Welcome back to yet another comprehensive review! Today I’ll be taking a look at one of my personal favorite X-men, Colossus! In a joint calaboration with , this is a follow up all Colossus review to go with that wonderful Fast Ball Special Review (click here to go directly to it).

So if you’re ready click on “Read More” and lets take a look at the big red Russian wrecking Machine!

Well it looks like I’m going to have my work cut out for me. Currently in the game there are 8 versions of Colossus, and I’ll be taking a look at them all.

The Categories will be broken down as follows:

Under 80 Points:
V-Colossus (dr002) 60 pts
R-Colossus (ul073) 74 pts
R-Colossus (x079) 79 pts

Under 110 pts:
E-Colossus (x080) 95 pts
E-Colossus (ul074) 104 pts

110+ pts:
V-Colossus (x081) 111 pts
V-Colossus (ul075) 125 pts
V-Colossus (mu012) 158 pts

So without further delay, let’s get started with our under 80 point Category.

Under 80 Points:

DR002 V-Colossus


The Danger Room Starter Colossus is actually a little bit of an oddball. He’s a rather cheap piece at 60 points (making him the cheapest of the Colossus pieces) and actually comes packing some half decent stats along with the X-men TA to make him worth his cost. For all purposes Colossus is a brick, and he does it rather well.

First and foremost, as opposed to many of the Colossus pieces currently available, this guy doesn’t have an activation click. The activation click has always been a widely controversial addition to the dial of most pieces. The argument for Colossus has always been that he never goes into a battle without using his mutant power. With no feats specifically designed to attach to someone with an activation click it’s nice to see we don’t need to worry about burning actions and waiting a few turns to get Colossus into the game. This guy comes out swinging!

In terms of movement, he starts with a single click of Charge. The rest of his dial is bare bones for movement purposes. He starts with an 8 movement and falls down to a 5 by the end of his dial. It’s definitely going to be important to have a TK piece available to help position Colossus around the field, but at 60 points he’s not going to be the centerpiece of your team and therefore allows plenty of points to provide the necessary support.

His attack values are a bit different. He starts with only a 9 attack and then on the very next click works up to a 10. This is good, but takes some thought whether pushing is worth it or not as his damage is highest on his first click. After click 2 his attack value drops from a 10 to an 8. It does work down to a 7 by click 5. After click 5 however his AV goes up one point per click peaking again at a 10 on his 8th and final click. Unfortunately come the point where his AV is starting to peak again his damage and defense are getting so low that attacking may not be worth it, and he's not likely to survive.

Like one would expect on a Colossus piece, Super Strength is present. He's got it available for his first 4 clicks which help bring his damage potential up to a 5 with a heavy object on his first click. The other 3 clicks he's got a potential of 4 damage. Not too shabby out of a 60 point piece. Note with some of the special objects (whether 3d or otherwise) this damage potential can be raised slightly.

Defensively, up until the most recent revision this guy has the best numbers. It's a little disappointing to not see any invulnerable or impervious on his dial but still for 60 points the substitution of high numbers (at least starting) and toughness make him worth his points. He starts with a 17 defense and works his way down to a 12 by the end of his dial. Toughness is available for clicks 1-5.

The nice thing about the Toughness as opposed to Impervious or Invulnerable, is that it's LESS likely to be outwit. While it may not reduce damage as much as the other two methods there is little need to place things like fortitude and such on him. The higher opening natural defense also provides better protection than the 14-16 defense with invulnerable seen on various other versions (as often times the invulnerable is subject to being outwit).

The damage slot remains bare. A little close combat expert might not have hurt to have on the dial, but it's still ok. His first click is his strongest click. It's the only click with 3 damage. Clicks 2-6 feature a 2 damage, and clicks 7 and 8 only have 1 damage. I'd like to say that I can never see a point where Colossus is only dealing 1 damage, but for the sake of a relatively cheap incarnation, I'll allow it. Still knowing I can only bust through a wall on click 1 (without an object) is a bit disappointing.

But not as disappointing as some of the other figures within his category! Moving on!

