June 28, 2008
400 points 10% feat limit.

My team: Inhumans
Black Bolt 166
V Lockjaw 38
Karnak 79
+And Stay Down 6
Gorgon 110
=399 points

BFCs: Inferno, Disbanded, TK Strain

FIRST I faced Chad and his Hand Ninja clan
V Hand Ninja (range)
E Hand Ninja (range)
E Hand Ninja (range)
R Hand Ninja (range)
R Hand Ninja (range)
V Hand Ninja
E Hand Ninja
E Hand Ninja
E Hand Ninja
R Hand Ninja
R Hand Ninja
R Hand Ninja
V Hand Ninja (universe)
E Hand Ninja (universe)
Kirigi
LE XP Elektra
V CM Elektra
Betsy Braddock+Extended Range
V Psylocke + Saboteur
on the JSA Museum...his choice of course (theme bonus of plus NINETEEN). I opted not to play Inferno as that would have completely messed his team up and I wanted us to have fun. Generally, every time I hit, a Ninja went down. But Gorgon got hit hard by an Enhanced Betsy PsyBlast, followed by a 5 BCF hit by Psylocke. Thank heavens for Lockjaw, who both took a PC token to save him and got him out of there. Karnak also took a fair amount of damage, but survived to the end. I lost no one and got both Betsys and Elektras and about 100 points of other Ninjas. 1-0.

NEXT, at the Dawn of Time, new face Adrian brought his Avengers theme:
Iron Spider
SR Scarlet Witch
NGN Iron Man
+ Stunning Blow
V Echo
E Mockingbird
+ Alpha Flight
I used a Dynamostat to give myself some small cover to use the Kinetic Accelerator. He used the 3D Desk with Spidey. I immediately Perplexed range up to get rid of the Desk and actually still hit (well, after theme PCing BB's crit miss), removing the immediate Outwit threat. A followup basing with Lockjaw and Karnak was thwarted by Mockingbird tying up and then dodging Karnak. So LJ left for the Defend protection of Black Bolt. Now Adrian clumped his team 'round my Dynamostat, providing some defense against Pulse Wave. Unable to reach Iron Man with anyone, I cringed when he pushed to Stunning Blow BB for 5 immediately after. Meanwhile, Gorgon was repeatedly being Webbed by Spidey. Fortunately, BB was able to Outwit NGN's Outwit so Karnak could deliver a counterblow and get rid of Outwit permanently.

Tied up by Mockinbird, BBolt repeatedly failed to hit her (despite being able to use range) but kept her CCE countered against his Invulnerability. Karnak crithit Iron Man out of range (saving him from a likely KO from Flurry) and Gorgon finished Spidey. Adrian's rolls began to tank, rendering him unable to even finish off Lockjaw. I KO'd Echo, Mockingbird and Spidey for the win. 2-0.

The FINAL was on my Space map against Paul's wildcardy badness:
V Emerald Empress
Ghost Widow
V Lockjaw
E Icons Joker
+AP
Alfred Pennyworth
Cosmic Boy
I Disbanded him. Then I rushed him as fast as possible, on first turn, using Lockjaw to get Karnak in base with Cos immediately, with Black Bolt putting Gorgon within Charge range right behind. Paul immediately jumped on the dog, countering his P/T and pounding him with EE, Joker and putting GW into Poison position for good measure. Gorgon, Perplexed to 11 AV, Charged in to successfully Quake Joker, Cos and GW away, clearing a path for Karnak to Charge-EW Empress right off Pulse Wave. BBolt pushed to Defend Lockjaw from what would have been a euthanizing shot from Cos. Paul tried to regroup by sending his crew across the field to my Vine, but we got to him. Lost Lockjaw eventually but got max points.

WIN/LOSS: 3-0. As the tourney winner, I got to pick Sir Pietro Maximoff from a grab bag of 15 or so LEs. I can't believe this Inhumans theme actually did so well. Lockjaw is insanely useful, giving this crew mobility it would lack and blocking for the fragile Black Bolt. Karnak continued his giant-killing ways and Gorgon delivered some clutch hits.

We had a larger than normal turnout with new and returning players. I also met the visiting BootofTesla, a fine fellow. I hope he comes through to our venue again soon.

DATE PLAYED: 6/28/08
POINT TOTAL: 500
SCENARIO: Unrestricted Marvel Only "Survivor Series". All teams must have five characters, 75 points minimum (before feats). No Giants, Duos or Big/Colossals. Everyone will be playing the Unlimited Class Wrestling Event Dial.

I didn't get to play, but here's the rundown of the way the rounds progressed.

ROUND 1

Unus, Archangel (M&M), LE Supernova, Rampaging Hulk & Baron Zemo (Avengers)
def.
E Ulik, USAgent, Silver Savage, Gorgon & Luke Cage (Avengers)

E Spider-Man (Sinister), Iron Spider, NGN Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider & Spider-Man 2099
def.
Red Skull (Avengers), USAgent, V Major Victory, Captain America (Armor Wars) & E Ultimate Captain America

Gorgon, Karnak, V Ultimate Captain America, LE Ben Grimm & E Spider-Man (Sinister)
def.
Zombie Hulk, R Hulk (Mutant Mayhem), LE Hulk (Mutant Mayhem), LE Hulk (IC Mailaway) & Hulk (Mutations & Monsters)

Omega Red, Shathra, V Diablo, V Cloak & V Sunspot
def.
USAgent, Wolverine (Sinister), NGN Spider-Man, E Ghost Rider & Ultimate Captain America (Avengers)

E Sasquatch, E Absorbing Man (Critical Mass), Titania, Rampaging Hulk & Carnage
def.
Nightcrawler (Clobberin Time), V Deadpool, Wolverine (Sinister), V Ultimate Sabretooth & Omega Red

