver Banshee)
#104 Superman (black suit)
#105 Dr. Emil Hamilton

Special Objects

Green Kryptonite
Red Kryptonite
Blue Kryptonite
Gold Kryptonite
Orange Kryptonite
Phantom Zone Projector

That about wraps up my dream Superman set, which by now has some figures spoiled already, not that I'm complaining. A new Matter Eater Lad, Wildfire, and Sun-Boy are greatly appreciated, and the Superman Robot is a much better brick figure than my Brainiac/Luthor suggestion.

September's Superman release date never seemed so far away!

All Star Superman Part 6: Super Rares

2011-03-01T13:37:00.014-05:00

In Web of Spider-Man the Super Rare spots are taken up by a lot of Spider-Man’s villains, both classic and new, some never before made. All Star Superman seeks to do the same injecting new life into outdated characters and introducing new opponents.

Red Hulk’s spot goes to an equally “red” powerhouse - the Communist Superman from the Red Son Elseworld’s story.

Annoyance villain The Spot trades places with annoyance villain the Prankster.

Never before made Morlun loses his place to never before made Eradicator, from the Reign of Superman story arc.

Bruce Banner’s girlfriend Betty turned into the Red She Hulk, while red head Maxima tried to make Superman her lover.

Classic Spider-Villain Doctor Octopus moves over for penultimate Super-Villain Darkseid, featuring his version from Final Crisis as a way to distinguish the figure from his still competitive Crisis version.

Spider-Man ally and foe Sandman makes way for another 4th World figure - Highfather, a perfect counter to the Lord of Apokalips.

Mischevious Mysterio uses illusions to frustrate Spider-Man, so it’s fitting that the equally frustrating Mxyzptlyk takes his spot.

Self aware, 4th wall breaker Deadpool can easily translate to some-time Superman foil, and 4th wall breaking Ambush Bug.

The Green Goblin is arguably Spider-man’s greatest foe so it’s fitting that GG’s spot goes to another epic Superman villain - Cyborg Superman.

Finally, while I want to give the Iron Man/War Machine duo’s place to two men of steel (Superman and Superboy) I feel compelled to include Bizarro Superman in the set, but because he was recently included in the Arkham expansion, I want him with a twist. What better way that with a World’s Worstest duo, featuring both Bizarro and Batzarro?

That wraps up the SRs nicely with some of Superman's most colorful friends and foes.

#50 Red Hulk SR = Superman (Red Son)
#51 The Spot SR =Prankster
#52 Morlun SR =Eradicator
#53 Red She-Hulk SR = Maxima
#54 Doc Octopus =Darkseid
#55 Sandman SR = Highfather
#56 Mysterio SR = Mxyzptlyk
#57 Deadpool SR = Ambush Bug
#58 Green Goblin SR = Cyborg Superman
#59 Iron Man/War Machine SR = World’s Worstest (Bizarro/Batzarro)

Next we'll examine what could possibly be the Chase figures in this set, and look at the LEs as well.

All Star Superman Part 5 - Rares

2011-02-28T14:10:00.017-05:00

General convention of set design places generics in Common slots, with well known characters in Uncommons, and so it falls to the Rares to fill out some of the lesser known (and lesser loved) figures. Names of rares in past sets like Larfleeze and Rocket Racer populate the bulk with a few high powered or more marquee icons (Wolverine, Storm).

Web of Spiderman continued the trend offering Menace, a relatively new Spider-Foe who makes way for Silver Banshee, an equally villainous femme fatale who can also serve as another LE - Jeanette of the Secret Six.

Bruno Mannheim makes his Clix debut, taking the equally loud and mustachioed place of Daily Bugle Publisher JJJ. Bruno will have a “master” ability for his Intergang minions.

The sewer dwelling Vermin moves over for another “monster movie” type - the Atomic Skull.

The cybernetically enhanced Scorpion got an upgrade in WoS, and so too will Magog, represented here as a member of the JSA.

Noh_varr was the son of a great hero, so it’s fitting that Orion, the son of a great villain (Darkseid) fill his shoes. Orion’s Collateral Damage version while a strong piece could use an upgrade, and would serve as a Silver Bullet piece to Darkseid.

Clone Ben Reilly donned a hoodie sweatshirt and took on the role of Scarlet Spider- so it’s appropriate that another clone take his spot in the set - the Guardian, of Cadmus project.

Relatively new villain Cardiac was a shock inclusion for Spider-fans, so hopefully Codename: Assassin will surprise players.

Speaking of hired killers, where Bullseye is an assassin with grace, I chose to fill his remake spot with another updated character who is notably less than graceful - Kalibak.

Solo, yet another mercenary in ‘Web gets his spot filled by a duo - Flamebird and Nightwing, defenders of the bottle city of Kandor.

Mad scientist Jackal’s spot gets taken over by evil scientist Desaad.

While fan favorite X-man Nightcrawler loses to an equally mobile and hard to pin down Mister Miracle.

Fourth World ranks get filled out in the Rare spots along with some other powerhouses, friends and foes.

#33 Menace = Silver Banshee
#35 J. Jonah Jameson = Bruno Mannheim
#36 Vermin = Atomic Skull
#37 Scorpion = Magog
#38 Noh-Varr = Orion
#40 Scarlet Spider = Guardian
#41 Cardiac = Codename: Assassin
#42 Bullseye = Kalibak
#45 Solo = Flamebird & Nightwing (duo)
#46 Jackal = Desaad
#47 Nightcrawler = Mister Miracle

Next we'll look at the SRs, the cream of the crop of the All Star Superman set.

All Star Superman part 4: Superman's Amazing Friends (and Foes)

2011-02-28T11:57:00.018-05:00

Continuing with our conversion of Web of Spider-Man to All Star Superman we take a look at the uncommon slots. The bulk of uncommons are filled with some of the most recognizable characters of the Superman mythos, making fan favorites easy to obtain.

Where Web of Spider-Man gave us one parasitic man-eater in the way of Carnage, Superman foe Parasite could easily be considered a counterpart and needs an update.

Parasite needs a version that will strike fear into the hearts of opponents - a Steal Energy monster with Poison, Flurry, the ability to Wild Card opposing characters - think something close to Zombie Hulk meets Chase Spider-Woman.

Spider-Man’s amazing friend Firestar helped fill WoS’s set list with a much needed update, and Superman has an amigo that equally needs a remake - Supergirl.

We’ll let Big Blue take the Black suited Spider-Man spot. We could have put Superman as a common, but figured fans would appreciate multiple robot generics over a 200+ point definitive beatstick. Black costume Superman will be an LE, complete with regeneration, a power not seen often on Clark’s dial.

Web of Spider-Man gave us three takes on his greatest foe: Norman Osborne, so it goes without saying that the other Billionaire Industrialist villain that must be included in a Superman set is Lex Luthor.

I have him listed as President Luthor, and it’s fun to imagine him with a Diplomatic Immunity trait that prevents Superman Allies from targeting him. In any event, I saved the AE mechanic that lets Lex upgrade into his popular battle armor.

Spider-Man’s ill-reputed girlfriend got hit with the remake stick, so it’s only fitting we include one of Superman’s gal-pals in the form of Lois Lane, from the issue of All Star Superman where she gained powers.

Superman’s not the only hero to call Metropolis a home, and for a while Booster Gold operated out of the big city. A fan favorite who doesn’t have a solo updated version since his Origin appearance, Booster could easily fit in a Man of Steel theme set.

Where Web of Spider-Man had four slots devoted to a complete X-Force team, MoS has four members of a team Superman belonged to: the JLI. With Booster in spot #1 Big Barda fills double duty as a JLI’er and 4th World Female Fury,

Barda also has a bit of a "romantic" history with the Man of Steel...

while Maxwell Lord finally gets the HeroClix treatment as both friend and foe of the Kryptonian (and Booster!).

Also in the frienemie JLI category: Lobo, the main man takes Wolverine’s place.

Plainclothes Lois Lane fills in for Mary Jane in the “supporting cast” role, although Lois’s dial will have more powers, as Lois has proven to be sneaky and combative in her investigative journalism.

While we're on the subject of Weapon X - WoS gave us the annoying son of Wolverine, so it’s fitting that Superboy take Daken’s place. We’re talking first appearance Superboy here, with leather jacket and glasses.

That takes us through the Uncommons and some of the most colorful and popular friends and foes of Superman.

#18 Carnage = Parasite
#20 Firestar = Supergirl
#22 Spider-Man (black suit) = Superman
#23 Norman Osborn = President Luthor (AE)
#39 Iron Patriot = Lex Luthor (AE)
#26 Black Cat = Superwoman (Lois)
#27 X-23 = Booster Gold
#28 Warpath = Big Barda
#29 Wolfsbane = Maxwell Lord
#43 Wolverine = Lobo
#30 Mary Jane Watson = Lois Lane
#31 Daken = Superboy (classic)

Next time we'll look at the Rares, which include some lesser known allies and antagonists of the Man of Steel.

All Star Superman part 3 - Complete teams

2011-02-28T10:34:00.013-05:00

HeroClix set design accounts for complete, ready to play teams, and recent sets have delivered with Nextwave, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and in Web of Spider-Man X-Force, the U-Foes, and the Outlaws a group Spidey once belonged to.

Superman has a similar group he joined, if not inspired, the Legion of Super-Heroes. In all honesty, the LoSH could use its own expansion as there are so many characters yet to be made into clix form that they would overrun a set on their own.

It's impossible to include a "complete" line-up of Legionnaires, but we can certainly fill out 3 to 400 points worth of members starting with Sun Boy, a fitting inclusion considering Superman is solar powered.

The Man of Steel set wouldn't be complete without a boy of steel that joined the Legion, and I'm not talking about any Kryptonians.

Ferro Lad may have had a short tenure but certainly fits the Man of Steel theme.

