Tag Archives: heroclix

Proposing a Perfect New Clix Power Color: Pink!

June 14, 2012 Robin 1 Comment

HeroClix has introduced a couple of new colors to characters’ dials over the years. Time was, the Light Green power color didn’t exist; Earthbound, Quake, Combat Reflexes, and Exploit Weakness simply weren’t printed abilities. Even the Silver and Brown/Gold powers didn’t exist all the time either, and who could imagine a HeroClix game without Hypersonic Speed, Impervious, Leadership, or Telekinesis?

But despite the range of power colors in Clix, there’s one color they don’t have yet, and that’s Pink.

Are You Kidding Me? PINK in Clix?

I fully admit, as a concept, this is hard to take seriously. HeroClix, almost completely male-dominated by definition, having a PINK power color? Ridiculous!

…And yet, it could flesh out some abilities that as yet are only handled by special powers and traits. It could end up simplifying a good bit of rulings, too–the addition of a new color leads to better shorthand references for such abilities. Should we care that pink has such a feminine association, if it will end up being an asset to the metagame?

Personally, I think adding a new color, whatever it ends up being, could help shore up some missing strategies in Clix, and potentially breathe new life into the sets. After all, there are some very funny (but very effective) strategies that pink could represent.

Potential Pink Powers

For each power slot, I’ve come up with two possibilities for what pink could represent on the dial. (Also, forgive the low-quality illustrations–I had to make up a blank Clix dial myself in Paint, and I am certainly no technical artist… xD)

	Pink on Movement Sashay: (for grounded characters only) This character may move by opposing characters without stopping. Any opposing characters who come into adjacency in this way cannot attack this character next turn. Why: Walking in high heels is only done for the effect on other people, not comfort. xD Perfume Cloud: (for flying characters only) Wherever this character moves on the board, leave up to four “perfume” tokens in their exact path, which fade at the beginning of the controller’s next turn. Friendly characters who are in or enter these marked squares receive a +1 to attack; opposing characters who are in or enter these squares receive a -1 to attack. This is not treated as Hindering Terrain. Why: Because reactions to perfume are either “Ooh, girl, I like that perfume!” or “Ugh, what are you wearing?!”
	Pink on Attack Distraction: If this character makes a successful attack roll on an opposing character, no damage is dealt. Instead, the attacked opposing character is not allowed to attack this character next turn. (Successful attacks do not have to be able to deal damage in order for Distraction to go off, such as in the case of hitting an Invulnerability character with a 2-damage character.) Why: Low-cut shirt. That’s all I’m saying. LOL Super Slap: If the first attack by this character is successful, reduce the target’s defense by -1 and make a second attack immediately afterward. The target’s defense goes back to normal after this action resolves. Why: Because no girl slaps another girl just once. There’s always a backhand-slap after the first one. 😛
	Pink on Defense Presentation: Place an action token on this character to modify defense by +2. Why: ‘Cause makeup, hairstyles, and nice clothes really do make a difference, and they boost your (social) defense, at least. And it does require action on one’s part to affect this transformation. 🙂 Rebuff: When an attack made on this character is unsuccessful, modify the attacking character’s stats by -1 until the end of your next turn. Why: When a girl gets hit on and tells the guy “no,” it usually leaves him feeling pretty low.
	Pink on Damage Rumor: When this character makes a successful attack against an opposing character, after damage is resolved deal 1 unavoidable damage to another opposing character with at least one shared keyword. The character given the unavoidable damage does not need to be within line of sight or line of fire. Why: Rumors fly faster than Hypersonic Speed and always damage the target, no matter how tough the person is. Pep Talk: Place an action token on this character to modify 1 adjacent friendly character’s stats (values of movement, attack, defense, damage, and range) by +1 for this turn. This effect fades at the beginning of your next turn. Why: Boosting another person’s confidence is key to keeping friendships!

Thoughts on the Pink Power?

Despite the slightly tongue-in-cheek nature of this post, What do you think about these abilities? Do you think HeroClix is ready for pink on its stats? Could these abilities really work in-game? Tell me in the comments! 🙂

Thursday in the Zone

How Do You Get Your Clix?

May 31, 2012 Robin Leave a comment

Amassing a collection of HeroClix is not easy, especially for those short on money. It’s not always an option to buy tons of 5-figure boosters to complete a set, or to try to get every figure of a certain keyword from eBay. But to compete in tournaments, or simply to have figures you like to play, having a fairly sizable collection is almost par for the course.

But is buying every booster pack off the shelf (or off online stores) really the best way to amass a collection you’ll actually play with? Or, is trading much better than buying, for the serious collector? Today, we’ll look at which style of collecting Clix is best for which situations.

Buy By the Booster, or By the Figure?

If your goal is to have a small collection of favorite figures, it’s cheaper to buy your Clix by the individual figure. Buy only the figures you KNOW you’ll play and KNOW you’ll enjoy, rather than junking up your collection with a pile of useless figures you won’t use.

But if your goal is to collect complete sets, or have a good box of “extra” Clix to trade with other players, it’s cheaper to buy by the booster pack (usually 5 figures) or starter pack (generally 7-10 figures). That way, you’ll end up with a wide array of figures that other people want, and/or be able to complete sets much faster.

Buy in Person or Online?

If you’re looking to buy a random assortment of newer figures and/or figure condition is not a priority, often you’ll find fair prices and good availability at little brick-and-mortar gaming stores–this way, you get the figure right in your hand, and you’re supporting little gaming shops in your area. (You also don’t have to put up with shipping costs!)

Otherwise, if you’re looking to collect specific older pieces, or you’re looking for figures in tip-top condition, you’re more likely to find what you want online, where sellers have to provide a wider inventory of Clix in better condition to get any takers. Clix don’t tend to fare well in physical stores, where they’ve likely been traded in by fellow gamers and might not be in the best of condition. Plus, the selection of older figures might be

Trade For or Buy Individual Figures?

If you don’t care about the overall condition of your Clix, but just want the figure right away, trading is a better option for collecting your preferred Clix. It’s also better if you have a big collection of extra Clix you don’t want, but other players do want. Lastly, trading is better than buying if you want to maintain the same overall size collection of Clix.

However, if you really care about the condition of your figures and you don’t have a big collection of extras to pull from, buying individual figures is probably best for you. No need to start up an extras box of junk figures just to get one figure in trade! Plus, you have more control over what condition of figure you purchase, rather than having to pull from someone else’s extras box.

(Don’t forget that you don’t have to trade Clix for Clix all the time. If you and your fellow gamers play other games in which you have more stuff for trade, you can use that as trade fodder, too. Many’s the time I’ve traded a Magic card for a HeroClix piece!)

