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. 

Miniatures Finished: 10/10/18

A reorganisation of my undercoated but as-yet unpainted supers minis has led to me finishing characters in something of an odd order of late. There's no intended structure or order to things, I just grab out whatever takes my fancy and go from there. It's a fun way to paint. 

The Shadow: I was using this as my "Jaques Noir" for WWII supers, but I've found a better model and decided to merge this one over into the Ultimate Alliance set. Of course, I only noticed after I took the picture that the lining of his coat is meant to be red, so expect to see him again soon. Reaper Bones. 

Leatherwing: In adding more supers to my club's annual Pirate events, how could I not include Pirate Batman? Sadly, he didn't get a run this year, due to changing over to Blood and Plunder from Legends of the High Seas, I'll need to redo the rules for The Phantom, Black Panther and The Doctor. When I'm done with that and Leatherwing, I'll post them up here. Heroclix. 

Snorlax: Mum came home with this figure more than a decade ago and it's been waiting for some love since then. As well as being another option for Pokemon Trainer Taupe, Snorlax will make a fun little "Easter Egg" on display tables, especially if he's sleeping somewhere inconvenient and blocking a road. Toy. 

Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner): I got a bunch of odd little clix when the games store I used to work at cleared out it's prize support to make space, including my least favourite Green Lantern of Sector 2814. I never really got into Kyle, because he always seemed like a major Mary Sue, being a comic book artist with a killer apartment and hot, half-Japanese girlfriend. However, this is a really nice miniature and it was a joy to paint. Heroclix. 

Ultron 6: I had this one sitting on the shelf for a bit as I debated weather or not to collect several Ultrons so that I could do an "Ultron Unlimited" game. At the moment, I'm leaning away from the idea, as there aren't too many nice Ultron Heroclix. As a result, this old paintjob got an update. Heroclix. 

Spidergirl: Gotta love alternate-universe characters in comics, especially someone as fun as May "Mayday" Parker, the Sensational Spider-Girl! This is another of several miniatures I collaborated on with a friend to teach her to paint. She did the basecoats and washes, and the big highlights, I did the fiddly details. She's got some talent, I hope she goes back to painting again soon. Heroclix. 

Miniatures Finished - 17/11/17

Dipping into the obscura now, character-wise. 

 Atom Eve (clix), Splinter (Clix) and Snoopy (custom job, not my work). 

 The Mandarin, Doombot and Bebop (all clix). 

Miniatures Finished: Inhuman Heroes

Loving painting at the moment! Perhaps it's the sheer volume I've churned out this year (in excess of 400 28mm minis!), or that the last few have really popped in a way I can't define. Progress may slow a little as I finish off some non-supers projects and sell them off to make space. 

 Red Tornado, Martian Manhunter and Allen the Alien (Clix). 

 French Revolutionary Prisoner (Eureka), Reshiram the legendary Fire Dragon Pokemon (toy) and Electro (clix). 

 

Miniatures Finished: Centurions/Space Heroes/Alien Civilians

Apologies, as you've seen half of these before, but now the group is finished: 

 The Centurions are Annihilus' army of 100 super-powered beings, forced into his service by the shrinking and dying Negative Zone. These minis are all various spare Clix I had in my collection, given interesting paint jobs. 

 Much as is my style, these colourful aliens can pull triple duty, as they will form a generic "Space" team for SuperSystem, allowing me to try out power combinations that don't fit my other teams. 

 As for their final role, they can work as Alien civilians in a wide range of games. Not bad for something I had laying around. 

 

Miniatures Finished: Neighbors and Science!

Steady progress has resumed and, with Little Wars Melbourne 2016 on the way, plans are in motion, but more on that later. 

 Totoro, X-Ray (another U-Foe), Atomic Robo and Jack o' Lantern. 

 Lantern and X-Ray are both Clix from one of the better eras of sculpting, as such, I've only had to do a little inking work and touch-ups. 

 Atomic Robo is a 3D print, very expensive and of reasonable quality as a wargames miniature. I'm not sold on the printing process as of yet, I still prefer polystyrene and whitemetal. Totoro is a toy and another "celebrity civilian", he'll be standing at the bus stop or monorail station during display games. 

 

Rethinking the Wish List

Hey True Believers! Sorry that the posts have been more about writing than games or miniatures of late; I've been focusing on other games and my studies. One thing I have been doing though, is trying to get a bit more of a focus on the ongoing Ultimate Alliance project, now that I have the table looking pretty damn good. To that end, I'm going to be planning out my future goals here, so that I have something to work to other than pages of notes handwritten in the back of workbooks. 

