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REVIEW: WizKids Marvel HeroClix Avengers Assemble Expansion Set
Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Headline Latest Set With Great Figures...
It’s the battle cry that every Marvel Comics fan knows, used when the greatest threats are arrayed against the Earth. It’s also the name of the latest Marvel HeroClix expansion set from WizKids Games in stores right now: Avengers Assemble! 2015 is truly the year of the Avenger in HeroClix with last month’s movie Avengers: Age of Ultron set, Assemble, and upcoming releases like the Age of Ultron Storyline OP event, Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., a classic Avengers Fast Forces pack, and more. But let’s focus on what’s already an Avengers fan’s dream set come true. Avengers Assemble, which hit your local comic book and game store last week, is an incredible expansion to your Avengers and Avengers-related teams, chock full of new characters and remakes of fan favorites.
Assemble is similar to the previous full Marvel HeroClix expansion, Guardians of the Galaxy (comics), with a laser focus on theme and character selection. Previewed by WizKids as including past and current Avengers, the set has 71 figures and of them fully 39 (55%) have the Avengers keyword! That’s a lot of Avengers. You can’t build a set entirely on just one team, though, so Assemble also includes classic Avenger villains, Avengers Academy, Avengers Arena, Initiative, New Warriors, some generics, and more. It also introduces an all-new mechanic and collectible item in the game with the Avengers ID Cards. These items expand your options and play with Avengers teams and are inserted randomly into Avengers Assemble boosters (we’ll talk about these more below). In the five figure booster set are 17 commons, 17 uncommons, 17 rares, 13 super rares, and 7 thematic chase figures that everyone is going to want. As usual, we’ll start our look at the new expansion by checking out the commons.
With so many Avengers in the set you know they’re going to start right away in the commons, and that’s true with 11 heroic figures! The very first two slots begin with fan favorites Black Widow and Hawkeye, both sporting their current comic costumes and great new dials. Then there’s the sword-wielding Echo, blazing Firebird, pouncing Hellcat, Triathlon and the same-sculpt Prime 3-D Man, Justice, the energy-form Living Lightning, shape-changing Reptil, and masked Rage. Recognize some of those characters from the New Warriors and Initiative? Well there are more of them too with the red and gold Scarlet Spider, Avengers Academy duo Hazmat and Mettle, and the long-awaited Loner Turbo. Finally there are a couple of generic figures with the Builders’ Aleph and the green-robed, pistol-packing Son of the Serpent.
The uncommons of Assemble are slightly less Avengers heavy with “only” seven, featuring familiar and new names on figures like a resplendent Falcon taking wing, D-Man who modeled his costume on Wolverine and Daredevil’s, the Eternal Forgotten One, animal demigoddess Silverclaw, the latest incarnation of the Imperial Guard’s Smasher, a long-awaited update to Spider-Woman, and the classic purple-clad Swordsman. The Initiative is well represented at this rarity level with four figures, the Sentinel-controlling Juston Seyfert, the legacy character Thunderstrike, hard-punching New Warrior Ultragirl, and the gaseous Veil from Avengers Academy. Making her triumphant return to HeroClix in an updated form is Young Avengers’ resident archer Kate Bishop, while the pistol-wielding Cammi is a holdover from the Guardians set with her strong ties to Drax. Evil rears its ugly head in the uncommons with the first Whirlwind piece since 2002, classic costume Moonstone, and the caped supervillain Superia. Lastly, the uncommon Prime is Power Princess, a repaint of Moonstone and the latest member of her team to appear with a green ring.
Nine more Avengers appear in the rare slots of this set, and they start with a doozy of a new Hulk who’s huge and ready to rumble. Joining him are the helpful butler Jarvis, a hovering comic-empowered Captain Universe, the serene Manifold, a new version of the “human rocket” Richard Rider Nova, the former Spider-Man villain Sandman, Starbrand, the magical Sersi, and the floating Abyss. Adding to the recent run of New Warriors figures is a remake of team leader Night Thrasher, and at this level the Initiative recruits the Dire Wraith/human Hybrid. Marvel adds Warren Ellis’ New Universe with the Prime Starbrand, while evil has its day with Arcade of Avengers Arena, a classic Loki, horned Master Pandemonium of the Hellfire Club, Hawkeye’s older brother and Dark Avenger Trick Shot, and the Earth-shattering Black Swan.
If you’ve been keeping track, the set so far has included a lot of Avengers but not a lot of the original/main lineup. Well, the super rares begin with the “big three” and feature a total of seven more for your collection. Each of them bringing a unique “It’s an Avengers World” trait are Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor at high point totals, and they’re joined by Red Wolf with his companion Lobo, the mysterious weapon master Ronin, energy-haloed Nightmask, and the Builder Ex Nihilo. Along with Marvel’s best are some of the worst with Avengers villains the Hood, hat fan Immortus, an absolutely HUGE Korvac, HYDRA’s Red Skull, and Ragnarok, the Prime repaint of Thor. Last but not least, Avengers Assemble brings us one of the most popular new comic book characters in recent history, Kamala Khan as Ms. Marvel!
