Welcome to HeroClix A to Z figure reviews for DC – Legacy, and thanks for reading!

Hush


Hush, hush, though I heard you
callin’ my name.. now hush, hush..

This is where I review a figure’s stats, cost, and overall playability. Typically these reviews are intended to discuss a figure’s use in competitive play, but for some figures that don’t make it to the tournament scene, they can still be fun to play among friends and on theme teams and will be reviewed with that in mind.
With Open formats now the common type of sanctioned tournaments, I’ll be a little more open to discussing figures in regards to the whole HC universe where appropriate. But for the most part these are still only in relation to the DC universe.
Also, these are discussed for pretty much any point size game. Since general formats have become more loose, and its not uncommon to see anything from 300 to 1000 point games.
(Particularly since many of the Legacy figures only fit on teams > 300.)

Click below to read the review.

This article and content are property of the Author and is not to be redistributed or reposted in whole or in part without the Author's approval. However, feel free to link to the list page here. Thank you.


HeroClix A to Z – DC Legacy figure review:

Hush
75 – Batman Enemy – 6 //

(Whoclix: Who is Hush? (And do we really know?))

Is Hush really Tommy Elliot? Bruce Wayne’s childhood friend with a mad on for the Wayne family? Or is it someone else? What will the Riddler do with Batman’s secret identity, and what, if anything, does Jason Todd, ex-Robin, have to do with all this?

Who knows, and with Batman becoming almost as convoluted as the mid-90’s X-men, the real question is, will we ever get the answers? Only time will tell.

In the meantime, we get the Hush unique figure with him in his gauze “mask” and mock ‘Robin’ outfit.


As far as Uniques in Legacy go, there are very few “duds” and even then they’re mostly just bad by comparison. Hush has a hard time standing out in a lineup that includes: Zod, Ares, a figure with her own game changing feat card, a whopping four Kingdom Come figures, and three different figures that start with 5 base damage. Compared with firepower like that, Hush is just a dude in bandages holding two pea shooters. He can’t even damage the majority of other Uniques in this set! (Let alone even hit some of them!)

However, don’t let his small stature turn you off to him. He may not be the ‘power piece’ du-jour, but he’s aces on theme teams, and actually stands out a bit on his own as well.

For starters, the only other figure with Stealth for as much of the dial as Hush, is Batman (approximating Stealth with his Bat Ally TA.) And only Veteran Batman matches Hush’s 7 clicks of Willpower.

Willpower is one of the good/bad powers in the game. Its great because it allows a figure to push without taking damage. This is nice because not only does it let a figure act more frequently, but it effectively extends the useful dial because the figure can’t hurt themselves. (And on any other figure, inevitably you always have to push at some point in a game.) The drawback though is that because Willpower is in the Defense slot, the figure cannot also have any defensive power. There are two ways to overcome that; the KC GL way, have such a ridiculously high Defense value that nobody can hit you anyway. Or the Batman way, have Stealth so figures can’t target you from range. Of course, Hush goes the Batman route and has a full dial of both Willpower and Stealth.

By the numbers, Hush is neither really impressive nor terribly bad. He’s just about average in every way. Attack and Defense are perfectly normal at 10 and 16 respectively, and he’s not going anywhere fast or hitting very hard with a 7 movement and 2 damage. Even his range is perfectly common at 6. But what he does have going for him is consistency; his damage is 2 for his whole dial, and the rest of his stats drop very slowly.
Additionally, he has 2 ranged targets.

Prior to Legacy, 2 ranged targets and base 2 damage would elicit a resounding ~yawn~, but with the introduction of Armor Piercing, 10 more points makes that combo surprisingly effective. With Armor Piercing Hush can ping tough and even Impervious figures for an always guaranteed 1 point of damage. That’s basically the equivalent of dealing 3 against Impervious, without the possibility of the opponent getting the Impervious roll. Willpower adds to his danger factor by allowing him to attack more frequently. So while one click to one character here and there may not be a big deal, one click to two characters, every turn or so can really add up.

Hush’s starting AV of 10, as stated, is pretty average. Its probably the lowest AV you would want to go with on a figure you’re intending to use as an attacker. (Other figures like Mr. Freeze who have a 9 AV, fills several roles, and aren’t intended solely to be attackers.) Hush only has his 10 AV on the first click, but fortunately he can’t push off that click.

Hush also has a bunch of Damage slot Utility powers to make him more useful, unfortunately he starts with Leadership, which is probably the least of his 3 powers. Even though it is very character accurate; Hush did organize and lead the denizens of Arkham Asylum against Batman, so leadership suits him. If Hush takes a hit of 2 or 3 damage, he’ll get knocked onto his Perplex clicks. This helps his team out considerably more, and he can still move under the cover of stealth to stay on the front lines and use his powers. Perplex also helps him out with his lowering Attack Value, or to increase his damage. As he takes a few more lumps, his AV starts falling out of the useful range, but he’ll be knocked onto his final clicks with Outwit. This allows him to remain useful to the team even after taking a lot of damage. Also since he is on the Batman Enemy Team, he can move up next to one of his allies and copy their AV, reinvigorating himself.

Hush fits excellently on a Batman Enemy team both mechanically and thematically.
Mechanically, Batman Enemies tend to fall into two categories; lenders and borrowers. Those with higher AV’s are lenders, helping out the borrowers with their middling AV’s and keeping them strong after they take a hit. Hush is really neither, his 10 isn’t so high that he makes a great lender, but it isn’t so low that he has to seek someone out either. However, as far as Batman Enemies go, a 10 is as good as it gets (with the exception of Joker’s wacky dial and random AV jumps.) So by default Hush ends up being a lender, and since his AV is fairly consistent down his dial and he can’t push off his good clicks, he can be a lender for a good portion of a game.

