Tony Stark has more suits of armor than most people have underpants. As we see here today, he even has two different stealth suits in the new Invincible Iron Man set. Is the clear blue LE better than his tricked out main set counterpart? Click on “Full Story” and we’ll see what we can see.

If you count the recent Iron Man 3 movie set, this is the third time in six months that we’ve received a sneaky Iron Man - granted one of them is James Rhodes and not Tony. We won’t be looking at the movie set’s stealth figure for a few reasons: first, being from a movie set some clix players ignore the entire set outright; second, tipping the scales at well over 200 points, he’s far enough out of the LE’s weight class as to make any comparisons a lopsided affair at best unless there was no other option. For us, however, there is and we will take it.

Here is the dial for the LE.

iim101 E Iron Man
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 7
Points: 124
Keywords: Armor, Illuminati, Stark Industries

10 10 17 3

9 11 17 3

9 11 17 2

9 10 17 3

8 10 16 2

8 10 16 2

8 9 15 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Improved) Mode Chameleon: Improved Movement: Ignores Characters; Improved Targeting: Ignores Hindering Terrain
(Special) Stealth Suit: Iron Man can use Stealth.
(Special) Chaff Pouches: Iron Man begins the game with 2 Chaff tokens on this card. When Iron Man would be hit with an attack, you may remove a Chaff token from this card to use Super Senses, once per attack.
(Defense) Radar-Shielded: Iron Man can use Toughness. He increases his defense value by the number of action tokens on him.


And here is the figure from the regular set that he’s riffing on.

iim038 R Iron Man
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 7
Points: 110
Keywords: Armor, Soldier, Stark Industries

10 11 17 3

10 10 17 3

10 10 17 3

9 10 17 3

9 9 16 3

9 9 16 3

8 9 16 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Special) Personal Cloaking Device: When it's not your turn, lines of fire can't be drawn to Iron Man if he occupies hindering terrain or is adjacent to blocking terrain.
(Special) Summon Ancestral Spirit: Iron Man: When Iron Man would be KO'd, roll 2d6 that can't be rerolled. If the result of either die is 5 or 6, you may replace this character with a character from IIM #051 through IIM #056 or IIM #201 on its starting line. If you do, deal that character unavoidable damage equal to six minus the result of the other die. Only one friendly character per game may be replaced through this ability.
(Damage) Secret Identity, For Now: Iron Man can use Shape Change. When he does and the result is 1, he can't use Shape Change this game, but can use Willpower instead.


LE Iron Man’s Gains Vs. IIM038 Iron Man
From the start clear blue Iron Man gains 14 points and the Illuminati keyword. He also has Improved Movement that allows him to ignore characters and Improved Targeting to ignore Hindering Terrain. This means see-through Iron Man should never have to worry about break away rolls or figures in Stealth. Permanent Stealth, or at least the use of it, is given to the LE via the Stealth Suit trait, but the last trait he picks up is the real star. Strategically deployed Chaff Pouches mean that at two times during the game when an opponent would actually have a bead on Blue, he can use Super Senses to dodge a potentially devastating attack. Not quite as good as LE Absorbing Man’s dodge ‘em power, but not too shabby. Getting to the actual dial, we find the LE has two clicks of Running Shot and three of Force Blast to jazz up his movement track. His attack track is augmented with one 11 attack, one 10 attack and three, count ‘em three frustrating clicks of Smoke Cloud. Sure it helps him be all sneaky-like, but it’s boring as toast. Defensively, the upgrades are limited to four clicks of Radar-Shielded which allow Iron Man to use Toughness and boosts his defensive value by the number of tokens on him. But without Willpower or Indomitable, that bump will likely either be one or zero. Changes on the damage track are kept to the addition of four late-dial clicks of Ranged Combat Expert to ensure that Blue goes out with a bang.

LE Iron Man’s Losses Vs. IIM038 Iron Man
Considering the LE is 14 bigger than IIM038 Iron Man, the list of losses is surprisingly lengthy. To begin, we witness the departure of one target and the Soldier keyword. The LE jettisons the Cloaking Device trait that prevents lines of fire being drawn to IIM038 in certain situations, and the Ancestral Spirit high risk-high reward swap trait vanishes as well. Getting into the meat of the dial, we excise three clicks of Sidestep, three of Energy Explosion and two of Incapacitate. Some defensive powers depart as well, namely two clicks of Toughness and two of Energy Shield/Deflection, followed by one 16 defense. The damage track takes a pretty substantial hit with the deletion of one click of three (3) damage, one click of two (2) damage, and four clicks of Secret Identity special power which provides Shape Change which switches to Willpower for the unlucky, or rather very lucky.

If ol_Dut Had To Choose LE Iron Man Vs. IIM038 Iron Man?
Both of these figures are a bit of a risk. In both instances the player is relying on some key rolls of the die to make the point cost paid to play the respective figure pay off. In the case of the LE, the player needs to make careful use of the long (by today’s standards) seven range to pick targets, stay far away and in Stealth. That may work for a time, but eventually someone will get a line of fire or end up being able to make a close combat attack. Whether or not those two Chaff rolls are made, and how rapidly they are used, will ultimately determine the success or failure of the figure.