ROUND 2

E Spider-Man (Sinister), Iron Spider, NGN Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider & Spider-Man 2099
def.
Unus, Archangel (M&M), LE Supernova, Rampaging Hulk & Baron Zemo (Avengers)

Omega Red, Shathra, V Diablo, V Cloak & V Sunspot
def.
Gorgon, Karnak, V Ultimate Captain America, LE Ben Grimm & E Spider-Man (Sinister)

E Sasquatch, E Absorbing Man (Critical Mass), Titania, Rampaging Hulk & Carnage
def.
Red Skull (Avengers), USAgent, V Major Victory, Captain America (Armor Wars) & E Ultimate Captain America

ROUND 3

Nightcrawler (Clobberin Time), V Deadpool, Wolverine (Sinister), V Ultimate Sabretooth & Omega Red
def.
Omega Red, Shathra, V Diablo, V Cloak & V Sunspot

E Sasquatch, E Absorbing Man (Critical Mass), Titania, Rampaging Hulk & Carnage
def.
E Spider-Man (Sinister), Iron Spider, NGN Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider & Spider-Man 2099

ROUND 4

E Sasquatch, E Absorbing Man (Critical Mass), Titania, Rampaging Hulk & Carnage
def.
Omega Red, Shathra, V Diablo, V Cloak & V Sunspot

The Inhumans have always done well for me! Blavk Bolt and Lockjaw have a nice synergy, and Karnak is an overacheiver among clix.

6/29 @ Y2Komics
300 point Unrestricted, Highlander rule in place

James Barnes Field Journal Entry, January 1944 - We just busted in on this top secret facility, the place was more heavily guarded than any other Razi bunker in all of Germany. Inside we found these sort of glowing doors - the German scientist we captured said they were portals to other dimensions or something. Cap is worried what's on the other side, so we've formed a recon squad to check it out. The German's have these armbands with a timer, that will snap us back after 40 minutes. Toro and I and five of our best volunteers have joined Cap to check these portals out. There's three in all, and each supposedly leads to a different world. I can't say I'm not scared, but I know I've got the best of the best with me. We'll make it out.

Team Almost Soldier (Toro is a commando, but not a soldier )
Captain America (AV)
Bucky w/Taunt
Toro w/Armor Piercing
Easy Co. Soldier V x2
Easy Co. E x2
Easy Co Medic V

The first portal takes us right into an area with heavy concrete walls and bars...some kinda prison. As soon as we pile out we hear alarms...great. I take point with Toro and Jones and Wachowski. Almost right away we're met by a couple of guys with bows, some man dressed as a bat, and a woman who speaks really funny. I get the impression these are local heroes, and if they could just hear us over the damned alarms this fight would be unnecessary. We don't have a choice but to mix it up.

First round opponent:
OoTS Bats w/Maneuver
Green Arrow (JL)
Red Arrow
Zatanna (JL)

I play Fearless Assault, he plays Extraordinary Day. I get a couple of early hits in on Red Arrow, while he takes out my first Easy Co Vet. I get a good charge in on Bats...and miss. It was all downhill from there. The room turns into kind of a bloodbath, and I manage to take out Red Arrow and Zatanna. Green Arrow and Bats I manage to injure, but only Bucky is left when time runs out and the Nazi gadgets pull my recon team back to Earth. This game was a lot of fun.

After the first trip, we prepare a little better this time. The tech boys give us this scrambler that should disrupt local electronics. And they have some funny radioactive rock for Cap, supposed to penetrate energy shields and stuff. I dunno. The second portal deposits us outside some kind of laboratory. All kinds of crazy machinery, but everything seems to be quiet. We move in by squads and take the first two rooms. Then Frosty hears something...a deep voice, commanding and scary. A woman slowly walks into the lab. She looks confused, says she thinks her name is Kat, she's been kidnapped. Seargeant Hogan tries to calm her down, but suddenly this huge guy calls himself Darkseid appears behind her with this loud boom.

Second Round opponent:
Darkseid (CR) w/Protected
Dr. Mid-Nite R
Marvel Girl (M&M)
Kat Ferrel
Thug
Everett K. Ross

I play White Noise, he plays Rushed Assault. I give Cap the meteorite, but of course Darkseid burns his protected on it. My rolls absolutely blow for me. Three critical misses, and my soldiers can't hit the broad side of a pog. Marvel Girls makes two or three super senses rolls in a row. The only thing that really went for me was the White Noise, which prevented all of Darkseid's Outwit and Perplex except for one or two (against targets that he was one-shotting anyway). Still, I manage to keep Darkseid tied up with sacrificial troops until Toro and Bucky can finish off the rest of his team. Time ends with Darkseid bearing down on Toro, Bucky, and a single remaining Vet Easy Co. soldier.

We're all tired, but there's one portal left. This one takes us into what appears to be an open crossroads. There's a park on one side of us, abandoned buildings everywhere else. We cautiously move out. Then, down the street, several shadowy figures appear...

Third round opponent (this was the bye, against the judge for fun)
Ragman V
Red Tornado V
Blue Devil V
Enchantress V

Mystic keyword, but it never really came up.

We didn't bother playing any battlefield conditions. This match actually went okay for me. I finally successfully Taunted, forcing Blue Devil to run right into a big dogpile of my troops, and we pulled him down. Cap took a hit early on and retreated to the medic, but Ragman leapt over the fray to keep the medic occupied. Cap and a soldier managed to take out Ragman, and Bucky and a couple of soldiers plugged Red Tornado for a few. As Cap moved to within charging range of Enchantress, Tornado moved in and quaked my soldiers, finishing off Toro and crippling the medic. We ran out of time just after that.

I had a blast with this team, and it gave a pretty good fight in each match. My dice didn't help any at all today, though I don't think I necessarily would have won those first two matches anyway. Toro and Bucky were my MVPs, doing most of the legwork while Cap missed and drew fire.