UL073 R-Colossus


The Rookie Ultimate Colossus is 74 points. One would hope to see some upgrades versus the Danger Room version, but generally we don't get it.

This particular version comes equipped with the activation click. There's nothing good about that click, you're just going to burn actions trying to get past it. And once you get past that click you haven't gained too much. For the sake of this review I'm going to ignore the activation clicks (on all pieces that have them) as they are largely useless.

Eliminating the Activation click effectively gives Colossus a 7 click long dial. His movement is lower than the Danger Room version. He starts with a 6 and half way though the dial slows down to a 5. He's got 2 clicks of charge up front, but the whole 3 square charge distance isn't that impressive.

His attack value starts at an 8 and sadly gets worse from there. He works from an 8 down to a 6. So chances are he's not going to be hitting all that often. He does come with a whole dial (activation click excluded) of Super Strength. Unfortunately the chance to deal extra damage is going to be wasted with such a meager chance of hitting his opponent.

Defensively he's not as bad as some versions. He starts at a 16 defense and works down to a 13 by the end. He has two opening clicks of invulnerable and then the remainder of his dial is filled with toughness. Now I know someone out there might be saying, "a 16 defense with invulnerable isn't that great!" Well yes I'd agree with you but there are certainly lower defenses which we will see soon.
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Damage wise he can hit pretty hard on his first two clicks. He's capable of hitting for 4 damage (6 with a heavy object) on the first click and 3 (5 with heavy) on the second click. After those two clicks however he's down to hitting for 2 for the remainder of his dial.

Honestly if this version wasn't without a T/A he might not be a horrible option. The ultimate X-men T/A will actually come into play and help out some of the other versions which I'll be taking a look at. But for now lets move onto his 616 Counterpart.

X079 R-Colossus


The rookie Colossus from Xplosion.. What can I say about this guy? He's 79 points, he's got the X-men T/A.. other than that.. Well he's just too darn expensive to really place on your team. at 80 points he's starting to push 1/3 of your build total. This makes it rather difficult to adequately place him on your team. Why? Because his numbers really aren't all that great. He's actually quite outshined by the Danger Room version.

I suppose if you had ICWO and a bunch of perplexers on the team, he might be worth his points, but then again the Danger Room Version would probably still stomp him (with the same upgrades for him of course). One side note here, at least the X-men T/A gives the ability to swap clicks and such which can be used to get Colossus off that activation click, although he may be waiting a few rounds to use it...

His move starts off at an 8 and ends with a 6. He's got 2 clicks of charge up front. Other than that it's a bare slot.

His attack, like the Rookie from Ultimates, starts at an 8. It also works it's way down to a 6 by the end of the dial although slightly more quickly. This time colossus only has 5 clicks of super strength (leaving his activation click, and clicks 7 and 8 empty).

Defensively he tanks! He's so easy to hit even a Shield/AIM Medic could hit him. His defense starts at a 14 and works down to a 12. Sure he's got invulnerable on clicks 2 and 3, and toughness down the remainder of his dial, but is that really going to save him in a game full of outwit? I think not!

Damage wise he starts with a 4 and follows that up with 3 clicks of 3 damage. His final 3 clicks he's dealing 2 damage. The increased damage is an upgrade over both his Danger room and Ultimate version, but that still doesn't outweigh the lower defense and attack values.

Overall I can't think of a reason to use him. I'd skip him, but if someone else has any other reasons why he should be considered, please do tell!

Under 110 pts:

XP080 E-Colossus


First in our under 110 points category is the Experienced Xplosion Colossus. He comes in at 95 points and sports the X-men T/A.

He starts with 3 clicks of charge up front, all of which have an 8 movement. After the loss of charge he's got a bare movement slot that works down to a 6 by the end.

His attack value is better than the rookie, starting at a 9, but then clicks 3-9 look like the rookie versions clicks 2-8. He also has super strength from clicks 2-7.

Defensively this guy starts with at 15 defense with invulnerable. The extra click of life grants him the higher defense and extra click of invulnerable.. Except once again clicks 3-9 are the rookie's clicks 2-8. Nothing special here..

