Games 107-109: 3 rounds, 500 points tournament. In reference to Halloween, teams could run one Monster piece, which wouldn't break themed teams.

I went in just running Exiles, my Monster being Dark Beast. Considering we somewhat recently gutted all the shop's prior house rules, that meant we'd unbanned Feat Cards (sorry, LanternJordan2814!), and that meant bringing back two old favorites.

Mimic 100 + Inside Information 4
Spider-Man 2099 100 + Dimensional Watch 0
Peggy Carter 75
Spider-Man 1776 75 + Contingency Plan 12
Dark Beast 70 + Inside Information 4
Blink 60
Bookcase, Desk, Mailbox 0
Sideline for Mimic: =A= on opening, Archangel (Regenesis LE), Wolverine (Regenesis LE), Wolverine (Laura, Fantastic Four set blue/yellow)
Sideline for Dark Beast: AJ Styles
Sideline otherwise: Apache Chief, Batman, Black Vulcan, Firestorm, Samurai, Black Manta, Brainiac, Gorilla Grodd, Lex Luthor, Sentinel

Game 107, I lost map roll and thus the game. My opponent, the one who usually takes first place at our events, ran the following:

Onslaught 125
Giganta 75
Scarab 75
Gwen Stacy 60
Leonardo Da Venom 60
Valeria Richards 40
Ultra Humanite 25
Mary Jane 15 (x2) for 30 total
Power Gem 10

I lost map roll, as noted. To Pacific Ocean we went: wide open spaces, nowhere to hide, no terrain to use to my advantage and close the gap. My opponent moved some. I barely moved up at all. On turn two, Onslaught bum-rushed the squad with an insane-range triple Mind Control. Peggy took out Blink, and Mimic took out Becky, and I quit the game immediately, my force scattered, my mobility gone, my chance at any fun destroyed.

I was, to quote Lt. Worf, displeased.

Game 107
Game loss by concession
Exiles KOs: Blink, Becky Barnes
Total Exiles KOs: 411 in 107 games
Win-Loss Record: 68-39 (63.55%)

Furious at this as I'd had a hard week at work, knew I wasn't going to be able to make the usual Saturday free play date, and then knowing I was likely going to get the bye round 2 due to taking 0 points (9 people event), I was not happy at all.

Somehow, the WizKids System did NOT give me the bye. It went to the other guy who took 0 points, somehow.

Game 108 against 500 Ruler

My second round opponent, the father of two young and new players (one 9, one I think 13), is perhaps my age or a little older. We connect on a LOT of cultural references, and as I am a king of Dad Jokes and puns, we get along really well. That, and he plays the game for FUN, so we had a blast this game.

It felt a shame to so horribly outclass him in-game.

Zeus 175
Minotaur 125
Apollo 100
Sebastian Shaw 100

This time, I won map roll, so we went to the HeroClix update of one of my OLD favorite HorrorClix/HeroClix dual-branded maps, this one being Castle Hideout. We basically met in the middle. . . and that's when I realized how dangerous the pairing of Zeus and Shaw could be. Hitting Shaw is basically futile, and hitting Zeus means slowly chipping through a Mystic that can't be Outwitted with a long, powerful dial.

Zeus incinerated Blink in short order, and I threw everything I had at the weakest links: the Minotaur and Apollo. Peggy punched out the Minotaur, and Mimic's continuing the offensive led to Lex Luthor hitting the field ("Mistah Lu-thwoh!" -- Otis, Superman: The Movie). After a double-miss by Spidey 2099's Phasing/Flurrying, Becky Barnes soon spawned Black Vulcan.

That's when Zeus showed Black Vulcan what lightning was all about. ZAP!

The round ended shortly after Peggy, in position thanks to a Spidey, decked out Apollo.

Could I have dealt with Zeus and Shaw? Possibly. I'd have had to focus the entire team on one at a time, though, and at that point in the game, I'm not sure I could have managed that.

Game win, 225-85!

Game 108
Blink and Black Vulcan KOed
Exiles KOs: Minotaur and Apollo
Total Exiles KOs: 413 in 108 games
Win-Loss Record: 69-39 (63.88%)

That game was fun.

Game 109, round 3, saw me up against an old, old friend from another venue. He and I have a longstanding one up, one down rivalry of sorts, and one of my earliest victories against him starred the Exiles against his Speedsters. (See Game 70, 1/29/2017 for full details!)

This game, though, he was running Avengers.

Hawkeye 98
Venom 96
Moondragon 85
Captain America 75 (Avengers Assemble)
Captain America 75 (Falcon)
Beast 60 (Uncanny X-Men)

I won map roll again, so in the Castle Hideout I stayed. With the drawbridge at the top center of the map, I was playing the right side this time rather than the left on the previous game.

I was a little worried at first. Hawkeye was in Stealth, and Beast had the high ground of the battlement for his Outwit lines. Venom was roughly centrally placed for attacks, with Steve flanking him for potential Charge action. Falcon and Moondragon were in the backfield, though.

I thought hard about my options, and I focused fire on Steve for the quick KO. An Outwit of his Combat Reflexes later, and Dark Beast Charged in for the drop, scoring his second accessible power from AJ Styles. That would mean giving out Lightning Speed and Reversal as needed the rest of the game.

Following this early drop, Hawkeye started pinging the team, getting an equally quick kill on Becky Barnes. By this time, my team was meeting his in roughly the middle of the map, so I sent Peggy to the high ground to eliminate Beast, and 2099 Phased down to swing and drop Venom. A third hit of the term, from Dark Beast, saw him calling in Brainiac.

Offense was very steady the whole game. Blink finally got in the mix, firing to take down Sam, and 2099 continued his whirling dance of death, gutting Hawkeye. This opened up Moondragon to the team, and Blink polished her off after some others got in a couple weaker hits.

The only thing that went wrong this whole game was my Blades rolls with anyone named Miguel O'Hara. Twos were in abundance.

Game win: 489-0.

Game 109
Becky Barnes KOed
Exiles KOs: Captain America (Steve), Captain America (Sam), Hawkeye, Beast, Venom, Moondragon
Total Exiles KOs: 419 in 109 games
Win-Loss Record: 70-39 (64.22%)

A good night for the Exiles! I didn't really pull anything amazing from the prize pool, but third place out of nine is NOTHING to sneeze at!

