It had been about 4 years since I had gotten Heroclix to the table, but my interest in the game finally came back around with the announcement of a rules revision and interesting new sets that had been released since I played the game. I wanted an opportunity to try the latest ruleset, which is debuting with the Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary set that releases at the end of April 2021. Wizkids was kind enough to release the rules for that set online in advance, so it was time to relearn the game with these rules in front of me. In looking at the products that had released since I stopped playing, I noticed that Wizkids had now produced a couple of standalone boxed sets that contained a campaign you could play through. I bought them all, and first to the table was the Fantastic Four: Cosmic Clash boxed game that included the titular Fantastic Four, as well as Dr. Doom, Silver Surfer, and a number of bystander tokens for Doom's henchmen.
The included campaign is a branching storyline that features a variety of maps, forces and win conditions for each side. Each mission in the campaign has a corresponding card that provides the forces, map, rules and victory conditions for each side. There are 8 mission cards included in the box, for scenarios A-H. Note that since this is a branching campaign, you will only ever play 4 of the 8 scenarios over the course of a single campaign, and will be directed to a specific scenario based on who won or lost the previous one. What follows is my very amateur attempt to play through the campaign solo with the new 2021 ruleset. Let's start with the figures included in the set:
Forces
ffcc003e The Thing
Team: Fantastic Four
Range: 0 :bolt:
Points: 100/75
Keywords: Fantastic Four, Guardians of the Galaxy, Celebrity
(Special) It's Clobberin' Time: POWER: If no other friendly character has been placed this turn, choose an opposing character that's within 4 squares of a friendly character with the Fantastic Four keyword that was attacked since your last turn. Place The Thing such that he can make a close attack targeting the chosen character, then do so. If he hits and his attack roll is 10+, after resolutions remove an action token from him.
(Speed) SOMETIMES YOU GOTTA BREAK STUFF: Charge, Improved Movement: This character can move through Blocking terrain. Immediately after movement resolves, destroy all Blocking terrain moved through.
(Defense) Ain't Feelin' So Good, Stretcho: STOP, but only if another friendly character with the Fantastic Four keyword is on the map. Invulnerability.
ffcc001e Mr. Fantastic
Team: Fantastic Four
Range: 0 :bolt:
Points: 100/75
Keywords: Celebrity, Fantastic Four, Illuminati, Scientist
(Special) I'm Pretty Good at Multi-Tasking: Plasticity, Shape Change. When Mr. Fantastic uses Shape Change, after resolutions place that D6 with that result on this card, replacing any here. Giant Reach: X, where X is 2 or the value of that die on this card, whichever is greater.
(Defense) We're Going to be fine, Sue: STOP, but only if another friendly character with the Fantastic Four keyword is on the map. Super Senses.
(Damage) You'll find Mr. Fantastic more than a match for you, Every Time: Leadership, Outwit. FREE: Choose an opposing character of higher points within 4 squares and line of fire and a power (standard or special) they can use. The chosen character can't use that power until your next turn.
ffcc002 Invisible Woman
Team: Fantastic Four
Range: 5 :bolt::bolt:
Points: 100/75
Keywords: Celebrity, Fantastic Four, Lady Liberators, Scientist
(Special) Hide and Seek: FREE: Choose one: Until your next turn, opposing characters can't target Invisible Woman unless they began their turn within 3 squares of her -or- Terrain markers are considered clear for line of fire this turn, if Invisible Women is within 4 squares of them.
(Defense) You'd Be Surprised What Lengths I Can Go When Pushed: Barrier, Toughness, Willpower. When Invisible Woman uses Barrier, after resolutions you may knock back 2 squares any number of opposing characters adjacent to these markers.
(Damage) Johnny, Stay With Me!: STOP, but only if another friendly character with the Fantastic Four keyword is on the map. Shape Change.
ffcc004 Human Torch
Team: Fantastic Four
Range: 7 :bolt::bolt:
Points: 100/75
Keywords: Celebrity, Herald, Fantastic Four, Inhumans, Spider-Man Family
(Special) Flame Trail: Once per turn for all characters with this trait, when Human Torch moves, after resolutions choose a character he moved through or adjacent to and deal it 1 penetrating damage.