1. New Roads/Pavement 

I currently have a set of cork tile roads and un-expanded foam footpaths that sit under the buildings of my city table. Together these look great, but they are easily damaged, are heavy and awkward to transport. I've seen a couple of other options, like the Hawk Wargames urban battleboards or getting a mat printed, but I'm currently discussing some lasercut MDF with a local guy, which I'm hoping will be a decent compromise. I think the Mat would be the ideal solution, but no one seems to be making a "clean" (i.e. without craters and battle-damage) urban road mats at the moment. 

2. Traffic Lights
I may finally have a lead on O-Scale Traffic lights! It's only taken four years! Still a little shocked that no one is putting this out in a lasercut. 

3. Buildings 

I'm pretty good for buildings, but I'd like to replace my abandoned building, shoe-box warehouse and foamcore skyscrapers eventually. They're nice "enough" but don't quite look up to scratch next to the Sarassia and Impudent Mortal stuff. Knights of dice are getting going locally, and my love of all things Art Deco will be having me pick up at least a couple of their things. Multiverse's Magnetic towers as well are very tempting, and Mind Games Melbourne is stocking them now, so I should have something soonish. My Cor-Sec shop that I've done up as a bank is problematic; it was warped and broken when it turned up and is slowly falling apart, even with my heavy mods to keep it together. I'm never bothering with that mob again. 

4. Heroclix 

The great thing about superhero games is that you only really need one of most characters an miniatures. The bad thing is, if you read as many comics as I do, you still want a heck of a lot of those characters. I've had a "Buy List" of heroes (mostly clix) on my desktop for a few years now, and I finally think it's getting shorter. Also, it helps that there isn't many new Clix coming out that grab my fancy; time will tell with TMNT, but we'll deal with that below. In terms of Clix, the current list is as follows:
Nick Fury (616), Ragdoll, Spiderman 2099, Batman Beyond, Cosmo, Firefly, Captain Marvel (SHAZAM), Apocalypse, Metallo, Drax the Destroyer, Prowler, Quake, Desaad, Granny Goodness, Mongul, Starlord, Gamora, Brainiac, Jackal, Vapor, Rogue, Asp, Princess Python, Sidewinder, Lizard, Calendar Man, Guy Gardner, Mojo, Doctor Bong, Cloak, Melter, Black Adam, Titanium Man, Bizaro, Baron Zemo, Mister Sinister, Taskmaster, Blood Brother, Killowog, Gabriel Air Walker, Mirror Master, Captain Cold, Gravitron, Hulkbuster and some Badoon. 
As you can see, nothing too insurmountable or too expensive on the secondary market, my main hurdle is student income. 

5. Knight Models 

I have to say, I've managed to resist the allure of Knight Models so far, but there are a few that I do plan to grab. Jim Lee Superman, Lobo, Doctor Doom and the starter set Bane are all on my radar, but I'm waiting for sale/discount stock so that I'm not dropping $100AUD on four miniatures. I have, as of this moment, no real plans to get into the Batman Miniatures game, but time may tell. 

6. TMNT 

So TMNT Heroclix are on the way. Hells to the yeah! I'm not sure how many actual boosters, I'll be buying, I'm pretty sure my focus will be more on singles, as I already have a very nice set of turtles. Basically, I'd like Bebop, Rocksteady, Shredder, Splinter, April, Casey Jones and Metalhead. You know, the secondary characters. So far, the previews only really show many variations of turtle, but hopefully there'll be common or uncommon versions of the other major characters. 

7. Dragonball/Z/GT/Super 

Did you know that there's a Dragonball Z board game and possibly collectible miniature game in the works? Jasco Games, an American company, has a card game called the Universal Fighting System that includes several Animes, Megaman and has recently picked up the rights to Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter and Dragonball Z. Last year they Kickstarted a Megaman Board Game and are set to do the same for Dragonball Z in the near future. Jasco has also announced a CMG in the works, featuring several of the properties they have access to, though specifics are thin on the ground at the moment. Unlike TMNT, Image or Dark Horse, I'd happily have just about every character from the Dragonball universe. Supreme West Kai, Bra, Mercenary Tao, Launch, Jeice, I'll take them all. Actually, almost all the main characters interest me far less than than the minor players, which will hopefully work out in my favour if the go CMG. Watch out for the Great Saiyaman mixing it up with Moon Knight at some point. 

8. Other Manufacturers 

There are a few other things out there that I'll be picking up to fill out some heroes and villains. Hasslefree do a couple of characters I'm currently without and I must pick up some Ninja at some point to serve as Hand/Foot or whatever Japanese henchmen I need access to. It's great to see that there are companies turning out the occasional knockoff for those of us that can't resist mashing their settings together. 