Game 110: Exiles vs. Starfleet at 500 points!

Meeting up with a friend at random tonight meant an equally random Clix pairing.

Mimic 100
Spider-Man 2099 100 + Dimensional Watch 0
Peggy Carter 75
Spider-Man 1776 75
Dark Beast 70
Blink 60
Scott Porter 20
Bookcase, Desk, Crate 0
Sideline for Mimic: =A= on opening, Archangel (Regenesis LE), Wolverine (Regenesis LE), Wolverine (Laura, Fantastic Four set blue/yellow)
Sideline for Dark Beast: AJ Styles
Sideline otherwise: Apache Chief, Batman, Black Vulcan, Firestorm, Samurai, Black Manta, Brainiac, Gorilla Grodd, Lex Luthor, Sentinel

YUP! I got my Scott Porter bystander in, so to the Exiles he went.

My opponent was running the following:

Commander Shelby 60
Lt. Worf 60
Commander William T. Riker 50
Miles O'Brien 50
Mr. Scott 50
Mr. Spock 50
Tasha Yar 50
Lt. Commander Data 45
Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge 40
Dr. Katherine Pulaski 30
Wesley Crusher 15
Sideline: Shifting Focus Datas, Shifting Focus Worfs, Thomas Riker
3x Light Object

I lost map roll by 1, so to the bridge of the Orville we went. The Exiles and Scott Porter set up quickly enough, centering around Peggy quickly. Spidey 2099 ultimately launched an offensive, injuring Data before Miles pulled him out, and Mimic then turned on Miles, dropping him in two shots.

With the Super Senses giver taken out of the picture, the following turn saw Dark Beast crushing Riker with a bookcase, an injured 1776 shooting down Wesley, and Peggy punching out Worf, who had been Poisoned once by Spidey 2099's last click.

That's when Tasha Yar, top dial, polished off 2099 after a couple other attacks from the Starfleet crew, which led to my getting a Sentinel.

My following turn saw Blink's firing to finish off Data (as Sherlock Holmes, already) and Peggy's Charging in to drop Shelby and again set up the 19 Defense blob. That led to my getting in Brainiac, who Incapacitated folks just in time for my opponent to call in a game win by concession.

Overall, this game was decided early on by seeing who failed the first Super Senses roll. Scott Porter is, as predicted, wonderfully useful and fun to include on a team. My opponent had several situations in-game where he had to decide whether he should Probability Control my attacks or not, given the significant risk of rerolling me onto a Critical Hit at 10+.

Game win by concession.

Game 110
Spider-Man 2099 KOed
Exiles KOs: Miles O'Brien, William Riker, Wesley Crusher, Worf, Data, and Shelby.
Total Exiles KOs: 425 in 110 games
Win-Loss Record: 71-39 (64.54%)

Just curious - how did you all "gut" the House Rules? Just so I know in case I ever get time to come play.

We had house rules established that ruled out Feats and Battlefields, looking at the back of opponents' cards for the dials, and something else.

Basically, we're running under the current rules with allowances for older, Golden Age elements. Granted, despite unbanning all that, folks aren't actually abusing the stuff.

We've been holding steady at 8-10 people per event lately! You should come by.

Thursday nights, starting between 5:30 and 6 PM, with 40 minutes rounds, 3 rounds per event. The first Thursday of each month is a Free Play/Casual Play night, as are all Saturdays when anyone shows up wanting to play. Otherwise, we try to keep things figured out at least a week or more in advance. Message me on here if you have further questions.

I got in my Dazzler, T'Chaka II, and Rikki Barnes, finally! The Exiles have new Exiles in their numbers!

Game 111: 600 points vs. Secret Six!

This past Wednesday, I think, I got in a game of Exiles vs. Secret Six, as follows.

Mimic 100 (=A= to start; Archangel and Wolverine LEs from Regenesis and Wolverine 011 from Fantastic Four on Sideline)
Spider-Man 2099 100 + Dimensional Watch 0
Peggy Carter 75
Rikki Barnes 75
Spider-Man 1776 75
Blink 60
Sage 50
T'Chaka II 45
Scott Porter 20
Bookcase, Desk, Mailbox 0
Other Sideline options: Apache Chief, Batman, Black Vulcan, Firestorm, Samurai, Black Manta, Brainiac, Gorilla Grodd, Lex Luthor, 2x Sentinel

vs.

Supergirl 175
King Shazam 150
Sky Tyrant 100
Scarab 75
Deathbringer 50
The Commissioner 25
Giganta 25
Bookcase, Desk, Mailbox 0
Sideline: Deadpool, 2x Sentinel, Black Manta, Brainiac, Gorilla Grodd, Lex Luthor, Black Vulcan, Apache Chief, Batman, Firestorm, Green Arrow, Samurai, Superman, Wonder Woman

I won map roll, so the Mines of Moria we went. I wanted tight quarters to help me deal with these pieces, and my opponent was barely familiar with the map. He set up around Balin's Tomb, and, with Balin's Tomb on my right side, I took up the corner to the top left. My opening move saw me playing conservatively, holding back to get placed around my objects.

My opponent has played against the Exiles enough to know the threats; Supergirl obliterated Sage almost straight out the gate, Scarab used his line of sight trick to smoke Scott Porter, and Sky Tyrant came in for an attack that gave me my first Sentinel--and my opponent his Gorilla Grodd. Grodd punched out my Becky Barnes bystander, and then the Commissioner spawned the Rookie.

After this opening onslaught, I was a bit perplexed. I hadn't lost anything major, no, but the morale hit was rough. I sent in my Sentinel to light up Grodd (no more monkeys!), and then I threw nearly every bit of offense I had at the exposed Sky Tyrant, with Blink getting in the final swing on him before he could get any Reincarnation tokens.

This led to my opponent's creating Deadpool and his first Sentinel and my pulling in Brainiac. I then used T'Chaka to take down the Rookie, spawning Black Vulcan given that his first Flurry swing was a Critical Miss.

