Our friends at Dial H will present some awesome team-building ideas each week leading up to WizKids Worlds! Here is a note from them:

Welcome back to another Creative Construction! This week, we look at some very defensive teams, as well as a fun mission point build to try out in Pulp.

For more information on Theme, Pulp, and other HeroClix formats check out the article HERE.

In case you missed it, you can read last week’s Creative Construction article HERE.

The big, bad, and iron clad theme of Armor kicks off this week’s article series! First up is Iron Hammer, the focal point of the build. With Improved Targeting, Penetrating/Psychic Blast and Precision Strike from the Spectral Ring, he’ll be able to do massive damage from just about anywhere to the right targets. He’ll also be equipped with the Remaker Ring to give him access to Shape Change in addition to traited CHEST-MOUNTED B.I.F.R.O.S.T Super Senses. Following up Iron Hammer is the ever so popular Sakaarian Iron Man, who will serve as a great secondary attacker. The rest of the team is focused around defense, with Demon in an Armor handing out a 19 Defend via Captain Carter’s Shield, and King Killmonger (or Iron Inquisitor!) providing the defensive tools they need to stay healthy. Lastly, a recurring figure in the theme builds, Legacy Green Lantern, provides more defensive utility via the trait OAN AMBASSADOR OF THE U.N and the equipped Emotional Modifier. With everything working in tandem, this may be one tough suit of armor to crack!

Tarot cards are a fun way to spice up your HeroClix game. Find out more about Tarot Cards in the Design Insights article HERE. When you are ready to take it to the next level, you can read more about harnessing the strategy of Tarot HERE.

Silver Age allows us to pull figures from the past, so why not do just that and bring the Past to your present? This Past team is heavily defensive. Captain Carter with her shield Defends a 19, with an additional +1 to all adjacent friendly characters. Sheriff Steve makes it so opposing characters can’t positively modify their attack values when targeting adjacent friendly characters. Those two effects combined force an opposing team to roll above average to hit. The rest of the team limits costed action totals, and also limits FREE actions to the same total. The combination of Merlyn and Spider-Man 1776 offers not only two Perplexes, but can also drop an opposing force’s action total to two per turn, limiting their FREE actions to two per turn as well. With a solid defensive shell in place and tempo controlled, Professor Moriarty can remove team abilities that may be crucial or protect the opposing figures from being outwitted. This will allow for your Outwits to get through, letting Spider-Man 1776 come in and deal massive damage.

Tarot Spotlight: The Tower
May all your rolls be critical… misses? Shut down your opponent with The Tower, which makes every miss a critical miss. Just don’t let The Tower fall on you!

Are Mission Points a viable strategy in Pulp Format? There’s only one way to find out… Thus begins: Mission Im-Pulp-sible

Maps are especially important for this team. Choosing a 16×16 map can be great for getting Mission Points as quickly as possible. The Main Mission Point generator on this force is Red X, who can generate an Evil Pizza Oven marker in a square within 3 squares of an opponent’s starting area at the beginning of the game. Simply put, each turn that there are more friendly force members than opposing force members near the Evil Pizza Oven, you will gain three Mission Points (MP). Since the Evil Pizza Oven is placed three squares away from an opposing starting area, Teen Lantern carrying Mary Jane’s Paparazzi bystanders will be excellent to start racking up Mission Points quickly. It’s also perfect for Kate Pryde, who can generate a Stranded Mutant bystander while she occupies an opposing starting area. To gain more mission points, you can utilize Franklin and Tempo to help return those Stranded Mutants to your starting area, granting four MP for doing so. Maxwell Lord can also net an additional two MP per turn by using Mind Control, or it can be triggered when The Brain uses Mind Control as well. When playing this team, it’s important to be mindful of Pulse Wave, as that can cause some issues for larger teams. If you lose some figures on your force, though, there’s always Peacemaker on the sideline to step in.

This Pulp team comes somewhat bona fide, as parts are borrowed from the Michigan State Pulp Champion, Norman Corrion. The key combo here starts with Dr. Moira Mactaggart loading Rally Die onto Mister Sinister and Scarlet Witch. Their Rally abilities, combined with two uses of Probability Control from Scarlet Witch and Leader, allows the team to force misses on opposing attackers. Defensively that may not be enough, but Fred provides Defend, and Symbiote is an economical tie-up piece that can lock down dangerous ranged attackers. Red Skull can dish out plenty of damage on his own, but he also provides Outwit and the potential to generate Hydra Agents, who present a decent threat with Pulse Wave. This team’s general damage output isn’t high, but Misty Knight helps by providing a damage increase for either close or range attacks each turn.