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ADVANCE LOOK: WizKids Games Marvel HeroClix Age Of Ultron Storyline Month 1 Prize Kit
Grandmaster, Avengers Round Table, and Iron Man’s ID Card...
WizKids’ HeroClix Storyline Organized Play tournament series have taken players to the cosmic showdown of the Infinity Gauntlet, a gang-infested No Man’s Land, throughout the Nine Realms in Fear Itself, and blasting across space in the War of Light. Summer 2015 brings Marvel back to the forefront with an all-new multi month tournament series, Age of Ultron! The classic robot villain has been terrorizing the Avengers since 1968, but his return in 2013’s Age of Ultron crossover event brought Pym’s creation back in a whole new way, taking over and forcing heroes to battle him across timelines and alternate Earths. HeroClix players will have their chance to dive into the action of Age of Ultron starting in June and running for four months. Today we’re going to take a look at the items included in the Age of Ultron Month 1 prize kit featuring the Avengers Round Table resource and Iron Man Avengers ID Card participation items, Grandmaster Limited Edition prize figure, and the all-new Hank Pym’s Lab and Thebes, Egypt maps.
When heroes assemble to protect the Earth, naturally they need a place to sit and meet, discuss threats, and assign responses. For Earth’s Mightiest Heroes that means the Avengers Round Table! Following on the ancient tradition of King Arthur’s table in Camelot, the round table means all members are equal. Of course, the Avengers table in the Avengers Mansion or Avengers Tower is loaded with high tech equipment as well as comfy seats. The Round Table joins HeroClix as the participation prize resource in Age of Ultron given out in Month 1. Mounted on a 2x2 base/dial are six tiny red and black seats surrounding a matching central round table. From the top of the table rises into the air a holographic display in translucent blue plastic. This notched piece mounts HeroClix Avengers ID Cards (first debuted in the Avengers Assemble expansion set), one for each Avenger sitting at the table.
While it makes an awesome display piece in your collection, the Avengers Round Table was made to be played and it does some really cool things on your force. The Table resource itself costs 5 points and you can add up to 6 Avengers ID Cards to it (totaling between 10 and 35 points depending on how many you want to use). The Table’s first trait, “I Can Help Right Now,” lets you use the attached Cards normally with their Call in Help and Inspiration abilities, while the “I’m Better Suited for These Foes” trait offers you the choice of replacing figures on your team with ID Characters in your sideline before the game begins! The last trait, “Call in the Reservists,” gives you the chance to re-attach an ID Card that was removed as part of a Call in Help when an empty slot shows up on the dial.
Also on the dial are three special abilities, the first of which, “Lending Moral Support,” lets a character on your team use the Inspiration from a random Card on your Table. “I Can’t Get There but I Can Advise” lets you choose an attached ID Card and give its Inspiration to all friendly characters. Last but not least, “Avengers Assemble” appears on the final click and lets you give friendly characters power actions to bring in ID Characters that become normal characters on your team! Notably, you cannot use Avengers ID Cards separately on your force if you are using the Round Table.
In the Avengers Assemble set we were introduced to Avengers ID Cards, 5 point items used on your force that bring in an ID Character to assist your team with an action and a special Inspiration bolstering adjacent allies. That first set brought with it 15 hero cards, and Age of Ultron is supplying you with even more. Each month will provide players with a new ID Card as a participation prize, and these are definitely ones you’re going to want for your teams. Month 1 starts strong with none other than Iron Man, Tony Stark!
As with the other ID Cards this one lets you give one of your figures on the board (costing equal to or more than your ID Character Iron Man on your sideline) a power action to Call In Help, placing your Iron Man adjacent to its summoner. Tony can help out for one turn, supporting or attacking, and through his Inspiration all adjacent allies get Improved Targeting ignoring Hindering Terrain and +1 attack for ranged attacks! Even better, players can combine their two participation prizes and use Iron Man on their Avengers Round Table.
While Ultron is headlining this Storyline OP event (and we’ll see plenty of that robot’s incarnations among the exclusive booster figures), each month’s Limited Edition prize figures bring to life additional classic Avengers villains starting with the Grandmaster! A member of the immortal Elders of the Universe, En Dwi Gast was a big fan of games and competition leading to his famous moniker. Along with fellow Elders like the Collector, Runner, and Gardener, Grandmaster once held an Infinity Gem (in his case the Mind Gem) before it was taken by Thanos. Gast’s favorite pastime is using pawns to fight in contests, and in that pursuit has faced off against the Avengers on multiple occasions. While a bit too cosmic and eternal to be classified as a mere villain, the Grandmaster is certainly a longtime thorn in the side of the Earth heroes.