(Attack) Flame On: Poison, but may use it even if moved or placed this turn.
(Defense) Ben? Where Are you?: STOP, but only if another friendly character with the Fantastic Four keyword is on the map. Energy Shield/Deflection.
ffcc005 Dr. Doom
Team: Minions of Doom
Range: 7 :bolt::bolt::bolt:
Points: 300/200/100
Keywords: Cabal, Latveria, Armor, Cosmic, Mystical, Politician, Ruler, Scientist
(Special) ONLY DOOM IS FIT TO RULE: Leadership, but instead removes the action token from himself. When Dr. Doom uses it and succeeds, until your next turn he has Improved Targeting: Hindering and PROTECTED: Mind Control, Outwit. // Other powers and abilities can't remove action tokens from Dr. Doom.
(Attack) PHOTON ARRAY: Energy Explosion. // When Dr. Doom hits with a ranged attack, after resolutions give each hit character an action token. If you can't, deal that character 1 penetrating damage.
(Defense) YOU HAVE ANGERED DOOM!: STOP. Toughness. When Dr. Doom is targeted by an attack, you may choose a standard defense power that you haven't chosen this turn. Dr. Doom can use that power for this attack.
(Damage) FEW MEN ARE AS SUBTLE AS DR. DOOM: Outwit. FREE: Choose an opposing character of lower points within 4 squares and line of fire and a power (standard or special) they can use. The chosen character can't use that power until your next turn.
ffcc006 Silver Surfer
Team: Defenders|Power Cosmic
Range: 8 :bolt:
Points: 300/200/100
Keywords: Annihilators, Cosmic, Defenders, Herald
(Improved) Movement: Characters
(Special) Behold the Power Cosmic!: FREE: Choose a standard attack power. Until your next turn Silver Surfer can use the chosen power and characters he hits can't use the chosen power.
(Speed) The Surfer Soars: Hypersonic Speed. When Silver Surfer uses it, he may be given a RANGE action at no cost instead of making an attack.
(Damage) Tracking the Subatomic Across Space: FREE: Choose an Improved Targeting ability except [Improved Targeting: Blocking] to use until your next turn. (He may choose [Improved Targeting: Once per range attack, this character can draw a line of fire through one piece of Blocking terrain. Immediately after the attack resolves, destroy that piece of Blocking terrain.])
The Campaign
Scenario A: Yancy Street Gang
The premise for the first scenario is that Ben Grimm (aka The Thing) has bought a gift for Alicia Masters and is on his way home when he is accosted by the Yancy Street Gang who proceeds to steal his gift. The map used is Yancy Street, and it features a 75 point Thing vs. 6 Yancy Gang bystanders. The special rule for this scenario is that instead of KOing the bystanders, Thing frisks them looking for his stolen gift, causing the token to flip over. On the reverse side of one of the tokens is a Yancy Street Pickpocket. If Thing reveals this token, then he wins the scenario, and if he is KOd, then he loses. The other special rule for the scenario is that Thing takes one unavoidable damage each time he clears action tokens, so there's a bit of a time limit before Thing exhausts himself looking for the pickpocket. On the flip side, if none of the Yancy Street Gang attack in a round, then they get a Bad Reputation token, which gives Thing an increasing chance to flip one of the bystanders over for free as more of those tokens get accumulated.
The Thing started the first round by running up towards the gang on the opposite side of the map. The Yancy Street Gang returned the favor by moving three of their number forward, and sidestepping a couple of spaces closer to The Thing. They all have precision strike, so they will be doing 1 damage at a minimum to Thing if they hit. Unfortunately, none of them attack this round, so they get their first Bad Reputation token.
In the second round, Thing uses charge to move into one of the gang and hits him with a 17, flipping the token to reveal a Latverian Explosion. Now, the rules for the scenario didn't specify what happens to the tokens that flip to their reverse, except to say that they stay on the map. I decided that that meant that the reverse side of the token is treated as an enemy still, with whatever is there; in this case, a Latverian Explosion. Unfortunately for that poor explosion, it rolls a critical miss and dies on the same round it is revealed.