In recent years WizKids has made really interesting choices regarding chase themes, bringing us alternate versions of a set’s focus character, entire teams, and more. For Avengers Assemble, players get to chase down unique (and often staggeringly powerful) temporary, experimental, future, or otherwise otherworldly incarnations of some of the main Avengers! We’ve got Nova Corps Steve Rogers from Secret Avengers, the hulking black and gold Iron Man suit, King Thor from God of Thunder, the “Last Titan” Hulk from The End, Mjolnir-wielding Black Widow of What If? Age of Ultron, and a gigantic Goliath with a very cool trait. And WizKids saved the best for last, as the final figure in the set is none other than Avengers super fan and sometime member Rick Jones with energy portal and his favorite heroes!
A totally new element debuting in Avengers Assemble is the Avengers ID Card! Randomly placed inside booster packs are cards like the heroes might carry to show off their affiliation. In addition to being cool collectibles these cards have unique gameplay elements within HeroClix; each one costs 5 points to add to your team. Every ID Card includes their full rules on the back, which is really helpful. Basically, along with the card on your force you place a figure with that codename or alter ego on your sideline as your “ID Character.” Once during your game you can give one of your figures (costing equal to or more than your ID Character) a power action to Call In Help, placing that character adjacent to its summoner. The ID Character has a lifespan of one turn and is limited as to what it can do (no double power actions, etc.), but it can certainly be a game-swinging effect. Along with having the ID Character on the board for essentially one action, it also provides a unique Inspiration benefit to adjacent allies. The ID Cards in Avengers Assemble include Black Widow, Hawkeye, Falcon, Hercules, Justice, Mockingbird, Nova, Ronin, Sandman, Sersi, Hellcat, Jarvis, Manifold, Rick Jones, and Triathlon. And for example, Rick Jones’ Inspiration effect grants adjacent allies +1 attack and damage when making a ranged combat attack!
As always WizKids strives to elevate the quality of their figures with each HeroClix expansion, and Avengers Assemble has a fantastic range of figures with unique looks and dynamic sculpts. There are lots of fighting and lunging superheroes but also a fair share of blustering bullies and even a butler sweeping up after his charges. Black Widow aims her Widow’s Bite with her pistol at the ready, Justice stands tough as a veteran in the Initiative, Rage, Cammi, and Loki lunge forward with fist, gun, and sword, Master Pandemonium looks snarky twirling his cape, Cap catches his blazing shield, and Ms. Marvel takes off with an embiggened fist, just to name a few. There are tons of great sculpts in this set, and among the best (in my opinion) include the transforming Reptil, Turbo with her high tech armor, winged Falcon, the well-dressed Juston Seyfert with his Sentinel control rig, highly detailed Ultragirl, Silver Claw with her intricate armor, Jarvis, the beautiful Starbrand (and we get two of them!), Iron Man floating in mid-air, and Ronin with a crazy amount of weapons and complex martial arts outfit. I’m a big fan of good texture work, and you can see that reflected on figures like Aleph with the robot’s overlapping armor plates, Firebird’s flame mantle, the dripping Sandman, and the fur of Red Wolf’s mantle and wolf Lobo. As always the chases all have great sculpts worth checking out closely, and I have to mention two of my favorite figures in this set: the creepy alien Hybrid and the towering Korvac with its humanoid shape emerging from a pillar of swirling energy!
With so many heroes, both veterans and rookies, and some of their deadliest enemies, it’s no surprise that Avengers Assemble is a riot of colors jumping out from high quality paint jobs. No less detailed than the great sculpts, the paint applications as always include all sorts of special elements along with the flashy costumes, uniforms, and alien surfaces. There are tons of translucent elements used in energy blasts, flight effects, and more on a long list of characters including Hazmat’s hands, Firebird’s halo, the entirety of Living Lightning, Captain Universe and her atomic backdrop, Sersi’s magic, Thor and Ragnarok’s magical hammers, Immortus’ portal, Red Skull’s mental powers disk, and flying bases/air/energy for Falcon, Veil, Whirlwind, Nova, etc. Guns, swords, and armor shine with metallic flavors like Aleph’s silver armor, Scarlet Spider’s gold elements, Whirlwind’s metallic green armor, and Ex Nihilo in near solid gold. Standout paint jobs for me include the aforementioned Hazmat with the tiniest details of eyes painted on her visor, Forgotten One with his clean lines, Silverclaw looking like a living metal statue, Power Princess, Manifold and his tattoos and patterns, and Ragnarok with his classic Thor colors mixed with robot elements. Similar to their sculpts the paint work on the chases is all top notch from the dark shades of Iron Man’s armor to the Hulk’s rotting flesh, King Thor’s brilliant armor, and more.
