HeroClix A to Z – Fantastic Forces Marquee Primer, Pt 4 – “The Cards”

[AZS]

Another set and another Pre-Release means another “Marquee Primer” review!

WizKids has been posting ‘sneak peeks’ fast and furious, filling out the last few gaps in the set. So far we’ve had all of the Giant and Transporter figures revealed, so they get the honor of being reviewed for part one.

WK has also added a few venues to the Pre-Release tournament schedule so even more people will be getting their game on this weekend.

For the rest of us, the Marquee is still several weeks away, but that doesn’t mean we can’t play in a few friendly sealed games before then.

This review will be posted in 4 parts:
Part 1 – Commons
Part 2 – Uncommons & Rares
Part 3 – Uniques & Super Rares
Part 4 – Cards & Bystanders


Today’s review looks at the Cards. This is the 3rd expansion to include the extra item, so they’re not quite as new or confusing, and are even starting to be seriously considered ‘winning’ pieces in a sealed game. From this set, there are some key Feats and BCF’s, and even some of the Bystanders are pretty good.

click on comments below to read the review.

[AZS]

Feats, Battlefield Conditions, and Bystander tokens

It used to be that the common ‘fodder’ type generic figures were the ones that you would use to fill out a team in a sealed tournament. But for this set the “common” figures are the double size figs that range from a 28 point pooch to a ~150 point giant. So anything goes, and it falls to the tokens and Feat cards to help you round out your team.

Keep in mind though that you will only get 1 card per booster (and don’t toss out the box with your card still inside!), so the likelihood of getting exactly the card you want for a specific character is pretty unlikely. Still, that doesn’t mean that you can’t use some of these cards with a lot of different figures, and pulling the right Feat or Battlefield Condition can help make a mediocre pull into a great team.

**NOTE** all of these cards are still new, and many questions surrounding them have yet to be officially FAQ’d or even answered. So I am interpreting the cards as best I can, having reviewed the information I could find online, and I apologize in advance if I make a mistake. But I’m *sure* people will be quick to correct me if I did.


Feat Cards

Force Field
Cost – 10
Prerequisites – Barrier, Defend, ES/D, TK
Pretty much anyone who pulls this feat should have some figure on their team that will get good use out of it thanks to the abundance of Energy Shield/Deflection in this set.
10 points so that your 6 or 7 click deep figures can be a little tougher, definitely worthwhile.

Shake Off
Cost – 10
Prerequisites – Transporter or Giant figure
Well, you’re guaranteed to get 3 transporters or giant figures, so if you pull this feat, you can definitely play it. The only question is if you’ll want to.
On several figures this can be an awesome feat – for starters, Giant Figures have an advantage to break away! On figures with Charge, the character could Break Away, causing damage, and then come right back and attack, basically hitting the target twice in one turn!
Finally, this deals damage to all adjacent figures so with Transporters that number is bigger thanks to the double base, and Giant figures have an extended adjacency range as well. So you could get groupings if you play it right.
The damage dealing of this feat reads like Poison, so it would be absorbed by toughness, but will cut through Super Senses (which could be great for getting in a simple strike to whittle someone down).
Basically, for the majority of Trans or Giant figs, this will be a useful feat.
That is, if you choose to play those figures in the first place (and this feat may sway your choice.)

Brilliant Tactician
Cost – 20
Prerequisites – Perplex and Outwit (Outwit does not need to be showing at the time you use this feat.)
There’s one of these in every set, a card that only maybe 2 figures here can use, and even then, to questionable effect.
A number of figures that meet the official prerequisite of Perplex and Outwit, but fail the ‘unprinted’ prerequisite; they must have a Team Ability! So Green Goblin and the Mad Thinker can’t use this. Prof X (if you’re lucky enough to pull one) can’t use it either since there’s only 1 other Ultimate X-man in the whole set (E Scarlet Witch).
The one figure that can use it is Mr. Fantastic, but this is assuming you pull enough other FF members to make it worth the extra 20 points. (Not gonna happen, especially since you’re getting 3 figs per booster.)
This is a feat geared almost entirely towards constructed play. So hold onto it, it may end up being popular, but don’t count on getting to play it here.