I won fellowship for my little World War II team!

DATE PLAYED: 6/29/08
POINT TOTAL: 600
SCENARIO: Unrestricted Retirement Party, only game elements allowed are ones from retired sets or sets about to be retired.
BATTLEFIELD CONDITIONS: Isolation, Bright Lights & Ordinary Day
SPECIAL OBJECTS PLAYED: None
EVENT DIAL: None
WIN/LOSS: 3-0

TEAM: 90's Avengers
U Crystal w/ Nova Blast
U Sersi w/ Thunderbolts
U Vision (Infinity Challenge) w/ Thunderbolts
E Black Knight w/ Thunderbolts
E Black Widow (Clobberin Time) w/ Thunderbolts
V Captain America (Armor Wars) w/ Thunderbolts
V Hercules w/ Unstoppable & Thunderbolts
TOTAL: 598

ROUND 1

My opponent had:
NGN Superman w/ Protected & Nanobots
U The Dark Knight (CD) w/ Protected
E Dr. Mid-Nite w/ Protected
E Elongated Manw/ Protected
E Green Lantern (CD) w/ Protected & Nanobots

I got the map roll and picked the Bat Cave. I played Bright Lights as my BFC while he didn't play anything. I Thunderbolted the Mystics TA. He runs Superman and Dark Knight out. I TK Crystal out and after a few of my theme team rerolls, I hit them both. Hooray! Superman is off his hypersonic. I send out Black Widow to tie them both up so they can't run away. Batman flurries the Widow and takes even more damage. He has GL fly out to finish off Crystal. I make him burn off all his protecteds when he's already got a token on, so I at least make everyone but Dr. Mid-Nite push. And Vision has made his way across the board to become a nuisance to the Doctor so he can't heal Superman. Batman falls first, then Elongated Man and after pushing a bunch of times, Superman goes too. Hercules goes over to greet the Doctor while Sersi, Cap & the Black Knight go for what's left of Green Lantern. I lost Crystal and Black Widow.

ROUND 2

My opponent had:
LE Tony Stark
V War Machine w/ Armor Piercing
V Titanium Man
U Iron Monger
R Crimson Dynamo w/ Entangle & Homing Device

My opponent got the map roll and he chose the Great Arena. He played Disbanded and I played Ordinary Day. He was debating on using his Theme Team Ordinary Day to get rid of my BFC but after I told him I was Thunderbolting the Syndicate TA, he opted to not use it. Hemoved his guys out, and I moved out mine having everyone surrounding Crystal and Sersi. He cleared his team, thinking I wouldn't push, but I was feeling a little frisky. I push Vision to move back and pull Black Widow out of Sersi's line of sight, TK Crystal out and hit the Nova Blast. They all kill her, so I run Black Knight all the way out doing a transporter attack on Tony, using Hercules attack value. I hit him. Tony, War Machine and Iron Monger all gang up on him to KO Black Knight, but after that, Hercules finished off Tony. Vision carries Black Widow out to tie up Iron Monger and Crimson Dynamo. They kill her in one turn, but this allows Vision, Sersi and Cap to finish off War Machine and hurt Dynamo & Monger. Cap pushes a bunch of times over the last several turns, finishing off those two As Vision ties up Titanium Man. Vision takes a bunch of damage over those turns, but he survived long enough for Sersi, Cap and Hercules to make their way over and end it. I lost Crystal, Black Widow and Black Knight.

ROUND 3

My opponent had:
V Superman (Icons)
U Brainiac (Icons)
Felix Faust

I got the map roll and picked the Great Arena. He didn't have a BFC and Isolation wouldn't have mattered, so I didn't play it. I Thunderbolted the Mystics TA again. It's dirty, but it was the only solid defense I thought I had. I figured he was going to win, but I was going to make it difficult for him. Like the last round, I moved my whole team out and had everyone surrounding Crystal and Sersi. My opponent moved all three of his characters up onto the edge of the elevated terrain, leaving one square open on the side. He then made the game-changing mistake of not outwitting either my Pulse Wave on Crystal or my TK on Sersi. So I push them both to go for the long bomb. I TK her up to the ledge and hit all three with my Nova Blast on the first shot. After that, it was just an issue of basing the three with people like Black Widow and having the Knight and Vision carry up Cap & Hercules to help finish the job. Brainiac soon fell, then Superman, then Felix. Once again, I lost Crystal, Black Widow and Black Knight. Though Black Knight deserved it for rolling a Critical Miss after pushed him to try and use his Charge/Exploit Weakness.

Date played - 6/29/08
Format - 300 points restricted
Event - HeroClix National Championship at WWC


My team, the Squirrel Blender...

Ch'p
R Doc Mid-Nite
R Gypsy
Alpha Talia x6 with Warbound
---------------------
300 points

Special objects... Kinetic Accelerator, Phone Booth, Laser Turret
BFC... Ordinary Day, Armor Wars, Atlantis Rising, Deep Shadows, Inertial Interference Field


My strategy for all the games was pretty simple... move Gypsy on the the Phone Booth and take a click. Move the Blender to hook up with Gypsy while parking Ch'p on the Accelerator object. Next turn, push Ch'p and Gypsy and give Gypsy another click due to the Phone Booth. Depending on how my opponent was playing I can stay and get Gypsy to her 19 defense click (she shares her defense with Ch'p due to Defend and Ch'p shares it with everyone) or I can move and push Gypsy on subsequent turns to get her to her 19 defense click (relying on Ch'p's 18 Defend in the meantime). All I need to do is move Ch'p in close and let the Talia's do their B/C/F thing. If one gets wounded, she cycles to the back the next time Ch'p moves and the Doc attempts to heal her.


Round 1
Played against Lightning Lad w/Protected, Inside Info, and Warbound, E Mano w/ Warbound, OotS Batman, Ghost Widow, V Hydra Officer w/Contingency Plan.

