Team Ability Tango!!! (sponsored by nobody)

I have to admit it, there are a lot of great writers and contributers here on HCRealms.com, Wizkids.com, and elsewhere all across the internet. All of these great contributers have inspired me to finally put something down on (virtual) paper and see if my contributions speak to anyone else like some of them have spoken to me.

I do have to give inspirational credit to imaleximsweet who started working on his Clix Fix online magazine which I helped with hosting (and soon to help with contributing, I hope), and of course to my great loving family, to my fellow local Heroclix players here in Florida, and especially to my wonderful loving sweetheart Soonja who is somewhere around this site under the name THX90210, who does not play or collect Heroclix with me unfortunately! But she not only tolerates the Heroclix hobby, she encourages me to play the game at the local stores, and collect my little tiny superheroes, and that's big.

What I would like to do throughout the course of Team Ability Tango is point out characters who have been made that should have had a certain Team Ability but didn't, and characters who have not yet been made that should have a certain Team Ability (and hopefully will). In addition, there may be discussion about current Alternate Team Abilities, or discussion on proposed Alternate Team Abilities.

And now, on to the first edition of Team Ability Tango, where this time, we will spotlight the DC Heroclix Batman Ally Team Ability:


First, the Batman Ally Team Ability: The power of Stealth has been greatly used throughout the history of Heroclix, there is no question that Stealth remains one of the most powerful (passive defensive) abilities in the game. If I can't draw a line of fire to your pieces, it will be very difficult for me to affect them in any way, either by Outwit, Perplex, or especially by a Ranged Attack.

There are certain game pieces and game elements or mechanics which negate Stealth, and the key items that do negate Stealth are the Superman Ally TA, the Ultimates TA, the Trick Shot feat card, the Bright Lights Battlefield Condition, Ahab from Mutations & Monsters, Dr. Strange from Secret Invasion, and even the Disbanded Battlefield Condition (which does not eliminate Stealth itself, but ignores all Team Abilities including Batman Ally).

Some of the my favorite comic-book characters ever have received this great ability, including Batman (of course), Robin, Superman, The Question, Batgirl, Nightwing, Black Canary, Ragman, even Catwoman, and especially my all-time favorite Bat Ally, Crisis Boy Wonder (aka Jason Todd).


My proposed Alternate Team Ability: This Alternate Team Ability would help encompass the great Birds of Prey team, and also give a different boost to a lot of the current Batman Allies. For example, imagine a 200 point team consisting of Crisis Robin (79 pts), Justice League Batman (75 pts), and Crisis Boy Wonder (40 pts). All 3 characters would have their range increased by +3 (maximum benefit), and at the beginning of the game, Robin could use Probability Control, and Boy Wonder could use Combat Reflexes, Energy Shield/Deflection, and Force Blast. Yeah, that sounds about right!!! This would be to represent the planning of Oracle, along with the down and dirty work of Oracle's operatives.


Characters previously made in DC Heroclix who need to be remade with the Batman Ally Team Ability would include (in order according to my opinion of greatest need):

Green Arrow: Oliver Queen would just thrive while using the Batman Ally TA, and it's a shame that the great Green Arrow version in the Crisis expansion had no Team Ability whatsoever.

Wonder Woman: We have seen a Superman with Batman Ally TA, a Batman with Superman Ally TA, yet Wonder Woman remains consistently stuck with the JLA TA. Where is the love for Diana? (meaning, she also needs the Superman Ally TA for completeness) Don't make me sing that Black-Eyed Peas song, I will do it, if I don't get a Wonder Woman with these team abilities soon!

Talia al Ghul: Hey, if she's good enough to be Batman's “close friend,” she's good enough to get the Batman Ally Team Ability. They have worked together often enough that giving her the Team Ability would make sense, from a certain point of view. (as a note, we still need a Talia with the Calculator TA as well) Heck, if we add her to the team, Ra's al Ghul wouldn't be very far behind in getting the TA, would he?


Characters who have NOT been previously made in DC Heroclix who need to be made with the Batman Ally Team Ability would include (in order according to my opinion of greatest need):

Earth-2 Robin: This version of Dick Grayson has yet to be made and is desperately needed. He would make a great companion to the Origin Unique Batman. There is also a new version of the Earth-2 Robin which has been seen after the reintroduction of the DC Multiverse at the conclusion of the 52 weekly series. He can be seen further in Justice Society of America Annual # 1. This also leads us directly to....

Earth-2 Huntress: Helena Wayne, the daughter of Batman and Catwoman of Earth-2. A loyal and frequent partner to the Earth-2 Dick Grayson. Became the Huntress after the death of her mother, Selina Kyle. A new Earth-2 Huntress can also be seen in the JSA Annual # 1.

Ace the Bat-Hound: It's Batman's dog! With a cape, no less. It may sound silly, but Ace was featured in many Batman comics throughout the long Batman run. He's on the team.

Spoiler as Robin: Stephanie Brown has been made as Spoiler, including the Batman Ally TA, but no Heroclix collection will be complete until she has been made as Robin with the correct TA.

Carrie Kelly as Robin: From The Dark Knight Returns and DKR2. Yes, she has already been made as Catgirl with the Batman Ally TA, but we always need more Robins!

Damian Wayne as Robin: One more Robin to add to the list. The lovechild of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul. It's possible that when he is made he will have the Batman Enemy TA instead, as the Crisis expansion Red Hood did. Talk about a dysfunctional family!

Damian Wayne as future Batman: See Batman # 666 for a glimpse of Damian in action in the future. Of course, any version of Batman needs to have the Batman Ally TA!