Other never before made Legionnaires include Insect Queen, the role adopted on multiple occasions by Clark’s Smallville sweetheart Lana Lang.

Including Lana as Insect Queen is a great way to showcase Superman's diverse universe of characters without turning her into a vanilla Mary Jane Watson role with no powers.

Lightning Lass gives us a chance to fill two spots...

showcasing another easy to conceive LE repaint, from her time as Light Lass, with powers over gravity.

Finally represent a much needed remake of Brainiac 5 the ancestor of one of Superman's greatest foes, and lover of Supergirl.

With the aforementioned Jimmy Olsen/Elastic Lad the Legion makes a strong showing in Man of Steel.

Back from the future we can easily see who in the DCU takes the place of Tony Stark, the Web of Spider-Man's billionaire industrialist in a suit of armor. It’s fitting that the Man of Steel set get its own “Iron Man” in John Henry Irons: Steel.

WoS also featured a complete line-up of never before made Hulk villains - the U-Foes, with one figure in each rarity set level. For Superman’s set, we’ll try and include another team that hasn’t gotten quite a lot of screen time: the Female Furies.

Granny Goodness has two Modern Age versions, so we'll skip over her and include Bernadeth, Mad Harriet, Stompa, and Gilotina.

That rounds out the common slots, and fills up a couple of teams for some epic HeroClix battles.

#11 Prowler = Sun Boy
#12 Puma = Ferro Lad
#13 Will o the Wisp = Lightning Lass
#15 Molten Man = Insect Queen (Lana Lang)
#44 Rocket Racer = Brainiac 5
#14 Iron Man = Steel
#16 Ironclad = Stompa
#32 Vector = Mad Harriet
#48 X-Ray = Gilotina
#60 Vapor SR = Bernadeth

Next, we'll look at some of the Uncommons of Web of Spider-Man and figure out who Superman's Amazing Friends are, and what team takes the place of X-Force...

All Star Superman part 2 - Alter Egos and more

2011-02-28T10:10:00.010-05:00

Finishing out the commons of a Superman HeroClix set based on the Web of Spider-Man set, we have a conundrum. Spider-Man featured a number of Alter Ego figures, which arguably aren’t needed in Man of Steel, seeing as how Clark Kent got the AE treatment in the Brave and the Bold.

Rather than go the route of including another Clark (and inducing the groans of many players) we’ll include another one of Superman’s Alter Egos: Gangbuster.

Gangbuster was a more “emo” role Superman created when he was guilt ridden with causing the deaths of the Phantom Zone criminals Zod, Ursa and Non, and in Heroclix form would have the ability to “upgrade” into the Man of Steel.

We don’t want to dismiss the real Gangbuster, so we’ll include Jose Delgado as an LE.

Just as Peter Parker’s spot makes way for Gangbuster, so too can we fill in another Alter Ego slot with another newsman - Jimmy Olsen.

Taking the place of Daily Bugle reporter Eddie Brock is Daily Planet reporter Jimmy Olsen. Olsen is known for his many outrageous adventures, including turning into a giant turtle-boy and joining the Legion of Super-Heroes as Elastic Lad.

Both could be represented by a combination of the AE/battlefield upgrade mechanic, where Jimmy needs to meet a certain goal to transform when the Alter Ego power is showing, and can form into 1 of 2 AEs - Elastic Lad or the aforementioned turtle.

Giant Turtle Boy takes the place of WoS’s SR Groot, a large figure who likewise turns into a colossal mid dial. By combining the AE/Battlefield Upgrade mechanics Jimmy *might* turn into something, but it's no guarantee. Otherwise players can automatically field the Olsen of their choice.

In another common spot Web of Spider-Man featured Venom, the darker, evil Anti-Spider-Man, and while Superman has many foes that fit that bill (Bizarro, Ultraman) one version really needs a remake. The Kryptonian criminal that caused Superman to adopt the Gangbuster guise: Zod.

Zod's not complete without his teammates Ursa and Non, so we'll include them (in different rarities) as well. Never before made Ursa takes the place of Uncommon Never before made Chameleon, while Non grabs Victor Mancha's Rare spot.

Taking a look at WoS's set list, we've filled out spots 8-10, and jumped around a little.

#8 Peter Parker = Gangbuster (AE)
#101 Jose Delgado (Gangbuster)
#9 Venom = Zod
#10 Eddie Brock = Jimmy Olsen
#24 Ben Reilly = Elastic Lad (AE)
#49 Groot SR = Giant Turtle Boy
#19 Chameleon = Ursa
#34 Victor Mancha = Non

Next time we'll look at the Outlaws and see if we can't find a compatible team to replace them with.

All Star Superman Set List (Speculation)

2011-02-24T12:18:00.013-05:00

Part 1, the Commons.

Earlier this month WizKids announced a Superman HeroClix set scheduled for release in September 2011. Assuming, it's a full set, what can fans expect? For one thing, don't expect it to be called All Star Superman thanks to the unfortunate abbreviation implied. Instead, we'll refer to it as the Man of Steel.

Names aside, recent HeroClix expansions have given players a number of remade and never before made Superman enemies including Brainiac, Doomsday, Metallo and the Kryptonite Man. It would be a shame to waste spots in the set dedicated to these most recently made foes, so here's hoping that a few classics actually get left out.

If the Man of Steel set follows the same pattern as the recent theme set of a certain alternate universe web headed journalist, here’s what we might expect to see. Web of Spider-Man featured multiple generics, something Metropolis has plenty of room for.

Instead of the HAMMER organization, MoS would feature updated Intergang agents, an equally sinister group of elite super criminals. Sculpts could be repainted on these Intergang minions to represent two power levels, just as the HAMMER team had its grunts and elites.

On the opposite end of the law and order spectrum is the Metropolis SCU with their captain Maggie Sawyer taking the place of Code: Blue and Marcus Stone.

Additionally, there's Squad K playing both sides of the fence. Lead by General Lane and replacing the generic Nurse spot from WoS.

Not too much of a stretch from WoS's nameless Researcher is the STAR Labs Technician. Dr. Emil Hamilton is an easy repaint, and a prominent figure in the DCU to earn his own clix in LE form.

The Symbiote’s spot gets replaced with the Metallo Man minion, a generic servant of Brainiac/Luthor from the classic Alan Moore “Whatever Happened to the Man of Steel” storyline. Unlike Metallo, who was just one man, Brainiac/Luthor created an army of kryptonite powered cyborgs to assault the Daily Planet in an attempt to draw out the Man of Tomorrow. The Man of Steel set also features the buy it by the brick Brainiac/Luthor figure as their battlefield general.

Superman has rich history entwined with the fourth world, which is why a Fenris Wolf sized double based giant Warhound is an appropriate generic for the set, as opposed to Parademons which made a strong appearance in the recent Brave and the Bold. Warhounds replace the common mugger from Web-Head's expansion.

Speaking of robots, a Superman set couldn’t be complete without a Superman Robot generic, taking the place of classic suit Spidey.

So far we've found replacements for 10 figures:

#1 HAMMER Agent = Intergang Agent
#17 HAMMER Elite Operative = Intergang Elite
#2 Symbiote = Metallo Man
#3 Researcher = STAR Labs technician
#4 Nurse = Squad K
#25 Anti-Venom = General Sam Lane
#5 Code: Blue Officer = Metropolis SCU
#21 Lt. Marcus Stone = Captain Maggie Sawyer
#6 Mugger = War Hound
#7 Spider-Man = Superman Robot

Next post we'll take a look at the Alter Egos possible in a full blown Man of Steel set.

What is Nextwave, anyway?

2011-02-17T13:28:00.020-05:00

Nextwave is a comic book music video at full volume,

featuring people getting kicked and then exploding. So says European comic superstar scribe Warren Ellis when he created the team. Nextwave is his bastardized brain child of a series, featuring obscure or third tier Marvel characters like Machine Man and Elsa Bloodstone.

More of an art installation than linear storytelling vehicle, Nextwave issues are crammed full of action sequences, with jaded, self aware heroes playing the role of monster hunters chasing down brightly colored villains that make no rational sense. Pythons in Bi-Planes. Giant monkey Wolverine clones. Dinosaurs in smoking jackets. In other words, check your brain at the door.

Even Ellis confesses that there is little substance to the work:

"I took The Authority and I stripped out all the plots, logic, character and sanity... It’s an absolute distillation of the superhero genre. No plot lines, characters, emotions, nothing whatsoever. It’s people posing in the street for no good reason. It is people getting kicked, and then exploding. It is a pure comic book, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. And afterwards, they will explode".

It's part satire, part social commentary, poking fun at the strange areas of the Marvel Universe (and the real universe) while honoring Marvel's oft times oddball history.

Nextwave also has a diehard fan following among the Gen-X & Y set with a target audience of the texting-tweeting crowd, where attention spans are measured in nanoseconds. This book is geared for an audience craving eyepopping visual candy, mixed with subversive anti-establishment behavior. In short: it's not a long read.

Opening the pages of an issue of Nextwave comes with a clause: you're agreeing to throw continuity, and even reason out the window. Nothing that happens in these pages means anything as characters act inconsistently, and there are no rules of physics (as applied in even the most basic comic books) to the point where every issue is a cartoon episode of Wile E Coyote chasing that Roadrunner. Or in this case a sharp toothed koala bear hunting a robot.

Now where have I seen this before?

Speaking of rabid koala bears, Nextwave brings to mind another, older property. It could be argued that Nextwave is nothing more than a reimagined Tank Girl, with a bigger cast of characters, cleaner artwork, and less nudity.

Jamie Hewlitt may have more recognition now because of his work with the Gorillaz, but the creator of Tank Girl is like Warren Ellis, a crazy Brit who enjoys ridiculous visuals...

Known for explosive chromatic eye candy

Tank Girl featured killer koalas and little in the way of plot

with lead characters posing for no good reason.

