Hi
I'm a teacher who runs a heroclix club at school. I've not been playing long myself (only since June and never played in a tournament) so i'd quite like some help in getting some tactics together for the kids to try out. Anyone got any ideas? or can anyone send me anything i could give out straight to the kids. They all live in a pretty rundown area so most of them are reliant on using my duplicate clicks (not loads at the moment). If anyone is from Manchester and would like to come along and speak to the kids that would be great too.

Rather than tactics, I'd work on teaching them the basics first.

2 ways to do it:

A) Field a 100 point team and do not use any powers or TA's. Just get used to the actions and what they can and can't do - stopping in hindering, breakaway, flyers, modifiers, damage, etc. Once they have mastered that add on the powers and TA.

B) Have the students use 1 figure each. Make sure the TA's are all ones they can use by themselves (Bats, Superman, Suicide Squad, etc). Then have the students play as a team against you. This may prevent them from being overwhelmed by all the rules.

After that, I'd run a few small games so they learn to use their actions wisely.

Tactics will come as they understand the rules. There is no way to teach the value of Barrier until someone uses it against you. Same goes for placement of flyers and the figure they carry.

Besides, if they are all on the same level - that's good. Let them all discover their own tactics. It should make the game so much more fun if they grow together than having some players leave others in the dust...

I used to print out good strategy articles from here and give them to my new players. It helped some of them.

Check out the Basic Strategy thread in this forum if you haven't already-some good stuff there re the basics and some things I would consider more advanced tatctics and strategy.

Later,
BKB

Also, this series of articles is available at the Wizkids site

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix...eresources.asp

and the figure review thread in the General Discussion forum of the Realms is invaluable for learning the figures.

Good luck!

Later,
BKB

Another good way to get in some practice without taking too much time is to use the small map that comes in the Universe Starter Sets.

It is only 13x13 so games are quick and action is heavy.

This would allow the kids to play more games in the time that they have; and the best way to learn about Heroclix is to experience it firsthand on the battlefield...

Words of wisdom. I'm a keen student of the game, but I don't play enough to really be good, and it shows when I summon the courage to enter the field of tournament play.

Later,
BKB

My newbie general rule of thumb:

300 or 400 point build total:

1) 2 flyers or transporters or Tk'ers (or a combination of figures who can transport figures)
2) 2 bricks or shooters (main attack piece - at least one shooter is a must)
3) 3~4 support (Support crew - medic, con-artist, sacrificial lamb, re-rollers)

Your team should be a minimum of 7 guys for it to be competitive.

If you can make a team with good damage dealing figures that are around 60~80 points to play then that is a very good balance team around 300 or 400 point games.

For 400 points to 500 points you can invest in a couple of over 100 points to be your 2 bricks or shooters as mentioned above.

If the general rule of thumb is not as easy to deal with right now

[font color="blue"]Just build a team that you think is fun to play [/font]

Heroclix club at school!

Wow, I wish you'd been my teacher in school. How many kids have joined your club?

Finding some new people to play with is fun. Finding a way to make you're hobby not only fun but something constructive for kids, well, that's incredibly cool

My advice would be to keep it simple. If you and your kids aren't going to tournaments, you won't need to know much of the advanced strategy of the game to enjoy it. I do play in a lot of tournaments, and I enjoy the challenge, but the most fun I have is playing pick-up games with friends or sealed booster tourneys. it's much more fun to make the best of out of what you have than to refine the intricacies of the Black Adam/double TK/ yo-yo-of-death strategy.

So don't worry about making them Heroclix masters - just work with what ya got. Since I don't know what your collection contains, I can't give you too many specifics, but you might try something fun - like a 300 or 400 pt. game where everyone must have either one Spider-Man or one Spider-Man villain on their team (or Batman/Batman villain, etc.).

They'll obviously still need to know some of the basic strategy, and you could start with some of the articles here on the realms, as well as the basic startegy thread that's already been mentioned. With all those resources you'll be off to a good start. With all that said, though, let me make two general suggestions:

1. TEACH THEM TO UNDERSTAND THEIR CHARACTER'S DIAL.
This sounds simple, but I see so many people (including many experienced players) that still don't get it.

First, there's the basic level of understanding the powers on their dial - they need to know what the powers do and how they work. But the next level is the one so many players never seem to grasp: Reading the dial and letting it tell you what the character is good at.

