Prophet and Toaster's Weird Heroclix Teams

So in this installment, I present an idea for a team that is composed of both Marvel and DC characters. Both comic book universes feature heroes and villains who run their own corporations and as such are extremely rich. So in a build that represents “the 1%” of the comic book industry, I present:

Big Business

So we begin with the hero who is probably most well known for having his own company, Bruce Wayne AKA Batman. There are a ton of Batman pieces in Heroclix, but I have narrowed it down to one of my favorites… the Justice League: New 52 Batman. First thing’s first, he comes with Indomitable. This is a must for this team as there isn’t a lot of permanent willpower to go around. For 119 points, he is a true force to be reckoned with. This Batman also features Outwit and Perplex at various points in his dial (both powers seem to be a running theme to this team). His movement powers start with Charge, continues with mid-dial Flurry and ends with 2 clicks of Running Shot. What I like best is that this Batman begins with a 17 Defense with a Special Power granting him both Toughness and Combat Reflexes which combined with the stealthy Batman Team Ability this Batman will be very tough to beat. 

(For one point more, if you have the piece, you could use the Arkham Asylum chase “Lamp-post” Batman. It is awesome and being a true chase, like 1 per several cases, 'The G-D Batman' (as Jonny calls the piece) is very pricey so not many will have it.)

The next piece to this Big Business team is also its powerhouse… Iron Man. I am going with the veteran version of Tony Stark’s “bodyguard” from the Marvel 10^th Anniversary set. This Iron Man is, in my opinion, the best available due to his vast variety of powers. First and foremost, he has Indomitable. He also has an 8 range with 2 targets, which will come in handy with Energy Explosion, Psychic Blast, a Special Power that grants Pulse Wave and Perplex and another that gives him Outwit and the Sharpshooter ability. Combine that with serious damage reducers and Running Shot, this Iron Man is easily going to take a bite out of the opposition.

Now we move on to the most well known villain to run his own company… Lex Luthor. There are several Luthors to choose from and I had a hard time deciding on the right one. I considered the one from the old Justice League set, which is decent but expensive by modern standards. I also considered the Robot Suit Luthor from DC 10^th Anniversary, but I figured with Iron Man being a better robo-suit guy, I would go more basic and support oriented. In the end, to keep the total build under 1000 points, I went with the Fast Forces Superman Luthor. He’s simple, but brings a lot to the force. Stealth helps him stay in the shadows while providing Enhancement, then Perplex. His last two clicks have a combination of Charge and Exploit Weakness with Willpower, for when “shit gets real.”

So we move from one mad scientist CEO to another with Dr. Sivana, the arch-nemesis of Captain Marvel or as he is now known… Shazam! Sivana was at one point the CEO of Sivana Industries, but I am unsure if he runs a company in the New 52 reboot. However, this piece represents him from the previous continuity as a creepy, evil, gangly old man. The only Heroclix appearance he has made was in Crisis, but it is a vicious piece. In addition to Perplex and Outwit, Dr. Sivana has a Special Power that grants Barrier, Energy Explosion, Phasing/Teleport, Psychic Blast, Pulse Wave, Quake, Smoke Cloud, and Support. So anything he needs to bring to the fight, he pretty much has.

Next is Marvel’s apparent version of Lex Luthor, Norman Osborn. Rather than doing the Alter Ego thing, I decided to just go with a Green Goblin. Despite the 2 clicks of Earthbound in the middle of its dial, I went with the Marvel 10^th Anniversary veteran version. Why? Because that Green Goblin has a Special Power that gives him Energy Explosion with penetration damage. Using that with his 5 range and 2 targets, that is a Goblin that can do some serious damage! Plus, he has Outwit, Perplex and Blades/Claws/Fangs at various points on his dial. He should definitely be effective.

Changing gears a tad, we move on the boss of Kord Industries, Ted Kord AKA the Blue Beetle (the dead one). I don’t really get why DC decided not to resurrect Ted for the New 52 since it seemed like they regretted killing him off, but whatever. He lives on in Heroclix! This version, again from the DC 10^th Anniversary set (I seem to go to this and Marvel’s 10^th a lot, don’t I?), is only 55 points. However, this Beetle brings some serious hurt to the table. He has a 7 range with 3 targets, the Sharpshooter ability and Energy Explosion! So he can mess up a whole bunched together group of enemies, even when adjacent! 

