Hey HeroClix fans! We are rapidly approaching our World Championship events in Memphis, Tennessee from Friday September 6th through Sunday September 8th! We hope you can join us there for all the excitement!
In addition to the scheduled main and side events, we are planning to run an exclusive special event for a new format we have been testing out. We will be handing out tickets to players who enter any HeroClix events during the weekend like the World Championship, Team World Championship, Battle Royals and more. On Sunday, September 8th we will select 14 players randomly from the tickets gathered throughout the weekend to play in this special event for the new format. There will also be two invited players who will compete as well, but we’ll keep their identities as a surprise until the event.
Engaging in the Skirmish
We are always exploring new ways to make HeroClix fresh and different, whether that be with new gameplay mechanics or in this case a completely new gameplay format. Currently, there are the normal modern age formats used at most tournaments, and Battle Royals used in sealed and Storyline Organized Play games. We love those formats, but we are always coming up with more ways to play and enjoy HeroClix.
“Skirmish” is a “Random Starting Position” format. It is a little like a Battle Royal but with figures starting closer to the center of the map to get right into the action. This is the first time we are sharing it publicly, and while we have been doing some internal playtesting, we are hoping to get feedback to make this format even better. Those other formats we mentioned aren’t going anywhere, but we are considering adding this new format alongside them for more ways to play.
When we started developing a new format, we first considered ways to get into the action right away. Many HeroClix games can take a few turns to “set up” before attacking each other. But for this format, we wanted to try something different than a normal HeroClix game. For a frame of reference, imagine you are walking into a battle that is already underway, where teammates may be together or split apart fighting against their opponents. Then, we contemplated the positioning strategy in HeroClix to engage with other players, and we wanted to think of a way to turn that concept on its head. While positioning is still very important, having characters involved in the action quickly would fundamentally change the way a player would consider making their moves. These concepts and more are what lead to the start of developing a “Random Starting Position” format. It is still distinctly HeroClix but will likely feel like a new experience. We are hoping players can use this format at their FLGS for events and we are considering using it in future events like Storyline Organized Play once we collect all the feedback we can.
We have a few helpful items attached to this article fully explaining the rules and how to set up the game, but we’ll quickly go over the short version here (please see the full rules document attached for further details). Skirmish format follows the normal rules of HeroClix except for the rules mentioned in the document.
The Rules
First, Skirmish format games are played on a 16 square by 16 square (2 foot by 2 foot) map. These are usually Battle Royal maps, but you can also use a 16 square by 24 square map as well if you just disregard 4 rows on both ends. There will be 100 possible starting squares, see the diagram attached for details on where those go (we are planning to print maps with these numbers included at some point). To figure out where the starting squares are, you will roll 2 d10 (one for the tens digit, and one for the ones digit) or something equivalent (d100, a dice app on a smartphone). You will roll those 2 d10 a number of times equal to the total number of characters on all starting forces (rerolling any duplicates). For each number rolled, you will place a marker in the corresponding square with that number on the map (you can use coins, beads, action tokens, poker chips, etc. for these starting markers). You will place any objects or special terrain before placing characters, but after determining these starting markers (special objects and special terrain still need to be at leave 5 squares away from a starting marker, and normal objects can’t be placed in a starting marker). Each player, beginning with the first player, replaces a starting marker with one of their characters. When the last player in turn order places a character, reverse turn order and repeat (as you would for “Snake Drafting”).
Players will share the same collective turn. That turn will be broken up into Rounds for each player, where only one player is active at a time, and they can perform 1 costed action and 1 free action. Within a turn, each player may take one Round for each 100 points of the game’s build total. After those Rounds, if a player has an increase to their action total (like Leadership), they will get access to a Bonus Round (Bonus Rounds provide the same 1 costed action and 1 free action). If a player were to have action total +2, they would get an additional Bonus Round and so on until all players are out of Bonus Rounds. After all normal Rounds and Bonus Rounds are completed in a turn, players will move onto the next turn. Please note that during each turn, characters can still only perform 1 costed action and any free actions once (unless an effect allows otherwise). For example, a character that performs a move action in their first Round cannot take another costed action during another Round in that same turn (following the normal HeroClix rules).
Instead of scoring victory points for characters that you KO, instead you will score points for each click of damage you deal. You can also score points for destroying objects that cost more than 0 points, and by effects like ID cards (see the rules document attached for details on how that works). We are hoping this encourages players to get involved in the action to deal damage more quickly than their opponents can.
To win the game, a player will need to score 25 points, -or- eliminate all other forces (you will win even if someone has more points than you if you can eliminate all other teams), -or- have most points at the end of a 30 minute time limit.
The Future of the Format
There are a few things to get used to when considering this new format, but once players get the hang of it, it becomes more straightforward. This should also give players a new way to look at certain figures they might have not thought about using before. With this new format in mind, there are a couple of effects that may not work out like they would in normal HeroClix rules. For example, characters that have effects pertaining to how close they are to a certain starting area won’t work in this format. We are hoping to come up with a solution for effects like that, but for now they won’t work as intended. With that mind, there may also be some figures we ban for this format if we determine they break the concepts established here (namely not taking damage normally). We are hoping to keep this as a short list, but we may add or remove things from time to time as needed.
Even if you can’t make the World Championships, please give the format a try and let us know what you think! As we mentioned previously, this format hasn’t been through tons of playtesting, but we are hoping everyone can to play some games with it and have a chance to respond with questions and feedback. It is important to us for the community to be heard before we officially implement a brand-new format like this. We encourage your play groups at home or at your FLGS to test it out. Even if it doesn’t seem up your alley, we would strongly suggest giving it a try before passing judgment. We would love to hear all your feedback including suggestions, tweaks, rules clarifications, and more. We’ve had a ton of fun designing and playing this format, and we think it is definitely worth trying out. After we gather feedback from all of you as well as the event held in Memphis, we’ll post an update with our next steps for the Skirmish format.
Please email gamefeedback@wizkids.com if you would like to send us comments about Skirmish format (Please note that we will not be able to reply to all of these emails, but we will be reading and taking your concerns into consideration).
We’re very excited to introduce this new format to everyone, and we hope you enjoy trying it out. Thank you for reading and being a part of the HeroClix community.
Until next time, keep on Clixin’!
