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.