Nova Blast
Cost – 10
Prerequisites – Pulse Wave
Ok, there are a total of 4 characters in this set with PW. So it’s a little better than Brilliant Tactician, but not by much.
Songbird, if you put this on her and actually use it, you’re pretty much killing her (putting her on her last click) and handing over an extra 10 points.
On the Torch, this card assumes he’s going to get KOed soon anyway, however the likelihood of landing on his PW click is so slim that this card is a waste.
Dr. Doom could be interesting with this card, but he might be tough in general to play in a sealed format.
However, if you pull this card and Nimrod (and want to play Nimrod) go to freakin town! Running Shot in, nail a big group of figures for 4 clicks each!
His AV is likely to hit, and most of a team getting hit for 4 clicks at the same time is more than worth the 2 clicks Nimrod will take in retaliation. Plus he has regen to help keep him alive if he does take damage.
Otherwise, hold onto this for LE Polaris so you can automatically win every game you ever play. [/sarcasm]

Double Time
Cost – 5
Prerequisite – Transporter or Grounded (boot symbol)
If you pull this and a Transporter, play it. Its that simple.
Unless you’re tight for 5 points, the ability for your Transporter to move twice its speed is extremely valuable. They won’t be able to make an attack during this move, but imagine the ability to traverse the whole board and outflank your opponent. Particularly if they’re carrying someone who can attack next turn.
Non-transporter figures (grounded figs) will take a click of damage for using this, but that also means it could also be good for quickly pushing grounded figures with an activation click. (It will probably become a tournament staple for this reason.)

Unstoppable
Cost – 5
Prerequisite – Super Strength
Another no-brainer for 5 points.
If you have a figure with Super Strength, and have 5 points to spare, put this on him!
That way if you end up on an indoor map you’re able to easily knock down walls.
This is even better if the figure has Charge, but more to the point, (and unrelated to knocking down walls) a ‘side effect’ of this feat is that the character ignores hindering terrain for movement!

Fantastic Four
Cost – 0 (!)
Prerequisite – FF TA
Well, you’ll have to pull at least 1 FF member and this card for it to be worthwhile. Even then, you have to also pull either another FF member, or a Wildcard (this may be changed / erratad before the tournament.)
If you’ve somehow managed to meet that criteria, you still need to have defense numbers worth sharing.
In all likelihood this will be a much bigger card in constructed play.

Thunderbolts
Cost – 5 per Avenger
Prerequisite – Avengers TA
There are a ton of Avengers in this set, so if you’re lucky enough to pull this card, chances are you’ll be able to use it on at least a figure or two.
And you should.
This basically grants you the ability to change your TA from Avengers to anything else you want, excluding Wildcard, for the duration of a game. (I’m going to copy the Brotherhood TA)
And you can change it between games.
And you don’t have to declare the new TA until after you’ve placed your figures (so you get to see the opposing team!)
**Just remember, this is all or nothing, you can’t apply it to just some of your Avengers, it has to be applied to all of them. Make sure you keep this in mind when figuring out points for your team, and if you’re not confident that an opponent playing this card understands this, double check the point total for his team.


Battlefield Condition Cards

Astral Plane
Sort of the ‘yin’ to Deep Shadows’ ‘yang.’
Hindering terrain features become clear terrain for movement purposes.
This is a good feat if you draw a bunch of grounded figures.
Overall though its really hit or miss, and will probably benefit or hurt your opponent exactly the same as you.
This will also counteract Atlantis Rising.

Atlantis Rising
All clear non-elevated terrain becomes water terrain.
At first glance this is meant to be pro-aquatic. But since there’s no figure in this set to take advantage of the aquatic movement, you’re left with a great big “huh?”
But, since Flyers ignore hindering terrain (including water terrain), this could be a great feat if you pull a bunch of fliers, figs with L/C or Phasing, or the Unstoppable feat card.

Low Gravity
Any standard character occupying clear terrain that is hit by an attack is knocked back equal to the damage taken.
This is a difficult feat to really take advantage of with a specific team, particularly in a sealed event, because one team isn’t going to have any big advantage for being knocked around.
With that said, it will be a ton of fun just to play in general! Every hit deals knockback, how crazy will that be?
A few points to keep in mind though!
Giant figures and figures with Charge (showing on their dial) do not suffer knockback.
Also, with this BFC in play you really have to line up your attacks properly. Obviously if you can cause damage with knockback you’ll probably want to, but other things to consider is that knockback could knock a target out of range for a follow up attack, or it could knock a figure away from a close combatant.
Some things you can do on purpose could also be playing HC billiards, intentionally knocking a figure back and into adjacency with another figure (like a Blades or CCE fig) for a follow-up attack.
Finally, brush up on your knockback rules; one that not everyone is up to date on is that knockback damage from hitting a wall is tallied separately from the initial hit. So you’ll deal the damage first, knock the figure back, and if they’re knocked off of toughness they will take damage for hitting the wall, otherwise toughness will absorb the knockback damage.

