DEEP DISH THEMES

RED HULK

As nominated by Baron Impossible

Origin: Born and raised in a military family, the young Thaddeus Ross spent much of his early life planning to join the Army, as had his father and his grandfather before him. However, the death of a close friend caused Ross to choose the Air Force instead. He attended West Point and came top of his class, and served bravely in several battles. He met and married Karen Lee, the daughter of his then-commanding officer. The couple had one daughter, Betty, and Ross used his influence to give the child a stable upbringing. However, Karen died of cancer when Betty was young teen, which caused Ross to grow distant with her. He rose quickly through the ranks, eventually obtaining the rank of general. He was assigned to command Desert Base, New Mexico, where Dr Bruce Banner's gamma ray experiments were carried out. He was in control of the base when the accident that caused Banner to become the Hulk occurred. Years later Ross made a deal with villains to be transformed into a Hulk himself. As the ruthless and cunning Red Hulk, he attempted to destroy his nemesis and take control of the country before seeking redemption as an Avenger.


ws050 R Red Hulk
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0
Points: 220
Keywords: Brute

10 11 17 3

8 10 17 3

8 10 18 4

9 10 18 4

9 10 18 4

8 9 18 4

8 9 17 5

8 9 17 5

10 9 17 5

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Major Earthquake: Give Red Hulk a power action and make a close combat attack targeting each character within 3 squares. Each character hit is dealt damage equal to 4 minus the number of squares it is from red hulk. Characters who can use flight ability automatically evade this attack.

PROS: Right off the bat, I want to point out how impressive this sculpt is. It is intimidating as hell, and just exudes power. At one point I would have docked him on effectiveness for his opening "Low" damage dealing ability due to his close combat expert, but due to recent changes to the power, he can now pick up an object and then also use his CCE to increase his attack value by two while using the object (Hopefully an ultra heavy) to do the damage for him. With a dial full of heavy damage reducers, average to high attack values, indomitable, and a minimum of a three for a printed damage at all time he is going to be dishing out pain all dial long. Unlike most other "Hulks" he even has a smattering of perplex to help out himself or his team when/where they need the help. One of the most fun things on his dial, though, and one of the things that sets him apart from the other Red Hulks is the Major Earthquake power. Given the right circumstances he could dismantle whole teams with just a few attacks. Neat Trick: Should you find a way to give him precision strike, due to the wording of his power, even flying characters aren't safe from his special power.

CONS: The first incarnation of this figure is a prime example of the dangers of making new characters into HeroClix figures too quickly. He only has one keyword...brute. The dial itself is pretty accurate for what Red Hulk is/should be, but he hadn't been fleshed out enough to be more than what was presented to us with this figure. I could be wrong about this, but I don't even think it was known who Red Hulk even was at the time this figure was released. I understand the desire to get the "New Hotness" out in clix form asap, but I would prefer a more accurate representation all around, personally.

THEME: As stated, his only keyword is Brute, so that is the only option for any actual theme team as defined by the game, but luckily, I tend to like to use "Hulks" with other Hulks and there are plenty of Hulk characters that have said keyword, so he'll be right at home.

Other players' comments/reviews


ffih005 U General Thunderbolt Ross
Team: S.H.I.E.L.D.
Range: 4
Points: 25
Keywords: Hulkbusters, Soldier

6 9 16 2

6 9 15 2

5 8 14 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

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KO KO KO KO

Respect the Uniform, Son: General Thunderbolt Ross can use Leadership. When General Thunderbolt Ross makes a successful Leadership roll, he may remove an action token from an adjacent friendly character with the Soldier keyword and a point value of 75 points or less in addition to the normal effects.