SO MANY PIECES.

And now on to page 2 of my notes.

How about some more pieces on the map? Most of the action was happening on my side of the entry to the tomb, so what were a couple more creations? Deadpool brought in Jeff the shark and his slice of pizza, and King Shazam ended up bringing in Black Vulcan after an unlucky bit of offense. Giganta jumped into the mix, punching out my Brainiac, and Supergirl polished off the next threat: T'Chaka II.

I have to say that I do like T'Chaka well enough. He's a good combat piece, and his Distracting Banter ability is really good.

By this point, I was busy building up Rally dice on Mimic and Blink. Though Mimic was getting tied up, Blink was not; she managed to knock out Deadpool and reposition Jeff, and then my Sentinel KOed Jeff.

Of course, this led to another round of new creations. Mimic spawned Apache Chief, and shortly after, my opponent brought in a second Sentinel.

Every step forward was beginning to feel like a couple steps backward. I did finally manage to get in a useful finisher with 2099 finally getting free after a string of Outwits. He Phased over and Flurried down Deathbringer, making the roll for his Dimensional Watch to move over Spidey 1776.

I couldn't keep things going nonstop, though. My opponent created his Firestorm with one of his Sentinels, and then Giganta decked my poor Black Vulcan.

This, of course, was just enough to let me make my own second Sentinel. . . and my opponent make his own Black Manta, who promptly finished of my by now heavily injured 1776.

I was starting to have to rely on my Sideline characters by this point. Mimic was already down to his first STOP click, having changed up to Archangel from Apocalypse. Peggy was injured slightly. At least Apache Chief could do something; he was already giant-sized, so he socked the opposing Black Vulcan, and Peggy came in to polish off Giganta.

I must have made my own Manta shortly thereafter somehow, as my next notes read, "Manta spawn Samurai," and "Enemy Sentinel KO Manta -10." The opponent's Manta then spawned his OWN Samurai buddy.

This was getting out of hand, to say the least.

On to page 3!

From here on, Blink and Apache Chief were the real threats, oddly enough. Blink took out my opponent's Apache Chief (spawned at some point I forgot to write down, apparently), repositioned herself, and then spawned my Grodd. My Apache then took out the enemy's Manta, and one of my Sentinels was able to Critical Miss and bring in my Firestorm, who promptly KOed the enemy Firestorm.

What is it with Sentinels bringing in Firestorms?

I do wish that this match up were a lot more intriguing and interesting rather than a straight slugfest and an interminable series of spawns.

One of my opponent's Sentinels did manage, at least, to take out my Rikki Barnes. Granted, there were about a million team abilities on the map, so she got right back up. Supergirl zapped down my Samurai who'd already run up and tagged her once, and then Shazam exploited Rikki back to her last click again, spawning a Lex who then knocked poor Rikki into the ground.

Well, at least Apache Chief earned me a reprisal, smashing the suddenly appeared Lex, and 2099 did his thing, finishing off an enemy Sentinel.

Everything was going well, right? Wrong. Scarab, still around but mid-dial by this point, got in a lucky smack on Blink, and King Shazam saw Apache Chief as enough of a threat to drop him, too. About this time, my Grodd poofed back to the Sideline.

My Firestorm managed to pull in Lex after this, and one of my Sentinels called in Batman.

So let's take stock, underlining the KOed figures at this point and bolding who was still on the map. Figures without any special setup were not brought in during the game or were sent back to the Sideline, in the case of Grodd.

Blink, Mimic, Peggy, Rikki, Sage, 2099, 1776, T'Chaka, Scott Porter, Becky Barnes
Apache, Batman, Black Vulcan, Firestorm, Samurai
Black Manta, Brainiac, Gorilla Grodd, Lex Luthor
Sentinel 1, Sentinel 2

vs.

Shazam, Supergirl, Sky Tyrant, Scarab, Deathbringer, Commissioner, Giganta, Rookie
Deadpool, Jeff
Sentinel 1, Sentinel 2
Brainiac, Black Manta, Gorilla Grodd, Lex Luthor
Apache Chief, Batman, Black Vulcan, Firestorm, Green Arrow, Samurai, Superman, Wonder Woman

All in all, both of our teams were somewhat heavily battered. Mimic, Peggy, and 2099 were all roughly mid-dial. Batman was fresh. Firestorm was on his first or second click. Lex was fresh. I still had both Sentinels, one at top click, one on second click.

King Shazam was basically untouched. Supergirl had been tagged once by my Samurai. Scarab and the Commissioner were roughly mid-dial. The Sentinel on the map was largely inconsequential.

My opponent here called the game, conceding the win to me. Yes, I had raw numbers at the time of the concession, but I wasn't 100% convinced I could win. I was basically surrounding Supergirl, the Sentinel, Scarab, and the Commissioner, so they were probably going to get knocked out in the following turns, but could my remaining force have dealt with a nearly top-dial King Shazam?

Maybe.

Could my opponent have dealt with my entire force with what he had left? Probably not, to be honest.

If my math is correct, I would have lost this had we simply called time: 365 me, 410 him. However, given the concession of the game, that gives me the win, all the same.

Game win by concession.

Game 111
Blink, Rikki Barnes, Sage, Spidey 1776, T'Chaka, Scott Porter, Becky Barnes, Apache Chief, Black Vulcan, Samurai, Black Manta, and Brainiac KOed
Exiles KOs: Sky Tyrant, Deathbringer, Giganta, Rookie, Deadpool, Sentinel, Apache Chief
Total Exiles KOs: 432 in 111 games
Win-Loss Record: 72-39 (64.86%)

Game 112: Exiles vs. X-Men at 300 points

I didn't jot down the date on this one, but it's been roughly some time in the last, oh, three weeks or so from this posting. A friend wanted to test out his new Mimic Prime on me, so I came in with Exiles, wanting to see the two Mimics go at it.

Mimic 100 (Sideline: =A=, Archangel Regenesis, Wolverine 101 Regenesis, Laura as Wolverine 011)
Peggy Carter 75
Spider-Man 1776 75
Sage 50
Bookcase, Office Desk, Mailbox 0
Other Sideline: Batman, Black Vulcan, Firestorm, Samurai, Sentinel

vs.

