The rare necessities?

I have noticed what seems to be a worrying trend in the construction of the most recent Heroclix sets – and I'm not just talking about sculpts such as Super-Lumpy (see previous post). What is concerning me - besides the weather, my workload and whether Transformers 3 will be as bad as Transformers 2* - is NECA's attitude to the super-rare slot.

Even as recently as Hammer of Thor and The Brave and the Bold, the SR slot was, for the most part, reserved for niche figures. How many of us were gutted that we didn't pull a Hela, a Seth or a Kurse, for example? There will always be a few particularly sought-after figures such as HoT's Volstagg but, for the most part, the SRs were more unusual characters that most casual players and non-collectors could live without.

This seems to have changed with the release of Web of Spiderman and the upcoming DC 75th.

WoS is a Spider-man themed set: a gathering of the allies and enemies of your friendly neighbourhood wall crawler. And in many ways the set delivers the goods - until we look at Doc Oc, Green Goblin, Sandman and Mysterio. Why were these four, all among Spidey's best-known enemies, put in SR slots when the majority of Marvel fans and 'clix players would love to get their paws on them?

Actually, we all know why - to sell boosters - but does that make it the right thing to do?

NECA seems to think so. Looking at the recently spoiled DC 75th set list, the JSA versions of Green Lantern, Supes, Wonder Woman and Batman are all in the SR slot while, for example, a niche character such as Warlord is an uncommon. Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd much rather have a new version of Alan Scott than a Conan refugee with a dodgy taste in headgear.

So, what do you think? Am I being naïve and should accept that this is the way of collectible gaming, or does NECA risk annoying - and at worst losing - customers with a policy of making key, mainstream characters hard to get hold of.

* As an aside, Transformers 2 is a fine movie on DVD as it is possible to watch only the 15-or-so minutes of excellent robot-on-robot action while opting to avoid any scene that isn't at least 90% CGI.

I wish to God I was making this up...

...but apparently some of us will be seeing this when we crack open boosters of DC 75th.

For more images - many of which will make you feel a lot better about this set than the above pic - click HERE.

STOP PRESS: I think I may have stumbled across the inspiration for this sculpt - taken from a parade in New York in the 1940s (or possibly 1939):

Dear Wizkids...

Dick gets dynamic

Now here's something a lot of us probably didn't expect to see - a flying Batman. Better still, a flying, charging Batman. Just look at that first click: swoop in, leave behind a smoke cloud and lump an opponent's figure with that lovely 11 attack and 3 damage. Then laugh as they fail to hit that 19 defence in close combat. Two clicks later and Dick loses his rag and starts flailing around with his Flurry. Lovely stuff.

I really like the sculpt too. While it doesn't do such a dynamic dial justice, it still looks great and is an obvious homage to the cover of Batman and Robin issue 1.

One more reason to be looking forward to DC 75th.

Source: wizkidsgames.com

You'll lose your Rag

Well, who knew? Apparently, 'Ragdoll' in an anagram of 'most annoying tie-up piece you are ever likely to come across'.

This fella is fabulous - unless your opponent is fielding him, of course, and he is standing next to your 200pt brick. For just 46pts he has Shape Change and Super Senses to keep him out of trouble - followed by Combat Reflexes for when someone does actually land a blow. Then there's THAT white power - and I'm not talking the one that requires you to be playing Parademon.

Just picture your opponent's face when they finally manage to break away from this annoying pasty-faced bugger (did I not mention all that lovely Plasticity?) - only to be back to square one with Ragdoll still far too close for comfort at the end of the action.

Of course, he has his downsides - primarily an understandably short dial. Base Green Scar with him, for example, and miss the Shape Change and Super Senses rolls and it's all over over for Doll-face. Still, it's gotta be worth the gamble.

I love me a nice tie-up piece - and they don't come much nicer than this fella. If this is the shape of things to come for the DC 75th Anniversary set then bring it on.

Now, where can I get me some Secret Six books?

Source: Wizkids/Neca

Taking the theme thing too far?

I'm playing in a tournament on Sunday with a Hallowe'en theme; my 600pt team must include one demon, one scientist, one alien menace etc.

Now, I love playing thematic teams so am making mine as Hallowe'eny as possible - Green Goblin, Morbius, Ghost Rider. Which is where I hit a problem. I needed Ghost Rider to fill my 'demon' slot and wanted to run the Danny Ketch LE - but as far as I could tell from searching on line, the being that posseses Danny boy.isn't actually a demon. As a result I have put the exp Johnny Blaze in the team instead - as he is most definately down with the demons.