9. Wish List 

Because that's what it's all about at the end of the day, right? Playing all the fantasy team-ups that we'll never get to see in comics because of the crazy IP laws that the USA have created to protect Mickey Mouse. It's actually kind of amazing how many characters I've been able to find over the years from scrounging through the dark parts of the internet, but there are always more, aren't there? Here's a look at the current line-up of desire: 

 Allen the Alien (Invincible, Image Comics)

I'll cover this more with the titular character below, but Invincible is an amazing comic and you should all read it. Allen is a great secondary character from the comic with a huge fan following and an amazing back-story. I won't ruin it too much here, but Allen has some great generic "Paragon" abilities and a cool look. I'd like to see him alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy on my gaming table one day. 

 Astro Boy 

Actually, a friend is keen to sculpt up an Astro for use in my Ultimate Alliance games, so this may no longer be a fantasy in the near future. Like many born in the 1980s, I grew up with Astro Boy and his adventures are ingrained on my consciousness. Now, everybody; "Soaring high in the sky..." 

 Commander Keen (Commander Keen, ID Software) 

Yeah, still on the Commander Keen train of thought. Replaying the classic games just increased my enthusiasm, which is pretty atypical for me; what with The Maxx and Darkwing Duck falling off the Wish List pretty quick when I watched the programmes again. However, Commander Keen is just the kind of hero I'd like to see grace the table; nothing but a pogo stick, a ray gun and a bit of pluck, sounds like a winner to me. 

Doctor Dinosaur (Atomic Robo, Red 5 Comics)

I have an Atomic Robo now, so, of course, I need a Doctor Dinosaur to fight him. I thought Doctor Dinosaur was genius the minute I read his dialogue on the page and knew I must have one. In a world with Doctor Doom and Lex Luthor running their Machiavellian schemes, we need a crazy dinosaur who powers his machines with Crystals and mangles the English language. 

General Zod (As portrayed by Terrance Stamp)

C'mon, I can't be the only person that thinks this is the superior version of Zod. Modern power-armour or classic spandex doesn't do anything for me, but a widow's peak and chest hair? Brilliant. Yeah, it's camp and silly, but Silver Age Superman is camp and silly and that should be celebrated, not forgotten and shoved aside for "dark and edgy" Superman. "Kneel before Zod" is a classic line that deserves some play on the tabletop. 

Invincible (Invincible, Image Comics) 
Once again, Invincible is an amazing comic and you must read it. Go read it right now. Mark Grayson is the son of one of the most powerful heroes in the world and his powers have just kicked in. Awesome. Imagine if Superman was Peter Parker's dad and you have a vague idea of what's going on. Mark has to grow up with a great deal of "power and responsibility" and still balance his normal life. A great comic, a great character and I really want one.  

John Hours (Black Summer, Avatar Press) 

How many superheroes do you know that have murdered a sitting president? John is the leader of the Six Guns, a team of cybernetics-enhanced University nerds who took it upon themselves to clean up their city, with guns. A patently libertarian reactionary piece to the lies and crimes of the Bush Administration, Black Summer is a great read with a couple of really great characters, including John Hours, a man willing to commit the worst crime he can think of in order to set his country free. Imagine Captain America with The Punisher's morality and Mister Miracle's tech. 

Max Damage (Incorruptible, Boom) 
And I though Irredeemable was good. Max Damage is the world's most dangerous Super-criminal, but when he sees the Plutonian go on a rampage, he has an epiphany and realises that it's time to be a hero. Max's motivations are somewhat puzzling to those around him, as he destroys his lair, abandons his teenage sidekick and even burns a mountain of cash that he stole. Max knows that he is the only one who can defeat the Plutonian, but can he get past his own history and reputation to do so?  

Samus (Metroid Series, Nintendo)

I used to want a fair few Nintendo characters for Ultimate Alliance, but the frankly stupid powers they give them these days makes me cringe. For some reason, Samus has escaped relatively unscathed, I'd like to not have to put that down to misogyny, but you never know with Nintendo. Samus is a bounty hunter with an awesome set of power armour with a proud history of preventing genocide. Perhaps her motivates aren't always grand, but she's on the right side when the chips are down. 

The Crow (The Crow) 

Nothing like Gothic, harlequin, undead justice tearing up the mean streets. The Crow is in indy comics icon and one I feel needs representing in miniature. I believe he'd be one of those characters like Gamera or Snake Eyes; not many people would want to play him, but those who do will be thrilled at the option. A sculpt that looked like the above art would be really great. 

