Release day has come for latest HeroClix 5-figure booster retail release from WizKids, X-Men: X of Swords. HCRealm's very own Hesster56 is here to give you his HOT TAKES on the what most folks consider to be the "money pieces" of any given release, the Chase figures!

#057 Apocalypse
Real Name: En Sabah Nur
Team: Cosmic Energy,X-Men
Range: 8
Points: 195
Keywords: Arakko, Horsemen, X-Men, Mystical, Past, Ruler, Warrior

10 12 19 5

10 12 19 4

10 12 19 4

8 11 18 4

8 11 18 4

8 11 18 4

8 12 19 5

8 12 20 5

8 13 21 5

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Sword Bearer: 5 Points. This character starts the game with any Sword equipment equipped.
The mask of Annihilation: Super Senses
There must be suffering before victory: FREE. Make an attack, but only to target a character that targeted Apocalypse with an attack since your last turn.
Summon our full might: STOP. Apocalypse can't be damaged by opposing effects, healed, or chosen for Mastermind. // At the beginning of your turn, generate an Daemon bystander within six squares. // At the end of your turn, deal Apocalypse 1 unavoidable damage.

Daemon
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0

8 11 17 3

S009 SCARAB (Light Object)
Indestructible
Equip: Any
Unequip: Drop
Effect: Blades/Claws/Fangs. When this character uses it, increase the damage dealt by 1 for each 4 in the attack roll (result can be greater than 6).
Point Value: 10

Did you know Apocalypse was originally supposed to be the Owl, until Louise Simonson decided he should be more imposing? Can you imagine a Leland Owsley dial this good? No. No you cannot. Apocalypse takes yet another Chase slot with yet another amazing iteration of him. Feels like we stopped seeing him at all after GSX, and lately WK has been making up for that oversight. Note that he’s going to go out with a blaze of glory, but as long as he’s on the map he’s a threat.

#058 The White Sword
Real Name: Unkown
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0
Points: 75
Keywords: Arakko, Warrior, Past

12 11 18 3

10 11 18 3

10 11 19 3

8 11 19 3

8 10 18 3

8 10 17 2

8 10 17 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Sword Bearer: 5 Points. This character starts the game with any Sword equipment equipped.
Resurrect my Thralls each dawn: Twice per game, when a bystander is KO'd, after resolutions you may generate a copy of that Bystander.
Charge of One Hundred Champions: Charge, Flurry. When the White Sword uses Charge and hits, this turn friendly bystanders can us Charge.
Sanctuary of the Ivory Spire: Quake.// When the White Sword hits more than one opposing character with a close attack, after resolutions heal 2 clicks on each adjacent friendly character.

S010 PURITY (Light Object)
Indestructible
Equip: Any
Unequip: Drop
Effect: Blades/Claws/Fangs. When this character uses it, after resolutions you may generate an Okkara warrior bystander
Point Value: 10

Okkara Warrior
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0
Points: 0

8 10 17 2

This is Gandalf the White, bringing an army on the third day of the siege of Helm’s Deep. The Ivory Spire power has the potential to heal a TON of damage, the 19 Defend is going to make Bystanders look like 12-foot tall gods, and they’re fast enough to close the gap and ruin someone’s day. My mouth is watering thinking of all the bystanders that I’m going to build around. Sure,Ultron Drones are fun, but think of White Sword, Stegron, and the Dinosaur hordes.

#059 Annihilation
Real Name: Unknown
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0
Points: 70
Keywords: Arakko, Horsemen, Deity, Past, Ruler, Warrior

10 11 18 4

10 11 18 4

10 11 18 4

10 11 18 4

10 11 18 3

10 11 18 3

10 11 18 3

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

SWORD BEARER: +5: This character starts the game with any sword equipment equipped.
COMMAND THE HORDES: Leadership. When she uses it, friendly characters with the Arakko keyword within 3 squares are considered to be adjacent to her.// At the beginning of your turn, generate a Daemon bystander [MAX 3].
THE MASK OF ANNIHILATION: When Annihilation is KO'd, choose a friendly character, for the rest of this game, that character is considered to have the Daemon bystander printed on its card and can use the "Command the Hordes" trait.

