Love letter to Clix

I love Heroclix, I think they're great. Which is one of my other niche opinions I'm so fond of voicing on this blog. In the superhero wargaming community, there is a certain subset that vehemently denies any value can be found in Heroclix, and that the figures are only a last resort when other brands and conversions fail. I've never really got this, possibly because of my chronic underemployment, as the affordability to quality ratio of the Heroclix is excellent, especially when compared to early Knight Models and if one is willing to try a few different variants to get the best one. Also the range of Heroclix available in Marvel and DC forms is pretty exhaustive; I admit I'd like a Plantman and a less cheesecake Raven, but being able to get Spiders-Man and Clock King is pretty damn cool. Even better than paying under $1 for a superhero mini on the Heroclix resellers is buying bulk lots from people on swap and sell pages, that's how I got characters like Jocasta, Weather Wizard and Spoiler, that I may never have gotten around to ordering individually. 

 All figures converted from Manchester Black (centre).

Something I've been doing with Heroclix for a while is using them as the basis for conversions, not just for other superheroes like my Skrull head-swaps and The Champions of the Omniverse, but also for other games, most notably Warpath: Firefight and Reality's Edge. So far for Reality's Edge, I've converted Hepizbah into a Tracer, Starlord into a Ninja, Plenty of agents into Corpsec and Manchester Black into a Hacker, with plans for more. Speaking of Manchester Black, I've used all five of him that have wound up in my hands for one thing or another. A shirtless punk in an overcoat and army boots isn't what many would likely think of a versatile miniature, but with simple head and hand-swaps, Manchester Black has become The Arsonist, fire-controlling Champion of the Omniverse, a zombie, a Street Thug and #Wizlord, decker for my Runner crew, as well as an unmolested version for SSUA games. Given that each copy cost me well under $1, I feel that I've got good value from that. 

Frostgrave characters converted from Heroclix and spare parts.

Of course, many of my Kill Team Aesir have Heroclix heads, though often I purchased them specifically, and the effect of Asgardian heads on the Deathwatch Space Marine bodies is pretty striking. I keep thinking of a way to build an entire army for a game, though perhaps just a small one, out of Heroclix, to demonstrate the flexibility of the range. Rather than doing something sensible, however, like making one of my (many) superhero army ideas, I'm trying to think up something less tied into superheroes generally, more in line with the Warhammer 40,000 universe or another existing IP. More projects for the pile, it seems. Anyway, give Clix a chance if you're the kind of wargamer who likes to convert figures and kitbash, there's a wealth of stuff there for not much money. 

Guardians of the Frozen City - Part II

"I'm tellin' ya, I saw a buncha' them magic dealies in some buildings over 'ere," spat Pip around the stub of cigar clenched in his teeth. 
"Yeah, yeah," grumbled Quill, "we'll take a look, but I still don't get how you ended up on this planet in the first place?" 
"Hey, I heard that my ol' buddy Warlock was putting a team together, so I got myself 'ere," Pip waved his arms around for emphasis. 
"That fails to answer the question, Pip," muttered Warlock, almost to himself. Pip was about to spin a tale of his own heroics when the bass monotone of Drax inturruped. 
"There are more of those primitives ahead," he sniffed the air, "and they mean to start trouble..." 

Game two of the campaign was a three-way battle between myself, Neil and Tom, using the "Haunted Houses" scenario. The game ended in a tie of two treasures each, but I got away with a great deal more experience thanks to some good rolling and some advantageous rules. 

 An enemy Wizard summoned a wall of fog... 

 ...which both of the Guardians' opponents utilised to hide from each other. 

 The Guardians take up a defensive position and bide their time. 

 Warbands sneak through the ruins, not wanting to get blasted by spells. 

 The Guardians advance on the primitives that have taken more casualties, hoping to keep more artifacts in safe hands. 

 The locals can be slippery, however. 

 Spellfire flies around the ruins between three wizards, the damage is brutal. 

 The mundane members of various warbands hunker down in cover from magical bolts of death. 

 The Frozen city is no place for the faint-hearted. 

 Cosmo and Vance Astro secure a treasure. 

 An enemy soldier, under the control of Warlock's Soul Gem, attacks his teammate, while Drax moves in to mop up the survivor. 

 Even with their technological superiority, the Guardians cannot prevent the primitives escaping with some of the dangerous artifacts. 

 Gamora is keen to see that no enemy can escape her wrath. 

 However, a lost Initative roll means the enemy escapes with the artifact! 

 From his commanding position, Adam Warlock surveys the carnage wrought in the name of saving the Galaxy and weeps inwardly. Can't these primitive humanoids appreciate what the Guardians are trying to do for them? 

Ok, so game-wise, this was a much better turn for me; my rolling was great and my spells combined to devastating effect. That said, it kind of highlighted the disparity between some of the spells and spell lists, I don't know why anyone would consider taking a Witch, for example. Again, the lack of morale rolls chafed, as both my opponents took heavy casualties, but stuck around to pull out a draw. I'm not bitter that I didn't win, I'd rather have a fun game for all involved, but it "feels" odd, as I'm continually comparing Frostgrave to Necromunda and Judge Dredd. May be a couple of weeks until the next game as I'm away from club for a bit. Still plenty of content to come though, so stick around. 

 

Guardians of the Frozen City - Part I

The Frostgrave campaign got off to a start, finally, and the Guardians were out hunting for treasures in the ruins. Because of the number of players, I needed to use my necropolis terrain, so not all of the action was frozen and sadly, not too many pictures were taken. I hope the brief description will tide you guys over enough until the second round. 