As artistic endeavors, both succeed admirably, but as storytelling goes, they fall a little flat - and they're meant to. Neither one aspires to be anything more than what they are - a showcase for crazy characters and artwork stitched together with a very thin narrative.

It's no surprise that Nextwave will transfer well to a HeroClix map. It'll be a lot of fun to have Nextwave show up and

Pose!

KICK!

and Explode!

their way across a map. I will fight anyone who says otherwise.

And they will explode.

The Magic Show

2011-02-16T09:01:00.010-05:00

With Smallville on the way out,
it's high time DC started thinking about "What's next?" I give you:

Zatanna

My pitch for a live action TV series featuring DC's mistress of mysticism tentatively titled "Z."

Like Smallville, "Z" takes place in the "before they were heroes" era. The series begins as Zatanna is enrolled by her father (the Amazing Giovanni Zatara) in a performing arts school. She's a natural magician, but must learn classic legerdemain, and focus her stage performance.

Zatanna herself is competent with magic when around her father, but a little bit bumbling on her own (Buffy fans think: Willow's early years dabbling in witchcraft).

The series itself is a mixture of genres, combining a little bit of Professor X's "School of gifted youngsters," with a dash of Glee (Fame!) and a brooding gothic overtone. Stages are dressed in Victorian fixtures, from Zatara's mansion to the old world style performing arts school in New York.

Storylines switch from the everyday, teen angst, coming of age tales that Buffy Summers was known for, to the meta-story set in motion during the first season with the larger arc of classic Zatanna searching for her father. Her journey takes her to every corner of the DCU, from a meeting with Jason Blood in London to the monasteries of Nada Parabat to the magic locked in the crypts of Khandaq, and so on.

The cast of characters is limitless, with her classmates providing the core Scooby Gang. Along with a Chloe Lane type, we'd add a special effects/set design student Danny Cassidy. Better known to comic fans as the future Blue Devil, Cassidy is also the school's impish mascot.

Blue Devil has a history of teaming up with Zatanna, and a Hollywood/performer background and is a natural fit for the unrequited love role (Buffy fans think: Xander).

Another stage performer in the DCU with ties to Zatanna (albeit loose ties) is Shilo Norman, who focuses his talent on escape artistry. Good at picking locks, Shilo would be an invaluable asset when the group is snooping around looking for clues.

Together, this core group of teens encounters all things mystical in the DCU, with occasional guest star advice from the Phantom Stranger, brushes with Madame Xanadu, and reoccurring villains like Neron and Felix Faust.

Now who to get to head up this project? I'm sure Paul Dini would be interested, and Joss Whedon needs a new project. Hmmm. A school for performing arts could even reasonably feature a music number on occasion, something right up Joss's showtune alley.

Ssoj neppah ti ekam!

Sentinels should be feared...

2011-02-15T09:54:00.021-05:00

Not laughed at.

Yet somewhere down the line these killer robots turned into Keystone Cops, buffoonish oafs that can't carry any weight in a fight. Just like in the cartoon battles between GI Joe and Cobra, nobody gets hurt in a fight with the Sentinels (except the sentinels). Even in the cartoon Jubilee, who's only power is to create fireworks, easily evades and dispatches the mutant hunting menaces.

I blame Saturday morning (PG rated) television standards for their current reputation. Additionally, as robots, the X-Men have no moral quandary when fighting Sentinels, and can unleash full neck snapping, eye-gouging force that can't be used against, say... Magneto and Toad. At least not until robots march on Washington for Civil Rights.

This week WizKids unveiled the first of 6 colossal figures available in the Giant-Sized X-men expansion due next month, a Sentinel Mark II.

This is the game's third attempt to introduce a competitive Mutant stomper,

and unfortunately it falls a little flat. Fans were hoping for something that would strike fear into the hearts of opponents (and mutants) everywhere - a figure capable of holding its own at 300 points.

Sentinels have a history of getting beaten up. sure. As mentioned, they're ideal villains to fight - they constantly replenish themselves, and heroes don't have to face a murder charge when they rip off a head or two.

Sentinels also have a long standing history of crushing mutants. In the Days of Future Past story arc, the Sentinels eliminated most of the heroes and mutants of their timeline with ease.

Even powerhouses like Jean Grey

and Wolverine got PWNed,

not to mention the world's most powerful mutant,
Fantastic Four offspring Franklin Richards.

Yeah, I know. It's the future, it's an alternate timeline, and it's a bit of a "What If" tale, because you can't kill your mutant darling cash cows. Still, the Sentinels are no joke when they show up in comics, having devastated the island of Genosha (killing 16 million mutants in the process) and hounding everyone.

From the Avengers

to the Champions.

So what's wrong with the new dial design? Let's start with what's right - lots of damage reducers are a plus, along with the Indomitable ability. However, that upfront Invulnerability quickly fades mid-dial into a naked defense at shameful values of 15 and 16. Damage drops at the point making it harder and harder to KO mutants.

Sadly, these robots are missing all the components that kept them competitive in a 300 point environment.

First and foremost, the original Sentinels had the capture ability:

It didn't matter if you had a 300+ point Cosmic Spider-Man, or a 41 point Wolverine, Sentinels could capture any standard based figure up to two figures at a time, removing the number of threats from the board. Nothing says "fear" more than losing the team's quarterback to a giant purple fist.

Tent pole figures had good reason to be afraid.

Original Sentinels could also act every turn, and featured Multi-attack, to offset being out-actioned or tied up too long. Finally, the first Sentinels ignored certain powers like Mind Control and Poison.

New Sentinel has some significant upgrades in the defense department, and a power that rewards it for KO'ng mutants, but it lacks a certain flavor, like automatic regeneration, and modular design seen here in this page from New Mutants #48:

Sentinels have always had a history of respawning, as well as adapting to the targets they fight. A special power representing WoS Wolverine's regeneration, or Deadpool's Ridiculous Regeneration trait would have been in order. Even a Nanobots ability could have benefited the big guy.

Another problem with WizKids new Mark II also has to worry about Line of Fire issues - Stealth will wreck his 10 range, 2 target attacks. Compare it to the classic comic book Sentinels that can scan mutants miles, even when they're hiding:

Again from NM #48, showcasing Sentinels detection abilities. Finally, Sentinels attack in packs of three or four, and at 300 points, Mark II doesn't have a lot of room for friends while remaining competitive. In a 600 point fight, two Mark II's will easily get out-actioned, Outwit, outclassed and outplayed.

Here's hoping the other Sentinel in GSX adds a little synergy to this model, or that we'll see additional rules to accompany these purple mutant eaters and restore them to their Days of Future Past glory.

Until then, we'll just have to wait for the next design, the new hotness, the Mark III.

Whenever the Sentinels return that is.

5 things D&D taught me about HeroClix

2011-02-10T08:52:00.009-05:00

Before I go into detail about the D&D/HeroClix crossover, I have an announcement:

I'm published!

Check out this issue of Beckett Magazine's Game Strategyst (on newsstands now) for a glimpse at my second HeroClix article titled:

Four Things D&D taught me about HeroClix.

Unfortunately I had more to say on the subject but (unlike a blog) magazine page space is limited, so I had to edit it down to four things.

Now for obvious reasons, I can't copy and paste the content herein, however I can share a gem I had to cut from the piece I submitted:

#5. Always Check for Traps

Adventuring groups are a paranoid bunch, probably because a little healthy paranoia goes a long way in keeping a character alive. In HeroClix checking for traps translates to knowing your opponent’s attack capabilities. Just how far can Joker move towards Batman while remaining out of the Dark Knight’s range?

To elaborate, in HeroClix many equate "checking for traps" with a term called "Swing." Swing, loosely defined is an opponent's effective attack range measured in board squares.

For instance, Cyclops has a range of 8, with Running Shot and a speed of 8 showing on his dial. Cyclops can move 4 squares and shoot another 8 squares, giving him an effective swing of 12 (4+8), which means if you were playing against Cyclops you'd want to park your force more than 12 squares away from the one-eyed x-men when possible. Positioning this way would force Cyclops to use two actions to get a target instead of moving and attacking (and possibly damaging your team) with just one action.

As a new player, the "trap" I always fell into was that I would forget about Perplex when taking my opponent's swing into account. If Emma Frost uses Perplex on Cyclops she can modify his range or his speed +1, granting him a 13 Swing.

Checking for traps is not always as easy as just counting squares. Other things that affect swing include map elements and different types of terrain.

If Cyclops starts his turn in hindering terrain, his 8 movement is instantly halved (to 4), then halved again for Running Shot (to 2) curbing his swing from 12 to 10. If Cyclops starts his turn and immediately must enter hindering terrain he must stop his movement, dropping his swing from 12 to 9. Going into battle with knowledge like this will help you advance on ranged threats like Cyclops and keep an opponent from getting a first strike in.

Three final words, three easy steps -

BUY THIS MAGAZINE!

Game Strategyst contains a mash-up of collectible games (Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, Bakugan, Naruto), board game reviews, previews and information any game enthusiast would find interesting. HeroClix takes up a small part of every issue, but you can help change that if you:

Buy the magazine
Make your voice heard, and
DEMAND MORE CLIX COVERAGE!

So there you have it - buy this magazine and you too can learn how Doctor Doom is like a gelatinous cube.

Where's My Favorite Character?

2011-02-04T19:23:00.027-05:00

[SPOILER WARNING!] This article gives away the GSX common booster set list

When it comes to HeroClix, perhaps the biggest challenge the designers face is who to include in each set. It seems as though no matter who makes the cut, fans are never happy and quick to point out who's missing.

The simple truth is that there's just a limited number of seats to fill on every expansion "bus." The problem is compounded by the fact that comic creators keep thinking up the "new hotness" which creates more of an "in the now" demand from fans following those current titles.

For example - Orphan, the only X-Statix member in HeroClix debuted in Fantastic Forces when he was still fairly relevant to a 2005 reading audience.

