Playing Sentry of Mighty Avengers!

Recently I was challenged to give a by the numbers article on playing Sentry from Secret Invasion. First, I have to admit, Sentry does offer some good stuff for his 197 points. I don't really care for his randomized hypersonic speed/charge possibility, but a 6 space charge with super strength isn't shabby. His probability control is also a nice addition for a bruiser like Sentry. That's just the start of the show for this guy. Take him a couple clicks in and he just gets meaner with 5 damage and impervious. He gets 10 clicks of life, but with one weakened click that I don't think was really necessary. So, how do you play this rerolling, flying powerhouse?

Doing this article required pulling out every Avenger I have and looking up those I don't. That's not a small amount of pieces, people. Sentry only gets two keywords, Avengers and Mighty Avengers, believe me, that's enough. If you can't build a team around an avenger, you're in trouble. It may be you just don't have any Avengers to play with. In that case, get cracking and buy some clix.

Now, 197 is a big point load for a 300 point team. I have seen Sentry pull a decent "one man army" in a 200 before. He can hold his points worth. So, let's get started and see what happened with all the combos I went through.

300: Your basic knuckle sandwich, Marvel style, hold the mayo.
-Best Duo: Put him with 103 point Wolverine for an even 300 points.
THREE WAY!!!: Put him with Ronin and Vet Echo for 293.
-Best Four: Add him to Vet Echo, Vet Mockhingbird, and Stingray for 298.

Now that you can see how I'm doing this, lets continue. And let me assure you, I spent a lot of time with my calculator adding and re-adding!

400: Superhuman haymaker.
-Best Duo: Put him with 188 point Ironman for 385.
-Best Trio: Invisible Woman (110) and black suit Spider-Man (95) for 402.
FOUR SQUARE!!: Invisible Woman (110), Ronin, and Vet Echo for 400 even.
-Best Five: Ronin, Vet Echo, Moonstone, and Vet Mockingbird at 400 even.

Invisible Woman adds a whole new spice to playing the Avengers, try her and find out! First with Sentry, that double probability control can be fatal to your opponents die rolls! The rest is cake.

500: Bringing down the house.
-Best Duo: Once again, I find myself suggesting a duo figure for a two piece team. I suggest the Ironman/War Machine figure for a total of 497.
-Best Trio: Ms. Marvel and the Ironman/War Machine duo for 501.
-Best Four: Invisible Woman (110), Wolverine (103), and double base Capt. America for 493. Granted, you can use the 105 point Wolverine if it's your preference, but that one won't be themed!
FULL FISTED (five fingers in a fist): Invisible Woman, double base Cap, Moonstone, and Vet Echo for 504.
-Best Six: Double base Cap, Moonstone, Ronin, Vet Echo, and Vet Mockingbird for 483.

600: Bringing down the whole block. (no duo here, too many open points and then it's kind of stupid not to fill them)
-Best Trio: Ironman/War Machine duo and Wolverine help him out for 600 even.
-Best Four: 188 point Ironman, Ms. Marvel, and Vet Echo for 591.
-Best Five: Double base Cap, Invisible Woman, Ms. Marvel and Vet Echo for 596.
SIX PACK!!: Double base Cap, Invisible Woman, Wolverine, Ironfist, and Vet Echo for 601.
-Best Seven: Double base Cap, Wolverine, Ironfist, Moonstone, Vet Echo, and Vet Mockingbird for 601 again.
-Best Eight: Wolverine, Ironfist, Moonstone, 50 point Spiderman, Vet Echo, Vet Mockingbird, and Stingray for 597.

700: Throwdown City.
-Best Trio: Give him Thor and Quasar for 686. This actually looks like a frightening team for just three guys.
-Best Four: Thor, Ms. Marvel and Invisible woman is back for 701.
-Best Five: Ms. Marvel, Invisible Woman, Wolverine, and for a surprise entry, Aaron Stack costing 690.
-Best Six: Double base Captain America, 95 point Spiderman, Invisible Woman, Wolverine, and Aaron Stack for 697.
-MAGNIFICENT SEVEN!!!: (That's seven figures in 700 points with a theme) Double base Cap, 95 point Spidey, Invisible Woman, Wolverine, Ironfist, and Vet Mockingbird for 698.
-Best Eight: Db Cap, 95 pt Spidey, Invisible Woman, Ironfist, Ronin, Vet Echo, Vet, Mockingbird for 688.

800: Head-busting Marathon.
-Best Four: Quasar, Thor and Invisible Woman join him for 796.
-Best Five: Quasar, Invisible Woman, Wolverine and 128 point Black Panther for 801. You can use the other Black Panther if you want to, but I feel this one has more to offer in these teams.
-Best Six: Invisible Woman, Dr. Strange, Wolverine, Black Panther (128), and armored Spiderman (111) for 798.
-Best Seven: Ronin, Invisible Woman, Moonstone, Dr. Strange, Wolverine, and Spiderman (111) for 801.
8-BALL!!!!: Ronin, Invisible Woman, Moonstone, Dr. Strange, Wolverine, Vet Echo, and Ironfist for 798.
-Best Nine: Ronin, Invisible Woman, Moonstone, Wolverine, Vet Echo, Ironfist, Aaron Stack, and Spidey (50) to add up to 805.

