The Battle of Coulda Shoulda
I went over to Abbygal and Crypt Leak's place Saturday afternoon for a Heroclix game.
They'd been gracious enough to invite me over for this, a game they hadn't played before, along with food, drink and both their fine company and that of several, furry pals.
On the plus side, I tried to cut down the set-up time by bringing pre-built teams, heroes and villains. That much was good. Beyond - and even within - that, I made a number of mistakes.
I didn't pull together an all-female team of powerhouses as one of the alternatives, however, which would have come in handy. Taking five extra minutes to cobble together an all-female team using the femmes I'd brought along as a base for that would have been worth it. We simply got going with the game setup heading for 4pm, and I felt every delay from me was dragging things out.
There were only three of us, since Eric was tied up with a sudden, Saturday assignment that quickly turned from morning work into a full day. I'd pulled together an X-Men and a Brotherhood team for him, depending upon how good or evil he was feeling.
Due to my not thinking through the process sufficiently I let A. take the middle spot, as the bottom of the "u" formed by our three teams. This meant she was the team to engage for both CL and me. That should have been the spot I took, making myself the common target. Consequently, A.'s team received entirely too much unfriendly attention, and despite their high, common Defense were whittled down.
Her team of choice was:
Sue Storm LE 49 ptsThe Lockjaw/Medusa team tied up Valkyrie & Nighthawk, and both the Torch and Spidey managed to do some damage, but not enough in one place to get her victory points -- just enough to soften a several of my pieces enough to make them easier picking for the next team...
Mr. Fantastic E 62 pts + Brilliant Tactician 20 pts + Pounce 15 pts + Swingline 10 pts = 107 pts
Human Torch V 102 pts + Armor Piercing 10 pts = 112 pts
The Thing V 128 pts + Unstoppable 5 pts = 133 pts
Medusa U 57 pts
Lockjaw V 38 pts
Spider-man V 58 pts + Pounce 15 pts + Swingline 10 pts
Rip It Up and the Alternate TA for the Fantastic Four as separate Feats.
CL chose the team I'd built with him largely in mind, a Defenders team:
Dr. Strange vet 110 ptsThe mistake I made with this team was in not putting Double-Time on Hulk. I don't know what I was thinking. He really needs something to help rush him a couple clicks into his dial within his first two clicks. Patsy Walker should have been left behind so Hulk could have that... and hey, why not Shellhead, too, to make him even more difficult to hit when he's pushed? I didn't want the team to be too small in a 600 pt build.
Nighthawk vet 60 pts
Valkyrie vet 71 pts
Silver Surfer 173 pts + Automatic Regeneration 12 = 185
Hulk Exp 117 pts + Pounce 15pts + Unstoppable 5 pts = 137 pts
Patsy Walker LE 37 pts
That team did best by far, though, but poor Hulk wasn't good for much but being a tie-up piece a few moves into the game.
I went with a team of B-list villains, smaller point values on average so it was larger than the others. All but one of which was from Sinister, and so were ones I was anxious to try out:
Electro exp. 49 pts + Armor Piercing 10 pts = 59...which turned out to be more effective than I'd expected. The Wizard was extremely useful in both being a telekinetic launcher and a ready source of Perplex. Electro and even Trapster, Speed Demon and the giant, charging Stiltman were useful, each delivering damage. The Vulture delivered the coup de grace to Spidey, and Bullseye was devastating in general even against 18+ Defenses.
Stilt Man 57 pts
Vulture exp 41 pts
Speed Demon 53 pts + Thunderbolts (to Sinister Syndicate) 5pts + Armor Piercing 10 pts = 68 pts
Hydro Man exp 57 pts + Entangle 8 pts = 65 pts
Bullseye vet 65 pts + Armor Piercing 10 pts = 75 pts
Wizard exp. 74 pts
Trapster vet 59 pts + Stunning Blow 10 pts + Armor Piercing 10 pts = 79 pts
Beetle vet 78 pts
We kept it to three actions per turn (though CL got every bit of use out of Nighthawk's Leadership) to reduce the likelihood that anyone would be swarmed.
Also, if we end up doing this again, a scenario where low-level traps and objects of power are mixed with the objects on the board and placed randomly, face down. They'd be turned over when a charcter lands on that square. Objects of power could be carried by anyone, and getting them back to one's starting area would be the aim, each one being worth, perhaps, 100 points. If someone carryone one takes any damage, the object is dropped into an adjacent square.
