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ADVANCE REVIEW: WizKids DC HeroClix Justice League Trinity War Part I
Exclusive First Look At Gravity Feed & Crime Syndicate Fast Forces...
All anyone can talk about in the world of HeroClix these days is the upcoming DC expansion set, Justice League Trinity War! Of course this set is named for and celebrates the 2013 DC Comics event that saw the members of no fewer than three Justice Leagues come into conflict. Justice League Trinity War in turn brings HeroClix players a fantastic new assortment of figures from the Justice League, Justice League of America, and Justice League Dark... but that’s just the beginning. There are also new 3D objects capturing the Seven Deadly Sins, functional and fun generics, and even the New 52 Crime Syndicate as revealed at the end of Trinity War and into the Forever Evil event! In the coming days we’re going to show off some of the figures from this expansion, and today we’re focusing on two of the other releases coming out in addition to the standard booster brick configuration. Hitting shelves in the coming days are the Justice League Trinity War Gravity Feed and Crime Syndicate Fast Forces Pack, and we’ve got your exclusive first looks!
Featuring ten sculpts from the main booster set, the Gravity Feed offers new dials, powers, and abilities for a range of interesting heroes, villains, and generic army builders. In this “Primer” set the figures are all essentially even in rarity and come in blind single-figure packs. The Gravity Feed box is a big blue monster heavily emblazoned with the set’s logo and comic images of the core Justice League (though only one of the team’s members is found here). As usual with Gravity Feeds the included figures are displayed on the sides of the box with headshot renders. Each single figure foil pack has more Justice League artwork and some full body renders of figures in the set.
So just who is included in the Justice League Trinity War Gravity Feed? From the Justice League comes Aquaman, JLA Green Arrow and Firestorm, and Justice League Dark Black Orchid. Aquaman’s queen Mera rounds out the heroes, while the armored Lex Luthor is naturally forever evil (and a member of his own league, the Injustice version). Generic figures in the Primer include an Atlantean, the Trench, D.E.O. Agent (Department of Extranormal Operations), and the new Parademon! It’s a really interesting mix of characters with a water-heavy tilt, which of course is going to be very welcome for Atlantis players. And while it’s a little surprising that the set is light on really big names, it has something for everyone with the mix of Leagues and fun generics.
Looking at the Gravity Feed figures all together, you can see that WizKids incorporated ten very good sculpts from the main booster set. There’s a nice assortment of poses and figure styles from the dynamic motion and action of Firestorm, Aquaman, and Mera to the evocative threatening by Lex Luthor and the Trench, the precise tactics of the D.E.O. Agent, and the stiff parade ground attention of the Atlantean. There’s a lot to the sculpts as well in terms of detail, especially with textures like the scales on Mera’s outfit, Aquaman’s armor, and Black Orchid’s vines. Colors too run the gamut from the drab military tones of the Agent’s jumpsuit to the bright yellows and reds of Firestorm’s nuclear costume. There’s also the usual great use of metallic paints and translucent plastics for effects, making a lot of the figures stand out even further. In particular high notes go to Lex Luthor, Green Arrow, and the Parademon for their excellent poses, sculpts, and paint work.
Want to see some dials from this set? Well, you’re in luck! Today we’ll be sharing the details on two of the water breathers, specifically Mera and the generic Atlantean. We’ll go with the soldier first, an inexpensive 40 point team player who’s going to see a lot of use on Atlantis teams. He packs a short 3 range and the dolphin speed symbol for travel through the water. On his first three clicks the Atlantean has Toughness and a special power giving him Charge and un-ignorable knock back from close combat attacks when he’s part of an Atlantis themed teams. Late dial he switches out those two for Sidestep and Combat Reflexes, letting him get up close and stay there. On the Atlantean’s damage track you’ll find two clicks each of Empower and Enhancement to help out his undersea allies. With the Atlantis and Soldier keywords he’s ready for deployment in your armies.
If you’re looking for someone who plays well with the Atlantean, consider Mera! At 98 points she’s a strong centerpiece to your force and brings to the table the Mystics team ability, the dolphin speed symbol, a 6 range, and Improved Targeting ignoring elevated terrain. The queen’s dial is a bit disjointed, going from support to attack and back again. Mera begins the game with Sidestep, Telekinesis, Probability Control, and a special power granting Energy Shield/Deflection and a limited free action Barrier when she’s in an Atlantis themed team (notice a trend here?). Slide her into position with Sidestep, hurl an ally into the fray, prob any attacks that need it, and stay safe with ESD. Three clicks in, though, Mera gets mad and goes full on close combat mode with Charge, Super Strength, Battle Fury, and Willpower! Objects will help offset her low damage output, so make sure you place them strategically. After smacking around her enemies Mera calms down again on her last click, returning to Sidestep, Probability Control, and the special defensive power. Mera has the Atlantis, Mystical, and Ruler keywords, though she obviously gets the most out of her points from playing with other undersea characters.
Check out our photo gallery for images of all of the Justice League Trinity War Gravity Feed figures and stay tuned for more dial reveals on HeroClix.com. Your local comic book stores should be getting this product next week but with shipping delays caused by port issues check in with them before you go get your packs!
