Better with friends

I've been musing on the colossal figures we have from GSX and I've come to this conclusion: they work best in a force.

These are not the colossal figures of old that have the multi-attack ability and can stand on their own like Dark Phoenix, Anti-Monitor, Galactus and others. Results of playing these characters alone against an equal point force are typically disastrous for the colossal. I draw that conclusion from several games and not just my own.

Strategically, multiple figures will outmaneuver and take down a single figure. The ability to keep on attacking while taking a click of damage to pay for it becomes a very risky issue. Onslaught has had better luck out of all the new colossals and the sentinels fare the worst.

But, playing them in a force makes a huge strategic difference. While Apocalypse is always a clear target, having his horsemen getting in the way can mess that up. Now, not only can Apocalypse be a real threat, he can afford to rest up and clear those tokens while his underlings work some interference. A troop of sentinels or Onslaught with underlings work about the same.

So play a higher point game and enjoy the true power of the colossal!

Great ways to play Juggernaut

Juggernaut is by far one of my favorite X-men villains and I've been waiting a long time for a good accurate rendition of him to play in my favorite game. Giant Size X-men delivered on that I sat down and checked out his keywords. Good ol Juggs is playable in several formats and I hope you enjoy these remarkable ideas. These are only from the new set. Naturally you can reach back and make a really cool team that way too.

Excalibur: Juggernaut, Cypher, Lockheed, and Psylocke for 352 points. For the 400 point format this little team can pack a punch. Cypher gives them your opponent's team ability (if any) and Lockheed makes for some versatile combat support. Use him to bodyguard Cypher, or have him follow Juggs on his path of destruction. I like having him back up Psylocke who's telekinesis can also come in handy. You want to go ahead and push Cypher to his perplex too.

Exiles: You take your chances anytime you use only two people, but in a 300 point match, Juggs and Psylocke could possibly pull it off. Probably best to pull in Morph or Mimic from past sets to get your Exiles going.

Mystical: Pair Juggs up with Elsa Bloodstone and a Mindless one for 366. Mindless ones are getting underestimated, but hey, 100 points for Mystics, psychic blast, range of 8, and impervious? I think that's a great deal myself, but that could just be me. Juggs and Elsa pretty much need to be in someone's face, but having that Mindless one go point with range and Mystics damage is a great way to start opening wounds that Juggs and Elsa will definitely make worse.

Brutes: Now this is expensive, but you play Juggs in a minion style combat with two ore more Mindless ones moving ahead of him for 393 points on up. Once again, the idea is to use Mystics as a front shield, opening the way for Juggernaut to come in and do some finishing pounding. Interesting, but probably not a big tournament winner. Could be fun though.

X-MEN!!

Here are some ideas for playing Juggernaut with the Xmen keyword:

"Half Brothers": Juggernaut, Prof. X and Lockheed for 363. This has a really mean edge to it with the Prof. since he can reach through others with his powers. That makes everyone on the team with him a double threat. Juggernauts smash through power with the reach of the Prof.... yikes. Even if they are outnumbered, they could definitely do some serious damage.

"Brutality": Put him with Archangel in a duo team for 292 and add Wolverine for 395 total points. Archangel can make for some vicious air support and Wolverine still having that heal a click trick makes for a nice edge too (pun intended). As Wolverine once said "We're about to go the throw down city for the stomping marathon."

"Repentant": Put him with Cyclops and Emma Frost for 384. This is based on his first work with the X-men when he tried to learn what being a "hero" was about. There's some good damage capability with this team up. Cyclops ability to deliver psychic blast in the face is a fine addition too.

"Dual Allegiances": Since both Juggernaut and Rogue have connections with Brotherhood, why not team them up for 321? Again, a risky prospect since most good teams have three or more people for such high points, but could be interesting.

"Rivals": Iceman was about the most against Juggernaut of the whole team, constantly challenging him on missions. So put them together in a risky duo for 297 or add Storm (who also didn't like him much better) for 383. Storm is a power house in her own right so added with Juggernaut, I could see a bad forecast for your opponent.

