This week's Teams from the Longbox features a brief 1987 cross-over between the casts of Walter Simonson's Thor and Louise Simonson's X-Factor. This simple story features only three protagonists, but these three characters have over 50 different HeroClix representations among them!

To see the combination of characters I've chosen to use on a 400-point HeroClix force, follow the link!

Synopsis: During the original 1980s run of X-Factor, each of the original X-Men went through some sort of "upgrade". Louise Simonson saw this as necessary to put the members of this team on more equal footing with the sort of 'power creep' that had taken place in the years since their original debut in the 1960s. The power-upgrade for Bobby Drake, a.k.a. Iceman, took place in Walt Simonson's Thor.

In that book, Loki increased Iceman's powers as part of a ploy to unleash Frost Giants, but the plan didn't exactly work out as expected, so Thor, Loki and Iceman ended up more-or-less working towards a common goal: survival!

Here is my HeroClix force build representing these three characters in action:

155 (TabApp 002) Thor
138 (Chaos War 042) Loki
+ 2 x 5 Additional Team Ability Secret Avengers
91 (WatX 066) Iceman
+ 2 Ultra-Heavy Object Tank Turret
= 396 Points

HeroClix has reach the point in which there is literally a version of Thor for every day of the month. I've chosen the version from the Marvel HeroClix TabApp set, mostly for the novelty, but also because on this particular force it allows Thor to shine, as he does in the comic.

This version of Thor has an emphasis on ranged combat attacks, so he may have trouble dealing with characters with blocked lines-of-fire, but that is why he has teammates! The Mjolnir's Song is a very interesting change to the typical move-and-attack, and if you are comfortable playing ranged attack pieces you should be able to figure out how to make this work for you.

E Thor Points: 155 Range: 7
Team: Avengers
Keywords: Asgardian, Avengers, Deity, Warrior

10 11 18 4

10 11 17 3

9 10 18 3

9 10 17 3

9 10 17 3

8 10 16 3

8 11 16 2

7 11 16 3

KO KO KO KO

The Mighty Avenger: Thor can use Super Strength.

Mjolnir's Song: Give Thor a power action and move him up to half his speed value. During the move, he may be given a ranged combat action as a free action.

As this version of Thor has the use of Super Strength through the use of a , there is no reason not to equip him with a 2-point ultra heavy object: the Tank Turret from the Chaos War Organized Play prize pack. This is a special object with a special set of rules, detailed below. This is a solid addition to this Thor's arsenal, as the majority of his dial is focused on ranged attacks, so the extra damage output in close combat attacks will be a benefit.


Thor's treacherous brother Loki also has several different options in HeroClix; I've chosen to use the Super Rare from the Chaos War booster set. This is a Loki that can be played aggressively if necessary, which is a nice option considering that it looks like a simple 8 Mystics-Team Ability figure that will otherwise be ignored. I like this version for this particular comic because the actual title of the comic is "When Loki Stood Alone" and this figure is capable doing just that...without relying on Mastermind (or minions, or Mind Control) to do his dirty work. The starting Leadership is a nice comic-accurate touch as long as Loki is removing tokens from Iceman.

V Loki Points: 138 Range: 8
Team: Mystics
Keywords: Asgardian, Avengers, Deity, Mystical

10 10 17 3

9 10 17 3

8 10 16 3

8 9 16 3

7 11 18 3

7 10 17 3

6 10 17 3

KO KO KO KO

My Unwitting Pawns: Loki can use Shape Change. When Loki rolls a 6 for Shape Change, friendly characters can't be targeted by ranged attacks this turn.

Both Thor and Loki are improved by giving them some Outwit and Perplex immunity via the Secret Avengers Additional Team Ability. Note that this is the only version of Loki (so far!) with the Avengers keyword.

Secret Avengers Cost: 5 per character
Prerequisite Keyword(s): Avengers

Characters using this team ability can't be the target of an opponent's Outwit or
Perplex unless they've been targeted with an attack previously in the same turn.

This limited protection gets weaker in higher-point games, but the high-mobility of this team (plus the inevitable use of Barrier) make the best ATA option. If you are feeling particularly good about your ability to strategically place your forces, and think you can get a lot mileage out of Iceman's special Glacial Wall power, then consider the Avenger's Response Unit to boost close combat attack values.

As I wrote above, this was the comic that boosted Booby Drake into the major leagues in terms of raw power. Loki's plan was to boost Iceman's power such that he would essentially generate enough cold across the Asgardian realms to empower the Frost Giants, so the awesome teambase version of Iceman from the Wolverine and the X-Men set is my chosen figure for this force. The top-dial Sidestep and Glacial Wall make a particularly nasty combination...and the best thing about the dial design is that the figure can be pushed to put up Glacial Walls, which rings very true to the comic. After the top-dial, the figure becomes a more typical ranged-combat attacker, but once Sidestep is gone most of his mobility is gone as well.

