Saturday slips
The day's flying and isn't what I'd originally planned, though that isn't necessarily anything terrible.
Worn out by elements in the week, I suppose, I seriously slept in this morning. Nick isn't feeling well and has been sleeping much of the day, too. So, I shifted the general plans for movies and a visit to my mom to Sunday, and I've mostly been knocking out time around the house while thunder rumbles and downpours of rain have come with greater frequency. It's a good day to be indoors and low key.
I'll still have a light shopping trip to do today, and more serious cleaning around the house than I've done thusfar.
The rest of this post is Heroclix-based, so stay or move on as appropriate.
Today's mail brought two of the Heroclix LE's I was expecting, bringing important elements to two teams. I'm going to briefly look at each by comparing the LE to the nearest point value version in the REV.
For the Teen Titans, I picked up the Tim Drake LE, a version of the third and current Robin, of Batman & fame.
The veteran Robin is 5 pts more than the Tim Drake LE, and for the most part he's worth the difference. He's faster and a surer combatant between the higher Speed and Attack values, and he has the up-front Willpower, Incapacitate and Outwit to make him a threat.The 60 pt Tim Drake version is a stealthier piece, leading with three clicks of Leadership - opening the Inspiring Command option for him - and Stealth, making him more of a supporting piece at first. He keeps the 2 Damage twice as long as the veteran version, and has a 7th click of consciousness whereas the vet only has 6. The two clicks of back-end Outwit along with the Leap/Climb and Willpower allow Tim to be very useful to his team even after he's no longer much of a direct threat. He can get where he needs to be to turn off a dangerous ability or help a teammate past an opponent's defenses.
Chances are, in most instances I'd play the vet over the LE, but the newer piece does offer some distinct opportuntities the vet doesn't.
Next is a look at the Armor Wars Tony Stark. At 150 points it's only 15 points more than the experienced but 22 points less than the veteran. Since the experienced version was made without a team affiliation - meant to represent a period when Iron Man was wrapped up in other matters and not part of the Avengers. These factors combined, I decided to compare the LE with the experienced version.
The sheer fact that the LE provides that Avengers team affiliation was an important factor for me. The Speed values for both pieces are nearly identical. Tony's attack values hold a higher level at mid-dial, and he also has two clicks of Pulse Wave, a power absent on the experienced version. The experienced version keeps Invulnerability for a third click, while Tony shifts to Toughness by the third click, which seems consistent with Tony being the superior, single-target damage-dealer -- the Tony Stark version is more focused on an opponent, potentially to the point of putting himself at greater risk.Tony has Outwit on his third, and sixth through eighth clicks, a power the experienced version lacks. The experienced version has four clicks of Perplex, enabling him to change one of his or another clix's stats so long as he can see them and they're within 10 spaces of him. Tony Stark only has one, but it's right up front and since he also has Outwit it provides an opportunity for a risky move: Brilliant Tactician. For 20 points, Tony Stark gets the ability - so long as he stays on that first click - to change one stat on every other Avenger (or wildcard copying that TA) on his team at the same time. It's a free action, too, so he could do it every turn. Of course, it makes Tony an even bigger target, to simply be knocked off that first click or have someone outwit his Perplex, either of which would shut this option down.
The only solid deficiency I find in the LE when comparing it to the experienced version is that Tony only has a single target. Being able to target more than one opponent in this game provides some important options, between not only the obvious opportunity to whittle down two targets at once, but it also allows one to target both and easy target and a difficult one. The game's mechanics allow one to decide how to distribute the damage points after the attack roll is made, so if the roll of the dice allows the more difficult target to be hit, it can be hit, but if not then at least he might be able to give the damage to the easier (lower Defense value) target.
To be fair, once one considers putting that 20 pt. Brilliant Tactician on Tony, making it a 170 pt. piece, it begs comparison to the 172 pt. veteran. The veteran is arguably the superior piece. Faster, delivering a surer hit, two targets... it's really just that lack of a click of Perplex that's reduces its options.Still, it's all about the options in these games, so I'm happy to have an Avengers TAed version at 150 points, and to have added both of these to my repertoire.
Comments
On the other hand, the extra movement and higher attack value on the Vet would make it a tough choice for me... I'd probably end up just using the Vet Cap for my Perplexing in most Avengers squads. Sure would be nice if Brilliant Tactician hadn't caused Seth to start being so miserly with Perplex and Outwit clicks on the same dial, though.
Of course, part of me is already wondering what the Thor-as-Avenger options will be once Supernova comes out, not to mention once whatever Thor LE he comes up for it starts to make the rounds.
I'm still aiming to steer clear of them -- it isn't as if I'll have one in my hand before sometime in October anyway. Better for me not to know until then. Undoubtedly there'll be some disappointments - stats that are lacking or which versions the Avengers TA is and isn't placed on, and what's done with the LE, but all that is already set in stone. They're already at some late stage (if not finished) with setting up the first DC set of 2007 after all.