Ditto the Ultimate X-men who were immensely popular at the time of their inclusion into HeroClix, but have all but dropped into obscurity in the reading world.

It's a surprise then, that WizKids has focused on making figures like the New Mutants and Hellions who were popular in the 80's, rather than focus on the 90's teams Generation X, or the 2000's Young X-men.

The other problem with Clixing all the X-men/mutant related figures is the sheer number of heroes and villains that inhabit that universe.

Giant Sized X-men does a good job chiseling down the number of never been mades and much needed remakes. Take a look a the basic set list for GSX which has a good portion of both remakes and unmades:

Madrox
Purifier
Omega Prime Sentinel
Hellfire Club Guard
Mindless One
Skullbuster
Pretty Boy
Cyclops
Wolverine
Beast
Emma Frost
Cypher
Empath
Roulette
Tabitha Smith
Aaron Stack
Domino
Caliban
William Stryker
Harry leland
Tarot
Cannonball
Psylocke
Gideon
Elixir
Leech
Siryn
Elsa bloodstone
Monica rambeau
Rogue
Angel
Ch'od
Blob
Pyro
Mystique
Professor X
Gatecrasher
Iceman
Lockheed
Sabretooth
Stryfe
Predator x
Trevor fitzroy
Bonebreaker
Vulcan
Juggernaut
Phoenix
Storm
Archangel
Armor
Hulk (Horseman of Apocalypse)
Wolverine
Magneto
The Captain

It contains a huge heaping helping of mutants, a very tightly wound theme in the key of X.

In addition to the X-men proper, we've got Hellions & Hellfire Club members (White Queen & Harry Leland),

Members of the X-Factor detective agency, members of the Brotherhood of evil, the Reavers, the Horsemen of Apocalpse,

a few Morlocks, and plenty of other time traveling/killer robot/evil mutant haters. Plus - the entire Nextwave team (arguably the least mutant connected figures in the set).

Still, many fans aren't satisfied. They lament that their favorites haven't been made, and it's apparent that WizKids could easily put out another all X-themed set. Other 'Clix fans are disappointed in GSX saying the set list has too many mutants.

It's true that we've never seen another Clix set with such a tight theme, but it has to be tight. Otherwise it would take at least 6 or 7 expansions with Mutant sub themes to round out everyone's wants.

As evidence, let's assume the next marvel set is also an X-man themed. What would it look like?

For starters, we need marquee heroes, so we'll fill in the SRs and much of the set with an Age of Apocalypse (alternate universe) theme (which should also help boost sales) featuring alternate versions of popular characters.

Taking "All new, all different" to a new level.

We'd also want to touch on some not so mainstream figures so we'll drop the Nextwave members and swap in five members of an equally niche-popular team: the X-statix (Go doop!). Then, we could trade out the Hellions & White Queen for another "school" team - Generation X members (lead by Banshee).

There's also some X-Force remakes (Domino & Archangel) that could be exchanged for other X-Force members (Vanisher, Fantomex) Let's bump the Hellfire Club theme, for the more updated Hellfire Cult, and edge out most of the Brotherhood of Evil spots for the much sexier Sisterhood of Evil.

We'll lose the "army building" purifiers in favor of updated Brood figures and some Limbo Demons from the Inferno crossover with S'ym as their leader.

Instead of the 10th version of Professor X bound in a wheelchair, we'll make the old dude with a walking sculpt.

Likewise, we need a modern version of Dazzler, so we'll flip her for Psylocke.

Because we can't expect to have this set also be "Giant Sized" we'll expand this set to the normal 60 figures by adding in Count Nefaria and his Ani-Men.

Scatter in a few other "Classic" X-men villains like the Fenris Twins, Moses Magnum and some obscure menaces (the Ogre, Lorelei), a couple more prominent Morlocks and you've pretty much got a complete set.

Let's take a look:

1. Hellfire cultist
2. Limbo Demon
3. Wild Sentinel
4. Layla Miller
5. Sunder
6. Marrow
7. Cat-Man
8. Moses Magnum
9. Havok (AoA)
10. Moira McTaggert
11. Gambit (AoA)
12. Jubilee
13. Skin
14. Penance
15. Ape-Man
16. Frog-Man

17. Wolverine AoA
18. Nocturne
19. Vanisher
20. Ogre
21. Lorelei
22. Lila Cheney
23. Banshee
24. Husk
25. M
26. Artie
27. Dead Girl
28. U-Go-Girl
29. Spiral
30. Lady Deathstrike
31. Dazzler
32. Bird-Man

33. Sy'm
34. Darkchylde
35. X-man
36. Masque
37. Callisto
38. Fenris (Duo)
39. Apocalypse
40. Thunderbird (Exiles)
41. Orphan
42. Anarchist
43. Lady Mastermind
44. Chimera
45. Sunfire (AoA)
46. Angel (AoA)
47. Storm AoA
48. Count Nefaria

49. Legion
50. Sugarman AoA
51. Sabretooth & Wild Child (Duo) AoA
52. Blink AoA
53. Colossus & Shadowcat (Duo) AoA
54. Nightcrawler AoA
55. Mikhail Rasputin
56. Bishop AoA
57. Magneto & Rogue (Duo) AoA
58. Dragonfly
59. Red Queen
60. Doop

61. Professor X (Walking) BiBtB

What's that? I forgot Cable? Mr. Sinister? The Marauders? The Young X-men? Okay then. Let's just play the really long odds and guess that instead of an Avengers theme or a Captain America based expansion, WizKids puts out a third X-men set. What would it look like, based on the GSX and AoA fantasy set lists?

Having Professor X make a three-peat is probably a bad idea, yet we need someone who can lead the mutants into battle... how about Cable? We'll also include some of his students from his New mutants/X-Force days, much to the chagrin of Liefeld haterz. Instead of Magneto, let's use his protege Exodus and include some of his disciples - Rusty and Skids from the X-Terminators.

I guess nothing will.

Speaking of which, let's include most of the original X-factor team from their mutant hunting days, and put them in their mutant huntning uniforms, with an AE mechanic to swap to their counterparts. Every hero needs a villain, so we'll add Cameron Hodge and the Right as well.

Using some of the cosmic X-men themes (Shi'ar, Starjammers) will give us a chance to fill slots with figures like Gladiator, with a few royal guard members in rare spots. Instead of a tighter themed X-men set, we'll have lots of smaller sub-themes and generics - the alien Brood, and the Dire Wraiths.

The Reavers and Brotherhood slots will get taken up by Marauders and Mister Sinister.

Where we used alternate universe figures in the AoA set, we'll add a few from the Mutant X cast.

Remember when Colossus was the Proletarian?

Yeah, I went there. With one Ruskie on board we could make the rest of the Soviet Super Soldiers as well (in our "Nextwave slot). The Hellions (Gen-X) get bumped for more teens - Young X-men.

Here's the list:

1. The Right soldier
2. Dire Wraith
3. Shi'ar soldier
4. Brood
5. Scott Summers (Mutant hunting X-factor Outfit) AE
6. Hank McCoy (X-Factor Outfit) AE
7. Jean Grey (X-Factor Outfit) AE
8. Bobby Drake (X-Factor Outfit) AE
9. Cyclops
10. Beast
11. Phoenix
12. Iceman
13. Feral
14. Ursa Major
15. Surge
16. Hellion

17. Cameron Hodge
18. Vanguard
19. Cecilia Reyes
20. Maggot
21. Rictor
22. Mercury
23. Rockslide
24. Pixie
25. Dust
26. Scrambler
27. Blockbuster
28. Riptide
29. Rachel Summers
30. Havok
31. Polaris
32. Lilandra

33. Nanny
34. Orphan Maker
35. Scalphunter
36. Prism
37. Wither
38. Darkstar
39. Rusty Collins
40. Skids
41. Brute
42. Brood Queen
43. Darwin
44. Deathbird
45. Neutron
46. Manta
47. Warstar
48. Gladiator

49. Bastion
50. Erik the Red
51. Mister Sinister
52. Exodus
53. Cable
54. Selene
55. Proletarian
56. Mojo
57. Longshot
58. Bloodstorm
59. Wolverine, Lord of Vampires
60. Dracula

Phew. And after all that there's still plenty of material to revisit or look at anew. Another X-men set could contain Savage Land sub theme, an Alpha Flight sub theme (as Wolverine's original hero team) along with the Weapon X and Weapon Plus members.

Let's put some generic SWORD agents in for agent Brand to play with. Let's include the New mutants that need updating as well as their Headmaster Magneto, and the Freedom Force/Brotherhood members that could use a fresh coat of paint as well.

Finally we'll include some of Grant Morrison's contributions, and bring Excalibur up to date for the new SP era.

1. Savage Land Warrior
2. U-Men
3. SWORD Agent
4. 'Crawlers (Nightcrawler/Cyclops hybrid from "Here comes tomorrow")
5. Zabu
6. Deadpool
7. Toad
8. Ka-Zar
9. Mystique
10. Angel Salvadore
11. Glob Herman
12. Magma
13. Karma
14. Wolverine (Alpha Flight)
15. Box (original)
16. Sauron

17. Mesmero
18. Magneto (Headmaster of Xavier's)
19. Sunspot
29. Mirage
21. Avalanche
22. Valerie Cooper
23. Super Sabre
24. Crimson Commando
25. Stonewall
26. Guardian
27. Aurora
28. Northstar
29. Amphibius
30. Garokk
31.Cyber
32. John Wraith

33. Meggan
34. Puck
35. Sublime
36. Joseph (Magneto clone)
37. Astra
38. Beak
39. Warlock
40. Radian
41. Phoenix II
42. Negasonic Teenage Warhead
43. Fantomex
44. Leper Queen
45. Brainchild
46. Worm
47. Zaladane
48.Lady Deadpool

49. Kidpool & Dogpool (Duo)
50. Shanna the She-Devil
51. Sasquatch
52. Captain Britain
53. Kitty Pryde
54. Destiny
55. E.V.A.
56. Kid Omega
57. Nightcrawler
58. Shadow King
59. Sydren
60. Gateway

It becomes apparent when designing fantasy lists around X-men that there's almost no end to the mutant love parade. With one or two expansions every year, it's going to take a long time for these figures to get made, especially if the Marvel sets dip into other areas - and they will.