The incident got me wondering whether I was being too anal about this; the guys I play with wouldn't have made a fuss if I'd gone with Danny. But, at the end of the day, I would have known and wouldn't have felt totally happy playing him.

So, dear readers what would you have done?

'Too late, Mera realised that mixing eight pints of Stella, a power ring and a chicken jalfrezi just wasn't working out'

Give the guy a hand

Aquaman is back in action in the Brightest Day starter set - and he's got five more fingers than the past few versions we've seen. He's also a lot tougher than previous versions, with a good helping of Charge and Close Combat expert so he can really get stuck in. Click on the image for a bigger version.

Sculpt of the man himself is as boring as hell - and am I the only one who thinks it looks as if he is about to be horribly abused by that tentacle. Perhaps I've seen too many dodgy Japanese cartoons.

And he's still got the worse alter-ego name in comics history.

Source: Wizkids/NECA

Is it just me...

...or do the upcoming white lanterns look as if they should be featuring in a washing powder ad?

Power of the press

While it might not be obvious from the quality of the prose on this blog, I am a professional journalist. Many years ago I was a humble local newspaper reporter, while these days I work freelance and split my time between editing and writing features for trade magazines.

Perhaps it's not so surprising, then, that I am rather keen on the Reporter keyword – and very excited by all the media-luvvie characters Web of Spider-man is bringing to the table:

007 Spider-man

008 Peter Parker

009 Venom

010 Eddie Brock

022 Spider-man

025 Anti-Venom

035 J Jonah Jameson

By my reckoning that's six pretty playable figures - and Eddie Brock, who's only use might be repainting him as someone being hit by a custard pie.

The two Spidey's are both pretty good, though I prefer the cheaper version over the Back in Black option. It's a darn shame neither have a move and attack power though - surely one of Spidey's strength is swinging into battle and landing a solid punch.

Peter Parker is the first Alter Ego I can imagine myself playing. He's a Perplexer who might be some good as a tie-up piece, but can then turn into a three clicks of pretty hard-hitting Spider-man. Sounds like a good deal for 50 points to me. Sculpt looks OK too.

I think Venom is also really solid. I'm a sucker for up-front Charge and Super-strength, and it will be fun to see how his Tendrils power plays out.

I had to hit up Wikipedia for the background to Anti-Venom. When I finished congratulating myself for not having spent any money on comics featuring him, I took a look over his dial and realised he has the potential to be an interesting piece. I'm not convinced how useful his white power will be, though, given that he must do damage to activate it – and then it stops at the end of the turn. Hmm.

But surely the highlight of the hacks is none other than JJJ himself. Personally, I'd play him even is his dial was blank, but a couple of clix of Perplex for 26 points means it should justify his place in the press pack. Just don't put him on your team if you are planning any wildcard abuse.

Long time no see

This blog has been sadly neglected in the past few months but I aim to remedy that over the coming weeks as Web of Spider-man lands in the UK.

From my previous post some five months ago, it's pretty obvious The Brave & The Bold just didn't do it for me. I didn't buy a single booster and have only picked up a few individual figures - mostly generic Amazons so I can one day have an Asgardian/Amazonian face-off.

The set coincided with a very busy period of work and family stuff - and a brief flirtation with Magic the Gathering after a 10-year break - that meant Heroclix was put on the back burner.

But no more.

Last weekend I cracked open my figure boxes and tracked down a PAC and some dice, and later this week I'll be getting together with the old Brighton Heroclix crew to look at the W0S goodies and play my first game of Clix in far too long.

Can't wait.

Well, that's saved me a few quid

An HCRealms user named algrim has apparently got his hands on a good selection of The Brave & The Bold (above is the pic he posted on the boards). Realms users have combined the partial figure list posted by algrim with what we have already know to be in the set and have come up with the pretty reliable spoiler list pasted here:

The key thing about this list - and the thing that made me wrongly assume that it was a late April Fool's joke - is that figures 004-008, 011-015 and 026-030 are all generics or individuals based on generics. That's 15 figures out of five sculpts, and Wizkids have already shown us two other pairs of figures that share a sculpt: Robin/Damian and Inertia/Kid Zoom.

I can't begin to imagine what they were thinking my doing this in a set that is also taking up all the SR slots with duo figures (which, in my experience are not a popular format) and also have eight slots taken up by four alter-ego characters.

For my part, I had already decided to go the singles route with this set. Looking at that list, it's going to be a darn cheap set for me.