Poor Teamwork
Characters may not be carried. Friendly characters may not target each other with Telekinesis.
The considerations to weigh before playing this are; if you don’t have any TK on your own team, do you want to risk giving up the ability to carry other figures?
With only 1 TKer in the whole set, if you don’t pull her, and do pull this feat, it could keep your opponent from being able to get the jump on you.
On the other hand, you’ll probably pull at least 1 transporter, and there are a number of flyers in this set, so you might be hurting your team by not being able to be carried.
But then on the other-other hand, Transporters, Giant Figures, and Fliers can’t be carried, so if you get a bunch of them this card won’t hinder you much.
When considering this, look at your team and your available actions; if you have a lot of characters (but only 3 actions), will you be able to effectively deploy your team?
(The high number of Avengers figures in this set can help with this.)

Power Dampening Field
Damage values higher than 3 become 3 instead.
This could be very useful for a team that doesn’t pull any hard hitting bricks. Or if you pull figures with Super Strength or RCE, they can still boost their damage over 3.
This won’t be useful all the time, but that one time that you go up against a team with Yellowjacket, Juggernaut, or even Torch & Thing, you’ll be restricting them and bringing them down to your level. There’s not a ton of figures in this set with >3 damage, but the few that there are, are pretty good.

Disbanded!
Ignore all team abilities.
On the one hand, this could hurt you more than it helps. There are a bunch of good team abilities in this set, including a lot of Wildcards. However, on the rare chance that you go up against an FF team or worse, and Avengers/Thunderbolts team, this feat will be an absolute lifesaver.
If you do pull this card, I’d suggest building the very best team you can first, without regard for this card, and then see how Disbanded will hurt you. If you don’t have a lot of Team Abilities or don’t have ones that do much for you, go ahead. But don’t neuter your own team on the chance that you might hurt your opponent’s team more. It could very well come back to bite you.
(Of course, if you hear someone shout “Sweet! Thunderbolts!” You’ll probably be more inclined to play this.)


Bystanders

Between all the Feat and BFC cards that people hope to pull, the Bystanders tend to get overlooked. However, they can be a great asset in a sealed game, or any game for that matter.

Willie Lumpkin – 3
At 3 points, Willie is little more than an innocent observer. With zero damage and minimal other stats, he’s not going to do much for your team other than be a piece of blocking terrain. Still, with a 14 defense, he has the possibility of actually surviving an attack (although that’s a pretty slim chance.)
Willie is good for filling out points on your team (if you want), but his real value is as a throw away figure. Let your flying characters carry him around and block their flank. Having a throw away 3 point character block LOS from an opponent is well worth the cost. You can also use him to tie up an opposing figure, forcing them to choose between wasting an attack on such a low point objective, or risking rolling to break. Even though he’s easy to KO, the Tokens can be a huge nuisance if played well. If you do pull one of these, it really can’t hurt to put him on your team and try it out.
(My only disappointment, that Willie doesn’t have Leap/Climb, or a much higher movement. He’s a postal worker who can cover his whole route in an afternoon. And L/C would represent the postal carrier’s code: Not rain nor sleet nor snow nor hail will prevent them from their appointed task.)

Moira MacTaggart – 5
Professor Storm – 4
Both of these bystanders actually have a damage value, even though their attack and defense are less than stellar.
They’re still cheap and have potential, but using more than one on a team is probably pushing it. Particularly since they’ll just about never get off a successful attack.

Henry Peter Gyrich – 7
A bystander with Willpower. So at least he can’t push himself to death!
He also has a ranged attack, and a fair AV and defense. He’s more disposable than the 10+ point tokens in this set, but not a total throw away like Lumpkin or Storm.
His willpower could come in handy, and could very well catch an opponent off guard.
Not a bad way to spend 7 points, particularly if you have points to fill out and nothing better to spend them on.

Misty Knight – 12
A bystander with Super Strength and Toughness! Oh no! This will be the end of HeroClix as we know it!
Or its just a pog, and we can get on with our lives…
Anyway, Misty is playable for what she is, but also a tad pricey. There are enough figures in this set that deal 2 damage that she will be an easy target. On the other hand, if she uses an object as a weapon, she could be a surprise hit; a light object will give her an increased range of 6, and improved her damage to 2. A heavy will have the same as her regular range of 4, but allow her to hit for 3.
However, with a minimum of TK in this set, getting to use Misty will probably be difficult (and that’s an understatement). It may be rare that you have a 12 point gap after you’re done building your team, but it may also be better to live with team that’s 12 points under rather than just throw away those points on this figure (and then end up with a 24 point gap when she gets KOed).