Daemon
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0

8 11 17 3

#s011 TWILIGHT SWORD (Light Object)
Indestructible
Equip: Any
Unequip: Drop
Effect: Blades/Claws/Fangs. When this character uses it, after resolutions you may generate a number of blocking terrain markers up to the d6 result.
Point Value: 10

Pause on the clix-Go watch Annihilation if you haven’t already. One of the best modern scifi/horror films I’ve ever seen. Heck of a cast, and my god that scene in the chairs. Anyhoo.
Anni here is a nice close combat monster. With the right sword she’ll pack a 12 attack or 19 defense depending on when she wants to go on offense or defense, but her real value is in the Daemon horde. If she rolls out slowly, she’s coming to the front lines with three bodyguards packing some of the wickedest stats on a bystander I’ve ever seen. 11/3 attack with penetrating? I’ve been in this game since it started, and that used to be top-level figure stats.

#060 Unique Blink
Real Name: Clarice Ferguson
Team: X-Men
Range: 5
Points: 75
Keywords: Age of Apocalypse, Exiles, Generation X, New Mutants, S.W.O.R.D., Utopia, X-Men

9 11 18 3

9 11 18 3

8 10 18 3

8 10 18 2

8 11 17 2

8 11 17 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Movement: Blocking, Characters
BLINK PORTALS: At the beginning of your turn, you may generate a Portal marker [MAX 3] into a square within range -or- place a Portal marker from anywhere on the map into a square within range. // When a friendly character within range and line of fire makes a range attack, they may count range and draw line of fire from a Portal marker. If they do, their maximum range is 3 and after resolutions remove that marker.
BLINK!: Incapacitate. When Blink uses it after resolutions you may place a hit character given an action token up to 3 squares away from its current square.
MIND IF I BORROW THAT?: Super Senses. // When Blink is missed by an attack, after resolutions you may deal 1 penetrating damage to an opposing character within 3 squares of a Portal marker.

One of the coolest things Blink did in her run as Exiles leader was fight Hyperion, using her portals to get him to sever his own spine by porting the eye beams into his back. The fact that this Blink lets you kind of do that makes me excited. She also kind of brings back the Spiral shenanigans that led to the creation of the Watch List. Spiral was much more broken than Blink could ever dream of, but dropping portals to shoot around corners and through walls is going to get ugly. Her Blink! Special might also be a blast to move people around, but I really wish we could blink them into elevated terrain and drop them off a building.

#061 Saturnyne
Real Name: Opal Luna Saturnyne
Team: Cosmic Energy, Mystics
Range: 8
Points: 150
Keywords: Excalibur, Cosmic, Mystical, Ruler

10 12 18 4

10 11 18 3

10 10 17 3

8 10 17 3

8 11 18 3

8 12 18 3

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

The Card is Drawn...The Corp is Reborn: FREE: Generate a Captain Britain Corps bystander in a square within 6 squares and line of fire (Max 3).
Long May She Reign: Mastermind. When Saturnyne uses it, she may instead choose a friendly character with "Captain Britain" in their name within 6 squares.
Dragonfire: Penetrating/Psychic Blast. Improved Targeting (Characters, Adjacency) // RANGE: Choose an opposing character within range and along a direct line of fire. Make a range attack targeting that character and all other characters occupying squares along that line of fire. Instead of normal damage, each hit character is dealt Saturnyne's printed damage value.
Omniversal Majestrix: Leadership, Perplex. // Once per turn, you may reroll a die rolled by a character within range (including one die of an attack roll).

Captain Britain Corps
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0

8 10 17 2

At the risk of upsetting the Excalibritons among me, I don’t really care for Saturnyne. As a character, of course. As a dial, she’s white-hot fury. 8 range is a lot, especially in this set. And anybody that plays against her and lines their figures up is begging to leave the table. Of course while we can bow to her offensive capabilities all day, her defensive power is where she’s going to truly shatter armies. And no, generating a charge/blades piece for free is not where we’re going. We’re going to be utterly sick of her Masterminding to other Captains Britain through walls and even through other multiverses. Plan to hit her at least five times in one turn to put her away.

#062 Unique Lady Roma
Real Name: Roma
Team: Mystics
Range: 7
Points: 65
Keywords: Excalibur, Mystical, Politician, Ruler

8 10 18 3

8 10 18 3

8 11 18 3

8 11 18 3

8 12 18 3

8 12 18 3

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Targetting: Elevation, Characters
The Floating Kingdom: Leadership, Shape Change. // When an opposing character attacks Lady Roma or an adjacent friendly character, if they began the turn on a different elevation than Lady Roma, modify their attack -2 and damage -1.
Guarded, Locked, and Quite Upside-Down: Perplex. // When an opposing character within line of fire uses Perplex, after resolutions roll a d6. 4-6: The targeted character modifies the chosen combat value by the opposite amount instead (-1 instead of +1, or vice versa).

