Wednesday, October 31, 2007
From the Junkpile
Hoping both that they'll come up with a second, better preview for the holiday, and that this is the worst piece in the set, today's sneak peek is a zombie Iron Man.
How many more seconds do I want to waste on this?
I'll leave looking at the sculpt and stats to you, whoever you might be. I can't justify the effort of putting together the graphics for this one.
Instead, I'll reprint a couple quick posts I'd done in various threads elsewhere:
Potentially outpacing the stench of decay is the dial beneath this version of Iron Man. There's nothing on this dial I can feel inspired about, from the complete lack of move and attack values to the single-target EE to the low Damage values and the combination of Steal Energy (a close combat attack) with Energy Shield/Deflection (a ranged defense enhancement) and Damage Values low enough to prevent him from being able to put the bite on anyone with Invulnerability or better or even Toughness when it comes to the final click.
Those who don't pull him will have one less item they'll likely feel a need to chase after, and I hope that most of the ones who do pull him are those who are so caught up in Marvel Zombie-mania that it'll still feel like a good thing. Opening a booster and finding this, I expect, will elicit a groan from most players, especially if they've yet to pull an Apocalypse or one of the other SRs more likely to be of interest and broad trade potential. The only thing that'll keep this one's value up will be the zombie craze; some months, a year from now perhaps, most players will look at this and be surprised that anyone would have wanted one rather than any of the other Super Rares. Seriously, if there's a worse SR in this group then the set's in trouble.
I've bounced between giving this a 3 and a 1 on a scale of 10, deciding to go back to a 3 because, yes, he is a flying Perplexer, so that's worth something. Someone building a zombie team or a theme team built around "Monster" will likely want a themed taxi with Perplex. I may even find some use for it, but I'm not likely to find much motivation for it.
Even were I a fan of the Marvel Zombies I believe I'd be disappointed in this version. Most of the reaction appears to be that it's one less Super Rare they'll feel motivated to chase, while hoping there are enough who are really into the shtick so if they do happen to pull it someone will trade for a different SR.
I remain optimistic about the set -- we've seen some (IMHO) terrific pieces in it -- but this is the low point so far. The thought that there might be something worse in the mix is awful.
As far as the "real" monsters view [side note: A subset of the Heroclix community got it in their heads that "monsters" could only mean some of the 1970s monster invasion and/or a related stab made in the '90s -- this despite any of the promotional materials making it clear what the sets themes were.] , I can honestly say that since they explained the themes being drawn on in the same sentence when the set was announced I did not come to this set expecting Werewolf By Night, Dracula, etc. I expected that the titular monsters would be zombies, Hulk foes (some Hulks, too), and maybe a particularly misshapen mutant or two. I understand how some might have run in that direction either having missed the initial statement or by the "if not in this set, then when?" argument, but I cannot honestly claim that Wizkids in any way misled me as to the thematic contents of this set.
Would I like to see a Morbius, Man-Wolf or Werewolf By Night in clix form? Sure. They have their places in the history of the Marvel Universe, and one or more could yet be in this set, but I can't honestly say that I felt betrayed or cheated if they aren't in M&M. (How cheated I'll feel when I pull a zombie Iron Man, on the other hand... )
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Hoping both that they'll come up with a second, better preview for the holiday, and that this is the worst piece in the set, today's sneak peek is a zombie Iron Man.
How many more seconds do I want to waste on this?
I'll leave looking at the sculpt and stats to you, whoever you might be. I can't justify the effort of putting together the graphics for this one.
Instead, I'll reprint a couple quick posts I'd done in various threads elsewhere:
Potentially outpacing the stench of decay is the dial beneath this version of Iron Man. There's nothing on this dial I can feel inspired about, from the complete lack of move and attack values to the single-target EE to the low Damage values and the combination of Steal Energy (a close combat attack) with Energy Shield/Deflection (a ranged defense enhancement) and Damage Values low enough to prevent him from being able to put the bite on anyone with Invulnerability or better or even Toughness when it comes to the final click.
Those who don't pull him will have one less item they'll likely feel a need to chase after, and I hope that most of the ones who do pull him are those who are so caught up in Marvel Zombie-mania that it'll still feel like a good thing. Opening a booster and finding this, I expect, will elicit a groan from most players, especially if they've yet to pull an Apocalypse or one of the other SRs more likely to be of interest and broad trade potential. The only thing that'll keep this one's value up will be the zombie craze; some months, a year from now perhaps, most players will look at this and be surprised that anyone would have wanted one rather than any of the other Super Rares. Seriously, if there's a worse SR in this group then the set's in trouble.
I've bounced between giving this a 3 and a 1 on a scale of 10, deciding to go back to a 3 because, yes, he is a flying Perplexer, so that's worth something. Someone building a zombie team or a theme team built around "Monster" will likely want a themed taxi with Perplex. I may even find some use for it, but I'm not likely to find much motivation for it.
Even were I a fan of the Marvel Zombies I believe I'd be disappointed in this version. Most of the reaction appears to be that it's one less Super Rare they'll feel motivated to chase, while hoping there are enough who are really into the shtick so if they do happen to pull it someone will trade for a different SR.
I remain optimistic about the set -- we've seen some (IMHO) terrific pieces in it -- but this is the low point so far. The thought that there might be something worse in the mix is awful.
As far as the "real" monsters view [side note: A subset of the Heroclix community got it in their heads that "monsters" could only mean some of the 1970s monster invasion and/or a related stab made in the '90s -- this despite any of the promotional materials making it clear what the sets themes were.] , I can honestly say that since they explained the themes being drawn on in the same sentence when the set was announced I did not come to this set expecting Werewolf By Night, Dracula, etc. I expected that the titular monsters would be zombies, Hulk foes (some Hulks, too), and maybe a particularly misshapen mutant or two. I understand how some might have run in that direction either having missed the initial statement or by the "if not in this set, then when?" argument, but I cannot honestly claim that Wizkids in any way misled me as to the thematic contents of this set.
Would I like to see a Morbius, Man-Wolf or Werewolf By Night in clix form? Sure. They have their places in the history of the Marvel Universe, and one or more could yet be in this set, but I can't honestly say that I felt betrayed or cheated if they aren't in M&M. (How cheated I'll feel when I pull a zombie Iron Man, on the other hand... )
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Sunday, October 28, 2007
Crisis in 2008Geez Louise, I know we haven't even hit Halloween yet so looking to next February is like another lifetime, but leaked via the Heroclix Belgium site, we have a few items from next February's Crisis set. The sculpts, at least, generally seem very sharp.