• 001 - Bruce Wayne
• 002 - Clark Kent
• 003 - Diana Prince
• 004 - League Assassin (League Assassin Sculpt w/ Grey Robes)
• 005 - Amazon (Amazon Sculpt w/ Silver Armor)
• 006 - Checkmate Pawn White (Checkmate Pawn Sculpt w/ White Vest)
• 007 - Checkmate Knight White (Checkmate Knight Sculpt w/ White Vest)
• 008 - Parademon Grunt (Parademon Grunt w/ Blue/Green trim)
• 009 - The Atom and Hawkman
• 010 - Jason Blood
• 011 - League Assassin ????
• 012 - Amazon of Bana-Mighdall (Amazon Sculpt w/ Gold Armor)
• 013 - Checkmate Pawn Black (Checkmate Pawn Sculpt w/ Grey Vest)
• 014 - Chackmate Knight Black (Checkmate Knight Sculpt w/ Grey Vest)
• 015 - Parademon Drill Sergeant (Parademon Grunt w/ Red/Brown trim)
• 016 - Batman
• 017 - Superman
• 018 - Wonder Woman
• 019 - Talia (with Supes AND Bats TA - unbelievable!)
• 020 – Damian Wayne
• 021 - The Holiday Killer
• 022 - Cave Carson
• 023 - Max Mercury
• 024 - Mikron O'Jeneus
• 025 - Goodness and Mercy
• 026 - The Sensei (League Assassin Sculpt w/ Purple Robes)
• 027 - Phillipus (Amazon Sculpt w/ Dark Skin and Gold Armor)
• 028 - Pawn 502 (Checkmate Pawn Sculpt w/ Silver Vest)
• 029 - Mademoiselle Marie (Checkmate Knight Sculpt w/ Silver Vest)
• 030 - The Parademon (Parademon Grunt w/ White trim)
• 031 - Brainiac
• 032 - Kryptonite Man
• 033 - Metallo
• 034 - Ra's Al Ghul
• 035 - Power Girl
• 036 – Martian Manhunter
• 037 - Ragdoll
• 038 - Inertia
• 039 - Etrigan
• 040 - Lex Luthor and Brainiac
• 041 – Extant
• 042 – Robin
• 043 - Kid Zoom
• 044 - Black Flash
• 045 - The Wizard Shazam!
• 046 - Batman and Green Arrow
• 047 - The Flashes
• 048 - Flash and Green Lantern
• 049 - Superman and the Flash
• 050 - Fire and Ice
• 051 - Green Lantern and Green Arrow
• 052 – Green Arrow and Black Canary
• 053 – Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn
• 054 – Batman and Robin (Dick and Damien)
• 055 – Shazam and Black Adam

Source: HCRealms

Dawn of a new age

With all the excitement surrounding the recent news about upcoming sets, chase figure dials and that stunning Iron Man/War Machine sculpt, Wizkids' fairly low-key (and lengthy) announcement about new tournament formats has faded into the background.

I'm guilty of this; I skimmed it a few days ago and assumed it was simply the new owners renaming restricted/unrestricted as Golden Age and Modern Age. On further reading it is more than that, it's a strong indication of the way the game is likely to develop - and it's pretty exciting as far as I'm concerned.

In a nutshell the two formats are:

Golden Age

• Anything goes, any figures, maps, feats BFCs and bystanders you want to play.
  

Modern Age

• Only figures from Avengers onwards
  
• Sets will rotate out every year, with a set typically staying legal in Modern Age for two years
  
• All colour-coded maps are legal
  
• No BFCs, feats or event dials may be used
  

It's that last point that's got me excited. When feats were created they went a long way to allowing you to play a more accurate version of a character that couldn't be represented through the use of standard powers. However, I believe the creation of the 'white power' mechanic rendered the use of feats unnecessary in terms of playing a comic-accurate figure and in some ways made feats even more open to abuse.

Wizkids says a key reason for not allowing the use of feats and BFCs in Modern Age is because it wants to return the game to a state where what matters is what is on the map - and I love this idea. One of the things that drew me to the game was the fact every piece of information you needed about a miniature was there on the dial. Modern Age players will still need character cards, but won't have to worry about keeping track of a dozen-or-so feats between them and their opponent.

Wizkids has said it will continue to support feats and BFCs, and create them, but I suspect we will be seeing fewer new ones than we did under the old regime.

The company has also said Organised Play kits will contain suggestions for tournamant formats, but organisers should feel free to run the games they want to - so Modern Age with feats is OK by them too.