Merlyn’s daughter can turn a map on its head. Her perplex power doesn’t require range, just line of fire, so the unwary might accidentally leave a friendly very open to attack. Think of all the Battleworld specials that might make this hilarious. Then she plays with elevation to not only hamper attack, but damage as well. And the smoke cloud to just really ruin someone’s day. And if you get past all that, the back half of her dial becomes a psyblasting monster. All of that backed by good defense values, shape change, and evasion. Ruler indeed.

#063 Unique Merlyn
Real Name: Merlyn
Team: Cosmic Energy, Mystics
Range: 7
Points: 150/50
Keywords: Cosmic, Mystical, Past, Ruler

10 12 19 4

10 11 18 3

10 11 18 3

8 11 18 3

8 11 17 3

8 10 17 3

8 10 17 2

l l l l l l

8 11 17 2

8 10 16 2

8 10 16 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

THE HOLY REPUBLIC OF FAE: During each player's turn, that player can't give their characters FREE actions if they've already given a number of FREE actions equal to their Action Total that turn.
THE MERLYN STONES: Invincible. // FREE: Roll a d6. 4-6: Heal Merlyn 1 click -or- modify Merlyn's defense +1 until your next turn.
THE MERCY OF THE GRAND HIEROPHANT: Perplex, Action Total +1.

I’m tipping my hat to our curmudgeonly VW Beetle Cliffjumper for helping make Merlyn easier to understand. Your maximum free actions available equals your action total. 300 point game with no leadership? 3 free actions per turn, done. But be careful to notice that if you play Merlyn, his damage power automatically breaks that rule without actually using the Leadership power. Played as a threat, ie full dial, Merlyn has a good chance to be rocking a 21 defense. He’ll phase around, wipe people off the map with his magic wand, and generally annoy you. Played at his support value, he’s much less obnoxious, but also much easier to wipe off the map. Grab this sorcerer by the stones and play him at 150, cackling the whole time.

#064 Professor X
Real Name: Charles Xavier
Team: X-Men
Range: 6
Points: 75/40
Keywords: Illuminati, Quiet Council, Starjammers, X-Force, X-Men, Politician, Ruler

8 11 17 3

8 11 17 3

8 10 17 2

l l l l l l

7 10 17 2

7 10 17 2

7 9 17 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

RALLY (Opposing attack rolls 5): FREE: Remove one of Professor X's RALLY dice to choose a friendly character with a shared keyword within range and line of fire. This turn, Professor X may count range and draw lines of fire from the chosen character and uses his printed combat values when doing so.
FORGING THE CEREBRO SWORD: Once per game when an opposing equipment would be KO'd, you may instead equip it to a friendly character. If you do, that character can use Blades/Claws/Fangs this game.
NO MORE: Outwit. When he uses it, the duration doesn't end until he uses it again or this power is lost.

I’d be disappointed if I pulled Chuck as my Chase. Is he a bad figure? No, but he’s a darn boring sculpt. He’s also kind of a swerve, as the Cerebro Sword never really figured in the comic. But the tricks that Chase Charles can pull off are reminiscent of the greatest set in the history of the game. I’m talking, of course, of GSX Professor X and his “I shoot mind beams from wherever my students are standing.” Chase Charles needs a rally die to do this trick, and he needs to see his student, but it still opens things up to the glory of shooting around a corner. Pick an old school map like the prison and think about the killboxes you can create. But that’s not all! You’ve also got the option of blowing up equipment. Charles can smelt opposing equipment in order to reforge Narsil into Anduril, which doesn’t just give a friendly character a piece of equipment but gives them Blades as well. AND WE AREN’T DONE YET! Taking Wanda’s catchphrase, Xavier can utter No More! And turn off a power until he feels like giving it back. That’s going to put a X-Cutioner’s Song level target on him, and needs to be properly planned, but with more and more figures having huge stretches of single powers on some slots, a figure like Emma Frost could lose her Mind Control for the entire game.

Thanks again for providing good reads.

I wonder how much these Alan Moore chases will fetch online, they’re not horribly competitive dial wise but I have ptsd from War of Light.

I like characters that are antagonists without being villainous per se, and Saturnyne fits that bill. Definitely my top want from the set. Strange how she’s more powerful than every one of the other godlike Excalibur characters. Considering JJ and the Fury could easily trounce her in the comics leading her to enlist aid from the Braddocks, that scenario is very unlikely to play out that way on the tabletop. My thoughts on this set are all over the place, a sentiment shared with game design apparently.

