When the Silver Surfer was first introduced to HeroClix he had a disproportionately large head and a tiny little board that he rode goofy-foot. Then he got really shiny. Now, he’s back with a much larger stick, a cooler pose, and an LE whose name is obviously ripped straight from surfer slang, Norrin Radd. So who’s the big Kahuna and who’s selling Buicks? Grab your Sex Wax and dig this little clam bake as we separate the gnarlatious dudes from the hodads.

Click on “Read More” to catch a wave.

Hey, bro, here are some righteous dials.

#214 LE Norrin Radd
Team: Power Cosmic
Range: 10 /
Points: 211
Type: V-
Clicks: 9
ArchEnemy: None

9 11 16 4

9 10 18 4

10 10 17 3

10 10 16 3

10 9 16 3

8 9 15 3

8 9 16 3

8 8 16 2

7 8 15 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

#078 V Silver Surfer
Team: Power Cosmic
Range: 10 //
Points: 265
Clicks: 10
ArchEnemy: U Thanos (Gray)

12 10 18 4

12 11 17 3

10 11 16 3

10 11 16 3

9 10 15 3

10 9 16 4

11 9 16 3

12 9 16 3

9 8 16 3

8 8 15 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

LE Norrin Radd’s Gains vs. Veteran Silver Surfer
Radd Daddy adds one rad click of Hypersonic Speed and one of Phasing, giving him a speed power on every one of his nine clicks making him much more mobile than Steely Dan. He also gets an additional click of 10 attack and one more of Energy Explosion. Three clicks of Energy Shield/Deflection will help keep him safe from ranged attacks and three clicks of Support will let him tend to any teammates who get a sand facial. An extra click of Regeneration gives him a better chance to recover from a Neptune cocktail so that he can get right back to the gnarly pounders. Kowabunga!

LE Norrin Radd’s Losses vs. Veteran Silver Surfer
Those primo additions come at a price, however. First, the Radd Daddy gives up one click of life, his 12 movement, and two clicks of 11 attack. Bummer, dude. He also drops two clicks of Impervious, two clicks of Invulnerable, one target, and one click of three (3) damage. Bogus! He also gets rid of the Arch Enemy base, which may not really be such a bad thing.

Neutral Dial Tinkering
After opening with Phasing, Radd Daddy jumps from HSS, to Running Shot and then back to HSS. The Vet Surfer starts with Running Shot, gets beached for a click, and then gets HSS. Steely Dan finds his Ranged Combat Expert near the top of his dial, while Radd has his at the bottom.

Cards that Work
Radd Daddy wants to ride the waves, so play Atlantis Rising to slow down the opposing gremmies and let him hang ten. Infiltration also helps him carve a little extra value out of the dreaded first click of phasing. And given the change to Support, more conservative players may wish to outfit Radd with War Zone to make the most of his Support clicks, thereby allowing him to heal an injured teammate a reliable three clicks every time he takes out the first aid kit. For 12 points, Automatic Regeneration lets him heal himself and then attack with Running Shot if the Regen works. If it doesn’t, he’s still got the RCE and HSS options to attack or retreat.

If ol_Dut had to Choose
LE Norrin Radd vs. Veteran Silver Surfer? Radd Daddy’s opening click of Impervious looks nice and shiney, but every geek, hodad and poser is going to hit it without much trouble. His extra shot of HSS is boss, but starting with Phasing renders it moot. In fact, one good whack when he’s on that 16 Impervious click and his two best HSS clicks will spin right on by. The Support looks great, but at his huge cost of 214 points, Radd Daddy’s going to need to be giving wounds not lickin’ ‘em. Healing is a luxury he’s not likely to have. Sure the mid-dial ES/D jacks his defense up to an impressive 18, but at this point he’s vulnerable to “attacks” that don’t even require attack rolls like Poison and getting Force Blasted into a wall. The HSS at the bottom of the dial seems promising, but let’s be reasonable; most of the time it will go down like this. The first choice is likely to be Auto Regen in hopes of getting back to that RS/PB combo. The second choice is going to be blasting away for four (4) damage with RCE. The third and last choice is a HSS ping and run, for a max of one (1) damage in most cases, unless Radd Daddy is picking on some helpless gremlin who doesn’t have any damage reducers. So where does this leave us? With the real big Kahuna, of course.

If forced to pick between these two, Veteran Silver Surfer is going to get the nod in every situation unless there simply aren’t enough points left to put him on the team. An obvious improvement, Vet Surfer leads off with Running Shot. Considering his 12 move and 10 range, he can zap away at people 16 squares away and then do it again the following turn. Due to Phasing, Radd Daddy will typically have to settle for one attack in his first two turns. Vet Surfer may only start with Invulnerable, but he’s got a big 18 defensive value and if he’s hit he’ll get beaten into Impervious. If he’s hit again he’ll get beaten into HSS. This is how his foes will be rewarded for attacking him. Further, the Vet has a second target allowing him to hedge his bets and ensure that his damage is going to get laid on someone every time he attacks. And while he may only have that one lonely click of Regen at the bottom of his dial offering little more than false hope, he’s much less likely to actually need it thanks to the extra attacks he can crank off early in the game – the best defense being a good offense and all that. However, most of the time a Silver Surfer is needed, I’ll be fielding a different Surfer altogether, which brings us to:

The Great Silver Surfer Surfapalooza!
#6 – U Silver Surfer (CM): A defender and not a very mobile one at that, this surfer suffers from flagging attack values as he progresses through his dial and his best attacks – a pair of 11’s – don’t coincide with his best damage values. Wipeout!

