The Tease of Things I Don't Need

Some more Heroclix -- mostly Origin

Continuing the dribs and drabs approach to advance info, I have a few things today. I'll start with today's official sneak peek for Origin, then move onto a few scans of sculpts from Origin courtesy of Inquest magazine, along with a block showing the sculpts in the B.P.R.D. set coming this spring.

Curiously, they decided to follow up last week's Supergirl with another female: Phantom Lady. (That link takes you to the designer's notes, which I'll refer you to if you want to know more about the character since the REV represents two different people.)

Seth's decided to represent the Freedom Fighters and All-Star Squadron members with the JSA TA, so they can share the Defense number of adjacent JSA members (or wildcards)... and if they get some good ones this will come in handy. That quibble aside, all three have the JSA Team Ability, and all three are grounded pieces.

First is the 35 point rookie.

She leads with Stealth and Super Senses -- something all three versions do. All three versions lack any special movement power, so without a feat to help her or a teammate to carry her she's not going to be able to negotiate hindering terrain very well, nor deal with elevation changes. Phantom Lady has to take the stairs.

The Super Senses overlaid on her 16 Defense, along with the leading click of Stealth may help her avoid attacks as she tries to get close enough to make a difference. The opening click of Incapacitate gives her the potential to affect any opposing piece, even if she lacks the muscle to do direct harm. The Range of 4 limits the likelihood of her delivering it from a distance, but if it's a map with close quarters and some hindering terrain for her to hide on, it may work out perfectly. Unfortunately she only has that Incapacitate & Stealth combination on her first click. Her third and fourth clicks have Close Combat Expert, however, so she could potentially deal 3 clicks of damage on those clicks. For her final two clicks she gains Combat Reflexes, making her tougher to hit by someone adjacent to her, so in her last moments she's structured as a tie-up piece.

Next, we have the 45 pt. experienced version.
Here, for 10 points more than the rookie we see much more come into play. This version still sneaks up on an opponent, but - while having her range increased to 6 - she's much more interested in getting up close to an opponent and doing some damage in close combat, including an opening click of Close Combat Expert. By her second and third clicks she's gained Combat Reflexes, raising her Defense Values to 18 and 17 for someone she's wrassling with, and picking up corresponding clicks of Flurry, enabling her to make two close combat attacks in the same turn. As an extra point of defense on these two clicks she also get Shape Change, which could enable her to fool an opponent into thinking she's friendly, forcing them to do something other than attack her.

On her fourth and fifth clicks she gets Incapacitate, enabling her to potentially stun any opponent with her Black Ray. Overlapping these two as part of her final three clicks, she returns to Super Senses and Close Combat Expert, albeit the latter is combined with a 0 Damage, so if she focuses she can deliver 2 clicks of damage.

Then there's the 62 pt veteran version.

This modern version keeps the 6 Range and gains a second target, and picks up four leading clicks of Incapacitate to go with it, making her a prime choice. Incapacitate and multiple targets are always a plus.

She starts with four clicks of Super Senses -- the first two of which overlay a 17 Defense -- so she's aiming to stay loose and avoid attacks while she tries to get close enough to perhaps stun two opponents at once.

She keeps the experienced version's clicks of Flurry on the second and third slots, but as with the rookie she doesn't go in for a clinch, trying to pin down and tie up an opponent until her final clicks, where the 1 Damage and Close Combat Expert give her the potential to be an up-close threat, although some of the wind has gone out of her sails and she'll need to roll well to make it work with those closing clicks of 7 Attack Values.

An interesting assortment of pieces at low enough costs to potentially fit onto any team. Not necessarily a dazzling sneak peek, but perhaps some sign that Origin will be at least in part a well-rounded utility set as DC gets a chance (with two sets this year) to fill in their rosters.

Next week, we're told to come back "...for another classic character from the set, and a surprise that will really show why the set marks the beginning of the HeroClix 5th Anniversary celebration!"

We'll see.

Now, onto the previews from Inquest magazine. No costs or dials here, but - for better or worse - you get to see how a few pieces look.

Another character reaching back to the 1940s
Here on the left -- and for better or worse I've left in the related text and graphics Inquest presented them with -- is a very Golden Age sculpt of Alan Scott, comics' original Green Lantern.

That they decided to go with such a 1940s art-based sculpt for Alan is unfortunate, since he's a character who's still active today. The period art is quaint, but in so many respects "Golden Age" is such a misnomer. In this case we've had somewhat shapeless artwork inspire a 3D representation, and ended up with Alan Scott having something of a half moon face if the angle shown is any indication.

Next we have a Batman sculpt representing, once more, an early appearance for the character. You might not believe the number of intense discussions I've witnessed as fans dissect why this is and isn't an accurate representation, based on everything of the size of the ears and the emblem on his chest to the color, length and style of gloves. It starts to border on Queer Eye on the Comic Book Guy.

Reportedly, this sculpt may also be the one we'll see given out at comics shops for this year's Free Comic Book Day, which falls on May 5 this year, the same weekend Spider-Man 3 comes out.

Then, we have Wildcat, with a moderately characteristic -- though hardly as kinetic as I'd hoped for -- martial pose. I'm curious to see how this looks in person, as the detail we can see looks good, but the his costume's mostly black and the angle shown isn't the best.

What any of the dials will be for these is still unknown, and with a single character preview per week -- maybe we'll be lucky and someone will toss out a special bonus for Valentine's Day the week after next -- we may not find out any of those specifics until at least March 3rd.

Sometime this spring a B.P.R.D. (Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense) action pack set will be coming out. Originally intended to be a Collector's Set, it has a group of allies from the bureau, including their most famous member: Hellboy. (I talked a little about the group when I reviewed a recent trade collection -- it was the last of the items I covered.)

Reading the descriptions for each will give you a little background on the team and underscore how none of them are quite human.

Am I thrilled that they decided to make a Hellbaby? No, not especially. I would've preferred some other character, even if they'd dipped into their enemies for a lopsided presentation. Still, this was created as a themed set for collectors and not a balanced for self-contained play Action Pack, so I understand the choice. Also, Hellbaby has an extra kitsch appeal, perhaps, and I've already seen at least one person who started to look favorably on the set primarily because of that piece.

These pieces will come dual-coded for play in both Heroclix and Horrorclix - each receiving Horrorclix cards - so both games will see a boost.