As with all time-travelling menaces from an alternate timeline in the 30th century, Nathaniel Richards (aka Kang the Conqueror, Immortus, Scarlet Centurion, Pharaoh Rama-Tut, Victor Timely, and more) has a rather confusing and convoluted origin and biography. However, in spite of all the paradoxes and complicated intricacies contained therein, one thing remains certain; he is formidable foe of the Fantastic Four and the Avengers and has his sights set on world domination and more. A key figure in Marvel’s rich history and the relatively more recent “Avengers Forever” storyline, Nathaniel Richards (named for Reed Richards’ father, no relation) is also the subject of our focus today. So click on “Read More” to share in Kang’s delusions of grandeur, won’t you? No time travelling required.

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Here are the dials for Nathaniel Richards and Kang the Conqueror.
#204 LE Nathaniel Richards
Team: Minions of Doom
Range: 8 /
Points: 167
Clicks: 8
Type: V-

10 12 18 3

8 11 16 3

8 10 16 2

8 10 16 2

7 9 15 2

7 9 15 3

6 9 16 3

6 9 17 3

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

#048 V Kang the Conqueror
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 8 ///
Points: 199
Clicks: 9

10 13 18 4

8 12 17 3

7 12 16 3

7 11 15 2

7 11 15 3

6 10 14 3

6 10 15 2

9 9 16 1

9 8 17 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Nathaniel Richards’ Gains vs. Veteran Kang the Conqueror
The most noticeable addition to Nathaniel shows up on his base; instead of the Masters of Evil TA present on R and E Kang, or the lack of TA on the Veteran, Nathaniel has the superior Minions of Doom TA (wildcard). Other notable gains include five clicks of Energy Explosion and three more clicks of nine (9) attack. Mr. Richards also has one additional click of Willpower, one more of three (3) damage, and one more of two (2) damage. One other huge boon shows up on his damage track in the form of three additional clicks of that brown sugar known as Perplex.

Nathaniel Richards’ Losses vs. Veteran Kang the Conqueror
It’s not all wine and roses for Mr. Richards, however, as he sacrifices quite a bit to acquire the gains listed above. Among his major losses are dropping from nine to eight clicks of life and moving down to just one target from the Vet’s three. Nathaniel also jettisons a 13, 12 and 11 attack value and every shred of Outwit. Less impactful but worth the mention is the departure of three clicks of Phasing.

Neutral Dial Tinkering
Other than the addition of the MOD TA, the chief differences in these two figures appear in the form of repositioning powers on Nathaniel’s dial. Most importantly, Mr. Richards leads off with Mastermind instead of Kang’s Invulnerable. Ranged Combat Expert opens Nathaniel’s dial, instead of being buried on Kang’s second, third and fourth click. The final change-up is that while Kang starts off very mobile with Running Shot, Nathaniel Richards sees Phasing move to the top of his dial, with Running Shot appearing on clicks two and three.

Cards that Work
For a figure of his point value that opens with Mastermind, Fortitude is almost a necessity. In order to wring the full value out of Nathaniel Richards, one must get the most from his first and only Mastermind click, and delaying the journey through the rest of his formidable dial for as long as possible. Another method of prolonging Nathaniel’s life is Trick Shot. With it, Ranged Combat Expert will allow him to blast away at his enemies from behind a human shield. While some may be tempted to attach Armor Piercing to him to increase his mileage on his many Energy Explosion clicks, single target Energy Explosion is a false promise at best and this tactic should be avoided.

If his team is built with flying Mastermind fodder, Earthquake may be an excellent choice to further soften up the opposition. Likewise, if Kang is supported but nothing but fliers, Atlantis Rising could stop his enemies in their tracks. Ordinary Day, however is the most practical choice out of the bunch, however, as it guarantees he can’t be grounded by Crosswinds, separated from his fodder via Poor Teamwork, or have his magnificent TA negated by the likes of Isolation or Disbanded. His opening click of Phasing may prompt some to use Infiltration, but doing so places Nathaniel in immediate jeopardy as he would then start the game separated from his direly needed damage sponges.

If ol_Dut had to Choose
Nathaniel Richards vs. Veteran Kang the Conqueror? Some of the biggest things I like about Kang the Conqueror are his huge starting attack values, his big damage output, and the multitude of useful powers like RCE, Outwit, Probability Control and Psychic Blast. Throughout the course of a game, unless things go all pear-shaped in a hurry, I can be relatively certain of being able to use most of those powers. However, without top-loaded Impervious, which would be completely appropriate on a figure of his point cost, or Mastermind, Kang the Conqueror is going to have to eat every single click of damage that comes his way. Invulnerable will stop two clicks of damage but the remainder will go through. That prospect makes his nine click dial seem woefully short for the points and it may spin by pretty quickly. The RCE on his dial is great, but as it overlaps with Psychic Blast is seems wasteful. In almost all instances he’ll eschew RCE for the penetrating damage of PB. RCE only helps him when attacking figures without damage reducers, and how often will a figure of his point cost be relegated to that duty? Out of everything that Kang may have going for him, the one power on his dial I may not be able to leverage properly, due entirely to where it lands on his dial, is Mastermind.