#5 – LE Norrin Radd (SN): The opening click of Phasing is a little painful but it can be overcome. What hurts the most is the fact that he only has damage reducers on four out of nine clicks and that he’ll probably never make much use of his HSS clicks based on their position. Radd Daddy’s backing off to spend more time with the beach bunnies.

#4 – LE Silver Surfer (CM): He may not have any move and attack powers, but the Power Cosmic TA allows him to get around that. One good hit Puts him on his best clicks with an 11 attack and four (4) damage. A superior Regen roll gets him back to one of those juicy clicks late in the game. He’s taking the waves as they come, but don’t expect any 360’s.

#3 – E Silver Surfer (SN): Pretty mobile with four clicks of RS and one of HSS, he’s also got a load of Psychic Blast to lay down some hurt. After a great opening click, he’s shreddin’ on every click (except for that seventh click).

#2 – V Silver Surfer (SN): Steely Dan has a great first click and odds are he’ll get to make the most out of his Impervious and HSS clicks. What keeps him down are his less than impressive damage numbers for his bloated point cost (265 points). He got some outrageous moves, but he’s got a bit to learn yet.

#1 – R Silver Surfer (SN): Weighing in at just 121 points, he’s rad for his point cost fer sure. With better damage numbers than any other Silver Surfer and rebounding attack numbers he’s the real big cosmic Kahuna. If he had the Power Cosmic TA he’d be one of the most perfect pieces in the game, but as he stands he’s great. Banzai!

Quick and Dirty Price Tag
If you want to shoot the curl with Norrin Radd it’ll cost you around $30. He may not be the best Silver Surfer out there, but he’s highly collectable. Surfing with the alien isn’t cheap, and given the past performance of the Silver Surfer Unique and LE from Critical Mass, it isn’t likely to get much cheaper with time.

That’s all for this week. Next week there’ll be even more Supernova but much less surfing. Thanks for reading!

Nice article, I think I agree with you he is just a little two weak mid dial. All the Move-Attack is nice but he is going to get hit out the bat before you get to any of them.

I really love Norrin, especially when I phase up next to you, turn off my Power Cosmic, whoop you, and then use my shellhead for a 20 D with 4 damage and hypersonic speed.

He is a beast for 212 - Love him, mostly because of the move and attack on almost all clicks - even if what I said above is illegal.

Great review as usual.

Nice article, I agree with your order of Surfers.

i'm still gonna get me one, despite his dial

I was kind of hoping he would be better, but those lack of damage reducers and phasing on the first click is terrible. Would you suggest pushing off the first click, forgoing power cosmic? I'm not sure.

Ordinarily I'd say yes, but it hurts to give up that click of Impervious, especailly when has has so few damage reducers to begin with. Plus, then he's a 212 point figure with eight clicks of life and that is one spendy dude at that point.

I think that Norrin gives some options when you want to field the Surfer. The likelyhood of having to choose between the two when the points difference is so Raddical (sorry) seems remote to me.

At a whopping 54pts cheaper than the Vet yet still with that great TA and the addition of (nearly) front loaded HSS I think that there is definitely a place for Norrin on teams.

Regardless, good thorough review as ever. Thanks!

I agree, without Running Shot to start it severely hampers Radd's playability.

I like the veteran the best, although the sculpt could have been better. I hate looking at him from behind, he reminds me of Ned Flanders in his skintight spandex skiing suit shaking his butt at Homer.

Considering the point difference between the V Surfer and LE... I'll go with Norrin. He also has a higher starting attack and move/attack through his entire dial (except the first click).

Or to put it another way... I can slap Repulsor Shield, Force Field for the ESD clicks, and Auto Regen on Norrin... and STILL be cheaper than the Vet!

good review, always a good read.

i really prefer LE norrin over the V though (for the point cost anyway). i usually just try to position norrin so that very few opposing figs with high attack/damage can see him and turn off the TA and push to attack a heavy hitter (even better if i can outwit the opposing fig). then, if the fig i just attacked still has a good chance of hitting norrin's 18 def, i'll use a carried pog to move in front of norrin for some cover.

also because of the amount of psychic blast around lately i'd rather have the LE's energy shield for a higher defense than the lower defense with imprev/invul especially since the ES/D can't be outwitted (just have to stay out of charge range and avoid any outsider figs).

still, i agree that the R is actually the most point effecient of the whole group (but they're all fun to play)!

I've used the V to varying results...most times well. I haven't used the LE yet, and I'm teetering on whether I will or not. I like the higher defense up front, like was mention, Dagger could ping me for a couple and I won't ever get to see that 18. Plus the V's movement values make Norrin look like he's running through Clayface.

No you can't. In order for Force Field to work the character cannot have ANY damage reducing powers.

I like the thought of running Norrin and Thanos together, seeing as he has no arch enemy...