Personally, I like the idea of playing some - but by no means all - my games to the formal Modern Age rules. Who'll join me?

Coming soon

Wizkids has released the following info about upcoming Heroclix sets:

The Brave and the Bold
Released: 14 April
55 new figures

Blackest Night Starter
Released: May
Seven figures, updated 2010 rulebook, terrain, objects, dice, etc

Watchmen
Released: August?
25 Figures
Display quality packaging (not a throw away)
SRP $99.99
Colossal Dr. Manhattan will be released for the summer conventions. Variant will be released to retail later this year. Wizkids will not be doind an anatomically correct version. Darn.

Web of the Spiderman
Released: August 2010
60 figure set - Spiderman Allies & Villains, Dark Reign & Siege event sub themes
NEW Web shooting mechanic

DC 75th Anniversary Set
Released: November 2010
Celebrate the rich history of DC Comics, Golden, Silver, Bronze, Modern tie ins
Features tie-in to Brightest Day
Proposed brick figure - White Lantern Sinestro

Wizkids will also be doing a standalone Brightest Day product.

In Blackest Night

Haven't got much to say about these two, who are the chase figures from The Brave & The Bold. How about you let me know what you think.

Now THAT's a duo I can get excited about

Among the hot news from this week's GAMA show was the revelation that the next Marvel expansion - to be released this August - will be called Web of the Spider-Man.

The 60-figure set will - surprise, surprise - focus on Spider-Man's allies and villains, but will also include characters from Dark Reign & Siege. It will feature a new mechanic called 'Web shooting' - for all those characters that shoot webs. I can think of all of three off the top of my head.

This is all good stuff: there are many Spidey villains sorely in need of a remake - Sandman springs to mind, for example - but what has got me really excited is the sculpt preview pictured above.

Roll on August!

Showing his metal

He's not subtle, this fellow - charge, hit, push, charge, hit, clear. Hope you make those Impervious rolls and repeat until the board is clear. Oh, and pack Fortitude too. He's actually my kind of figure and I'll look forward to give him a go.

He's been dissed a lot on HCRealms for having a sculpt that is inferior to the previous version. While I can't deny that this is the case, I don't think he's a bad looking guy- and I love his giant metal hand.

Pinch of salt time

Here's a good one. Apparently retailers are sent what is known as a 'sizzle sheet' by distributors to give them information about upcoming products in order to drum up interest.

An HCRealms member claims to have received this information and has posted it up on the site.

Click the source link at the bottom of this article to see the original post and the full 'sizzle sheet' text, but in the meantime here are what I consider to be the most interesting bits:

• All Super Rares in Brave & The Bold are duos such as Superman and Flash, Batman and Green Arrow, and Shazam! and Black Adam. 
• As with Hammer of Thor, generics will work well when teamed up with certain characters. The generics include: Parademon, Checkmate, Amazonian, League Assassin, Holiday (who apparently is some sort of serial killer) Assassin, Holiday (who apparently is some sort of serial killer) 
• Silver Bullets characters that can shut down opponents' strategies: Kryptonite Man, who works well against Kryptonians; Kid Zoom, who negates Hypersonic; Talia, who counters Batman, Robin etc (anti-Stealth, perhaps?); Extant, who destroys armies that use multiple copies of the same figure
• 'Upgrade' mechanic that allows players to switch a low-pointed character into a higher-pointed more dangerous version of that character when they KO an opposing figure. 
  
• Powerful villains including Braniac, Metallo, and Ra’s Al-Ghul 
  

If this info is correct, I'm having a rather mixed reaction to it. The generics sound good - I love the thought of Wonder Woman leading an army of Amazonian warriors against Thor leading a bunch of Asgardians, for example. I'm also all for some more powerful villains. However...

Although I was excited about Kid Zoom when he was leaked a while back, I'm concerned about the idea of silver bullets. This could turn games into a 'rock, paper, scissors' affair where one type of team will find it very hard to beat another type. This is a situation that would be seen often in collectible card games and is something I really don't think Heroclix needs. That said, with the exception of Kid Zoom, the others seem too situational to be too much of a worry in this respect - how often do you play an all-Kryptonian team, for example? The situation could change if they continue to produce such figures though.

With regards to the 'Upgrade' mechanic (and alter-egos for that matter), we will obviously have to wait and see how it is implemented but it sounds a little gimmicky to me, and an extra level of complexity the game just doesn't need.