For 500 play: Put him with Archangel, Storm, Psylocke and Lockheed for 499 points. This matching just looks like tabletop murder to me and I like it! This team has great range, great damage capability, and awesome powers. It's flexible and dangerous. Give it a try!

BROTHERHOOD: This is a bit more difficult. In a 300 point format you will ONLY get two players on the table. Your best bet for that is to go with Sabretooth since they're both indomitable. You can make an interesting paring with Mystique too. Blob is just too outwitable but would make a good forward meat shield, I guess. In four hundred you can add another member easily or go with another duo with Magneto. All six of the Brotherhood will cost 765 points. To me, that says Juggernaut plays better with the X-men for this set, naturally you can make plenty of good plays by reaching back too.

For reaching back I say go Mystical or Excalibur. Put him with Nightcrawler for some annoying fun! Great possibilities for a great game figure. Way to go Juggernaut!

My Giant Sized X-men Review!

I have a lot to say about this set. You know, what makes a set truly great is when the good so outweighs anything remotely “bad” that you just don’t care. Giant Sized Xmen brings that point home very well. This set is truly great. As we usually do, my son and I had a nice pack party with a case + a brick and one extra super booster. Sheboygan area sold out in less than 24 hours.

I have to say that we completed the commons almost twice over which is very good for distribution. It was interesting to get two Elixirs in the same booster and one booster had some broken pieces that I glued. Right now, I’m only missing the Captain, Phoenix, Cable/Deadpool, Pyro, Hulk, Apocalypse and the Mark V. I may have been very lucky, but I think they really are trying to make sure your chances are better by the brick. We were very happy and a great time opening packs. So I have to give prompts on distribution from what I’ve seen and heard from other local players. Hey, out of four super boosters, we got four different figures. That’s awesome.

The figure quality is also very good. They are certainly pushing the envelope to create more dynamic poses and appearances. Storm, Magneto and Juggernaut really show how much work they are putting into it. Yes, there are some cookie cutter figures (the Hellions), but that may have been necessary to get you the super cool poses molded for the rest. Some finer details are lost, but again, there’s plenty of way cool to appreciate. I really like them. Juggernaut’s new look really shows his imposing size compared to his last incarnation from Fantastic Forces. Of course, there are sharper small details on the previous sculpt, but it makes up for the difference.

Sculpt/manufacturing drawbacks: The new pioneering on figure poses and energy bolts have one flaw that I noted, Storm. She’s rather fragile and the way she sits makes turning her dial a little troublesome. It’s not easy to get a grip on the sloped base. My fingers just slide up to the feet and I worry that I’ll break her. Her hand came loose as I got her out of the package. I glued that, but still, worth noting guys. Bases are pretty good but I still had to do some doctoring to turn about 30% of them. There are two things making it hard to turn these dials. One that was more prevalent in Hammer of Thor and Web of Spiderman, was the notch that stands up inside the dial (the cause of the clicking noise) being too high, making the dial stick. A pair of fingernail clippers fixes that easily. The second and more of a problem for this set is a bit of plastic sticking out from the edge (side) of the inner dial that catches and stops turning. I used a pair of reverse curve toenail clippers to correct that problem. Most of the dials came apart easily enough to let me fix them. This isn’t a show stopping problem and I must also note that it is impossible to correct completely. It’s a problem of manufacturing. Sculpts are a lot more solid on their bases, but jamming is a big threat to the pieces that are on skinny little feet or small centers to grasp with the fingers. That brings me to the one thing that I am going to have to make mention of and I hope it’s considered with seriousness.

I have shed blood for heroclix.

The culprit: Horseman Wolverine. There are some small pointed plastic bits that stick up right at his feet (where players will put their fingers) and it’s all black. I went to turn the dial and one of the little pieces stabbed into my thumb. Yes, they came out very sharp and I corrected this with the trusty toe nail clippers. I got two of that Wolverine and both needed the adjustment, especially since one goes to my nine year old son. Wolvie isn’t the only culprit for being too sharp either. Vulcan’s flame job is also sharp and could cut through a piece of paper. This is not an alarm issue, but one that the company should take into careful consideration. I love the sculpting that they are doing, but they need to keep in mind two things; one is where peoples fingers are going to go in order to turn the dial and two is that small children will be touching these. I looked through my significant collection and found pieces that flirted with this, but these are the first I’ve ever seen that warrant a mention. Please, guys, correct this for future sets.