First, we have Red Hood, an Uncommon piece apparently at 81 points, 6 range, single target, piece #1`7 from the set.
As with the rest, no actual dial elements are visible, so other than him being nimble and us wondering how many of them will arrive (despite the cool, new packaging) snapped at the shoulder, there's not much to say... other than that he must be packing some interesting tricks and/or some solid stats if he's really 81 points and certainly won't be paying for any of the things a brick would. He slipped back into reality from beyond the grave, so maybe he's worth the points.Next we have the first of three Super Rare pieces (wonderful info to have, since they are going to be the most difficult ones to find) starting with a new Black Adam.
The sculpt looks nicely done, my problems with it arising solely because of the cartoony source art. (It's really the head and face I'm having a problem with.) Yes, he's floating above a pile of skulls we've more or less seen on the Dark Beast sculpt, but Wizkids has re-used peripheral elements before.Another zero-range monster, as we'd expect, I'm expecting much Hypersonic Speed and Super Strength and maybe a touch or two of something to reflect cunning. Whether or not this version will have Leadership, or if this is too far set into his vengeance mode to have that, is in question. He'll be strongly anticipated, especially since it appears that sanctioned events will be tightening up with respect to retirement, and the earlier versions are long retired.
While I'm not thrilled with these duos, and the late disco-era costume Nightwing's sporting remains unfortunate, this romantically-linked pair could be fun to field. It's Starfire & Nightwing.As best I can make out it appears to be a single target and 8 range, which is something of a compromise. Still, they'll have the Duo Attack mechanic to fall back on. Considering that she flies and he's so acrobatic they should be a highly mobile pair, packing a punch and also packing at least some Outwit and Incapacitate.
Finally, at #60 in the set, we have the (a?) Monitor, (I appreciate the ambiguity, as they didn't make him a unique, so if one happened to pull two or more he could theoretically use them on the same team) complete with the Quintessense TA - giving him both built-in Willpower and immunity from Outwit. He also appears to have two targets and another of those curious (for such a cosmic type) 8 ranges.Presumably we'll have in him much Outwit, Perplex and Probability Control as he's something of a more pro-active Watcher for the DC universe. Making him a Phasing/Teleporting Transporter would be a nice touch, but the markings on the base don't support it. I'm sure that until we see his stats the question of whether or not he'll be another Phantom Stranger will be hanging in the air.
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Friday, October 26, 2007
A pair of Xs
This week brought us full dial previews of the Beast and a new Professor X, along with some other details about Mutations and Monsters... which will have been out for two days four weeks from now. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly glassy-eyed from turkey, etc. leftovers and waiting for the UPS truck to arrive with my clix on that Black Friday.
We know we'll be getting most, possibly all, of the X-Men line-up from their debut in 1963 in the upcoming Mutations and Monsters set, and this week brought two X-Men, though one of them was something of a surprise.
First, we have the details on the debut-edition Beast.
An economical 50 pt piece I'm very interested in seeing working alongside his era-appropriate comrades. Power gamers will not want him because of his stats, a lack of Super Strength and their wanting him to have Outwit despite that not being appropriate to the character at that stage. Yes, he was well-read and on his way academically, but wasn't exhibiting the scientific genius he would later. At this stage he was much more into being ostentatious about his knowledge most likely as a compensation for looking like such a muscle-minded sort.
Me? I'm looking forward to him. The sole keywords of X-Men and Mutant -- the latter being something that other recent pieces left us wondering if it was being phased out -- will be useful. I'd have liked to have a longer list of keywords, including Avengers and Defenders even though they didn't apply until much later, after he looked very different. I'd rather have as much flexibility as possible in team-building, and so I prefer to see characters with a great deal of history given keywords that reflect that, even if it's a rookie version.
To lead them all, it's Professor X, but not necessarily the version I'd expected. At 131 points we've been given a version we can take as being from almost any era... at least any era when he was stuck in that chair.
The biggest complaint - perhaps my only one - is the single target.
The special Cerebro power is a built-in Brilliant Tactician -- allowing him to Perplex the stats of teammates within 10 spaces that he can see -- keys off keywords, not TAs, and they don't even have to be a keyword he has. Also, he can change it from turn to turn, so if on a larger team he has part of the build sharing one keyword and part another he can choose one to boost this turn and another the next.
For more background on what the designer had in mind, including what at first would seem to be absolutely bizarre late-dial stats and powers, go read Seth's design notes. Agree or not on the appropriateness of it, it deserves points at least for a creative twist.
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This week brought us full dial previews of the Beast and a new Professor X, along with some other details about Mutations and Monsters... which will have been out for two days four weeks from now. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly glassy-eyed from turkey, etc. leftovers and waiting for the UPS truck to arrive with my clix on that Black Friday.
We know we'll be getting most, possibly all, of the X-Men line-up from their debut in 1963 in the upcoming Mutations and Monsters set, and this week brought two X-Men, though one of them was something of a surprise.
First, we have the details on the debut-edition Beast.
An economical 50 pt piece I'm very interested in seeing working alongside his era-appropriate comrades. Power gamers will not want him because of his stats, a lack of Super Strength and their wanting him to have Outwit despite that not being appropriate to the character at that stage. Yes, he was well-read and on his way academically, but wasn't exhibiting the scientific genius he would later. At this stage he was much more into being ostentatious about his knowledge most likely as a compensation for looking like such a muscle-minded sort.Me? I'm looking forward to him. The sole keywords of X-Men and Mutant -- the latter being something that other recent pieces left us wondering if it was being phased out -- will be useful. I'd have liked to have a longer list of keywords, including Avengers and Defenders even though they didn't apply until much later, after he looked very different. I'd rather have as much flexibility as possible in team-building, and so I prefer to see characters with a great deal of history given keywords that reflect that, even if it's a rookie version.
To lead them all, it's Professor X, but not necessarily the version I'd expected. At 131 points we've been given a version we can take as being from almost any era... at least any era when he was stuck in that chair.
The biggest complaint - perhaps my only one - is the single target.The special Cerebro power is a built-in Brilliant Tactician -- allowing him to Perplex the stats of teammates within 10 spaces that he can see -- keys off keywords, not TAs, and they don't even have to be a keyword he has. Also, he can change it from turn to turn, so if on a larger team he has part of the build sharing one keyword and part another he can choose one to boost this turn and another the next.
For more background on what the designer had in mind, including what at first would seem to be absolutely bizarre late-dial stats and powers, go read Seth's design notes. Agree or not on the appropriateness of it, it deserves points at least for a creative twist.