Colleen Wing – 10
Blades on a bystander! Oh no…
Eh, nevermind.
Anyway, Colleen is a smidgen cheaper than her gal pal Misty, but may still be a tight fit. Spending 10 points on her is a tough call. If she can get off a BCF attack for big damage, it’s cool just to have that come from a pog. On the other hand, BCF could fail and hit for 1 or 2. Also, there are enough figures in this set with Multiple target attacks that splitting 1 point off to take out a pog for 10 points will probably be fairly easy, and you’ll have a 20 point gap to make up.

Wild Sentinel – 13
Slightly more playable than Misty or Colleen, but still difficult for 13 points. This guy will be fun in swarms on a constructed team, but in this format he’s more likely to get picked off before he can even do anything.
Plus, you’re a lot less likely to have 13 points left over on your team. And even if you do, it might be better to just live with the deficit than to risk putting an easy 13 points on your team.

[AZS]

Hey! This is part 4! Where's part 3?


Part 3, with the Uniques and Super Rares, will go up this afternoon.


Thanks for reading!

[AlgertMan]

The best feat to pull has to be Thunderbolts

juts imagine, all my avengers are (insert UBERT TEAM) in a marquee, plus this set has a nice number of avengers so you are bound to pull at least one

[ol_Dut]

Hey! This is part 4! Where's part 3?


Part 3, with the Uniques and Super Rares, will go up this afternoon.


Thanks for reading!


Cool - thought I was losing it there. Thanks for this series, by the way. I'm playing Atlantis Rising no matter what if I get it. I've been waiting for something like that since the inception of BFC's.

[Gentlegamer]

Hey! This is part 4! Where's part 3?


Part 3, with the Uniques and Super Rares, will go up this afternoon.


Thanks for reading!This strategy guide brought to you by directors Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino.


[HEY, I CAN EDIT!]

[Pipedream]

Just one quick comment (rather minor). You cannot use Willie in the Marquee. He is a participation prize and not legal for that tournement (but is a legal "piece" to use in any other tournement).

[krzysztof]

With Thunderbolts can I use DC team abilities like Batman or Mystics? That wouldn't make any sense for an all Marvel event.

[krusticlese]

I think Hair 10 ruled that you can choose any team in the whole heroclix universe, provided it can be copied by wildcards. So all the DC abilities are fair game.



Oh no, the Thunderbolt's card isn't broken much :rolleyes: :tired:

[LeaLu]

Power Dampening Field
Damage values higher than 3 become 3 instead.
This could be very useful for a team that doesn’t pull any hard hitting bricks. Or if you pull figures with Super Strength or RCE, they can still boost their damage over 3.

Doesn't RCE increase your DV for ranged attacks? Would someone with 2 base damage + RCE have their damage reduced to 3 when this card is in play, or does it not have that Darkness-like clause that damage values cannot be perplexed above 3? I haven't read the card.

[AZS]

Good point Lealu, but the way I interpreted this was: this affected the printed damage.

Cards like Deep Shadows and Darkness specifically say "ranges can be increased beyond 6" meaning you couldn't perplex the range.
There's no such rider on PD Field, so the way I read it was that it reduces the number, but if you bump it back up with RCE, its ok.

I could very well be wrong, theres a reason I never applied for the arbitor role... if someone has a more definte ruling, I'd love to hear it.

[Thawmus]

Doesn't RCE increase your DV for ranged attacks? Would someone with 2 base damage + RCE have their damage reduced to 3 when this card is in play, or does it not have that Darkness-like clause that damage values cannot be perplexed above 3? I haven't read the card.

I quoteth the cardeth:
Damage values higher than 3 become 3 instead.

so......*shruggs*

[mohenjo]

hold onto this for LE Polaris so you can[i] automatically win every game you ever play.

What is this figure and where can I get a look at its stats? (If anyone can provide a link, it would be greatly appreciated!).

[mohenjo]

Bystanders
Willie Lumpkin – 3If you do pull one of these, it really can’t hurt to put him on your team and try it out.

Isn't Willie Lumpkin the LE pog for this set, that you can only get as a participation prize for the marquee?

[hair10]

Just a couple of quick notes... Charge and Unstoppable won't work together. The card states "once given a move action..." and Charge is a power action.