The Spirit (by Will Eisner) 

The original comic hero, how could I not? Again, not a character I'd see picked up and played all the time, but a much-needed addition to Golden Age games. So long as I manged to stay away from Frank Miller and terrible film adaptations, I think The Spirit would work well in Ultimate Alliance. 

Tom Noir (Black Summer, Avatar Press) 

The only other really interesting character from the Six Guns, Tom Noir can read and see telecommunications in the air around him and hack at the speed of thought. Drunk and injured and pulled out of retirement for one last job, Tom hates the idea of corruption and is perfectly willing to fight against Government and Police in the name of true freedom. He also looks cool, which is a good thing for a miniature. 

Watchmen (DC Comics and Alan Moore) 

I can't be the only person disappointed that the only Watchmen miniatures available, both in Clix and Knight models, are based on the terrible film rather than the original comics, right? Ok, so my Rorschach doesn't matter either way and I'd never put Doctor Manhattan on the table ("God exists, and he's American"), but everyone else would be welcome. Pudgy Nite Owl II, Dollar Bill, even Moloch and Hooded Justice would be great to have mixing it up. The sooner I can consign the film to a bitter memory, the better. 

The Venture Bros. (Adult Swim) 

Man, I could write the shit out of a Venture Brothers miniature game. Seriously, I already know the basic mechanics in my head and how it would work (a little like a Pulp Alley/7TV/Pulp City mashup) and I could bash out an alpha in a weekend. Give me a call Doc Hammer. 

Andrew W.K. (A free spirit that can never truly be contained)
Yeah, Andrew W.K., seriously. I have my reasons. 

Earthworm Jim (Universal) 
Great big muscles and a really big ray gun, Jim is a hero through and through despite his general incompetence and lack of comprehension of almost everything. Another slightly-wacky space adventurer that I'd like to have alongside Allen the Alien, Ratchet and Clank and Commander Keen. 

Mewtwo (Pokemon, Nintendo) 

There are people who look at the characters they can play in Ultimate Alliance and see the Pokemon Trainer and cringe. Then there are those who realise the potential and settle in for a fun game. As I tend to like to have at least one matching hero and villain, Mewtwo is probably the best fit for my G1 Pokemon mindset. Also, he's been known to fight the good fight when he really needs to; nothing like a villain turning hero just long enough to save the day before turning on his temporary allies. 

Ratchet and Clank (Insomniac) 
The galaxy's greatest heroes are due their own film next year and it actually looks pretty good. I guess that's what happens when Sony goes the Marvel Studios route and gets people who actually worked on the games to work on the film. I think a gravity-feed clix set of the film may be a bit much to hope for, but maybe some mircofigs? Come hell or high water, one day Ratchet and Clank are going to kick some arse on my table. 

Thinking out loud: The Future of Heroclix

Way back in the early 2000s, I got into Heroclix pretty hard when it first hit the shelves. It was my first flirtation with supers gaming and probably the biggest jump I'd made away from Warhammer 40,000 at the time (purchase-wise, I had played a bit of DBA and NATO Spearhead). Much like what would happen five or so years later with Warmachine, tournament play finally killed my enthusiasm for Heroclix, as well as the artificial rarity, and I pooh-poohed the game for a fair while after that. Despite this, I did keep buying the odd loose clix, if it was of a character I really liked or could find use in another miniatures game; I had, at one stage, grand plans for an Ultimates-themed 40K Daemonhunters army, with Nick Fury as an Inquistor and Captain America as a Grey Knight, but I could never get the figures to put it all together. It was then that I first rebased and repainted clix and I found that I got a lot of satisfaction out of it, so, even though I didn't have a project in mind, I just kept going with it. A few years after that, I discovered SuperSystem and the rest, as they say, is history. 

These days, I'm spoiled for choice when it comes to miniatures for generic superheroes, I've lost track of the number of makes and manufacturers that have gone into my "Equalisers" setting stuff and I'm still yet to get any of my Crossover stuff on the table. However, when it comes to the big name heroes for my Ultimate Alliance games, I still find myself turning to Heroclix more often than not. Despite the quality of sculpts varying from reasonable to abysmal, the pre-painted atrocities and the above mentioned problems with rarity, the fact is, if you want a Marvel or DC hero, you'll find it in clix, probably for next to nothing. Knight Models has hit in a big way with their Batman/DC and Marvel ranges, but anyone who has bought one of their products will tell you about the fiddly assembly and poor cast quality. When I'm asked what the best way to get into supers gaming is, I say download the SS4 quick-play rules and grab a Heroclix booster; in for under $20. 