I won the map roll and chose the Anti-Monitor map. There's no real hindering on it for Bats to bounce around in and all the blocking terrain makes it difficult for a ranged attacker like Lightning Lad to draw a clear LOF to my figs. I notice on his sheet that he has Exhaustion as one of his BFC so I opt to play my OD (knowing Exhaustion would put a hinderence on Ch'p from the start). He plays his placeholder.

On his first turn he moves Lightning Lad out destroying a piece of blocking terrain as he goes, attempting to clear up some lines of fire. I opt to push Ch'p out of the gate to get him to his 18/Defend click. I only needed to get one more to get adjacent to Lightning Lad and the Accelerator helps me out with that. My Talia's are now in base contact with Lightning Lad. My opponenet opts to push LL in an attempt to RS/EE away from the girls. He fails his breakaway roll. On my turn the Talia's do their thing. The first rolls a successful hit and hits the B/C/F roll for 6! He burns his Protected. The next attack is successful as well with a B/C/F roll of 4. LL takes his clicks. LL has to clear on his next turn and, thanks to Warbound, the girls finish off LL. After that, it's then just a matter of hunting down the rest of his figures, slicing and dicing them along the way. He did manage to roll an 11 to with the Hydra to hit one of my Talias but realized when I was clicking her for damage that he forgot to declare Energy Explosion. It probably wouldn't have made a difference in the end, but he would have likely received some points from me. My record 1-0.


Round 2
Played against Johnny Quick w/Protected and Nanobots, OotS Batman x2 w/Protected on each, Green Flame x2, and Forbush Man (for the CSA tokens).

I won map roll again and chose the Anti-Monitor map once more. I didn't have anything that was really going to hinder his team much so I played my placeholder and he played Ordinary Day. I hit one of the Bats early causing him to burn Protected. He managed to hit a couple of the Talias for damage with the Batmen but mostly it was a back and forth for a couple of rounds until I decided to take out the Green Flames to keep him from running away. Once that was done I easily put down one of the Batmen and Johnny Quick took a hit which he Nanobot-ed away. I decided at that time I was going to take out the objects to prevent him from Nanoboting them. I spend a LOT of time trying to roll 3's with the B/C/F to take out the object (I can't tell you how many 2's I rolled!). Meanwhile, he was hitting me with Batman and Johnny Quick. He managed to take out a couple of the Talia's (and maybe Mid-Nite?) and I took out the other Batman but time was running out. I knew I couldn't get to the Johnny Quick (I was on the opposite side of the map) so we agreed to call the game at that point. My record: 2-0 and into the top 8!


Round 3
Played against R Shazam w/Protected and Inside Information, SR Scarlet Witch, OotS Batman w/Protected, Ghost Widow w/Armor Piercing.

I played IIF to attempt to limit Shazam and his Generator 3D object but my opponent played Ordinary Day. Once again the map choice was mine and I stuck with the Anti-Monitor map. While my other two rounds went well for me, this one did not. I opened as I always did and my opponent carried Shazam with the Witch to her own Phone Booth to get the kid activated. While I ramped up Gypsy, my opponent made it obvious that she was going to make me come all the way across the map to her. I happened to roll high enough on the Accelerator that I was able to base Shazam but my opponent just ran, KOing a Talia as she went. I pushed Ch'p to give chase and based the Witch and Bats. But the KO had left a gap in the Blender from which I was not able to protect Gypsy from Ghost Widow who Phased up. I attempted the break away roll with Gypsy but failed and that was pretty much game for me. Gypsy went down and Ch'p was on his 17/Defend click. I managed to KO the Witch but lost everything in the process to a combination of drive-bys from Shazam and hits from the OotS Batman. My record: 2-1.


After going all the way to the top 8 of the Championships I was out because of a failed break away roll. Oh well, that's how it goes and I was actually suprised that I made it as far as I did. I never expected the team to win even one game! I will, however, be very happy when Ghost Widow retires.

300 point "Prepare for Invasion" sealed event.

I *LOVE* sealed events, but I was pretty depressed about this one. I think buying two boosters of old, small sets is what did me in. If I'd at least pulled some trade fodder I'd have felt better.

My pulls:

Avengers:

Common (U) Iron Man
Common Crossbones
Uncommon Darkhawk
Uncommon Wasp
Rare Union Jack
BST Everett K Ross

M&M:

Common Colossus
Common Marvel Girl
Uncommon X-23
Uncommon Morph (whom I've pulled five times in M&M sealed )
Rare Black Tom Cassidy
Event dial: Unlimited Class Wrestling

I won't bother commenting on teams, I built a team that went 2-1. I'm not entirely sure why I was so depressed about the Avengers booster...that booster was only my 13th, and it included several pieces that I hadn't pulled...but I had long ago traded for. I guess I was hoping for a "generic" (Miek, Korg, anybody!) from M&M, or at least a feat.

I was definitely thinking I didn't get my money's worth when I was driving home past the Subway sandwich shop.

Fun 300 points, restricted.

I had some time to play a single "for fun" game; we used just what we had in our trade stuff. We kept it restricted.

For my team I tried a "Patriotic Theme" of pieces I haven't used.

Uncle Sam
Liberty Belle
Red Arrow

against 3 other Crisis pieces

Deathstroke
Green Arrow
Aqualad

We didn't use BFCs or special objects. I lost map roll and we played on the Armor Wars Lab.

The transporter attack with Leap/Climb caught my opponent's Green Arrow by surprise, and with the "Give me your poor..." special white power I was able to get a solid hit on Green Arrow. I've been making a LOT of positioning mistakes lately (and I made a slight one today) but this game helped me to break that bad streak.

My dice were okay, and his were bell-curved enough that my "Belle's" defense value was satisfactory. Deathstroke charged in and was going to be VERY brutal but for some reason he didn't push and Uncle Sam was able to take down the foes practically by himself (absorbing all their damage too).