As for the colossal’s, AWESOME. Need I say more?

Game mechanics: I have to say that the point values are much much better than in DC 75th. The keywords cross and allow for some great team building. The set really goes over the top with the traits and special powers. They rule the set but some may be tricky in supporting on your team. Leech and Leland could be devastation on table control (especially together) but they are huge bullseyes and range will ace them if you aren’t careful. Half of the Hellions have the same problem, especially Tarot. Sure, she might do something really cool, but it’s a big ol toss up on if it will be when you really need it. That takes a major area of control out of your hands. Points though, love the points. Very few pieces in this set go over 200 in the standard size dials. I found 300 point possibilities for about every keyword in there.

Selection: I’ve knocked on this before and I’m going to do it again. There are some pieces that were more iconic to this area of the Xmen storylines that we are missing. So, I will take off my hat and give a moment of silence to: Mr. Sinister, Havok (why not have all three brothers?), Lady Deathstrike, Shadowcat (though Lockheed is awesome), Donald Pierce, Sebastian Shaw (though you can make a Hellfire club team still), Banshee and maybe Mastermind. While I realize there are only so many slots, I can’t help but think there are some characters here who could have stepped aside for one or two of them to step in. Who? Gatecrasher (who rocks by the way, but still), Ch’od (most of the other Starjammers were a long time ago), and certainly Gideon who is the loneliest figure of the whole set.

Finally, I’m going to pick on just two areas of comic book accuracy. 1) Cannonball: He should have the Xmen team ability as well as the Brotherhood. He was part of at least three X groups (New Mutants, X-Force, and even X-men for a while). Also, he could have the Externals keyword and then Gideon wouldn’t be so lonely. Cannonball is an immortal. In the Xforce story that this was discovered, Sauron killed him and he regenerated (albeit slowly- Feral also ripped out his intestines once and he grew them back). Go check it out at Marvel under his powers HERE. 2) Nemesis: Will someone please, please show me the storyline that he was colossal sized in? I can’t find it. Marvel.com lists him as only six foot, eight. Yeah, his armor has shapeshifting abilities, but so does Mystique and she’s not colossal (and she’s turned into monsters thank you). If someone can show me where he went giganto, I’ll happily stand corrected.

All that being said, I love this set… love it.

Giant sized release day!

So, in a few short (or long) hours I will be boarding a bus (my car is dead) and heading to the Gameboard to get my case of Giant Sized Xmen. The Gameboard is the name of a local game and hobby store here in Sheboygan. You can check them out HERE.

I not only have to wait to pick up my prize but I will also be waiting for my nine year old son to get home so we can have a little pack party. It's how we roll, ha ha. But it won't be easy to wait, there's a lot of anticipation for this set.

Even the dislikes from my last posting are going to be well worth adding to my collection. But what can I say, I picked my "dislikes" in comparison to what I liked best. Maybe "liked least" was better than "dislike"? Oh well. It's all terminology and should be taken loosely and lightly.

Filling two collections isn't easy and now I pass on my extras one step further depending on those needs. Passing on pieces is a way I help keep players in the game. It's something I picked up from a good friend of mine back in Nebraska. We had a great gaming crew and we passed on figures that were extra to help fill out each others collections. The rarity didn't matter so much and that helped players who had less chance of getting good pieces actually land a few.

I know we're going to have an awesome time and I will have to restrain myself greatly against ripping that box open right at the bus stop or on the bus itself. So happy release day, I'll be doing a review of my pulls and the set soon!

Giant X-men: Likes and Dislikes

Are you fired up and ready for your X-men? I know I am. I do plan to write a review after I get my case of X-men goodness (which may be all I can get my hands on) but before that, I thought I would toss out some of my likes and dislikes so far. You may be surprised and I'm sure opinions will vary.

