Marvel Heroclix: 2099 previews

[drunken_mage]

You guessed it, the newest collector's set after Invincible and Green Lantern Corps will be a set devoted to the characters of 2099. This set will be available to those who buy it by the brick for the next Marvel booster set, called Supernova, reputed to be another cosmic themed set in the fashion of Critical Mass.

Nothing yet is known about this set, obviously, but I'd like to know from anyone who reads this set what characters they'd like to see. Current hopefuls are:

Doom
Punisher
Ravager
Ghost Rider
Hulk

We don't really need another Spider Man 2099, since one was already made.

Thoughts?

[shadowawn]

heroclix does not need any more spidermen.  from what i can put together they are missing capt. universe spiderman and the amazing bagman that is it do he and wolverine realy need to be in every set.  not that dc does not do the same thing with batman and superman

[drunken_mage]

Actually DC doesn't really do that much. Batman wasn't in Collateral Damage, and Superman wasn't in Legacy. And for other sets (unleashed and cosmic justice) they were only uniques. Wolverine and Spider-man have had an REV in almost every set.

[drunken_mage]

And the full confirmed list of characters for the 2099 collectors set...as seen in the latest issue of Inquest.

Doom
Punisher
Ghost Rider
Hulk
Ravage
Junkpile
Meanstreak

Punisher and Ghost Rider make this set for me. Now I have to get the set.

[drunken_mage]

And the dials are upon us! I've got four out of the seven characters to show you, so let's get right to it.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12370
First, Ghost Rider. Not at all as straightforward as you might think, he's got a very good mix of abilities for only 60 points. Charge for his first three clicks lets him get in, and stealth for three after that let him get away and hide. Three slots of blades starting on his second click allow him to really bring the pain, especially mixed with that charge. Defensively he could probably use some improvement, with the prominent exception of his starting defense of 18 with toughness. After that his defense pretty much drops like a rock, going down to 16 with willpower for two clicks. He gets a slight boost with combat reflexes for three slots after that, and then ends with a slot of regen. Finally on his last three clicks he also has plasticity, allowing him to get away from combat so that he can utilize that regen.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12372
Next we have Junkpile. At 92 points with the Shield TA, this guy also is not as straightforward as expected. Yes he's a brick, but there's something really interesting about him. Let's start with what's normal, a full dial of super strength and a few ending slots of CCE. Those are things we expect. He starts with invulnerability then switches to impervious. That's not so bad. What's really interesting are the three slots of regen smack dab in the middle of the dial!! Of course after those he gets invul back. When it comes to playing this guy people are going to have fun putting Auto Regen on him and seeing what he can do.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12373
Meanstreak was 2099's speedster. I'd say he lives up to it pretty well. 71 points with the Ultimate X-Men team ability (the regular TA just wouldn't make sense, seeing as 2099 was a much darker setting), he's got four clicks of hypersonic speed: two up front and two at the end. In the middle of all that speed are three clicks of flurry. Defensively he's got a lot going on. Three slots of super senses start things off, and then he gets boosts first from combat reflexes and then from ES/D. Pretty average stats keep him in the game for most of his dial.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12374
Finally (for now) we have the Punisher. 104 points and the Minions of Doom TA, this guy lives up to his reputation as Doom's Minister of Punishment. He's pretty nasty all around, both at range and in melee. The first half of his dial is all about range, with running shot, energy explosion, RCE, and some psychic blast in the middle. The back half is when he becomes more of a brawler, with flurry, combat reflexes, and exploit weakness. He also has energy explosion during those clicks, but you'll want him in close to take advantage of those other powers. Let's not forget his four clicks of toughness up front for protection, as well as an ending slot of willpower (while he has flurry and EW) with a nice defense boost to 17. Throw in the fact that he's a wildcard and you've got a very good package.

All we've got left are Doom, Ravage, and Hulk. Here's hoping they put them up soon.

[drunken_mage]

And we have two more of the dials for the 2099 set, and here they are for you.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12371
Here we have The Hulk, an absolute beast of a figure as he always should be. I'm pretty sure (even though you can't tell on the website) that he's a giant figure, which absolutely makes sense for him, especially being 123 points. He's got the basic package that we've seen for Hulks in the past, including leap/climb, super strength for most of his dial, full damage reducers with impervious in the middle and some battle fury. He also gets some flurry and CCE  in the middle of his dial, and two ending slots of both quake and regen. Where he's different from other Hulks is that he doesn't have to "Hulk up." He starts at his best with his highest attack and defense values, and they just drop from there. His attack doesn't really drop all that far or that fast, but still. And the fact that he can flurry at someone from two squares away is fantastic.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12375
And here we have Ravage. For 60 points this guy is pretty darn good. Purely close combat, this guy excels when he gets in close. The only attack powers he has are a single click of super strength and a single click of blades, both up front, but he remains extremely effective even without. Leap/climb let's him get into combat quickly, and flurry let's him keep attacking; then charge dominates the back half of his dial. His defenses are quite diverse, with toughness, combat reflexes, and super senses all pitching in to keep him protected, and regen at the end to keep him in the game. On top of everything else he has CCE all over his dial, beginning, end, and middle, so he can always do a good amount of damage.

Only one left is Doom, and from what I hear he's quite good.

[drunken_mage]

And now my final review for 2099: DOOM!!

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12369
At 150 points with his own TA, this guy is really efficient. Of course it's Doom, so you'd expect him to be great. He's got probably the shortest range of any Doom figure at a 6, but he has two targets to make up for that. He can also make good use of those targets with two slots of energy explosion up front, which he can fire off while hiding in stealth. After that he switches to some running shot for two clicks, and gets psychic blast for four! Right away he's protected by three slots of invul and four of outwit, but even after those go away he gets super senses, probability control, and a single slot of toughness. At the end he gets three slots of phasing, which will let him get away to use his ending two slots of regen. Of course, you may want to wait on healing him, considering his final slot of RCE. On top of all this, he has a consistently high attack value, with 9 being the lowest he's got. All of this for 150 points? You better believe it.

I'll be ordering mine soon.