A few best-fit ideas are to be worked out, but that should make it much more interesting and make it less of a matter of looking for a likely victim.
Either a time limit for the game or a set number of rounds would be a good idea, too.
I slept far too little Saturday morning, the day that followed rolled on into around 3 or so Sunday morning, so Sunday ended up a layabout day for most of it.
Now... Monday's rushing at us all. But, first, we have new episodes of Deadwood and the Venture Brothers between us and the predatory evils of another work week.
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Comments
I would really like to play another game. One request--may we start a little earlier so that I'm not dozing off near the end? I'm sorry about that.
Come back any time. Our casa su casa.
Your generous coaching to the n00bs was much appreciated. It'll be some time before either of us reaches a self-sufficient plateau.
The ever-affable Eric left after The 4400.
He didn't get to take the bookcases this time after all... He'll be back!
He also mentioned he'd enjoy trying a Heroclix game next time.
At least he got some Abner's Barbecue leftovers and got to see the Batgirl pilot.
Awright- Monday's almost here and it ain't learned to tie its bootlace.
Yes, definitely, an earlier start would be in order. The turns will go more quickly as you'd taken in many of the rules by the end of that game, though we can always set a time limit for individual turns and/or the game itself, too.
I did have both an X-Men (Prof. X, Cyclops, Wolverine, Marvel Girl,Gambit, Domino, Storm & Nightcrawler) and a Brotherhood team (Magneto, Pyro, Rogue, Sabretooth, Scarlet Witch and Juggernaut) ready if Eric had shown up. Maybe I should have offered one of those to A. as either one would have been more aggressive. Still, she picked a fairly good one with a sound, central strategy. She was simply in a bad spot, sitting as best targets for both of us. A fourth player to help even the heat out and a scenario where we're after objects of power on the field would both help keep that from happening.
I'll retool the Defenders team along the lines of the notes mentioned in the piece, to come up with a more potent Hulk. Along with the Double-Time I might even work in a different Hulk, caclulating what the Defenders TA would cost and adding that into the mix. There's a 99 pt. Leaping version who would be able to start using Pounce by his second click and could do it up to three times if he can rest between turns, but he might be otherwise a little weaker; I'll compare them and make a decision. You might want to play a different team then or take another crack with the same now that many of the rules are familiar, so I'll plan for either option. I left the physical gathering of the teams until too late into my weekend, though, and time was unforgiving when I couldn't find this bit or that.
E stayed 'til after The 4400? Impressive enough for a Sunday night, especially given the early hour at least E & A had to get up Monday. Did you get some Guillotine worked into the day, too?
Well, it's your place, so it's up to you two when the next free Saturday will be; I'll bring snacks and at least some food the next time so you two don't constantly get stuck with that. Generally, Saturday's an open day for me, so it's your call.
Of course, if it was me, I'd have started them out playing under my House Rules, so they would never have had a chance to learn how to play correctly. On the other hand, Hulk would have been more immediately useful... although I agree, he greatly benefits from a Double Time or a Haymaker to allow him to better control how he advances through his dial.
For the sake of being able to refer to the current (Danger Room) rules for most things I've stuck with the official rules, though I wouldn't be surprised to find some house rules become standard.
I'd considered Haymaker, too, but between the other Feats and the -1 to his Attack Value I decided against it. Next time, though, I believe I'll substitute the 110 pt vet Mutant Mayhem Hulk for the exp. IC one, drop Pounce, keep Unstoppable, add Double-Time and Shellhead, and add 1 point more for the Defenders TA (it's tiny), so that's 131 points and even Patsy Walker can stay.
That way Hulk can rush out, clicking onto his first Hulked-up stats and be able to Charge in for an attack on his second move, leaving him with two tokens so Shellhead can pump his Defense +2 after that second move. If Nighthawk flies Valkyrie out into the same general area around the same time then Hulk'll have some back-up to prevent him being so quickly ganged up on.
Maybe swap Patsy Walker out and put a vet Hellcat in instead, since the Hulk swap leaves me with some extra points... perhaps with Vault on her, too. Or... cannibalize her points completely to give the Surfer Fortitude and Armor Piercing.
Sadly, no heads were chopped off. Piss Boy lives to tote chamber pots another day.
Hey, I was willing to leave Patsy Walker behind on the gazebo.