Greetings HeroClix Fans!
To celebrate today’s release, we have a team building and strategy article featuring characters from the new Marvel HeroClix: Uncanny X-Men 5 figure booster set with the Marauders keyword.
This set offers a plethora of mid to low point options for building a versatile team in the standard 300 point format. There are 14 figures in the Marvel HeroClix: Uncanny X-Men set alone that have the Marauderskeyword so let’s focus in on a few of them and build a team that covers all the basic utilities that make up a well-rounded 300 point HeroClix force.
First, here is what the team build looks like, point values listed before the character:
95 Mister Sinister
75 Sabretooth
60 John Greycrow
40 Vanisher
30 Scrambler
300 Total points
+5 to Initiative Map Roll, 3 uses of Themed Team Probability Control
First, it should be noted that most of the members of this team have the Mutant Massacre trait which lets you either increase certain combat values on whoever possesses the trait, or heal them of 1 damage after an opposing character is KO’d for the first time on any of your turns. You make this choice for each character with the trait after actions resolve, so plan your actions carefully and you can KO an opposing piece and set up the rest of your team for better attacks or heal some or all of them up a click. Don’t be afraid to push if it means you can get to that first KO in a turn; Mutant Massacre can heal your pushing damage!
Now, on to team building. Most well rounded teams have a primary and perhaps a secondary close or range focused attackers, a tie-up or disruption piece, a team transport or placement piece, and/or a piece occupying a supporting role. With these five characters we pretty much hit all of the bases.
Considering all of the pieces from highest to lowest point value we’ll start with the team leader and creator of the Marauders, Mr. Sinister.
Mr. Sinister fills multiple roles at once; so much so that he can almost be whatever you need him to be at any given moment. Starting with Stealth and Penetrating/Psychic Blast, a respectable attack and damage value, and a 6 square range value he can make a solid primary or secondary ranged attacker. Or, you can use his special power on damage Get Back In The Fight to put him in more of a team boosting and support role. With that power he can use Leadership and Support but when he uses Support and heals a character with the Marauders keyword, after actions resolve he can exchange the places of the healed character and another friendly Maruaders keyword character within 8 squares of himself. Healing someone and getting them back onto the front lines can make a crucial difference in almost any game of HeroClix.
Next up we have our two main attack pieces, Sabretooth for primary up close fighting and John Greycrowfor secondary ranged attack back up. Both characters have the Mutant Massacre trait so don’t be shy about pushing either of them to make a hit. Sabretooth gets into the fight with Charge, Toughness, Battle Fury, and a special attack power Massacres Are My Specialty that lets him use Blades/Claws/Fangs, and if given a close action he can make any number of close attacks against adjacent opposing characters, though each character can only be targeted once. That means he can charge into a large grouping of opposing characters and attack each one once while rolling a D6 to determine his damage with each attack.
While Sabretooth is tearing up the main bulk of the opposing team, John Greycrow can use Running Shot with his long 7 range reach to stay back, and make use of his trait, Making Weapons To Hunt. Making Weapons To Hunt lets him take a power action to equip a standard object token in the same or an adjacent square and either gain the use of Precision Strike if it’s a light object or Penetrating/Psychic Blast if it’s a heavy object. So whether you need to bust through damage reducing powers, or circumvent Super Senses or Mastermind, John Greycrow will keep some of the heat off of Sabretooth, or KO an opposing character to trigger Mutant Massacre while having Sabretooth get to work with his potential 13 attack value!
After our main attackers we have to consider how the team is going to be getting around. That is where Vanisher comes in. Though he lacks the Mutant Massacre trait, he does have the Brotherhood of Mutantsteam ability that lets him take a move action that does not count against your standard number of actions each turn. He also has the special movement power Into the Darkforce that lets him use Phasing/Teleport, Stealth, and gain the ability to carry up to three characters. With a very large 12 movement, he can carry Mr. Sinister, John Greycrow, and Scrambler into position right on your first turn! (Remember, he cannot carrySabretooth because of Battle Fury). You can start to see that Vanisher synergizes very well with his Maruaders teammates if you keep him close to Mr. Sinister. Push Vanisher but stay close to Mr. Sinister; that way if Sabretooth or John Greycrow are severely damaged you can use Mr. Sinister to heal Vanisher with Support and switch places with his more wounded teammate thanks to Get Back In The Fight. Then, on a following turn, Mr. Sinister can heal them too and switch with Vanisher again to return them to the fray.
Lastly we have our support/disruption piece, Scrambler. He has Stealth and a special Outwit, Just One Touch, that can only be used to target adjacent opposing characters regardless of line of fire, but cancels all powers currently showing on their dial. There is no doubt about it, Scrambler has to get close to the action to have any effect at all and won’t be doing a lot of damage himself, if any; but for 30 points he is an expert at scrambling an opponent’s plans and is the perfect piece to receive an action token for using a Themed Team Probability Control.
So there you have it, a tightly knit and synergistic 300 point Marauders keyword Themed Team is ready to rampage the Morlock Tunnels and find Mr. Sinister some more mutant DNA with which to experiment, if only those pesky and insignificant X-Men don’t interfere! Visit your FLGS today to pick up the new Marvel HeroClix: Uncanny X-Men set and find Release Day events in the WizKids Info Network.
Until next time, hit that hard six on your Blades/Claws/Fangs rolls!