The Thing is forced to clear his action tokens, and takes a damage as a result of the scenario rules for doing so. Meanwhile, a few of the Yancy Gang take some swings at our ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing, and one gets through, dealing another damage.
Down a couple clicks, Thing now has Flurry, which allows him to attack twice. One attack reveals another Latverian Explosion, while the other reveals the Pickpocket. Thing wins the Scenario! The scenario card tells us to proceed to Scenario B.
Scenario B: Protect the Lab
Doom wins the roll off for first turn, and begins by sending out a wave of Doombots towards the research tokens, and is able to get one of them to the nearest batch of tokens at C11. Meanwhile, the FF fan out to stop them.
In the second round, the action heats up as the Doom player scores 25 points and removes a token from C11, while a Doombot uses running shot to send a shot at the Human Torch, missing on a 17 thanks to his Energy Shield/Deflection. The other Doombots continue moving out of the starting zone. Thing then uses his "It's Clobberin Time!" ability to be placed next to the Doombot that took a shot at Human Torch, and attacks it. The Doombot fails it's Shape Change roll, but Thing misses his attack with a 14. The Human Torch then uses Running Shot to move to J11 and unleash a Pulse Wave with Ranged Combat Expert on 3 Doombots, and hits on a 23. All 3 of the Doombots are destroyed, and the Fantastic Four player gets 75 points as a result. Reed also moves up and Sue clears her action token.
Round three begins with the Doom player scoring another 25 points from C11, bringing him to 50 total. He then creates 2 Doombots, spawning them in the starting zone. Doom then uses Running Shot to move to F9, in range of Human Torch, Mr. Fantastic and Thing, hitting all three of them with a 21 to hit on doubles. Mr. Fantastic fails his Super Senses roll, and takes 3 damage and an action token (thanks to Doom's Photon Array). The Thing reduces his damage taken to 1 due to Invulnerability, along with an action token, and Human Torch takes 3 damage, but cannot take another action token, so he takes an additional damage. All 3 of them are also knocked back, but in this new ruleset, there is no knockback damage now. Still, ouch! A couple of Doombots move up and then Sue takes a potshot and misses while the rest of the FF clear their action tokens.
Round four has Doom score the final research token from C11, for a total of 75 points. Doom also succeeds on his Leadership roll for "Only Doom is fit to rule!", removing an action token from him and allowing him to use improved targeting (hindering) this round. Doom then shoots at Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch and Thing again, but misses this time. Three of his Doombots then move, and one gets to the objective on K7. Human Torch then uses Running Shot to get adjacent to Doom and within range of three Doombots, and Pulse Waves, hitting on a 19. All the Doombots die and Doom himself takes a damage. The Fantastic Four player scores 75 points, bringing him up to 150 total. Halfway there! Doom then takes one more damage from Human Torch's Flame Trail ability. Sue and Reed fail to get away from the Doombot adjacent to them.
Round five sees Doom pass his leadership check again, and create two more Doombots. Unfortunately, Doom and his Doombots miss all of their attacks on the FF this turn, while Human Torch continues to use Pulse Wave to great effect, destroying another two Doombots for a total of 200 points. Sue uses Telekinesis to move the Doombot away from herself and Reed while Thing charges into another Doombot, but it passes it's Shape Change roll and no damage is dealt.
In Round six, Doom fails his leadership, but creates a couple more Doombots. He then uses Regeneration to heal himself 3 clix with the roll of a 6! The Doombot that Thing failed to hit retaliates and manages to deal Thing one damage with Precision Strike, while the other Doombots move around the map. Mr. Fantastic moves and Sue sidesteps while Thing tries "It's Clobberin' Time!" on Doom, but misses. Sue and Johnny then clear their action tokens.