Sasha Bordeaux: Bruce Wayne's bodyguard and one-time love interest. Has since become a vital member of Checkmate in several different incarnations, and has become more OMAC than human. It would be great to see Sasha on any Heroclix map, but most especially, with the Batman Ally Team Ability.

Ibn al Xu'ffasch: Appearing in Kingdom Come, Ibn is the KC version of Bruce and Talia's lovechild, and love of Nightstar, the daughter of Dick Grayson and Starfire.

Bat-Mite: Pre-Crisis, Post-Crisis, a being from the 5th Dimension, or a figment of Batman's imagination? It doesn't really matter much. Bat-Mite can currently be seen in Batman RIP, and has been established in current continuity in several different comics. Who would've thunk it?

Batman of Zur En Arrh: This version of Batman can currently be seen in Batman RIP, and was based on an alternate version of Batman seen many years ago.


Other DC Heroclix characters who could be made or remade with the Batman Ally Team Ability (in no particular order):

Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)
Jason Todd as Red Robin or as the Red Hood
Geo-Force
Black Lightning
Halo
Metamorpho
Looker
Grace Choi
Martian Manhunter
ReMAC
Lucious Fox
Vicki Vale
Harvey Bullock
Silver St. Cloud
Renee Montoya
Renee Montoya (as The Question)
Batwoman (Kate Kane)
Batwoman of Earth-2 (Kathy Kane)
Bat-Girl (Flamebird) (Betty Kane)
Flamebird (Bette Kane)
Elongated Man
Wildcat (Ted Grant)
Lady Blackhawk
Manhunter (Kate Spencer)
Misfit
Big Barda
Black Alice
Power Girl
Vixen
and yes, even Edward Nigma (aka The Riddler)
and possibly even Hush


DC Heroclix characters who have recently been assigned the Batman Team Ability in the new Arkham Asylum DC Heroclix expansion:

Anarky
Captain Jim Gordon
Robin (Tim Drake)
Batman Beyond
Batgirl (Barbara Gordon)
Batman (gargoyle chase)
Harvey Dent (Two-Face) LE


That concludes this edition of Team Ability Tango. Please share your comments, and let me know where I went right and where I went wrong with this edition of Team Ability Tango. Let me know if you'd like to see any more articles similar to this one.

Your Tantalizing Tango Tutor, brevard321

Next up: Marvel Heroclix Mystics???

Good article! it was a cool read, i say, make it a pdf, throw in some pictures, and put it as the next issue.

Thanks alex. I know it was probably a bit dry, and a bit long, I need to work on some shorter stuff like I mentioned. I haven't made any PDFs with photos enclosed though, so I will have to learn how to do that. It should be fairly easy, huh?

Anyway, this was good practice for me. There hasn't been a lot of response to it unfortunately, but there is a lot of stuff going on around this site and in real life. Arkham Asylum is getting most of the buzz right this minute.

And here I thought someone would just slaughter me for that Birds of Prey Alternate Team Ability. I'd really like to hear some thoughts about that idea I tossed around so casually!

[Zoidberg] Hooray! Im helping! [/Zoidberg]

Interesting artice idea.

[constructive criticism]
brief discussion on the strengths/weaknesses of the TA was nice, but perhaps not very indepth? I guess the basic strategies for this TA are obvious, but maybe more next time? Aso you might want to include mention of wildcard characters who are either thematic to play with this TA or who work well with it (again in this case thats obvious, but its unlikely to be for every TA).

Im part of the crowd that believes we need more ATAs, and if I was doing a Bat ally ATA BoP would certainly be it, but your ATA is MUCH more compex than any TA or ATA currently extant- and probably more expensive to a dial than basic Bat Ally. Plus range without adjacency is pretty nice (and would have killed with the old WC rules) but all that other stuff is a trifle much. If you want more teamworky stuff, maybe giving BoP cuckoo-carry?
[/constructive criticism]

Otherwise a decent idea/article.

oh and now I've put 1 minutes thought on it my idea for an ATA good enough to sub out stealth without being too absurdy good or confusingy complicated

So no matter where they are your perplex and Prob Control can affect your friends. Represents constant radio contact with your team mates (thanks to Oracle)

well, if an alternate TA cannot fit onto a PAC without needing it's own page, it may be too much. Way too overcomplicated, but otherwise a very good article. Interested in seeing what you have for the Sinister Syndicate

Interesting read but I think your Birds of Prey ATA is a little much.

1. Allowing a character to use standard powers that don't already appear on their dial can be easily abused.

2. Allowing a character to use standard powers that don't already appear on their dial is easily confusing.

3. ATA are better off being simple, the the Justice League Green Lantern ATA or the Society ATA.

4. And finally, with the Batman Ally ability being as good as it is, I don't see many people giving up perma-stealth.

I also don't think just ANYONE who's ever worked with Batman deserves the Bat Ally team ability.

If you wanna play the Birds of Prey with a team of Oracle, Huntress, Power Girl, and Lady Blackhawk, that's fine. That's what keywords are for (which hopefully WizKids would get right). They don't deserve the Bat Ally ability. If you wanna play Batman and the Outsiders, then play the Outsiders with a Batman of you're choice. They have their own team ability, and it's a pretty good one too.

I'm just saying, when I think of Power Girl, Halo, Geo-Force, and Big Barda, I don't think stealth. I think you're just playing WAY too loose with this team ability. And that's coming from someone who argued that the Red Hood in Crisis should have had both the Bat Enemy and Ally team abilities.