Ok, for my Russian team I have:

CA101 90 Red Guardian
CA042 146 Crimson Dynamo
CA044 102 Ursa Major
CA043 98 Darkstar
CA206 60 Black Widow

TOTAL: 496

I'd like to pit them against some analogous characters, 500 point team, somehow related (preferably Avengers- at least in theme).

The only match-up I would like to see is:

HA 200 War Machine and Crimson Dynamo (brutal fight)
?? ??? Captain America and Red Guardian

But which Cap to use??

I am torn between Ultimates Vet Cap, Avengers Cap, and the double-base new Cap. (I have others, but the first two have done me well usually, and the third looks good, at least on paper)

Who would you pick to go against Darkstar, Black Widow, and Ursa Major? (If not an Avenger character it's cool, but would be nice)

So after much deliberation:


CA101 90 Red Guardian vs. AV 001 95 Captain America
CA042 146 Crimson Dynamo vs. HA 200 137 War Machine
CA044 102 Ursa Major vs. SN 090 94 Wolverine
CA043 98 Darkstar vs. GX 038 104 Iceman
CA206 60 Black Widow vs. CR 030 65 Blue Beetle

TOTAL: 496 TOTAL: 495

E Vision or U Jack of Hearts could be good matches with the Avengers keyword.

Vision would be annoying if he based her, Jack would be annoying whatever he does.

How would GSX Iceman do?

He has the same amount of clicks, similar powersets ( barrier vs. smoke cloud) ... only main difference is Iceman is more support (perplex) while Darkstar would probably use her smoke to +1 to defense.... both have their offensive advantages (RCE for Iceman, Psychic Blast for Darkstar)

Alas, Supernova is one of the few sets I have very little of... I am missing BOTH of those. I've seen Jack in action... he is annoying.

I'm not a good team-builder, to be honest (I go with themed teams mostly, hence my suggestions).

Iceman seems pretty good though : he does have an advantage on her attack-wise (10 instead of 9 is big), but she's better defensively ; his move-and-attack is a definitive plus.

So I finally had a chance to play the teams against each other...

I took Captain America's bunch, and a friend took the Russian side. It was a speed clix match that lasted about 25 brutal minutes. In the end, the Russians showed their ability to decimate their opposition.

The Match-Up:

Iceman was useful with his defend lending to Wolverine's defense as they both took on Red Guardian and Black Widow. Ursa ran straight down the middle to tie up War Machine and Cap which really cut down on my mobility. My opponent also kept Dark Star in the rear helping her team mates, similar to my treatment of Blue Beetle. Cap attempted to strike at Ursa and was foiled due to shape change, so was forced to roll for break away. Successful breakaway roll under my belt, Cap went to tie-up Dynamo in what would prove to be a lethal decision for the star-spangled avenger.

Blue Beetle attempted to help Cap in vain and was powerless against the armored Russian. Adding insult to injury, because Dynamo was NOT tied up with Beetle (Cap was KO'd at this point), he and Ursa were able to double team the poor War Machine, who became the whipping boy between Ursa's attacks and Black Widow's incapacitate. Wolvie was successful in B/C/F against Red Guardian, which ultimately led to the Russian icon being KO'd. War Machine was next to fall; the Russian Bear was now free to roam. Wolverine attempted to tie up, but even regen couldn't help the feral mutant from a hero's death. With the imposing shadow of defeat looming, the American heroes sought to rally their forces and pooled their resources by using a one-token'd Ursa as a shield from the bear's comrades. (I didn't figure Ursa would push) This was for naught, as Darkstar's smokecloud was just enough to keep Ursa's defense out of reasonable attacking dice roll values. Dynamo closed in, and Black Widow came around the side of the Bear. At this point it gets fuzzy, I am not sure if another Russian fell, but in the end it was a singular Blue Beetle being overwhelmed on that SHIELD helicarrier map.

I foresee these two teams being matched up again!

I don't think I played Beetle offensive enough, and tying up Dynamo with Cap was a severe miscalculation. Those Russian characters really play well together...

I'll keep this thread updated as I play them out!

Just as an FYI, you played the Shape Change wrong. Once Cap tried to attack Ursa and failed, that's it, action over. Cap gets an action token and stays put, he doesn't get to perform another action IE breakaway like you did.

great fight. i mopped the floor with your capitalist dogs!!!! btw go to bed!

