Heroclix Wild Kingdom (On the Attack!)

So, last time we looked at what kind of movement powers certain animals would have. Now it's time to get to attack powers and this looks pretty exciting! First, lets take a look at the attack types like Duo and Sharpshooter.

Sharpshooter allows for ranged attacks to be used in base contact. I have a great suggestion for that one; the spitting cobra. The spitting cobra has a knack for launching venom into the eyes of anything that threatens it, even right up close. For that matter, the closer you are, the better a target you are.

Duos are good for any animals that will kick your butt in mated pairs. Mess with any animals young and you risk that one if both are around. And not just mates, but pack animals too. Good figures to make for this would be a pride of lions (try taking on two lionesses at once!) or a pack of wolves. Yeah they would only be two per duo fig, but isn't that enough? I personally think a pack of wolves would be awesome as minions to begin with.

Naturally, anything else would have the standard attack symbol. Now for the powers.

BLADES, CLAWS AND FANGS: If you can't see how obvious this one is, have someone bounce a dice off your head. Ripping, tearing, clawing, and biting are the primary weapons of the animal world. It would likely be the most common power of them all. The name of the power pretty much spells it out. Cats have sharp teeth and claws, dogs and pack animals have powerful jaws and big incisors. Crocodiles and Alligators have super sized teeth too! Even primates could have this for their huge sharp teeth. They aren't just for looks you know.

ENERGY EXPLOSION: The first thing that comes to mind when I think of animals or insects with this, is the bombadier beetle. It launches a stinky attack at enemies to include things like ants. However, you won't see one of those taking on a pack of wolves right? Well, apply this to the old "monkey flings poo" and you'll see any group on the receiving end duly affected. Splash damage anyone? I think so. It's laughable, but you have to admit it would work.

PULSE WAVE: The ability to hit every target in half range for one damage regardless of powers like stealth is given to the skunk and honey badger. The musk power of these animals can clear any area as of right now. For that matter, if you are too close, you might get the affect of the next power:

QUAKE: Take two damage and knockback (forced away by two spaces) if you are in base contact. I could see large charging animals use this power too, like a bull elephant. Watch them smash through a small village and tell me there wasn't a quake involved. In the water, this power (and pulsewave) could be granted to the electric eel. Short ranged, but you know how electricity and water mix right?

SUPER STRENGTH: Lifting big objects and throwing them around? Elephants can do that and so can most apes. Need help to see just how strong? Check this out:



INCAPACITATE: The ability to hold something in place, giving it an extra action token is a power good for big snakes, giant squid, or an octopus. Spiders use webbing for this as well. Good for insect levels of clix games.

PSYCHIC BLAST: Basically this is a ranged attack that does penetrating damage (ignores defensive powers that reduce damage). Once again the spitting cobra could have this one because of it's awesome aim. Skunks could take it again too because who ever gets hit by the mainstream of that musk shot is going to suffer.

SMOKE CLOUD: Creating hindering terrain as a defense goes right to the squid and octopus for those mass ink jets. Skunks could have it too. No one likes going through musk clouds. Some large animals can kick up a lot of dust just by stomping around.

POISON: Lots of snakes would have this one. The longer you stay near them, the more you get bit and poisoned, right? Various insect swarms would work the same way.

TELEKINESIS: Okay, so consider this, an elephant picks up an orangutan and throws it out to some other target. It could also throw objects at a greater distance than some other animals. Telekinesis is really just moving objects and characters around at a greater distance. Yeah, it's not really telekinesis like the super heroes, but it's as close as an animal is going to get. Basically it's animals that can throw other animals.

So, what did you think of this set? Any power ideas of your own for what's listed so far?

Heroclix Wild Kingdom (Intro and Speed!)

I had this crazy idea recently about what heroclix would be like in various others areas of reality and even life as we know it. A favorite subject of mine jumped right out; animals.

What would heroclix in the Wild Kingdom be like? What creatures would get what powers? Well, wonder no more. In this little series you will see what kind of animals would get what powers and more. I'm going to start out with movement powers for this segment and go from there.

