Ever face a figure or team you can't seem to take down? Then this is the series for you. We take a deeper look into those problematic pieces and Exploit their Weaknesses! In this edition, we take a look at one of our former Presidents that has returned to haunt our every thoughts and dreams - or at least chill us to the bone!

Click "Full Story" below as we analyze this awesome figure and Exploit its Weaknesses

Thanks for joining me in another installment of Exploiting Weaknesses! As with the other articles' precursors, Pulse Wave will not be discussed as it is almost always effective. If it isn't effective, I will point out why.


Here is the dial for reference.



Things that tell me I need to call Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson:

- Long Dial
- Solid beginning attack and defense
- IM: Blocking, Characters
- Ghastly Chill
- Gettysburg Address
- Four score and seven years ago

Exploiting Abe 2.0's Weaknesses

Well, we did our best to get rid of him last time but he just keeps coming back! It's like he has some vendetta for something yet resolved! No matter, we know just what to do right?!

I stare blankly at this creepy former president as I see he has 10 clicks of life with Impervious! What ghost has Impervious? Apparently this one. We need to rely on our Exploit and Psy blast to get past it or an opportune Outwit with a RCE or CCE attack. This will allow us to deal massive amounts of damage quickly since we can't 1 shot the guy. We could do it in 2 if we deal enough the first time or have a nice high damage flurry attack. Super Strength can get our damage output where we need it and don't forget to position those Enhancers and/or Empowerers before making your big move. Seeing as he has an 18 defense as well, we may need to use that RCE/CCE to boost the attack to make sure we at least deal some damage. Once we deal at least 2 clicks worth, he is more manageable. Same defense at 18 but easier with Super Senses or ESD. Again, outwit can work but Precision strike forces the Senses to work on a 6 only and focusing in with close attacks makes ESD a non-issue. It may be odd to think of this but Poisoning this ghost will also work if we get the chance (so long as the Imperv is out of the way). Now we all like to pack in the damage reducers but in doing so we make Abe here mostly useless as a damage dealer since he only has 2 damage. Just be careful of the Incap pretty much his entire dial as he will want to use that first and foremost.

Improved movement comboed with Flight will get Abe anywhere he wants. No tie up pieces for us but we probably didn't need those anyway due to him have no access to move and attack style powers. We can use them to block lines of fire but seems kind of pointless at this time. The real reason his IM is so good here is the combo with Ghastly Chill. This power allows him to modify 1 character he moved through and get their attack to a -2 disadvantage. This is pretty stellar considering your opponent could time it for when you are about to strike. Just think, you move up when his attackers are pushed so you can strike next turn and then this guy swoops in and passes right through you to get that -2 modifier. You roll that attack and wouldn't you know, you miss by 1!!!! This guy can really hamper your strategy but is even better doing it at 55 points because he isn't the main attacker. He can just be a nuisance for the whole game while you try to attack the real damage dealers. We can deal with this is a handful of ways, though one is quite situational. Firstly, outwit will make it useless. Second, we can use Outsiders TA on ourselves - sure we can't deal extra damage or anything but at least we aren't losing attack strength. Third, we can stay outside his range of 6-7 movement. If he can't reach us, we can't get the modifier. Lastly, and highly situational, is barrier around your key pieces when they are 5-6 spaces away from Abe. This would allow Abe to move in but not move out and therefore he would be unable to actually do anything to you. See the image below:



As you can see, Abe is 6 squares away. Even with his 7 move he would be unable to get in and get out, leaving you safe for a shot next turn (unless Abe moves to safety).

The Gettysburg Address is a pretty awesome power that only shows on his expensive dial. Not only is he Incapping at CLOSE but doing so to every one of your characters within 4 that he can see! Make sure to pack that willpower but even so, you may take the 1 penetrating damage following it if you already had pushed the turn before. Outwit will make this useless and making sure you stay outside 4 squares will be key.

Finally, we have a speech we need to take seriously. Four score and seven years ago (from this point forward abbreviated as 87) will give us fits once we get him lower on the dial or if he starts there already. 87 gives his buddies a nice boost. If the roll is a 4 or 7 (7 is most common in case you hadn't been keeping up on Practically Tactical), they can either remove a token from the attacker or give one to the target. Please note, this is not Incap so pushing damage will apply but not the penetrating damage if you aren't able to assign a token. Regardless of what his team is, he will be able to keep tokens off his main attacker buddies or help dish opportune tokens to their targets. If you are running Jakeem, you can bet that even if they miss with a roll that was a 4 or 7, you will be taking a token, forcing you to take a push damage or have to pick willpower next turn if you were going to attack. The ability to stay tokenless or token you up is something that gives your opponent a huge advantage. Fortunately it relies on rolls that happen a combined 25% of the time. We can also outwit this but chances are, you won't be able to draw a bead on him easily and not worth it if played at 55 points. He doesn't need to be adjacent so he can hide far away from the battle. We could send one of our secondary or tertiary guys after him but it could be risky due to that high 18 defense with Super Senses. Maybe a stealth outwit would be better as he won't be able to hit you easily.

That's all I have this time! Until next time, always look for the chinks in the armor and Exploit your opponent's Weaknesses!

I NEED to field a Spectral Realm team.

I have respect for the dead...

So does the Gettysburg Address allow you to attack even if there are no adjacent targets while there are targets within the 4 squares and line of fire?

Gettysburg Address: Incapacitate. When Ghost of Abraham Lincoln uses it as CLOSE, he targets all opposing characters within 4 squares and line of fire.

That is my understanding

Have you seen any official confirmation to that on the Wizkids rules forum?

Don't need to necessarily as it says you activate it as a CLOSE (he has no range to activate it as RANGE) and in addition to any adjacent you also get the bonus effect. Its because it says when you activate it it targets these figures meaning they are part of what is required to attack as opposed to adding targets outside the initial. Had it said "and also target 'x' characters" then you would need to have a legal adjacent target first.