Most Heroclix had a fair amount of time put into their design, and for a reason - These pieces are designed to not only be comic-accurate, but to be able to do certain things well in the game. Sometimes a piece is very straightforward, other times it changes a lot as it takes damage. But knowing how to best use a piece on each of its clicks is a key element to the game.

It sounds like heavy strategy, but it's really not. The character's dial will tell you what it's good at. All you have to do is look at it, and use the powers that are there. But a lot of people don't do it well.

Example: Take a look at Veteran Sinestro from Legacy. He starts off as a fierce attacker - high AV, high DV, some Running Shot and a very strong 4 damage. So most players wil use him as an attack piece. Do 4 or 5 clicks of damage to him, though, and he completely changes: Now his AV and damage drop quite a bit, and he loses his damage-reducing powers. However, he also picks up Barrier and Outwit. Sinestro has completely changed from an attack piece to a support piece. But many players don't seem to realize that, and they don't use him to his best effect. Here's what happens:

People who can't read dials:
They complain about being knocked off Sinestro's "good" clicks. They keep trying to use him as an attacker. They Outwit the defensive power of the character that just hit Sinestro and try to hit them with Sinestro's pedestrian 8 AV and a 2 Damage.

People who can read dials:
They realize that Sinestro's role has changed and react accordingly. Instead of attacking, they use Sinestro to Outwit an opponent's character, they they use Sinestro's Barrier to protect him and/or isolate the Outwitted opponent from the rest of his team. Then, under the protection of the Barrier, Sinestro's teammates come up and beat the snot out of the guy Sinestro just Outwitted.

That might sound a little complex, but it's really not. It's simply learning to look at the dial and say "How can I best use the powers I have right now?" A great way to teach this to the kids might be to print off a couple of figure reviews by Azs (Preferably of pieces you own). He does a fantastic job of breaking down characters and pointing out how they change and what they are good for throughout their dial.

2. TEACH THEM HOW THEIR FIGURES CAN WORK TOGETHER

Again, it's not so much a specific rule as a mindset. When the kids start building a team, encourage them to think about what their character's weaknesses or flaws are, and if there's another clix who can help them out. Is their character slow? Then team them up with another character that can TK them or carry them into battle. Got someone who hits hard but has a low AV? Team them up with a Perplexer. Show them how much havoc two characters with Incapacitate (like Nightwing and Green Arrow) can wreak on a powerful character like Thor when they work together. Encourage them to try out Team Abilities that help partners, like Batman Enemy/Sinister Syndicate or JSA/Defenders.

Once you get them to think about how teammates work together, it'll be no time at all until they start coming up with pretty elaborate partnerships like"Hey, I should use Vet. Stargirl and Unique JSA Wonder Woman together! Stargirl can help carry Wonder Woman into battle, and they can share defense while they're doing it. Then Stargirl can do a Running Shot on someone, base them while doing it, and tie them up so Wonder Woman can charge them next round!"


Ultimately, Dominic, I guess what I'm encouraging you to do is not to teach the kids a strategy, but how to think strategically. Once they learn that, the startegies will follow in no time. And they might sharpen a few critical thinking skills to boot! (See, it really IS educational!)

P.S. I have no idea what the tourney or shop scene is like over in England, but you might try popping in to one if one is nearby and asking if anyone's got some clix they'd like to donate to your club. Some people will undoubtedly give you the cold shoulder, but a lot of players are hppy to help out players who are just getting started. Alternately, I have quite a few clix laying around that I just don't use anymore (and so do several of my friends) and I'd be happy to donate them to your club if you'd be willing to pay the shipping costs. If you're interested, send me a PM!

Thanks everyone for all your help/advice. I went to my shop this weekend and they gave me a massive bag of donated clix. Really good as the kids now have a couple each as opposed to just using my duplicates. One day they might even buy some. They are also starting to take the maps home to practice! Currently got about 6 kids but numbers are slowly rising as more kids hear about it. Loads of the kids play Yu gioh card game - guess it's cheaper to play that than buy clix -might be a good way to bribe them to behave 'if you work quietly i'll give you a click, work really well and you can have a Xorn.....

We got 10 kids & one teacher at clix club today!!! Think I am going to start off each session with a focus on a power or concept so kids get more used to them and don't rely on me so much. Then might invite more kids! They are getting well into it though. Now I need to get hold of more clix for them!

Nice to see kids picking up the game. If you take them to a tournament, don't let them talk to the big smelly guy in the corner.

why ya gotta call me out like that? huh?

Sorry dude, but you know I speak the truth.