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Saturday, October 20, 2007
Justice League DownStarro has invaded, with this weekend marking the end of the 5-week tournament series.
I did passably well in today's event despite pulling less-than-inspiring pieces and being up against teams built from some wonderful pulls, and I had fun, but that's all over. There should be no more reasons for me to buy another booster of Justice League. I'm still missing Doomsday (a piece I'd like, but which is in no way worth the $30+ it's commanding on ebay; even half that is pushing it), and the DC One Million Superman, which I have zero interest in. As far as I'm concerned, the set's a wrap. I'll likely forget the last tinge of interest in Doomsday once I get the Mutations and Monsters Hulks, be they just the two we've seen or including a rumored third one.
Aside from the occasional LE the only hole in the sets behind me is Citizen V from Avengers, which I'll aim to trade for this side of the new year if I don't just snipe one off ebay sooner.
I traded a small pile of Justice League extras (Commons, Uncommons, Rares and one Big Barda and Mister Miracle Super Rare) for some LEs I'd been interested in, among them the Symbiote, Genis-Vell, Super-Nova and Victor Shade.
The trade was finished after the game, and then I stuck around a little while to see Andy take on Dan's (the event winner) Starro. A very fun, incredibly resilient, amazingly effective, multi-target Mind Controller. (That's Starro, not Dan, though how could we know for sure..?) This is a small colossal figure (seeming oxymoron, but "colossal" is an official size class of clix figure), on a 4-square base like the Sentinels and Dark Phoenix pieces. I will be amazed if this doesn't turn out to be the 2008 convention exclusive colossal figure; they're not going to have commissioned that sculpt and gone into production and only use them as prizes for a one-time event.
Still, that's something for 2008.
I have another post brewing as I look ahead again to the next set, but that post will have to wait.
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Friday, October 19, 2007
Shock TherapyHow can the long summer days of 1973 have been thirty four years ago?
One of the many monsters from Hulk's bizarre rogue's gallery, it's Reddy Kilowatt's antisocial cousin Zzzax!
Seth understandably decided to make him a giant, so he's going to need some allies to help keep him from being a target.
Representing the veteran form of the character, including a later appearance when Zzzax became linked with Thunderbolt Ross. Seth did a nice little write-up for the design.Criticisms were almost immediate (this am th' Intarwebs after all), but some of them were valid. He really should have had some Steal Energy at least, and should be more difficult to damage. Other elements have to do with the screwy rules for giants, which could be changed as soon as next summer's rule book revision; that a giant's Poison doesn't extend two squares away from him the way his other close combat options do is one problem.
Taking slot #25 in the Mutations and Monsters gallery, Zzzax is an Uncommon and so should be easy for people to find.
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Thursday, October 18, 2007
Some M&M Pics from der Vaterland!Covertly taken at a German toy fair, we have some shots from the upcoming Heroclix expansion. An overhead shot of the Beast is above, two angles on a booster are below. Considering that these were taken with a camera phone by someone who was trying to do it covertly - they were told not to take pictures - he did a nice job. (Clixk on each for larger versions.)
Beast is Common, and the third character in the set. A 50 pt rookie, I'll be interested in seeing the depth of his dial and whether or not his stats ramp up a little. Super Senses on his Defense and a special power on his Speed slot that smart money sez is a Leap/Climb and Charge option, or possibly even something like Green Scar's Smash power, allowing him to move up to his full Speed value and attack (a built-in Pounce without the Damage boost or the click of damage.) Best not to dwell on that much before finding out the real deal; it's too easy to build expectations and then be let down by them. Not world-beating stats, but I'll be curious to see what the point total is for the assembled X-team. We know we're getting Iceman (see below), Marvel Girl and Cyclops, and it's strongly rumored we'll also be getting a period-specific Angel, too. Only Professor X (someone in bad need of a remake) isn't on the list so far. If they're all there that's 6 pieces, but I'm uncertain whether an X-Team where the average cost is 50 points (so they'd form a 300 pt team) will be potent enough. Scott's brother, Alex, came through with a fairly powerful version for 44 points; cutting the Leadership and trimming him back to 5 clicks of life would likely allow a click of Running Shot and maybe a few stat boosts here or there and still keep him at or under 50 pts. Or, do a similar job on the Danger Room vet for Cyke, sacrificing a click of life, adding Running Shot and seeing how well it can be boosted within a 50 pt limit.
If they've redone Professor X I hope Seth took a good look at the the veteran Karma from Fantastic Forces. Cut the Speed somewhat (he's in a wheelchair), cut him down to five clicks of life, add some Leadership and see what the new point cost is. Maybe have the Incapacitate start a little closer to the start.
Yeah, it could be done.
How many of his inaugural X-team teammates will also be commons is as yet unknown. There are 16 Commons, 16 Uncommons, 16 Rares and 12 Super Rares, so there's room to pack most of a team into the same rarity if they chose, but I suspect they'll be split up into a couple here, a couple there, and one over there so that there will have to be some fishing around to complete a team.
Here's a shot of a booster, primarily showing us the rear. From top to bottom we have the more current, cat-like Beast in a lab coat (an Uncommon), beneath him is Apocalypse (Super Rare), then a Zombie Spider-Man crawling on a barrel (looks like a Common, but could be a Rare), and then Green Scar, who we already know is a Rare.
On the back we have another circa X-Men #1 Iceman (hmm... they decided to go without the ice slide) who appears to be a Common, and Archangel seems to be a Rare, but could be a Common, Korg is an Uncommon, and I can't tell Colossus' rarity from this shot. Colossus looks as if his arms are too long and his legs too short.
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Exiles On Side-Streets
This week's also seen two other character additions to the Mutations & Monsters figure gallery which I've neglected to mention. They're both X-Men spin-off characters who are ultimately alternate universe characters who have become part of the cast of Exiles, a cross-time team that's been around long enough to have just about reached issue #100. Despite that, neither of them I've seen on a comics page, which is to say that my level of interest in them isn't especially high.
While I might go back and include pics and stats here, it's unlikely. I'll link to each and make a few comments, but that's the high water mark of my interest for them.
Earlier this week we were shown Mimic, and though this one has the same secret ID -- Calvin Rankin -- as the proper, mainstream Marvel one was, the version they chose is from another timeline and his powers operate a little differently, allowing him to retain a limited set of powers.