I've seen Uncle Sam played really well against me, and now I've seen him perform admirably for me too. I'm definitely tempted to try a variant JSA team with him again.

Date - 7/6/08
Format - 300 points restricted
Event - GenCon Qualifier


I thought I'd mix up the Squirrel Blender team since R Doc Mid-Nite will be retired come GenCon. So I played...

Ch'p
Talia x5 w/Warbound
Gypsy
Origin Alfred w/Warbound
Space Phantom

I used Alfred for his Perplex, Support, and built in Stealth. Space Phantom was there to hold figs in place so that the girls could do their business. My other option I considered was Origin Batman (Bats Ally, Perplex, and CR for a 21 defense up close on his second click).


First opponent was 2 OotS Batman w/Inside Info, FCBD Iron Man w/Nanobots and something else. I played OD which nerfed his BFC (which I don't recall what it was). My one weakness with the Squirrel Blender is EE and I knew that going in. Iron Man opened up with a successful EE attack (Space Phantom missed his Shape Change) and followed up next turn with another one on the push. That was pretty much it for me. I still put up a fight, taking Iron Man down to a couple of clicks before he broke away and started Nanobot-ing . I had each of the Batman's down to about their last 3 clicks. Too bad I couldn't close the door on any of them. Note to self... when facing an EE fig, especially one with a high attack value, keep both Gypsy and Ch'p on their 18 Defend clicks. That way when hit with an EE attack they'll still be effective for at least one more turn. Between the EE and the Batman figs having a 13 attack against the Talia's, I lost this one badly. My record... 0-1.

Second opponent played Danger Room Cyclops, uncommon Flash from JL, and FCBD Iron Man (again). He didn't play a BFC and I played Shrunk. This one played out better for me. He took out a Talia but I polished off his team. It wasn't until I was adding things up that we realized he was off by about 50 points. He had forgotten his own Gypsy fig. My record... 1-1.

Final opponent played a team of X-men with Archangel, FC Cyclops, FC Marvel Girl, X-23, and someone I'm forgetting. He played Krakoa and I played Mistrust. Krakoa hurt him more than it did me as I rolled a crit hit against X-23 with it. I wiped him out in pretty quick fashion and he didn't take any of my figs. My record... 2-1.


I think the modified Squirrel Blender is still a good team... maybe even better with the added Perplex and the addition of a tie up piece like Space Phantom. But the EE did me in this time. I'm just going to have to be careful about not putting Gypsy on her last click when going up against figs with EE.

DATE PLAYED: July 6, 2008
POINT TOTAL: 300 restricted
TEAM: The Greatest Generation - Red-white-and-blue Fourth of July weekend edition
Uncle Sam 140
+Streak of Luck 5
Citizen V 58
+Alpha Flight 0
AV Captain America 95
=298 points

Just me and the venue's judge played due to a lack of players and some snafu concerning his status or something. Anyhow, he used

Devil Dino
The Hood
Iron Spider

on the AVENGERS WWII map. We didn't jockey about much, instead getting right into the thick of it. I was half-rooting for DD&MB, but this proved to be home-field advantage for my team of WW2 vets. Although Citizen V did nothing more than get chomped up by DD and stab himself in the foot twice -- even after a theme PC -- Uncle Sam finally came through for me in a game. Cap did his part, too, only taking damage from his late game push.

WIN/LOSS: 1-0. Poor dice rolls on his part did him in as mine grew toasty after my two-in-a-row snakes.

DATE PLAYED: 7/6/08
POINT TOTAL: 1000
BATTLEFIELD CONDITIONS: None
SPECIAL OBJECTS PLAYED: All 3D objects on the field.
EVENT DIAL: None
WIN/LOSS: N/A

SCENARIO: Unrestricted Battle Royale - Same Universe; Strict Highlander Rule in play; No Thunderbolting DC TA's or putting ICwO on a Marvel figure. All teams will play against a force of Colossals on the field (Spectre, Starro, Anti-Monitor, Dark Phoenix, Galactus & Fin Fang Foom) being controlled by the judge. Scoring was done by clicks of damage taken by the Colossals up until the final turn when players could target each other. The entire game would take place on 3D terrain.

THEME: 90's Blue & Gold X-Men teams.

Beast (M&M) w/ Brilliant Tactician & Monster Hunter
V Cyclops (IC) w/ Trick Shot & Monster Hunter
Gambit (M&M) w/ Armor Piercing & Monster Hunter
U Wolverine (Sinister) w/ Automatic Regeneration & Monster Hunter
V Rogue (IC) w/ Monster Hunter
V Psylocke (Xpl) w/ Monster Hunter
Storm (DR) w/ Monster Hunter
Iceman (M&M) w/ Monster Hunter
Archangel (M&M) w/ Monster Hunter
V Jean Grey (IC) w/ Monster Hunter
Colossus (DR) w/ Monster Hunter
V Bishop (MM) w/ Monster Hunter

The other teams were a group of random JLA members, a pack of mystics, a bunch of DC villains with Green Arrow and Dream Girl thrown in, the five Green Lanterns from Earth, a bunch of random DC powerhouses (KC Shazam, NGN Superman, Magog) and a bunch of powerhouse Marvel characters that had Warbound.

Now the colossals had an 800 point advantage over us. But they split up between all seven of us. Starro went after the JLA, Anti-Monitor after the GL's, Spectre went after the DC/KC group, Galactus after the Warbounded Marvel heroes, Finny went after the two DC villain teams and I got the chance to face Dark Phoenix.

