Terrain
You've probably seen my massive 6x4' "Hero City" table in various battle reports on this blog, but you don't need to go as all out as that in your own games. I've run SSUA games using board sections from Doom and Castle Ravenloft as an AIM base and Arkham catacombs respectively for games in the past, as well as a ruined city-scape, so the only real limit is your imagination and budget. For the purposes of this article, however, I'm assuming the use of a city-style table for all of my examples.
Unlike many miniatures games, essentially all terrain on a SSUA table is interactive to some degree. For the most part, this will play out as characters using objects as weapons, in classic superhero style, but some stronger characters, like Mongul and Invincible, may be able to destroy large buildings. The stat cards of characters will let you know what class of object/terrain they can interact with, for example, Captain America can lift Light Objects, GI Robot can lift Medium Objects, Optimus Prime can lift Heavy and Invincible can lift Massive.
Light Objects include lamp posts, mail boxes, packing crates and other characters. Light Objects add +1D to Hit and Damage dice pools when used as clubs.
Medium Objects include cars, dumpsters, hawker carts and large characters. Medium Objects add +2D to Hit and Damage dice pools when used as clubs.
Heavy Objects include trucks, small detached buildings, train cars and giant robots. Heavy Objects add +3D to Hit and Damage dice pools when used as clubs.
Massive Objects include full cement mixers, multi-story detached buildings, large statues and whatever else you feel like justifying someone wielding. Massive Objects add +4 to Hit and Damage dice pools when used as clubs.
Throwing Objects is a little different, as first, assuming a model can lift the Object, a Strength Goal Roll must be made, for each Goal scored, the Object may be thrown either 5" Horizontally and 3" Vertically, or 3" Horizontally and 5" Vertically. If the distance rolled does not reach the target (remember to account for the height of Flying models), the attack automatically misses. If the distance overshoots the target, the object will travel the remaining distance if it misses the intended target. The Hit bonus remains the same for thrown Objects, but the damage is reduced to the Bonus and does not factor in the throwing model's Strength.
Object Breakage is something I first introduced to my SS4 games as a house rule to prevent characters wielding a truck as a club for the entire game. After using an Object to make an attack, roll 1D6, on a 2+ the Object remains intact. This roll becomes more difficult after each use of an Object, 2+ after the first use, 3+ after the second, 4+ after the third, 5+ after the fifth and 6+ each use thereafter. Should the roll be failed, remove the Object from the game, it has broken beyond use.
Catching Objects is something I've experimented with a few times, but am yet to be really satisfied with how it plays. What I normally do is when a model is Hit by a thrown Object, but takes no Damage, assuming it possesses a Power/Ability that would enable it to lift said Object, that model may make a TN4 Agility Goal Roll to "catch" the Object. If the model succeeds in the roll, it is now holding the Object and may use it in that model's next Activation. Again, this is a rough idea of how to incorporate this into your play, not something I've done a lot in games.
I like to keep "Cover" as a concept pretty simple. Like many miniature wargames, I tend to declare that waved arms, brandished weapons and flowing capes aren't able to be targeted by ranged attacks, especially when they're the only part of a model visible. Superheroes tend not to cower in cover all that often, so if a significant proportion of the model (at least 50%) is obscured, it is considered to be "In Cover" and gains +2 to it's Agility when targeted by Ranged Attacks. There is no distinction between different types of Cover in SSUA.
Playing the Game
The intent behind SSUA is such that there really should be no limit to designing a scenario. I've never really considered running a game in which Batman takes on the Penguin and his goons, as I can do that more easily in Batman Miniatures Game. Running a series of games based on Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles however, is an ideal use of SSUA, as no existing set of rules covers all of the characters in detail.
When planning my own games, I like to think about which characters I want to see interact; you will have seen some suggestions around this is my articles about crossovers and the like. Say I'm thinking of running a Halloween-themed game in late October, my mind already goes to characters like Ghost Rider, Deadman, Spawn and Mister Fear. I tend to operate games on teams of four, like the Marvel Ultimate Alliance games, and I like to mix up the origin of the characters as well, 1 Marvel, 1 DC, 2 Indy, if at all possible.
For a "Halloween" game, I'm personally thinking that it should all be about the baddies, like a good horror film. I have a nice Necropolis wargames table, so how about some Zombies to start with? I've always wanted to have Freddy Krueger and Doctor Destiny team-up, so let's get that going, and for a Marvel character, I'm thinking Baron Blood, because why not throw a vampire into the mix?
On to heroes, I feel that Deadman makes a nice foil to Freddy (both being ethereal), let's get Ash (Evil Dead) to slay some zombies, I'm sure I said Ghost Rider above and Abe Sapien has a good history against supernatural forces. A good idea is to try and keep the "power" balanced between heroes and villains, as much as is possible in a game without any internal balancing elements, like a points system. Putting Henchmen Teams on the Villain side is an easy way to do this, as well as limiting characters with high power levels.
Now that we have the table and the teams, what are we doing? Straight-up fights tend to be a bit dull, so how about a diabolical plot to unleash literal Hell? We'll need a magic circle and evil altar, but thankfully I already have both. If a character is in the circle uncontested, they can make a Mind Roll in the circle, scoring one "Magic Point" for each Goal rolled. At the end of 10 turns, whoever has more Magic Points wins the game.
Now, I just threw that together off the top of my head, with a rough idea of what I already had and could get together easily. With more time, you can plan bigger and more elaborate games, or even smaller ones. Next time, I'll demonstrate a short game and do some turn breakdowns.
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