Mimic 150
Tempo 35
Captain Britain 30
Marvel Girl 30
Magneto 25
Moira 20
Power Gem 10

We ended up at Manhattan Bridge (Outdoor). I don't recall if I won map roll or not. Rest assured I wasn't too positive about my odds of stopping a well-backed Mimic Prime, but I knew the team was a tentpole squad: drop Mimic, and I'd have the game.

Over the first couple turns, Mimic Prime equipped the Power Gem and got Super Senses on a Rally from Moira, as well as Energy Shield/Deflection. My Mimic, if I recall properly, was set to =A= from the beginning.

My opponent made the classic mistake of overextending. He got Tempo and Mimic Prime too close; my Mimic took out Tempo in one blast. Afterward, Mimic Prime zoomed in, looking to take out Sage. After a pair of successful Super Senses rolls (the ONLY things that saved me the game), Peggy and 1776 double-teamed Mimic Prime to light him up.

That's when my opponent conceded the game, knowing it was over.

Admittedly, I do have to state that in my haste of building initially, I took a bit of time to explain Super Friends and Legion of Doom; I didn't remember to put Mimic's usual Sideline pieces on the squad at all until I remembered, brought it up on my second turn, and was about to call the game then for my boneheaded play. My friend, however, acknowledging it was a casual game and that mistakes get made, allowed me to put the usual Sideline options in place as I would normally run them--not intentionally screwing him over--and I made the necessary alterations in a matter of moments.

So I can't really count this as a CLEAN win, per sé, but a win nonetheless.

Game win by concession.

Game 112
No Exiles KOed
Exiles KOs: Tempo and Mimic Prime
Total Exiles KOs: 434 in 112 games
Win-Loss Record: 73-39 (65.17%)

Games 113-115 were this past Thursday, February 10, 2022. Given the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday on Monday, we were playing 300 points with teams requiring at least one couple on them.

Some folks took this a little more liberally than others.

Me? I went in with a double date of Exiles!

Mimic 100 (Sideline: =A=, Archangel Regenesis, Wolverine 101 Regenesis, Laura as Wolverine 011)
Valkyrie 70
Blink 60
Peggy Carter 50
Scott Porter 20
Bookcase, Office Desk, Mailbox 0
Other Sideline: Batman, Black Vulcan, Firestorm, Brainiac, Sentinel

Where's the "double date?" Remember how Peggy creates Becky at the start of the game? Well, Becky and Valkyrie are a thing in the fourth run of Exiles, and Blink and Mimic were in the original!

Round 1, Game 113, saw me paired against an old friend from way back. I lost map roll, so to the Manhattan Bridge we went.

He was running the following team:

Silver Surfer (Rainbow colors) 150
Deadpool (Surfboard chase) 75
Korvus Rook'Shir 50
Phoenix 25

His couple was Phoenix and Korvus.

This game saw a great deal of back and forth in its 40 minutes. I tried to blitz him quickly, being a little scared of the Surfer/Deadpool combination and the amount of long-range control he could theoretically have, and that cost me Valkyrie almost immediately, with Korvus getting the final blow in on her.

I was able to leverage that into a retaliatory offensive, though, dropping Deadpool with an attack sequence finished with Peggy Carter. The back and forth began, though, with Surfer's tagging Peggy down to her Living Legend ability trigger.

That's when Phoenix got too close, dropping in for a multi-target attack on the whole team that. . . didn't really do anything useful. The follow-up, though, saw Korvus bringing the heat, taking out Peggy Carter, while Silver Surfer finally vaporized that pest of a Scott Porter.

With time running low on the clock, I pressed the initiative hard, trying to leverage a win out of this. Blink, Mimic, and Becky went into overdrive, with Blink's knocking out Korvus and, after all three pinned down the Surfer, Becky's KOing him with a Critical Hit from his last click!

Game win, 300 to 140.

Game 113
Valkyrie, Peggy Carter, and Scott Porter KOed
Exiles KOs: Phoenix, Deadpool, Silver Surfer, and Korvus Rook'Shir
Total Exiles KOs: 438 in 113 games
Win-Loss Record: 74-39 (65.48%)

At the end of the first round, this 300 points record saw me holding a temporary first place. That put me up against the shop's "That Guy," an old buddy of mine who almost always brings straight up power. Here's what he brought in this time:

Venom Rogue 75
Captain Venom 50
Scarab 50
Sky Tyrant 50
Venom Magneto 35
H.E.N.R.Y. 15
Octopus Arms 10
Power Gem 10
Pumpkin Bombs 5

His couple was Venom Rogue and Venom Magneto. While this is a bit of a stretch, given the greatly undetailed nature of these two characters, Rogue and Magneto themselves have gotten together in various universes, sooooo there we were.

I won map roll this time, taking him to one of my old favorites: Galador Promenade. Had I realized I had Muspelheim in my game bag, I'd have gone there, but, well, that's my mistake.

I told my opponent I had no illusions about this game. It was a straight up slaughter the entire time. I made sure to pick up all three of my objects on the first turn and to blow up the nearby-placed Pumpkin Bombs (easy five points, there) with Blink the second. I wasn't taking any chances on Scarab's messing up my day.

However, Sky Tyrant did just that instead, taking out Scott Porter, Becky Barnes, and Blink in rapid succession. Venom Rogue then got in the mix, polishing off Valkyrie and forcing Mimic to swap from -A- to Laura and then to Archangel.

I at least got to spawn a Sentinel from all this madness.

Sky Tyrant then resumed his offensive, crushing Peggy Carter after triggering her Living Legend, and then he plowed through the remaining, broken hunk of Mimic.

At the end, the Sentinel got my one KO, which was on Scarab, before being KOed by someone I didn't bother to write down--probably Venom Rogue or Sky Tyrant.

Game loss: 325 to 55.

Game 114
All Exiles KOed
Exiles KOs: None (Sentinel's not an Exile!)
Total Exiles KOs: 438 in 114 games
Win-Loss Record: 74-40 (64.91%)

Round 3, Game 115, saw me paired up against one of my former English class students. Remember: I teach more than just HeroClix to folks! It was a nice, lighthearted, fun game overall--a little tense, mid-game, for me, but it worked out in the long run, as you will see.