Source: HCRealms

Sets appeal

Could be some news in the offing next week if this post from Wizkids staff member Justin Ziran is anything to go by. I'm particularly excited to hear he may announce the Heroclix sets for the rest of the year:

"We’ll be presenting at the GTS dinner next Tuesday. While we don’t have a booth on the floor per se, our product will be on display at the Diamond/Alliance booth. Lax (my boss) and I will be lurking around the show on Wednesday and Thursday. If you’re at the show, please stop by and say hi. Don’t miss the Tuesday dinner, you might get a BatB Brick fig and I may be reviewing the plans for the rest of the year ……and I might have some pictures from Watchmen ……..and I might be announcing the the HC sets for the rest of the year …… and I might be giving away some cool figs. Just maybe though."

Click the source link below for more from Justin.

Source: Wizkids.com

Simply the breast?

No duo from Wizkids this week, but at least they still gave us a nice pair*

It's time for me to be a big ol' grouch again - which unfortunately seems to be happening every time I look at the latest The Brave & The Bold preview.

But, before the grouching, let's have a couple of positives:
1) That white power is wonderful in both name and execution.
2) The sculpt seems to big an improvement on the Legacy version, though I guess that isn't saying a lot. I like the whole rolling up her sleeves thing - very Power Girl.

Now the negatives:
1) No Super Strength. Unless they've changed her origin for the twenty-third time, she's from Krypton - Super Strength kind of comes with the territory.
2) The number 7 on her attack value. In these heady days of escalating defence values, no one that costs the best part of 200pts should have a 7 attack.
3) 199pts for that!? This is actually the crux of the problem. If she was 150pts I would probably feel very different about her but, for 199pts, she just doesn't bring enough to the table and doesn't represent a big enough improvement over the Legacy Vet.

One more positive:
1) I can pop her off her base and stick her on the Legacy Vet.

I don't want to keep grouching like this - perhaps next week Wizkids wi'll give me the Negative Man I've been wanting for longer than I can remember.

UPDATE: Thanks to Mel for pointing out that Power Girl has now been given the Super Strength trait. While this certainly is a big improvement, I still think she is a little top heavy in the points department (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).

* A bit Jim Davidson but, frankly, if you are offended by sexism you really should take a look at those comics you've been reading and those little plastic ladies in your Heroclix collection ;o).

Bricking it (or not)

When Heroclix rose from the ashes last year I vowed I would show my support for the game by always buying a brick of the latest release – I had been a singles buyer before.

As promised, I happily forked out £80-odd for a brick of Hammer of Thor and was very pleased with my decision: great super-rares (Odin, Ultron and Volstagg), and a bit of trading got me all the regular figures I was after. Plus I pulled three or four Asgardian Warriors, probably my favourite generic since the game began.

When The Brave and the Bold was announced I assumed I would be doing the same thing but now I'm having second thoughts. The previews just aren't doing it for me: the duos look overcosted and, with the exception of the Black Adam/Shazam, aren't exciting me. I like the look of a few of the regular figures, but not that many so far.

I'm hoping the situation will change when we see more figures but right now I'm thinking of buying a few boosters for sealed events and go back to grabbing singles.

Does this make me a bad person?

Best film of 2010

Perhaps the post title is a little ahead of itself but if this trailer is anything to go by, Iron Man 2 is shaping up to be fantastic. I can't decide what element of those two and a half minutes of cinematic beauty got me more excited:

Portable Iron Man armour
War Machine
Black Widow taking down the guard
Tony and Pepper banter
Armour Wars!
Black Widow's wrist stingers

Heck, decide for yourselves, all I know is that's I'm playing Secret Invasion Iron Man the next chance I get:

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/paramount/ironman/

Shoot 'em up

I want to focus on one aspect of the latest duo to be previewed by Wizkids - that trait and the fact there are some things that appear in comic books that just don't have a place on the Heroclix table.

For those not in the know, the "Must Help.. My Sidekick... The Junkie" power reflects a time in comics when Green Arrow found out that Speedy was addicted to heroin.

I haven't read the story myself although I understand it was very well done and at the time was breaking new ground in mainstream comics. All very commendable stuff, and I'm fairly certain I would enjoy reading it, but to me it just seems totally out of place in a game that is supposed to be about action-packed superhero battles.

Besides which, it makes absolutely no sense in story terms: if I play Man-Thing or Human Torch they don't take pushing damage when standing next to this figure. Social commentary at work.

If Wizkids is determined to go this way with traits could we be seeing the likes of:

Speedy (Mia Dearden)
Retrovirus: Before giving Speedy an action roll a die: on a roll of six remove her from the game; or

Ultimate Scarlet Witch & Ultimate Quicksilver
Dude, that's your sister!: Whenever these characters are adjacent to each other give them a 'Getting down & dirty' action token

Interesting things to read about perhaps, but not the stuff of a tabletop game.