An Avengers set is almost a given with an upcoming movie, as is a Captain America themed set, and we're due for a Blade/Ghost Rider/Monster themed set exploring the darker side of Marvel.

One thing that GSX has proven - if you wait long enough, and the game goes on - even oddball choices like Gatecrasher will eventually get made.

Raising Hellions

2011-01-25T16:58:00.015-05:00

If you've never heard of the Hellions, join the club.

So who are the Hellions anyway?

The Hellions were created by Chris Claremont exclusively as a foil for his New Mutants, the "baby" X-men (in training) at Charles Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters. Run by the Hellfire Club (hence the HELLish name) and posing as another prestigious New England academy (amazing that the only two boarding schools for young mutants in the world happened to be within an hours drive of each other) the Hellions members were almost exclusively darker versions of the New Mutants, with similar powers (ahh...Claremont, you and your thin veils). Without going into too much detail, here's a breakdown of a few:

Jetstream = Cannonball (Transportation)
Tarot = Mirage (Illusionist)
Catseye = Wolfsbane (Feral Animal powers)
Empath = Karma (Mind Controller)
Thunderbird II = Sunspot (Strength)

The Hellions had lousy costumes, and silly powers (like Tarot's ability to conjure up real life facsimiles of Tarot cards to ride around on like a giant MUTANT PRIDE parade float) so it's no wonder they never caught on.

Perhaps the Hellion's biggest claim to fame was the inclusion of Angelica Jones in their roster. Better known as Firestar from Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, Jones is one of the few characters (like Harley Quinn, or the X-men's Morph) to make the jump from cartoon to comic.

The Hellions never garnered much attention because they existed as throwaway characters - meant to give the X-themed high school mutants a "frenemy" sort of school rivalry and show the heroes what they could have been like if they embraced their darker side, a storyline explored when some of the teens were forced to transfer schools.

It's because of their disposable nature that perhaps the Hellions made the biggest contribution to comic books as their deaths in Uncanny X-men #281 (1991) at the hands of mutant hunter Trevor Fitzroy.

This act of schoolhouse violence spurred Emma Frost, the Hellion's headmistress into some of the best character growth and development, turning her from a two dimensional totally evil sex pot themed villain into a complex guilt ridden somewhat evil sex pot anti-hero.

Oddly enough, she never wore black while in mourning.

The spoiled poster and set list for GSX reveals a number of the Hellions will be on board for the newest HeroClix set including: Cannonball, Cypher, Empath, Tarot and Roulette, with the hint of repainted sculpts as LEs to further round out the team. So far reactions have ranged from cool, to who?! to I could care less.

One thing that seems to have escaped most player's attention about the Hellions filling such a large portion of a HeroClix expansion is the expect anything nature of Neca/Wizkids. Who ever would have thought so much attention would get devoted to such one-hit-wonders, a pure throwaway team if there ever was one.

The Hellions only had a handful of appearances from their first in 1984 to the team's decimation a short 7 years later. With only 9 appearances in as many years in the title that introduced them (New Mutants), and 3 appearances in the title that wrote them off (UXM), along with a mere handful of sightings in other series (the Firestar Mini-series),

The team literally had more fame after their death than while they lived, and more screen time in flashbacks than when they operated.

Heck, they never even had the popularity to warrant their own monthly title. It comes as a shock and surprise then, that the Hellions are a large part of the Giant Sized X-men expansion.

By including the Hellions the Wizkids crew is sending a message loud and clear - there's no hero or villain to small or too obscure to escape their attention. Fans of obscure teams and line-ups can keep hope alive. The Legion of Substitute Heroes? The Inferior Five? Who knows, maybe the next DC set will include both, which might be enough for some fans to raise a little hell over.

Running on Empty

2010-10-29T08:02:00.002-04:00

The point of any game is to win. From there it's a subset of having fun, and in some cases making sure your opponent has fun. Today I'm going to explain why when it comes to HeroClix in a standard scenario running from an opponent is an empty premise.

What happens when winning is not an option?

Once upon a time, point denial was a strategic factor in winning. Back when players added Victory Points to their Survivor totals, point totals could make a big difference after three rounds. Today, most tournaments are won by W/L records, with only ties decided by points. Points still play a factor in an overall victory, but perhaps not as big a roll.

I recognize when the game has reached a climax and I know I'm beat. In these cases running would just be a lousy move for my opponent. They've already beaten me. Now I don't just roll over, wave a white flag, and ask for a merciful death - I'll attack until the end. But I won't run. I may even fall back strategically, but I'm there to fight, not run, so no matter what the odds - I'll stick to my guns.

Never tell me the odds! - Han Solo

I've also been playing the game long enough to see crazy things happen: I was recently getting pwned by the Iron Man and War Machine duo up until he rolled two crit misses on one duo attack! I think it shook the player to his core and defeated his confidence, which in turn affected his game. I barely won, with my remaining figures on their last clicks.

Know when you're beaten.

As a player, it irks me when opponents run, especially if it's part of their strategy. I've watched teams built on the premise of sniping one figure, then retreating for forty minutes. It's a horrible strategy that sucks the fun out of the game.

I recall one match where I had little hope of winning - my opponent already KO'd most of my force, and was ahead on VP's - and when the judge announced there was less than 5 minutes left, I moved all my figures closer to my opponent. I didn't want to run from him and deny him more points and I knew I couldn't hope to deal enough damage to him to earn a win myself. I also knew his pride was at stake, so I didn't tell him I was making it easier for him. What did he do when I moved close enough to take easy shots at me?

He ran away.

I even pushed to chase him, and he pushed to keep running. It was the most amazing, bizarre choice I've ever seen. He easily could have wiped me out in those 5 minutes, but made a choice based on fear. Fear of critical missing me. Fear I would somehow successfully attack his strong force with my weakened figures in under five minutes. I should note this was Pre-Armor Wars, (so think: toploaded figures with a distinctive downward curve on combat values). I honestly had no chance in the time given. He won the round, but...

In the end, he lost the tournament (on points), and didn't get fellowship either.

Speaking of fellowship, I witnessed a match where a player was clearly beaten, with a wounded Veteran Lockjaw as his only remaining piece. Lockjaw ran. The other player had no taxi, no TK, low to no range and low speed, so had a hard time catching up to the pup. Likewise, Lockjaw was injured, and had little hope of doing anything effective to the opponent, who had high defenses and damage resistance. I didn't see how it ended, but I can imagine the frustration on the chaser's part, with the Inhuman's high speed and Phasing.

Running can be disrespectful to your entire venue.

In some situations I can almost understand running. Some scenarios may lend more credence to the strategy. However, in my example with Lockjaw above, what if the two players were holding up the entire tournament? There's ten other players waiting to start the next round, but Lockjaw's player decides to run out the clock. To me, that's really poor sportsmanship -

the runner's just wasted 12 people's time

(10 players, his opponent and the judge) and why? Just so he can prevent 38 points from going into his opponent's hands.

Finally, consider it's also a bad move if the runner wants fellowship - the player didn't win the round AND they have possibly angered 10 other players by making them wait on him needlessly. That's 10 players who are probably going to vote elsewhere for fellowship.

I therefore consider that running is a good strategy, only when you're moving toward your opponent.

Heroclix Scenario: Survivor

2010-10-14T14:08:00.006-04:00

My last post poked fun at an episode of Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. Aside from the ridiculousness of the plot, and the nostalgia value of 1980's cheaply made cartoon series, Seven Little Superheroes actually makes for a great 3 round Heroclix scenario.

Survivor (or Seven Little Superheroes)
Build: a 700 point, 7 figure team - no more, no less than 7.
Golden Age or Modern Age (doesn't matter - venue's choice)
3 actions per turn (keeps the game moving fast, and makes powers like Leadership or free move TA's relevant)

Important: Before each round of the tournament, including the first round, one of your figures will get selected by your opponent to be voted off your team for the entire tournament (and vice versa). No Victory Points are awarded in this manner.

So for instance, while a team comes to the map with 7 members, the first round will be 6 figures on 6. The second game will be 5 on 5, and the last battle will be 4 on 4.

Survivor forces a player to build comprehensively, and not rely on one given strategy. Players are encouraged to avoid using Tentpoles - Cosmic Spider-Man would never see the map in this event.

Survivor also allows opponents to pick off the figure they think will give them the most trouble - OOTS Batman always a bother? Say Bye-Bye Bruce. Is Kid Zoom going to mess with your Nightcrawler? Kick the 'kid back to the future (but don't expect Kurt to stick around either!).

A well rounded build doesn't need to feature seven figures each exactly at 100 points - Gamora and Annihilus, for example, roughly total 200, as do Edward Nigma and Noh-Var (@ 201).

Depending on structure (Golden Age v. Modern Age) Feats are allowed to round out a team, though like any event individual feats can't be transferred to another figure. Should a feat require two people to work (ICWO, Sidekick) both must be on the board for the card to be in play.

I've run this event in the past, and seen some great teams. One player brought 5 War Skrulls, filling out the team with other Skrull Invaders. Another player fielded seven 100-point Sentinels, only to loose to the starter Fantastic Four (and their LEs).

Survivor is a fun exercise in team building, that offers plenty of room for comic accurate teams, with the JLA, Titans, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Inhumans, and many others featuring a number of competitive characters ~ 100 points.