I've never picked up an issue of Exiles, so for the most part I'm going to be looking at this as a 616 Calvin Rankin who's very recently been near five X-Men, despite some of them not being around before he at least seemed to die. The sculpt - which I'm sure will look better in person - looks terrible. The pose is uninspired, the arms are too long, the face is horrible and the hair reminds me of working with Play Doh as a child. The special powers provide some of the versatility a character like this deserves. While not a prefect solution I'll likely swap the Mutant Mayhem version's sculpt with this one.
Today they added another Exiles member (set at #20, just ahead of Mimic) with Morph.
The closest I seem to have come to encountering this character in comics is the 616 Changeling in the '60s. A minor adversary who retroactively redeemed himself by spending what seemed to be his final days impersonating Professor X, freeing the Professor to prepare for an alien invasion. Ah, well... at least it was the same writer getting himself into a fix and then getting back out of it.
I do like that Seth saw fit to think broadly with the keywords in one respect (Avengers, Exiles X-Men - even though at least with respect to the Avengers we're talking about the Avengers of an alternate timeline), though even I'm curious why there's no "mutant" tag, unless This is one Seth's come to regret and is in the process of slowly repealing..?
Not a terrible dial for 90 points, though I know many won't want a 0 range flying brick having to make the choice between moving his AV up above 9 or his Damage above 2. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it at that point cost either, especially as this isn't a character I've been waiting for. As I have no solid connection to the character I could easily see this one sitting on the sidelines when it comes to constructed events, but we'll see. The Shape Change and two clicks of Regeneration could really pump up his longevity.
As a complete side note: Eight figures into the previews and this is the first one with only one Special Power, and that's a self-Perplex one. The first zeven we saw each had two special powers.
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This week's also seen two other character additions to the Mutations & Monsters figure gallery which I've neglected to mention. They're both X-Men spin-off characters who are ultimately alternate universe characters who have become part of the cast of Exiles, a cross-time team that's been around long enough to have just about reached issue #100. Despite that, neither of them I've seen on a comics page, which is to say that my level of interest in them isn't especially high.
While I might go back and include pics and stats here, it's unlikely. I'll link to each and make a few comments, but that's the high water mark of my interest for them.
Earlier this week we were shown Mimic, and though this one has the same secret ID -- Calvin Rankin -- as the proper, mainstream Marvel one was, the version they chose is from another timeline and his powers operate a little differently, allowing him to retain a limited set of powers.
I've never picked up an issue of Exiles, so for the most part I'm going to be looking at this as a 616 Calvin Rankin who's very recently been near five X-Men, despite some of them not being around before he at least seemed to die. The sculpt - which I'm sure will look better in person - looks terrible. The pose is uninspired, the arms are too long, the face is horrible and the hair reminds me of working with Play Doh as a child. The special powers provide some of the versatility a character like this deserves. While not a prefect solution I'll likely swap the Mutant Mayhem version's sculpt with this one.
Today they added another Exiles member (set at #20, just ahead of Mimic) with Morph.
The closest I seem to have come to encountering this character in comics is the 616 Changeling in the '60s. A minor adversary who retroactively redeemed himself by spending what seemed to be his final days impersonating Professor X, freeing the Professor to prepare for an alien invasion. Ah, well... at least it was the same writer getting himself into a fix and then getting back out of it.
I do like that Seth saw fit to think broadly with the keywords in one respect (Avengers, Exiles X-Men - even though at least with respect to the Avengers we're talking about the Avengers of an alternate timeline), though even I'm curious why there's no "mutant" tag, unless This is one Seth's come to regret and is in the process of slowly repealing..?
Not a terrible dial for 90 points, though I know many won't want a 0 range flying brick having to make the choice between moving his AV up above 9 or his Damage above 2. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it at that point cost either, especially as this isn't a character I've been waiting for. As I have no solid connection to the character I could easily see this one sitting on the sidelines when it comes to constructed events, but we'll see. The Shape Change and two clicks of Regeneration could really pump up his longevity.
As a complete side note: Eight figures into the previews and this is the first one with only one Special Power, and that's a self-Perplex one. The first zeven we saw each had two special powers.
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Wednesday, October 17, 2007
A little more Mutations & Monsters info
An ad/article written by brand manager Mark Tuttle.
Not necessarily much if any new information, but little confirmations here and there. Knowing there will be six Event Dials is of interest to me -- I hope that among the other card elements they've cut back enough to help these fit; the new booster design and general collation has made these sixth element bits ridiculously difficult to complete, especially if one wants to accumulate multiples of the Feats.
I'll be interested in seeing what the surprise piece "no one would ever expect to find in a Heroclix Booster" will be. Every second person guessing has come up with Howard the Duck, so it'll be amusing if that's what it turns out to be.
Roughly 30 of the pieces will be characters appearing for the first time, which means that even while many will complain about the number of "remakes" well still be seeing more new characters than we'd have been likely to see under the old REV & U 96 piece set scheme.
Some fans lashed their hopes early on to the "monsters" section of the set, wildly speculating that surely this MUST mean that every '70s monster hero/anti-hero from Werewolf By Night (and do comics fans stop to think how inane that sounds to outsiders?), Morbius and Man-Wolf to It! The Living Colossus. Indications thusfar are that they're going to be disappointed. For my part, looking at the original announcements, I expected that the "monsters" component was going to be zombies, Hulk foes and perhaps the Hulk himself, along with maybe some of the more intimidating mutants and general mutations of the Marvel U. Certainly, there's plenty of room for overlap.
Below is the scan image here, and once you click on it it'll be large and clear enough to read. (All in case the link above falters.)
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An ad/article written by brand manager Mark Tuttle.
Not necessarily much if any new information, but little confirmations here and there. Knowing there will be six Event Dials is of interest to me -- I hope that among the other card elements they've cut back enough to help these fit; the new booster design and general collation has made these sixth element bits ridiculously difficult to complete, especially if one wants to accumulate multiples of the Feats.
I'll be interested in seeing what the surprise piece "no one would ever expect to find in a Heroclix Booster" will be. Every second person guessing has come up with Howard the Duck, so it'll be amusing if that's what it turns out to be.
Roughly 30 of the pieces will be characters appearing for the first time, which means that even while many will complain about the number of "remakes" well still be seeing more new characters than we'd have been likely to see under the old REV & U 96 piece set scheme.