Now I did good against Dark Phoenix. Sure she had the Power Cosmic, Multi-Attack and great attack and damage values, but between Brilliant Tactician and Monster Hunter, I had a 11 attack/4 damage average and six uses of theme prob. Iceman's Barrier kept Beast safe from her attacks while Psylocke would boost everyone with range thanks to her Enhance. Dark Phoenix targeted Cyclops, Gambit and Wolverine 90% of the time, only hitting Cyke and Wolvy when she did hit. Cyke gets some health back from Psylocke and Storm and Wolverine got two sixes on the first and third Regen rolls he made over the course of the game. The second was a one but he made an attack anyways and KO'd Evil Jean (not before she killed Cyclops, thus making it X3 all over again).

Now knocking out Dark Phoenix was the only KO'd Colossal the entire game, at that point I was in the lead. But after she got KO'd, Foom and the Anti-Monitor took notice and wanted revenge. They came over and just hammered my team. In the end, only Jean Grey was left alive with just one click of health left. I came in third for the tourney.

Now the other teams were getting just as hurt, but since the guys playing the Mystic & DC Villains/GA/DG team were buddies, they basically teamed up. were pinging Foom until he left to finish off the X-Men and then had to stave off the Spectre. In the final turn they just targeted each other and the DC Villains/GA/DG team came in first. Second place went to the JLA team that would whittle down Starro, only for him to heal up to the start of his dial and the process would repeat.

DATE PLAYED: 7/6/08
POINT TOTAL:300
SCENARIO: Constructed; Gen Con Qualifier II
TEAM:Teens (299pts)- Dawnstar w/ Armor Piercing; Kid Flash w/ Armor Piercing and Maneuver; Lightning Lad w/ Protected; Klarion w/ Protected; Forbush Man (Pog)
BATTLEFIELD CONDITIONS:Ordinary Day; Atlantis Rising; Communication Breakdown
SPECIAL OBJECTS PLAYED:Laser Turret
WIN/LOSS:3/0

I went through a 2 week boot camp to perfect this team so give some rep to Darthbaugh if you get the chance! This was a great team that was versatile and able to complete against a number of teams and went 11-1 for me over the past 2 weeks through the Qualifier. Kid Flash w/ Maneuver seemed to be key in most cases and will be on many of my teams in the future!

Round 1
Teens vs Vet Black Lightning (CD); Vet Ray (Origin); Bishop (MnM)
Won Initiative Roll/Prison Map
No BFC Played

Winning the opening roll and getting the Prison Map was a big plus for my team. Dawnstar is able to carry kid flash into place and with his ability to hypersonic through walls worked out great. Bishop was quarried and with some clever maneuvering was the first to go. Ray gave a good fight and got some hyper sonic attacks in taking down lightning lad. Black Lightning got caught up in hindering and aging with some clever maneuvering was taken down by Dawnstar and Kid Flash. Lastly, and what I thought to be the best part of the game, kid flash had pushed to his free force blast and used it to attack ray who kid in one of the starting area rooms. Kid flash then charged with flurry and rolled doubles doing enough to kill him for the win. 1/0

Round 2
Teens vs Gotham City- Az Bats; Alfred (Alpha); The Masked ManHunter (Alpha); Batgirl (Alpha); Talia x 2 (Alpha); Cat Woman (Alpha)
Lost Initiative Roll/Tank Map
Atlantis Rising (Ignored by opponent); Nothing else played.

This team was a bit more of a challenge, but I was able to succeed by staying back and using my elevated terrain on my side. Again some good maneuvering with Kid Flash to pull out the stealth pieces was a huge help. Klarion did go down early, but got the Mystic Damage in where is counted against Az Bats. 2/0

Round 3
Teens vs Stardust (AV); Storm (Danger Rm); Scarlet Witch (AV); Marvel Girl (MnM)
Won Initiative Roll/ Prison Map
Communication Break Down (Used on Damage); Nothing played by opponent.

Stardust is never easy to face, but again I have to thank Kid Flash for all his hard work. This was also the first team to take the Kid Flash down. He did help to get Lightning Lad some good open shots on Stardust, who even hit a 20 at one point on Stardust which was the best move of the game. Stardust made it to Hypersonic and I thought she would clean up, but due to some bad rolls and few more good maneuvers from Kid Flash she went down. The same went down for Storm who tried to hide in stealth but got picked up and moved and hit into a wall with free force blast. Quarry was a big help too in taking down this beast! The piece that really did give me the worst time was Scarlet Witch who kept in the game with all that probability control. 3/0

Thanks to the Darthbaugh Boot Camp I was able to take the Win and will be off to Gen Con with a proud smile no matter how it turns out! So for anyone going to Gen Con...FEAR MY KID FLASH w/ MANEUVER!!

DATE PLAYED: July 05,2008
POINT TOTAL: 600
SCENARIO: CRISIS Week 11 (yeah, a little late out here)
TEAM:JLA
-Man of Steel(CD) 200+Protected 8
-Batman (JL) 75
-Kyle Rayner LE (CD) 135+Protected 8
-The Flash (JL) 114
-Major Disaster(JL) 59+The Society 0
Total: 599

BATTLEFIELD CONDITIONS: Shrunk, Deep Shadows, Armor Wars

WIN/LOSS: 3-0

First battle was a tricky Compel Team with Crisis Darkseid, Mr. Mind, multiple Dawnstars, R Wildcat, V Super-Ape, BT Congobill/Congorilla and a Green Flame. Thanks to theme bonus, I chose the Dawn of Man map. He played Alpha Strike, I played Shrunk. Thanks to a well placed Aerial Baffler, that limited his movement options. Got a bit sweaty though when he was able to tk a buffed Wildcat with 11 Atk (thanks to quarry on one of the Dawnies) 5 damage on Wally but Major Disaster made the first hit miss. Batman Outwitting Congorilla's SuperStrength who had been carrying a Shield Disruptor put the nail on Darkseid's coffin after MoS whalloped with a Generator. Kyle and Major Disaster took one for the team though.