Round seven is where things start to take a turn for the Fantastic Four, who have been happily blowing up Doombots and smacking Doom around for most of the game. Doom fails his Leadership roll, but creates a couple of Doombots, and most importantly uses Outwit to negate Human Torch's Energy Shield/Deflection. The Doombots then use Running shot to deal the final click of damage necessary to KO Human Torch, giving Doom 75 much-needed points, bringing him to a total of 150. Doom then heals a click thanks to his Team Ability, as do the rest of the Fantastic Four thanks to their Team Ability. A Doombot also deals another damage to The Thing with a Running Shot and Precision Strike. Sue sidesteps and then attacks a couple of Doombots at range, but misses. Meanwhile, Mr. Fantastic takes a swing at Doom with Close Combat Expert and hits, dealing 4 damage thanks to Things Empower ability, but Doom reduces it to 2 with his Invulnerability. Thing clears his action tokens.
We're getting there! Round 8, Doom fails his Leadership, but his Doombot on K7 scores another 25 points from the research token, bringing Doom to 175 points. Doom then Pulse Waves, hitting on a 21 and dealing 1 damage to all three of the remaining FF characters. Doombots then proceed to rain fire down on the Thing, with two of them hitting and dealing a damage each, which KO's him. Doom is now at 250 points. Doom and the FF all heal a click thanks to their Team Abilities. Sue Sidesteps up to Doom and hits with an incapacitate, putting an action token on Doom while Reed clears.
Round 9! Doom fails his Leadership yet again, but the Doombot on K7 continues to put in work, scoring another 25 points, putting Doom at 275. This means that if the FF cannot stop that Doombot, or if Reed or Sue falls, Doom wins. Unfortunately, the Doombots aren't that competent, with one rolling a critical miss against Sue, KOing it and putting the FF player at 225 points. The FF decide that their only hope in succeeding is to win this turn. Reed sidesteps, breaking away from Doom and punches a Doombot, but it passes Shape Change, so he targets a different one, which also passes Shape Change, so he's forced to punch Doom and hits, dealing one damage from Precision Strike. Sue then swings directly at Doom in a last-ditch effort, dealing 3 damage, which is reduced to 2, but that's enough to KO Doom and win the scenario!
Scenario D: The Surfer Trap
Using the files in the destroyed Doombots and the research that they were gathering, Reed deduces Doom's plan to capture the Silver Surfer. The Fantastic Four arrive just in time to foil his plot and save the Silver Surfer! We'll be setting this one up on the Testing Grounds map, with the Doom player placing some defense turrets (Doombot bystanders with the Immobile special rule and 3 armor tokens, which get removed as they take damage) as well as a 200 point Dr. Doom against a 75 point Fantastic Four and a 300 point Silver Surfer. At the beginning of Doom's turn, he can roll 2d6 for "Cosmic Magnetism" and move Silver Surfer that many spaces. At the beginning of the Fantastic Four players turn, Silver Surfer takes D6 unavoidable damage if he's in hindering terrain. Finally, if Mr. Fantastic KO's a doombot, he puts it on his card. The Doom player wins if Silver Surfer is KOd, while the Fantastic Four player wins if Doom is KOd, or if he gets 3 Doombots on his card.
The Fantastic Four win the roll-off to go first, and open up with Human Torch using Running Shot to move adjacent to 2 Defense Turrets and hitting them with Energy Explosion, removing an armor token from both. They then lose another armor token from his Flame Trails. Sue uses Telekinesis to move Mr. Fantastic up, then he moves, getting into position for a Quake next turn. Doom's Cosmic Magnetism triggers, moving the Silver Surfer to M5 (hindering terrain). A couple of Defense Turrets take shots at Human Torch, and one hits. Torch fails his Super Senses, taking 2 damage.
Silver Surfer takes 3 damage from standing in some bushes to start the turn. Mr. Fantastic passes his Leadership to remove a token from Sue. Thing punches a Defense Turret in I8, removing the last Armor Token. Sue sidesteps and shoots at a defense turret, but misses. Mr. Fantastic uses Quake, but one of the turrets passes it's Shape Change, so only one goes on his card. Silver Surfer gives himself Penetrating/Psychic Blast and uses The Surfer Soars to move to N11 with Hypersonic Speed and shoot at Doom, giving himself Improved Targeting: Elevated. He hits on a 20 and deals 4 damage to Doom, then continues his movement to P12. Human Torch and Sue both take shots at Defense Turrets, but miss. Doom fails his Leadership, but uses Running Shot to move to J11 and Pulse Wave everyone but Sue. He misses, but uses Probability Control to reroll it into a hit on everyone but Silver Surfer, so everyone but him takes 1 damage.