Some fans lashed their hopes early on to the "monsters" section of the set, wildly speculating that surely this MUST mean that every '70s monster hero/anti-hero from Werewolf By Night (and do comics fans stop to think how inane that sounds to outsiders?), Morbius and Man-Wolf to It! The Living Colossus. Indications thusfar are that they're going to be disappointed. For my part, looking at the original announcements, I expected that the "monsters" component was going to be zombies, Hulk foes and perhaps the Hulk himself, along with maybe some of the more intimidating mutants and general mutations of the Marvel U. Certainly, there's plenty of room for overlap.
Below is the scan image here, and once you click on it it'll be large and clear enough to read. (All in case the link above falters.)
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Monday, October 15, 2007
Billionaire Attempts Suicide
Hmmm. They've posted the first of the Super Rares for Mutations and Monsters, and it's an experienced version of the Hulkbuster armor.
Tony Stark is supposed to be one of the premier inventive scientific minds of the Marvel universe. Take all the hyperbole about Thomas Edison, grant it full truth and shift him into the early 21st century along with a family fortune to give him one helluva running start - add the good looks of a playboy and years both as a munitions designer and then as one of the Avengers in his Iron Man armor - and you have Tony Stark.
Unfortunately, as with all fictional characters he's often at the mercy of writers of considerably lesser brain spark.
When faced with coming up with a way of combating a creature of vast, virtually limitless physical strength - a being who becomes stronger and more resistant to damage the angrier he gets - how would one of the most inventive creative geniuses with cutting edge technology and almost unlimited financial resources? A nerve gas? A cryogenic device to drop him into a subzero torpor? An antigravity bubble so that all that vast strength of sinew and limb is largely nullified? Teleport him to the LaGrange point between Earth and Moon?
Sadly, none of the above if you're at the whim of the wrong comics writer. Instead, you demonstrate amazing testosterone levels and stupidity by trying to beat the most physicaly powerful being on Earth at his own game. What you get is a Hulkbuster.
A 6 range, single target suit of armor that requires the wearer to come into close combat in order to deal maximum damage is a... highly questionable strategy. That wearing the armor apparently removes his ability to apply a sword to the occasional Gordian Knot with even a single click of Outwit only makes it worse.
The clause in the movement special power has me wondering if we're not only getting another Hulk (beyond Green Scar and Rampaging Hulk) in the set, but that the third one will be a giant. Eh. Well, with Green Scar being 230 points, if the as-yet-unseen Hulk is the World War Hulk version it's likely to be even more points, so at least there should be plenty of room for the Hulbuster to pull in an ally or two.
He's going to need it.
Well, at least it looks fairly cool.
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Hmmm. They've posted the first of the Super Rares for Mutations and Monsters, and it's an experienced version of the Hulkbuster armor.
Tony Stark is supposed to be one of the premier inventive scientific minds of the Marvel universe. Take all the hyperbole about Thomas Edison, grant it full truth and shift him into the early 21st century along with a family fortune to give him one helluva running start - add the good looks of a playboy and years both as a munitions designer and then as one of the Avengers in his Iron Man armor - and you have Tony Stark.
Unfortunately, as with all fictional characters he's often at the mercy of writers of considerably lesser brain spark.
When faced with coming up with a way of combating a creature of vast, virtually limitless physical strength - a being who becomes stronger and more resistant to damage the angrier he gets - how would one of the most inventive creative geniuses with cutting edge technology and almost unlimited financial resources? A nerve gas? A cryogenic device to drop him into a subzero torpor? An antigravity bubble so that all that vast strength of sinew and limb is largely nullified? Teleport him to the LaGrange point between Earth and Moon?
Sadly, none of the above if you're at the whim of the wrong comics writer. Instead, you demonstrate amazing testosterone levels and stupidity by trying to beat the most physicaly powerful being on Earth at his own game. What you get is a Hulkbuster.
A 6 range, single target suit of armor that requires the wearer to come into close combat in order to deal maximum damage is a... highly questionable strategy. That wearing the armor apparently removes his ability to apply a sword to the occasional Gordian Knot with even a single click of Outwit only makes it worse.The clause in the movement special power has me wondering if we're not only getting another Hulk (beyond Green Scar and Rampaging Hulk) in the set, but that the third one will be a giant. Eh. Well, with Green Scar being 230 points, if the as-yet-unseen Hulk is the World War Hulk version it's likely to be even more points, so at least there should be plenty of room for the Hulbuster to pull in an ally or two.
He's going to need it.
Well, at least it looks fairly cool.
Labels: Heroclix, Hulkbuster, Mutations and Monsters
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Friday, October 12, 2007
Eventually...Last night I had week 4 of the Starro sealed event. I won the first and third games by sweeping my opponent's team without taking any losses, but in the middle game it was 180 degrees from that. My improvised team of Chronos, Merlyn, Icicle and, luck of the draw forcing a break in theme, Wonder Woman.
So it was that I didn't see Seth's post on Event Dials until today.
These Event Dials are a new, optional, story-driven scenario dial that, when in play, take the place of Battlefield Conditions, much as I'd expected.
The dial is advanced via instructions for the individual dial, and color indicators on the dial key to instructions on the card, telling the players when to make special rolls and what happens depending upon the results of the roll.
Until we are either shown a dial in more detail or get to play one I don't have much else to say, so instead, here's a copy of Seth's piece if you didn't want to follow the link above:
Marvel HeroClix: Mutations and Monsters
Event Dial Preview
by Seth Johnson, HeroClix Lead Designer
At its heart, HeroClix is a game of superhuman combat. Two forces of heroes and villains meet on the battlefield and use their powers and abilities to fight it out until only one side is still standing. Character and map choice help set the stage for your battle, but what if there was something in the game that made the game change dynamically, making your battles reflective of some of the great (and sometimes just fun) battles of comic-book history?
Mutations and Monsters brings a new mechanic to HeroClix called event dials that does just that. Event dials are "scenarios in a box" that take the place of a feat or battlefield condition in a booster, a dial without a sculpt on it that comes with a corresponding event card somewhat similar in size to a character card.
Event dials aren't a mechanic you use to surprise your opponent in a tournament in fact, event dials cannot be played in a HeroClix game unless all players in the game agree to play with it and play out the scenario it creates. In addition, the effects of an event dial will likely be enough to keep track of during the battle, so battlefield conditions aren't allowed to be played at the same time as an event dial.
How do they work in play? The event dials in Mutations and Monsters help you recreate some of the big events of the Marvel Universe, from Planet Hulk and the Mutant Massacre to the Civil War, but for this article, why don't we concentrate on something more fun?