Side Note: The Tournament-Prize and Donation Factors

Additionally, you can acquire Clix by two other ways: tournament prizes, and others’ donations to you.

Winning a tournament, or even just participating in one, can give you access to newer figures you might have never gotten otherwise. Depending on how highly you place and your personal Clix taste, you might just end up with a major score on your want list just by playing! And, even if you don’t want the piece you end up “stuck” with, you can at least use it for trade fodder, or perhaps sell it to someone else who needs it.

In terms of friendly donations, it can happen in various ways. Either the other person doesn’t care for a piece and just gives it to someone (you) to get rid of it, or it’s a piece they know you’ll like and they give it to you as a gift. This is how I’ve gotten several of my figures for my collection, and it can help you build up a collection if you’re just newly starting out.

A fellow player’s donation to you is useful in three ways: it gets you another figure you can practice playing with; if it’s a figure you like, you can keep it; if it’s a figure you don’t care for, you can use it as trade fodder. It’s a win-win-win! And who knows, you could eventually pass along the figure at some point to another Clix newbie, who might enjoy it even more.

Personal Recommendations

As a Clix player with a very limited income and not much interest in completing sets or having pristine figures, I choose to buy very selected figures online (only the ones I really, really want/need), and either trade for or buy from other players as I can otherwise. (Also, as I shared above, I get a fair amount of donations from other players by being a generally nice person, and I try to return the favor as often as I can.)

Summary

As I’ve shown in this article, getting a Clix collection started doesn’t have to be an expensive or time-consuming proposition. Whether you’re a super-completionist collector or a casual player with just a small amount of Clix, you can get hold of your most-wanted Clix in many ways just by being in an active gaming community, watching online prices, and going to local gaming shops. Just make sure your collecting stays on the legal side, all right? 🙂

Thursday in the Zone

Movie Clix: Fitting Tribute, or Just Marketing Savvy?

May 10, 2012 Robin Leave a comment

Several HeroClix box sets and special promo figures have been made alongside comic-book movie releases, such as Incredible Hulk, Green Lantern, Captain America: the First Avenger, and now The Avengers. Now you can play a figure of Captain America as he appeared in the recent movie, costume, facial features and all; same for Thor, same for Iron Man, and on down the superheroic line.

Many of the people I play Clix with enjoy the movie Clix packs…but some see them as a waste of time (and plastic). I both like the Clix tie-ins to comic book movies and dislike them, and have several reasons for each:

Why Movie Clix are Great

Why Movie Clix Aren’t

Work well for kids who’ve just seen the movies and never read the comics
Function as a good intro to Clix for new players
Provide a way to play old favorite figures with updated looks/costumes
Are packed in small box sets/promo figures, which are less expensive than regular Clix boosters

Not worth the money for longtime players who already have similar/identical pieces in their collection
Annoying to purchase for adults who aren’t interested in miniatures, but whose kids are because of the movies
Are an almost too-obvious product tie-in–somehow doesn’t feel like a “legitimate” Clix product
Caters possibly too strongly to a non-comic book/non-miniature player crowd, which may cause difficulties between established miniatures players and “just” comic-book movie fans

What’s Your Take on Movie Clix?

What do you think? Are movie Clix just a marketing ploy for more money, or does it have the potential to truly draw in more players? Can you think of any other reasons why movie Clix are and aren’t great? Tell me in the comments!

Thursday in the Zone

HeroClix & Fashion

May 3, 2012 Robin Leave a comment

For me, shopping for clothing and shopping for Clix are very similar. While it may be strange to think of shopping for Clix in the same mindset as shopping for fashion, I think the two worlds have a lot in common. For one thing, the tournament world is a lot like the runways!

As a Clix player, I often use nearly identical guidelines to trading and buying Clix as I do in buying clothing and accessories. Spending Clix “points” in building a team is, of course, not the same as spending real-world money to put together an outfit, but the result is often the same: a strong whole made up of many parts, a set of pieces that run well together.

The following 3 tips are geared toward building stronger teams and gathering more functional pieces for your collection…with fashion metaphors illustrating. Hear me out–this is actually a fairly apt connection!

Clix & Fashion Tip #1: The Cheaper Points It Is, The Better

There’s a reason I chiefly shop clearance racks and discount stores when shopping for fashion–I’m looking for the kind of fashion I want at the lowest prices. I don’t care about following the “latest trends” or having an outfit that has a big brand name stamped all over it. Instead, I prefer to have cheaper clothing that will still look good while combined with my existing collection’s pieces.

Case in point: I went to a discount store about a year ago and found a short-sleeved black shrug (like a shortened sweater or coat) for about $10. It went with just about every nice sleeveless top and dress I owned, so I bought it. A few months later, I spotted a similar black shrug being sold for $50 at a department store–I just chuckled and walked by.

I look at Clix the same way–I select pieces based on their point value as much as their abilities. Why spend 50 points on a Probability Control piece, when I have a perfectly good Rookie Destiny that’s 20 points? Anywhere you can save points can help you have more points left over to select other pieces.

This is why I have an assortment of Paramedics (8, 10, and 12 points, respectively) and Destinies (20, 23, and 26 points), just like I have an assortment of cheap tank tops and shrugs–they are cheap but efficient ways to upgrade my selected team (or my selected outfit).

Clix & Fashion Tip #2: Spend the Points on Long-Term Usage, Not Short-Term Trends

Every season the fashion world comes out with flashy, fragile pieces that don’t seem to be appropriate for any event, not even on a Las Vegas stage. Mostly, I ignore these and choose more wearable, neutral or modest pieces that are made of better material and will last longer.

Case in point: I shopped at a shoe store with a friend about two years ago and had a choice between a couple of pairs of ballet flats (they look like ballet slippers but have a stronger sole). One pair was bright, bright red and shiny, the other a pale, less shiny gold-tone with a small bow on the top. Because the red pair felt more constrictive on my feet, I chose the gold pair (even though they were a little more expensive), while my friend picked the red pair.

Though I wear my pale gold ballet flats for a lot of different events (from formal weddings all the way down to a trip to Walmart if I feel like), my friend ended up not really sure where or when to wear her bright-red flats after a while. They seemed too loud for everyday wear, but didn’t really go with anything besides a dress of the same color, or with a couple neutral pieces. They were awesome shoes, but once the trend faded…well, they had lost some of their patent-leather luster.

Similarly, I evaluate Clix for long-term quality rather than just cheap flashes in the pan. The new hot pieces in Clix tournaments do not interest me unless I see that they are truly quality pieces that would fit well in my collection. If the trendy new piece is only good in certain situations (just like the red ballet flats are only wearable with certain other colors), then why spend the points on them, when I can use a piece that serves its function better and maybe even multitasks in battle?

