I hate Marvel Heroclix. It might just be the last 2 sets of Marvel that has me in a bind, but I just don't quite get the figures.
Marvel 'clix seem to be based around finding the strongest clix and putting them on the board and let luck run it's course. Silver Surfer, Spiderman, Ms. Marvel - put any one of these pieces down and the game will run around that figure. If it's a high cost game - you get to have 2 strong figures.
Contrast this with DC, which seems to work around strategy a lot more. Sure in DC you could put out that Earth-2 Superman and mop up - but if you didn't then you'd have to think about what pieces you're playing and how to play them effectively. OOTS Batman for instance, when we first saw him he was just a weak Batman but upon reading that OOTS ability - he's a beast. He won't win you games by himself but he will help out immensly by supporting your other characters. Rip Hunter is also the same way - he's awesome for his "you can't outwit me or my teammates" power. The only figure that comes close to this in Marvel is Danger and even she's reduced in power by having a range limit.
I know Doom and Reed Richards have awesome outwit powers but that comes at a huge cost. In addition to being a super outwitter, Doom costs a ton of points. Sure it's worth it if you're in a high point game, but in a low point game he's just too expensive. It would have been awesome if they made a cheaper figure with a similar power. I know Amadeus Cho was just made as a pog, but it would be awesome if he were a cheap clix with some super genius outwit power and cost < 100 points.
I'd also like it if they added something for the Marvel scientists - Iron man, Reed, etc. where they could build a construct to do something, like an outwit station or a perplex station. It's what they do all the time in comics to overcome obstacles yet there's nothing to represent that in this game! Batman on the other hand always has every toy because it's expected he's thought of everything ahead of time!
This set seems to accelerate a lot of the battles by stacking charge with flurry and running shot with pulse wave. It's welcome as it gets that figure into attacking space sooner, but it's also a potential one turn kill if used by the right click. I don't know if I like this element or not. Character wise, I can see a character like 'neck snappin' Black Adam KO'ing figures in 1 click, but Namor / Hercules - maybe not. They're more of the gloaters in the comics. I'm not complaining but I think it's really REALLY powerful. In a risky gambit with Namor, for instance, if you perplex him up 3 times for his damage, he can effectively connect for 14 damage. That's power we've seen only with Earth 2 Superman. If you add TK, Namor can be launched wherever. Add in probability control - free re-roll of a missed flurry. I'm sure that team can be made for < 400 points. Mind you - I think that this type of gambit is extremely cool and I'd love to see it used vs. Ms. Marvel - I hate that piece.
It's probably just the style of play that I like, DC offers a more planning strategy to the game where Marvel is now defined as a fast and furious game. They're both fun - but I just can't get into the Marvel rhythm...
Monday, September 15, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Secret Invasion Week 7
This week we played Game 7 of Secret Invasion. It was just Ferru, Bill, and myself, so things went pretty quick. The scenario this week was that we secretly wrote down which of our figures were Skrulls, and which were human. Skrull killing Human and Human killing Skrull was worth double victory points... while like killing like was worth half. We also had to play without feats, battlefield conditions, and the like, although I would have killed to put Fortitude on Namor.
I played an Avengers theme team of Namor, Spider-Man, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and FCBD Iron Man. I actually used my theme PCs this week (though not in my first game).
Ferru forgot his box at home, and had to make due with his doubles for this set. Hence Gray Gargoyle, Adam Warlock, Gravity, and Malice. I hate Malice so damn much...
Bill wanted to get human Elektra out, and supported her with Cloak and Dagger, FCBD Iron Man, and Storm.
Ferru played Bill in the first game while I sat out and tracked KOs. Elektra was predictably awesome, although Ferru mistakenly read Support as having the effect of Defend, and let Adam Warlock give his whole team an 18 Defense. Nobody caught it, because we always have a happy hour before we play.
Next I went against Bill. I won, but we forgot to take pictures. Namor was awesome, and Spider-Man sharing Namor's sky-high defense is also awesome. The Namor-Spidey duo took out Elektra first, moved on to Iron Man, then Cloak and Dagger, finally Storm. The rest of my team took some hits and watched. It's pretty rare that I beat Bill, rarer still that I wipe him from the map without losing any pieces. Outside of Ms. Marvel two weeks ago, it may have been a year since that happened.
Finally I played Ferru. I won, with Namor running around uncontested... but horrible die rolls kept interfering. It's total douchebag territory to win and still complain about luck, but at one point Namor needed a 7 to hit, had a flurry, and used 2 theme probability controls, and never got higher than a 6. I had two critical misses too... Iron Man got nearly all the KOs, but Namor did take out Adam Warlock in one mighty charge-flurry assault.