Leaving the trait to one side, I'm not too impressed with these guys. There's lots to like: loads of running shot, a white power that negates the downside of the duo ability and an interesting way of boosting low-cost figures. However, the scult isn't actually a sculpt - it's two single-base figures standing next to each other – and why is Hal's ring sneezing?

But the thing that really get's my goat are those opening clicks of Defend - one decent hit and these guys will be half way down their dial; they'll go down quicker than Roy Harper propositioned by a smack dealer. All in all, 187 points is a good few points too much for my taste.

Here come the girls

Last time I looked, Heroclix was suitable for all ages - so I'm not sure that a pole-dancing Poison Ivy is the right direction for the game to be going.

I mean, what's next? Robin in a thong? Ka-zar without his loincloth? A lapdancing Starfire?

Setting such indiscretions to one side, I'm a little underwhelmed by the girls - 175 points seems like a lot for what you are getting. I mean, how often will Toxic Immunity Serum come into play? I guess it will be handy if your opponent is fielding a team of Ted Sallis LEs (Must try that some day).

Again, the ability to destroy blocking terrain is always nice but is very situational.

As for the outwit ability, I'd rather not run the risk of the outwit failing than have the chance to outwit two powers.

Sorry girls, you're just not doing it for me. Nice sculpt though - I wonder what effect pouring a mohito over a figure has on it?

Gizmo

Aw - check out the little guy. The missing member from the original Fearsome Five line-up is finally here, though he is very much a support figure and very pricey at 79 points. 

He has an interesting white power that allows you to grant any Attack power to a couple of your figures for a turn, but it is a once-per-game effect and I'm not sure it justifies his cost.

While I'm grouching, I don't like his sculpt either - I prefer the older-style Gizmo from the 80s that made him look like a flying gnome.

Click the link below to see his card and dial.

Source: Wizkids

Wizkids Toy Fair news

The US Toy Fair was held last week, and NECA announced some of its plans for the Heroclix lines. 

Wizkids is releasing a range of Battle Packs for both DC and Marvel clix that contain sculpts previously released in other sets. These three-figure sets are designed for multiple stores such as Toys R Us rather than specialist game stores. There will also be a six-figure set based on Ironman in time for the release of the Ironman 2 movie.

I am assuming these won't have new dials, but if they do this could be a  interesting development.

Source: For more pictures see Figures.com

Watchman pt 2

Nothing to do with Heroclix, but a lot to do with Watchmen - enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDDHHrt6l4w

Wha- wha- wha- Watchman!

I honestly never thought this day would never come - and certainly never thought it would come totally out of the blue as it has.

Wizkids, God bless 'em, will be producing a stand-alone set of 25 Watchmen figures and a 14" Dr Manhattan. From the few images released so far this set is based on the movie rather than the book, which is a shame but is a darn sight better than nothing. So, the big question is, how will they fill 25 slots?

As I have nothing better to do with my time, I have had a look through the movie character list and come up with the following possibilities (please Wizkids, give us a Mick Jagger clix):

SUPERHEROES/VILLAINS

Silk Spectre II

Dr. Manhattan

Ozymandias

Rorschach

The Comedian

Nite Owl II

Silk Spectre

Nite Owl

Dollar Bill

Mothman

Silhouette

Hooded Justice

Captain Metropolis

Big Figure

Moloch the Mystic

GENERICS

NY police

NY police SWAT

Various thugs/prisoners

Knot Top gang members

Veidt Enterprises Security Guard

Veidt Enterprises scientists

Hookers

Firemen

OTHER CHARACTERS

Janey Slater

Wally Weaver

Detective Fine

Detective Gallagher

Prison Psychiatrist

News Vendor

Teenager at Newsstand

PLEASE WIZKIDS

David Bowie

Mick Jagger

Henry Kissinger

Richard Nixon

John F. Kennedy

Jackie Kennedy

Andy Warhol

Truman Capote

Naked Man at Warhol Party

Fidel Castro

Brezhnev

Stop!

This little fella is going to have a big impact on the game.

Take a look at his second white power. Now imagine your opponent's face if they have spent an awful lot of points on Veteran Icons Superman, or Skrully Ms Marvel or a host of other characters. This guy is going to be appearing on a lot of tournament teams I imagine, and is a fine example of how the new Wizkids seems willing to push the envelope in terms of figure design. Exciting times folks.

