Okay, Axis, Here They Come!
Well, one of the Invaders, to start.
Though we knew he was coming as part of the set, Wizkids spilled all the info on the clix version of Toro, the original Human Torch's sidekick.
It's all pretty much there. Aside from the special power (and it's a fairly cool one, though it's yet another guarantee that no one will play him without Armor Piercing) it's largely what we'd expect from a rookie version of a Human Torch, save for the clicks of Toughness. So, he's a bit easier to hit up front than we'd probably like, but he can take a little punishment. His special power makes him potentially useful for the final three click when his stats would otherwise suggest his role was reduced to taxi.
At 64 points he's a bit pricier than I'd want - in part, I'm sure, the price of a special power that doesn't have a usage penalty - and it makes him a little less likely he'll find his way onto a 300 pt team, but it's an interesting addition.
The Defenders TA is being used as the surrogate for the Invaders (a WWII super team), making many of us curious which of the Invaders will have the best Defense (Defenders can share the defense of an adjacent Defender) and whether or not there'll be an Alternate TA Feat in Avengers, letting the Invaders take on more of a distinct personality.
Below is the card, noting him as a rookie (yellow background to the sculpt) and an uncommon (the green behind the piece number at the top right of the back of the card.)
Oh, while I'm at this, I should mention the confirmation of snazzy new packaging, including a single, special tray that all of the bases will be set into. We'll see how they translate into reality, but they're looking good from here. (To save you any trouble if you were considering it, all of the pieces in the shots are ones we've already had previewed - Red Skull, Taskmaster, Black Panther, Shang Chi and Ultimate Iron Man.)
Well, one of the Invaders, to start.
Though we knew he was coming as part of the set, Wizkids spilled all the info on the clix version of Toro, the original Human Torch's sidekick.
It's all pretty much there. Aside from the special power (and it's a fairly cool one, though it's yet another guarantee that no one will play him without Armor Piercing) it's largely what we'd expect from a rookie version of a Human Torch, save for the clicks of Toughness. So, he's a bit easier to hit up front than we'd probably like, but he can take a little punishment. His special power makes him potentially useful for the final three click when his stats would otherwise suggest his role was reduced to taxi.
At 64 points he's a bit pricier than I'd want - in part, I'm sure, the price of a special power that doesn't have a usage penalty - and it makes him a little less likely he'll find his way onto a 300 pt team, but it's an interesting addition.
The Defenders TA is being used as the surrogate for the Invaders (a WWII super team), making many of us curious which of the Invaders will have the best Defense (Defenders can share the defense of an adjacent Defender) and whether or not there'll be an Alternate TA Feat in Avengers, letting the Invaders take on more of a distinct personality.
Below is the card, noting him as a rookie (yellow background to the sculpt) and an uncommon (the green behind the piece number at the top right of the back of the card.)
Oh, while I'm at this, I should mention the confirmation of snazzy new packaging, including a single, special tray that all of the bases will be set into. We'll see how they translate into reality, but they're looking good from here. (To save you any trouble if you were considering it, all of the pieces in the shots are ones we've already had previewed - Red Skull, Taskmaster, Black Panther, Shang Chi and Ultimate Iron Man.)
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Comments
I'm very pleased with Toro, more so because the general consensus over at HCRealms seems to be that he'll be able to put one of his Smoke Screen/Firewall squares up on an opponent's square, and the opponent will take the damage from it.
That's how it would work under my House Rules, but it certainly doesn't seem to be the intent of the text on the card, and I'm wondering how quickly WK will shoot down this interpretation. I mean, if you can use the power this way, then that means it will actually be somewhat EFFECTIVE -- if some flyer is carting a rookie Invisible Girl around with them just for the Defense, you could nail both of them for a point without making a successful attack roll, especially with AP on Toro. It seems wildly unlikely WK is going to allow shenanigans like that. So I'm wondering how quickly the FAQ is going to come out saying 'uh, no, TORO's special Smoke Screen power doesn't allow that'.