Clix & Fashion Tip #3: Sometimes You Just Have to Grin and Bear a Higher Point Cost

Occasionally, to get the correct fit, right color, and long-wearing fabric, you have to pay a little more than you’d like to otherwise. Such is shopping for quality pieces!

I’m reminded of the suit jacket I ended up having to buy at a specialty store, because of my broad shoulders and rather well-endowed chest. Though the jacket ended up being nearly 90 bucks, I have since been able to wear it to job interviews, workplaces, nice dinner events, and lots of other dressy places for the last five years. It’s served me well and shows no signs of wear like a cheaper jacket would have by now.

The same thing happens in Clix sometimes; you end up liking a piece but have a hard time fitting it into your teams because it’s just a wee bit too expensive in terms of point cost. But if it’s a worthwhile piece and would make your team a lot more potent in battle, it may be worth trimming down point costs on your other pieces to be able to fit that expensive-but-worthy piece in.

For instance, I would rather invest the 95 points in Saint Walker, for instance, than to spend a total of 92 points on 1 Rookie Destiny, 2 Experienced Destinies, and 1 LE Destiny. Reason? I know that Saint Walker can stand up to more pain in battle, and has both his Prob-like Trait as well as natural Prob. As much as I love playing Destiny, I know that if she’s hit with 4 damage, she’s gone, leaving me with one less Probber. Though that huge 95-point investment on a single figure hits me right in the gut, I know it will pay off in the long term.

Summary

Though this might be a funny way to think about building up your Clix collection and constructing teams, it’s an interesting and playful connection. Who knows, with these tips, your own teams might be walking the runways at your next tournament!

Thursday in the Zone

A Plastic Swarm: A Different Way to Play HeroClix

March 29, 2012 Robin Leave a comment

Most of my opponents are very surprised if I pull out a more-than-75-point figure to play; they know me well, and know that most of my collection is made up of figures costing less than 50 points (and even many less than 30).

In a way, I pride myself on having little figures; I know that given the opportunity, all those little figures can be multiple Davids against their big 200-point Goliaths. I prefer to play a strategy called “swarm” in HeroClix, running groups of many figures rather than running two or three figures. In a typical 300-point game, I can often fit 6 to 8 characters in; you don’t want to see how crowded my start area can get when I play 600 points and above. 😛

The Benefits of a Swarm Team

Having been drawn to this strategy since I began learning Clix in 2007, I can say that there are several strengths to running a larger team of figures, such as the following:

Opponents using a smaller number of figures may have less maneuverability, because of adjacency rules (everywhere they step, they’re beside an opposing figure)
Opponents may not know which piece to attack first, because there are too many targets
You don’t have to push anybody to move unless you just want to–you can move fresh pieces every turn and allow the other ones to rest
Strategy allows you to cover more of the board, especially with ranged characters
Also allows hurt pieces to drop back toward any available Medic and get healed, while your front line of defense stays solid

I find that using many little pieces gives more team-building versatility, as well. For instance, I can pick characters that are basically “one-trick ponies,” such as Destiny, Night Nurse, Abbey Chase, Harley Quinn, etc., who give me first-click access to support powers without needing to risk them in battle. Not only that, I can pick multiple figures who do basically the same thing, so that if one gets hurt and needs to drop back toward good ol’ Night Nurse, there’s another one waiting in the wings to take over. (Multiple iterations of Cheetah and Shi for the win.)

Swarm teams allow for this kind of redundancy and long-game protection a little better than beatstick teams do. Playing a beatstick team (a small number of large-point-value pieces) always makes me feel like I’m wearing a hospital gown–no coverage where I need it most, if you get my drift. If rolls go badly and worst comes to worst, where is my support squad? Not available on such a small team. Swarm teams allow for better team cohesion and complex, subtle strategy.

A good analogy is a large musical group like a choir, versus a small group of soloists. If one of the choir members gets sick right before showtime, the choir can perform without that person if necessary, and the show is not affected. But if one of only four soloists gets sick before showtime, then the show is going to be delayed until that performer can get on their feet again, because the show will be very different with only three voices. Swarm teams are like choirs–they work together and cover for each other’s mistakes and problems much better than small groups.

Weaknesses

But I will admit, swarm teams are not the strongest option out there. These chief weaknesses come to mind:

Smaller-point-value pieces have shorter dials, can’t take as much damage
Swarm teams can get too spread out across the map very easily, leading to easy pick-off kills by a beatstick team
Smaller pieces have generally lower attack and damage values–may not be able to hurt larger pieces

In general, playing a swarm team that’s just combat and no support is about as bad as playing a beatstick team with no support–it’s folly. Making a swarm team practically necessitates the use of Probability Control, Outwit, Support, Perplex, and Telekinesis, because your figures need that support. You need that Outwit to get rid of Superman’s Impervious; you’ll need that Prob to reroll that one-off on Hulk, or Perplex to increase the chance of a hit. (And if Hulk manages to hit you, you’ll need TK to pull your wounded piece out of combat, and Support to get it back at least closer to top click. LOL)

But a swarm team with support that plays a little more closely together (without blocking each other’s lines of fire) can overcome these weaknesses, with a little bit more thought and planning. That 8 attack can be overcome by 2 shots of Perplex, a dose of Outwit, and a Prob waiting on backup; that 15 defense can be boosted by a friendly’s 18 defense with Defend. You just have to figure out how to use each piece’s strengths all together.

You also don’t want to space out a swarm team too much. Too far apart on the map, and they can’t help each other with support powers like Outwit, Perplex, and Prob, and they can’t run back as easily to the Support character (or get TKed back to the Medic, for that matter). Beatstick teams can spread out a little more easily since they have longer dials and better powers–don’t make the mistake of keeping all your support squad too far away from your main combat, or engaging your opponent in two separate combat zones. Keep it focused.

Summary

If you like winning in unconventional ways, or just want to try something new and more tactical, a swarm team is a great strategy–it’s customizable and fun for theme teams as well as non-theme teams, and for certain, it allows you to simply outgun or out-combat your opponent. Build a team with some small-point support pieces, along with some cheap and good combat characters, and watch your swarm take the field!

Thursday in the Zone

Bruce Wayne Rocks!

February 23, 2012 Robin Leave a comment

A couple of weeks ago, I did an article about all the Alter Ego figures available in HeroClix to date. What I didn’t share with you is just how much utility you can get out of one of the figures in particular: Bruce Wayne, alter ego of Batman, from the HeroClix set Brave and the Bold.

Why Does He Rock?

Low Point Cost

He is 48 points, which in the current Modern Age environment is fairly cheap. He’s also fairly cheap considering Golden Age pieces of a similar type. It’s not easy to get an Outwit piece that can defend itself under 50 points.