This time, the Exiles were up against the following X-Men:

Doopool 75
Rl'nnd 75
Wolverine 75 (007 Empyre)
Venom Marvel Girl 60
Power Gem 10
Dueling Sword 3

By the way. . . I'm seriously getting tired of all the Power Gems, but that's just me.

I won map roll here, so to Galador Promenade we went.

Admittedly, I had an advantage here in two ways: I'm the more experienced player in this pairing, which sometimes helps, and I have played on Galador a LOT. One hop with Blink set my team up to get quickly to the central level 3 promenade, and Mimic grabbed his Desk. He might as well write his name on it at this rate. Mimic then zipped in and absolutely smoked Wolverine with a little help on an opening shot from. . . probably Blink? I didn't jot that part down.

That's a good opening assault, but it left me a little exposed at the walkway in the middle. Rl'nnd triggered Peggy's Living Legend. In response, a steady offensive over the next few turns saw Becky Barnes getting her second KO of the night: Doopool! That led me to being able to bring in Lex Luthor, who immediately dissipated the following turn with no consequence.

Rl'nnd then pressed his attack, keeping extremely solid defenses with his power choices, and dropped Peggy. Meanwhile, Mimic and Blink had been trying to engage Venom Marvel Girl, but the corrupted Jean played it smart, staying JUST close enough to one of them so as to shut down ranged offensives. Ultimately, VMG Mind Controlled Becky Barnes, KOing poor Scott Porter again tonight.

At this point, I was at 150 to 70, so I wasn't worried, but I was a little puzzled about how I was going to drop a well-played VMG alongside a top-dial Rl'nnd.

Ultimately, I snagged Charge from Valkyrie with Mimic's Rally dice and sent Cal Charging in, grabbing up the Dueling Sword from where it sat and using it to crush VMG into the pavement of Galador.

One threat down. One to go.

However, I couldn't get a clean tag on Rl'nnd from then on, as my dice went icy cold, and Rl'nnd KOed Valkyrie at the buzzer. She'd been tanking him for some time, but his final buzzer-beating slam dropped her.

We tallied up points for a surprisingly close game: 213 to 140, my win. It was a lot of fun, overall, and it netted me a surprising third place finish out of eight!

Game 115
Peggy Carter, Scott Porter, and Valkyrie KOed
Exiles KOs: Wolverine, Doopool, and Venom Marvel Girl
Total Exiles KOs: 441 in 115 games
Win-Loss Record: 75-40 (65.21%)

Admittedly, this is kind of funny: I'm almost exactly where I started the night in terms of win-loss percentage. A very slight 0.04% improvement is still an improvement. Yay, math!

Game 116: Triple Threat!

700 of Exiles vs. miscellaneous X-Men villains vs. Gotham City Underworld at Jean Grey School for Higher Learning Grounds (2x2 version)

So I got roped into a massive three-way game.

Mimic 100 (=A= on Sideline to start)
Spider-Man 2099 100 + Dimensional Watch 0
Peggy Carter 75
Rikki Barnes 75
Spider-Man 1776 75
Dark Beast 70 (AJ Styles attached)
Valkyrie 70
Blink 60
Longshot 50
Scott Porter 20
Gamma Bomb 5
Bookcase, Office Desk 0
Sideline: =A=, Archangel, Wolverine, Wolverine (Laura) (The usual Mimic options I tend to run in other games)

vs.

Cerebra 300
Juggernaut 125 (Infinity Challenge)
Mister Sinister 85
Sabretooth 60
Mystique 40
Deadpool 30
Erik the Red 35
Sentinel 25

vs.

Deadshot 150
Joker 140
Firefly 115
Bane 105
Black Mask 100
Scarecrow 50
Joker Thug 40

This game was reasonably brief. The GCU player got too close, putting his Deadshot into my Charge ranges, and I started laying waste. Dark Beast took out the Joker Thug almost immediately, allowing him access to a second power choice each experiment, and 2099 flattened the brutally impressive Deadshot, who had already shot Peggy for a LOT of damage almost immediately from the beginning. Mimic then burned out Firefly, and 1776 took down the Joker easily enough.

By this point, the X-Men villains player got close enough to the action. Cerebra managed to trigger Peggy's Living Legend, before Valkyrie knocked out Scarecrow.

At this point, my opponents had to leave, as the night was getting a little too late, but they had been having fun.

Game win: 495-0-0.

Game 116
No Exiles KOed
Exiles KOs: Joker Thug, Deadshot, Firefly, Joker, and Scarecrow
Total Exiles KOs: 446 in 116 games
Win-Loss Record: 76-40 (65.51%)

And that catches up the recently tracked games!

Game 117 with the Exiles vs. Mystical at Danny the Street, 400 points!

I wanted to get in an Exiles game the other day against a newer player, who wanted to try out his new Mystical stuff he'd gotten.

In short, I didn't pick the right threat fast enough, and I put us on a fun map that ultimately shafted my mobility: Danny the Street.

Mimic 100 - Usual sideline options of =A=, Archangel, Wolverine, Wolverine (Laura), starting on =A=
Peggy Carter 75
Spider-Man 1776 75
Blink 60
Sage 50
Scott Porter 20
Spirit of the Game 20
Bookcase, Office Desk, Mailbox 0

vs.

Ack. Either my opponent underbuilt by 100 points, I forgot to write something down, or I wrote down the wrong point values. Here are the pieces I wrote down:

Infamous Iron Man 100
Blackheart 50
Loki 50 (unsure which one; Empyre, maybe?)
Scarlet Witch 50 (Rally dice version)
Wiccan 50

Rest assured the extra 100 points of my team did not help.

My opponent started out by making his first Hellfire Club Guard, which he sacrificed to give Blackheart Running Shot (scoring me 25). He then made a second HFCG and then KOed Sage before sacrificing the second guard (another 25, breaking us even on points).

Blackheart then continued the beatings, Energy Exploding Scott Porter and Spirit of the Game (90 to 50, his favor) before Invincible Iron Man pulled off his -5 Plot ability and KOed Becky Barnes.