For those really obsessed (like me) with the Seven Little Super-Heroes, here's a team you can build featuring the episode's line-up (with a substitution for the missing Shanna)

WS007 Spider-Man

WS020 Firestar

100

MU029 Iceman

103

UL066 Captain America

150

SI045 Namor

149

SI033 Dr. Strange

SN216 Kraven the Spider (as Shanna)

700

Seven Little Superheroes

2010-10-11T18:39:00.009-04:00

Seven little superheroes
will vanish one by one,
Seven little superheroes,
soon there will be none...

So chortled the Chameleon in an episode of Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. Loosely based off Agatha Christie's 10 little Indians, Seven Little Superheroes follows the exploits of Spider-Man, Iceman and Firestar as they travel to mysterious Wolf Island, meeting up with Dr. Strange, Namor, Captain America, and Shanna the She-Devil, all of whom received cryptic invitations to spend the weekend at a resort turned death camp, a sort of Club Med meets Club Dead.

Throughout the course of the episode, Chameleon uses an array of death traps, eliminating the heroes one at a time, occasionally taking their place in disguise to keep the heroes fighting amongst themselves. Namor falls first, tricked into swimming in alcohol (drying out his skin).

Namor = Whiner

"It's not water..."

...the Sub-Mariner cries in an incredibly campy moment - as though the Prince of Atlantis idiotically blundered into the trap because he was unable to smell a FULL SWIMMING POOL of Alcohol. This from a guy who spent 20+ years as an alcoholic in a wharfside tavern, before Johnny Storm sobered him up with a hot shave.

The episode is full of unintentionally funny Saturday morning cartoon cliches including annoying animal side-kicks, nonsensical death traps and a villain who talks to himself too much, using no logic whatsoever in his revenge attempts.

For instance, Captain America seemingly drowns early in the episode, showing up later caged in a prison, along with the rest of the heroes who were thought dead. Rather than kill off the heroes in the initial traps, Chameleon brings them all together to die at the hands of a giant bomb - he's wired the whole island to explode.

I'm sorry, but if Dr. Strange can't escape a simple cage,
he needs to hang up his cape.

Of course the Continental's master plan doesn't work - and why should it? As explained in the story each of the heroes had individually defeated the master of disguise in the past, so why Chameleon thought bringing them all together would result in anything buy a 7x whupping is a mystery.

From the beginning where Spider-Man finds his invitation taped to a random NYC skyscraper ledge (Chameleon obviously *knew* the Wall-Crawler would find it), to the number of times Chameleon chooses to impersonate scantily clad woman (he's got issues I tell you), this episode's got it all.

WoS figure review: FIRESTAR

2010-10-05T10:41:00.010-04:00

Spider-Man's Amazing friend lives up to her adjective. This Diva's dial has a dual TA granting her Wild Card in addition to Avengers free movement. Free move taxis are always a welcome addition to a team, helpful for early positioning or late repositioning without eating up actions.

Flight and Running Shot keep her mobile and work well with her ranged attack power options swapping back and forth between the crowd controlling Energy Explosion and damage penetrating Psychic Blast.

It's a little disappointing that she doesn't receive one click of 10 attack, maybe on her second or third spot for incentive to keep pushing. As it is, she'll want to push off her best defense to go mobile, giving opponents an easier time dealing with her. Here the Poison on her Fantastic Forces version is sorely missed - an incentive for ground pounders to stay away from her.

Don't push too much - she drops fast although Energy Absorption may help her rise like a Phoenix from the ashes. She might go out with a bang with an 11 av, but more likely it'll be a wimper of a swan song as that bare 15 Defense really signals "shoot me before I can Pulse Wave." In all her power set and team abilities make a nice package.

Speaking of packaging - the sculpt, representing her Perez/Busiek era Avengers membership, leaves a lot to be desired. In terms of complaints however, it's a minor one, and die-hards can swap it out with the Mutant Mayhem sculpt easily.

Her cost pushes the limit of a secondary attacker and she's not a World Champion tournament winner but with several fun (read: non-min/maxed) Keywords, Firestar should be a blast for themers to play. Competitive in WoS sealed events, this figure will also shine in games of 400+ points, where she has enough TAs to copy, and friends to taxi.

Baseball Season was late this year...

2010-10-03T19:55:00.018-04:00

With the latest All New, All Different Marvel HeroClix set X-Fans were treated to yet another Wolverine, one with an incredible healing Trait. Players have been talking about Logan's healing factor, strategizing his uses with X-Force and Wild Cards in sealed events, but so far no one has said anything about the classic combo...

FASTBALL SPECIAL

There's really no mystery why people haven't been talking about it. Since Fastball Special was introduced as a game mechanic it proved to be a dud.

Mutant Mayhem debuted the famous power play as a feat, with wordy text only a rules lawyer could decipher and make work:

Prerequisites: Chosen characters must have the same team ability printed on their bases; see feat text.

Choose two characters; if one of them is KOd before this feat is used, remove the feat from the game.

Give both characters a power action when they are adjacent: The first character must have Super Strength and the second character must be grounded and have Toughness and may not have a damage value higher then 3. The first character makes a ranged combat attack against a single opposing target within 6 squares. Place the second character in any square adjacent to the target to which the first character has clear line of fire. If the attack succeeds, the second character deals the damage. Remove the Fastball Special from the game after the attack resolves.

So, every second Sunday when the moon was in the house of Orion, at the exact moment when a seven headed calf gave a goatsmilk popscicle to a three horned faun as the clock struck midnight the Fastball Special feat was used - which is to say in the 5 years since the feat was created I never saw it played once, over hundreds of games.

Still, fans wanted that comic flavor, and when Special Powers rolled around, Game Design tried again with a replacement pitcher.

It's a slightly more usable version, one that players have tinkered with, using the Outsiders ability to negate modifiers on the thrown character. It's the restrictions that prevent it from being used often. For starters, initial damage from the ranged attack is a measly two - not enough to hurt Invulnerable figures, and barely enough to make a Toughness equipped opponent flinch. This relegated Colossus to target a soft defense figure (or have a source of Outwit nearby to make it stick).

Further setbacks include attack and damage modifier penalties, but the biggest drawback was the unavoidable damage taken from the throw - unless the fastball figure's second click was better than the first, it seemed there was little point to giving up a click of life on a figure that was moved adjacent to (read: within retalliation range of) an opposing figure. In short:

Only a crazy man would want to get thrown

Enter WoS Wolverine. His second click is the same as his first. His claws offset damage modifiers. He has an 11 attack, modified to a decent 9. But the biggest selling point is Wolverine's ability to heal automatically at the beginning of his turn, offsetting the unavoidable damage. With no move and attack of his own, the X-Force leader makes a perfect missile except for one thing.

An Adamantium skeleton should count as a heavy object.

At the very least, if Pete's only dealing 2 damage, make it 2 penetrating damage - the Russian throws fast and hard.

The new Fastball Special is not a perfect set-up and some players will hesitate to push six click Logan down to five - but it is a step closer to comic accuracy. Wolverine is able to shrug off the impact with ease, something the Healing Factor Trait showcases.

The Fastball Special should be feared.

For my money, a dream version of Fastball Special would earn players bonus victory points every time it's used in game to hurt a figure, with double points awarded if an opponent actually gets KO'd by the attack. I'd like to see more combos and power plays, more examples of comic accurate teamwork with victory points rewarded as an incentive... enough incentive that an opposing player would try and stop the pitch from being thrown.

Hopefully Wizkids is practicing their pitches and we'll get to see a better version of the throw in the 2011 season.

New Heroclix Rule: Keyword Completion

2010-10-01T08:15:00.012-04:00

I'm proposing a rule of completion: when a new keyword is introduced, there should be enough figures in the set that possess the keyword to run a 300 point team.

Web of Spider-Man gave players a complete set of U-Foes, a playable force of Dark Avengers, a H.A.M.M.E.R. army, and while it wasn't "new" the Outlaws were rounded out with 6 new members (adding to the initial 2) capable of making 300 point modern age teams.

First Rule Violation: It's understandable that Game Design couldn't fit every member of M.O.D.O.K.'s 11 into the set, and while the 4 teammates that appear are welcome, they only total 233 points. Another ~ 67 point figure would have been welcome, and helped reach that 300 point goal. As it is, fans are left waiting (and hoping) for the next set to round out the team with other members like Armadillo, or Mentallo.

Second Violation: Perhaps an even bigger insult is the Marvel Divas, a four person team of grrrrl power, hailing from the 2009 mini-series by Roberto Aguirre-Sacas. WoS included Firestar and Black Cat, leaving out Patsy Walker (Hellcat) and whatever name Monica Rambeau is calling herself these days (Photon? Pulsar? Captain Marvel?).

While my wife nor I didn't care for the mini-series (the characters never felt honest, I suspect because it wasn't written by a woman) I do enjoy the four leads visual appeal (Ginger, Platinum, Brunette) and would like to field them on a HeroClix map. Others hoping to play a Modern Age line-up of Marvel's riff on Sex and the City (and Birds of Prey) will have to wait.

Hopefully, fans will not only see the theme team completed in the next Marvel set, but the Divas will also total an even 300. Currently the girls add up to 133 points, leaving room for a 60-70 point Hellcat, and a 90-100 point "Ms. Phot-ul-vel." As it is, comic accurate 'Clixers can field the fab four using older Golden Age version, but at best the team adds up to 275 points - far shy of that round 300.

Asking for Keyword Completion on the Divas is not asking a lot - their series spanned four issues, and ended. Web of Spider-Man had room to squeeze those last two Divas in. Instead, fans are left waiting, and hoping that the figures get remade, and not sent to limbo with the Morlocks and Serpent Society members.

WoS figure review: WOLVERINE

2010-09-30T18:46:00.008-04:00

THIS IS NOT A HAMMER

There's a saying that goes: when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. In terms of strategy, hammers are all some people (Norman Osborn?) know how to play with - aggressively swinging that mallet, they wildly rush in hoping to kill everything. Normally, this sounds like Wolverine's style, but here the game designers gave us a different take. This is tactical Logan, the stealthy X-Force leader, and it takes a thoughtful mind to make the best of him.

