Gears of War HeroClix Week - ADVANCE PREVIEW #1

It's COG vs. Horde with Anya, Dom, Locust Drone, and Mauler...

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Are you ready for some Gears of War? This week Figures.com will have exclusive previews of all 10 GoW HeroClix figures, so read on!

Just in time to coincide with the release of the new video game, WizKids Games is releasing an all new set of Gears of War 3 HeroClix figures! Following on the massive success of Green Lantern and Captain America, Gears will be available exclusively in a gravity feed of 24 single blind boosters holding one of ten possible figures. These include Coalition forces Marcus Fenix, Dominic Santiago, Augustus Cole, Damon Baird, and Anya Stroud, as well as the evil Locust Horde for them to battle with the Mauler, Locust Drone, Kantus, General Raam, and Skorge. These figures are fully compatible with the HeroClix game, so you can pit the COG or Locust against the likes of the Avengers or Justice League!

When it comes to outfitting your Horde army, the first thing you’ll need is a platoon of Locust Drones. Popping out of Emergence Holes, Drones wreak havoc wherever they appear, wholly unafraid to risk their lives for their Queen. 34 points means you’ll be able to field quite a few of them on your teams, and they pack quite a punch.

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Locust Drones have a range of 6 squares for ranged combat, and their Locust Horde Team Ability (mimicking their Emergence Holes) lets them Phase/Teleport into battle with a free knock back of one adjacent opposing character to boot! Your choice of whether to use that knock back will depend on your team’s positioning; Drones like to get in close with their top dial Flurry (supported by Attack values that never drop below 8) and “Drone of the Horde” special power granting Combat Reflexes and Mastermind that can pass off damage to any adjacent friendly Locust Horde teammate.

When the fighting gets particularly rough, it’s time to bring in the Boomers, especially the flail-swinging Maulers. 52 points is a bigger investment, but these guys bring nearly a full dial of move and attack with Charge (and that’s on top of their Locust Horde TA). Toughness helps shrug off damage from other grunt types along with increasing Defense numbers, while the Mauler dishes it out with top dial Exploit Weakness and late dial Quake.

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The Mauler also introduces the “Throw a Grenade” mechanic! Each figure with this ability has a few important things you’ll need to notice. On the base is a new symbol, while just under the keywords on the card is the figure’s modifier to your force’s Grenade Pool and the type(s) of grenades he or she can use. The pool covers your entire team, accessible by any of your figures with the power. While the Mauler doesn’t add any to the pool, if you’ve got some to spare it can use Frag grenades potentially doing 3 damage to a target plus 2 damage and knock back to each adjacent character!

When it comes to fighting the Locust Horde, no one gets the job done like the COG soldiers of Delta Squad! The first member we’ll look at is the dedicated and fierce Anya Stroud. She introduces the Coalition of Ordered Governments Team Ability: after a ranged attack the COG soldier can move up to 3 squares as a free action if he or she ends that move in hindering terrain or adjacent to blocking terrain or a wall!

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Anya makes an excellent low level leader and swarm theme team killer at 63 points with her “Tactical Intel” trait: choose a keyword possessed by a character she hits and every member of your force gets a +1 to attack characters with it until your next turn! She doesn’t mess around on her own either, starting with Stealth, Energy Shield/Deflection to defend her until she gets there, and Smoke Cloud to ensure she can stay there, not to mention Outwit. After hiding she decides to scoot and shoot with Running Shot and Outwit together for two clicks, the first of which is protected by more ES/D. Anya’s third click introduces her “Meatshields and Snubshots” special power that gives her the equivalent of ES/D AND Combat Reflexes when adjacent to an opponent, in addition to Probability Control for her own ranged attacks! As if all of that wasn’t enough, she also adds one to your Grenade Pool and can use Smoke Grenades to create even more hindering terrain and prevent enemies from making ranged attacks.

Our last preview today will take a look at the intensely loyal Dominic Santiago, also outfitted with the COG team ability. At 66 points “Dom” has good opening stats (8/10/17/2) and some really useful powers starting with Running Shot and single target Energy Explosion. Two clicks in he shows his protective side trading out Running Shot for the “I Got Your Back” special power that adds +1 to his attack when targeting an enemy that’s adjacent to another friendly character.

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On the defensive track Dom has a bare 17 at first, and then picks up Toughness for three clicks. At the end of his dial, Dom goes all out with Plasticity, Penetrating/Psychic Blast, and Willpower to ensure victory for his team if not for himself. Dom also adds one to your Grenade Pool and can use the Frag variety (see the Mauler above for details).

You can get all 10 members of the Gears of War 3 HeroClix set when it releases on August 17th. Keep checking back all week as we look at the rest of the Gears figures!

-Scott Rubin

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