The same figure will also appear in The Brave & the Bold repainted - and with a different dial - as Inertia. Click the source link below for more info.

Source: Wizkids preview

More Blackest Night beauties

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Blackest Night is shaping up to be the best-looking set of figures to ever grace a Heroclix map.

They are all great - though Wonder Woman is looking a little less wholesome than I think she should – but for me the highlight is Atom. 

My only concern is that they look almost too good. I collect a few action figures and am used to producer heavily Photoshopping images to ensure figures look as good as possible. I do wonder whether the actual in-hand figures will be quite as spectacular as these pictures - fingers crossed.

The Invaders on the big screen

From Aintitcoolnews.com:

According to director Joe Johnston, World War II superhero outfit The Invaders will play a significant role in FIRST AVENGER: CAPTAIN AMERICA. How significant? How about "They'll be in the entire second half" significant!

How cool is that? We could be seeing Namor, The Human Torch and Bucky - and who knows who else - in action. I'll be first in line with this movie comes out.

Lex appeal

I think it's pretty safe to say that Blackest Night is turning out to be the best bunch of sculpts to grace a Heroclix starter set.

The Mera I posted earlier was a cracker - bizarre, but undoubtedly a cracker - and this Lex Luthor is fantastic. He's a lot like the old Super Powers action figure, but with more detail and less likelyhood of getting lost in the garden (I lost many action figures during adventures in the garden during my childhood, but hardly ever take my Clix out for a play in the flowerbeds these days).

It's something she ate

Here's Mera from the Blackest Night starter set, another character I know very little about. As I am busy today and haven't got time to research her, perhaps a kind reader could explain what is going on with her - and particularly her apparent ability to fly through the use of projectile vomiting.

Here's Hal!

Wizkids has added this pic to the article I posted a few days ago about the contents of the DC starter set.
I like it a lot - and am trying very hard to avoid any references to Hal Jordan and fisting.

Now that's flash!

Now if that sculpt and these special powers don't get you excited then you are playing the wrong game. For more information click the source link below.

Around the World in 80 Microseconds The Two Flashes can use Flurry. Before each attack while using Flurry, you may place The Two Flashes adjacent to any opposing character on the map if their entire base is adjacent to the target character and in clear terrain.

You can place them anywhere on the map that’s adjacent to an enemy, make and attack, and then move them and make another attack against someone completely on the other side of the map!  Now that’s a Flash-worthy power!

But that’s not even the most impressive special power on their dial. As they accelerate throughout their dial, they go faster, and faster and faster, beyond mortal ken, until on their final click they hit 21 speed (a new record for HeroClix ) and go:

Into the Speed Force Give The Two Flashes a power action. Remove all objects and up to 300 points of other characters from the map. Place all removed objects back on the map and then place all removed characters on the map. All placements must be legal. Deal The Two Flashes 1 unavoidable damage.

Source: Wizkids blog

In Blackest Night

Comics and games distributor Diamond has revealed the contents of May's DC starter. Most of it will come as absolutely no surprise but the listing does reveal the figures we'll be getting.

I haven't been following Blackest Night (Matt, any chance of a lend?) so I don't know much about these deputised lanterns but it's certainly an interesting line-up and they look cool from the comic images of them I have Googled.

My only criticism is their choice as the contents of a starter set. Surely these things are designed to bring new players into the game and I think more recognisable charactersm - or versions of characters - would have been a better option. How about Smallville versions of Supes, Green Arrow, Aquaman etc? It'd mean I could take them off the list of mods I'll probably never get round to doing.

DC HEROCLIX BLACKEST NIGHT STARTER SET

The War of the Light comes to HeroClix with the DC HeroClix Blackest Night Starter Game! As the Blackest Night encompasses the world, heroes and villains alike are deputized into the Lantern Corps to fight back against the legions of Black Lanterns. Choose a team of lanterns and take them into battle! This starter game includes everything a player needs to play HeroClix, including figures, map, rules and more.

Contents:

• Seven 3D HeroClix miniatures, each with a character card (Green Lantern, Lex Luthor, Mera, Scarecrow, Wonder Woman, The Flash and The Atom in their deputy lantern costumes)
• All-new Green Lantern Sciencells Map
• 2010 HeroClix Complete Rulebook
• Six Object Tokens
• Twelve Terrain Markers
• Two 6-sided dice

Source: HCRealms

New starter changes

Wizkids has announced a few changes to figures and the PAC that will take effect from May, when the new DC starter set is released. The key changes are:

"The PAC now includes Standard Powers, the Movement Icons rules, the Combat Abilities rules and the DC Team Abilities."