Silver Surfer chooses to simply Pulse Wave where he is at the top of round three, targeting only Doom. He hits on an 18 and deals 4 damage, which is enough to KO Doom. The Fantastic Four win!
Scenario F: Apprehend Doom
The final scenario in my playthrough! Time to bring Doom to justice! The map is Doom's Castle, and we have all the FF and Silver Surfer at 100 points, against Doom at 300 points, five Doombots and two Latverian Engineers. The win conditions for both sides are the same: KO the enemy force! This is a battle to the bitter end.
Doom goes first and moves himself, 2 Doombots and a Latverian Engineer up the map. Silver Surfer stays up on the battlements while Sue and Human Torch carry Reed and Thing, ending on the other side of the giant Doom statue.
Doom fails his Leadership, and an engineer moves up. Both engineers perplex Doombots attack +1 and they Running Shot on Mr. Fantastic. He fails both Shape Change rolls, but only one hits. Reed fails his Super Senses and takes 2 damage. Another Doombot moves up and hits Thing, dealing 1 damage from Precision Strike. Doom and an Engineer clear action tokens. Reed fails his Leadership, and Sue uses Support, but fails to hit. Reed uses his Giant Reach granted by "I'm Pretty Good At Multitasking" and punches a Doombot, KOing it. Human Torch uses Running Shot to get up to K9, KOing the engineers, and dealing a damage to Doom with Flame Trails, he then shoots Doom who uses Energy Shield/Deflection, but it still his on a 21. Doom is taken down to his STOP click on click 5. Thing uses "It's Clobberin' Time" and places himself in M11 and takes 2 swings at the Doombot there with Flurry. He misses the first attack, but hits with the second. The Doombot fails Shape Change and is KOd. Surfer clears.
Doom fails his Leadership, and tries to Sidestep away from Torch, failing to break away. He tries to use Penetrating/Psychic Blast on Torch, but misses, even with Probability Control. The Doombot in G6 uses Running Shot to move to K6 and critically hits Human Torch, dealing 3 damage to him. The other two Doombots both miss against Torch. Reed fails his Leadership. Torch uses "Flame On!" to Poison Doom, dealing him 1 damage. Silver Surfer uses Running shot to move from B17 to E11, targeting a Doombot with Energy Explosion. He hits, but the Doombot passes Shape Change, as does every other Doombot, meaning that the only viable enemy target is Doom, who takes no damage, but the explosion does deal 2 damage to Human Torch. Ouch. Thing uses "It's Clobberin Time!" to be placed adjacent to Doom, but he misses both attacks. Reed moves to K8 while Sue and Torch clear action tokens.
Doom fails his Leadership, and manages to break away and Sidestep to H10. He then uses Outwit to remove Impervious from Thing, then shoots him, Torch and Silver Surfer with Penetrating/Psychic Blast, hitting on an 18. SS reduces the damage to 1 thanks to Invincibility, Thing takes all 3 damage, and Torch hits his STOP click. Doombots take potshots at Torch, with one hitting on a 21 which KOs him. Doom and the FF all heal 1 click thanks to their team abilities. Reed fails his Leadership and moves from M15 to J9. SS Running Shots from E11 to D12, using Pulse Wave on 2 Doombots and Doom himself, but misses. Reed and Thing clear action tokens.
Doom fails his Leadership. A Doombot shoots Thing and hits, dealing 1 damage. Doom outwits Sue's Telekinesis, and 2 Doombots and Doom clear. Reed fails his Leadership, Sue fails Willpower, but SS passes his Willpower, removing an action token. Surfer Pulse Waves again, but misses. Sue then Sidesteps adjacent to Doom and punches him, missing on a 17. Reed moves from J9 to I9. Thing uses Flurry on an adjacent Doombot, hitting with the second attack. The Doombot fails it's Shape Change roll and is KOd.