So I took first place, although everyone got Sue Storm as a prize. We looked at our KO totals after the game: for most of the game vs Ferru I got half points, totaling a high 200 out of 400 possible. But for most of the KOs against Bill I took double, getting over 600 points. So the mechanism didn't upset the win-loss records.
Next week, we play Skrull Scenario 3! Everyone bring your Skrull extras!
I played an Avengers theme team of Namor, Spider-Man, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and FCBD Iron Man. I actually used my theme PCs this week (though not in my first game).
Ferru forgot his box at home, and had to make due with his doubles for this set. Hence Gray Gargoyle, Adam Warlock, Gravity, and Malice. I hate Malice so damn much...
Bill wanted to get human Elektra out, and supported her with Cloak and Dagger, FCBD Iron Man, and Storm.
Ferru played Bill in the first game while I sat out and tracked KOs. Elektra was predictably awesome, although Ferru mistakenly read Support as having the effect of Defend, and let Adam Warlock give his whole team an 18 Defense. Nobody caught it, because we always have a happy hour before we play.
Next I went against Bill. I won, but we forgot to take pictures. Namor was awesome, and Spider-Man sharing Namor's sky-high defense is also awesome. The Namor-Spidey duo took out Elektra first, moved on to Iron Man, then Cloak and Dagger, finally Storm. The rest of my team took some hits and watched. It's pretty rare that I beat Bill, rarer still that I wipe him from the map without losing any pieces. Outside of Ms. Marvel two weeks ago, it may have been a year since that happened.
Finally I played Ferru. I won, with Namor running around uncontested... but horrible die rolls kept interfering. It's total douchebag territory to win and still complain about luck, but at one point Namor needed a 7 to hit, had a flurry, and used 2 theme probability controls, and never got higher than a 6. I had two critical misses too... Iron Man got nearly all the KOs, but Namor did take out Adam Warlock in one mighty charge-flurry assault.
So I took first place, although everyone got Sue Storm as a prize. We looked at our KO totals after the game: for most of the game vs Ferru I got half points, totaling a high 200 out of 400 possible. But for most of the KOs against Bill I took double, getting over 600 points. So the mechanism didn't upset the win-loss records.
Next week, we play Skrull Scenario 3! Everyone bring your Skrull extras!
Secret Invasion Week 6
Last week we played Week 6 of Secret Invasion, the beginning of the second round! Before we were playing for cardboard, now it's alternate versions of the Fantastic Four. That's pretty cool. We used Skrull Scenario number 1, which means that each pair of opponents combined the figures they wanted into a big pool, and drafted our teams. With no guarantee you were playing the badass you brought, you'd better not bring that badass! We all pretty much brought scrub pieces we had never, and might never again, play.
Since everyone got to assign a team ability to the post-draft teams, I brought a team full of pieces without teams. Thor Girl, Captain America, Brood, Maverick, Grim Reaper, rookie Nova, and rookie Jubilee.
Ferru tried a Mole Man 'N' Friends thing with Mole Man, five Moloids, Spider-Man, Arachne, Tarantula, Captain America, Howard the Duck, and Spider-Slayer, who looks like Destroyer in this picture but I know he's not.
Jeff played Kristof, Clea, Power Man and Iron Fist, Impossible Man, and one of the Doombots. PM&IF was the most expensive piece on the map all night.
Bill brought the complete Power Pack, along with Spider-Man, Clea, She-Thing, She-Hawkeye, and Arachne. This is the game, by the way, that taught us to fear Spider-Man.
We rolled to pair up; I faced Jeff first, while Ferru went against Bill. We drafted, and Jeff chose Brood, PM&IF, Kristoff, Captain America, Nova, and Doombot. This team had the Skrull ability.
I took Thor Girl first, followed by Maverick, Grim Reaper, Clea, Impossible Man, and Jubilee, with the Fantastic Four ability.
As soon as we started, we realized that Brood had a Box base... which means he was much better than intended. My mistake had a noticeable effect on the game all night, so my apologies. BroodBox wasn't as strong as box, mind you, I didn't have Box's card, so he couldn't use his special powers. But that first click had an 18 Defense with Invulnerability. I had to put everything into hitting BroodBox, but Thor Girl perplexed by Grim Reaper was finally able to do it. Impossible Man's Outwit eventually gave me the win.
Feruu took pains to get all his Moloids together, plus Mole Man, Howard, two Arachnes, and Spider-Slayer. I think this was a Skrull team.
This Moloid strategy, however, gave Bill access to all the high-point pieces on the table. Clea, Spider-Man, Spider-Man, She-Hawkeye, Tarantula, Mass Master, She-Thing, Cap, Energizer, and Gee. I think this was humans, Fantastic Four.