FLURRY: Think about animals that could smack you twice or more before you know what hit you. You should immediately come up with just about anything in the Primate family. Orangutans and gorillas are great candidates. They can bounce your head back and forth between their palms with a quickness. Ouch! How about cats? There's a flurry/blades combo for sure. For one that you might not think of, the kangaroo. They can jump up and land both feet on a target in succession. There are even some birds and snakes that could pull this off. The Cassowary of Australia is arguably the most aggressive and mean bird on the planet. It's almost as big as an ostrich with nasty velociraptor-like claws. They jump and kick with those things. The Green Mamba is well known for multiple striking before it's target can get away. Most of the time they can land at least three hits before you can stumble away from the first one.

LEAP CLIMB: Lots of animals would have this as a trait built right in and others would surely have it on the dial. Not all would have it at superhero proportions, but several would. Your apes can pull it off as can many cats. And squirrels, hey, why not?

PHASING/TELEPORT: Now you're shaking your head. No way right? Okay, try an insect swarm. If there are enough of them, they can get into anywhere. I've seen ants get into the tightest and best maintained houses. Rodents can sneak into places too. Anything you could see and find yourself wondering, "hey, how'd that get in here?" is a good candidate for this power. They just have a knack for finding their way through.

EARTHBOUND NEUTRALIZED: This would be more a power for flightless birds or those that have taken damage. Animals that have been hurt would wind up with this debilitation.

CHARGE: Again, plenty of creatures would have this. They could start out with it and move to flurry later on too. Big time chargers would be rhinos, elephants, hippos (yes hippos), anything with horns or antlers, and yeah, the big cats too. Dogs could have charge. So this is another easy one.

MIND CONTROL: No? Consider this phrase: "but it's just so cute!". It may be debatable in some places, but there are animals often misjudged for their cute or pretty appearance. Think of animals with special tricks to survive in the wild. The Opossum plays dead and people often think of the Koala as cute and cuddly when it's not. It's actually coarse and rough. It also has claws. You could go the mythological route and consider snakes to have a hypnotizing gaze if you wanted to. Then, again, we come to insects. In Costa Rica there is a wasp that plants is larvae on a particular type of spider. Once the larvae become active, the spider is literally compelled to build a protective nest for the larvae it is eventually consumed by. Chew on that.

PLASTICITY: Okay, snakes. Primates could show some serious grappling ability. How about octopus and squid? Oh, and while we're on the matter of aquatics, obviously some animals would be confined to their terrain. However, that doesn't make them easy targets. You have to go in after them. Aquatics would have automatic stealth in the water, if you aren't in there with them.

FORCE BLAST: An animal that can repel you back.... hmmm.. how about the skunk? Some animals have defenses that can surely send you packing. Skunks, honey badgers, and even some snakes have this defense. You can even take the knock back damage because you got clumsy trying to get away and smashed into things. It happens.

HYPERSONIC SPEED: This goes to the worlds clearly fastest animals. The cheetah, the pronghorn antelope, and the peregrine falcon. They may not be able to do it as far as superheroes, but far enough. Anything that has it's class's label as being the fastest of its kind could be given this speed power. Oh and let's go aquatic again; the sailfish and mako shark are both capable of over fifty mph. Wanna go swimming?

STEALTH: One word for this one, camouflage. We all know about animals with stripes and spots and colors that help them hide in nearly plain sight. Some could have a built in trait, others use it when advantageous.

RUNNING SHOT: Primates can take this one again. They are well known for throwing things, gross things. They can do it well on the move too. Chimpanzees are famous for this one. So yes, animals can have running shot.

Naturally special powers and combinations apply. Movement symbols are very direct and simply. Some animals can even be transporters, anything people ride works for that one. Then some animals would have the special ability to cling to others and hitch a ride (at no penalty).

So that's one big look at how heroclix could go animal. Yes, I know it's a keyword, but I'm talking about an entire animal set (just for fun- I know they aren't going to make a set like that).