Power Dampening Field will knock everything down to 3 except for damage from objects and crit hits. PDF states that damage values greater than 3 become 3 instead. Powers/abilities/feats such as RCE, CCE, Enhancement, Perplex, ICwO, etc all add to the damage value and, therefore, would be affected. Objects and crit hits add to the damage dealt (not the damage value) and would remain unaffected. An interesting aspect to PDF is that it also "nerfs" B/C/F. The roll from B/C/F replaces the printed damage value so it would also be limited to 3.


Finally... yes its true... There will be an errata for Nova Blast that states if you play it in conjunction with the LE Polaris you do indeed automatically win. The errata will simply save those poor saps on the other side of the table the time and suffering of going through the motions of being beaten into submission. ;)


:p

[krusticlese]

Power Dampening Field will knock everything down to 3 except for damage from objects and crit hits. PDF states that damage values greater than 3 become 3 instead. Powers/abilities/feats such as RCE, CCE, Enhancement, Perplex, ICwO, etc all add to the damage value and, therefore, would be affected. Objects and crit hits add to the damage dealt (not the damage value) and would remain unaffected. An interesting aspect to PDF is that it also "nerfs" B/C/F. The roll from B/C/F replaces the printed damage value so it would also be limited to 3.



Ouch... That's a bunch more than I was expecting, but cool regardless.

Makes scrub teams all the more dangerous :devious:

[tidge]

Some free "design advice" for expansions not yet in production:

Make the Battlefield Conditions "rarer" than the Feat and Pog Cards.

I suggest this because in the scheme of how these are used, an individual player would never need more than one of any BFC, yet could easily use multiple Feat/Pogs.

[mohenjo]

What is this figure and where can I get a look at its stats? (If anyone can provide a link, it would be greatly appreciated!).

Okay, I found her here (http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=6515).

Was she a convention exclusive, or a mail-away?

[AZS]

Just a couple of quick notes... Charge and Unstoppable won't work together. The card states "once given a move action..." and Charge is a power action.Thanks for the clarification.
Too bad that by that wording, Unstoppable will (seem to) work with HSS.
So once again, Charge gets the short end, while HSS gets a much needed boost. ;)
(So when are we getting the errata that says HSS is a power action, and not a move action? Hm? Hm?)

Power Dampening Field will knock everything down to 3 except for damage from objects and crit hits. PDF states that damage values greater than 3 become 3 instead. Powers/abilities/feats such as RCE, CCE, Enhancement, Perplex, ICwO, etc all add to the damage value and, therefore, would be affected. Objects and crit hits add to the damage dealt (not the damage value) and would remain unaffected. An interesting aspect to PDF is that it also "nerfs" B/C/F. The roll from B/C/F replaces the printed damage value so it would also be limited to 3.Gah! Geez. Well, there ya go folks.


Finally... yes its true... There will be an errata for Nova Blast that states if you play it in conjunction with the LE Polaris you do indeed automatically win. The errata will simply save those poor saps on the other side of the table the time and suffering of going through the motions of being beaten into submission. ;)Yay! Finally the rules arb listens to the people! Ok, I've got an extra LE polaris, bidding starts at 37 cents.

[AZS]

Okay, I found her here (http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=6515).

Was she a convention exclusive, or a mail-away?She was the participation prize at the last regional qualifier (which was for WW Philly.)

[Buddyhoss]

I understand that you can't charge through a wall and attack someone with Unstoppable, but you can still charge and ignore hindering terrain right? That's not something that is activated by being given a move action, that's something that's always on, no?

[Kirby]

Another thing to FAQ:

Serpent Society + PDF = win...

Hey, a boy can dream, can't he ;)


Thanks for the strategem Azs, I need all the help I can get!

I think that Low Gravity sounds like tons of fun - especially since there will be so many non-knockable Giant figs running available, but likely not being used ;)

This pre-release is going to be all about chaotic matches!

[Glen Quagmire]

Another thing to FAQ:

Serpent Society + PDF = win...


...featuring Trick Shot Manaconda. :p

[Phantom]

Willie Lumpkin – 3
(My only disappointment, that Willie doesn’t have Leap/Climb, or a much higher movement. He’s a postal worker who can cover his whole route in an afternoon. And L/C would represent the postal carrier’s code: Not rain nor sleet nor snow nor hail will prevent them from their appointed task.)
If anything, Willie should have been the pog with Willpower.

Although Leap/Climb would have been interesting. For another 5 points, you could have added the Passenger feat to create the cheapest taxi of all time! Yeah, it’d push him to death, but it would have been hilarious, and in keeping with the spirit of the character. "Okay, please sign here. And here. Oh, and here. Thanks! Enjoy your new Nimrod!"