Enter Nathaniel Richards. That opening click of Mastermind is his entire raison d’être. With his impressive first click featuring Mastermind and the Minions of Doom TA, Nathaniel Richards walks the board like a miniature Dr. Doom. He’s got Vet Doom’s 12 attack. He’s got Vet Doom’s three (3) damage. He’s got Dooms 18 defense with Mastermind. He may not have the 10 range and two targets, but he costs a cool 31 points less. And those points can easily be used on Feats or additional fodder. Packing Fortitude, Nathaniel is still cheaper than the good Doctor and even more deadly. Nathaniel’s first click damage output surpasses Doom’s thanks to RCE. While Doom’s attack values flag all the way to a pair of sevens (7’S) and a six (6) Richards’ never drops below a nine (9). While he may not have Doom’s Outwit, he also doesn’t have the wasted clicks of mid-dial Leadership. He may not be Dr. Doom, but Baby Doom shall not be trifled with.

It is for all of these reasons and more that Baby Doom outshines his Veteran counterpart. Kang the Conqueror has a very strong opening click, but thanks to Mastermind Nathaniel’s is better. What the Minions of Doom TA affords Nathaniel can scarcely be quantified. Thanks to Kabuki he can be Stealthed. Thanks to Ultimates he can see through Stealth. Thanks to Suicide Squad he can revel in the demise of his teammates. And so on. The Running Shot that Kang opens with would be nice for Nathaniel to have, but it isn’t a deal breaker. A teammate with Telekinesis offers a quick and effective workaround. Considering his point cost, Nathaniel Richards will likely not do well in 300 point games. He simply won’t be able to pack along the support he needs to be effective. However, at 500 or more, he will be a force to be reckoned with and that’s why I’ll go with Nathaniel Richards over Veteran Kang the Conqueror every time.

Quick and Dirty Price Tag
With a cost of around $15 to $20, Nathaniel isn’t cheap but he should be load of fun to play. All hail Rama-Tut!

That’s all for this week. Next time – Super-Nova! Thanks for reading!

I'm unsure 5 clicks of Energy Explosion with only 1 target and "gaining" 3 clicks of 9 Attack should be listed as gaining over the Veteran.

I always enjoy the reviews, just had to point that out.

AND IT IS MY 1000TH POST! YAY

Well, the EE may not feel like a true gain, but it is technically an increase of the power over the vet, and at least one of the 9's is better than the Vet's 8 on his last click. That other 9 does kind of feel like a loss though, doesn't it?

Methinks this is in the wrong forum.

It's more the fact the LE has one target while the Vet has a sexy 3 targets which would be just great with EE. One target EE has always been a wee carpy, especially when the Vet has Psychic Blast instead on 2 of those 3 early clicks.

I have to agree with Tylk about all that wasted EE on Nathaniel. I hate for my bigger pieces to have 1 target EE. You will almost never use it. It is almost as much as a waste as his 2 clicks of 1 target Incap.

However, as Ol'Dut put it, all that Brown Sugar is just too tastey to pass up, and makes him worthwhile even on clicks when he has to clear. And his damage never peters-out like the Vet's does.

Excellent write up... I agree with pretty much everything you said. V Dr. Doom is one of the best figures in the game (still) and LE Nathaniel Richards is very similar. The lack of RS on his Mastermind click hurts but w/ Trick Shot he can sit back behind his fodder and take pot shots.

Another great article writeup. Thanks for all the hard work you put into these articles ol_dut.

Thanks for this write-up...my only complaint is referring to Nathaniel Richards as a mini-Doctor Doom, this piece compares favorably to the various Doom Alternatives available, IMO.

I look forward to seeing how various players use this figure, so don't be shy about writing up his exploits in the "What did you play?/How did you do?" thread.

I'll chime in with my general dislike of the LE's attack powers: ranged-Incap on a flier (especially with the lower damage values) oddly doesn't bother me as much as the first clix's Energy Explosion (with Mastermind!) If Nate-R decides to EE an adjacent figure, chances are GREAT that he is actually going to hit himself! Imagine how glorious that opening click would be with both Psychic Blast and RCE!

Give Nate Protected and he's ready to roll.

Honestly I would probably never use the EE, opting instead to do damage with RCE when he has it or straight damage amped up with Perplex when he has that. All things considered, those aren't bad choices.

Thanks for the great review. I've used ole' Nate a coupla times and enjoyed him everytime. I tried something I heard about with him that seemed to work very well. I taxied Junkpile around with him and anytime Nathaniel took damage, Junkpile took the bullet and with Junkpile's opening invulnerability a damage of five or six would put him on his regenerate clicks, so I would use it and have a near deathless mastermind figure for the time-traveling conqueror. Plus the Shield team ability helped add to Nate as well. The opponents I have played really, really got aggravated when it didn't seem they could get any leeway against that pairing.
The review, as always, was great because it gave me new ideas in addition to this that I'm going to have to try out. But, oh yeah, he's a great addition to any force (providing the point value is high enough).

Good review. I agree that Mr. Richards is a great piece, but I'm not sure I would choose him over the veteran.

The veteran *should* get in the first shot thanks to RS, and Energy Explosion just isn't as effective on characters with only one target. I think it would have been better to not have Energy Explosion and make him even more cheaper. But oh well, he's still a deadly piece.