Excellent Unmodified Combat Values

10 attack and 17 defense are both highly valuable in any Clix environment these days. This makes Bruce Wayne not only an inexpensive figure to run on a team, but an inexpensive figure that can hold his own, whether that’s deflecting a hit or making an attack of his own.

Useful Combat Abilities

Though he has no natural attack or speed powers, his Combat Reflexes and Outwit make him eminently playable. Outwit makes him useful for taking down overpowered beatsticks; Combat Reflexes protects him even more against close combat attacks.

Good Keywords

For Clix players who like to use keywords to build theme teams, Bruce Wayne gives you Outwit, Combat Reflexes, 10 attack and 17 defense for Celebrity, Gotham City, and Trinity teams. (Gotham City teams already have their fair share of options of Outwit and 10 attack, but Celebrity and Trinity teams can benefit greatly.)

Drawbacks

He has no range and no team symbol (not even Batman-Ally). Nor does he live very long–if he takes 4 damage, he’s out of the game. Plus, he has lower movement than some would like.

…But come on, he’s the Batman! Who cares whether he has range or not, or has a long dial. For 48 points, he’s one of the best cheap sources of combat-ready Outwit in the game.

If you don’t have a good source of cheap Outwit in your Clix box already, I definitely recommend this Alter Ego piece for your collection. You might scoff–but then again, you might laugh when Bruce Wayne makes it possible to hit Superman for 5 damage. 🙂

Thursday in the Zone

Sometimes, the Alter Egos are All You Need

February 9, 2012 Robin 1 Comment

Recently, the Alter Ego mechanic has been introduced to HeroClix. Now you can get Superman and Batman both for 48 points, or spring in Wonder Woman for 32 points, etc. Admittedly, you don’t get the figures at their absolute best, but it provides you a cheaper way to get the bigger figures on your team.

But what if you could care less about getting the bigger figures? For those of us who play swarm and support strategies, Alter Egos provide an infusion of small-point-value figures that are still combat-capable.

To me, the Alter Egos of today match up well with the Golden-Age era, little swarm figures of yesterday…which is why I’m writing this article. Sometimes, you don’t even NEED to pull in Batman or Wonder Woman, or Etrigan, or even Spiderman or Hulk. Sometimes, Bruce Banner, Diana Prince, Jason Blood, and Bruce Wayne can handle it all on their own.

The images used in this article came from the HCRealms Units page, a wonderful resource for Clix players to find figures and build teams. They also provide a preview for new sets coming out, so checking this page will keep you updated on the game. Just search under “Rank” for “Alter Ego,” and a full list will come up.

What’s the Special Power on Speed for Most of These These Figures?

That is the Alter Ego power–it is almost always on movement, and usually occurs on the last two or three clicks of the character’s living dial.

How are You Judging These Pieces?

I judge from my perspective as a Clix player. I do not play larger-point-value figures as a general rule, so I’m liable to see smaller figures as more playable. I also love supportive powers (like Prob, Telekinesis, Perplex, Outwit, and Support itself), so I gravitate toward small, one-trick-pony pieces that have these powers.

Lastly, I don’t play theme teams much at all (too restrictive), so I look at pieces solely for their “toolbox” value. I always ask, “What abilities can they bring to the table, and how much do I have to pay for it?”

Worthy AE Pieces

Ben Reilly

Why?: Wildcard team ability for 38 points? OKAY! And how about Combat Reflexes that gives him 19 defense up close? SURE! (He might not be all that combat-capable, but I would SO use him on a Wildcard Mystics or Wildcard Bat-team setup.)

Bruce Banner

Why?: The Perplex and Energy Shield is gravy, but the special powers on attack and defense are crazy good. The attack power is Incapacitate with an attack stat boost if you’re trying to Incap a figure with 4 or more damage. The defense is an automatic Alter Ego transformation if he takes 2 or more damage and reveals the defense power.

With a possible 11 attack against Superman and other godlike buddies (the Incap boost + Perplex), he’s a lot better than he looks for 50 points.

Bruce Wayne

Why?: Combat Reflexes with a 17 defense, and Outwit for 3 clicks, plus the 10 attack to start. He’s a combat-ready Outwitter–I’ve actually KOed opponents’ figures with him before. 😀

The slow movement aside, he’s very much worth the 48 points. And if the low movement bothers you, just have one of your flying pieces carry him around. (Especially fun with Green Lantern pieces or flying pieces with Phasing…lol)

Diana Prince

Why?: A Medic with 9 attack is almost necessary in these days of 17 and 18 defenses. Not only that, she’s 17 defense at range, and you’re likely going to keep her back from the front lines anyway, so she’s more easily defended against attack. A very worthy Support piece at 32 points, and great if you can’t afford/can’t use a Night Nurse.

General Thunderbolt Ross

Why?: While Leadership, S.H.I.E.L.D. team ability, and Enhancement make him a good supporting character, his special attack power is hilarious. Quoting the rules text:

“Once per game, give Thunderbolt Ross a double power action. Choose a square anywhere on the map. Modify General Thunderbolt Ross’ attack value by +3 and make a ranged combat attack that does not target, and compare the result to each character occupying the chosen square or a square adjacent to the chosen square. A hit character occupying the chosen square is dealt 3 damage. Other hit characters are dealt 2 damage that causes knock back from the chosen square. Destroy all walls and squares of blocking terrain in or adjacent to the chosen square.”

…Better than Energy Explosion. BAM!!!

The OTHER General Thunderbolt Ross

Why?: The Willpower/Leadership combo is great (especially for 42 points!), but again, it’s the special attack power that pushes him over the top. Other adjacent characters you control that are 75 points or less get +1 attack when they’re attacking someone with Super Strength. And, if they’re attacking a Hulk, they get +1 damage.

This figure can single-handedly help a little swarm team beat down a larger-point-value beatstick. Superman beware!

Jason Blood

Why?: Why NOT?! Let’s see, he’s got Prob, 18 defense at range, AND Mystics team ability…um, yeah, even with the low movement speed, he’s awesomely, annoyingly playable for 44 points. (He’s nearly the smallest Mystic in the game, too, which makes him hilarious to play with larger-cost Wildcards like Ultra Boy and Vet Supergirl, too.)

If it isn’t obvious already, I heart this piece. 😀

John Jameson

Why?: Forget the first click and the last two clicks. Look at the middle two clicks, the team ability, and the point cost for why Jameson is playable. Fun with Wildcard Mystics–the Toughness makes him able to soak more damage, but if he can’t soak it all, oh well, tough nachos for the guy who just hit him. Mystics damage for the win. 🙂

(And the Super Strength with 10 attack/17 defense? Even though it’s only for one click, it’s AWESOME for 38 points. You just don’t find that kind of ability in wildcards that low.)