Like character cards, the back of event cards provide information on the event for players who might not have read or remember all the details of the event:
When an athlete he worked with was banned from wrestling for having superhuman strength, promoter Edward Garner set out to found a new sport in which the combatants were not only allowed but required to have superhuman abilities. For some, getting in meant making a deal with the mysterious Power Broker, who used stolen technology to grant the strength they sought, but at a terrible cost to their health.That's right, ladies and gentlemen, no longer are you merely fighting a HeroClix battle. When you use this event dial, your characters are entering a match in the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation!
Some event dials have items on their event cards marked with a checkmark. These set the scene for the game by describing any prerequisites for using the dial, setup procedures, and any special rules pertaining to the event dial. The Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation event dial has some of these.
Every wrestling match takes place in a ring, and first we set that up and make sure it's clear of foreign objects and as many obstacles as possible:
* Before objects are placed on the map, place four SPECIAL markers on the map so that they mark the outside corners of a 6-square by 6-square area containing as much clear terrain as possible as close to the center of the map as possible; this area is the Ring. Objects can't be placed in the Ring.What's a wrestling match without star performers? Let's get some wrestlers into the Ring:
* Each player chooses one friendly character and places it in an unoccupied corner inside the Ring; this character is his or her wrestler. A wrestler can't leave the Ring, and treats the edges of the Ring as if they are walls that can't be destroyed. When a player's wrestler is knocked out or eliminated, that player must choose a friendly character outside the Ring and place it in an unoccupied corner inside the Ring as his or her new wrestler. If a character is carrying an object when it becomes a wrestler, it drops the object in the nearest unoccupied square before being placed in the Ring.Each player chooses one friendly character and places it in an unoccupied corner inside the Ring; this character is his or her wrestler. Simple enough. Pick any one of your characters and put them in a corner of the Ring as your wrestler. Event dials may provide supplementary rules, but the game is still HeroClix so your other characters will be placed in their starting area of the map normally after setup is complete.
A wrestler can't leave the Ring, and treats the edges of the Ring as if they are walls that can't be destroyed. Once a character goes into the Ring, they stay there until they are knocked out or victorious. To add injury to insult, to wrestlers the sides of the ring are walls that deal knock back damage when they get knocked back into them.
When a player's wrestler is knocked out or eliminated, that player must choose a friendly character outside the Ring and place it in an unoccupied corner inside the Ring as his or her new wrestler. If a character is carrying an object when it becomes a wrestler, it drops the object in the nearest unoccupied square before being placed in the Ring. You still have your entire force of characters (though perhaps you might be calling them a stable) to fall back on in the UCWF, and when your wrestler falls one of his friends will step up to take his place, even if the rules don't allow him to bring any foreign objects into the Ring with him.
There's one final rule in the UCWF, and it applies not just in the Ring but across the whole battlefield:
* No ranged attacks can be made by any character.The UCWF is all about strength and beatdowns, not about shooting people from the stands! Since all players agree to using an event dial, though, you'll be able to prepare appropriately and bring close combat beasts like the Rampaging Hulk to the Ring rather than someone more focused on ranged attacks like the Living Laser.
(Note that by mistake or on purpose, the UCWF has left plenty of room for outside interference and interlopers in the Ring. A 300-point HeroClix UCWF match means that you still get three actions per turn, and you may only be giving one of those to a wrestler. What to do with the other two actions? You might send part of your stable to rough up your opponents while they wait for a chance to go into the Ring, or even send them into the Ring, and there's nothing saying that they can't bring objects with them, though they don't want to get caught by the referee. But we'll get back to that in a minute.)
That sets the stage for a UCWF match. But remember when I said that event dials changed the game dynamically? Let's turn away from the event card to look at the actual event dial. Before the beginning of a game when an event dial is being used, you turn it so that the green line appears at the left edge of its slot, same as you would for your characters. Through the slot, you'll see colored circles. When you see a color, the event described next to that color on the event card is currently in effect.
At the beginning of a game using the UCWF dial, only one effect is showing, and here's how it's described on the event card:
Fair Fight If any character that isn't a wrestler is given an action that would affect a wrestler, affect any square inside the Ring, or move the character into or through any square of the Ring, give the character an extra action token after the action resolves.When the ref is watching, it's hard for non-wrestlers to do anything inside the Ring without getting caught and forced to spend some time resting while they think about what they've done. (Of course, again, since the ref's attention is focused on the Ring, there's nothing stopping the outsiders from banging on each other while the fight goes on inside.)
Next to an hourglass symbol on every event card is an explanation of when the event card is turned. When you turn the dial, events currently in effect may end, and new events may come into effect. In the case of the UCWF event dial here's when you turn the dial:At the end of each turn, turn the dial once or a number of times equal to the number of wrestlers knocked out or eliminated during the turn, whichever is more.Knock out two or more wrestlers, and you can turn the event dial past multiple slots. But if you knocked out only one wrestler or none at all you turn the dial only once at the end of your turn. In a two-player game, your opponent would do the same at the end of their turn, which could bring you to the UCWF event dial's third slot, where the ref starts getting angry and throwing people out of the arena with a second effect:
Disqualified! At the beginning of each player's turn, he or she rolls a d6 for each character in the Ring who is not a wrestler and has two or more action tokens. On a result of 1 or 2, the character is immediately knocked out.Note that the Disqualified effect is on the dial at the same time as the Fair Fight effect if an outsider starts messing with the match, the ref will place an extra token on them. Then, during each player's turn, until the character gets a chance to clear the tokens, there's a 1 in 3 chance that the ref will throw that character out of the arena! In HeroClix game terms, that interfering character is knocked out, and your opponent will get full points for them at the end of the match. So choose your interference carefully!
Characters from outside who interfere with the fight in the Ring aren't wrestlers and won't speed up the turning of the event dial if they get knocked out. But when the event dial turns to its fourth slot, a new event kicks in that may help wrestlers start kicking butt:
Power Broker: A wrestler can use Exploit Weakness and Flurry if it does not already possess either or both of those powers. After the resolution of an action in which an wrestler uses a power from this effect, deal the wrestler 1 unavoidable damage.Thanks to the Power Broker, wrestlers in the Ring can now pound away on each other, and even punch right through their opponent's protection if they're willing to take the hit to their own health demanded by the Power Broker's powers.
A couple slots deeper into the event dial and suddenly Fair Fight and Disqualified fall away as the ref is distracted for four slots, and all the characters in your stables will suddenly get their chance to enter the fray. When the ref finally does return, he disqualifies interferers for a few more slots before you reach the twelfth slot of the event dial.What happens then? What if the battle has gone on long enough, or a lot of characters from large stables have been knocked out quickly enough that you've zoomed right through the dial? Don't all HeroClix dials end at the twelfth slot?