With heavy hitters vs. Moloids, Bill tore Ferru apart.
Next, I played Bill, while Jeff faced Ferru. I went for BroodBox first, pairing him with Grim Reaper's Perplex to keep him unhittable on a battlefield full of 9 Attacks. The rest of my Human, Fantastic Four team was Jubilee, She-Hawkeye, Maverick, Gee, Lightspeed, and Arachne.
Bill identified Thor Girl as the heavy hitter, taking Spider-Man, Clea, She-Thing, Nova, Energizer, Mass Master, and Captain America as backup. This team was Skrulls.
Bill took out Arachne with one round of Flurries from Spider-Man, making me swear an oath to always field this figure forever. I tried to keep pinging away with BroodBox, but keeping his defenses up paralyzed my team. It was surprisingly close given my flawed strategy, but I fell to Bill in the end.
Ferru split his Moloids this time, taking Howard, Mole Man, Spider-Man, Kristoff, Spider-Slayer, Arachne, and two Moloids. I think this team was Skrulls.
Jeff went for PM&IF again, with Tarantula, Impossible Man, Clea, Captain America, Doombot, and two Moloids. I think this team was human, and when you're human, you always pick Fantastic Four.
I don't know how this game went, but here's a relatively focused picture. I think Jeff's downfall was the inability of the Heroes for Hire to live up to their price point.
Our final match-ups were me vs. Ferru, and Bill vs. Jeff. I took BroodBox and Grim Reaper again, with two Caps, Arachne, Tarantula, Thor Girl, and two Moloids. For the third time I got to be humans, Fantastic Four, natch.
Ferru went for Spider-Man first, followed by Nova, Jubilee, Spider-Slayer, Mole Man, Howard, and two Moloids. This team was Skrulls.
For me, this was just like the last game except my strategy worked! BroodBox was untocuhable, the Caps dominated, and Arachne poisoned the hell out of everybody. The team ability kept everyone in the fight.
I think this is Bill's team, but I don't know for sure. Spider-Man, PM&IF, Arachne, two Cleas, Energizer, and Mass Master. Skrulls?
Here's Jeff's Gee, Impossible Man, Doombot, Kristoff, She-Hawkeye, She-Thing, and Lightspeed. If it isn't obvious by now, I forgot my tripod this week, and it was rare to get a focused picture. I guess these were Fantastic Four.
I have no idea what went on in this game, but check out this scrum. I hope more scenarios favor these swarms of light pieces.
At the end of the night, Bill went undefeated, I had two wins, and Ferru had one. We took home Reed Richards, who is no Mr. Fantastic. We did some quick figuring, and Human Teams tied with Skrull teams for 3 victories each.
Since everyone got to assign a team ability to the post-draft teams, I brought a team full of pieces without teams. Thor Girl, Captain America, Brood, Maverick, Grim Reaper, rookie Nova, and rookie Jubilee.
Ferru tried a Mole Man 'N' Friends thing with Mole Man, five Moloids, Spider-Man, Arachne, Tarantula, Captain America, Howard the Duck, and Spider-Slayer, who looks like Destroyer in this picture but I know he's not.
Jeff played Kristof, Clea, Power Man and Iron Fist, Impossible Man, and one of the Doombots. PM&IF was the most expensive piece on the map all night.
Bill brought the complete Power Pack, along with Spider-Man, Clea, She-Thing, She-Hawkeye, and Arachne. This is the game, by the way, that taught us to fear Spider-Man.
We rolled to pair up; I faced Jeff first, while Ferru went against Bill. We drafted, and Jeff chose Brood, PM&IF, Kristoff, Captain America, Nova, and Doombot. This team had the Skrull ability.
I took Thor Girl first, followed by Maverick, Grim Reaper, Clea, Impossible Man, and Jubilee, with the Fantastic Four ability.
As soon as we started, we realized that Brood had a Box base... which means he was much better than intended. My mistake had a noticeable effect on the game all night, so my apologies. BroodBox wasn't as strong as box, mind you, I didn't have Box's card, so he couldn't use his special powers. But that first click had an 18 Defense with Invulnerability. I had to put everything into hitting BroodBox, but Thor Girl perplexed by Grim Reaper was finally able to do it. Impossible Man's Outwit eventually gave me the win.
Feruu took pains to get all his Moloids together, plus Mole Man, Howard, two Arachnes, and Spider-Slayer. I think this was a Skrull team.
This Moloid strategy, however, gave Bill access to all the high-point pieces on the table. Clea, Spider-Man, Spider-Man, She-Hawkeye, Tarantula, Mass Master, She-Thing, Cap, Energizer, and Gee. I think this was humans, Fantastic Four.