Matt Murdock

Why?: The special damage power. Outwit normally on anybody, or Outwit Stealth, Perplex, or Outwit on anybody within 6 squares who’s 75 points or less, regardless of whether he can draw a line of fire to them. WIN!

Walter Kovacs

Why?: He has a trait that gives him Stealth, and he has Shapechange. Annoying enough for 38 points, right? WRONG–check out his special attack ability. Quoting rules text:

“At the beginning of your turn, choose a keyword belonging to an opposing character adjacent to Walter Kovacs. Until the beginning of your next turn, modify the attack value of Walter Kovacs or a character friendly to Walter Kovacs by +1 when they attack a character that possesses the chosen keyword.”

Um, if I play this piece and you play a keyworded team…hee hee, you are in more trouble than you think.

Kinda-Worth-It AE Pieces

Peter Parker

Why?: Super Senses makes him annoying, Wildcard team ability makes him versatile, and Perplex makes him supportive. But you have to push him to get Perplex, and that means losing that nice 17 starting defense.

For 50 points, you get a basic but solid Wildcard-fodder piece that can actually help out your team, but you may have to wait too long or risk losing him before you can use him.

Rick Jones

Why?: He’s a fine source for a Wildcard team (the Avengers team ability is not bad), and he has the ability to use another team ability himself. Give him Bat-Team, Mystics, or something else silly for extra LOLs.

The only issues I have with him is that he is remarkably short-lived for 48 points, and he doesn’t keep his abilities for very long, either. But if you’re looking for something to fill in the gaps (like an extra team ability or an extra Perplexer), this could work.

Unworthy AE Pieces

The OTHER Bruce Banner

Why?: For 55 points, you can find better Energy Explosion pieces (his special attack power is based off Energy Explosion), and the one click of Outwit does not help his cause much, either. This is a “Waiting-for-Hulk” piece, not a piece on his own.

Eddie Brock

Why?: He’s a “Waiting-for-Venom” or “Waiting-for-Anti-Venom” piece (the special attack power gets Anti-Venom, the special speed power gets Venom). Not much else. Shapechange is okay, but he’d mainly be an annoyance piece if you’re just playing him and not planning to change him out.

Clark Kent

Why?: Because you have to push him once to get to Perplex, and he’s not as combat-capable. He’s more a “Waiting-For-Superman” piece than a piece on his own. Not worth it to me, especially not paying 48 points for what amounts to a slightly-upgraded Con Artist.

Norman Osborn

Why?: Let’s see. He’s got a trait that pretty much uses a dice roll to determine which figure you can pull in when you Alter Ego. Bleh, leaving that up to chance is not my style. Also, he’s 66 points–who’s he going to Mastermind damage to in current environments? I’d rather have a REAL defense modifier, but then again I dislike Mastermind anyway. LOL

The saving grace here is the Outwit he’s got for 3 clicks, but I ain’t paying 66 points for just an Outwitter. Basically, he’d be a third-string attacker and Outwitter, and would be more dead weight than anything.

Summary

While a few Alter Ego pieces are not worth the investment, many of the AE pieces offer combat and support at low point costs. If you’re looking for bargains on Prob, Support, and Outwit in a Modern-Age environment, I’d say your search ends with this blog article!

Thursday in the Zone

Play Like a Spider (No Spider-Sense Required)

November 3, 2011 Robin 1 Comment

Weird article title, right? What does it mean to “play like a spider,” anyway?

Well, if you play any games with me, it means to play like me–camp out, build up, and wait. Like web-building spiders, who weave a complicated web of sticky silk and then wait at one corner for a hapless insect to blunder into it, I construct my Magic decks and my HeroClix teams with the same long-term win in mind. I don’t rush aggressively forward; I wait for you to come to me, and get yourself hopelessly stuck with your own aggressive tactics. I may not win within 5 turns, but give me enough time, and I will succeed in at least immobilizing and tying down your force.

Why Bother with This Slow Strategy?

Spiders are not one of the most feared creepy-crawlies for no reason. They can bite, they get even humans stuck in webs (ugh, especially when it’s dark and all you can feel is the sticky silk across your face, hands, or arms)…and they seem pretty ruthless. But faced with a large boot heel or even a rolled-up magazine, they’re useless. In fact, their strategy works best against creatures similarly sized to them.

It may seem worthless to “play like a spider,” since most competitive gamers act as the boot heels and rolled-up magazines of the Magic and HeroClix world. But in a casual and/or multiplayer environment, spider-style play provides a new and creative way to interact. Instead of heavily focusing on “WIN WIN WIN within 5 turns,” you can sit back and socialize with your gaming friends for the first few turns, as you build up slowly. You then have time to observe how everyone else plays, compliment others on their strategy–generally create an atmosphere of camaraderie within your group.

It’s a little more laid-back style of gaming, and yet you still have your own strategy to build up, turn by turn, at an unhurried pace. Get enough of your defenses in place, and you can chat in relative peace. That is, until someone messes with you and disturbs your web.

The Steps of a Spider Gamer

Don’t mess with anybody unless they mess with you.
This is of paramount importance–spiders who are actively building their webs aren’t seeking prey yet. They have to wait until their web is finished (or at least mostly finished) before they can catch anything. Likewise, your first turns are better spent building up your defenses, not making enemies. Identify your strongest opponents and observe their playstyles, yes. But do not provoke them. Time enough for that later.
Once they do mess with you, begin your offensive strategy.
Sounds odd to only launch counterattacks, but it’s actually a very efficient strategy. Once the web is disturbed, spiders launch themselves at their prey and go after them relentlessly. As a spider gamer, you have to act similarly. You wait until they have extended themselves, and then start going after them, make them run scared for a few minutes. If you’re playing one-on-one, this is important to gain back some ground (especially if you didn’t have all your defenses in place yet); if you’re playing multi-player, this is an important show of force, so that everyone else at the table knows that you indeed can strike back, and hard.
Build in lots of support for yourself, and several ways to retreat if you have to.
Like spiders, who build multiple ways to escape if their prey is too strong for them or is too big, spider gamers have to include lots of long-term support into their strategies. In Magic: the Gathering, life-gain, counterspells, graveyard recurrence, creature-kill spells, and high-toughness creatures are ways to keep yourself afloat in tough circumstances; in HeroClix, including lots of Probability Control, Support, Outwit, flying characters, and high defenses can help your team go the distance. Retreating into defensive mode (not attacking and building up your defenses again) is important if you’re facing a lot of aggression–you’ve got to keep yourself alive, even if it means losing the offensive advantage for a few turns.
If you have to retreat, make it very difficult for anybody to come after you.
Spiders often retreat into trees, behind objects, or anywhere else that makes it hard to kill them. If you’re going to be a spider gamer, you have to think similarly when you need to build back up after a hard turn of battle. Make sure you’ve got enough things to defend you, and that it won’t do any good for anybody to come after you for a few turns, and then quietly put your strategy back together. (A strategy that falls apart at the slightest touch is not enough for a spider gamer–it’s got to be solid enough to hold up for the long-term.)

