Avert My Gaze!
Okay, today Wizkids is going to officially begin putting things in the Supernova gallery. (Click on the link as you wish, I'm going to keep from doing so, setting this up while there's still nothing in there.)
This is going to wear on me faster than even I'd expected, and I'll need a release valve. (Update: Which I've since turned open.)
The set's going to hit retail shops November 15th, the pre-release is October 28th, a gaming magazine (Inquest?) will have a full pictorial view of the sculpts and opening stats for the set one or more weeks before that, and who knows how rapidly Wizkids will spill the beans once they get rolling?
Even casual contact with the boards - something I like to maintain so I'm aware of various changes and special offers - will see me knowing the names of all the characters in the set well before I any of them in my hand. I knew this from the start.
While not knowing would have been nice on some level, it's not going to work. Keeping myself from seeing sculpts, point costs and dials is something I have fuller control over, and it's the poring over those views and stats that really takes the fun out of opening boosters. I know I will eventually break down and start looking through the gallery in a moment of weakness if I try to keep myself completely in the dark.
So... I'm on the verge of letting myself read the updates for Boneyard's list of confirmed and rumored characters and items for the set. (I can't link to there from here because Wizkids boards require a separate platform launch, which requires a sign-in, and I'm not going anywhere near HC Realms where he also posts because they plaster images all over their site.
At the moment I'm too wobbly from my blasted-to-Hell sleep schedule to concentrate on even something as trivial as all this. If I decide to go through with looking at the names on Boneyard's list later today, I'll update this post.
Update: Okay, I decided to look at the current list Boneyard has up.
I'm a bit rushed at the moment, so I won't start in on general commentary on the list.
However, the list in general looks promising, and looking at it allowed me the freedom to look at the gallery to to the degree that I can see the names of those put in -- I just won't be clicking on them to look at the sculpts and stats. Knowing that there will be an REV of the Surfer is appealing, but I'm going to leave it at that. Anyone who wants to know what he looks like or what his stats are can now do so, though comments I've picked up indicate that there may be some errors concerning the number of targets.
An exception to my no peek approach is the New Guy Night Iron Man, because that's a special give-away piece I'll be picking up in October. Indications are that his stats are a little off, too, because Seth said he had two targets while the gallery is only showing one. Hopefully Seth's right and two targets will be shown on his base.This Iron Man is hardly one of my favorite versions of his armor, and reminds me mostly of a stretch of issues where his comic was one of a small group that was being printed on a whiter-than-white stock of paper that made the colors look like day-glo paints. Still, it's odd how little things can strike a nostalgic chord, and he did sport this version for a fair stretch of time, so it's a nice item to add to the mix.
Providing it actually is two targets -- and Iron Man should always have two targets for his ranged attack -- it's a nice addition at 160 points. Some quibbles that he should have a click of Impervious and/or an 18 Defense could be made, but this is still a reasonable representation for Iron Man, and it'll be a good one to add to the collection.The two targets issue is a major point, though. If it's a single target his utility drops enormously, especially with that Incapacitate & Running Shot combination he has on his first three clicks. Being able to possibly add a token to two targets in a single move is a big deal in this game. It also makes the Energy Explosion he gets later much more likely to see use. Hopefully this will be corrected in everyone's favor soon.
As for me... I have to run.
Comments
(Okay, I know from the comments that it's a Silver Surfer REV and the New Guy Night Silver Centurion spacefaring armor Iron Man wore during Operation Galactic Storm.)
The full dials and images are due in the gallery by sometime Saturday morning due to some software changes causing some problems.
I'll go over and look for the dials now, but I'm not expecting them to actually be there as yet. If they are, I'll keep the details to myself.
Yeah, I'd almost forgotten that this Iron Man suit was also the same period as the West Coast Avengers team.
The one color per slot simplicity of the game design does make accurate representation all but impossible, hence things like the trade-off of Incapacitate and Energy Explosion for something like Super Strength, which should be inherent. Given those limitations, though, I much prefer what's been done here over the thought of a dial with green in the Attack slot. The rationale we're being offered here (presumably) is that this is a high tech guy with ranged attacks who's much more likely to blast someone with his repulsors than he is to pick up a car and try to smash someone with it. Sure, he should be able to do it, but at this stage of the game how often did he? Having the option not be available though, I agree, does feel wrong.
As for the Surfer details -- I'll have to wait for November (or at least late October, if I hit a pre-release Oct. 28th and someone happens to pull one.