Good article webhead, I look forward to seeing more from you.

Honestly though, I don't think anyone can deny that the Con Artists and Paramedics from Xplosion are two of the most annoying and uncomic-book-like characters ever made in HeroClix. I have no idea what WizKids was thinking when they chose to reprint those pieces in Universe. I mean they got rid of Firelord even after he had been neutered by NAAT and FCCF. Why wouldn't they get rid of the pieces that are actually still causing problems?

I like the idea of fixing Pulse Wave so that at least one enemy figure must be in range to be able to use the power.

This is a great article. I enjoyed reading it. Soon my players will have to live without them.

FYI the chance of rolling a two or three on 2d6 is ~8%. Roll 2d6 ten times or so and the chance of getting a 2 or 3 is actually quite high.

I like the idea of using Vanisher to deal with Con Artists, but I'm not sure if I like the idea of doing it on the first turn. In a 300-point game, the blue player is using 2 of 3 actions to set this up, while the red player is only going to need one action to kill Vanisher (3 clicks of life) and proceed with the PW.

I dunno. Any results anyone can testify to for this move?

These articles are great! Keep 'em coming.

Yeah, there's actually like a 30% chance an Earthquake goes off in the first two rounds (each round being two turns).

Over 40% that it's gone off after 3 rounds. Over 50% after 4 rounds.

So it's not all that uncommon. And man, can it freak your opponent out. Watch them sweat.

Its not as easy as hinted at, but the obvious implication is you take advantage of the formation to position Vanisher on the side *away from* the rest of the opponent's team. Then it becomes a frustrating issue of clearing away the intervening piece(s) to expose Vanisher for a hit (possibly needing break away to do so), taking a chance on his Super Senses, and then reorganizing the squad for the Perplex activation (which buys time). Remember, you don't have to kill the Con Artist to make it ineffective, just keep it off its Perplex click or keep it out of useful line of sight.

Frankly I'm not convinced on the merits of the Vanisher move either. But it would undeniably be at least a temporary, unignorable annoyance that requires more than just an afterthought to deal with. And in HeroClix sometimes the time bought tying up part of an opponent's team is all you need to win.

The solution is in DC Universe, Making the No dupes rule permanent, making it for every figure not just Uniques.

When someone has just one con artist, you dont have a problem anymore. It also solves problems like people using 3x Black Panther Rookies... or 2x Green Arrows and things like that. No reason to change anything else

Those are averages for a statistical sample. But each individual roll is still roughly 8.33%, and not making the roll on turn 1 doesn't make it happening on turn 2 any more probable.

The problem becomes more a when than an if. Sure the statistical averages say it will eventually go off. Doesn't do any good if it happens so late that your team has already been slaughtered (except you score a couple Con Artists as a parting shot). Earthquake isn't an answer to Perplex.

White Noise, on the other hand, has definite potential. Never rolled so many dependable 4s, 5s, and 6s in my life as I did when I was trying to get my lone Con Artist working in a game two weeks back. The irony was I was trying to pump the attack value (my luck is notoriously bad so I try to up the odds rather than damage, I'm known for Prob Controlling critical misses into another critical miss). And I consistently couldn't roll a 4, 5, or 6 on either die for the attack roll.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Fantastic article. The pictorial aids really added.

Thanks :-)

Brian

Of course this also makes it impossible to field a Skrull army or a SHIELD army or to use substitute figures for characters that don't exist (for example since Arsenal doesn't appear until Legacy I've been using exp GA for him, which would mean I could never pair up Ollie & Roy.)

I'm not a Wizkids historian so I have no clue as to what they said about retirement or banning.

Retiring entire sets and NOT banning or "restricting problem figures in active sets seems, IMHO, to the worts of both ideologies.

I'd rather see no retirement and a Banned/Restricted list.

Just because WK said they wouldn't do something is no reason to give up on an idea if it's a good idea. If enough players demand it then Wizkids would be wise to listen and change their stance.

Theres not that many Skrulls you know thanks to retirement... but i guess you could make the case for allowing dupes on Theme Teams and only theme teams...


I still change it though. No way a person could complain about the hoooker bomb and then use two Black Panthers or 3 Havoks

Originally posted by Cell: The solution is in DC Universe, Making the No dupes rule permanent, making it for every figure not just Uniques.

When someone has just one con artist, you dont have a problem anymore. It also solves problems like people using 3x Black Panther Rookies... or 2x Green Arrows and things like that. No reason to change anything else

Also, no more Gotham cops or Joker and a band of assorted minions.

actually, i like the idea of a restricted/banned list more than a no-dupes rules.

allows those "sensible" generics, such as the HDC troopers, gotham cops, to be fielded in multiples because they are far from game-breaking.

restricting the con artist, DEO would make sense...