Not event dials!
Some event dials stop turning when a red line appears at the left edge of their slot, regardless of the conditions described by the hourglass that would otherwise cause it to turn. But the UCWF dial has no red line when you're on the twelfth slot and the end of a turn comes, you keep turning the dial past the green line to the first slot, and continue through the dial again.
The ref will keep watch for a bit, disqualify some interferers while wrestlers get knocked out and replaced, then the free-for-all will break out again, a cycle that continues until only the victor is left standing.
Some event dials have special changes or additions to the victory conditions of a game, described next to a trophy symbol on the event card. Since the UCWF card has none of these, when only the victor is left standing (or time expires, or any of the other normal HeroClix game-ending triggers occurs) victory points are totaled normally.
If that sounds like a wrestling match, and something that might be a fun change from your traditional HeroClix battle, you might want to give the UCWF event dial a try. If the UCWF and the world of pro wrestling doesn't excite you, remember that you don't have to play within the scenario defined by an event dial unless you and your friends decide that you want to! But keep your eyes open - there's a number of event dials coming in Mutations and Monsters, and you might just find your favorite Marvel storyline or event among them.
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Thursday, October 11, 2007
Mutations & Monsters: The First Wave of InfoJustice League -- a good set, btw. -- didn't get much if any heralding from me due to time and life circumstances. I was paying attention as new info was released, but not bothering to write about it. With a new Marvel set - Mutations & Monsters - due for release November 21st (the day before Thanksgiving) and only a handful of pieces fully revealed, I want to take a few minutes to look at what we've been shown.
I'm still waiting for my vendor of choice to list what his brick and case prices for this set will be, as it's the first one with the MSRP of $10.99/booster. Hopefully the shift at the bulk buy level won't be large.
One quick refresher note about Special Powers: Any powers they grant are not useful as prerequisites for Feats. It doesn't matter if part of a given special power declares that someone has or can use Leap/Climb, without the Orange there in the Speed slot it can't be used as the basis for a Feat. Someone granted Mind Control or Willpower by one of these Special Powers similarly isn't eligible for the protection of Mental Shields. I just wanted to hit on that again up front.
This set has a scattered theme, primarily it's a split (hopefully not an even one) among Planet Hulk (and World War Hulk?)-related pieces, X-Men and Marvel Zombies. Not the most inspiring blend for some of us. The Hulk-related material was the most promising, not the least because we've been waiting for Seth to try his hand at a mainstream Hulk. Least appealing by far is the too oft told, single note joke that is Marvel Zombies. Even if I liked the storyline they make bad sense for clix, since I'd want to run them as part of a story scenario and I'd have to come up with special rules for those who become infected anyway; the alternative would be to only play pieces that have been given a zombie version. The thought that someone might be contemplating producing zombie versions of even every major player in the zombie storyline is a wretched prospect. The X-Men connection is so broad as to be something I'll have to take on a piece-by-piece basis.
So, let's see what we've been shown in detail so far.
Unlike the two most recent sets this fall sees us back to a semblance of normalcy, which includes a New Guy Night event and a figure to go with it.
This time it will be the Rampaging Hulk.
For 128 points we get a fun Hulk that's closer to what I've been waiting for since the first set. The opening click of the new Squash power allows him to sail in from up to 10 spaces away, dropping from the sky as a Hulk should and arriving in his own crater. The Quake damage (dealing only 2 clicks, and this based on an attack roll + a 9AV) won't be a bother to anyone with Invulnerability or Impervious, but it could do a nice job wrecking the plans of any cluster of Stealthed and/or supporting pieces.Looking him over I immediately want to Feat him up with Shellhead, and probably Armor Piercing (which could make that initial Quake be more fully felt), and that's probably enough for him under most circumstances... though especially if he's not the only Super Strong piece on one's team 20 points spent on Rip It Up might not be a bad investment.
His more persistent (first four clicks) Smash special power grants him Close Combat Expert, so his 3 & 4 Damage could be 5 and 6. The second aspect of the special power, causing one's opponent to introduce a light object and place it withing 6 squares of the Hulk, where he can see it, at the end of the turn will need to be evaluated by each player as to whether or not it will help his team. As of now it remains optional, so a player can turn it off before that part is activated if he doesn't want more light objects appearing.
Already juiced up, he lacks a Bruce Banner (activation) click, but his stats (Attack Values in particular) aren't all that one might have hoped for, and the lack of Regeneration also stings a little, but this is a 128 pt. piece with a very playable 10-click dial. This is one of the best New Guy Night pieces issued thusfar IMHO.
Next -- although this is likely to be the last piece from the set a player will see -- is the Buy It By the Brick mail-away piece: Dark Beast.
The whole Age of Apocalypse event happened years after I'd gotten off the Merry Mutant-Go-Round of the X-titles, so I have no connection there. However, the mainstream Hank McCoy being a very familiar, brilliant, likeable character can't help but make this versiojn interesting in the way that all "dark" universe/evil, alternate universe versions of familiar and beloved characters tend to be.A Planet Hulk version of ol' Greenskin - a recent story arc saw him dumped on a planet where he was at first weakened, made a gladiator and fought his way not only to a greater power level than he'd had before but left him ruler of the planet - going by the name the locals called him, Green Scar, was another of the previews.
While the source work was highly derivative and included at least one scene worthy of a bad Superman movie, and while seeing the Hulk done up like a Roman legionnaire tends to visually over-specify the character, Seth did come through with a ripping good Hulk dial.
The Special Powers he came up with finally provide us with a Hulk who can get into action quickly and take advantage of things. Smash, the Speed power on his first four clicks, grants him Leap/Climb for general movement purposes, giving him the mobility to get past someone he'd rather not deal with or otherwise ignore hindering terrain and changes in elevation. As an alternate, it also allows him to move up to his full Speed value and make a close combat attack.Yes, Seth decided to give the same name to two different powers appearing on two different Hulks. I don't know why. There will be confusion.
On the negative side, like Pounce, use of the attack power nullifies Leap/Climb, so he could be potentially tied up by any piece; an opponent could simply put a bystander next to him, forcing him to spend the turn KOing him, Leap/Climbing away, or rolling for breakaway before using Smash's attack run. Or, the opponent could place a piece somewhere along the direct path between Green Scar and the one he wants to get to, since Green Scar making a Smash attack run would have to stop adjacent to the first enemy piece.
