Greetings HeroClix Fans!
Today we are continuing the previews for the DC Comics HeroClix: The Joker’s Wild! set, by looking at the rest of the figures in the Batman and His Greatest Foes Fast Forces Pack and showcasing an easily built 300-point team you can field straight out of the box!
Last time, in the DC HeroClix: The Joker’s Wild!- Fast Forces Part I, we looked at The Riddler, The Penguin, and Mr. Freeze, so let’s continue by introducing the Power Couple of Crime in Gotham City. Minding my manners, it’s ladies first of course, here’s Harley Quinn!
Harley Quinn is 50 points of deadlier-than-she-looks trouble. With Arkham Asylum and Gotham City as natural keywords and the Batman Enemy team ability, she gets a load of damage potential out of the pairing of Flurry and Blades/Claws/Fangs; especially with an 11 attack value on her second click, representing her pet hyenas. Her synergy doesn’t stop there; on defense, she has the special My Babies Keep Me Hoppingletting her use Combat Reflexes and Super Senses along with mid-dial Perplex and an uptick in her base damage value from 2 to 3. She finishes her dial with regular Super Senses and a special power on movement, Ya Didn’t Notice I Had A Hammer?, which lets her take a free action once per game to equip her with the Harley’s Hammer special object, also included in the Fast Forces, from outside the game for free.
While she is equipped with the hammer, Harley Quinn also gets Charge in addition to Quake and Giant Reach 2 granted by the hammer itself; there is the risk, however, that the hammer will break. She’ll be a smashing success at making her Puddin’ proud. Speaking of her Puddin’….
There he is, looking deadly and dapper as ever in his trademark purple suit, spats, slicked green hair, walking stick and ready to make your acquaintance with a big smile and vigorous handshake. At 75 points, The Joker is Never As Dead As You’d Expect; his trait is sure to keep you laughing and your opponents in stitches for a long time. At the beginning of your turn, if The Joker took damage since your last turn, you roll a d6 die and heal him half the result. If he takes a hit and is still standing, that is a guaranteed 1 click heal, and if you roll well with a 5 or 6, you get half his dial back! Just hitting him can be tricky with a whole dial full of Super Senses. The rest of his dial and powers jump back and forth between combinations of Stealth and Outwit, Poison and Perplex, or Incapacitate and Probablity Control. His attack value is never particularly stellar topping out at 9, but that is what the Batman Enemy team ability is for along with his Arkham Asylum, Gotham City, and Monster keywords. That’s a lot of villainy but the joke is on them because we also have Batman in the Fast Forces Pack who is ready to take on multiple bad guys at once.
At 75 points, Batman has left his utility belt and fancy vehicles back at the cave and is bringing old school justice to Gotham with enough knuckle sandwiches for everybody. With his trait Student Of All Martial Arts,he can use Toughness to get the most out of his 7 click dial and also increase his attack value by +1 for each adjacent opposing character, which is even more impressive considering he already starts with an 11 attack value. He is ready for engaging several bad guys in one close combat action with his movement special Hit You With My Hands And Feet that lets him make a close attack targeting all adjacent opposing characters and deal normal damage to each one. Batman’s defense special power Equilibrium, Balance, and All Things In Order starts him off with Combat Reflexes and Willpower. Should the future Arkham inmates he squares off against do some damage, they have even more trouble to deal with when he picks up Close Combat Expert and Flurry; and, though he loses the special power on defense, he keeps Combat Reflexes for his whole dial. If you can manage to keep him in the shadows with his Stealth-granting Batman team ability, he can avoid having his powers countered as well as avoid most ranged attacks. As for keywords, he is the perfect close combat centerpiece for a Batman Family, Gotham City, Detective, or Martial Artist themed team.
Now, focusing on the villains, let’s build a 300-point team out of the DC HeroClix: Batman and His Greatest Foes Fast Forces Pack.
25 The Penguin
50 The Riddler
50 Harley Quinn –Harley’s Hammer kept on sideline
75 The Joker
100 Mr. Freeze
Total of 300 points, Gotham City themed team, +5 initiative roll, 3 uses of Themed Team Probability Control
The Penguin gets to sit back and put his Loyalty token to work, increasing the range and attack value of a friendly character. It’s not a bad idea to keep The Riddler adjacent to help The Penguin’s attack value with the Batman Enemy team ability and to use free actions to move your Loyalty token to where you need it most. The Penguin himself isn’t likely to be doing much, but with Willpower up front he is an excellent choice for using your Themed Team Probability Controls. Keep Mr. Freeze shooting at mid-range and locking up the opposing team with Frozen tokens, while letting The Joker and Harley Quinn get close enough to do what they do best. If you need something more to keep an opposing ranged attacker occupied, send in The Riddler as he has a strong likelihood of dodging their attacks. If you come up against a Batman, like the one in this pack, use your Perplexes on your attack values, as getting a hit to stick is going to be more important in the long run than doing more damage.
That’s all for today, HeroClix fans! Stay tuned as we continue to review more figures and team-building strategies from DC HeroClix: The Joker’s Wild!. Don’t forget to visit the WizKids Info Network to find HeroClix Release Day Events and tournaments near you. Visit your FLGS next week to pick up the Batman and His Greatest Foes Fast Forces Pack and The Joker and Harley Quinn Dice & Token Packs!
Until next time, just keep them in your line of fire.