Overall this set isn’t as bland as IndyClix, a fear of mine when the focus is Blades/Claws/Fangs. My Pump It and Dump It list for this set is still longer than most sets but none of these chases are in any way unplayable, especially in sealed.

Now for some tidge comments:

Purely in terms of character choices, I think that this is one of the better rosters of chase figures. I like how the roster (mostly) serves as both a love-letter to both the Alan Davis Excalibur and the X of Swords event. Obviously there was going to be some crossover, and attitudes may vary regarding the inclusion of three sword bearers in the chase category, but I prefer the chase roster to reflect the theme of the set. I can rationalize a set of chases that is self-consistent and is part of a radically different theme, but I feel a sense of double-joy when I but into a blind product with some nominal theme and find a chase figure that actually matches the theme of the booster set.

I feel that Blink and Professor X are the most out-of-place. The dials certainly fall into the category of "good enough", yet.... Professor X really only has one really good trick (drawing lines-of-fire through some teammates to use the awesome Outwit), ultimately the character is of so little relevance to me as a member of a combat team I just can't get excited for this piece. Blink on the other hand... if we hadn't just gotten a very good rare version of the character in XMRF, I'd be nonplussed that this dial was added to XoS as a chase. The 75-point chase is a different sort of figure than the 60-point rare, but I feel that the chase dial is well worth the upgraded cost.

As for the more thematic six, I have a mental block against the Alan Davis Captain Britain mythology. I'm not throwing any shade; it simply isn't my cuppa. This is weird (to me) as I find myself enjoying a LOT of unabashedly British comics of that original era. I totally recognize the mini-theme of Saturnyne, Lady Roma, and Merlyn as a cool group of characters to now exist in HeroClix... I just have a mental block about the characters and source material.

If I were to rate my wants from the chases, they would roughly go:

#1 Apocalypse <- Not the best version to exist in HeroClix, but this is the seed of the XoS story, it comes with a sword (albeit a peculiar one), and (aside from the grand prize version) I feel like it bookends the versions we started getting in HoX.

#2 thru #4 White Sword, Annihilation, Blink (roughly in that order)

I'd like to have as complete a set of Arrako mutants as possible; the same goes for the swords. White Sword's Purity is IMO the second best of the revealed swords. Annihilation/Genesis is the better BST generator and is probably the "money chase". I made my case for Blink above.

#5 thru #7 Merlyn, Saturnyne, Lady Roma (vague order)

I disclosed the lack of character appeal above, but also these dials are bordering on "lotsa points" and/or "lotsa effort (of the sort that doesn't appeal to me)" to make work.

#8 Professor X <- I wrote it all above.

I hope you all pull the chase(s) you want!

What is the point of the defense values on the STOP clix? If Apocalypse can't be damage by opposing effects, who cares if his defense is 20, 3 or 103?

That's a very pertinent question, actually.

Maybe there's a way friendlies could borrow his defense? Or to prevent friendly mind control from using him as a wrecking ball?

Within this set: There is at least one Sword which prevents the use of defense powers.

I guess the high Defense on Apocalypse is so he can't be Incapacitated as easy.
The one time you WANT Incapacitate on your dial and WizKids makes it almost impossible to hit with it.

And one that ignores STOP clicks

There are also a variety of Special Powers that trigger on a hit rather than on damage.

Apocalypse might be the one time when I am 100% okay with a "run away" strategy once you've gotten him to Click #7.

-J

Considering the alternative is the sweet release of death, not a bad idea.

Will we see a Hot Take on the Tarot cards?

Oh my adoring fans clamor for more! Tidge! Tidgles! Do be a dear and post the rest when you can, that’s a good Tidge.



If he was a mod I’d be eating an infraction right now.

Crown, to answer your question-I submitted a very small sword article and a scenario. I did not do the tarot cards for two reasons. 1, I didn’t know if we had them all when I wrote those. Two, I think they’re vastly situational. Cards that hurt range attacks won’t be used by a sniper team. Cards that buff Super Senses won’t do much for you if you’re packing all reducers.

Surprise third reason (just finished a 15 hour drive, brain dead). As the cards can and likely will rotate constantly, it’s very difficult to plan for the “right” one. Unless you pack Tarot.

I'll probably get around to post the scenario, but that is a different sort of beast. (Remembering to) Format/fight with the dials was more work than I expected. I didn't include the sword text for "reasons".