As we discussed above the big new mechanic of Avengers Assemble is the addition of the ID Cards, fifteen cards scattered in boosters for you to collect alongside the figures. Lots of current player favorites make appearances among the Avengers, their allies, and enemies in this set including Improved Movement and Improved Targeting, unique token and marker application mechanics on figures like Hawkeye, Cammi, D-Man, and Superia, spawning bystanders with Master Pandemonium and Rick Jones, a removable element with Red Wolf’s Lobo. This set also sees the return of the “wild dial” mechanic with figures like Reptil and rare Hulk, plus the Nova Corps “Share through the Worldmind” trait on Nova. There are also Sharpshooters, stop clicks, and several new printed Giants like both Hulks and Goliath.
We’ve looked at the figures and taken a peek at their playable mechanics, but I always like to take it a step further and highlight some of the unique traits and special powers in each new set. These include the powerful, humorous, and game-breaking alike, and even some that just have awesome names. I’ll start with traits, and those that caught my eye were Turbo’s “This Armor Is Awesome’” “Flash-Fry Your Circuits” giving Living Lightning Energy Explosion and bonus damage against Armor/Robot figures, “Resurrect in My Town, Will Ya?” that gives Cammi the perfect partner for Drax, Smasher’s awesome “Upgrading Penta-Vision” giving her ever-increasing range, Jarvis’ announcement that “There’s Still a Few Avengers in the Mansion Left to Help” letting you use more ID Cards, prime Starbrand dragging his enemies with him into “The Pitt” when he’s KO’d, Arcade’s fearsome “Welcome to Murderworld” giving him a completely different dial on certain maps, Ms. Marvel’s “Embiggen” to shift sizes and powers, and Ronin and Goliath’s abilities to swap out for other figures. Cool special powers include the new Scarlet Spider’s “You Have Another Clone?,” “Three Times Peak Human” giving 3-D Man triple Perplex, Juston Seyfert’s “Program in a New Prime Directive” giving free actions to his chosen Sentinel, “The Wild Inheritance of Madame Webb” giving Spider-Woman random powers, the “Utopian Deflection Shield” of Power Princess punishing enemies who miss her with attacks, Hulk’s “You Wouldn’t Like Me When I’m Angry” spinning the dial off of the Banner click, Hybrid’s ability to “Feed on Others’ Powers” with double Outwit and power stealing, Black Swan’s “You Have Failed to Stop the Incursion” can give you an instant win, and Korvac’s “Download Galactus’ Knowledge” turns him into a Power Cosmic juggernaut. Of course there’s much more with tons of special powers and traits throughout the set.
With a full summer of Avengers HeroClix this set didn’t load up on all of the external products, so there’s no Fast Forces pack or Primer Gravity Feed. But, there are a couple of other cool items for HeroClix players to get their hands on. The most recent DC set introduced the Dice & Token Pack, and Avengers Assemble takes it to the next level with not one but TWO packs! Each comes with a pair of translucent red Avengers logo dice and six heavy duty poker chips featuring headshots of Avengers members. Set #1 (Captain America) comes with Cap, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and Falcon, and Set #2 (Iron Man) has Tony, Hulk, Black Widow, Vision, Wasp, and Ant-Man. Both are available for purchase ($10) at game stores... and the final piece of Avengers Assemble is only available there in the form of the “Release” Organized Play Kit. Similar in form to the DC Flash set, this prize kit for stores contains a new 3D special object and a new double-sided map. Players can win and then use in their games Ant-Man’s Pym Particles which lets figures equip it to change size to either Tiny or Giant. The physical object is a very cool looking vial of particles, a silver-capped clear cylinder holding a translucent purple string. The OP kit map takes players to the battlefields of the Avengers Compound and Arcade’s Arena! Both are outdoor maps with lots of different terrain elements, water, and more. There’s even part of a football field where young Avengers play!
So there you have it, the latest and greatest Marvel HeroClix set from WizKids. Avengers Assemble is in stores now and blowing up the meta scene as well as fulfilling the team building wishes of fans of the Avengers, Initiative, New Warriors, and more. If you read of have read any of those book chances are good you’re going to recognize some favorites among this roster, so check out the set and pick up a few boosters. With so many great characters along with fantastic super rares and chases this set is proving to be very popular with players and collectors. Check in with your local comic book or game store to make sure they have Avengers Assemble and good luck with your pulls!
Visit HeroClix.com for even more info as well as downloads of rules and maps, and check Figures.com regularly as we continue our reviews of new HeroClix... including some upcoming sneak peeks at the Age of Ultron Storyline OP event!
Review and Photos by Scott Rubin
Review Samples Courtesy of WizKids Games
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