We may have been playing shape change wrong...

yea i know, i knew it felt off but i had to rush the game. timed and all. oh well. rematch soon.

heres my american team lol! slap some feats on em and were ready to roll

89 CA001 Captain America
99 CA031 Steve Rogers
103 UL066 Captain America
140 CR035 Uncle Sam
35 IC148 Captain America
466

America Fu#$ yea!!!!

And the Russian team is 2-0...

Your American team is no match for staunch Russian Superiority!!!

How about this for Avengers

Iron man 188 points with Coordination 6 points

Captain America 72 points

Luke Cage 98 points with Thunderbolts(to Xmen TA) 8 points

Black panther 92 points Wildcard to X-men TA via Luke

Jarvis 36 points

500 points

Have Luke T-bolt to X-men while Black panther wildcards to his X-men TA so you have a way for Black panther to switch between perplex and outwit. Also while they are adjecent you may as well have Luke remove tokens to keep Black panther on the move. You have iron-man as your damage dealer while adding additional support via his SP. And Coordination to help tag the based opposition, while Luke wraps a heavy object round there noggin and BP uses them as a scratching post.With all you perplex and outwit flying around Cap should'nt have any problems making damage stick also he's your answer to the late game stealth you'll face from Crimson Dynamo and Darkstar. Speaking of Darkstar, while she's running around causing you problems you can have Jarvis do the same for you. His outwit and willpower should ruin somones day.
If you play the team, let me know how it goes

Thought I would take a moment to update this to keep a running tab on the Russians' record.

For the above suggested Avengers team: Once I am able to scrounge together the pieces (I am missing smokey-feet Cap and Jarvis) I will pit the two teams together.

Since my last post, The Russians have gone against two opponents: A Modok's 11 themed-team (300 point) and an amalgamated team (12/23) consisting of Imperiex, Doomsday, and Abomination.

First the Modok's 11:

CA027 Nightshade 72
CA036 Armadillo 89
WS012 Puma 56
WS051 The Spot 51

+ some added feats to bring it closer to the 300-point mark.

Since this was a shortened point value (300 points), I chose to run the Crimson Dynamo, Red Guardian, and the Black Widow (CA006 version). It was a pretty straightforward game, I kept Red Guardian and Black Widow together for the bonus, but in the end it was Crimson Dynamo and his impervious that sealed a win for the Russians. While the higher point Black Widow is nice, I think I get more bang for my buck with the lower point value Gravity Feed version.

Russians record 3-0

Amalgamated team:

The point cost was raised to 600 and here is what my opponent brought;

SM050 Imperiex 280
HULK013 Abomination 132
SM043 Doomsday 189

Technically 601, but we agreed to let it slide. To make up the difference from 496 to 600 I added the Fast Forces Abomination (FFIH 004) to my team for a 596 point cost. Still Russian goodness.

I went for a quick tie-up of the opposing Abomination and Doomsday with Ursa Major and my Abomination. Sadly, my Abomination was hit hard by the opposition and a regen roll went sour. Shortly after both Abominations were six feet under. Meanwhile, Ursa was constantly pinned and had his evasive defensors outwitted. After a heated game of trading blows, mainly from the Red Guardian and Black Widow duet against Doomsday and Imperiex, the final pieces on the board were Crimson Dynamo and Imperiex. A failed roll from Dynamo against Imperiex caused Dynamo to move from his sweet 'robot or armor defense reduction power'. (Critical Miss, if I remember) My opponent took advantage of this and blasted me for 5 damage. Dynamo faded from the battlefield.

Tactically, this was a very involved game. Imperiex is a mean one. In retrospect I might have chosen to handle his threat a little earlier, and use Darkstar and Crimson Dynamo in tandem as a distanced threat for the opposing infantry of Abomination and Doomsday. I would have held Ursa back for clean-up and work on using the Abomination as a distraction opponent against Imperiex, along with Red Guardian and Black Widow.

As it was handled, Darkstar is finally coming into her own as a solid support piece for me. Her smoke cloud and Black Widow's stealth clixs were a constant source of frustration for my opponent. Her TK is really becoming more useful to advance pieces and pull them back depending on where I needed to cover or who had too many tokens.

Russians' Record 3-1

Good Gaming!!!