PROS: I have seen FAR too many people scoff at this figure as being nothing more than point filler. Most people overlook him for the flashier "Call in the Airstrike" Ross and forget that this figure exists. I get it...I really do. Airstrike Ross is amazing, but make sure to look at this figure twice before abandoning him. He is only 25 points. VERY easy to fit on a team. He has the S.H.I.E.L.D. team ability so he is bumping up range and possibly damage of friendly characters. Push him on to his second click and he can do so without taking pushing damage from that point on. One of his biggest attributes is his special power, though. He gives you leadership, but his leadership has the added bonus of being able to be used on characters with the Soldier keyword that are 75 points or less AS WELL as the normal effects. Should you have a 24 point or lower character on your team, Ross could remove a token from them, a token from a 75 point or less Soldier, AND add an action to your action pool for the round. All of this for a low cost of 25 points.

CONS: The biggest drawback to this figure is that his dial is only three clicks long. A lot of characters these days seem to start out with a base damage of at least three, so he is an easy target and an easy nuisance to take out should your opponent be so inclined, or if they can only see him with a running shot attack as they position to get closer to the primary target. 25 points isn't much in the way of victory points, but I've played far too many games and have judged tournaments where far too many games have been decided by 25 points or less. The other reason that people tend to not like this figure is because he has no Red Hulk that he can turn into. He is JUST General Ross and has no Alter Ego option.

THEME: Playing him on either team that he has keywords for will result in him getting a lot of bang for your buck with his special power...however, playing a Soldier keyword theme GUARANTEES that he can use it on everybody. I don't play generic keyword themes often, but when I do and when I play the Soldier theme, I ALWAYS have this Ross on my team because he is just far too good for that team, and as I said before, he is easy to fit into the ranks.

Other players' comments/reviews


ih029 General Thunderbolt Ross
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 5
Points: 42
Keywords: Hulkbusters, Intelligencia, Soldier

6 9 16 2

6 9 15 1

6 8 15 1

5 8 14 1

4 7 13 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Alter Ego: Red Hulk: Give General Thunderbolt Ross a power action that deals no pushing damage and replace this character with IH #028 Red Hulk on its orange starting line. Existing action tokens on this character and action tokens for this action are applied to the replacement. This power can't be countered.

The Hulkbuster: Friendly adjacent characters of 75 points or less modify their attack values by +1 when attacking a character that can use Super Strength. If any friendly character attacks a character named Hulk, that friendly character modifies its damage value by +1.

PROS: If you are going to using a Hulkbusters theme team, this version of Ross could be an integral part of the strategy...especially if you do indeed go up against a Hulk figure. He isn't all that impressive of a figure on his own, but he is almost designed to work well in a swarm team of Hulkbusters. Should you be able to get him some support in the form of the few characters that have the S.H.I.E.L.D. team ability with said keyword, he could cause a decent amount of damage with all of the components coming together like his Leadership, his attack special, and the range and damage boosts from his allies. Should you have room on your team for the Hulkbusters ATA, you're going to be in even better shape. I usually try to review characters by their own merits instead of saying what they COULD BE with the right support, but some characters potential is only ever realized in a team setting.

CONS: One of my biggest problems with the Incredible Hulk set's General Ross figures is that they can only use the Alter Ego mechanic to transform into their respective "Sets" Red Hulk figure. The regular set Ross can only AE into the regular set Red Hulk, and the gravity feed Ross can only AE into the gravity feed Red Hulk. I really appreciate that newer AE figures have multiple options at times and a few of them even have options that span multiple sets. Game mechanics are something that have to be perfected over time through trial and error most of the time, and unfortunately, these were created during a "Trial" time (IMHO).

THEME: With all of the things that I've already spelled out where he is really good on Hulkbuster themes, that is obviously the theme that I would use him on. He just adds so much to the team, and the team adds so much to him. With the team having their very own Hulk after he uses the AE mechanic, it's actually a fairly formidable team that I've seen used successfully several times.