Likes are fun, let's do those first.

-HORSEMEN keywords: For that matter, I like how most of the keywords are playing out in this set. You can actually play a full 300 point Horsemen set and be fully themed with two, also totally possible to play. I don't know how easy it will be to get my hands on them, but I really like they way they are working out.

-Reavers: What can I say? I like the Reavers and they are classic to X-men being over 20 years old. I like the mechanics with them and can't wait to annoy an opponent with some of the Reaver's skills.

-Collosals: Not just giants, but colossal figures, six of them is my understanding. I just hope it's easier to get all of them than it looks. I don't like the looming supply problem. It's an interesting marketing strategy and I like that you can at least get one with a brick, giving you a chance of some kind.

-Cool new power mechanics: Full length charge isn't really anything new, but it's nice to see and so are a lot of the new and cool white powers that I've seen so far. Angel looks particularly good. It's really nice to take the carry penalty away from him but it would be easier if being a transporter did that anyhow. Sorry, it just makes more sense to me that someone who is supposed to be good at "TRANSPORTING" people would have that kind of bonus regardless of what they do with the watered down hypersonic thing. I've said that before and will again.

Okay, now the dislikes:

-Chase figures: Ugh. Well, I do have to say that the distribution has gotten better so long as they at least do it like they did with the White Lantern chases. They're too hard to get and that makes them cost way too much money. Honestly, most of them cost more than what their power scale makes them worth. I've only seen a handful of chase figures that really and honestly do anything that most uncommon pieces can't do. So you wind up being gouged in the secondary market for nothing more than "rarity" and a name. I'd rather spend my hundred bucks on booster packs and get a whole bunch of things I or my players could use than just one single figure. Then I would have a wafer thin chance of getting the figure anyway. Sorry, but I find their "value" highly inflated too quickly to make them financially viable.

-Shadowcat: What's that you say, there is no Shadowcat? Well, that's the problem. I love that Lockheed is in the set, but he loses some of the spirit of being from Giant sized X-men days without the first X-man he ever bonded with. I'll take him, of course, but missing Shadowcat is a disappointment. It's like selling Robin without Batman. Think about it.

-3 Angels: Huh? Why do we have three forms of Angel in the set? Isn't two enough? Couldn't we have put a missing character in to fill out other themes? Shadowcat? Donald Pierce? Sebastian Shaw? Why do we need a third Angel form? Is it because of a suit and a couple clicks of hypersonic? I'm sorry, but whoopty doo. And if this is a chase figure it's a perfect example of the problem with chase figs mentioned above. It's not that it's a bad fig, really. It's that it's redundant. That slot would have been far better used with some other character and this one could have been done later one where it would have fit better.

-Deadpool: Okay, this isn't as bad as having three Angel's taking up space, but hang on a sec. Didn't we just see Deadpool, a better version of him, in the last Marvel set? I know he's got the keywords, but once again, there are characters that should be here and aren't in my humble opinion. Yes, I know there's a Deadpool movie looming out there, but that's not enough of a reason for me. A new Soulsword Shadowcat would have fit the theme better and been just as cool. I just think that filling out the Hellfire club inner circle or another missing classic Xman, like Banshee to match up with his daughter would be better. Heck, even remaking Mastermind or Arcade would be better. Mastermind was instrumental in the Hellfire club for triggering Dark Phoenix! How would that not fit?

And for a couple things I'm not too sure about though they sound cool:

-Gatecrasher: This depends on her keywords. If she's the only one with them, she won't get much play time. Hey look! More missing characters that could have been better to use than and extra Angel or Deadpool!

-Removable pieces: Hmmm, that sounds cool and I like some of the sculpting with that. But what does it really mean for game play? How does it affect cost? Yeah, it sounds cool, but is it really necessary? I could see some cool homegame things to do with a removable shield or hammer, but past that, I really don't know. Take the removable burning Wolverine. What else am I going to do with that? Yeah, it's cool, but I guess I'll have to get in my hot little hands first to really see.