[hair10]

I understand that you can't charge through a wall and attack someone with Unstoppable, but you can still charge and ignore hindering terrain right?
Yep.

[tchipley]

Awesome! Bring on the people!!!

[Flexo]

I looked at power dampening field in a different way. My idea was that if you pulled a super powered super strength brick with lots of impervious and invenerability you would want to play power dampening field. The reason: you can wade in to your opponents force and hit for 3 plus object damage (4-6 total)while any attack against you will be reduced to either 0 or 1. (3 base damage max minus the modifier) Some of these guys, (thing and juggernaut) have a lot of damage reduction. Even if you don't have the mobility or extra power to kill off everone on your opponents force, it is unlikely that they can take out your fig in the time alotted and if played right, you wouldn't lose anyone. Just focus on one target and take them out first, then feel secure in the fact that even if your opponent focuses all his energy on attacking your brick he can do at most 3 damage during the entire round - 3 actions each doing 3 damage all reduced to one damage. (barring outwit, psychic blast, expolit weaknesses, critical hits etc.)
To me it seems to allow these bricks to play the way they are meant, you can't just knocw these guys around. PLus anyone who does less than 3 damage cannot hurt you without some help. And you are sure to catch your opponent off guard. What do you think?

[Buddyhoss]

That's how I first thought of using it too. It could be amazing for big damage reducers like Juggernaut. They can still pound people for 5 with Super Strength. But then you have to pound through every click on him. Yeesh. With Fortitude all you'd have to worry about is Psychic Blast.

But it does work for small people too. If you want to use a bunch of peons with armor piercing, it can only help you if DV is lowerd to 3, since none of your peons probably even have something higher then that.

[KneelB4Zodd]

I looked at power dampening field in a different way. My idea was that if you pulled a super powered super strength brick with lots of impervious and invenerability you would want to play power dampening field.

I really see it more of something you play with a swarm team to keep huge beasts from 1-hitting you. :)

It'd be a great addition to a Pounce team...

[ludd_gang]

Finally... yes its true... There will be an errata for Nova Blast that states if you play it in conjunction with the LE Polaris you do indeed automatically win. The errata will simply save those poor saps on the other side of the table the time and suffering of going through the motions of being beaten into submission. ;)


:p

Don't worry. Next set there's a BFC that negates all feats. Not to fear, there is also a Outwit feat that for a power action negates any game effect that would negate any feat, team ability or power on the target. Plus, if you play both of these cards with a Disbanded on the table, and the target has the Mystics TA and loses his Outwit, Hair10's head will explode. I think he did something to piss off R&D.

[Phantom]

I looked at power dampening field in a different way. My idea was that if you pulled a super powered super strength brick with lots of impervious and invenerability you would want to play power dampening field. The reason: you can wade in to your opponents force and hit for 3 plus object damage (4-6 total)while any attack against you will be reduced to either 0 or 1. (3 base damage max minus the modifier) Some of these guys, (thing and juggernaut) have a lot of damage reduction. Even if you don't have the mobility or extra power to kill off everone on your opponents force, it is unlikely that they can take out your fig in the time alotted and if played right, you wouldn't lose anyone. Just focus on one target and take them out first, then feel secure in the fact that even if your opponent focuses all his energy on attacking your brick he can do at most 3 damage during the entire round - 3 actions each doing 3 damage all reduced to one damage. (barring outwit, psychic blast, expolit weaknesses, critical hits etc.)
To me it seems to allow these bricks to play the way they are meant, you can't just knocw these guys around. PLus anyone who does less than 3 damage cannot hurt you without some help. And you are sure to catch your opponent off guard. What do you think?
I see it as a boon for both the big Bricks, as well as the Psychic Blast and Exploit Weakness characters. In a normal format, Dr. Strange and Hawkeye can both make V Ghost Rider take 3 clicks of damage. In a Power Dampening Field, Hawkeye’s now only making GR take a single click. Doc Strange, meanwhile, is still going to cause 3 clicks of damage.

Finally, an excuse to play R Absorbing Man. V Power Man and Iron Fist are going to be great in that effect as well. :)

[LeaLu]

Yeah, PDF is interesting in that the figures it hurts the most (bruisers with high damage) are usually also the ones it helps the most (since their damage reducers suddenly got much more potent). Ares' damage is so high you wouldn't think it'd be a smart move to throw PDF on him, but beating through his Impervious and Invulnerability, taking Mystics damage every time, in combination with possibly Armor Piercing + Damage Shield which he usually qualifies for, is a very unappealing thought. Might even make Black Adam think twice- he zips in with a heavy and swings, maybe missing, and if he hits, then he takes 2 damage if Ares fails his Impervious roll, and 1 damage if Ares makes his Impervious roll. All for the possibility of doing between zero and three damage.