Other players' comments/reviews


ih028 Red Hulk
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0
Points: 178
Keywords: Avengers, Brute, Intelligencia, Offenders, Soldier

11 10 16 3

10 11 17 3

10 10 17 4

9 10 17 4

9 9 18 4

9 9 17 4

9 10 17 3

8 9 16 3

KO KO KO KO

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KO KO KO KO

No, I'm Clearly the Strongest One There Is: Red Hulk can use Super Strength.

Trouble Coming Your Way: Red Hulk can use Leap/Climb. If he moves 6 squares or less due to his own action, after that action resolves he can make a close combat attack as a free action.

Hotter and Hotter: Red Hulk can use Poison. When he does, he deals 2 damage to adjacent opposing characters and 1 damage to nonadjacent opposing characters within 2 squares and line of fire.

PROS: This is one of the more deadly Red Hulks that has been made to this point. A Hulk figure that starts with Outwit and can get free close combat attacks after moving six squares or less? Yes, please. Traited Super Strength? Even better! Outwit recently got nerfed a bit to only be a six square minimum range if you don't have a range higher than that, but luckily that is still enough range for him to outwit the target of that free action of attack he gets with his movement special power. As if that isn't enough to make him good, he has poison throughout his entire dial. On the first half it is normal poison, and on the latter half, it is a special poison that works from up to two squares away. With this special power, he does two damage to adjacent opposing characters instead of the normal one, and he does one damage to characters within range and line of fire up to two squares away.

CONS: As with a lot of Hulk figures of any color, Red Hulk starts with a lower defense value and lesser damage reducers. Should your opponent know your weak spots, they are going to take full advantage of that opening weakness. It's to their advantage to get you away from your best powers like the move and attack and outwit, and the 16 toughness that he has to open his dial is going to make that a bit easier to get rid of. It does help to balance the figure's cost, but it also makes his biggest weakness and his biggest strengths have to work together.

THEME: I've played this figure VERY successfully on an Offenders team. With the support coming from Baron Mordo and the other character who can move and attack in the form of Tiger Shark (Should he start or end his movement in water), it's indeed a very offensively capable team. It's a very fun little four man squad, and it's also one that is off the beaten path which is something that I personally like to run.

Other players' comments/reviews


ih208 General Thunderbolt Ross
Team: S.H.I.E.L.D.
Range: 4
Points: 55
Keywords: Hulkbusters, Soldier

6 9 16 2

6 8 16 2

5 8 15 1

5 7 14 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Alter Ego: Red Hulk: Give General Thunderbolt Ross a power action that deals no pushing damage and replace this character with IH #210 Red Hulk on its orange starting line. Existing action tokens on this character and action tokens for this action are applied to the replacement. This power can't be countered.

Call in the Air Strike: Once per game, give Thunderbolt Ross a double power action. Choose a square anywhere on the map. Modify General Thunderbolt Ross' attack value by +3 and make a ranged combat attack that does not target, and compare the result to each character occupying the chosen square or a square adjacent to the chosen square. A hit character occupying the chosen square is dealt 3 damage. Other hit characters are dealt 2 damage that causes knock back from the chosen square. Destroy all walls and squares of blocking terrain in or adjacent to the chosen square.

PROS: This is the General Ross that most people reach for when they even consider playing with a General Ross. It's for good reason, too. Even WITHOUT his famous "Call in the Airstrike" power, he's still a really effective piece with things like leadership, enhancement, and the ability to use the Alter Ego mechanic to transform into the Gravity Feed Red Hulk, and where he comes in at on the Red Hulk dial is worth the points by itself. NOW you add in the "Call in the Airstrike" and you get a dial that is worth far more than the investment you're making. I'm so glad that he can only do that once per game and that he's a unique. Neat Trick: WaTX Hope Summers can ALSO "Call in the Airstrike" with her ability to copy powers of adjacent characters and she ISN'T unique.

CONS: You will have to push him to get him to his "Call in the Airstrike" power, and at that point, you have to rest before you'd be able to do it. In the time it takes you to do this, your opponent might be able to get in and dispatch him before you get the chance to pull the trigger. He does only have three clicks of life left with no damage reducers at that point and isn't hard to deal with.