Round 2 was with Mighty Galactus himself. Again the Initiative bonus let me dictate the map: JL Bank. I played Armor Wars, opponent played Damage Control. Although that meant no Disruptor, Meteorite or Generator it also provided the JLA with regenerating cover. Flash kept Big G busy, chipping away and finding cover. Kyle and the Major dented it further but got Multi-Attacked by the Devourer of Worlds. That left a fresh World's Finest, to put the kibosh on the Colossal. Batman put him on Toughness and MoS knocked him screaming back to the Marvel Universe as the judge shouted "last action"!

3rd Round was with 70's JLA: Crisis Barry, Hal and Ollie, JL Batman and Canary, and Exp Tornado. My foe won initiative but chose JL map again. I played Deep Shadows, he played OD(which I ignored... he used his from a previous bout). A little see-saw with the ground forces (Bat vs. Bat, Canary vs. Major, Wally vs. Barry) but MoS got a bead on Hal after Kyle boosted my Bats damage to 4 and OOTS his Bats in close, knocking him to 8 ATK CCE then outwits Hal's toughness/wp/esd combo defense. MoS with generator smacked Hal back to OA. With their Heavy hitter out, Kyle and Wally take care of Canary and MoS smashes Tornado and whups Ollie's tookas. Barry was the last to fall, Batman outwitting his HSS and poetically, taken out by Wally's hand.

DATE PLAYED: 06 July 2008
POINT TOTAL: 300
SCENARIO: Australian Nationals (restricted)
TEAM: Ultimates!

U Nick Fury - 63
+ Protected - 8
R Quicksilver - 63
+ Maneuver - 8
U Iron Man - 154
+ Inside Information - 4
TOTAL - 300 pts

BFCs: Atlantis Rising, Ordinary Day, Poor Teamwork, Wasteland

I didn't want to play a super-cheesy team, but I also wanted to play something effective and which had a chance against optimised teams. I decided that the Ultimates was a strong choice.

There were sixteen people in attendance. We played four rounds and then the top eight went into the finals, which were elimination rounds. There were about three maps on each table; when your pairing was announced for the round you were assigned to a table, and could play on any of the maps there.

Also worth noting is that we played to fifty minutes, but you could play as many turns within those fifty minutes as you could squeeze in. I'm used to playing until "50 minutes or twelve turns, whichever comes first" and it was quite a different pace - even when I knew that time was close there could always be one more turn to make the difference...

Round One
My opponent had a non-thematic team of the Royal Flush Gang plus Psycho-Pirate. He wasn't expecting to place very highly in the tournament, but wanted to give the characters a try and have some fun. He definitely was a nice, fun guy.
I won the map roll and chose the Prison Map because it was the simplest of those on our table. I didn't play a BFC because I thought the RFG deserved a break! My opponent advanced bravely enough but despite the odd Super Senses roll I was able to take out his entire team - Pyscho Pirate first, then Jack and Ten, followed by Ace and finally King and Queen. There was a tense moment when King and Queen were attempting to Mind Control Iron Man (who was on his Full Power clicks!) but the attack failed. My opponent took my Protected, and I got his team.

Win/Loss: 1/0

Round Two
My opponent was one of my best friends, which was a pity - we'd travelled halfway across the country, it would have been better to play against more new people! Anyway, I'd helped to build her Mutant team and I was pretty afraid of it. House of M Magneto has equal reach to Iron Man, and the support of two Multiple Men (Perplex) and a rookie Tessa means that Magnus could potentially boost his damage to eight or simply Running Shot with a 14 range for 6 . She won map choice and chose the Great Arena. Neither of us used a BFC, possibly because we both had an unusued Ignore option and know how the other plays.

I made the mistake of not putting my Kinetic Accelerator on the elevated terrain (where I could have waited safely until given the chance to use it to effectively equal or exceed Magneto's reach) and had to take a chance with a Running Shot on Magneto. I got the hit, but Magneto returned fire and badly wounded Iron Man, and Tessa moved behind him to safety. Or so she thought! Quicksilver ran forward to smack Tessa and Maneuver her into Nick Fury's range, and he then pushed to get Tessa to her last click. Now armed with Outwit, Fury removed Magneto's Impervious so that Iron Man could push to deal another nasty blow.

Five clicks down, Magneto was still dangerous but hurting. Using Nick Fury to deal most of the damage and Quicksilver to Maneuver him around and tie him up, I eventually took out Magneto. Tessa went down easily, and the two Multiple Men eventally followed (although they did manage to knock out Quicksilver first).

Win/Loss: 2/0

Round Three
This was a real challenge. My opponent (Dutch) had a Spy team with two clean sweeps and an unused Ignore option - his team was the familiar combination of Bronze Tiger (Protected), Green Flame, Ghost Widow (Armour Piercing), Nick Fury, and Winter Soldier (Protected). He won map choice and chose the Icons outdoor map; I played Wasteland and Ignored his Ordinary Day. Dutch chose to save his Ignore option.

Right from the beginning I had the ability to either go after Bronze Tiger (taxiied by Ghost Widow) or Winter Soldier (taxxied by Green Flame) with a ten-range Running Shot. I really wanted Bronze Tiger out of the picture, but I knew that if I went after him then Winter Soldier had a clear shot at my back - whereas if I went after Winter Soldier, it would be a few turns before Bronze Tiger would reach me. So Bucky it was - Iron Man took the first shot to get rid of Protected, Quicksilver hit him for another two and then pulled him out of hindering terrain, Nick dealt another three (and pushed to gain Outwit), and Iron Man finished the job.

Then pretty soon Ghost Widow and Bronze Tiger were in my lap, and things got expectedly hairy. Quicksilver went down far too fast to seperate the two, sadly. I had a couple of much-needed breakaway rolls to reposition and get off a few attacks, but didn't get the attack rolls I needed. Pretty soon I had taken a couple of clicks of Poison and a few Close Combat Expert attacks, and it was over for me.

