2013 was a great year for HeroClix force builds with an eye towards comic accuracy, as seen in this thread.

To see a personal list of hopes and dreams for comic accurate HeroClix teams in 2014, follow this link!

If you haven’t read Arsenalroy2k’s look back at how 2013 was a great year for comic accurate HeroClix force builds, be sure to read his article. This is my take on what sort of comic accurate teams I am looking forward to building and playing in the new year.

This article will focus on best guesses based on the announced upcoming releases but first I want to toss out a couple of wishes on totally unconfirmed content, I am hoping for:


Fearless Defenders – There is still some time before spoiler season for the Deadpool set , but I hope that some of the slots in this set are dedicated to making characters from 2013 team books that don’t need many more figures for reasonably complete rosters. I’m not asking for much…just a solo Misty Knight and a version of Marvel’s Hippolyta. Each of those characters has played parts in series beyond Fearless Defenders, so I hope for them to appear in 2014.

Justice League Dark – Amethyst is due in the Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes set, and so she can help with a New 52! JL Dark roster, but I’d appreciate finally getting Black Orchid, Andrew Bennett, Steve Trevor and Dr. Mist in HeroClix as well. This is a roster with some remake potential too: Frankenstein, and an alternative, easier-to-obtain option for John Constantine.

Avengers 1959 – I may be the only person that bought this book, but getting Ulysses Bloodstone, Blonde Phantom, Dominic Fortune and remakes of Namora and Silver Sable would be awesome for the game! I expect that 2014 will bring us a new version of Silver Sable because of the Spider-Man, Heroes for Hire and Wild Pack connections, and Namora could easily (re)appear at any time.

My personal list starts with a team that already had a huge boost in 2013, but still needs a little more HeroClix appreciation:

The Flight got a big boost in the 2013 Invincible Iron Man set(s), but there are still characters that need to be (re)made to satisfy my team-building tastes. There have been no reveals yet, but given the recent (appreciated) track record of trying to more-or-less complete certain lineups within a few sets, I hold out hope that a Heather / Guardian (possible Alter-Ego) will appear soon, as well as some other characters like Talisman, Marrina, etc. I also would deeply appreciate a solo version of Colleen Wing, who IIRC was Cyclops’ girlfriend at the time of the first fight between the X-Men and Alpha Flight. Even if these don’t get made in 2014, I haven’t seen the new 2013 figures played yet as a force, so they are number 10!

It has been two-and-one-half years since I started Teams from the Longbox with an exploration of the Justice League International era, and the HeroClix releases since May 2011 have been kind to this comic series. The upcoming Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes set is going to give us a few new members to fill out some rosters: Orion and Lightray. There is still room for improvement for characters from this Justice League era that could sneak into just about any DC set: Captain Atom is long overdue for a remake, G’Nort could be an out-of-left-field figure in the War of Light, and Power Girl could appear in any set that has JSA representation.

Since I mentioned the New Gods Orion and Lightray immediately above, I should quickly add that I’ve long been wanting to make comic accurate teams based on this comic series from 1988. The only major player from the series that we don’t (yet) have confirmation of appearing in HeroClix is Forager, and while I also hope for remade Parademons I think I’d be comfortable moving forward with comic accurate teams based on the characters we have and those dials spoiled from the upcoming Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes set.

Existing HeroClix figures do a good job at helping build comic accurate forces from this era, but I expect that the cinematic HeroClix release of Captain America: the Winter Soldier is going to revive interest in this run of comics. The original Winter Soldier figure from 2007’s Avengers set is not a bad piece in the modern game, but the dial design is very dated. I’m usually impressed with the dial interpretations on the movie versions of comic characters, so new versions of Cap, Falcon, and Black Widow will also be appreciated.

Continuing the cinematic theme from above, I’m looking forward to new interpretations of the Guardians of the Galaxy to come out of the HeroClix tie-in to the film. I’ve been very tempted to play a GotG HeroClix force for years, but I’ve been held back because I personally didn’t feel like I had enough variety in my team-building options… also, pulling Rocket Raccoon in every Hammer of Thor sealed event soured me on the team. Nevertheless, variety is the spice of both life and HeroClix comic-accurate team building…and there is nothing like a major motion picture to inspire players.

