I'm a HUGE fan of both the hydra and shield teams, and i absolutley love the new generics (well, most of them) in sinister, and the new Nick Fury plays wonderfully but...

I don't like Baron Struker's dial.

Am i missing something? I know he could inspiring command, but so could red skull for less points. Why should i play Struker when i could spend his points on more efficient hydra pieces in a themed team?

Don't get me wrong i'd really like to like this piece, but i just don't see his use (in relation to his cost) on a hydra team. Help me out.

I have the same problem with Arnim Zola too.

My typical hydra team bases around LE Madam Hydra with trickshot, stealthy ninjas, poison (armor pierced of course) with Red Skull, and a few Dreadnaughts.

On higher point games i love to let Baron Blood and MODOK run rampant, but...

Help me work in Struker and Zola.

What would you do?

Zola's strictly a support piece, so if you're that desperate for the Perplex and PC (and, with Hydra's generally low AVs and damage, you might be), you might consider him an alternative to ICwO if you want to stay in theme. Sadly, you can't Brilliant Tactician him. So, really, for the points you're spending, you're actually better off saying that all of your pieces are "In Contact with Arnim Zola" and just playing the card.

Strucker's a different story, though. He's a lot closer to Baron Blood than he is to Red Skull - he's a close-up bruiser and you should use him that way. Try sticking him on a team with your Trick Shotting Madam Hydra and let her shoot through him (using his Hydra TA bonus on the attack) at figures that the Baron has based. Then, when the Baron gets smacked, run a Mastermind chain from him, through Madam Hydra, into some flunkie. Repeat as necessary. You can give him the dumpster and have fun with that click of Super Strength, or you can give him the desk and let your opponent try to hit a 19 defense that - if he does hit it - will be MMed off anyway.

Strucker's unusual because he's a brawler and not a sniper, which makes it a bit trickier to use that TA of his. But if you play him aggressively, he can punch *way* above his weight in points. And, barring a PW (which will still have to hit his relatively high DV), you can keep him alive almost indefinitely as long as you've got flunkies to feed him.

Use Inspiring Command and Unstoppable on Strucker. Have him base your opponent with a heavy object, then push him to attack next turn. That will then leave him on his BCF/Outwit click. It hurts, trust me. And as for Red Skull, I H-A-T-E the dial they gave him. He's probably my favorite Marvel character, but his dial dosen't do him justice. Even without the Cube, he can do more than just 8-8-16-2, I mean, come on. But I don't want to rant. So yeah, do that with Strucker and get Jessica Drew. She really helps.

Strucker is a good piece. Some good "bullet-proof" vests are either the ninjas is stealth or try the original R Hydra Trooper. Protected on his is also nice for that blow that does get it. I had a 400 pts Hydra team will him, Drew, Madame Hydra, AIM agents, AIM medics, R Hydra Troops, and Dreadnaughts that was 3 or 5 points from beating a V Icons Supes team. The last action he did kill a V Dreadnaughts. This team defeated a Ultimate Thor / Gladiator team will low losses that night too. So with the right team Strucker works well.

Pretty much everybody said it. You can't use Strucker effectively as a ranged shooter. Strucker is best inserted into a fight about 2 rounds after the fight begins, when things are already beat around just a little bit. Base him with a serious threat and go to town. You will likely need a TK'er or flier as it can be hard to get him into the fray quickly (and I think most recognize Strucker for the threat he is).

"After receiving some ninja training at the House of the Rising Sun, Baron Strucker has returned from his Axis friends with a squad of ninjas."

That's right, the Baron is a ninja as anyone can tell from his stealth and BCF, and as such he should be surrounded by ninjas at all times. Also, every good ninja should be able to ambush, and be able to run from bush to bush (i.e. running start). Of course, this ninja likes to hide behind a desk whenever possible ("HEY! what's that desk doing in the park?!?", protecting the Baron that's what!). Also, his ninja training has allowed him to find the weakness of any enemy (armor piercing), and some ninjas (from the house of munster) know ways of using their surroundings (eg. rocks, motorcycles, construction barriers, etc.) to heal themselves (nanobots). Ninjas are also great at playing possum (lazarus pit), and occasionally they'll take a student under their wings (sidekick).

Dr. Briefcase (the preceding was for amusement only )

I love it Dr. Briefcase. Also remember that the Baron has not forgot his old ways. He also carries his bullet proof vests (Protection and any underling that happens to be next to him).

Thanks for the tips, some of those feats are a great idea. I'm looking very forward to playing him now.

I concur, one version of him was from a Cap clone...

Should have been like this:
He weighs in at about 90 points, same as Zemo
8/
08/08/07/07/06/06/06
10/10/09/09/08/08/08
17/16/16/15/15/14/14
02/02/02/02/02/01/01

I'd venture to beef him up more than that. He was, as GreenMonster said, at one point in a cloned body of Cap., therefore he should be able to at least contend with any version of Cap. (most likely the AW one); or if you're like me he should be able to wipe the floor with Cap's face.

So if we're an evil nazi loving pinko America hater we should get a better Red Skull?

Way to kill our chances man...

The Baron was a beast in sealed games at Gencon, but I personally can't stand his bargain basement attack values. If you're playing him I'd bring along a ringer with Perplex to help him out.

Well, ambush can certainly help his AV, and nanobots keeps him around for a long time.