I can't say I think much of the sculpt as pictured, but maybe it looks better in person. Or maybe people should put Carl Burgos on the list along with Martin Nodell of "artists whose work we aren't going to try to model sculpts after".
Toro's going to have to wrap it around a single target to work, I can almost guarantee; there's nothing on the card nor in the rules to suggest otherwise.
Not pertinent to Toro, but still awaited (well, at least it was at the start of the week) was word on how the changes to Object damage will affect Pounce.
The core concept is that Objects used to add to Damage Dealt, and so were exempt from the Rule of 3. Hence we could have a Superman with 5 Damage, perplexed up by 3 to 8, then carrying the soda machine (which is a heavy object, and so 2 damage, +1 as a bonus) for an 11 hit. Redefining it as adding to the Damage Value now means that the most someone with super strength can add to his Damage is 3.
So far I'm on board. The 11-Damage whack is very popular with some, and while Super Strength could use some help in some quarters (which is got this time out, as having it means one can destroy walls and objects even if he has a 1 Damage showing) it was becoming ridiculous with Perplex AND Object damage.
However, there's a rumble that this new shift could screw with Pounce, potentially making it impossible for someone to use Super Strength with the Feat unless one only has a 1 Damage showing on the dial and is just picking up a light object. The reasoning makes only slightly more sense than the nonsense being enthusiastically promulgated for Toro, so I'm hoping it'll be shot down, and Pouncers with 2 Damage showing and Super Strength will still be able to deliver 5 clicks of damage due to adding a heavy object and the +1 for Pounce.
...none of that being a concern for you.
Their photographer retains a gift for most unappealing angle, so while this one may still end up looking ugly I'm not ready to say so based on one of their photos. The shot of the Wasp in her early Silver Age costume - the face in particular - is frightening, and I definitely hope she comes out looking much better in person.
X SMOKE CLOUD (OPTIONAL): Give this character a power action; place up to four
hindering terrain markers on the battlefield within this character’s range. Each hindering terrain
marker must be placed adjacent to another hindering terrain marker created by this character. If this
character has a range of 0, it can place the markers only in the square it occupies and/or in adjacent
squares. This character must have a clear line of fire to at least one of the hindering terrain markers.
These markers can’t be placed on blocking terrain but can be placed on hindering terrain or in squares occupied by characters. These terrain markers remain in place until the beginning of your next turn or until this power is countered or lost. A soaring character can’t use this power.
Had to find the Legion Power Card at HCREalms, copy all, paste into Word, find Smoke Cloud, copy that, paste it here... arggggghhhhh.... all this, because I can't stand not finishing something once I start it....
Anyway, I was rather stunned myself to see this on the Legion PAC, and said "hey, this is a change nobody seems to be aware of", and went back to the DANGER ROOM rules to see if they had the old text. Nope. Smoke Cloud was updated there, too. I haven't gone back any further, but at least for a while now, you've been able to put Smoke Cloud markers up on occupied squares.
Still, an exact reading of the card seems to indicate that all four Smoke Markers have to be adjacent to a character, and unless there' s a special FAQ that says "the square you're on counts as adjacent", then, no, this isn't going to work. Other than under my House Rules, where it will, because a Fire Wall SHOULD do damage.
Ah! This is another of those things that got by me. Until just recently I'd forgotten that one could make a Telekinetic "attack" against an opponent where the opposing piece is simply moved -- no damage delivered. Obviously, with Smoke Cloud I was confusing the mechanics with the moronic Barrier ones that don't allow it to be placed on hindering or in an occupied square.
Okay, well, I could see that the space under a character should reasonably count as adjacent, so one might be able to use this against two characters adjacent at once, placing a smoke marker under each and then the other two so that they would be connecting on a side and a diagonal to one and the other piece. That's something that'll have to be ruled on. If he can do that then he'll see plenty of play. It'll be fun to smoke/burn stealthed pieces out of hindering.
Okay... back to work.