For damage the extra click gives one more click of 4 damage. Other than that, rinse and repeat of clicks 2-9 of the rookie..

That's all I got to say about this guy.. Moving on..

UL074 E-Colossus


At least the Ultimate experienced version is slightly different than his rookie. He's now 104 points and comes with the ultimate X-men T/A. Personally I think this is the best of the Ultimate Versions.

He starts with 2 clicks of Charge, one of which has an 8 movement the other with a 6. After losing charge he's pretty bare. He keeps the 6 movement for another 3 clicks and then goes down to a 5 movement from clicks 7 to the end of his dial.

Aside from the activation click he's got a full dial of Super Strength. His AV does seem kind of low, starting at a 9 and working down to a 6, but with the Ultimate X-men T/a this can be bypassed. The Ultimate X-men T/A allows for a character to increase their AV by one against a specified opponent or Team ability, so if your opponent is playing a theme his AV is a bit nicer. The opening click is still going to be the click that counts (highest damage, movement, av) so try to keep him there.

Defensively he picks up a click of impervious with what at the time seemed like a typical defense with impervious (15). After impervious he gets 2 clicks of invulnerable. His stats also boost to a 16 for the first click of invulnerable, and then drop to a 15 for the second click. After invulnerable he switches to toughness and once again has his stats go back to a 16. From there they work down to a 13 by the end of his dial.

His damage isn't as good as the 616 version. He has 1 click of 4 damage and 2 clicks of 3 damage, the remainder of his dial is filled with 2's, but at least he's got the super strength even on the last 2 clicks to help raise the potential of that 2 damage.


110+ pts:

XP081 V-Colossus


Stepping up to the Veteran Colossus will cost 111 points. I'm not going to take much time to say much about him.. the extra points buys you another click of life, giving him 10 clicks total now). Guess what?! Just as the Experienced was an extra click added onto the Rookie's Clicks 2-8, the Veteran is an extra click added onto the Experienced version's 2-9 (except we lose one click of charge).

What does the extra click give you? Another 8 movement (except we don't gain an extra click of charge but it is moved forward), a 10 AV with Super Strength, another 15 defense with invulnerable, and another click of 4 damage.

Is it worth the cost? Well Actually I think yes.. Why? Because for starters his AV starting at 10 is much nicer to hit an opponent with if he's being used with a TK Cannon. The X-men T/A works nicely to get him back to the best clicks on his dial, and unlike the experienced, if someone manages to hit him for 2 damage (4 damage - 2 invulnerability = 2) when he's on that first click he still keeps his 4. He also tends to have a lot more life than most of the X-men pieces available. He certainly may not be the best brick by today's standards, but he does still do alright. Just make sure you run him with someone who with defend. Warlock is ideal since he makes a great taxi. Shadow cat can surfice if you have the actions to move her around with Colossus.

Ul057 V-Colossus


The Ultimate Veteran Colossus is 125 points, and still has the Ultimate X-men T/A. The extra points buy an extra click of life and some slight stat upgrades.

He's got an extra click of 9 AV up front which works well with the Ultimate X-men T/A. His Impervious click is boosted to a 16 Defense. He's got an extra click of 4 damage as well as an extra click of 3 damage.

Why do I think the experienced version is better?
Well when you think of a piece doing 4 or 5 damage (which translates to 2-3 after damage reduction) it'll completely bypass the enhancements provided. He'll miss his second click of 4 damage, 9av. etc. It's 25 points that could be spent elsewhere (in my opinion). Sure the 16 defense is better than a 15, but ultimately not that much harder to hit.

I don't have much else to say about this version, he's pretty similar to what we've seen before.

MU012 V Colossus


And here’s where the review will get extensive (as if what you’ve read through so far hasn’t been). The brand spankin’ new Colossus from M&M clocks in at 158 points and features the X-men T/A. While he is a bit more expensive than what we’ve seen before he’s got a bunch of differences.