THEME: With all the things that he has going for, and as offensively capable he is overall, he could be the lynch pin piece in a Hulkbuster team. He could also be a major component to a Soldier team. For my money, I prefer him on Soldier teams as there are far more options of characters to team him with.

Other players' comments/reviews


ih210 Red Hulk
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0
Points: 155
Keywords: Brute, Intelligencia, Monster

10 10 16 3

10 10 17 3

9 11 18 3

9 10 17 3

9 10 16 3

10 9 17 4

9 10 16 3

8 9 16 3

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Intense Heat: Red Hulk can use Poison. After an opposing character's action resolves, if an opposing character who was not adjacent to Red Hulk became adjacent to Red Hulk during that action, deal that character 1 penetrating damage.

Not Above Using Guns: Red Hulk may make ranged combat attacks as if he had a range value of 4.

PROS: One of the things I like the most about the Gravity Feed Red Hulk is that he has that special power towards the end of his dial that is likely to catch a few opponents off guard. Who expects a Hulk figure to have any kind of range? Granted, it's only a four range, but it's still enough to do the job more often than not. I also greatly enjoy the fact that he has plasticity with poison and still retains his heavy damage reducers while he has those powers, so it's likely that you're going to keep them where they stand and you might even be able to get off some free damage while you're at it. A healthy dose of flurry and indomitable and you're going to be getting quite a few attacks in with this piece as well.

CONS: He's got a lot a similar design as far as stats and damage reducers as the main set's rare counterpart. What he DOESN'T have that is similar to the rare from the main set is the great opening abilities that help to balance out the low defense and only toughness to protect him. Sure, he has super strength still, and he still has charge, so he can pull off similar tricks, but he can't do it quite as well, and he only costs 23 points less than his counterpart so it's not as if you're getting a steal of a figure for the sacrifice. This isn't to say that this is a bad figure. He's still very playable. He just kind of lives in the shadow of the rare from the same set.

THEME: His only named keyword in Intelligencia, and He can fit into some very fun theme teams utilizing said keyword. For a nice little 500 point package, you can play this Red Hulk, the Captain America set MODOK, Common Leader from the Incredible Hulk set, and two Humanoids. Play it...you'll have fun!

Other players' comments/reviews


ffdp004 V Red Hulk
Team: S.H.I.E.L.D.
Range: 5
Points: 150
Keywords: Brute, Thunderbolts

9 10 17 2

10 11 17 4

9 10 17 3

9 10 16 4

8 9 16 5

8 9 16 4

7 9 16 3

7 10 15 3

KO KO KO KO

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KO KO KO KO

Black Ops, Off the Books: Red Hulk can use Leadership. Red Hulk and friendly adjacent characters that have the Thunderbolts keyword can use Stealth.

PROS: This figure sports something that is rare these days...an activation click. It's not the worst one in the world, though. He can still outwit, and the team ability is still active. Also still active is his trait. While he is surrounded by his T-Bolts buddies, he should remain fairly safe, and even more so if he is granting them stealth. He will also be able to use his S.H.I.E.L.D. team ability to boost any ranges and boost damage values at the same time. In fact, using his team ability twice in a row is an EXCELLENT way to get off of his activation click. It's not as if the outwit, team ability, or trait go away if he Hulks out...he just becomes a bigger, nastier version of himself, and now you have one more powerful attacker on your team that is now indomitable with the loss of earthbound/neutralized. One thing he has going for him that hasn't been seen on any Red Hulk before is regeneration. The ability to get back up to click #3 at best is a very nice thing indeed, and should keep him in the battle longer (Unless you roll regen rolls like me, of course).