DC Comics captured lightning in a bottle with the creation of the multi-hued Lantern Corps, and I’ve always been more than a little surprised that the HeroClix brand has been half-hearted in its attempts to monetize it; see also 11 years of X-Men HeroClix. Organized Play is not my preferred mechanism for releasing a set that is sure to be a big hit, because despite possible “Lantern Fatigue” in the comics, I have the sense that long-time HeroClix fans are looking forward to fielding new versions of favorite squads (with new and remade characters), and I’m looking forward to trying to make a version of the new 52’s New Guardians as well.

We all knew that Blink was on the horizon, but I was quite surprised to see the Exiles keyword start to appear on a handful of 2013 figures. Exiles was a great comic book that offers a nice variety of comic accurate team builds. Even if we don’t get (IMO) needed remakes of characters like Mimic or Morph or an Exiles version of Thunderbird (perfect for Prime treatment, even if the Exiles version is the prime) to go along with the new Blink I am looking forward to revisiting this series in a comic-accurate way.

My walk through the Legion of Super-Heroes Teams from the Longbox stopped for two reasons…and the last article I prepared for that chronological team-building exercise was to be the origin of the Fatal Five from Adventure Comics 352. One of the reasons I couldn’t bring myself to put the article up is that there was no variety among very dated dial designs for the premiere villain team of the 30^th century. The upcoming Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes set promises new versions of the Fatal Five…and much like the Guardians of the Galaxy, a little extra variety in figure choices (not to mention a more modern take on dial design) will breathe new life into this team.

The primary reason I stopped the Legion of Super-Heroes Longbox exploration is that exploring the 50+ year history of the Legion of Super-Heroes is very difficult when we don’t have many of the most important characters! It also hurts interest in HeroClix force builds to rely on versions of characters like the 2004 Chameleon dials. My most wanted members of the LSH have yet to be revealed (Light Lass!) but enough has been spoiled from the upcoming Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes set that I’m excited to see what new and revisited comic accurate forces I can make.

This my personal vanity entry, but the original Brotherhood of Mutants/Freedom Force lineup is near and dear to my heart, so I am very excited about the inclusion of characters like Avalanche, Destiny and Mystique in the X-Men: Days of Future Past set. This lineup is playable now, but I want some modern dials to beef up this classic ‘villain’ team from 1980s Marvel Comics. Freedom Force beats out the LSH only because I know that after this mini-set is released I’ll be able to build and play this force, whereas I know that there will be gaps from the Legion of Super-Heroes forces I want to make…I just don’t know in which comic lineups will be missing key members.

I know that there are many folks excited about the Legion of Doom, so I will pre-emptively apologize for not including them on my list. I have a sense of nostalgia for the original Saturday morning cartoon, but in HeroClix terms I’m not a fan of games with huge point values, so the appeal of a complete force (even with great dials) just isn’t there for me. I definitely will want to try out certain of the individual dials of these characters on assorted forces, I’m just not likely to play them as a complete force.

What teams are you looking forward to playing in 2014?

What unannounced characters do you expect to see in HeroClix? Sound off below!

Maybe a Sabretooth Wild Child duo would be nice also a Sodom Yat and anything Exiles.

Its been a pretty good year and it looks like we are getting a majority of characters fans want, not all but alot better selection then in the past.

This year looks very promising and I imagine there is a few more surprises in store for us.

Yes. I just want to see how they'd do Sodom Yat.

I'd also dig some more crazy stuff from other franchises. My teams for home games have become SILLY, and I like it.

I love large builds, 1000 points is my go-to for builds. I want them to remake Hulkbuster armor Iron Man, X-Men's Banshee, The Dark Knight Returns Batman and Carrie Kelly Robin possibly as a duo, a remake of power suit Lex Luthor and Beyonder powered Secret Wars Dr. Doom among others.

I wouldn't be entirely surprised by any of the following in 2014...