This sounds great - just hope the PAC includes the DC AND Marvel team abilities.

"Wizkids has added a new number to the clix dial that indicates the click you are on, with click number one being the figure’s starting click. Now if you need to pick up your figure for any reason, you can easily see which click your fig is on, in case you need to revert to that click."

File this one under unnecessary.

"If a character has a trait, it will now have a ‘trait star’ icon (the one you find on the character card) printed on the figure base, to the left of the combat icons."

Fair enough - should be useful to a dozy bugger like me.

For more details on these, and how the rulebook has been tweaked, click on the link below.

Source: Wizkids blog

Pick a card...

Wizkids has released both sides of the character cards for the Flash/Green Lantern duo and fashion victim Brainiac.

Obviously we have yet to see the dial, but Flash/GL is looking a little bit special - click on the image above to see a larger version. We've got all the powers you would expect to see: Charge, Barrier etc, but there are also a couple of amazing white powers. There's the double-use TK as a  free action (Edit: it actually requires a power action to activate - cheers Greg) that I mentioned a couple of days ago, but also one that lets you use any damage power not currently represented by your team - never be without PC or Outwit!

Click the link below for the Wizkids article and Brainiac's card.

Source: http://wizkidsgames.com/blog/2010/01/14/ive-got-your-backs/

The Brave & The Bold delayed

Wizkids has announced that the release date for The Brave & The Bold has been pushed back a couple of weeks, to 14 April to accommodate potential production delays due to new year celebrations in China.

Guess it gives us more time to get the most out of Hammer of Thor.

Source: http://wizkidsgames.com/blog/2010/01/14/ive-got-your-backs/

Colour me impressed

Well, here's a turn-up that I totally missed when I posted the details of the OP Kits a few weeks ago. Apparently the LEs for The Brave and the Bold are going to feature new paint jobs. What a great idea.

It'll be very interesting to see who we get repaints of. Clark Kent in a brown suit as well as a blue perhaps? Superman in the first costume Ma Kent made for him - the one with the patches in the knees and the cape made from an old curtain? Or how about a topless Power Girl?

I'll stop there.

Ring-a-ding-dong

Hmm. This sculpt just isn't doing it for me like it should.

I love the characters, and I love the idea but I don't think it quite works. The biggest problem for me is how low to the ground Hal is - if I manage to pull one of these then I think I'll look into popping the whole sculpt of the base and putting it on an old-school flightstand. Picky, ain't I?

For a preview of the front of this duo's card click the link to ICv2 below. For the very lazy, it will show you the boys will cost you 200pts and sport powers including Charge and Invulnerability and some nifty white powers around Hypersonic and ability to TK two targets with one action (now that has possibilities!)

Source: ICv2.com

Fashion victim

Look at the state of that. If you are a super-genius with a brain that operates on the "12th level" (his words) then surely you can come up with a better costume than that.

Can you imagine what went through Brainiac's mind when he got dressed that day: "I think I'll wear my skin-tight purple bodysuit and offset it with one black glove - oh and those black Speedos from the back of my underwear drawer. Hmm - still missing something. Ah - just in case my green skin doesn't get me noticed I'll string the hide from some albino hamsters together, wrap them around my body and fashion a few more into a pair of furry boots. Oh, only enough hamster hide for one boot – I'm sure no-one will notice. Still something missing... I know, I'll stick my other hand up a rabbit's bum and wear that as a glove. Sorted."

He should get some fashion advice from some of Superman's other adversaries. Take Lex Luthor - apart from that dodgy power suit in the 80s (what is it with DC and green a purple?), Lex has alway been nicely turned out. That's what you need Brainaic, a well-cut Armani suit and some tasteful brogues. And perhaps Mr Mxyzptlk's hat.

If we can look past the costume, Brainiac should be a force to be reckoned with on the Heroclix map. No dial yet, but he weighs in at 159pts and has powers including Mind Control, Regeneration and TK. See the source link below for a preview of one side of his card.

Source: ICV2.com

Heroclix: The Motion Picture

Last week Wizkids released the above teaser image on its website. 

As many had assumed, this seems to confirm that this years DC starter will, indeed, be based on the various colours of power rings. Personally, the theme doesn't do a whole lot for me, but I'm sure there'll be some fun stuff in there.

What really struck me was how familiar the teaser looked. Then it struck me - the poster for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. So, can we expect pointy ears, a hot bald chick and two hours of boredom?