900: Gearing up for Armageddon.
-Best Four: Ironman/War Machine duo, Ares and Black Panther (128) for 900 even.
-Best Five: Hulkbuster Ironman, Quasar, Invisible Woman, and Ms. Marvel for 903.
-Best Six: Hulkbuster again, Invisible Woman, Ms. Marvel, Dr. Strange, and Wolverine for 892.
-Best Seven: Invisible Woman, Ms. Marvel, Dr. Strange, Wolverine, Ironfist, and Aaron Stack for 903.
-Best Eight: Invisible Woman, Dr. Strange, double base Cap, Ironfist, Aaron Stack, Wolverine and Spidey (78 point) for 896.
WHOLE NINE YARDS!!: Invisible Woman, Dr. Strange, double base Cap, Ironfist, Spidey (50), Ronin, Wolverine, and Moonstone for 893.

1000!!! The power of a million suns.
-Best Four: Quasar, Ironman/War Machine duo, and Thor for 986.
-Best Five: Quasar, Powerman/Ironfist duo, Ms. Marvel, and Thor for 990.
-Best Six: Invisible Woman, Hercules, Thor, Dr. Strange, and Ms. Marvel for 992.
-Best Seven: Invisible Woman, Vet She Hulk, Spidey (111), Dr. Strange, Ms. Marvel, and Wolverine for 1008.
-Best Eight: Invisible Woman, Ms. Marvel, Spidey (111), double base Cap, Moonstone, Dr. Strange, and Wolverine for 997.
-Best Nine: Invisible Woman, Ms. Marvel, dbl Cap, Moonstone, Ronin, Spidey (50), Dr. Strange, and Wolverine for 991.

You might notice that the full roster for Mighty Avengers isn't quite there. That's because their full points didn't fill enough of their hundred marks to make this list. Too much room needed to be filled with cards and such to make the next hundred. You also see a lot of more new pieces than old in my lists. That's because far too many of the older sets just can't compare to the newer ones. Defenses are far too low and they are underpowered in most cases. There are a few I still use because they just fill in points nicely and still have a sharp edge, like Echo.

So, grab up your clix and throw some teams together, it's throwdown night at your house! Keep clicking!

By the numbers: Fantastic Four

With lack of a local venue right now, I find myself getting a something of a "heroclix fix" by team building. Yes, I get my little figures out and waste time just seeing what kind of teams I could put together. Admit it, the rest of you hardcore players do it too.

In the Captain America set, we had two new forms of FF characters in Invisible Woman and the Human Torch. Invisible woman got some new keywords allowing her to hang with the Avengers and celebrity teams. That's all well and good, but you'll note they cost a bit more than the ones from the starter set of years ago.

You might think; "Well, so much for playing the four in a 400 format", but don't be so sure. If there's anything the FF has to offer now, it's options. More characters now have the keyword and the ATA (while it costs now) also works by keyword instead of team ability. Yes, options are awesome, allow me to demonstrate.

First let's quote the ATA (alternate team ability): FANTASTIC FORCE: Characters using this team ability may replace their defense value with the unmodified defense value of an adjacent friendly character with this team ability. The requirement to use this is 5 points per character and the Fantastic Four KEYWORD. So the team ability does not have to be printed on the dial of all your force. Very handy with the new options.

ATA CLASSIC: First of all, if you are going to use the ATA in your team, you need a good defense to use it with. That means reaching back into the Fantastic Forces set and grabbing the limited edition Sue Storm; defense of 19. So what if everyone needs to be in base contact? It works. Sue is 49 points. Add Mr Fantastic (100), new Human Torch (120), Thing (100) and pay the 20 points for the ATA and reach 389 points. Give Sue the feat card, Protected for the remaining 11 and voila! 400 points! Legally themed.

But what else can we do?

STORM FOUR: This uses a bit of variation to get either a 400 or 500 point team. If you want to use the new Black Panther with his trait and extras, it will be a 500. So, Storm (86), Black Panther (128), Thing (100), Human Torch (120) to make a 434 point team. You may as well use the higher point Torch, because the 100 point will still take you over 400. Black Panther is the key since his 92 point version will make a team of 398. You could use the 20 point difference in Torches for feats or the ATA if you like. For the 434, you may as well use the ATA for 20 and feats; Unstoppable on Thing (5), In contact with Oracle for 40 points (covering whole team at 10 points each), and add one more thing: The Gem of Cytorrak for 5 to make a team of 504. Theme legal too.

Why use Cytorrak? Because it's 5 points that can make a character a monster. It's just cool. It gives one character super strength, charge, +1 to damage, and toughness. All for a chancy die roll and five lousy points. I like it so I list the heck out of it. It's also all I have, so if there's another object you like, hey, use it!