Unfortunately the Final Word forum is dead, but you can look here for the current ruling on how the Glacial Wall power works.

E Iceman Points: 91 Range: 6
Team: X-Men
Keywords: Champions, Defenders, X-Men

8 10 16 3

7 10 16 2

7 9 16 2

6 9 16 2

6 10 16 2

6 9 15 2

6 8 15 2

KO KO KO KO

Ice Slide: Improved Movement: Ignores Hindering Terrain

Glacial Wall: Iceman can use Barrier. When he does, make a close combat attack targeting each opposing character adjacent to a marker just placed. Each hit character is given an action token and is dealt 1 damage for each action token it now has.

HeroClix offers many different choices for each of the three characters I've placed on the force, so if I haven't chosen your favorite version of Thor, Loki or Iceman it is reasonably easy to reconfigure this force to your liking. Their opponents in this issue were Frost Giants, of which HeroClix also offers several different choices from the Avengers Movie and Giant-Size X-Men sets if you want to build an opposing force for the figures I've used here.

Great article. Love me some Asgardian and X-Men team ups!

Also, I totally agree with if a character has "Can use Super Strength" as a trait, you should be always be trying to get a Heavy Object equipped in their hands, an Ultra Heavy if they are over a 100 points.

I love Ice Man. What did the power up allow him to do?

In the comic, it basically allowed him to make a tremendous amount of ice without effort...in fact for a while he was unable to control/turn off his power. From my POV, this was the excuse to let him basically have a 'Green Lantern ring' (using ice, not magic green energy) without having to consider that he should be getting exhausted.

Ultimately it was essentially "we want this character to be treated as an A-class mutant, not just a snowman."

I don't think you can play 2 Ultra Heavy Tank Turrets. Aren't they considered special objects? Or am I mixed up?

Awsome, I had heard forever ago that loki was responsible for Bobby's power up and his need for the inhibitor belt he wore when I started getting into X-Factor back in the day but never knew the reason/circumstances. I also just finished reading Essential X-Factor volume 1 and Bobby disappears near the end of the book, clearly leading up to this. So a very fun and well timed team for me, and I just finished my sculpt swap for tabapp thor too! Do you have my house bugged or something? this is some Truman show stuff going on here....

Tidge just missed bolding the "2". He has one Turret, which is 2
points. Check the math; it adds.

i'm just waiting for an iceman that has a special in cap like batman, death stroke. he should freeze you and hurt you too. i also want a bobby that is an omega level mutant. the version in watx SHOULD have been that version. when bishop came around they, bobby got a boost back in his power. i want a bobby that is worth fielding. i haven't gotten one yet!

Agreed. I want a version of Iceman that represents how he was after Emma Frost took over his body and "showed him how it was done."

That team base iceman destroyed my Great Ten team and my Brainiac, psycho pirate, Mr mind team. He's ridiciculously good....I'm glad to see some tabapp love! People underestimated those figures yet ironically tabapp captain america is one of the best versions there is.

That is right, there is only one Tank Turret on the force. The Tank Turret got special recommendation here because of the traited Super Strength, but I may start recommending the Tank Turret on more of my forces that rely on placing a square of Hindering Terrain: the inability to be moved by TK, and the extra damage necessary to destroy it make it less likely that it will be moved. All bets are off if opponents have Super Strength of course.

Obviously the main part of my motivation for this article was this mini-arc's importance in the X-Factor series I am giving the Longbox treatment (sorry to hear that Thor issues 377-378 are not included in the X-factor collection), but the above post and the one below hit on another motivation...

There are some really good dials on the TabApp figures, and all of them seem accurately priced in point-costs for what they are bringing to the table. It is easy to overlook these figures because for the most part the characters on TabApp dials are ones which we have many already good versions, and few of them lend themselves to min-max abuse.

I debated also including the TabApp Iceman, but the teambase version is ultimately has more utility because of the Sidestep () power and the greater combined offense/map control Glacial Wall. As it turns out, this force has an ironic combination of figure rarity/expense: The chosen Loki is a classic "Super Rare", the Iceman is from a teambase (and IMO has been unfairly criticized as 'not being worth his cost') and Thor has gone from being overpriced to a bargain as the TabApp pack prices dropped to $1 for three figures!

FYI, Essential X Factor vol 2 includes Thor issue 378. Vol 1 includes Thor 373-374 & Power Pack 27 for some Mutant Massacre action.