In speaking of sharpshooters, we can’t forget the man behind Queen Industries, Oliver Queen… the Green Arrow. I am torn between the Crisis version and the Justice League: New 52 one. I lean toward the latter because the New 52 version is 95 points and offers more. For one thing, the Sharpshooter ability didn’t exist back in the Crisis era. (Honestly, if you use the Crisis Green Arrow, you will probably want to drop an additional 20 points on the Elite Sniper feat, pushing his cost 29 points over the New 52 version.) The New 52 Ollie starts out mobile with Running Shot, a 7 range, 3 targets and the choice of Energy Explosion or Ranged Combat Expert. On the back end of his dial, he becomes a sniper with Stealth and a Special Power to make a second free ranged attack on a single target. With all the Perplex on this team, Green Arrow could make for a serious threat.

Of course, we can’t forget the self-made billionaire from the Watchmen, Ozymanias. For this piece, I go straight from the Watchmen boxed set. At 83 points, Adrian Veidt doesn’t bring a lot to the fight in terms of offense, but this super-genius does have a Special Power allowing for up to two uses of Outwit! Either have him hang back to weaken your opponents (and be possible Mastermind fodder) or use his Leap/Climb to get into an enemy’s face and tie him up. Plus, the Watchmen team ability should be very useful to your wildcards.

Lastly, we have one of the richest mutants in all of Marvel, Warren Worthington III AKA the “high flying” Angel. For this piece, I decided to go cheap. I went with the 50 point rookie from Giant Size X-Men. Yes, I could have gone with the lethal Archangel, but I kind of wanted to focus on happier times when Warren was more of a playboy thrill-seeker than a brooding weapon of death. Plus, 50 points helps keep the cost down. For 50 points you get a cheap “taxi” to take your less mobile fighters in or out of battle. Plus his Special Power of not halving your Charge speed, with a boost from someone’s Perplex, can go a long way toward making Angel an overlooked threat. The healing powers of the X-men team ability also will aid your wildcards.

We now go to a lesser known corporate millionaire, Danny Rand AKA Iron Fist. Secret Invasion gave us an awesome 70 point piece of this super martial artist chock full of devastating powers like Exploit Weakness, Flurry, Close Combat Expert backed with

Combat Reflexes, Willpower and Leap/Climb. Perhaps the ultimate tie-up and beat-down Heroclix piece, do not underestimate this Iron Fist; he is built to destroy opponents twice his cost!

So the Big Business build looks like this:

Batman (JL52)             – 119

Iron Man (M10A)         - 225

Lex Luthor (FF:SM)      – 50

Dr. Sivana (CR)           – 111

Green Goblin (M10A) – 117

Blue Beetle (D10A)       - 55

Green Arrow (JL52)      – 95

Ozymandias (WM)        – 83

Angel (GSX)                 – 50

Iron Fist (SI)                  - 70

-----------------------------------

Total: 975 (out of 1000)

That leaves 25 points for feats or relics. If using feats, I would recommend using Armor Piercing on either Green Arrow or Blue Beetle to take advantage of their Energy Explosion with three targets. Now I have not had a chance to play this team yet, but I can see that it would be a formidable group full of Outwit and Perplex to boost ranged attackers and close combat attackers alike.

Now I did omit someone that I had almost forgotten about… Gideon. Don’t remember Gideon? Neither does the majority of comic book fans (sorry Rob Liefeld). He was this 90’s enemy of X-Force that was one of the rare breed of immortal mutants known as the Externals. So during his abnormally long life, Gideon founded his own corporation and became rich. An 85 point piece was made of Gideon in Giant Sized X-Men. His stats are decent and he has a Special Power that allows you to copy nearby character’s powers every turn. If you want to use Gideon, though, you have to play an 1100 point game, but at that point, I say lets just go 1200 to be a more even number. To get there, I would upgrade Lex Luthor to his aforementioned battle-suit version from DC 10^th Anniversary. That gets you up to 1170, leaving 30 points for feats or relics.

Until next time, stay strange.