First he’s down to 9 clicks of life which ties him with the experienced versions. But when you look a little closer and realize he’s lost his Activation click you actually put him right on par with the Veterans. Let’s face it, we do anything we can to get him off the activation click so our other Veteran pieces only REALLY have 9 clicks of life.. So no loss there.. So no activation click means he comes out swinging.. HARD!

Colossus sees the standard movement peaking out at 8. He starts with 3 clicks of Charge. His first two clicks he's got an 8 movement for an effective for movement charge. On click three he drops to a 6 movement. This doesn't affect charge too badly as it goes from 4 to 3. After the first three clicks of charge he goes back up to a 7 movement (for two clicks) followed by the remainder of the dial with 6 movement. The two clicks of 7 and the first click of 6 damage are without powers. The last three clicks of his dial however he once again is charging.

His attack values aren't really anything to rave about. He starts at a 10 (and keeps it for a click) and works his way down to a 7 by the end. It's nice to see in the middle 3 clicks of 9 AV so he doesn't hit 8 so quickly. Still it will be best to keep him towards the top of his dial (thank goodness for the X-men T/A!). He's also got super strength for the first 6 clicks making his damage potential downright nasty!

Defensively... WOW... Sure we've seen 19 and 20 defenses, but not on Colossus (yet?). This guy is definitely the MOST defensive Colossus we've seen. He starts with a 17 defense impervious. Sadly that's his only click of impervious, but it gives way to 3 clicks of invulnerability. For two of those invulnerability clicks he's got a 17 defense, the final one he's got a 16. Perhaps the damage reduction is subject to outwit but a higher defense would be less of a problem.. Ok use the X-men T/A or push Colossus to get him to his first toughness click (immediately following his invulnerability) where he's got an 18 defense. Once he's picked up toughness he does work down to a 15 defense, but with 5/9 of his dial at a 17 defense or greater he's going to be a tough one to take down!

Damage wise he's no slouch either. He starts with a 4 damage and keeps it for 3 clicks. After he drops to a 3 damage for 3 clicks, followed by two damage for 3 clicks. Sure we've seen him with two damage before, but never with Close Combat Expert (which is now present on his last 2 clicks) to give him a damage potential of 4 without needing an object.. Just don't forget that it doesn't work with charge.

Now the only thing left to do is talk about his special power, Fast Ball Special. Before I go any further I'd like to point out two great articles that have been posted on fast ball special by anonym0use. First the Spotlight on Special Powers and second Tuesday Top Ten

We've all seen the awful feat card that we had at one point. Now we've got Colossus with a built in FBS special power. It's still got it's restrictions but now they are a lot less rigid. It's ANY adjacent friendly character, not someone with the same team ability. They need the standard damage value (so fliers are capable of being thrown too!), and need to be over 30 points. That sure is nicer than spending 12 points for a feat that needs 2 characters chosen and can only be used once, the ball must be grounded and have toughness, and can't hit for more than 3 damage. These restrictions are gone! Not to mention old FBS was a 6 square throw. Oh yeah and BOTH characters need power actions to use it..

The old FBS did have it's advantages of a +2 AV when it was being used and a potential +1 damage (capping possible damage at 4). The new FBS has it's own advantage.

First, we follow TK option 3 for light objects. Let's see what does that mean?

Ok first thing I notice is that there is no range indicated here.. Let's dig into the rule book to find out more information. According to LOSH book that's page 38 for Objects and TK.

So throwing an X-man gives Colossus an effective 10 range (maybe slightly more/less depending if the x-man is in front of or behind colossus). While a 4 damage close up is good the potential to hit for 2 damage 10 squares away (while also setting up the ball for an attack of their own) isn't bad at all.

So after our Fast ball special we have to place our ball somewhere adjacent to our target. I assume the part about placing 1 additional unavoidable damage is in regards to our ball being thrown at an elevated opponent where they've got no ground to stand, or the old soaring rules, so most of the time this won't come into effect.