I do this a lot by building in tons of life-gain and Support–people get done battering down my life total or my HeroClix figures, only for me to gain the life back or heal up my characters again so that all their work has been undone! It flusters your opponent(s) and can give you the time you need to build back up.
Rest, recharge, and wait for the others to combat themselves to exhaustion…
This is my favorite part of spider strategy…waiting for the others to thrash themselves tired. Most often, especially in a multi-player game, the two most aggressive gamers at the table face off against each other and spend most of the time tearing at each other’s throats, leaving the rest of us alone. This is the perfect time for a spider gamer to build back up–do just a couple little things during your turn and be relatively unobtrusive, allowing the attention to focus on the more aggressive players. Like real spiders, who wait for their prey to get completely stuck before moving in on them, spider gamers can wait for their traps to spring on their opponent’s turn and not do a whole lot otherwise.
…then come in and mop, mop, mop.
Once the more aggressive gamers have fought each other enough and overextended their resources (and their life points), it’s time for the spider gamer to step out and start mopping up the mess. Half-dead HeroClix figures and Magic players with no blockers to defend themselves are easy targets for the spider gamer, and it gets some of the threats off the board before they can start building themselves back up.

Yes, I know, this strategy is often called “cherry-picking,” getting the last hit on somebody when someone else did all the work…but it’s about the only way for a spider gamer to stay alive. Waiting until the enemy is at half-strength or less is how a spider gamer survives, just like a real spider won’t mess with a hornet or a grasshopper until the insect is thoroughly entangled in its web.

The Point of Playing like a Spider

Those who practice spider-like gaming are allowed to be more talkative and sociable during gaming. Even if you’re not making the most kills or crushing the most people, you are surviving, which means you’re still in the game and you’re doing something right. I like the idea of actually talking to other players, hanging out with them as opposed to just beating them into the ground, and spider gaming lets me do that. Plus, I’m still using a deadly strategy, even if most people don’t recognize it. (The right attitude is key…never, never let on how dangerous you really are until it’s too late. XD)

I’d challenge any gamer who’s never tried playing slow, steady, and spiderish to try it. It’s a very different flavor and mindset from the typical “5-turn-win” aggressive or control-based strategy, and yet it can still win…if you have the patience and the support built in to succeed in the long term.

Thursday in the Zone

When Gaming Has Become Un-fun

October 27, 2011 Robin 2 Comments

It’s slowly been happening, over the course of the last year and a half. Gradually, my weekend trips to the gaming shop my boyfriend and I frequent have become more work and less play. At first, I thought I was just being annoyed by some of the people who go there, but it’s not that. Disturbingly, it seems I’ve lost interest in playing many of the games I used to enjoy.

When I had my laptop with me at the shop, I could use it as a “shield” from all the bothersome conversations; I didn’t have to sit there thinking, “Do we REALLY have to spend 5 hours doing nothing but discussing new Magic cards? Do we REALLY need a long and involved discussion over dinner about the new HeroClix set?” I could surf the Internet in relative peace, doing what I really wanted to do (blogging, Facebook, surfing sites I never get to see over dialup), instead of being immersed in this gaming culture that I increasingly felt outclassed in. Now that my laptop baby is in the shop (and has been for almost two months), the situation’s scabbed top layer has peeled back, revealing a deep resentment and no small amount of anger about it.

My frustration with gaming (and my apparent loss of interest in it) is frightening and strange to me. This is an activity I used to enjoy greatly with friends and my boyfriend–in fact, my boyfriend and I bonded over HeroClix and Magic. Now, I find it useless to even play anymore; I know what’s going to happen as soon as I choose one of my Magic decks and he chooses one of his. It seems pointless to play. Same with HeroClix…I feel like I don’t have enough mental energy for the strategy required anymore, and even if I did, everyone would be using all the new “hot” figures and I’d be swept off the board before 5 rounds had passed.

It’s like I’ve lost my gaming mojo. Pardon the Austin-Powers-ism, but there it is. This activity, which I used to take such pride in and such pleasure in, is now almost worthless to me. I’ve suffered depression enough times in my life to know that “loss of interest in favorite activities” is a hallmark, but I don’t feel depressed in any other aspect of my life. Just gaming.

Since I at least have a passing knowledge of psychology, I sought to delve into this problem, and I came up with a few possible explanations for this:

I am female and the rest of the gaming crew is male
The current gaming crew is more cutthroat and competitive than my old gaming crew
Every weekend, I have to “share” my boyfriend with these competitive guys and I get almost no quality time with him
The old gaming crew has splintered apart, with most of them becoming competitive jerks like the current crew
With all the new expansion sets coming out in both games, I feel beaten before I even begin a game
I don’t feel like I’m friends with anybody in the current gaming crew
I can’t be my whole self with any of the current gaming crew because no one there cares about my writing, my music, my church activities, etc.

Let’s delve into each of these reasons, just a bit.

I am female and the rest of the gaming crew is male

I am bewildered at how much this bugs me. It never used to–I always got along better with guys than girls when I was growing up, and I never was particularly “girly” in terms of fashion and gossip. But I am an adult woman now, an adult woman with very few female friends left in my home state, and I find myself suddenly more isolated from “girl talk” than I realized. Most of my female friends have already “grown up”; gotten married, had babies, gotten jobs, etc. And here I am, still playing in the sandbox with the boys. The boys might be okay with a girl in their midst, but I increasingly feel that it’s not “my place” anymore, as bad as I want it to be. What began as a great way to spend my Saturdays is now the worst day of the week because I don’t feel like I fit in.

The current gaming crew is more cutthroat and competitive than my old gaming crew

When our old gaming shop closed, it seems, the old casual gaming crew went with it–we all went our separate ways for a few years. In the interim, we began attending a shop in another county, another city, with all new players. All was well and good for my boyfriend, who has a great love for games and blends in well with the other players because he knows rules better than anyone else. I, however, did not feel as though I had a place, because my casual style of play was simply outclassed by the competitive styles preferred by the “new” crew. I don’t like 5-turn defeats and alpha strikes, but I’m forced to play against these types of strategies just to ward off the painful boredom of sitting and watching.