Doom fails his Leadership and tries to Sidestep, but fails to break away thanks to Mr. Fantastic's Plasticity. Doom shoots Reed, Thing and SS, hitting on a 21 with Penetrating/Psychic Blast. Reed passes his Super Senses on a 6, Thing hits his STOP click, and SS takes 3 damage. A lowly Doombot then shoots Thing and hits, KOing him. Doom and all the remaining FF heal a click thanks to Team Abilities. Another Doombot uses Running Shot on SS, but misses. Reed passes his Leadership, removing a token from Sue. Sue fails her Willpower roll, but SS passes his. Surfer then passes his breakaway and uses Running Shot to shoot Doom with a Penetrating/Psychic Blast, hitting on a 20 and dealing 3 damage, taking him to his STOP click on click 8. Sue breaks away from Doom and sidesteps, taking a shot at Doom and a Doombot, but misses. Reed Outwits Doom's Defense special power, and punches him, hitting on a 22 and dealing 3 damage.
Doom fails Leadership, and Outwits Reed's Damage special power. Doom then shoots at Reed, Sue and SS, critting on a 21 and dealing 4 damage to each. Reed fails his Super Senses and takes 4 damage, and Surfer is KOd. A Doombot then shoots at Sue, critting her and taking her down to her STOP click. The other Doombot, Reed and Sue all clear.
Doom fails his Leadership. A Doombot takes a shot at Sue, but misses her, while Doom and the other Doombot clear. Reed punches Doom, and hits on a 17, KOing him! But wait, it was a Doombot all along! The Doombot on G8 dies and Doom is placed there. Sue shoots at Doom but misses. Reed sidesteps to be adjacent to the new Doom.
Doom fails his Leadership. Doom Outwits Reed's Super Senses, then shoots Reed and Sue, hitting on a 19, KOing Sue and taking Reed to his STOP click. Reed heals from his Team Ability. A Doombot shoots at Reed, but he passes Super Senses on a 6. Reed punches Doom, hitting him on an 18 and KOing him, and it wasn't a Doombot this time!
The final Doombot shoots and misses, while Reed punches it with a 6 range close attack thanks to his "I'm Pretty Good at Multitasking" and hits on a 19. The Doombot fails it's Shape Change and is KOd. The Fantastic Four win!
Conclusion
I really enjoyed my time with this box, and would happily play through it again sometime. I found the figures included in the box to be very useful and interesting, with a wide variety of special powers and abilities on their dials. The inclusion of a campaign was most welcome, and I think it would be a great way to introduce a new player to the mechanics, although the sheer amount of power and ability interaction in all scenarios except the first one might make that a little daunting. For someone like me who is just returning to the Heroclix fold, it was perfect. Over the course of the four scenarios that I played, I could really feel myself getting back in the groove of the game, and that's probably reflected in my play over the course of this thing. The first couple of scenarios, I really felt like I was learning how to play all over again, and very likely misplayed/forgot rules. By the end of it, though, I was very rarely looking at the new rulebook and PAC.
Speaking of the new rules, I thought they were totally fine. Obviously, I'm not a competitive player, and I don't have the same history with the game that someone who plays in the current meta at a local game store might have, but I feel like this is an evolution to the ruleset that is a long time coming. For years (decades?), the rules and interactions have grown increasingly complex, which is pretty daunting for new players. What I don't agree with is Wizkids decision to "take a set or two off" for some of the powers, starting with the upcoming Wonder Woman set. Meaning that those powers won't be featured on any dials in that set, and perhaps beyond. Fortunately, that doesn't apply to the figures or campaign I played through here. I really enjoyed how many powers you were able to "stack" with an action, since many that used to require their own dedicated action are now simply a part of a close attack, ranged attack, or move, meaning you can combine more powers than ever into a single action.
Overall, I highly recommend this set, or any of the recent boxed games, including the upcoming Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary box. The game is still a ton of fun, the rules are sleeker than ever, and the miniatures themselves have literally never looked better than they do now.
I hope you enjoyed this, and I'll see you next time!