Marvel and DC are still the biggies when it comes to Heroclix, but I have plenty of the Indy clix and whilst I never bought any Halo, Assassin's Creed or Bioshock clix, I did see them around. Also, TMNT is coming out, which is pretty damn cool and should fill out a fair few slots on my wish list. What surprises me most about TMNT clix is just how long they've taken to arrive. As a writer and someone who has worked in the gaming industry, I get that miniature wargames is hardly an obvious choice for merchandising and that licensing is a legal minefield, but Heroclix is one of those weird entities that seems to have defied all expectation. Think about how much tooling molds for plastic miniatures must cost, even with a large scale production, and now consider that WizKids make hundreds of new molds every year; they must be doing ok to still be operating more than ten years later. 

Personally, I'm hoping that TMNT will be a huge success for WizKids, not because I play Heroclix (I don't anymore), but because it would be a great "bargaining chip" for them to expand their range. I don't know about you, but I was glad to get my hands on the BPRD set back in the day and got a bit giddy when I opened a Howard the Duck and I'm set to relive that with TMNT; fingers crossed that Metalhead isn't a Chase Rare. Should WizKids get the chance, I'd like to see them start to move in on some other comic, television, film and video game brands: 

Image Comics

Until recently, I had only been exposed to Image's early 1980s and 1990s work, which is, frankly, pretty woeful as Rob Liefeld is the driving force, both artistically and in terms of writing and he is pretty damn crap at both. Ok, so Deadpool came good in the hands of other writers, but that was clearly the exception rather than the rule. Then I started reading Invincible. Holy crap that comic is amazing. Like Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle and Ultimate Spider-Man amazing. Here was a fully fleshed-out world, populated with a variety of heroes that "felt" like Marvel or DC but was still unique and fresh. Forget Spawn and all that Youngblood crap; Invincible, Guardians of the Globe and Savage Dragon alone would provide a great basis for a series of Clix sets. Plus Spawn and all the other teenage power fantasy BS would draw in a few people as well. 

King Features Sydnicate

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think King still owns the rights to Phantom, Mandrake and Flash Gordon, plus the associated characters and even other "heroic" characters like Prince Valliant and Jungle Jim. Ok, so there's not a great deal of opportunity for growth, but at least there are more characters than the Watchmen set. Thanks to the 1980s DOE cartoon, there's a substantial cult following for these characters, and with superheroes being the big thing in pop culture at the moment, may as well strike while the iron's hot, right? Seriously, Octobrain clix, I want one. 

Dragonball Z 

Much like TMNT, why is this not a thing already? There's a new DBZ film and series on the way, the relaunched CCG is going gangbusters and DBZ video games continue to sell like crazy in Japan and the USA. Akira Toriyama is famously difficult, but has shown that he'll do pretty much anything for truckfulls of cash. When asked, as I have been more than once, how I would do DBZ as a minis game, I say that Heroclix is about the only existing system I can see pulling it off. Plus, there's hundreds of characters, many with multiple forms or costumes, so sets could go for years. It would be like printing money; watch Super Saiyan God Goku go for four figures on eBay, especially if he's a convention exclusive. 

Nintendo 

And why not? Nintendo will slap Mario and Co on pretty much anything these days the the punters lap it up. Have you seen Amiibos? I know people who don't even own a WiiU or DS that collect the damn things and keep them in the blister packs. Can you imagine how fast Nintendo Clix would sell? The best thing is, all Nintendo would have to do is sell the license and approve designs, then sit back and rake in a percentage. Nowhere near the top of my list, but still, the possibilities are pretty huge. 

So that's my (amateur) take on the future of Clix sets; probably more an exercise in fantasy than prescience, but that was what I was going for anyway. How about you, what boxes would you like to be cracking? CW DC sets? Mortal Kombat? Vallient Comics? 

Miniatures Finished: Centurions, Ladies in Red and Playboys

The pace is really picking up, only 13 minis left to paint for the big game. 

 Annihilus' Centurions, an army of 100 super-powered aliens! I did ten, because it seemed a bit more reasonable. 

 Some D&D Minis get double-duty as alien supers. 

 Some repainted Heroclix, they will also form an SS4 team at some stage. 

 Gamora and Starlord, both Clix. I will eventually replace these with their comic versions, but the film look will help with the display games. 

 Elektra and Scarlett Witch, both Clix. 

 Warren Worthington III is The Angel. Clix, but another really nice one, great sense of movement.