Also joining the Justice League Trinity War lineup is a new Fast Forces pack, a non-blind set of figures who play very well together. This latest one brings to HeroClix the true masterminds behind the events of Trinity War and the antagonists of Forever Evil, the Crime Syndicate! Designed to provide ready to play teams, the Fast Forces pack offers sculpts from the main set with new dials, and specifically ones with complementary point values. This latest set comes in the traditional packaging scheme we’ve seen for years, a tall clamshell revealing the six figures and including inserts of cool comic art; in this case the front features Ultraman and Superwoman while the entire team explodes into action on the back panel. But there’s even more to this Fast Forces...
The big surprise here is that this set does not include the standard (and advertised) six figures, but SEVEN with a hidden “puck” version of Atomica! Longtime HeroClix players will remember several times WizKids has made figures lacking sculpts like this, notably the Atom and other microscopic characters like the recent Shrinking Violet. It’s really cool to see this gimmick again especially as a bonus figure and one who’s as cool as Atomica.
The lineup of the Crime Syndicate FF then is Ultraman, Owlman, Superwoman, Power Ring, Deathstorm, Johnny Quick, and Atomica. Refugees from Earth-3, the Syndicate fled the destruction there and sought to create its empire on new ground. Forever Evil was a really cool crossover event, and if you haven’t read it I’d suggest catching up. As twisted versions of familiar Justice Leaguers, these villains have similar but slightly skewed secret identities and powers like Kal-Il’s dependency on Kryptonite to become Ultraman and the coward Hal Jordan’s Power Ring controlled through his weapon by the mad entity Volthoom.
While most of the Crime Syndicate figures had been previewed in one way or another, it was really cool to see them all together in person. The New 52 versions of these characters added some unique elements to traditional colors and costume designs and they look great in miniature. Ultraman’s the quintessential anti-Superman, creeping and lurking with his dark costume and snarling face with a mockery of the real hero’s spit curl. Superwoman, Earth-3’s Lois Lane, charges into battle with her magic lasso in hand, while Owlman stands aloof with crossed arms in his avian-inspired helmet and detailed cloak. Power Ring has a great flying sculpt with translucent energy, and if you look closely you can see his arm shriveled and ruined thanks to the ring’s influence. The Syndicate’s speedster would have fit right in with the previous Flash set thanks to a sweet running pose and energy trail, and of course he’s wearing the iconic pointy cowl and big goggles. The best is last (except for Atomica) with Deathstorm, a figure with one of the most impressive sculpts I’ve seen in a while. The monster hovers on a lick of flame with more fire coming out of his skull and left hand, and the translucent effects are particularly awesome; check out Deathstorm in person to see all the details.
The Crime Syndicate all have round numbers for point values so you can build teams right out of the box at multiple levels, and indeed several of the figures have multiple point costs for further flexibility. Distinct from their main set versions, some of these figures are more powerful and some less, but all offer unique powers and traits to give you alternate ways of playing the characters. Of course we wouldn’t tease this set without giving you at least a couple of the dials (more previews are on the way), so let’s start with the surprise guest Atomica! The microscopic menace is 25 points of mean with the Crime Syndicate team ability, a useful 3 range, and the Tiny size symbol. 25 points doesn’t often get you a whole lot in HeroClix, but Rhonda here packs a lot into just three clicks of life. Her whole dial has Plasticity to lock down opponents, and she can deal damage effectively with Precision Strike on her first click and Exploit Weakness (with 2 damage) on her second. Like previous miniature characters Atomica has a sky-high defense but comes with a special power that gives bonus Themed Team Probability Control uses to your opponents if you play her on anything but a Crime Syndicate themed team. It’s limiting, but totally thematic as she quite expertly betrayed the Justice Leagues. On her last click she ditches that “power” in exchange for some Super Senses protection. If you don’t mind the penalty from her special power you can play Atomica on lots of theme teams with her solid collection of keywords (in addition to Crime Syndicate of course): A.R.G.U.S., Justice League, Justice League of America, and Spy.
On Earth-3 Atomica found her ideal partner in crime in fellow Syndicate member Johnathan Allen, better known as the villain Johnny Quick! His Fast Forces version is an even 100 points with the Crime Syndicate team ability, Improved Movement ignoring elevated terrain, and an awesome trait giving him Hypersonic Speed when he has no action tokens, Charge when he has one, and Sidestep when he has two! As you’d expect Quick has high speed, good attack and defense, and middling damage. His dial is interesting with alternating Plasticity and Flurry, mid-dial Precision Strike, and starting Shape Change. Johnny’s defense is where the real fun happens with an opening run of a special power giving him Super Senses and Willpower plus the chance to avoid taking second action tokens (but at the risk of taking unavoidable damage)! Later Quick gets some Energy Shield/Deflection and a final click of Combat Reflexes. Much less of a team player than his partner, Johnny only has the Crime Syndicate and Speedster keywords.
The Crime Syndicate Fast Forces pack will be hitting store shelves alongside the main Justice League Trinity War booster set on February 18th, so if you like what you see then tell your local comic book store to reserve one for you. Trinity War is shaping up to be a really cool set packed with tons of great figures, both fun new versions of previously released characters and lots of brand new additions to HeroClix. The Gravity Feed should be out next week to get everyone primed, then the full booster set and Fast Forces hit on the 18th along with the Organized Play kit offering the Roy Harper (Arsenal) prize figure and new maps.
Visit HeroClix.com for even more info as well as downloads of rules and maps, and stay tuned to Figures.com as we continue our reviews of new HeroClix!
Review and Photos by Scott Rubin
Review Samples Courtesy of WizKids Games
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