I called the game right then, knowing I had no way to deal with the combined power of Blackheart and an Invincible Iron Man that was powered up.

Game loss by concession, 90-50.

Game 117
Scott Porter, Spirit of the Game, and Becky Barnes KOed
Exiles KOs: None
Total Exiles KOs: 446 in 117 games
Win-Loss Record: 76-41 (64.95%)

SO. . . how DO you manage to do anything to that Invincible Iron Man once he goes off?

Game 118: 600 points Three-Way vs. Monsters and Mystical

What it says on the header, folks! I had a 3-way game of 600 points vs. Monsters and Mysticals (sounds like an RPG) early June 2022.

Exiles
Mimic 100 - Usual sideline options of =A=, Archangel, Wolverine, Wolverine (Laura), starting on =A=
Spider-Man 2099 100 + Dimensional Watch 0
Peggy Carter 75
Rikki Barnes 75
Spider-Man 1776 75
Dark Beast 70 (AJ Styles attached on Sideline)
Blink 60
Scott Porter 20
Spirit of the Game 20
Captain Carter's Shield 5
Bookcase, Office Desk 0
Other Sideline: Apache Chief, Batman, Black Vulcan, Firestorm, Samurai, The Flash, Black Manta, Brainiac, Gorilla Grodd, Lex Luthor

vs.

Monsters
Agent Venom 75
Iron Fist 75
Loki 75 (Frost Giant)
Venom 75
Venom Black Panther 75
Venom Spider-Man 75
Venom Wolverine 75
Captain Venom 50
Silver Surfboard 10
Time Gem 10
Venom Symbiote 4
Sideline: Deadpool, 3x Sentinel

vs.

Mystical
Blackheart 150
Infinite Iron Man 100
Spiral 80
Loki 75 (President) + Tesseract 5
Sylvie 60
Scarlet Witch 50
Wiccan 50
Kid Loki 30
Sideline: Destroyer (prime)

We went to the 4-way version of Jean Grey's School for Higher Learning Grounds: Outdoors. In terms of setup, the Monster player suffered the most. Mystical was to my far left corner, Monster was straight ahead, and I was diagonally opposite the Mystical player. The problem is that this meant the Monster player's objects were a little too far away for him to get to easily, having to be placed in the quadrant to my left. While I was able to get setup quickly with a couple moves, equipping Captain Carter's Shield to Peggy almost immediately, he didn't have that luxury. The Mystical player went first, moving forward to just above center/left.

That meant the Monster player had to choose immediately to go for his objects or to abandon them and start smashing face, particularly the face of Infamous Iron Man. He reluctantly chose the latter, and he had a good early offense, but he ended up in a lockdown while I was able to skirt the bottom of the map and reposition, sniping in shots where I could. But enough of that for the moment!

Monsters made a Dreamstone Simulacrum #1, and Frost Loki jumped in to obliterate Kid Loki. Blackheart made a Hellfire Club Guard (#1) and ate him, splitting the 25 points between me and the Monsters, before melting the Simulacrum (#1). Agent Venom retaliated by mowing down Wiccan. During these opening assaults, the aforementioned onslaught on Infamous Iron Man had begun.

Thus was I able to send in Dark Beast to KO Infamous Iron Man for a kill steal and a second power to rip from AJ Styles on future turns. Spidey 1776 got in to the mix and dropped a scouting Spiral, as well, generating Lex Luthor for me.

At this point, the turn rotated back to the Mystical player who was now handily sandwiched. Blackheart made Hellfire Club Guard #2, who KOed a battered Venom Wolverine and then Venom Black Panther. At least the Frost Giant Loki avenged his fallen Venomous comrades on the Hellfire Club Guard (#2). However, the Monster Man was, as noted, having a hard time getting mobile. He was getting battered in these early turns, despite holding the line at Center/North, while I was largely untouched and picking off the people he was hurting.

Soon, I sent my force in to drop President Loki, with Blink's getting the final shot on him. I believe the Mystical player had a turn to skip, resting. Venom made a Dreamstone Simulacrum #2, who was KOed by Blackheart's Mystics. I fell back a little to regroup, and then Blackheart managed to make two more Hellfire Club Guards (#3 and 4) over following turns.

By this point, though I didn't note when, Monster Player was able to bring in Deadpool and Jeff. Deadpool dropped that third Hellfire Club Guard, and, after this, Lex finally bounced back to my Sideline. Dark Beast continued his murder spree, though, icing Sylvie. One of my characters broke the Tesseract in an attack, and Mimic sniped down the fourth Hellfire Club Guard before Blink risked the Mystics damage to polish off Blackheart.

The good news is this took out the Mystics player in time for him to go home.

The bad news is that this left a largely undamaged Exiles facing down a battered Monsters team.

Cap Venom did, at least, manage to punch out Dark Beast, who overextended himself and was left vulnerable. My rolls started failing, too, leading to Becky Barnes' calling in Black Vulcan, who promptly KOed Iron Fist in a reprieve. However, reprieves go both ways. Frost Giant Loki, putting in his work, dropped Blink and Spirit of the Game in a fateful Quake.

Things were starting to even up a little, especially since my remaining opponent created the third Dreamstone Simulacrum, who knocked out Scott Porter. Well, there goes my support crew.

That's when I had a good turn of going to town on the Monsters. Peggy punched out Venom, and Mimic picked off Jeff. Funnily, my arguably most powerful piece was barely contributing this game. Cap Venom triggered Rikki's Girl without a World trait, resetting her to top click, before 2099 eliminated that third Simulacrum.

Becky was KOed by Frost Giant Loki's Mystics, being an expendable attacker on him, and then Rikki finished him off.

This is when the Monster player, with very little remaining on the table, conceded the game loss.

Game 118
Blink, Dark Beast, Scott Porter, Spirit of the Game, and Becky Barnes KOed
Exiles KOs: Infamous Iron Man, Spiral, President Loki, Sylvie, Hellfire Club Guard, Blackheart, Iron Fist, Venom, Jeff, Dreamstone Simulacrum, and Frost Giant Loki
Total Exiles KOs: 457 in 118 games
Win-Loss Record: 77-41 (65.25%)

Sometimes I hate my mouse. It has buttons on it that are programmed for easy forward and backward Internet navigation. I just now accidentally hit backward on my mouse and lost the first game results I'd typed up.