I had the luck of playing this figure in a Battle Royal, and he proved his chops time and again. I purposely positioned so that he wouldn't get swarmed, and after the rest of my team pinged away at the opponents Wolvie'd go in for the kill. Most players lacked move and attack, and no one wanted to base the 11 AV - Snikt-ster for fear of swift and brutal retalliation.

This Wolverine is a bully.

He's best served as a mop up piece, or when picking on figures that can't dish back much damage, and don't require much effort to KO. One on one, this X-Man will rarely get KO'd by simple 2-3 damage figures, healing up constantly, reducing damage with Toughness. Enemies already worn down by the fight will have a hard time dealing with Wolverine, who is never afraid to push to attack.

Wolverine's healing trait enabled me to move into position and attack, or even push just to base certain figures, knowing that the most damage they'd deal wouldn't KO him. I had to keep reminding myself though, that I shouldn't rush into battle, and at one point fell back and regrouped rather than exposing myself to the possibility of getting surrounded by heavy hitters.

Wolverine is going to do well when he's facing figures that can't afford to push, or don't have Willpower, Indomitable or otherwise don't take pushing damage. He'll shine when he's not faced with the threat of someone dealing 4+ damage in a single attack.

Sure, some players have complained about his short dial, although the Trait makes it infinitely long. Other's complain he's too easy to one-shot - but then so are most figures in the Modern Age era where a base 4+ damage value is not uncommon. Yes, Outwit wrecks him - just like it wrecks almost EVERYONE ELSE (and really, Stealth and clever positioning should protect him from LoF). Bottom line:

If you're throwing him into a battle where he's outnumbered and expecting him to survive you're playing him wrong.

In terms of a HeroClix toolbox, WoS Wolverine is NOT a hammer. My advice? If this figure doesn't work out for you - put Logan away, and stick to using Thor - he has plenty of hammer swinging experience.

How I broke into professional game design...

2010-09-27T16:33:00.008-04:00

Short answer: I didn't. I've always wanted to get involved with one of the big names in the industry, and dreamed for a long time that I might some day see my name on a product package, inside the cover of Dungeon magazine (I still mourn the death of the printed version) or on the cover of a rulebook. I came close though...

Years ago, before I discovered Heroclix, back when I just graduated college with my creative writing degree hot in hand, I looked to the west, seeking employment in the city of Seattle with the Wizards of the Coast. I had little to no actual paid writing experience, but I was determined to not let it stop me from applying for a position that had recently opened with the Magic the Gathering team, a job responsible for churning out the colorful "flavor text" for expansion sets, among other things.

Part of the application process demanded a one page exercise of my creative writing abilities. Instead of submitting a piece of short fiction, I decided to assault them with a mock-up of a tabloid, featuring fictional stories, news, and content from the core M:TG worlds. I wanted to convey to their team that I could write in snippets, top ten lists and blurbs, keeping a simple style that was simultaneously entertaining, and hopefully humorous.

I thought I'd share the end result, which (outside of WotC's HR dept.) no one has ever seen:

I don't recall a lot of feedback on the process, but do remember getting notice that I had advanced to a high level among the finalists, perhaps even in the top 5 considered for the position. Sadly, I think my biggest drawback was the fact that I was located halfway across country and thus unable to easily meet for a face to face interview. At least, I hope that was it.

For all I know the mere mention of the insidious Groinclamp could have scared them off.

Which side do you play for...

2010-09-24T12:03:00.009-04:00

or rather,

Which side of the map do you play on?

I played a sanctioned tournament game last week on the new WoS Bridge map, and when my opponent won the honor of going first he decided to HIDE instead of moving across the map to FIGHT. Right from the start he marched his troops up to the top of the middle of the bridge towers sending me a message...

Come and Get it!

There's nothing quite as frustrating as facing an opponent who immediately backs into a corner. In the past I've actually gotten into debates with players who try this sort of stalling. Turn one - they do nothing, waiting for me to move. Turn two - I mirror their move, telling them I can wait just as long as they can. Usually calling people out on a stalling (or turtling) strategy forces them into action.

This ain't the Girl Scouts son - NO CAMPING!

Unfortunately verbally disagreeing makes you look like an ass because you're openly dismissing their tactics. In my case last week, I understood his strategy, so while I may have viewed his positioning as unsporting I said nothing. His rooftop jamboree might not have been so odd if he had snipers, or really anyone with respectable range, but Daken and Symbiote were just sitting there sharpening their claws, waiting for Nightcrawler to deliver them a meal. In essence, wasting actions.

We didn't need a whole map to play our game.

We didn't even need half a map.

The majority of the battle took place on the first 8 squares of his side, which got me thinking about all the other games I've played where I've backed people into a corner.

In chess, when you can force an opponent to move, you force them to react to your battle plan, putting them on the defense, keeping them moving according to how you want them to move. Starting the game by backing into a corner is effectively reacting to a move the player hasn't made yet, putting power in their hands freely. Reaction strategy in my opinion is a poor one, because it leaves you no room for maneuverability.

I've played a lot of HeroClix matches, enough to know that there's a few unspoken rules regarding map positioning. Often:

When the battle takes place on the opponent's side, the advantage is yours.
When the battle unfolds in the middle of the map it's usually an even fight.
When an opponent's army is on your doorstep is one you may have trouble.

Now lots of other factors go into determining wins and losses, but in my experience you can generally tell who's going to win by where the figures are on the map.

In the game mentioned above Nightcrawler zipped around the map punching my troops, while I kept them far enough away from being kidnapped and delivered to his wrecking crew. He was forced to reposition, while I forced myself to push turn after turn to catch up to and attack the fuzzy blue elf.

I had to sacrifice two figures before he made a mistake, teleporting my Solo next to his Daken. Daken attacked with his Murosama blade, but rolled a 2 on damage, a mere paper cut after Toughness reduced the damage. The next turn Solo pushed to shoot the X-Man in the face. Game over.

Actions are the gasoline that fuels attacks. Attacks deliver damage that KO figures. HeroClix games are won by knocking people out and earning Victory Points. No one earns Victory Points by hiding in a corner and conserving actions.

Finally, I encourage the use of the term "Girl Scout" describing a figure or team that CAMPS on their side of the map waiting for you to come and buy cookies.

With Great Power...

2010-09-21T17:54:00.014-04:00

Spider-fans are familiar with saying:

With Great Power comes great responsibility.

It's too bad that so many HeroClix players don't understand this type of responsibility, and have been thinking up nasty tactics and ways to exploit Cosmic Spider-Man that make SIF complaints look petty in comparison.

Don't get me wrong, I love the character and the concept. The sculpt is amazing. It's also based on one of my favorite story arcs from before the Spider-Clone madness that nearly killed the title in the 90's. In fact, it's my love of the character that's driven me to disdain the HeroClix point bloat.

See, I'm familiar with the storyline that spawned Cosmic Spidey. It all started during the Acts of Vengeance, when Loki came up with the concept of having the villains trade foes. For example, instead of having Magneto fight the X-Men, and lose like usual, he suggests pitting the master of magnetism against Spider-Man.

The tale starts out with Spidey fighting minor league villain Trapster, but quickly escalates as Dr. Doom notices Peter's increasing power levels (which are due to a research laboratory accident - what else?). Doom sends all sorts of high-powered players against Spider-Man, including Titania, Goliath, Magneto, to test the Wall-crawler's strength levels.

It all culminates when Sebastian Shaw (X-Men villain, Black King of Hellfire Club fame, and manufacturer of mutant hunting Sentinels) pits the gray skinned Hulk against Pete. As Pete is giving the Hulk a solid pounding Loki magically activates and merges Shaw's Sentinels (into the Tri-Sentinel) to attack a nuclear power plant.

One of the best parts of the story arc happens when the uber powerful Graviton ambushes Spider-Man as he's heading to intercept the Tri-Sentinel. Graviton, a being of immense power had tangled with Spidey weeks earlier, ripping the entire Daily Bugle building up from its Manhattan foundation and sending it into the sky. Parker overcame the foe, and returned everything to status quo, except of course Graviton now held a grudge.

So, it's with some satisfaction when without breaking a sweat Peter one-shot KO's Graviton (who's faced the combined might of the Avengers in the past) and continues on his way, leaving the powerful master of gravity reeling.

Is the HeroClix Cosmic Spider-Man too powerful?

Maybe. I can't really judge it on those merits. I could easily argue it's not powerful enough. No, my rejection of the figure is it's overall lack of comic accuracy.

See, when Spider-Man gained his powers it wasn't just extra strength, durability and heightened senses. Suddenly he could transmute matter at will (a'la Firestorm), and his webs took on the shapes of constructs. Like a Green Lantern with light, Spidey could make fists, pillows, and other objects out of webs.

No where on the current HeroClix dial is this facet of his power even remotely explored. Rather, the game designer opted to stick the figure with an ability to see and shoot through walls. While it's true Spider-Man could tune his senses to an extreme degree at the height of his cosmic-ness, he never really made a point of shooting through walls and around corners to get the bad guys.

I like the figure, I want to play the character, but feel dirty given the power set. I was hoping for something along the lines of free Barrier, Probability Control, and Super Strength... something like this:

Because while Spider-Man had cosmic power, he still fought most of his battles like Spider-Man would. He was uncomfortable with flight, and had some very big fears about hitting people too hard and applying too much force. He never would have blown a hole in the middle of a tank and then hid inside sniping at enemies while they tried to figure out ways to get at him. It's just not the Parker way.

I'm saddened that game design couldn't see the abuse built into this character. As far as HeroClix are concerned game design is kingmaker - the creator. The ability to build dials from the bottom up is the closest thing to having Cosmic Power in real life. And, as any Spider-fan knows

with Cosmic Power comes Cosmic Responsibility,

Unfortunately game design failed to see that many players who use Cosmic Spider-Man don't even have the "great responsibility" tenet covered, making this figure a Spider-Fail.

