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ADVANCE LOOK: WizKids Games Marvel HeroClix Age Of Ultron Storyline Month 3 Prize Kit
First Reveal Of High Evolutionary Limited Edition Figure & Captain America ID Card...
With July’s events HeroClix players are now halfway through the Marvel Age of Ultron Storyline Organized Play tournament series, with a fantastic booster set of Avengers and Ultron robots plus exclusive prizes like Avengers I.D. Cards and Limited Edition figures of classic villains. Month 2, still going on now at a comic book or game store near you, brings you the Hulk card and a new version of Graviton (see our review HERE), but today we’re going to give you your first look at August’s Month 3 prize kit! Check out the participation prize Captain America Avengers I.D. Card and the limited edition High Evolutionary prize figure along with brand new maps of New Timbetpal and New York City.
As we’ve looked at in Months 1 and 2, and with the Avengers Assemble expansion set, the Avengers I.D. Card is the latest cool mechanic introduced to HeroClix. These cards sprinkled throughout the current releases and in Age of Ultron and convention exclusives add a whole new dimension to Marvel HeroClix play. Each card representing an Avengers member costs 5 points and lets you bring a figure by that name (or alter ego) to your sideline. One of your figures on the board of equal or higher point value can be given a Power Action to “Call in Help,” bringing in the I.D. Character for a limited time to provide assistance and give a special “Inspiration” to your force. Age of Ultron Months 1 and 2 provided players with the cards for Iron Man and Hulk, and now Month 3 brings the patriotic hero Captain America!
Calling Steve Rogers for help lets you summon the all-American hero, and his Inspiration effect gives adjacent allies Energy Shield/Deflection and a bonus action to your action total when he hits an opponent! Used with the right version of old Cap this can be an extremely powerful boost, making your figures harder to hit and getting a bonus action when he strikes. In addition to this standard ability the Captain America I.D. Card can also be played as part of the Avengers Round Table.
In Age of Ultron some of the Avengers’ most persistent and challenging villains return to HeroClix in brand new forms courtesy of the series’ limited edition prize figures. Month 1 started it all off with the Grandmaster, and July’s Month 2 brought a sweet new Graviton. August’s Month 3 adds to the villain roster a unique and complicated character who has at times helped and sought to harm humanity: High Evolutionary! The strange entity was once a human scientist named Herbert Wyndham, a geneticist obsessed with genetics and tinkering with the building blocks of creation. Through unnatural allies and experiments Wyndham created servants, influenced the birth of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, and left Earth to travel the cosmos and gain ultimate knowledge. As the red-armored High Evolutionary he would follow his own quests and morality that sometimes brings him into conflict with Earth heroes.
Just like Graviton before him, High Evolutionary has a single predecessor in HeroClix. That figure was a Rare in 2007’s Mutations and Monsters set, with Wyndham looking imperious hovering on a flight stand with one hand behind his back and the other raised before him. Well, this new figure has “evolved” that pose and presentation that really stands out on the battlefield. The High Evolutionary stands erect as he floats just above the ground with both hands held behind him in the parade rest stance. His sculpt features a vastly improved and highly detailed suit of armor right out of the comics featuring silver overlapping bands on his arms and legs and metallic red and magenta show up on his boots, gloves, waistband and loincloth, breastplate, and helmet. There is detailed sculpted musculature on the torso, and the High Evolutionary’s helmet has the familiar crest and a stern face with silver panels near his temples and beady yellow eyes. Of course, what really makes this figure impressive is the huge translucent energy cloud surrounding it! It looks like a lightning field and extends from the base to his feet and completely around him. The energy effect is fairly flat but nicely textured, and High Evolutionary’s sculpt is fully in the round.
Looking back, the first High Evolutionary HeroClix figure was 143 points and started out as a team player before going Power Cosmic and blasting apart his enemies. The new LE fulfills much the same role for just a few points more, though in different ways and with more power. In Age of Ultron he’s 150 points and brings a 7 range with one target and a trait that lets him spawn Knight of Wundagore bystanders with power actions! These “New Men” evolved from animals are no slouches with 9 movement Leap/Climb, 10 attack Blades/Claws/Fangs, 17 defense Toughness, and 2 damage (though your opponent will score 15 points for each one he KO’s). High Evolutionary’s first three clicks are low-key with Stealth, Toughness, and Outwit to keep hidden while creating an army of Knights and hindering the enemy. Click #4 is a stop click that transforms Wyndham, giving him un-ignorable Giant status and the Power Cosmic team ability for the rest of the game. It also comes with a nice stat boost and great powers: Pulse Wave, Invincible, and a special damage power that lets you Perplex two stats on one target though you have to roll to see which ones you affect. High Evolutionary stays strong all the way down his dial with some Hypersonic Speed, Phasing/Teleport, Precision Strike, and Impervious. The geneticist has the Armor, Knights of Wundagore, and Scientist keywords for team building.
The Month 3 kit comes with a brand new two-sided map for use in the last two Age of Ultron events, and like the previous one features both a fictional and real life location. On one side is New Timbetpal, a floating city created by the Sons of Yinsen cult and the site of an intense battle between Iron Man and Ultron. On the HeroClix gaming table the city takes the form of a serene temple with an outdoor patio area with an outer ring of blocking terrain stone structures and hindering terrain shrubbery surrounding the building. Inside (and Indoor) are two small computer rooms and a large central hall with blocking terrain pillars and a huge Buddha-like statue. Meanwhile, you can’t forget that this city hovers in the clouds with a two-square strip of special terrain on the O-P columns; this is “Open Air” and if a character without special movement ends up there after actions resolve it will take 1 unavoidable damage and pop back to its starting area.
Flip over New Timbetpal and you’ll find a hellish red landscape of destroyed buildings and wrecked cars... otherwise known as New York City from the Age of Ultron! This outdoor battlefield has a building in each corner, with starting areas that overlap them so you can start play with figures on elevation 2. Three of the four have some blocking terrain on their roofs, while the fourth has a sunken-in section of elevation 1 where you could hide a strategic asset. In between the buildings is an intersection of two streets offering a fairly wide open combat space dotted with some hindering terrain on the remains of automobiles. Interestingly, neither side of this new map has any water terrain!
Age of Ultron Month 3 will be upon us before you know it, officially debuting in August at a comic book or game store near you. In addition to being the only way to get the Captain America Avengers I.D. Card participation item and the High Evolutionary limited edition prize figure, this will be the first opportunity to get the second wave of Age of Ultron tournament boosters with all new figures including more Avengers from across the timeline and lots more Ultron robots. Check with your local venue to find out when they’ll be holding their Month 3 tournament, and if you have any trouble then head to the WizKids Event System on HeroClix.com which will tell you what’s happening in your area.
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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