(The main article with pictures is in Critical Hit Issue 8)

Role With The Punches.
Knowing Who Does What On Your Heroclix Team.
by bill4935

In Heroclix strategy, one way to build your team is to think about the role each piece on your team will play. I know the famous line is, "no battle plan ever survived first contact with the enemy" - so it's wise to stay open-minded and ready to adapt... but you have to start somewhere.

I’ve written this article to describe one method I use for team building, and I know there are more out there. I've given names to the various jobs needed on my Heroclix teams, depending on my playing strategy. Am I going to make an all-out attack? I might want my team to be all Attackers and Mobility pieces. Am I going for a swarm team approach? I know I’ll need Harassers, Tie-Ups and lots of cheap Cannon Fodder. Whether or not you choose to build a team by first choosing a figure you want to play, or by choosing a strategy you want to use, it’s good to know the tactics that might come up when your opponent’s team is revealed.

1. Attacking.
First things first, you need someone that can dish out serious damage, whether it's by Charging right in to give the bad guys a face full of metal claws or by a long-distance laser beam from across the board. Or perhaps at medium-range, using the unstoppable Pulse Wave. Attackers can range from a "tentpoles" like Superman or Green Scar all the way to 3rd or 4th-string pieces like Colleen Wing, who costs only 10 points, but threatens any piece in the game with her B/C/F power.

A sub-category of the Attacker is the Harasser - a piece that your opponent hates to waste an action attacking, yet has an Attack Value or power (like RCE or CCE) that lets them be a threat to anyone. Scourge and low-cost Exploit Weakness pieces like R Mano fit this bill. Don't forget exceptionally mobile harassers like the Vanisher: while weak, he can move easily to your opponent's back ranks and give trouble where he doesn't want it. Harassers won't win you the game, but putting a thorn in your opponent's side and splitting their fire is a good tactic.

2. Support.
A great philosopher once said, "I get by with a little help from my friends". If your friend happens to be telekinetic then all the better. The must-have power for all of my Heroclix teams is and always has been Probability Control, but you might demand Outwit or Perplex. Support pieces who provide powers like these often have little else going for them, so that power is cheaper than if you chose an Attacker figure with the same power, and you can keep those Supporters safe in Stealth or away from the front lines. The healing power “Support” has dropped in demand lately along with Defend, mostly due to recent sets giving us figures that can still fight well near the end of their dials. Don’t bother adding a medic to your team for Rookie Supernova Thor, he can hammer just as hard at the end of his dial as at the start!

You can choose a supporter with a bit of fight in them like Icons Starter Batman, Ray Palmer or Mr. Mind (a personal favourite of mine, on the right team he can give you Outwit and Perplex at the same time). Notice that a lot of the best support/attack figures have good defences and Stealth. This option is expensive, but you’ll be glad you did if your Attackers are KOed sooner than you expected. If your last piece left is a Cuckoo, you’ve got better odds of winning than if it were Destiny.

Or else you can have a single-purpose Pit Crew member like Destiny, Jean Grey, IC Black Panther, Paramedic and the Con Artist give you just the power you need for the minimum of cost. Don't forget supporting Team Abilities like Police/Hydra, Crime Syndicate, Outsiders and X-Men/Titans!

3. Mobility.
Just as important as Support is transportation. Taxiing with a friendly flyer or transporter has become the second-best option for moving a combat piece after Telekinesis (since after taxiing you can't give that figure an action until next turn). But it has two distinct advantages: first, it is much cheaper. The cheapest is the Parademon Scout at 13 points. A JLA/Avengers taxi like Wasp or Green Flame can move and carry without using one of your actions for 17 or 19 points. Secondly, it is cheaper in actions used. Carrying moves two pieces into battle for the price of one. Pieces like Wiccan and the Green Lanterns are even more attractive, if you have big armies and few actions to spare.

Best of all, flight is so common and inexpensive (it only slightly increases the point value of a flyer compared to a non-flying figure of equal ability) that you rarely need to add taxi specialists to your team. There are some great flyers/transporters out there, and often they fill more than one role. Case in point is one of the greatest pieces in the game: Lockjaw, who can act in four different roles if you need him too.

4. Bricks.
It's often a good idea to have someone on the field that's there to take the brunt of things, someone big and tough that can act as a wall or shield behind which your archers, martial artists and mind controllers can cower. Usually it's a piece with lots of damage reducing powers like Invulnerability or Impervious or protective feats like Fortitude or Repulsor Shield. Not only does this waste your opponent's attacks, but if near the end of a game you still have Invulnerability and your opponent can’t deal more than 2 damage... you're sitting in the catbird seat!

