Heroclix – Brave and the Bold

Published: April 29th, 2010
Posted in: Games
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By Tom Brandt

Well it’s been a busy couple of weeks for Heroclix.  The last two weeks have seen some great attendance numbers with eleven opening week and nine this last week.  This is partially due to the fact that The Brave and the Bold is a great set and people want to get their hands on it.  What better way is there than sealed to play some random fun characters?  Let’s take a closer look into some of them.

To start, the commons in this set are almost all very useful.  The league of assassins characters have to be my personal favorite.  They have stealth and can put out some serious damage for low point costs between their blades and exploit weakness.  Also, the alternate team ability is amazing.  The numerous checkmate agents all have powers and abilities that compliment many other team members.  The battlefield promotion that the pawns have can be an interesting mechanic if you are able to pull it off.  The alter ego characters, with Bruce Wayne, Diana Prince, Clark Kent, and Jason Blood all are efficient for what they do.  The best part about these characters is after they take a large hit, they can bring in another useful character that is able to do some damage back.

The uncommons have a few gems as well.  Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman all fit in this category and have new interesting takes on these characters.  The Superman character is a great piece for the power-set that he has, but has low attack rating.  The Batman lacks the characteristic outwit that most have, but has exploit weakness to compensate.  The Wonder Woman piece is capable of doing tremendous damage with flurry and super strength.  Mademoiselle Marie (try saying that five times fast) is a great low cost shooter similar to winter soldier from the avengers set.  The sensei has about the best last click power out there with his ability to hit all enemies in a row or column.  I cannot forget to mention Talia, who has outwit and the batman and superman team abilities.  This combo lets her outwit through stealthed characters and not be countered in return.  Awesome!

The rares have a number of interesting pieces and are generally larger powerhouses.  Kryptonite man has an ability that hinders superman characters and allies.  The new Metallo is a beast for both doing damage and taking it.  The wizard Shazam! is a great dual identity piece, switching between being a slow moving shooter to hypersonic nightmare.  Black Flash is comparable to the amazing KC Flash in both maneuverability and survivability.  One of my personal favorites has to be the Martian Manhunter, who despite lacking super strength, makes the best representation of the character yet.  Mmmm, Oreo cookies…

The super-rares in this set all have one thing in common; they are all duo figures.  Whether or not you are a big fan of duos (and personally I’m not a big one), I would have to say that Wizkids/NECA did make them quite interesting this go around.  The Flashes are mobile for most of their dial, but the middle section gives them the ability to hit anyone anywhere on the map, with a few small restrictions.  When this duo is on it’s last click, they are able to re-arrange reality as a parting gift by moving 300 pts worth of characters and objects around wherever they want.  Superman and Flash re-enact the great races that they have had each time they are played.  The way this works is that you start with a few of both of their powers and eventually you as the player get to pick the winner of the race.  The significance in the game is that you get powers based on who you pick.  Superman is tough, but slightly less mobile.  Flash is fast, but fragile.  Shazam! and Black Adam is probably my favorite duo in the set.  You are able to pick either character or both at the same time.  This allows you a lot of flexibility for one character.

The chase figures in this set are all Black Lanterns from the latest series Blackest Night.  While they are extremely rare, they are also well sculpted and fun to play.  None of them are overpowering or must have figures, but they all have places on teams and would be great to try as a set.  The most highly sought after one has to be Kal-El with the huge damage he can put out in close combat and his ability to heal himself with each KO’d character around him.

In closing, I wasn’t really sold on this set prior to release.  I didn’t like the selection and thought duos were going to be the standard unplayable variety.  Upon seeing the set in action and getting some ideas of combos with older sets, I started to enjoy a large number of the figures.  The duos themselves were all well done in terms of creativity and most are highly playable as well.  Here is a few of the things you can do with this set’s selection…

Here is what I like to call, “Where is the phone booth?”
Bruce Wayne/Batman  – 48
Clark Kent/Superman – 48
Diana Prince/Wonder Woman – 32
Jason Blood/Etrigan – 44
Martian Manhunter – 202
Cave Carson – 24
Total 398

While this won’t be winning any worlds tournaments, it still is a great way to play a lot of fun characters and get a lot of support powers all on one team.  Anyways, thanks for reading!  Mikron says, “How about a big ol’ hug!”