Newsflash: Cosmic Spider-Man is Overrated

2010-09-21T17:18:00.006-04:00

Playing Cosmic Spider-Man is like playing any video game in god-mode. It's fun to beat down the opposition for a little bit, but it really doesn't take much skill.

Power players are obsessed because he's the most expensive single figure, and with the Power Cosmic TA is all but unstoppable. Add to it that he can Wild Card (Mystics, Bat-Ally), and SHOOT THROUGH WALLS and it's a no-brainer why the Min-Max, "gotta win" set is all over this figure like fat kid on bacon.

Speaking of deep fried fatty foods, Spidey's a cheese curd festival waiting to happen, the deep fried Twinkie at the State Fair that you know isn't good for you but can't resist the temptation to try. Just once. Or twice. "For fun."

The 319 point Goliath appeals to the type of people that liked kicking over sandcastles when they were young, and playing mailbox baseball when they were teens just for the destructive aspect.

To coin a new phrase, Cosmic Spider-Man is a bully's piece - you don't play him when you want a real challenge.

You play him when you want to grind an opponent's figures to dust.

You play him backed up with TAs to copy (Stealth! Mystics!) and a solid strategy to exploit (Shoot through the walls of the Sinister Prison! Hide in the Avengers Airbase tank!) that opponents all but give up out of the sheer frustration of fighting the figure. You play him for one reason - TO WIN. And Cosmic Spider-Man is pure win.

But is he fun?

Is cosmic Spider-Man fun to play against? For that's the true measure of a good figure and a great team. Sadly, Cosmic Spidey falls into the "no fun to play against" category more often than not. Likewise, more often than not the mere threat of his presence is enough to invite hardcore escalation to the battlefield as people:

a.) start changing their teams in order to beat him,
b.) build the same teams they always did and lose gracefully or
c.) stop showing up to play.

Often, the influx of a's eventually turn the b's into c's.

Can you win with Cosmic Spidey? Sure. No problem. That's why he's overrated.Can you win with X-Force? How about the U-Foes? Now that is a challenge.

Winning with Uber-Pete tells me nothing about your level of skill as a player. It tells me a LOT about your character. Especially the third week in a row that you field him.

Team building with a twist - Paging Dr. Jackal!

2010-09-20T07:54:00.009-04:00

One of the best things about a new set is the life it breathes into older figures. With each expansion the sheer number of exciting and different force builds increases, and Web of Spider-Man is no exception.

In addition to the prepackaged modular keyword teams like U-Foes, X-Force, HAMMER, and the Dark Avengers there's the other type of team building - the ones that eschew the Keyword bonus to exploit a power combination for the Min-Max players.

Finally, there's teams that are just plain silly and fun. Take the Jackal for instance. The villain responsible for creating the Spider-Clones makes his debut in Web of Spider-Man with an interesting set of powers that benefit duplicates.

What's interesting to note is his power taps into names, not figures, which allows for some loose interpretations on the battle map, and clever exploitation as we'll see below.

One of the things that always intrigued me as a comic reader is the way character names were compartmentalized into separate universes. DC had Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl, and the Boy Wonder, but not Wonder Man - that character belonged to Marvel. Obviously trademark issues were at stake preventing the big two from overlapping... except for where they DID overlap.

For instance, I find it hilarious that DC owns a character named Captain Marvel (which must be a sticking point to this day between the big two) and it's no surprise that Marvel in turn created their Captain Mar-vel in a thinly veiled retaliation, and eventually won the rights to the name in court.

Aside from the flagship characters, the big two blend together on a few other names as well. In some cases it's a simple "same name spelled different" as is the case with Sersi and Circe. Much of the double dipping comes from mythology as well - it's hard to justify a trademark on Norse mythology if you didn't invent it, which is why DC has a Thor and Loki, in addition to Hercules.

Finally each company has rights to a Chameleon, Sandman, and Enchantress. In HeroClix, there's a few places where these names overlap which lead me to create a Same Name Different Universe team, featuring Jackal as a linchpin.

72 WS046 Jackal
101 WS055 Sandman
59 OR086 Sandman
40 AA103 Henchman
13 IC018 Henchman
66 WS019 Chameleon
30 UN037 Chameleon
141 HA011 Enchantress
75 LG009 Enchantress
TOTAL 597

The not-a-clone team throws the Keyword bonus out the window, but picks up some surprising synergy. Three Wild Card TAs share Sinister Syndicate attack values and JSA defense values. The Mystics TA hands out some feedback damage, while the Suicide Squad TA extends the life of a few.

Aside from TAs, there's a good variety of support powers - TK, Perplex, PC, and Outwit are all present. Chameleon (DC) & Enchantress (DC) make for fine taxis, while both Henchman serve Jackal as Mastermind fodder. Positioned well everyone that needs to can use the Jackal's special power granting even a lowly Henchman some Shape Change.

I'll admit it's not the most competitive team, but played well it could win a few fights, should turn a few heads and may just earn fellowship.

300: a Spartan way to play

2010-09-16T11:38:00.005-04:00

This is... Sparta? It's somewhat fitting that the Iron Man and War Machine duo is 300 points on the nose - a one man army (two man duo?) unto themselves, like the Spartans of old, almost always outnumbered in a fight but definitely not outgunned.

In a sealed event at 300 points the Armored Avengers have a good chance of taking the enemy by surprise, dominating with the Duo Attack ability and their All Out Assault sp. It's a shame they can't combine All Out Assault with Adaptive Response Armor (which only activates when the pair make a duo attack) but regardless the two make for a formidable force.

What really sells Team Iron-Pants as a one man army, is a combination of the Indomitable ability, the outstanding combat values, the damage reducing defenses, and a wide variety of powers (Outwit, PB, RCE, etc.) that they can use with the Duo Attack.

If you're lucky enough, I highly recommend giving them a try in sealed, because I'm afraid the two just won't hold up in constructed - where pre-formatted 300 point teams will wreck them with Outwit, TK, and other strategies.

The thought of a fully functional 300 point figure gets me excited like a kid on Christmas Eve, or a nerd on Free Comic Book Day, and I'm looking forward to seeing more 300 figures in upcoming sets.

Next up is DC's 75th Anniversary set, and who better to work as a one man army than the original super-hero:

Superman!

I admit, I'm not a fan of him carrying around the shield and eagle everywhere, but if there was ever a figure that should be worth 300 points, Clark is that guy. Other 300 point figures could include heroes like Jean Grey as the Phoenix, and the Incredible Hulk.

Heroes need powerful villains, and there's plenty available like Amazo (the one man Justice League), the Orange Lantern Larfleeze, Thanos, Darkseid and last but not least: this guy...

Doomsday!

In fact, the thought of a 300 point Superman facing off against a 300 point Doomsday in DC 75th anniversary sealed events brings out the 6 year old in me - which is really a big part of what HeroClix is about for older players: recapturing our youth in colorful 3-D battles.

I'm hopefull Wizkids continues delivering a few effective 300 point dials per set, to bring out that one versus many, all or nothing adrenaline rush on the battle maps.

Misadventures in Babysitting!

2010-09-11T10:00:00.005-04:00

Web of Spider-Man has hit the streets, allowing for fun, new, provocative team building. I've always been a distant fan of Deadpool since he popped up in Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and while I have yet to pull any SRs...

If I had a Deadpool, this is what I’d run in "Golden Age".

158 WS057 Deadpool
40 SI012 Gee
25 SI013 Lightspeed
43 HA041 Molly Hayes
30 Mass Master
3 HAF103 Runaways
299

A Marvel-Inappropriate-Team-Up.

It’s got some comedic value - with Wade wrangling 4 kiddies on a field trip to the big city. It’s got some competitive value, with TK, a great Taxi, Molly Hayes as a secondary attacker/clean up piece, and Mass Master for Tie-Up. Deadpool should, Push, push, push, throwing the FF TA kids to the wolves for some added healing.

Make it weirder:

For a 400 point build, I’d add a Bombastic Bag-man on upgrading Mass Master to Howard the Duck for giggles (and Perplex). It is a Deadpool team after all.

Of course I don’t have a Deadpool, so I’ll have to wait until I can pay for Wade's services to run this, and other fun, exciting Deadpool teams like Deadpool & Hercules, seen here in Deadpool team-up #899, and a perfect 300 points:

Finally, I'd like to try an assassins team from the aforementioned MUA game:

Veteran Blade 41
Rare Elektra (Human) 80
Rare Wolverine (X-Force) 105
SR Deadpool 158
Total = 394

I think there's some good synergy here between Wild Card and other TAs. Hopefully we'll get an X-Force ATA soon. Finally, we really need an updated Blade. Let's hope he, and Ghostrider make it into a Marvel set soon.

The Terrible Twos!

2010-08-31T19:09:00.006-04:00

When you're building a team in a sealed event take note of damage output. WoS has a case of the terrible twos - which will make chiseling through Toughness frustrating.

Figures like Morlun or the Hulks will be downright intimidating without some damage modification. There are a number of Super Strength, CCE, B/C/F and EW figures, so keep an eye out for anything that will help increase the pain.

On top of Terrible Twos, WoS gives us a number of lone ones. Researcher, Code: Blue, Mugger, MJ, JJJ, Mystero, Spot and Vapor start out with embarrassing binary damage. A number of other 2 damage figures drop to 1 after a few clicks including Chameleon, Peter Parker & Norman Osborne.

Of course some figures can't be expected to have powerful punches - MJ's a hugger, not a slugger. Still, it's hard to justify spending 25% of a 300 point build on a figure that dishes out damage a click at a time.

Fortunately Vapor & Mysterio have their benefits as well (PC, Perplex, EW, or Poison). Still, it's a long road to victory when you're earning it one click at a time.