The Grandmaster returns to HeroClix after three years and his first appearance in the Infinity Gauntlet Storyline OP Month 7 kit. This immortal hasn’t changed much over the years, and still looks like an imperious blue humanoid with white hair in a unique outfit. The new Grandmaster stands perfectly straight, one hand behind his back and the other beckoning forth his latest opponent. Meanwhile, Gast’s hair sweeps back from his temples and up behind his head into a pointy ridge. The Elder wears a robe with collar extensions over his shoulder, a high collar, and a diamond-shaped accessory on his chest. Grandmaster’s skin is a much darker blue than his first figure sported, and his robe, gloves, and slippers are bright yellow. And while the original Grandmaster had a small rocky outcrop on his base onto which you could attach the Mind Gem, the new figure has by his side a small brown pillar topped by a game board and miniature black and white pieces!
The Age of Ultron Grandmaster is 10 points cheaper than his predecessor but brings a lot to the table for 240 points starting with Power Cosmic, a 9 click dial, a 9 range with one target, and the aptly named “Shall We Play a Game” trait that lets you quiz your opponent on his or her clix knowledge. When the Grandmaster has two tokens for a free action your opponent must guess the stats on the next click of one figure; deal it one unavoidable damage and check the results. If your opponent was correct the figure heals two (net gain of one), but if even one stat was wrong the figure suffers another click of damage! The blue alien has solid stats himself that suffer very little degradation across his dial, and a strong array of powers to threaten his enemies at range. Starting Sidestep and ending Phasing/Teleport bracket mid-dial Force Blast, and the front half of his dial alternates between Penetrating/Psychic Blast and Pulse Wave. Defensively the Elder starts with four clicks of alternating Invincible and Impervious before switching to a run of Invulnerability and then late-dial Regeneration. His damage track starts and ends with a special power giving him Perplex and Probability Control while limiting his opponent’s Prob, and Outwit and Ranged Combat Expert make appearances as well. The Grandmaster is a great ranged attacker, and partners best with characters that share his keywords: Cosmic, Elders of the Universe, and Squadron Sinister.
The battles in the first two months of Age of Ultron will take place on the maps included in this OP kit, featuring two unique locations. First up is Hank Pym’s Lab, the ultimate source of the evil robot from the Avenger’s experiments into artificial intelligence. This complex indoor map depicts a large open area divided into two laboratory sections, one featuring the robot and the other a size-changing ant. Both sections are partially surrounded by walls, and perpendicular walls divide each starting area. Running along each long side of the map are three power generators (blocking terrain), and there’s lots of blocking terrain from the experiments, counters, and computers. There are also lots of really neat little details on the map like an Ant-Man helmet, a tabletop with a green spill covered by ants, and more.
On the other side is a location on the other side of the world, Thebes, Egypt. This exotic locale is WizKids’ latest take on the “crater” map, featuring most of the field the sunken level one and just the short sides (and starting areas) on level two. Each side has two widely separated up/down spots for those who have to take the long away, and no other types of terrain for cover on the upper levels. Meanwhile, the floor of the pit is littered with ancient debris in the form of fallen columns, statuary, and more creating sections of blocking and hindering terrain for hiding and advancing behind cover. In the center of the map are two large chunks of blocking terrain which will funnel fighting between and around them. Notably, neither of these two maps have any water or special terrain squares!
If you’re an Avengers fan and HeroClix player, you’ve likely already talked to your local comic book/game store to find out when they’ll be holding their Age of Ultron Month 1 tournament. If you haven’t, make sure your favorite venue is running the event, because attending one is the only way you’re going to get your hands on the Avengers Round Table and Iron Man Avengers ID Card, plus your chance at winning the new Grandmaster! And that’s not all; the Age of Ultron Storyline OP series has its own exclusive figure set in tournament boosters, so there’s tons of great Marvel HeroClix content you can’t get anywhere else. The Month 1 prize kit includes everything you see above for 10 players and an organizer/judge (4 Grandmasters, 11 Round Tables, 11 Iron Man Cards, 5 maps) AND a bonus Age of Ultron poster with an awesome comic image of the robot with the four locales where you’ll be competing in the series (Hank Pym’s Lab, Thebes, Rubble of New York City, New Timbetpal) at the bottom.
Visit HeroClix.com for even more info as well as downloads of rules and maps and a Store Locator, and check Figures.com regularly as we continue our reviews of new HeroClix!
Review and Photos by Scott Rubin
Review Samples Courtesy of WizKids Games
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