Well, that's not true anymore. All the rights are all owned by Microsoft completely.

And actually, at that time I'm pretty sure all IP rights were already owned by Microsoft, but the developers still had the rights to their gameplay mechanics, something like that.

Ensemble was owned by Microsoft as well. It might well have been that the original ActionClix contracts were specific to the studio, or maybe even specific to the game, and Halo Wars just wasn't on the list of games in the contract. Obviously Reach wouldn't have been either, so it might well have been that they've got the new contract.

Oh, hey I can answer yours and the one you quoted.

Microsoft owns ALL rights to the halo universe, they control the intellectual property, not Bungie, for better or worse.

Flashbangs are and were a major part of the expanded universe of Halo. As there are many conditions to use them, especially on earth or when dealing with non Covenant problems. Plus, the UNSMC is an extension of todays military in a sci fi setting, thus it would be fitting to have modern warfare elements within use. Like FB's and smoke grenades and the like.

I believe in the literature they were usually said to be used for non-lethal operations, such as by the New Mombasa police.

That was actually part of the deal to get Microsoft to let Bungie go, and happened well after the original ActionClix game came out.

Amusingly, prior to their acquisition by Microsoft, Bungie was in a distribution deal with Take-Two Interactive. One of their conditions of getting out of that deal, so that they could get bought, was to give full rights to the Myth universe, to which Halo was originally a gameplay sequel, to Take-Two.

Alter ego would be a simple way to implement weapon swapping using current Heroclix mechanics. I assume there will be multiples of each named character.

Shhhhhhhh! Don't give them any ideas.

Or Beast Boy.

His sculpt looks like Atom and Hawkman

I thought at first, too. But going back to what others have referred to Cortana as, I haven't been able to shake the image of this figure standing right behind Onslaught...

The Beast Boy mechanic would be a vastly better way to do it.