CONS: Though his trait is very interesting, should you utilize it, it leaves you vulnerable to things like Energy Explosion from characters that ignore hindering terrain or from pulse wave and other attacks that could exploit the grouping of your characters in one place like that. Also, I know it's not exactly a requirement that a character be able to move and attack on the same turn, but I still wouldn't have minded that first "Hulked Out" click to have a little charge there. He does get it eventually, but it's very late in the dial. One thing that I would change if I could would be to make that end dial regeneration to a special power that was a combo of regeneration and toughness. That way he could be at least a LITTLE better protected.

THEME: With that trait and as many range combat heavy Thunderbolts as there are, He is a great tent pole figure for them, and he is a great point cost to allow another 2-3 figures into a standard 300 point team. One of the most popular things to use the Thunderbolts ATA for (Back before you could only choose Marvel team abilities with it) was the Batman Ally team ability, and with this Red Hulk, you can still grant stealth to your friends while still utilizing the ATA to choose an eligible team ability.

Other players' comments/reviews


dp033 V Red Hulk
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0
Points: 150
Keywords: Avengers, Circle of Four, Hulkbusters, Intelligencia, Offenders, Soldier, Thunderbolts

9 10 18 4

8 10 17 4

8 11 17 4

8 10 17 4

8 9 17 4

8 9 17 4

7 10 16 3

7 9 16 2

KO KO KO KO

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KO KO KO KO

I'll Assassinate Cyclops, If You Won't: Red Hulk can use Running Shot, Improved Targeting: Ignores Hindering Terrain, and has a range value of 6.

Soldier On: Red Hulk can use Leadership. When he does and succeeds, each friendly character that shares a keyword with him and is a lower point value can use Willpower this turn.

PROS: This is a great example of a good give/take situation with characters in this game. He costs the same to play with as his Fast Forces counterpart, and he's lost some of the things that make the Fast Forces version good, but he's also gained some things that help to make that not a bad thing. One of the things that he's gained is his movement special on clicks 5-7 where he not only gets a range (See the GF Red Hulk for my thoughts on this) but he also gets a running shot and improved targeting that allows him to ignore hindering terrain. He also has that move and attack via charge that I was wishing that the fast forces version had (even though it's at the cost of the outwit). One of my favorite abilities of his is his "Soldier On" special power. It allows him to use leadership and all that comes with that power, but should he succeed, any lower point friendly character that shares a keyword with him gets the ability to use Willpower that turn. Note that the willpower granted to teammates doesn't require adjacency!

CONS: As I said, there are some losses that go along with this iteration's gains. The loss of the six clicks of outwit that the fast forces version had is a little bit of a tough pill to swallow, though. There are very few times in this game that Outwit is NOT very helpful, and if he had to lose it to gain some of the things that he did gain, I might question whether it was worth it. Still, the versatility of this piece makes it a debatable point, and it still doesn't detract from the fact that he is still a very good piece for 150 points.

THEME: Since you can grant Willpower (possibly) with the use of his leadership and you can do so to ANY lower point character he shares a keyword with, he is going to be a popular choice for just about any team you'd play him with. I long to play a Circle of Four team with him, but at the moment, there are only three characters with the keyword, and one of them isn't even the right version of X-23. Once I get my female Ghost Rider and a new regular X-23, I'll be ready to roll, but until then, I'd most likely use this piece on an Avengers team. It's been done to death, but it's got the most options of almost any keyword in existence and provides an incredibly diverse team of people to play with.

Other players' comments/reviews

KEYS TO THE KINGDOM

Now that we have had a little glimpse into the aspects of all the different Red Hulk figures, let's take a quick look at his keywords and I will tell you my number one picks to use for each keyword theme available (Named keywords are bolded):

Hulkbusters: ih029 General Thunderbolt Ross
Intelligencia: dp033 Red Hulk
Avengers: dp033 Red Hulk
Offenders: ih028 Red Hulk
Thunderbolts: ffdp004 Red Hulk
Circle of Four: dp033 Red Hulk
Monster: ih210 Red Hulk
Soldier: ffih005 General Thunderbolt Ross
Brute: ffdp004 Red Hulk

WHO NEEDS KEYWORDS?!