"What d'you make of this place Warlock?" Peter Quill pulled the helmet from his head and dusted off the rapidly melting snow. 
"Perhaps some kind of lingering enchantment protects this area from the elements?" puzzled Adam Warlock, as he mystically probed the area with his Soul Gem. 
"But why a graveyard?" piped up Rocket, "d'ast creep if y'ask me." 
Before Cosmo could fire a telepathic retort at Rocket, the ground was peppered with arrows and a cry went out from behind a ruined church. 
"Stand thee away, unless thou seekest the wrath of the Eternal Champions!" 
"Did those apes just fling sticks at us?" demanded Gamora. 
"Arm up, Guardians!" Quill slammed his helmet back down and thumbed the safety off his blaster. 

 

The game was a simple treasure hunt, with six treasures up for grabs, the Guardians were able to grab two before my terrible rolling and the loss of Rocket mad discretion seem like the better option. As you can see, the monsters had a taste for Gamora, but she made a good accounting of herself, taking them all down without a scratch. 

Still not completely sold on the game, but my opponent is always fun to play and I know for a fact that it was my poor rolling that spoiled it for me this time (Adam didn't cast a single spell successfully!). Rocket will miss a game, but I had enough coin to hire on Drax, Mantis and Pip for a full warband. Hopefully the Guardians will be more victorious before too long. 

Guardians of the Frozen City - Preview III

Got another game in a few nights ago, fun but more issues with the rules, more on that later. 

 The Guardians spread out to investigate magical resonance in the ruins.

A small band of locals has entered the same area, these primitives seem aggressive.

"Ok guys, spread out, but be careful." 

 "Hey, Quill, I got something!" 

 "Strangers from another realm! We must not let them take the wondrous items!" 

 "What the flark is that thing?"

 "Yes! Drive the worm towards them!"

"New plan Guardians, fan out and shoot everything!" 

"Don't pet it Groot, y'dast idiot!" 

 "I am Groot."

"I am Groot!" 

"I AM GROOT!" 

"Things have not gone according to plan..." 

First off, thanks to Neil (of the Little Lead Men of Valour blog) for the game, terrific terrain and funky worms to play with. Neil is always great to play with, he never gets antsy over bad luck and tends to roll poorly at opportune moments. In fairness, I'd had a bad day before this game, so I was a bit ranty throughout. It was a fun game, Frostgrave can be very fun with friends and provides plenty of opportunity for fun miniatures. 

Now down to brass tacks. There is no reason to ever cast any offensive spell other than Bone Dart. Sure, Mind Control is great, but it's a dice-off, which your opponent gets a bonus to, but Bone Dart is +5 straight away, why cast anything else?

The Shoot and Will stats are largely redundant, only one soldier in the core book has a different Fight and Shoot score, so Shoot could pretty much be dropped without affecting the game. Bone Dart and Arcane Bolt would need a quick re-word ("replace your Fight with +5 for this attack), and the Marksman gets a negative in close combat and we're done. Will seems like it should have had a bigger role, there are more than a few ways to boost it, but I'm yet to use it in a game. 

I'd really like a bottle roll for the warbands, it would make the game play quicker, even if just the soldiers have to make it. I get that it's up to the player to decide risk versus reward, but a game of Frostgrave shouldn't take all night. Other campaign skirmish games, like Empire of the Dead, Judge Dredd and Necromunda, work best because they're quick and a few rounds can be played in a night, seeing the teams develop quickly. 

Speaking of soldiers, there is no reason to take a Thief over a Thug; +1 Fight is always going to be more useful across the game than +1 Move, even if you just want someone to run around collecting treasure. Also, I'd like a "Big Guy" to hire, like an Ogre, Troll, Gnoll or whatever. Large Constructs and Demons are all well and good, but if we're going for a D&D feel, where's the Ogre Barbarian that we wrote for someone's little brother so that he could play without ruining our game? 

I'm going to keep playing Frostgrave, at least try the campaign once, see what all the fuss is about. However, I'll point out that I don't currently own any of the books and I'm not inclined to purchase them at the moment. 

 

Guardians of the Frozen City - Preview II

Test game of Frostgrave with the Guardians, played on a friend's brilliant new dungeon tiles, still testing the system out, see my thoughts after the pretty pictures.

 The devilish Dungeons of Day, filled with treasure and danger! 

The Guardians spread out; Cosmo, Gamora, Adam Warlock, Starlord, Rocket Racoon, Moondragon and Drax. 

 

 A mysterious group of magical, undead creations. 

 Both warbands spread out through the maze, hunting for ancient treasures. 

 Warlock uses the power of the Soul Gem to conquer the will of one of his enemies. 

Gamora spots a worthy foe. 

Spellfire blasts the Guardians, but they remain unharmed. 

"Now you face the most deadly woman in the Galaxy!" 

The Guardians blast away, taking down the enemy Apprentice. 

Gamora turns out to be no match for the undead... Godslayer must have not bitten on bone. 

Treasure recovery becomes the order of the day as numbers dwindle on both teams. 

The Guardians regroup for a final push on the enemy. 

 

Spell and missile fire flies between passages. 

 

Drax comes off second-best in a fight with the enemy wizard. 

 

 

Both sides decide that discretion is the better part of valour and vacate the premises. 

A few games in now, and I'm still having issues with the Frostgrave rules. This game highlighted issues with spells, there always seems to be some in my list that are never worth casting, and some that get spammed just about every turn. If you can pick up Teleport, Bone Dart, Mind Control and Heal, you're laughing, don't bother with summoning of any kind as you'll lose an existing soldier if you succeed, or start the game with a health hit. There are more games to come and I hear the campaign is where Frostgrave shines, so we'll see as things develop.