[hair10]

One quick comment about Shake Off... Shake Off will not deal damage when any fig automaticially breaks away. Phasing, L/C, HSS... if you use any of those Shake Off doesn't kick in. You have to roll to break away in order to use Shake Off.

[clixer11]

First, great write-up azs! You were dead-on with most of the analysis, and as for a few slips on the rules...who needs them? :tired:

I personally will be happy to see Nova Blast go into play as a weapon against particular teams. But its not Polaris I'm worried about, it's LE Annihilus. Much more survivable after he does his work. Okay, more pricey though. Hmmm


Am I bad boy for starting to daydream of an Avengers team all becoming Superman Enemy?

[clixer11]

One quick comment about Shake Off... Shake Off will not deal damage when any fig automaticially breaks away. Phasing, L/C, HSS... if you use any of those Shake Off doesn't kick in. You have to roll to break away in order to use Shake Off.

Can I use L/C with Shake-Off and just "roll the die" to fulfill the requirement? :p

[rotru]

Just a couple of quick notes... Charge and Unstoppable won't work together. The card states "once given a move action..." and Charge is a power action.

Blecchhh. But HSS still gets to use it during an attack. This rule is officially nixed for all my friendly games. Either they both get to use it or neither does. Or only Charge gets to, that would be fine too :)

[Iceman425]

Just a couple of quick notes... Charge and Unstoppable won't work together. The card states "once given a move action..." and Charge is a power action.


Unstoppable and Pounce can work in conjuntion correct? Equip Venom with both of them and then run all the way across the board and smash?

[hair10]

Unstoppable and Pounce can work in conjuntion correct? Equip Venom with both of them and then run all the way across the board and smash?
Like Charge, Pounce is a power action. It won't work with Unstoppable.

[Phantom]

Like Charge, Pounce is a power action. It won't work with Unstoppable.
But you can use it for the "Ignore hindering terrain" effect with Pounce, right? That alone makes it a must-play feat on super-strong grounded figs. As far as I'm concerned, that "Kool-Aid Man" effect is just garnish by comparison.

[XStreme]

But you can use it for the "Ignore hindering terrain" effect with Pounce, right? That alone makes it a must-play feat on super-strong grounded figs. As far as I'm concerned, that "Kool-Aid Man" effect is just garnish by comparison.

The thing I think is cool about it is if it just let you bust down a wall on a move action then you wouldn't be able to move through the wall without having to stop, but the ignore hindering terrain aspect lets you move on through it! :)

[Sriad]

One quick comment about Shake Off... Shake Off will not deal damage when any fig automaticially breaks away. Phasing, L/C, HSS... if you use any of those Shake Off doesn't kick in. You have to roll to break away in order to use Shake Off.

...but giant figures don't roll breakaway when a normal fig is "adjacent" to them one square away, but it would still trigger?

:cries softly:

Well, not really, but still... T'Chaka, you'd better bring a stack of Hair10 Q&As thi-i-i-i-i-s high to the pre-release! ;)

[T'Chaka]

...but giant figures don't roll breakaway when a normal fig is "adjacent" to them one square away, but it would still trigger?

:cries softly:

Well, not really, but still... T'Chaka, you'd better bring a stack of Hair10 Q&As thi-i-i-i-i-s high to the pre-release! ;)

Oh, I'll have the print-outs for the Judges, buddy! :p

According to the rules insert for Giant Characters, giant characters are adjacent to standard characters and big characters up to squares away for movement and close combat attack purposes.

The giant character does still has break away with a dice roll, failing only on a 1 or a 2, so Shake Off damage makes sense. That's my understanding anyway.

[Sriad]

Ah, okay. I think that before I stopped playing for a couple months, we were all still very confused about giant figure rules, and locally thought there was a kind of one-way adjacency advantage when a normal fig and giant were seperated by one square. Gonna have to do a little extra studyin'!

[T'Chaka]

Ah, okay. I think that before I stopped playing for a couple months, we were all still very confused about giant figure rules, and locally thought there was a kind of one-way adjacency advantage when a normal fig and giant were seperated by one square. Gonna have to do a little extra studyin'!

I hear you, sir. We have a cram session going on at Collecting Unlimited on Saturday at 6pm if you can make it. Very excited for Sunday!