Zombie Wolverine's Head (Exiles) - A minor retooling of Headpool.
Luminaries - A minor cosmic Avengers analog that stayed on Knowhere for a while.
Drax, Gamora, Nova (Phalanx) - The modern Guardians didn't stay in their own book.
Ikon (Annihilators) - Never mind that she lost the fan vote.
Darwin, Angel/Pixie, Azazel, Cyclone (Xmen) - Why not add them into DoFP if the set is already a sneaky attempt to capitalize on the movie without the license.
Dove, Magog (Brightest Day)
DC 3000 - WK doesn't seem to want to release a set anymore without the JL, so why not include the title for which Legion was cancelled.
Ralph Dibny with the Helm of Nabu - Rounding out Shadowpact, perhaps a Dr. Fate Prime.
Captain Universe, Manifold, Shang-Chi, Sunfire (Avengers) - Unrelated to anything else to the best of my knowledge, but it seems like there's an Avenger in every set now.
Libra (Zodiac) - We've seen Mantis. Why not her father?
Phyla Vell as Death's Avatar, Moondragon (Guardians)

Just give me a Gamora with GotG kw, and everything else will be gravy!

I'd love to see a full remade roster of the JSA. A new Mr. Terrific, Stripe,Wildcat, Hourman, etc would be awesome

My biggest wants for 2014 are:

Doomsday with a 350 / 275 / 200 point dial

Powergirl with a 175 / 125 point dial

Both of them with dials so good I will want to play them over and over.

Happy New Year.

I am looking forward to 2014 with the hopes of the Future Foundation. Scott Lang needs to be clixed and so does franklin and valeria. an updated dragon man would be sweet! future johnny storm is a great idea, and a modern Human Torch in the black and white would make my year.

I hope that there is a set for the FF and the Frightful Four (maybe even Doom's Fearsome Four) would rock.

Just give me a new Marvel Family inc. Shazam, Mary Marvel, etc.

A Carnage and Shriek to go with the Maximum Carnage keyword!

First off... tidge? Well done, sir.

My personal list for preferably unclixed characters I'd like to see in 2014. This is based off of the announced sets thus far. Hopefully I'll do as well or better than my list last year.

Superman & The Legion: Jimmy Olsen. The one character that absolutely should have been in the Superman set, NEEDS to be in this one to make up for that error. The New Gods subtheme is already giving me Lightray, so any other folks from New Genesis or Apokolips will just be gravy. As for the Legion? Light Lass, Ferro Lad, Gates and XS. If only two of those four get made, I'll be a happy camper. Also, if they're including characters from the Starman lineage, then let's get Mikaal Tomas in there! He visited Jor-El and old Krypton right alongside Jack in the story they cite in the preview. Plus he joined the Justice League in the year prior to the New 52 reboot.

Deadpool: It's been mentioned that the Thunderbolts will be a subtheme, though it hasn't been outright stated if those T-Bolts will solely be from Rulk's lineup or if they'll extend further back. If the latter is the case, I'd hope beyond hope that Joystick and Troll will make the cut so we can finally round out some previous lineups. As per characters closer tied to Deadpool, I'd love to see Garrison Kane or Vanessa make it into the set from way back in the X-Force days. Even better, Evan Sabah Nur from the back end of Remender's Uncanny X-Force series.

War of Light: Based on the Twelve Days of Clixmas preview, I was not left entirely impressed with the figures shown, since most of them are remakes. But if I get a Soranik Natu out of this, I may pick up a pack or two. And though he wasn't a key figure in the War because he only debuted recently, I'd like to see Earth's new GL Simon Baz get clixed.

Guardians of the Galaxy: I'm not sure what to think here because we don't know what subthemes will be covered well into the year when this set is released. So just based on the GotG past and present, there's not many figures that I'd demand outside of the already confirmed Talon. So... maybe Angela?

There's my fourteen wants for '14.

I'd still like to see Venom, Red Hulk, Ghost Rider and X-23 on a team base that converts to Red Hulk Possessed by Spirit of vengeance, with the symbiote on Red Hulk for pure awesome.

Doom Patro -- wha?

Brotherhood of Ev -- enh?

Quintesse -- wait, hnh?

Dangit.