FEM STYLE: Ah the chic team! Who doesn't like that? Well, now FF offers a decent version of a very playable chic team. Yes, I'm leaving the K off chic on purpose. So, play Storm (86), Exp She Hulk (127), Crystal (62), Invisible Woman (110) for 385. Fill the 15 point gap with Unstoppable on She Hulk, 2 Alias feat cards, and the Gem again for 401. It's still theme legal and Crystal could make very nice use of the Gem and an Alias. Think about it.

ATA FEM STYLE: Same as above but using Sue Storm instead of Invis listed above (49) and adding She Thing (50). Pay 25 points for the ATA and have it at 399. Obviously none of the feats or the gem are invovled, but you would be legal with the gem at 403.

AMPED UP: Combining new and old with Mr. Fantastic and Thing for their 100 point versions and the new Invisible Woman (110) and Human Torch (120) for 430 (so a 500 pt match). This holds room for cards! Brilliant Tactition at 20 points allows Mr. F. to do his +2 perplex on his whole team at once! Unstoppable on the Thing so he ignores hindering for movement. Give Mr. Fantastic Takedown (6) to put tokens on attackers AND Dissent (18) to let him outwit team abilities. That's a nice package with the Gem again (ha ha) for 484!

VARIANT FF: For an all alternative team try, Storm (86), Black Panther (128), Experienced She Hulk (127), Bombastic Bag Man (for laughs at 90- or go with 85 pt Luke Cage), and Crystal (62) for 493 points. Yep, I'm going to add the Gem again, just to make you crazy for 498.

Finally, my personal favorite, not theme legal at all:

SUBSTITUTE FF: This is based on the old story where Hulk, Wolverine, Spiderman, and Ghost Rider became the FF. Hulk is a funny one for this, but I enjoy the idea anyway. Hey, it's my own version. Wolverine from Web of Spiderman (105), Spider-man from the same set (78), Veteran Ghostrider from Fantastic Forces (102), and finally Green Scar Hulk (230) for 515 points. Give them all Oracle for 40 and the gem for 560. If you really want to get silly, add some cheap Skrulls for minion-cannonfodder.

I'm not going to list it here, but you can also form a nice 1000 point FF team now. Try it!

Heroclix Keywords

This is just my opinion and input on the keywords used in forming teams for Heroclix. Keywords are used to help form themed teams. If all the figures on your team share the same keyword they are considered "themed" and you get some bonuses for having them this way. It should be noted that bystander tokens do not count for keyword use.

The first notable bonus is a plus modifier to your opening dice roll for who picks map and goes first in the match. The bonus added to your die roll is equal to the number of characters on the team with that keyword. This benefit is very good, especially for the strategy of choosing the map to play on.

The next to mention is that this team gets to cancel a battlefield condition, but they don't have to. It's optional. I really don't like this benefit. For the most part, I think it makes battlefield conditions practically obsolete. Maybe they wanted to do that, I don't know. Ordinary day was already a threat to battlefield condition strategies, but now if everyone you face is using themes you can about count on your BFC getting tossed. I don't know about you, but just about everyone I face won't play anything they can't put into a themed team.

There is a house rule that our local store uses that I like much better. It's the idea that you have to play a themed team just to have a BFC. No canceling. It's kind of a reversal that I think makes more sense. Just my opinion though.

The third bonus to using themes is that you get a probability control roll for ever two figures on your force that share that keyword. In order to use the power, a figure can not have had an action that turn, must have clear line of fire to the reroll target and will have a token placed on them for use of the power. So, if you have ten figures on your team you get five uses of probability control.

You can still build your team however you like, but you may take a strategic minus for doing so.

Problems I have with theme teams:

Point heavy: some of my favorite themes simply cost too much in points. I would love to put together some of the teams I've seen in the comic books, but they also wind up point heavy and outside of what my local store plays. These include the Infinity Watch and Avengers. That, or you don't have enough points to cover the level of tournament you are playing in. For example, if there's only three people with a keyword you want to play and you have a 400 point game, it's problematic when you have 60 points left to fill and no one else with a keyword. You wind up feat card heavy and most places don't want you to use that many feats.

Too specific: Speaking of Avengers, some keywords are getting way too specified like Mighty Avengers, West Coast Avengers, Great Lakes Avengers, Dark Avengers. At least there are enough Dark Avengers to make a themed team, but they won't have much in support, I can hit that in a later post. The makers need to be careful no to toss in a keyword that's going to appear once, with only one or two figures and vanish. That's just frustrating to the players.

I will say, thanks to the new Thunderbolts card you can give someone a keyword/team ability and make them part of your theme. That helps but costs points.

Past that, I think building a good theme is a decent challenge and still fun. I think the benefits are a bit overpowered and too geared toward wiping out BFC's. Still, I enjoy playing heroclix and play themes to keep up with my fellow players. I can't play some of the team ups I would really like to see, maybe a feat called Marvel-Team up? That would be nice. Then I could team up Spider-man and Nightcrawler and actually have them themed.

Today's Photo: My conversion of duo figure, Aquaman and Aqualad, enjoy!