With heavy hitters vs. Moloids, Bill tore Ferru apart.
Next, I played Bill, while Jeff faced Ferru. I went for BroodBox first, pairing him with Grim Reaper's Perplex to keep him unhittable on a battlefield full of 9 Attacks. The rest of my Human, Fantastic Four team was Jubilee, She-Hawkeye, Maverick, Gee, Lightspeed, and Arachne.
Bill identified Thor Girl as the heavy hitter, taking Spider-Man, Clea, She-Thing, Nova, Energizer, Mass Master, and Captain America as backup. This team was Skrulls.
Bill took out Arachne with one round of Flurries from Spider-Man, making me swear an oath to always field this figure forever. I tried to keep pinging away with BroodBox, but keeping his defenses up paralyzed my team. It was surprisingly close given my flawed strategy, but I fell to Bill in the end.
Ferru split his Moloids this time, taking Howard, Mole Man, Spider-Man, Kristoff, Spider-Slayer, Arachne, and two Moloids. I think this team was Skrulls.
Jeff went for PM&IF again, with Tarantula, Impossible Man, Clea, Captain America, Doombot, and two Moloids. I think this team was human, and when you're human, you always pick Fantastic Four.
I don't know how this game went, but here's a relatively focused picture. I think Jeff's downfall was the inability of the Heroes for Hire to live up to their price point.
Our final match-ups were me vs. Ferru, and Bill vs. Jeff. I took BroodBox and Grim Reaper again, with two Caps, Arachne, Tarantula, Thor Girl, and two Moloids. For the third time I got to be humans, Fantastic Four, natch.
Ferru went for Spider-Man first, followed by Nova, Jubilee, Spider-Slayer, Mole Man, Howard, and two Moloids. This team was Skrulls.
For me, this was just like the last game except my strategy worked! BroodBox was untocuhable, the Caps dominated, and Arachne poisoned the hell out of everybody. The team ability kept everyone in the fight.
I think this is Bill's team, but I don't know for sure. Spider-Man, PM&IF, Arachne, two Cleas, Energizer, and Mass Master. Skrulls?
Here's Jeff's Gee, Impossible Man, Doombot, Kristoff, She-Hawkeye, She-Thing, and Lightspeed. If it isn't obvious by now, I forgot my tripod this week, and it was rare to get a focused picture. I guess these were Fantastic Four.
I have no idea what went on in this game, but check out this scrum. I hope more scenarios favor these swarms of light pieces.
At the end of the night, Bill went undefeated, I had two wins, and Ferru had one. We took home Reed Richards, who is no Mr. Fantastic. We did some quick figuring, and Human Teams tied with Skrull teams for 3 victories each.
Secret Invasion Week 5
It was more than three weeks ago, so I don't remember a lot of the battles. In fact, I barely remember the teams... so Bill, Ferru, if I assign these teams to the wrong people, let me know.
I fielded Skrull Ms. Marvel and Warskrull. Yeah, they were warbounded together. Uh huh, Ms. Marvel had Takedown and carried a tombstone and launched off a Kinetic Accelerator. Oh yeah, I was that guy.
Jeff fielded Dr. Doom with Fortitude and three Hyrda agents. Doom with Fortitude was tough!
Ferru fielded Jarvis, Captain Marvel, and Dum Dum Dugan. I'm pretty sure these were the human versions.
Bill fielded Hercules and Dr. Strange. I like Hercules, especially his current book, but he's such a second fiddle to Namor.
Anyway, we played and it was pretty good, here's the pictures. I won and I didn't get off my first click. This piece is too good! We ran some simulations later and Namor may be the anti-Ms. Marvel piece. But still, too good. How dare I. The first, second, and third place winners took home Invigorate, soon to rewrite the landscape of the game.
Here's some pics:
I fielded Skrull Ms. Marvel and Warskrull. Yeah, they were warbounded together. Uh huh, Ms. Marvel had Takedown and carried a tombstone and launched off a Kinetic Accelerator. Oh yeah, I was that guy.
Jeff fielded Dr. Doom with Fortitude and three Hyrda agents. Doom with Fortitude was tough!
Ferru fielded Jarvis, Captain Marvel, and Dum Dum Dugan. I'm pretty sure these were the human versions.
Bill fielded Hercules and Dr. Strange. I like Hercules, especially his current book, but he's such a second fiddle to Namor.
Anyway, we played and it was pretty good, here's the pictures. I won and I didn't get off my first click. This piece is too good! We ran some simulations later and Namor may be the anti-Ms. Marvel piece. But still, too good. How dare I. The first, second, and third place winners took home Invigorate, soon to rewrite the landscape of the game.
Here's some pics:
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