Otherwise, check out this link in the WK forums for all kinds of good info from Hair10. He answers all kinds of nagging FF questions.

http://forum.wizkidsgames.com/showthread.php?t=111996

[50centfan]

ok it's probably already been answered but can you use the Thunderbolts card to change your figs to say......POWER COSMIC TA!!!! probabbly not.....

[scholarx]

ok it's probably already been answered but can you use the Thunderbolts card to change your figs to say......POWER COSMIC TA!!!! probabbly not.....
It's right on the card...
..."choose one team ability other than a wildcard team ability or a team ability that can't be copied by wildcard team abilities."

Wildcards can't copy Power Cosmic, so neither can the TBolts. :classic:

[George Smiley]

Clarification Regarding the Power Dampening Feat;

Assume the Power Dampening Feat has been played and there has been a successful attack roll. If a figure has RCE and a 3, 4, or 5 showing in the damage slot than the damage is reduced to three and stays three. The RCE bonus of +2 cannot be applied.

Likewise under similar conditions but with a twelve rolled and the attacker has a 3, 4, or 5 showing in the damage slot the damage is reduced to three and stays three. The RCE bonus of +2 cannot be applied and neither can the +1 damage for rolling double sixes.

The above interpretation may be incorrect but that is the way I read the card.

Is this correct? Some posters are claiming otherwise. One person told me that it reduces the unmodified damage to three and then you are are able to perplex, enhance, or RCE up the damage from there. That doesn't seem to be the card's intent. Can you help straighten this out?

[scholarx]

Clarification Regarding the Power Dampening Feat;
Likewise under similar conditions but with a twelve rolled and the attacker has a 3, 4, or 5 showing in the damage slot the damage is reduced to three and stays three. The RCE bonus of +2 cannot be applied and neither can the +1 damage for rolling double sixes.

The above interpretation may be incorrect but that is the way I read the card.

Is this correct? Some posters are claiming otherwise. One person told me that it reduces the unmodified damage to three and then you are are able to perplex, enhance, or RCE up the damage from there. That doesn't seem to be the card's intent. Can you help straighten this out?

The card text is very simple, but with what we know about the game rules the intent is clear: "Damage values greater than 3 become 3 instead." This means that any printed damage value that is above 3 would become 3; and also anything that would raise damage value above 3 (Perplex, Enhancement, RCE/CCE, various Feats) is limited to raising it to (or keeping it at) 3.

However, certain aspects of the game do NOT affect damage value; they instead affect damage dealt. One of these is the Critical Hit - since it adds one to the damage dealt and not the damage value, a character could possibly deal 4dmg despite this BfC being in play (the attacking character has the maximum of 3 damage value as the BfC allows, then rolls boxcars & adds another +1 to damage dealt{which is not affected by the card}). Using objects as weapons in close combat also adds to damage dealt, as opposed to damage value.

Also, remember that knockback damage is applied separately from the initial attack... so a character who was hit by the max 3 damage value and knocked back could still take additional damage from hitting blocking terrain/map edge or falling off a building.

Hope that helps. :classic:

[George Smiley]

Thank you ScholarX.

[X-Inferno]

I would just like to add... I think the Pogs in this set, are awsome...
I played one game in the pre-release, where my colleen wing KO'd mirage, with a 1 shot BCF for 6 damage, and then my oponent KO'd my E Tigra with misty night, caring a soda machine! :p You just can't ignore these pogs!! And Henry Peter Gyrich, was the MVP of pogs... This guy was all over the place, locking figures up, shooting figs with no damage reducers... or just making my opponent waste and action to take him off the board! I highly suggest. you use either of these Bystandards to fill out those extra points on you're team.

Oh and I almost forgot, the Wild Sentinel... this little pog was just sick... especially with one perplexer to up his damage to 3 from 6 range or up his attack to 9, he's great for cleaning up, or making those first strike attacks!

[Smaug317]

ok it's probably already been answered but can you use the Thunderbolts card to change your figs to say......POWER COSMIC TA!!!! probabbly not.....


good question

[shadow_cat55]

I just have to say that I pulled a Wild Sentinel at my Pre-Release and he was my runner-up for MVP, right behind V Thing.

My opponents just weren't worried about him and when they'd try to hit him they'd either miss or realize he has Toughness! Plus that 6 range is great, he killed a pog and a V Hawkeye with his Energy Explosion.

He's also very good for blocking LOS. No one wants to push to kill him, and then you can either have your bruiser Charge from behind him and take out a few guys, or just let him sit there taking EE pot-shots. Bottom line, this pog is great.