GRRRR. Now I have to retype all of that.

Games 119-121: 300 points of Exiles in a tournament.

It's been a bit since I ran Exiles in a tournament; I didn't want to keep running them into losses against powerhouse lineups. I don't mind taking losses sometimes. I hate beating my head into metaphorical walls.

But, well, I can't give up on them, so I went in with the following:

Peggy Carter 75
Spider-Man 1776 75
Blink 60
T'Chaka II 45
Scott Porter 20
Spirit of the Game 20
Captain Carter's Shield 5
Bookcase, Office Desk 0
Sideline: Batman, Black Vulcan, Firestorm, Samurai, The Flash, Black Manta, Brainiac, Gorilla Grodd, Lex Luthor

Yes, this is basically a stripped down version of the 600 points build I ran above in Game 118.

Game 119

Remember what I said about powerhouse teams?

Captain Venom 50
Jubilee 50
Scarab 50
Sky Tyrant 50
Venom Magneto 35
The Commissioner 25
Wendigo 15
Octopus Arms 10
Power Gem 10
Tesseract 5
Sideline: Destroyer (prime)

I lost map roll, so, of course, we went to the Otherworld Castle, and my opponent got an instant Jubilee upgrade.

I generated Becky Barnes, and my opponent made the Rookie. He got his stuff equipped with some line of sight issues for his Venom Magneto's TK, and I had Becky provide Captain Carter's Shield to the Exiles counterpart. That, however, meant that Scarab could peg Porter from across the map immediately since I was centered up on Peggy.

Admittedly, I have to say that I nearly called the game then after weighing out the respective options and strategies for a couple of moments. However, I have a really bad habit of concession to this opponent out of frustration, providing him the points that ultimately help him win tournaments. I wasn't going to allow that to happen again this time if I could help it.

So I stuck it out, retreating onto the battlement near my starting zone. It baited out Sky Tyrant, and, although he took down T'Chaka II unaided, it meant he couldn't retreat all the way back home. It forced the other team to come to the tower on my side of the drawbridge, setting up shop there.

Thus, I sent Spidey 1776 up there to play, and he polished off the Commissioner easily enough. However, a string of misses in trying to free up the ladder entry point by removing the Rookie saw Becky's calling up Batman. I was hoping his Outwit could help.

Nope.

Wendigo ate the Spirit of the Game, Sky Tyrant beat Blink down, and the Rookie zapped Batman into next issue, which just felt wrong. Becky did manage to punch out the Rookie, finally, a turn too late or so, earning me a Black Manta whom Jubilee instantly incinerated.

I threw everything I still had at trying to take down Sky Tyrant. While I managed to wipe both of his Reincarnation tokens, I couldn't get the final tag on him in time before the buzzer.

Game loss, 185-25.

Game 119
Blink, T'Chaka II, Scott Porter, Spirit of the Game, Becky Barnes, Batman, and Black Manta KOed
Exiles KOs: The Commissioner
Total Exiles KOs: 458 in 119 games
Win-Loss Record: 77-42 (64.70%)

Between rounds, I took a few breaths, reported results to the tournament organizer, and awaited my next opponent.

Round 2, Game 120

My second round opponent ran a simple team to track.

Red Onslaught 300

No problem, right? Drop Red Onslaught to win. It's all or nothing.

I knew from past experiences I needed to go indoors to hamper his lines of fire and his waves of Sentinels he would be spawning. I didn't bring any maps that were extremely restrictive, however. On winning map roll, I started studying the few options in my gaming back, and I settled on. . .

The Technodrome.

It looked like it would work. It had some ample walls on it that could control the flow of combat and a couple side rooms I could use to set up.

I generated Becky Barnes, and we began play. I set up shop in that aforementioned side room, giving Peggy time to put on the Shield, but leaving the wall in front of my team sealed for now. Red Onslaught advanced slightly, creating his first Sentinel, and T'Chaka knocked out the wall immediately in front of him. The Sentinel advanced up near T'Chaka. . . and missed its attack. T'Chaka shattered the Sentinel #1, and Red Onslaught, now roughly central on the map, generated Sentinel #2.

That was okay, though. Spidey 1776 came Charging out and smashed it to bits. T'Chaka came out with a Charged Flurry on Onslaught, plinking him down slightly and bringing in Lex for his Precision Strike. While Black Manta's Exploit Weakness would've been smarter, it didn't matter. I had accidentally left Lex AND Becky adjacent to Red Onslaught, who Poisoned them both out on the next turn.

There I was, now 10 points in the hole and running lower on time than I'd have liked, because of an error on placement.

The Red Onslaught then made his third Sentinel of the game, who deactivated himself with a Critical Miss. Ultimately, the round ended quickly after that, with 1776's Outwit making it possible so that T'Chaka could Flurry and take down Red Onslaught.

Game win, 300 to 10.


Game 120
Becky Barnes and Lex Luthor KOed
Exiles KOs: Red Onslaught and 3 Sentinel bystanders
Total Exiles KOs: 462 in 120 games
Win-Loss Record: 78-42 (65.00%)

Back up to 65%!

At this point, I was 1-1 with an acceptable points total given it was a small night with only six players. I went into round 3 pleased with getting to play an old friend of mine during it. He was running the following Soldiers build:

Nick Fury 120
Winter Soldier 95
Unseen 65
HENRY 15
Super Soldier Serum 5
Office Desk, Telephone Booth 0

I won map roll for this one. We stayed at the Technodrome; I figured I could use similar tactics that I used against Red Onslaught, especially since blocking terrain is Unseen's and Nick Fury's shared weakness. I started the exact same way as second round, and my opponent got Bucky into position, dealing him one damage on the Telephone Booth to upgrade his attack value.

