Battle Report Shorts #001

Team Ragnarok VS Hyperion Prime and a Phoenix Force-emboldened Trick Shot - I won this game fairly quickly and without much stress thanks to Seyfert's Sentinel trait combo'd with Ragnarok's high combat values supported by Harley Quinn's Puddin trait. At any given turn, Ragnarok could attack twice for 5 damage each rolling from 12 attack (with Running Shot and Energy Explosion, and supported by Harley's Perplex and Prob [and his Impervious and Shape Change powers ain't too shabby, too]), which he did to both Hyperion Prime and Trick Shot. It took about five turns to win this game. No resources backing this team.

Hulkbuster VS The Phoenix Force-emboldened Rasputins - a tryout game to see how Hulkbuster handles himself in an actual match, and won this game fairly easily. It took me two turns to realise how strong his Charge+Exploit Weakness combo actually is, with 12 attack and 5 damage that easily goes through a lot of tentpole figs out there. He needs Super Strength, though, and maybe a special Knockback/Force Blast power. All in all an eye-opener for the Charge+Exploit Weakness combo - not the first time I used it (I use this fairly often, especially with Pied Piper's rats [which killed an X-Men teambase a few months ago]) but it's the first time I've used it abusively. It took exactly seven turns to finish this game.

The Hood and Red Wolf & Lobo VS Phoenix Force-empowered Douchebag Jones and Emma Frost - the Hood and Red Wolf & Lobo prove themselves to be really strong figs in this game, more or less a classic tight combo of a low risk low maintenance high returns durable brawler and a reliable moveable sniper that doubles as a sponge with a really good stopclick. The Hood is very playable in his 220-point setting, but the real revelation was the Red Wolf & Lobo combo - not quite Fantomex and EVA, but a more reasonable variation on the concept, but has meta potential. Someone to watch out for. This game took more than twelve turns to wrap up. No resources were used, so it's going to be interesting to see how the three will handle themselves with a Lantern Battery or Pandora's Box (and if Red Wolf & Lobo will see any meta-playing in tourneys).

Battle Report: the CW Flash cast VS the Inhumans

Build:

* 300 points

* My team: two STAR Labs Researchers, Vibe, and Barry Allen Flash from the gravity feed

* Opponent: Black Bolt, Gorgon, Magnus, and two Alpha Primitives

Map:

Keystone City map from THE FLASH OP kit

Report:

The Inhumans rolled for initiative and walked to half of the map's length. The STAR Labs Researchers granted Flash with Toughness and Precision Strike then Sidestepped to position. Vibe TKd Flash to the front, behind some cars, then Flash Hypersonic Speeded to hit Black Bolt, missing. Flash then rolled for Breakaway, got it, then ran back to safety.

The Inhumans just Perplexed each other then cleared. Vibe positioned himself closer to the fight to affect his opponents with the double power action token power. Flash and the researchers then just cleared themselves.

Gorgon then positioned himself overlooking Vibe to ready for his special Charge. Black Bolt retaliated against Flash, hitting. Magnus then released an Alpha Primitive, who then walked up to Vibe with his free move action and Charged, hitting Vibe and basing him.

One STAR Lab researcher Sidestepped to Flash and declared Defend, reducing Flash's Defense to 14, then rolled for Support. It hits and heals Flash of four clicks. The other researcher TKs Flash back to the fray, Flash then Hypersonic Speeds to Magnus, hitting him for two Damage. Flash rolls for Breakaway but fails. Flash then Outwits Bolt's Leadership, then Vibe clears.

Gorgon attacks Vibe, killing him. Maximus Outwits Flash's Outwit, then produces another Alpha Primitive.

Flash pushes to hit Black Bolt but fails. The two STAR Labs Reaserchers Sidestep to position. The Inhumans crowd on Flash and hit him, methodically Perplexing each other's Attacks and Damages. It kills him.

One STAR Labs Researcher Sidestepped and attacked one Alpha Primitive, missing. The other STAR Labs Researcher pushed herself and tried TKing a light object, but fails. Gorgon and the Alpha Primitive make mincemeat out of the two.

Winner:

The Inhumans won over my team. The STAR Labs Researchers have potential to be really good placement and support pieces with their Telekinesis and Support, arguably a bit better than Moira thanks to the TK. Vibe proves once again to be a potentially really good placement and support piece, able to handle himself at melee conditions. Sadly, the dice weren't too generous to me this game, and I consistently rolled really really low. The Barry Allen Flash needs replacing, I think. His 149 points for 2 Damage in the current setup of a lot of figs with damage reducers that reduce damage by 2 remains to be too high for too small returns. I'll probably do better with someone from the Crime Syndicate or WOL, real bruisers with more than 2 Davage, who have actual damage reducers and not just evasion. Still, a very good learning game.

Battle Report in Brief: The CW Flash and Arrow Characters with theCosmic Treadmill VS the Wrecking Crew with Pandora's Box

This is going to be brief: it was a fun game that went on for two hours, but we both did a number of mistakes in our gameplay, so it's not worth recounting in detail.

What's worth mentioning, though, is that the Pandora's Box is a pretty good support resource to round up figs that lack some certain powers and abilities to make them more viable for strategic things, all the while remaining reasonable and not abusive. The Sins themselves grant Sinners mainly placement bonuses - Combat Reflexes or Energy Shield/Deflection rounded off with Sidestep, with some Plasticity - while the dial granting only one other bonus power or ability - Probability Control, Phasing/Teleport, Running Shot. A good majority of the game is played with only two or three bonuses per fig - Sidestep, CR or ESD, then whatever power is activated in the dial - with no plusses on the combat ability values, up until you reach the end dial, something you'll only achieve if you fulfill certain conditions. I really really really like this resource. It appeals to how I play the game.

The Cosmic Treadmill, too, is a pretty good strategic addition. With its special Leadership power (all friendlies in the map clear one action token) and extra Probability Control, it's kinda like having an extra ATA for your whole team, and used well (and correctly) will give the player placement and attack advantage (but not to the point of unfairness). The main trick is to use it after you've given everyone their actions. If used well, you wouldn't have to push your figs at any turn, and you'll arguably have the option to do one or two extra actions every turn. Worth remembering is that the Cosmic Treadmill is not a resource nor a relic, but a 3D object, which means you can have this while having a Pandora's Box or a Sloth relic. This also means that even your opponent can use the Treadmill for its game advantages.

The MVP from my team was Firestorm, with his damage reducer trait (you ignore all damages from figs tapping a resource or relic when you roll 4-6, and only take one penetrating damage when you roll 1-3) more or less making him a pretty good sponge. If he has extra Damage powers like Combat Reflexes or Shape Change or Super Senses, he's going to be annoying quite a number of players. I think we'll be seeing him being used in some melee capacity in tourneys, likely with a power battery (maybe Star Sapphires' battery for the Shape Change, or the Red one with Decoy for the Giant Reach and Poison and Shape Change?). Tie-up potential for resource-and relic-heavy fights.

The second MVP was Vibe, with TK and traited Quake, a very good scrapper and melee support piece for his point value. I feel like we'll be seeing more of this guy in tourneys (maybe with Hammers or the Green Power Battery). Just imagine two of these guys with Willpower with a 100-point fig, like, say DEADPOOL booster Typhoid Mary, doing placement shenanigans by yoyo-ing Typhoid Mary with Telekinesis - one Vibe catapults Mary, Mary does her Charge-BCF combo, then the other Vibe pulls Mary back in - quite annoying!

A pretty decent team, but they need something to round them off, especially against a force with a complement of a resource. Ultimately, I lost to the Wrecking Crew, but it wasn't easy!