In this section, I'm going to list some possible theme teams that you could play Red Hulk on that are definitely comic accurate but don't require keywords and provides links using Comic Vine and/or Wikipedia to tell you more about them. Unfortunately, using these teams mean you are going to forego keyword bonuses, but every once in a while Judges might let you slip by with one of these teams:

Code Red
Human High Council (Age of Apocalypse)
Riot Squad
Agents of S.M.A.S.H.
Stark Seven

This wraps it up for Deep Dish Themes: Red Hulk edition. Thank you to Baron Impossible for the nomination and for being a regular reader and contributor to the comments section of my articles. Feel free to post what you think about the article and feel free to nominate a character for an upcoming edition of Deep Dish Themes. Join me on 8/27 when I Guard the Galaxy with everyone's favorite gun-toting varmint...Rocket Raccoon!

Still love airstrike ross and he now has a new date in blind Al for golden age play!

Another awesome article. For fun, I made a Stark Seven Team based around it

55 IH208 General Thunderbolt Ross
33 AVM021 Howard Stark
46 HA005 Jimmy Woo
99 IIM019BR Sasquatch (For the Bear, Female secret agent that can become.... a bear)
60 AVM026 Dum Dum Dugan
158 BD001 Martian Manhunter (For Rollo, the team's alien buddy)
45 DP203 Black Cat (For Nessa, Secret Agent "lucky" at cards)
3 DPS101 Omega Drive (For Recorder 451, the item they were kidnapping)
499

Golden Age, but I still think it'd be fun.

I would use Ursa Major for the bear.

YES! Makes much more sense and is a better dial . I'm actually really considering playing this team at a fun event this weekend lol.

IH028 Red Hulk is always impressive if he doesn't get knocked upside the head in the first countermove. I'd like to pair him with GOTGM105 Groot and give the pair the Power Plant (specifically for the Blacklight ring)the IIM Blacklight Ring. The tree can ferry him into position and keep up well enough to employ Defend to cover those soft opening clicks. Either could also then use the ring to further reduce an opponent's accuracy and mobility and hide from ranged counterattacks at the same time.

Y'know what would be fun? Giving IH028 Sidestep... Now he can attack every single turn!

Excellent write up, and great choice for a subject! I think I'm one of the only people I know who doesn't forget about 25-point Ross. Dude gets seriously underestimated.

Man, really thought WoS would win the Brute KW.


I gotta say, I've been loving the DP rare Red, he's a beast. Once I got him, I totally forgot about the IH version.

For Christmas, I recommend playing the 155 point Rulk with the 145 point Hulk from IH.

Red and green and smashed all over!

I've always looked at this power as a second rate version of Charge. But I just realized he doesn't have to have been given a move action; any action that he takes where he moves 6 or less due to his action lets him attack. So, if there was only some way to give him Charge, he could Charge (with close combat action) and then, since he moved 6 or less due to his own action, he could make a close combat attack afterwards.

Too bad, there's no way to give somebody Charge, right?

Nice write-up SR4, good read.

Excellent article. I've not read much with Rulk in it beyond the original story, so I am baffled how that guy got teamed-up with so many "heroes" these days. But it always baffled me that Ross would ever entertain the idea of becoming anything like his most hated life-long nemesis. Anyway, I just wanted to post my opinion that any of these new digi-sculptors of today should be required to study and write a ten thousand word analysis of the WoS Rulk sculpture before beginning any new "hulk-sized" character sculpt. Then emulate and derive from that analysis. Is it quirky? Sure, but still it's one of the best, IMO.
Thanks as usual for all the theme and them ey suggestions. I always look forward to these articles.

His role in the new Thunderbolts is pretty interesting, and it's not a bad read.