On the positive side, this Pounce-like ability is built in, and doesn't deal a click of damage to Green Scar.
The Special defensive power, Toughest One There Is, kicks in from clicks four through seven, granting him both Impervious and Willpower. While there may be some troublesome errata/clarification in the pipeline, for now this appears to allow him to use Willpower on his turn - and so act in two consecutive turns without pushing - and switch to Impervious while he's on the defensive, not taking pushing damage because that would have been dealt on his turn... when he had Willpower.
That Green Scar is a rare instead of a Super Rare is a nice turn, as that means it'll be fairly easily found, which appeals to me. If I pull a second one I'll likely replace the sculpt with one of the other Hulk sculpts.
It does have me wondering about the rumor that we may have another Hulk lurking somewhere in this set, and whether or not that one will be a Super Rare.
The middle of last week we were shown Box, the second version of the character.
An interesting 125 pt flying, super strong Charger who can for three of his clicks become a giant while standing on hindering terrain, and for his final five clicks has a sort of built-in, souped-up form of Nanobots, allowing him to absorb an adjacent object and heal two clicks. Add to that two leading clicks of Perplex, 3 Damage for his first four clicks, Plasticity on the back half of his eight-click dial, three closing clicks of Close Combat Expert, two of Pulse Wave and the Thunderbolt-able Avengers TA, and its a fairly nice package. Given the low-ish if fairly steady Attack values the more thematic Alpha Flight alternate TA may be more useful overall, but Thunderbolting him to Batman Ally/Kabuki so that even when he might become a giant in the middle of his dial he would be an invisible one to most is a sweet prospect.The sculpt design suffers from accuracy, capturing that very late '80s/early '90s ugliness - the tiny head, hands and feet along with the thick, cable-riddled neck, but that's something I can overlook.
A common, we can expect to see Box in quite a few boosters.
At the end of last week we were shown another surprise choice: Cuckoo. A generic of a sort -- there were originally five sisters, and they have been given special powers that represent their ability to work as a unit.
A very cool 40 pt piece. Even if one doesn't care about the Morrison-era New X-Men story material, the name reference and look are a nod to The Stepford Cuckoos, the source material used for the movie(s) Village of the Damned.
Their Coordination special power (the first two Speed clicks) grants them Mind Control, and also allows one Cuckoo to carry up to two others with her when she moves. This allows a unit of 3 Cuckoos to move with a single action, an action token given to only one of them so the other two will be fresh and ready to act the following turn.
The Hive Mind power (first four Defense clicks) allows each piece, when given an action, to gain a +1 to one of its combat values for each adjacent Cuckoo.
Sure, they're each only 40 points and five clicks, and have a maximum Defense of 16 with no Damage-reducing powers, and special abilities that cry out to be targeted by Energy Explosion, but the dynamic is appealing to me. The 6 range is a bit limiting, but as that's one of the combat values that can be boosted by Hive Mind there's some flexibility there. Pushing to get to that second click, where the first of two clicks of Probability Control comes into play is likely a good move. It improves their utility to the team dramatically and even allows some defensive advantage.
Her third click sees her holding onto Probability Control while gaining Psychic Blast, which she retains on click four. On clicks four and five she gains Shape Change, which helps her defensively, too. The Hive Mind ability allows her to gain from her sisters' presence on all but the final click.
In terms of the set, the Cuckoos let us know we have at least one generic in the set, which is wonderful news -- all the more so as this is a common. Even those who don't want these pieces will find that unlike most commons (uncommons and even rares) under the new system these will retail trading value because there will be people like myself who will happily trade one of my other extras for one of these.
This week, Wednesday brought us a version of a character I'm not familiar with. When I think of Mimic I think of the original one, Calvin Rankin. As it turns out, that's this one's name, too, but he's from an alternate timeline and was part of the dimension-hopping Exiles.
First, I must say that the sculpt (and I know it will, as always, look better in person) is the first really ugly piece of work I've seen in a Mutations & Monsters preview. While Box is unpleasantly distorted, I can't fault the sculptor for accurately capturing a pencil artist's work and bringing it into three dimensions. This has inhumanly gangly arms, thick, ugly claws and a face and hairpiece that remind me of figures we used to make with Play Doh. It's difficult to imagine this will look so substantially better in person as to rise above the level of a poor sculpt.
Still, that's just a sculpt. While far from perfect, the Mutant Mayhem version of the character gave me a workable sculpt which I can transplant onto this base. The hair and mustachio aren't quite what I'd like, but it's far, far closer to what I'd want. Maybe I'll eventually do a proper mod.The 148 pt cost for the piece may put off some, especially the tournament players whose #1 aim is winning, but I like the piece and the versatility granted by the special powers.
As one would expect from the name, Mimic can copy the abilities of others, though in the case of this new version it appears he's sort of stuck with shifting between the powers of five of the X-Men.
A flyer with 8 range who starts with Hypersonic Speed and four clicks of a power that allows him to use Super Strength or Energy Explosion, and who on his second through fifth and once more on his final (eighth) click gets a special movement power that allows him to Charge or use Running Shot, appeals to me. That he has three clicks of Invulnerability up front, followed by two of Super Senses and then two of Regeneration - placed so that he could conceivably heal back to his second click - and then one final click of 16 Defense with Super Senses is also a good combination. The Leadership up front isn't likely to count for much, but occasionally the option for an extra action can be useful... however unlikely that'll be in a 300 pt build when one character has effectively taken half the build points. Ranged Combat Expert on her second and third and seventh and eighth clicks adds a little extra threat to the mix, though I expect that on that seventh click an action's more likely to be put into Regeneration and on both the seventh and eighth the Attack Values are down to 7, but hopefully by that stage the opposing pieces have been whittled down.
So far I'm running more enthusiastic about this set than I'd expected I'd be. I know there will be crap in the mix - it's inevitable (and I know we're getting at least a couple Marvel Zombies) - but as it stands I'm looking forward to the November 21st release and may even opt to attend a pre-release event on the 17th. I'll decide that later.
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Friday, October 5, 2007
Why?
Why a new blog?
Because my main one had fallen into disuse in part because it had so frequently become overwhelmed with Clix-related posts.
The hope is that by concentrating Heroclix items over here I might get back to other blogging - not necessarily anything more serious, but hopefully more varied.
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Why a new blog?
Because my main one had fallen into disuse in part because it had so frequently become overwhelmed with Clix-related posts.
The hope is that by concentrating Heroclix items over here I might get back to other blogging - not necessarily anything more serious, but hopefully more varied.
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