There are many good bricks in Heroclix, too many to list here - but check out hidden gems like Junkpile, V Diamond Lil and Supernova’s Experienced Drax. One thing to look out for – make sure your brick can do damage. Your opponent can safely ignore some tough-but-ineffectual pieces like Unus the Untouchable or R Diamond Lil while they trash your expensive figures with Telekinesis and Psychic Blasters.

It doesn't have to be damage that your brick shrugs off. If you have a high Defense Value figure like LE Yellowjacket, Gypsy or Living Laser then shrugging off attack rolls is as good as shrugging off damage. Just watch out for Poison, Copsicles or other dice-free dangers.

Those are the four basics, but there are lots more tactics out there than just Telekinesis ’ing your Perplexed Wildcat up into battle. Heroclix as a game is all about positioning. Being in the right place to launch an attack, or being just out of reach of your enemy will help you win more games than loaded dice (well, almost). The next five roles are all about making sure you have the higher ground, or putting your opponent off balance.

5. Bait
One of my favourite tactics - advance an attractive target into the middle of the map. Many opponents will pounce on it, letting you spring your trap - his pieces are now in range of your counter attack!
If he doesn't take the bait, then your bait piece should be strong enough to do some damage while he's out there. Cheap yet dangerous is the idea here. I've had good luck using high AV Energy Explosion pieces as bait, so I'll throw out a Danger Room Cyclops or E SHIELD Sniper (Stealth is great for forcing the enemy to move in close!) If they don’t strike, you’re in range to fire. If they do, you’re ready to Charge!

6. Cannon Fodder
Whether you've got a swarm team or need minions for your Mastermind, lots of warm bodies was the recipe for success in battle from 5000 BC to about 1862 AD (the year the machine gun was invented). The Skrulls will always be my favourite swarm force, but even lesser species like SHIELD or Kobra Fanatics can be fun. Don't forget ol' faithful tuning-fork-dog Lockjaw here!

Cannon Fodder pieces can slow your opponent down, force him to waste actions attacking your cheap lackeys instead of your leader, and generally get in the way. Since you can move through your own forces (and feats like Coordination and Trick Shot let you shoot through them too) it’s easier for you to make the attacks you want than for him to get you!

7. Tie-Up
Lock your opponent's forces down, and what can they do? Many a battle plan has been lost to a failed Breakaway roll or two. This tactic has seen some recent improvements to standard powers like Barrier and Incapacitate by Icicle and Iron Spidey. Feats like Flashbang and Construct help here too.

The other tactic here is using highly mobile figures or figures with Plasticity and Giant-ness to keep your opponent's characters where you want them. I'm no expert with Giants (mine keep getting blasted off the map), but anything that increases the enemy's frustration factor can't be all-bad. This is a good role for figures with Leap/Climb and Combat Reflexes like REV Spoiler or figures with deep dials and Phase/Teleport, like... you guessed it, Lockjaw.

8. Blocker/Mobile Terrain
Another role that Lockjaw performs well is blocking enemy line of sight to your more valuable figures. And of course having a cheap pog or Moloid for your Hypersonic flying tentpole brick to carry, as a defence against enemy fire is a very useful, but not exceptionally heroic tactic. I like using JL Plastic Man in the Blocking role, since he also can be a taxi, tie-up and secondary attacker with his Close Combat Expert.
Plastic Man: the triple threat. Who would have guessed?

Recent sets have given us the ultimate in mobile terrain: Bystander tokens with Stealth like Joe Chill and Val Cooper. They cost about the same as a Moloid, but they’re tournament legal and they fit in your pocket better!

9. Formation Buster
Now this last role is something I think we will see grow in the years to come, as new tactics develop. New feats like Drag and Terrify and new powers like Crisis Kid Flash's Human Tornado and Crisis Supernova’s Phantom Zone Projector let you move your opponent's pieces around. Sure, you could do that with Force Blast, but it costs a whole action! Free actions are better for tactics like this, especially when you aren't dealing any damage. Unless you’re playing a scenario, it’s best to save your actions for getting knockouts.
Tip for sneaky players: these powers are great for pushing Stealthed figures out of hindering terrain and disrupting the adjacency needed for Defend, Cuckoo Powers and many Team Abilities.


I am positive that there are more strategies and roles out there, just waiting to be discovered and shared. I hope this has given you some food for thought on team building and deployment. When you find a new tactic or a new use for a forgotten character, let us know!

Bill4935 started playing Heroclix with Xplosion, and is a frequent poster on HCRealms.com. He can be reached at [email protected].

Ha ha! I'm published!

Take that, Domi!