I completely understand and agree with what nbperp and normalview stated, but I really wish it did work the way that the OP thought. That would make Avengers (standard) and JLA useful on high-point pieces like Superman, Sentry, or even Iron Man.

This thread is awesome. I love it when people argue over the rules of a game with the people who write the rules of the game.

If you disagree with nbperp's ruling... house-rule it.

That change would be even more beneficial for low-cost figures though. I would *love* to use a swarm of Mockingbirds or SI Spider-men with that change - just move them in and quickly clobber the opponent into submission!

IF this was a free action and didn't work the way it does in the rules (and being described by the mods) , there would be no limit to the number of times that this could be done in a round. Since it doesn't say "once per turn" or any other quantifier like that. You could literally run your Avengers team to virtually any spot on the map the first turn.

So all of you who are arguing against the mods think about that before you continue this argument.

I don't think any ones arguing about the intent or effect of the Free Move Ability. The discussion was about how the wording could be misinterpreted and maybe could benefit from a change. Then it spun of into wishful thinking.

Doesn't matter how you worded there will always be misinterpretation.

I will never understand how these things go on for pages once the initial question has been answered.

As a certified translator, a language instructor, and occasional proofreader, i appreciate your logical parsing of the wording in the most recent iteration of the HeroClix rulebook. On the other hand, I note from your join date that you might be a new player with these little plastic superhero figurines.

For us older players (in both senses of the word), this ruling seems to be a matter-of-course. Earlier versions of the rulebook also distinguished more clearly the four sorts of actions that may be assigned a figure: move action, close combat action, ranged combat action, and power action. Free actions -- as a category of action types -- are not as emphasized as they used to be. This might be where some of the communication difficulties are arising here.

For us older players, a "free action" immediately brings to mind Outwit and Perplex, not the move action allowed by the Avengers or JLA TA...

There a few intermediate stages between normal action and free action

If by normal, you mean "non-free," then there isn't All actions are either free or non-free. Non-free actions deduct from your action totals, unless otherwise stated.