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!