Dyspeptic Duos?
[Now completed.]
On HCRealms someone spotted an ad on Newsarama that ran a week early, and captured this ad image, the lower part of which may show us the first of the Duo Character pieces we'll be seeing in the game.
I'm disappointed because I'd hoped the mechanic would be held exclusively for characters who were physically linked or who simply don't operate more than a few feet from each other. Cap & Bucky, though? If it's true, then it's a shoo-in that we'll be seeing a Batman & Robin duo in a DC set.
What is, is, so I'll roll with it and try to make the best of the combination as it's presented. Hopefully the combined dial will be both formidable and economical, as it allows two actions to be taken in the same turn... but any time I try fielding it I know I'm going to keep fighting the impulse to want Bucky to circle around back of the enemies while Cap waits a few moments and then rushes them head-on.
Hopefully most of the characters done as Duos will be like Hammer & Anvil or Warstar - characters who are physically linked or generally wouldn't act more than a few feet from each other. Some of the clever suggestions have been the Blood Brothers - who were really only powerful when near each other, and - though it would be way too soon - Falcon & Redwing. (Thanks to The Bunnyman for noting that I'd gotten one interruption too many and had published the post without finishing it.)
In a reported conversation someone had with set designer Seth Johnson over lunch, which included some other snippets of discussion other fans had with him, some of the intent behind Duo figures came out, as in this bit four posts into the thread:
I did ask him about the Duo figures and whether we'd be more likely to see figures that there are multiples of like Multiple Man or Triplicate Girl or if it would be more like two individual heroes that work together often like Batman and Robin. He said it would probably be more like Batman and Robin because with Multiple Man he likes to have a bunch of Multiple Man figures out there instead of just one that simulates his multiplying capabilities.So, it appears that the Multiple Man/Triplicate Girl mechanic is not what he'd be looking to use this mechanic for.
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Comments
Looking closely, the wings on Cap's cowl (in the picture of what's probably the figure's sculpt itself) look very nearly large enough to allow him to be put on a flight stand.
Which leads me to wonder, will there ever be any Duo Characters on flight stands? Duo Damsel should certainly have been a Duo Character; it's a pity she came out just a little too early for the mechanism. In fact, it seems like it was almost designed just for her, and then got delayed.
Maybe we can get a Captain Marvel/Rick Jones figure, from late in the Englehart run when they were adventuring in space together. (Slim hope, I know, but I'll grasp any straw to get an actual Rick figure.)
A Batman and Robin Duo Character figure in JUSTICE LEAGUE is inevitable, yes. And would be a lot of fun, if Robin were going to be in his classic costume, but he won't.
Hammer and Anvil, and Warstar, are good candidates for the subclass. I'm trying to think of others. Maybe... Tweedledum and Tweedledee?
I'm taking it that the Cap & Bucky sculpt is supposed to be as "period" as they could make it.
The duo pieces will almost certainly be fun to field, and offer some options, but I'll be feeling the artificial restriction of an invisible tether. Hopefully they're not over-costed. The dials will be interesting to take in. Also, to the list of Duo hopes I'll add that I hope they use this very sparingly. One Duo piece in Avengers will be quite enough.
I worry when I see some threads where people are going ga-ga over the concept, looking for Hal & Ollie, Cage & Iron Fist, and Cloak & Dagger. Each would have something to offer, but do we really want to make each of these pairs into three-legged race participants?