Giant size X-men poster hits web

So this poster was recently released on the internet and is creating quite a drooling stir for the upcoming Heroclix set: Giant sized X-men. HCRealms sports page after page of excited dialogue in the forums and there's talk at the Wizkids facebook page too.

I was surprised to see such a spoiler released this early but I don't think it's going to hurt sales at all from the reactions. I'm pretty excited about this set too. There are certainly pieces coming out that have never been made before. Amongst these are Lockheed the dragon, Gatecrasher, and Ch'od. I do hope that keywords don't leave any of these newbies lacking for good team play.

Ch'od has a chance in golden age open formats if anyone has any of the older figures. Sadly, I find most of them unable to survive in current formats.

We've needed a new Magneto for a long time and having his original Brotherhood crew isn't shabby either. But where's Toad? Oh well, so long as this incarnation of Blob is better than the last, I can do without Toad thanks to having the rest.

I also don't see a few other key players for X-men or one for Hellfire Club. It's nice to have Siryn, but Banshee was a key player in the old X title this set is based on. Siryn is Banshee's daughter for those who don't know. And where's Shadowcat? I also realize that there are incarnations in recent sets, but what about Colossus? He was also a key figure in the Giant sized. It's also been mentioned that Strife will be a bit lonely without Cable to pick on. And how about Mr. Sinister? As for the missing man from Hellfire club, I'm talking about Sebastian Shaw. Yes, he's in an old set too, but he needs a revamp badly. There are plenty of figures who've seen way more remakes.

I will also be glad to have my hands on a new Juggernaut and Phoenix, I have to say.

Now, I note that we also don't see any of the giant pieces on this poster, like Apocalypse or the rumored new Sentinel. So what else are we not seeing? Makes you wonder doesn't it? Oh, and just click on the image to see it larger.

Heroclix spotlight: The White Queen

I have to say that Giant Sized X-men is looking like a very promising set. I like the look of the new Cyclops and love that he has sharpshooter. It makes perfect sense to me with his powerful optic blasts and capability of using them in the face and up close. But, this isn't about Cyke, it's about Emma Frost aka, the White Queen.

First of all, she gets two team abilities. X-men and Brotherhood makes sense because she's been on both sides of the fence. I think the free movement of Brotherhood gets underestimated at times, but it can really help to get a piece into position for a future move. It allows her to play both sides and she has always done that well.

Her dial is interesting to me. Opening with running shot and psychic blast makes her a more mobile attacker than she has been in the past. While this works for her very well, I think her mind control has been cut down a little too much. It comes late in the dial. With the cost of mind control (a click of damage for each hundred points of the target), her use of the power could be a suicide gambit. That's not like her at all. I think having mind control as a trait would have been super and certainly fitting to the new formats. Cool traits have been a great strategic add to lots of pieces.

She's not a useless piece though, far from it. And if you prefer her in mind controlling zeal, there is a very good piece from Mutants and Monsters that you can use. So there is a nice option. It may come to depend on what pieces are legal to use in what tournaments, but that goes without saying. And, of course, I have to mention the loss of her invulnerability from her diamond form.

So I like her, I just feel she could be better with how the environment of the game has changed.

A giant X-Men fan

Heroclix is coming out with Giant Sized X-men in the new year and it may be early to talk about it, but I can't help myself. I'm a big X-men fan.

I've been hoping for a better Cyclops and updates to all the X-men who showed up in X-plosion. It would be great to see a new Banshee and Storm too. I will be watching with great anticipation for this set. There almost isn't anything I don't know about classic X-men.

I know their powers in and out. I've seen a lot of inaccuracies (by my own opinion I realize) but I have high hopes for the new way they've been assigning powers. Traits and white powers could open up the X-pages in a whole new way. If 75th is any sign of how that will be, we have a lot to look forward to.

I already know of some we get to see if you check out the report at Heroclixworld.com, you can see them too. What I wonder about is how many giant figures will be made in this set for the giant boosters. I know Apocalypse will be there and likely sentinels, but who or what else? Maybe the Living Monolith? Well, who do you think will make an appearance. Giant size and classic have more than enough characters to work with.