Every weekend, I have to “share” my boyfriend with the new competitive crew and I get almost no quality time with him

This is a pretty big beef I have. We’ve been going out 3 1/2 years, and some Saturdays I feel more like a glorified taxi driving him up to the shop rather than an active participant once I get there. He tries to engage me in games, but more often than not he’s called away from our game to answer a rules question in another game, or he ends up talking strategy or new expansion sets with some of the other guys and it leaves me completely out. I feel like I have to “share” my boyfriend with everyone else on Saturdays, when I barely get any real quality time with him during his crazy-busy work week or on Sundays, and it leaves me feeling cheated. It’s hard to even bring this up with him because I feel like if I complain, then I’m being a typical whiny girlfriend and yanking him away from time with his friends, which I know he needs. But if I don’t complain, then it looks like I’m perfectly happy with the arrangement, which is not the case at all.

The old gaming crew has splintered apart, with most of them becoming competitive jerks like the current crew

I used to love playing with the old crew because we just HAD FUN–we weren’t trying to one-up each other all the time, or win money, or gain any kind of prestige. Now, at least 2 of our former number are always talking “best strategies to win tournaments” and playing like they’re in competitions all the time instead of playing against friends. There’s only one of the old crew I still even talk to like a friend anymore, because the others have become strangers to me. We all grew apart, I guess, and I find myself more nostalgic and wistful for what has been lost rather than trying to build anything new, because it just won’t compare.

With all the new expansion sets coming out in both games, I feel beaten before I even begin a game

I don’t play Standard format in Magic, and I don’t play Modern Age in HeroClix. Most of my cards and figures come from Vintage format and Golden Age…which singles me out among the players at the new shop. My strategies, therefore, don’t match up to a lot of the “new hotness” that is being produced by both game companies. I’m not drooling over the latest 13-attack Clix figure, nor do I care about the latest monstrous Infect creature that’s starring in all the Poison Counter Magic decks. I just want to play MY strategies, the ones I made up MYSELF, not something I got off the internet. But my strategies are not good enough to beat Tier 1 strategies, and like I said, I feel beaten before I even begin a game these days.

I don’t feel like I’m friends with anybody in the current gaming crew

Because I have withdrawn from the current crew’s gaming scene, I feel like I can’t get close to anyone. I desperately would like to make friends with them, even just to chat about random stuff, but no one seems to bother with talking about anything that doesn’t have to do with competitive Magic or HeroClix, etc. I feel hamstrung; I don’t always WANT to talk about gaming stuff because it’s become a smaller and smaller portion of my life, but what do I have in common with these guys otherwise?

I can’t be my whole self with any of the current gaming crew because no one there cares about my writing, my music, my church activities, etc.

I am much more than the sum of my games. But you’d never know that if you saw me at the gaming shop. I feel unable to talk about anything but games (see previous subheading), even though I have tentatively tried to broach other topics a few times. I have tried to share my poetry, my music, my church activities, the fact that I’m writing a novel, and tons more stuff about me, but no one seems interested. My forum threads are stillborn; no one is interested in me, and thus, I find myself less and less interested in them. How can I enjoy myself if I’m limited to talking about (or more often, listening to) stuff I don’t find interesting anymore?

A Kind of Summary

One thing’s for sure, this loss of interest in gaming goes much deeper than just hatred of a particular shop, a particular player, or how the games have evolved. It seems as if my very identity is shaken by this. I used to identify myself as a “gamer girl.” Now, I find myself wondering if I even want that label anymore. According to this very blog article, many things have changed in this situation, including myself, and…I am now at a crossroads. I’m sure I’m not the only female to find herself in this situation, but I am powerless to do much about it except write.

Perhaps, by writing this and getting some of these poisonous feelings out, I can find a way to either renew my interest in gaming or withdraw from it completely. After all, gaming is not life…at least, not for me anymore.

Thursday in the Zone

A New Take on “Green Lantern Tank”

October 20, 2011 Robin Leave a comment

Green Lantern what?!

Actually, “Green Lantern Tank” refers to a once-popular HeroClix strategy, best explained in this HCRealms forum thread.

The idea behind the original GLT (lol, quite unlike a BLT) is to surround a strong, flying Green Lantern figure with lots of supportive characters, such as figures with Enhancement (for ranged damage), Probability Control (for rerolls), and perhaps some Perplex and Outwit thrown in there as well for extra pwnage. The Green Lantern figure was most often equipped with the feat card called Trick Shot, which enabled a ranged character to attack from range without worrying about characters, hindering terrain, or Stealth.

Most famously, this was done, as one of the forum members says, with the Veteran Hal Jordan Green Lantern figure. But other GL pieces could do this as well. The two prerequisites for this: The GL figure had to be able to fly, and it had to have the Green Lantern Corps team symbol on its base, seen below:

The reason the team symbol was so important? The GL team symbol means that the character can carry up to 8 adjacent, friendly, grounded figures with it when it moves. Basically, the GL piece could “hide” behind its grounded buddies, keeping it safe from both ranged and close attack, while being able to fire off attacks using the Trick Shot feat, and it could move around the board carrying its 8 buddies with it–a very mobile, highly-efficient, and dangerous team.

And Then, They Nerfed It

Nerf: Verb. Meaning “to dull down the effectiveness of, to soften the damaging effect of.” And yes, it’s related to the Nerf ball.

The GLT strategy was effectively nerfed when game developers took Trick Shot and other feats out of the modern Clix environment–suddenly, Hal Jordan was trapped in the middle of his 8 buddies with no way to fire out from behind them. Also, they introduced a movement penalty for carrying characters. A flying figure who can move 10 squares on his/her own could no longer carry a friendly grounded character for 10 squares–he/she can only go 8. This really reduced the “run-and-gun” strategy for the GLT, and it seemed as if the strategy was dead.

It’s Not Dead, Just Sleeping

Trust me to find a way to revive an old, decrepit strategy. Well, maybe not totally revive it, but repurpose it. One gamer’s trash is another gamer’s treasure!

I discovered the wondrous power of the Green Lantern team ability one day while talking Clix strategy with my boyfriend. Being a Mystics player, I had a ton of wildcard pieces, many of them Legion of Superheroes figures (i.e., flying wildcards); I’m also a hardcore swarm strategist, liking to play many smaller figures instead of just a few large figures.

That day, I’d been trying out a new strategy, using the 37-point Rookie Invisible Woman piece as a central figure. R Invisible Woman’s 18 defense with Defend meant that she could share her 18 defense with up to 8 people around her. I had a lot of little ranged and close-combat pieces that were strong attack characters, but had very low defenses (Veteran Shi from Indy, anyone? That 15 defense made me SAD, even if it did come with Super Senses!).

Thus, I sought to protect my strong attackers by letting them borrow Invisible Woman’s 18 defense; I surrounded Invisible Woman on all sides with friendly figures. Invisible Woman enabled Shi and other small stealthy attackers to survive for the whole game, and Shi and her pals protected Invisible Woman, whose 6 attack and 6 move would be harmless to just about everyone.