Also for mechanics, Batman Enemy Teams tend to be made up of a lot of mid-point grounded figures. So where Hush’s Leadership may not fit well on a hodgepodge tournament team, it is perfect for coming up with the extra action needed to help a large, mostly grounded theme team.

Thematically, as mentioned, Hush led a menagerie of loonies against Batman, so his Leadership, along with Perplex and Outwit later, fit perfectly on a theme team.


For 75 points, Hush is a hard piece to justify on a 300 point team. To be truly useful, he really needs Armor Piercing, which bumps him up to 85 point. His Leadership could help a 300 point team but it would be offset by his somewhat high cost. He fits better on a 400 point Batman Enemy team; that gives you enough points to fill the team out as you like without having to skimp on points by taking sub-par rookie versions of the other figures you want to play. Bump that up to 500 points and you’re in another interesting realm, he and his allies fit better on a team, but many other 500 point teams you face will probably be able to wipe the map with you. So Hush ends up being relegated mostly to theme teams and no so much for competitive teams.

For themes, there’s a slew of Batman Enemies to choose from, and Hush interacted with most of them in some way or another in the “Hush” storyline. Vet Clayface is a good and underutilized piece. Rookie or Veteran Legacy Joker is always a fun piece, and he works very well on Batman Enemy teams for alternately lending and borrowing Attack Values. Killer Croc is also a good addition for some actual damage dealing ability, and as one of the few Bat Enemies with Toughness. After that, you can round out the team as you have the points and see fit.

As mentioned, Armor Piercing is the best Feat for Hush, and just about the only one that works for him. You could also arm a whole team with In Contact With Oracle and call it “In contact with Hush” if you like.

Darkness and Deep Shadows are almost a necessity for Hush, and basically the whole Bat-Enemy contingent, since they all have at most a 6 range. However, many of them also have Perplex and/or Outwit, so those BFC’s will limit the range of their utility powers as well. Also because of that, look out for White Noise and Overconfidence.

Since the majority of the Bat-Enemies are also grounded, Crosswinds and Poor Teamwork work well for them. Look out for Earthquake, which will totally wreck a team like that.
Lastly, War Zone and Radiation Leak are good options because unless the Joker kidnaps a Checkmate Medic, the Bat-Enemies have no healing options either.

hush also works very well NOT useing his willpower in the begining.. just have him sit there in hindering until the rest of the team damages the opponants a click or two and he's concerned about them, and then have hush hit 2 of them a turn from behind while their based with killer croc (for instance)

I'm a big batman enemy fan purely character wise, they really cant compete seriously and i think u really outlined hush as the typical bat enemy. Still i would really like to pick one up anyway to add to my bat enemy collection.

Did you quote Paula Abdul?


That's no good.

Great review,
I like the Hush fig, especially if someone forgot their ltimates, Superman, trickshot, or bright lights......####, there are WAY to many ways to get through stealth these days, but thats for another post .
Great review.

There is NOTHING WRONG with quoting a Paula Abdul song.

I like Hush and have used him to great effect - starting out as more of a supprot piece and then moving in for clean-up duties. Like azs points out, it's just really easy to overlook him due to some other truely remarkable pieces in this set. Great review!

Oh, and there is EVERYTHING wrong with quoting Paula Abdul. It's just a short step from her to Debbie Gibson and then we're all doomed! Doomed I tell you!

I don’t think Hush’s full dial of Stealth is really that much of an advantage. It’s basically as good as not having any powers at all if your opponent has any Bright Lights in his deck or is running an anti-stealth team. Had he had any Leap/Climb or Running Shot, his utility would have been much greater.

And that’s basically the problem for the entire Batman Enemy team. With the exception of Man-Bat, Rookie Deadshot and Legacy Joker, they’re all confined to a lack of mobility and short range. So it's all too easy to pick them apart from a distance.

This could probably be helped by the addition of a move-and-shoot flyer like Firefly, another flyer like Charaxas, or some Charging melee power (KGBeast?). Or by bringing in some Calculator backup, like Persuader.

V Blockbuster seems to work pretty well for this, really. Shame his attack isn't higher for longer. The Batman Enemies really are lacking their "Bullseye" (a nice, cheap piece to share a good attack value). Prometheus works well, thematically and for his 11 AV, but he can't do everything. Really, the Batman Enemies got a good boost in Legacy. Blockbuster and Mr. Freeze brought things the Batman Enemies hadn't seen at all yet, and Hush also brought some underutilized powers to the team. Just a shame they don't have more mobility or fliers. Maybe we'll see a wildcard transporter Bolt in the next set after Icons.

I think you are referring to Rush Rush from Paula Abdul. AZS is quoting from Deep Purple, unless I am mistaken...

Hush, hush, I thought I heard her calling my name, now
Hush, hush, She broke my heart but I love her just the same, now
Hush, hush, I thought I heard her calling my name, now
Hush, hush, I need her loving and I'm not to blame, now

(Love, love) You got it early in the morning
(Love, love) You got it late in the evening
(Love, love) Well, I want it, I need it
(Love, love) Oh, I gotta gotta have it

...just when I thought I would never hear that song again....

Us Drexel grads have a fine appreciation for this kind of music...

Back to the review...

I didnt care much for Hush when I first pulled him (in the Marquee), but have since found him very useful. More often than not, I find myself turning off Willpower just so I can get to the Perplex. Stealth/Willpower is a real pain for your opponent to deal with. That is why I like to play/hate to play against Deathstroke so much.