There is the potential for a few more die rolls with IIM038. The Secret Identity power that sits on his top five clicks provides a healthy of Shape Change to avoid attacks. Depending on the player’s point of view, keeping with that power may be more beneficial than rolling a one (1) and switching over to Willpower. Unlike Chaff, Shape Change is limitless (unless Outwitted) and will engage every time IIM038 is attacked and, if the dice allow, may ultimately provide significantly greater protection. But when everything goes south and IIM038 Iron Man is KO’d, one exceedingly lucky d6 roll may bring in one of the six chase figures or the more affordable CTD 201 Iron Man. While this 33% chance may be significantly better than those of successfully navigating an asteroid field, it is still not a bankable strategy.

That said, gambling is gambling. Odds of success can be argued and debated, but eventually, if one gambles long enough, luck runs out and the house wins. So rather than pinning my decision to the at-risk portions of the dials, I’m looking more at the known and stable elements.

Sidestep is all the rage now, with many a player declaring it to be their favorite power ever. However, on a figure like LE Iron Man, the more traditional Running Shot gives him a better range and greater opportunity for him to bounce from hindering terrain to hindering terrain. The Energy Explosion on IIM038 is nice, but one quick push on the LE brings Pulse Wave into the mix at the important early stages of the game. Late game, the damage dealing potential for the LE is greater as well, with four clicks of RCE that kick in once Pulse Wave has faded. All told, outside of the die-roll elements, the LE offers an attractive dial with excellent damage-dealing potential for a modest point cost. As such, LE Iron Man will always be my choice whenever a cheap, sneaky Iron Man is needed. But if I really feel like gambling and am anxious to give that Ancestral Spirit trait a whirl, IIM038 is not a bad call, either.


What Am I Supposed To Do With This?!
From time to time we’ve received other figures with transparent sculpts that would make good but unexpected teammates for LE Iron Man. Here’s a team your opponents won’t see coming.

32pts. UN046 Killer Frost
75pts. LG221 Mr. Freeze
124pts. IIM101 Iron Man
82pts GG025 Martinex
67pts. WS048 X-Ray
79pts. WS060 Vapor
120pts CA058 Human Torch
107pts. MU053 Emma Frost
686 Points

Torch and Iron Man will blast away from range while Mr. Freeze provides some Stealth cover and Incap help. Emma provides Perplex and Leadership and can Mind Control foes and move them next to the Pulse Waving X-Ray. She can also use Psychic Blast to soften up tougher opponents. Vapor and Martinex pitch in where needed.

Next week we'll have more LEs so be sure to come on back!

Nice write-up Mr Dut.

I like the Rare one better.
14 points cheaper is almost the cost of Splitlip.

That starting attack is what I am all about,
and the Rare has a higher one while being cheaper.

He also has double arrow and Energy Explosion.
He is quite nice.

This is the Age of Hammers ™ ,
and giving the Rare a RS Hammer works so awesome with his Sidestep.
( Nul's Hammer is calling to him )

Most people say "don't include Resources/Relics when talking about figures".

But to be perfectly honest, it is unlikely that I will ever use either of these figs without the Book.
It is just that good with them.

Awesome figs like this with the Armor keyword and around 100 pts is what the Book is all about.


And the Rare follows my motto on winning Clix games -
Move and Attack, with an 11 attack, for ~100 points.

Nice write-up! I definitely prefer Rhodey's suit. I'm a big Stealth guy, but with Stealth becoming less effective thanks to IT, Rhodey's been pretty damn effective for me. Also, I'm a dual-target Energy Explosion junky, so there's that. I think both suits have their upsides, but Rhodey is definitely more fun for finesse, while Stealth Tony is more straightforward with some neat tricks. Now I want to run both of them together. I also really dig your all-clear team! Gotta run Martinex with Tony sometime soon.

Cheers, thanks for the fun read!

It doesn't really matter, but the IM3 "Sneaky" is actually the much more readily available hobby market exclusive.

I agree with the selection of the LE over the rare. Personally, I expect every figure to get hit at some point, so I look to overall potential throughout the dial. The sheer damage output available from the back end of the LE is big in my mind, and would likely persuade me to push while on those clix, and making use of the defense SP more fully.

As for the age of hammers, I would slap the belt or gauntlet on the LE and call it good. That would maximize the LE's advantages and give the defense sp even more mileage.

But "Sneaky" is expensive choice. I hope to lay my hands on the LE. I faced the Rare and it's not a bad clix with potential.

I've run Sneaky once and he was pretty effective, but I feel weird spending more than 150 points on a character who is geared towards Stealth. He's got nice mobility, but he's too pricey for me too.

I like both!

Build
124 IIM101 Iron Man
110 IIM038 Iron Man
65 IIM002 Rescue
299

Marquee vision is also somewhat translucent too i think you missed one

Yep. The team I listed is not meant to be inclusive of all clear figures, they are merely the ones I picked.

uhmmm love the review but isn't the probability of getting an Ancestral Spirit roll about 55% as it's a 2d6 on either die so:

So that's 20/36 possible instances...So it's actually slightly better than a 50% chance...

Right? If I'm spending that much, I expect someone more..... Batman.

A 55% chance to not get ko'd is a potential home run that is tough to ignore. With a better first click and better version of stealth and cheaper I'll have to disagree on this one.