Win/Loss - 2/1

Round Four
My opponent (Chris) had a Spy team of Dawnstar (Armour Piercing), Invincible, rookie Night Thrasher (Contingency Plan), and Robin. I won map choice and took the Dawn of Time map (no time zones). I had a BFC but his only remaining card was an Ordinary Day, so it didn't matter. Fortunately, I pulled all three heavy objects from the pool, and was able to keep most of them well away from reach of Invincible.

Chris moved all of his characters behind a section of blocking terrain in the forest, so I sent Quicksilver (14 speed off a Kinetic Accelerator) to HSS attack Dawnstar and pull her into Iron Man's line of fire. Quicksilver didn't do any damage, but Iron Man struck her for 4. Sadly Quicsilver couldn't escape from Invincible, and was hurt rather badly. He pushed to run back towards my team.

Iron Man was just able to reach Robin and attempt an attack, needing a nine to hit. I succeeded, but Chris used a theme team re-roll and I couldn't repeat the performance. This allowed Robin to Outwit Iron Man's Impervious when Invincible came running in with a light object, and I'm sure you can see where this was going. I think I would have had a medium chance to pull in a narrow victory, but I failed some crucial breakway rolls and made one critical declaration of actions error (failing to Outwit Invincible's HSS before Quicksilver Charged to attack Dawnstar and Meanuver her into Nick's kill zone, which put Quciksilver between Nick and Invincible). I did get Dawnstar and leave a couple more wounds, but lost my entire team.

Win/Loss - 2/2

Despite a mediocre Win/Loss record, my overall points were high enough to squeak me into the finals!

Finals - Round Five
My opponent in the first round of elimination was my regular judge, Mr_Nobody, which was unfortunate! You really don't want to play your friends in elimination, it's much less fun. His team was an Outsiders theme of OotS Batman, Metamorpho, Nightwing, and Red Arrow. I won map choice and chose the Great Arena. No BFCs were played.

I easily had first strike and attempted a Running Shot against Red Arrow, needing a seven to hit. Six - a miss. Re-roll using my theme team Probability Control and a token on Nick Fury. Six - still a miss. And that was basically the beginning of the end. I only once rolled higher than a six during that game. Mr_Nobody was convinced going into the game that I'd walk all over his team, but I needed to deal with Red Arrow and Batman immediately - and I never hit either of them.

Iron Man was knocked to his last click (but broke away and eventually used Regeneration to get back two clicks), Quicksilver went down, and Nick Fury lived but had to use Protected. I had Nightwing and Metamorpho on their last click or two, but Nightwing moved out of my range and Metamoprho was knocked back, so I couldn't finish them off. Zero points for the round.

Win/Loss: 2/3

All in all, I placed seventh in the tournament, and received LE Barry Allen, a couple of Fantastic Forces LEs, and some Icons LEs. My judge Mr_Nobody was the champion, and received a whole heap of stuff - including the championship trophy, some LEs, a chase Superman, a DC Giants set, and a HorrorClix factory set. He puts his victory down to a signiticant amount of luck (including a roll-off in the very last game) but he played a real theme and he played hard, so I figure that he deserved it!

DATE PLAYED: 7/6/08
POINT TOTAL:300
SCENARIO: Constructed; Gen Con Qualifier II
TEAM: Thanos + Protected, V HIVE Trooper
BATTLEFIELD CONDITIONS:Krakoa, Exhaustion, Inertial Interference Field
SPECIAL OBJECTS PLAYED: Open Hydrant, Dynamostat, Inertial Dampner


No one at my venue will be able to attend Gen Con anyway, so I thought, what the heck - I'll try a team that will challenge me. Traditionally, I do really poorly with One-man armies. Playing theme also hurt somewhat, and while I lost every map roll, I actually wanted to go second.

All 3 games were played on the bare bones Crisis Dawn of Time map (no time-zones).

Round one: Krakoa x2. A soldier theme. I picked off some grunts, used my Outwit judiciously, and managed to wear down his heavy damage figures. He dealt two clicks, I failed 3 Imperv roles but burned my (AW) Protected. I lost 33 points, but gained 300.

Round 2: Exhaustion vs Krakoa. Opponent had never played against Thanos, and had an underbuilt 3 figure team. I assessed the damage potential and actually missed an attack roll (against Living Laser). The Only Damage I took was from a Critical miss. I lost 25 points, and gained 285. Krakoa hurt him more than me.

Round 3: Malice vs IIF. Malice hurt him more than me. He made a tactical error and moved up into shooting range, so I stayed in my start zone and shot him, finished off his heavy hitter my second turn, and had HIVE reposition. Assessing the damage output of his figures, I slowly whittled away at the rest of his team, until he could do no damage to me. I never took a click of Malice damage.

Note: Everyone tried to use a Shield Disruptor, but I kept well away from it, or destroyed it.

Thoughts: I'd almost feel guilty, but IMO playing Thanos in 300 isn't as "point and click" as KC Superman. I essentially had one attacker, who could attack 2/3 rounds. Once the Hive taxi was gone, he took even more time to position for attacks. Sure, he was almost guaranteed to hit (I'd say I made 90% of my attack rolls), but dealing 3-4 damage a turn would mean I'd really have to work to get my kills (most figures have 5-8 clicks). That's where Exhaustion & Krakoa came in handy. I had an oppoent with a Mystics piece that pushed and strayed too close to hindering, and I never had to take feedback because of it.

There's a lot more strategy involved in winning with Thanos. Knowing when to move adjacent to someone, and when to clear one token, rather than push and have two (and thus be ineligible for Protected) was a big part of winning.

I enjoyed the challenge, but I get the feeling my opponents didn't, and thus It will be the last time I'll play Thanos in a 300 point game (that and HIVE & AW Protected are retired this week!).