I sent Blink and the rest whom she couldn't carry to the side rooms at the bottom of the map, trying to use the blocking to my advantage. It worked for a bit, until I was forced to leave Scott Porter stranded slightly. He was shot down by Nick Fury (sorry, Mr. Porter!), but that gave me an opening to run in with a rush. T'Chaka dropped Winter Soldier on one turn, and then combined efforts led to T'Chaka's finishing off Nick Fury AND spawning Gorilla Grodd. Grodd jumped in with a Quake to take down Unseen and HENRY for the finish.

Game win, 300-20.

Game 121
Scott Porter KOed
Exiles KOs: Winter Soldier, Nick Fury
Total Exiles KOs: 464 in 121 games
Win-Loss Record: 79-42 (65.28%)

Overall, that went well. I knew I had to blitz that range squad hard and fast or risk being shot full of holes.

The night's results? I took 2nd of 6 players, with the top player's beating me by. . . 70? 80? 90? points, and my beating out my round one opponent by roughly the same. It taught me a lesson in playing a game out and not just giving up. Even though I took the loss round one, I didn't set my opponent up with the free points that could've ultimately put him in first or second.

Two more Exiles games! The first, Game 122, was 800 points vs. something of a hodge-podge.

Hyperion 275
Mimic 100 (Sideline: -A- to start, Archangel from Regenesis, Wolverine 105 from Regenesis, and Laura as Wolverine)
Spider-Man 2099 100 + Dimensional Watch 0
Peggy Carter 75
Rikki Barnes 75
Spider-Man 1776 75
Blink 60
Scott Porter 20
Ape Batman 15
Captain Carter's Shield 5
Bookcase, Office Desk 0
Other Sideline: Apache Chief, Batman, Black Vulcan, Firestorm, Samurai, The Flash, Black Manta, Brainiac, Gorilla Grodd, Lex Luthor, and Sentinel

I was up against:

Beast 125
Onslaught 125
Anti-Venom 100
Venom Dr. Strange 90
Blackheart 75
Daredevil 75 (Heimdall powers)
Loki 75 + Tesseract 5 (Variant coat)
Prez Rickard 35
Lian Harper 1
Time Gem 10
Captain Carter's Shield 5
Venom Symbiote 4

We were at Prison 42.

This game was short. We had a LOT of setup and very little action. Blackheart spawned a Hellfire Club Guard. Then, Onslaught mind controlled Peggy, who KOed Scott Porter.

I then lost the game because we had to call time.

Game 122
Scott Porter KOed
Exiles KOs: None
Total Exiles KOs: 464 in 122 games
Win-Loss Record: 79-43 (64.75%)

Game 123 went much better but was LONG by comparison. 600 vs. I think Rulers.

Mimic 100 (Usual Sideline)
Spider-Man 2099 100 + Dimensional Watch 0
Peggy Carter 75
Rikki Barnes 75
Spider-Man 1776 75
Blink 60
Sage 50
T'Chaka II 45
Scott Porter 20
Bookcase, Crate, Office Desk 0
Same sideline as Game 122, above.

vs.

Regent 240
Thanos 150
Doom 100
Jason Wyngarde 75
Serpent Daredevil 15
Serpent Punisher 15
Captain Carter's Shield 5
Bookcase, Office Desk 0
Sideline: Dr. Demonicus, Venom chase from War of the Realms

We ended up at Prison 42.

At the start of the game, Jason spawned in Cerebus, whom 2099 KOed. Blink then called in the Flash, who took down Serpent Daredevil, and Rikki followed suit by eliminating Serpent Punisher.

That led to Rikki's generating Black Manta, who was promptly dropped by Regent.

Not a bad start overall! However, Wyngarde then pulled in the Dreamstone Simulacrum from Venom's card, and Thanos triggered Rikki's Girl Without a World resurrection trait.

Flash kept contributing by calling in Black Vulcan, who took down the Simulacrum. Rikki then managed to get in both Samurai and Grodd (her multiple attacks per turn is solid gold). Samurai then punched out Thanos, who dropped Carter's Shield.

Finally, though, Doom began contributing to the carnage, splattering poor Mr. Porter. Mimic, wanting to see more HeroClix videos, took out Doom in response before calling in Lex Luthor.

Busy, busy Exiles and Friends!

Regent then incinerated poor Sage, and Lex and Grodd both disappeared back to the sideline. Becky Barnes, generated by Peggy long ago, finished off Jason Wyngarde, and Rikki beat down Regent for a game finisher!

Game win, 600 to 80!

Game 123
Black Manta, Sage, and Scott Porter KOed
Exiles KOs: Cerebus, Serpent Punisher, Doom, Wyngarde, and Regent
Total Exiles KOs: 469 in 123 games
Win-Loss Record: 80-43 (65.04%)

Hello everyone,

In case you've wondered where your Penguin-loving writer has been, it's been a crazy three months.

In short, I teach English professionally. I devote a LOT of time weekly to reading assignments and grading them. I play HeroClix to relax from job stressors and to enjoy the fun of the game.

In recent months, I feel I have not had the permission to have the fun that I want out of the game, particularly while playing teams of which I have in the past liked to track. As of late, particularly in tournaments, I have been facing power levels much stronger than I care to have to deal with when I'm just coming in wanting to have an easy-going night off for a few hours. As has been shown at various points in my threads, I grow weary pretty easily when I'm putting forth the effort to track games accurately, but all it seems I am doing in the short term is tracking loss after loss, KO after KO of my own teams, because the teams I enjoy playing are (while solid!) horribly outclassed by the stuff that is getting put out that appeals to the "winning" mindset.

I'm not posting this as a means of blaming anyone or of trashing my local scene--not at all! It's more my reaction to the stuff that WizKids keeps wanting to put out that, quite frankly, I can't readily compete with, nor do I want to try.

Rather than deal with the stresses of recording and reporting games that are making me much less happy than they ought, I have opted to bow out of tracking games over roughly the past month. I might just trim it down to JUST Exiles or Invaders or both, focusing in on those, but if I do, just know that there are various matches in the last month or two that I haven't bothered recording.

Here's hoping I "see" you all again here soon, maybe in the new year, but for now, with the amount of work I have going on and the amount of stress being generated by what should just be a fun hobby, I need to bow out of tracking responses for a bit.

-- Roderic Cliché