There is a penalty to being the ball. First, their attack value is dropped by 2 for the turn, and their damage is dropped by 2. For many pieces this means they will hit for a 1 or no damage. But there are some pieces that break this rule. A B/C/F used does not suffer from the -2 damage as their B/C/F roll replace the damage they currently have. So let's pretend we toss Rookie Wolverine from IC when he's on click 5. Tossing him brings his Damage down to a -2 (though I think the lowest we can do is 0). once he rolls his b/c/f none of that matters. Aside from perplex, there's not much we can do to remove the -2 AV penalty however. Keep in mind however that if Colossus feels the tug of post teen angst he may take at trial battle with the outsiders (or maybe one of them feels like they are an X-man) which via TA does negate the -2 AV and -2 damage the ball would receive (should they be picked as the target of the TA). The ball also suffers 1 unavoidable damage, IE 1 click of damage that can't be reduced.

There are certain characters who make a better "ball" than others. If I have to suggest one I'd pick the Unique Wolverine from IC or the Unique wolverine from Fantastic Forces. The 11 AV (1 click of unavoidable would remove the 12) is still ok with a -2 penalty, and the regen is golden to gain back any damage dealt. The Fantastic Forces Wolverine does have an advantage of having the X-men TA for more healing potential.

One additional Note about the new FBS.. Colossus can also throw light and heavy objects per the standard TK rule if he wants also, which gives Colossus a fairly heafty range!

So (at least to me) the new Colossus seems to bring quite a bit of potential to his team. His special power given the right support pieces makes a makeshift TK that deals some damage (with some cost), as well as gives Colossus a small ranged combat capability. He hits hard, he's got plenty of defense..

He may be more expensive than any we've seen to this point, but he's definitely King of the Colossus Jungle (with the Danger Room version coming in second).

Thanks for stopping by again this week. Come back next week as I take a look at Emma Frost/White Queen.

Thanks for the great review. You mentioned at the end his ability to TK objects, per option 3. I think this is the best thing about Colossus.
Colossus with an effective 10 range and a few objects to start the game is great and can quite possibly catch someone off gaurd. Then, after you've pinged them from range, you move in and put the big hurt on them.

Nice!

And without anonym0use pointing that out to me, I'd have been one of those unsuspecting ones..

Great review! I'd have loved it if the Ultimate Colossus lent himself to better Mastermind Fodder for Ult Professor X to use. As it stands there's only 2 Colossus for me:

DR Vet 60 points
M&M 158 points.

The first one I'll use in 300-500 point games, the second I'll use in 600+ pointers.

It's nice that the X-men finally got some beefier costed figures that deliver with this newest set (Storm, Bishop, Petey), and it's good to see a Colossus can hold his own against the Juggernaut.

Good article, as usual!

According to the new flight rules, Shadowcat is a flier and can carry Colossus just like Warlock can. I think. Right?

Great artricle. Informative as always.

The mailbox that acts like a heavy in terms of damage and the bookcase giving him a +1 att are what I use with the Ruskie. Also a surprise to see those coming from 10 squares away!

Has there been eratta for this, or are you just assuming because Shadowcat has the Flight Speed that she will automatically be a flier?

The only figure I know of, that was officially announced to be a flier with the flight rules changes is Charcoal. Blue Beetle got eratta'd shortly after Origin was released. Ditto Black Hand. Everyone else (Quicksilver, Shaman) is speculation.

For instance: Should Bullseye be able to fly? He's got the flight speed symbol after all.

*throws Bullseye off roof*

<<< SPLAT! >>>

Guess not.

As far as I know, that's correct.

they said the Sinister errata will be lifted. Therefore, Miss Kitty would become a flier.

I'm pretty sure that's not the case as I've read. Shadowcat was a misprint and therefore will not be allowed the new flight rules. Charcoal and Blue Beetle for example were supposed to be fliers, so they can now be used as such.

***Didn't write fast enough I guess. So she'll be a flier now? Wierd!

the only part of this i read was about the new one, as the others are garbage. WOW charge and super strength?! what is the world coming to? i like his power, but he deserves some kind of special defensive power. so does emma frost.

The Danger Room version is far from garbage..