I loved the strategy–it was defensive and stealthy and unexpected and it was chock-full of characters. But there was one problem with it.

“Wish there was a way to move my teams quickly and carefully into position,” I said to my boyfriend as we ate a quick dinner. “I mean, Sue (Invisible Woman) has to be protected on all sides as soon as possible, otherwise the strategy folds. But aside from having a few flying characters, I can’t figure out how to transport a whole team at once.”

“Ever heard of the Green Lantern team ability?” my boyfriend said, ever a fountain of Clix knowledge.

I had heard of it, but since most of the figures who carry that team symbol are way expensive for my tastes (over 100 points), I had largely dismissed it from memory. “Oh, yeah, that…I remember the symbol, but what does it do?”

“It allows a flying character to carry up to 8 friendly, adjacent, grounded characters,” my boyfriend replied.

And my memory leaped into my mental wildcard stash, coming up with all the Legion of Superheroes pieces I favored. No, they weren’t particularly strong by themselves, but if you could Wildcard to Mystics, surely you could Wildcard to Green Lantern team. The seed of the idea sprouted and grew vigorously, and I grinned. That was the key to moving my high-defense, stealthy, unexpected team. Nobody would expect a Legionnaire, of all things, to come flying in with 8 of her friends!

Refining the Strategy

Once I had the main idea, I sought out pieces that had similarities to Invisible Woman–I already knew that just using a wildcarded-Green Lantern piece in the center could be possibly more effective than just having that piece fly in Invisible Woman and 7 other friends. If I could find a wildcard who had Stealth and Defend like Invisible Woman, I would likely be set.

The best match I found came from my own Clix box–Experienced Umbra, 56 points, a flying Legionnaire. With 9 move, 9 attack, 17 defense, and 3 damage first click, she was enough to ward off attacks, and with Stealth, Force Blast, and Defend, she was exactly what I needed for wildcard fodder.

Now to find a cheap-enough Green Lantern piece. Since I don’t like playing figures over 100 points (unless they’re REALLY amazing and worth every point), I struggled finding a Green Lantern piece I could live with. But finally, due to some good searching, my boyfriend and I found two figures that fit the bill. Experienced Jade, 92 points from the Legacy set, and Rookie Green Lantern, 81 points from the Cosmic Justice set, worked very well for what I needed them for (mainly wildcard-fodder), and they were both good fits for my collection. I could improve their defenses if I needed to by incorporating Invisible Woman, and their attacks could be fixed with Perplex. (Of course, with the recent Green Lantern pieces that have been released in the Fast Forces and Gravity Feed packs, I could also get my hands on some more (and cheaper) pieces if I needed to. These just happened to be the first I got.)

Trying It Out

I have played this strategy several times and really enjoy how it works. It’s great for getting a large team into position (try using 2 Green Lantern team pieces for those really large-point-value games!), and it’s ideal for getting hurt pieces up, up, and away from the danger. I used Rookie Green Lantern in tandem with Exp. Umbra in one 500-point game, and ended up surviving the game with 11 of my 22 pieces intact, sitting atop Elevated terrain that was 3 squares by 4 squares–perfect for my team to hide out on and heal, and hard for my enemies to approach.

Defensive GLT is also good for moving more than one supportive piece at a time (like repositioning your Perplex, Prob, and Outwit so they can see better). Using E Umbra to move Destiny, Harley Quinn, and Abbey Chase around, while still providing them with a 17 base defense, is very, very efficient when you’re working with large teams and limited actions.

I don’t find that the -2 to movement is all that encumbering with GLT. You can always Perplex up the movement value if you absolutely need those 2 extra squares and you have the spare Perplexes to do it. Alternatively, you can use the feat Contingency Plan to heighten the movement by a maximum of 3 if you have a Leadership/Mastermind character on your team. Or, you could just use a wildcard flier that has a larger movement value to begin with: many of the Legionnaires have 10 move, such as Dawnstar, Triplicate Girl, and Karate Kid.

The best figures that work with this build are small-point-value figures with good defensive abilities and solid attacks. Having Stealth and/or Energy Shield/Deflection is great; so is having Combat Reflexes, Impervious, or Invulnerability. If you have more luck with Super Senses rolls than I have, Super Senses is also a good choice, but that 33% chance to dodge doesn’t always cover one’s posterior as well as one might hope.

Choosing a good Defend piece is also important–you want to protect that source of good defense with great offense, but you don’t want your Defend piece to be absolutely useless if your opponent breaks through the offensive wall. And don’t forget Support, Prob, Outwit, Perplex, and Telekinesis! Having at least one representative of those powers is always a good thing with swarm.

Weaknesses

Like the more offensively-based GLT, defensive GLT is weak to Pulse Wave attacks (the Defend won’t matter). Energy Explosion is a little more difficult to pull off against this team, because of how much Stealth I incorporate (especially on the side of the 3×3 GLT “box” that faces the enemy. Stealth plus high Defense values = I scoff at Energy Explosion. If you don’t have Stealth on your side, at least put in some Energy Shield/Deflection to jack up your Defense value 2 more points higher at range. (Oh yeah, Jason Blood is sitting on a 20 defense at range. YEEHA.)

A good close-combat rush is a winning tactic against a defensive GLT that has overbalanced on range pieces. That’s why I always include a Mockingbird, Vet Psylocke from Armor Wars (Stealth and Combat Reflexes–SURPRISE!!), or even a good Cheetah for a little 11 attack Blades. Shi from Indy functions as both a range and close-combat piece, too, which makes her a good choice for defensive GLT. Make sure not to use too many range or too many close-combat pieces–try to intersperse a few close-combatties in with your pew-pew-pew squad.

Hey, Wait a Minute, Why Don’t You Have a Team List?

Because I don’t build off keywords. I use a more “toolbox” approach to playing Clix–a piece has the ability I need at the point value I can afford, so I play it. That said, I have literally dozens of Clix pieces that could suit this strategy. GLT, in my opinion, is a min/max-friendly format, but it also encourages innovation and creativity, using pieces that lots of people call “bad” to win big. (Ever seen a 30-point Checkmate Black Knight deal 5 damage at range and emerge from the game unscathed? Yep, I did it–with 2 Enhancers, 1 Probber, and Invisible Woman in the background!)

Summary

Unlike the Green Lantern Tank of gamer legend, my “defensive” Green Lantern Tank strategy is not necessarily a game-winner. However, it will stretch your boundaries of what makes a “good” team, and might just make you rethink how you play. One thing’s for sure, the Green Lantern team ability is not just for running-and-gunning anymore!