Comic Book Battles - Episode 6: Avengers Vs. X-Men #1-2

Welcome back to Comic Book Battles!  This week, we're going to crank this AvX event up full blast.  That's right, we're opening with a bang with a double issue mega-battle!  I'm going to warn you right up front that this is a really long one, but hopefully it's still entertaining.  The battle alone took over 6 hours to complete!  So sit back and enjoy the opening salvo in the battle between these two iconic teams.

The Comic Book 

"Avengers vs. X-Men (Part One)"

Writers Brian Michael Bendis

Pencilers John Romita Jr.

Inkers Scott Hanna

Colourists Laura Martin

Letterers Chris Eliopoulos

Editors Tom Brevoort

We open on Nova out in space, rocketing towards earth at tremendous speeds.  Now, this is the young Nova who had previously only appeared in the "Mavel Point One" issue to my knowledge.  Point One is an annual book that introduces characters and stories that will play a major role in the Marvel universe over the next year.  Well, this new Nova is on his way to warn everyone and everything that the Phoenix is coming, and it's not going well.

Eventually, he makes his way to Earth, but finds himself moving far too quickly to stop himself before he creates an impact crater in the middle of New York.  The Avengers assemble on the scene to defeat whatever evil space menace has landed this week, only to find our young Nova.  He does his best to warn them, but he's exhausted and collapses before he can explain further.

Fortunately, Tony Stark is a pretty bright guy, and he figures out exactly what's coming.  He and Cap bring this to the attention of the government, and they collectively agree that they need to find who the Phoenix is coming for and put that person into protective custody while they come up with a plan to stop the Phoenix before it reaches Earth.

Wolverine, being an Avenger in addition to running his own mutant school out in Westchester, New York, knows exactly who the Phoenix is coming for.  He tells Captain America all about Hope, and warns him that Cyclops undoubtedly knows that the Phoenix is coming as well, and he will have a plan for what comes next.  

Speaking of ol' One-Eye, he's training Hope by beating the crap out of her.  He's the best.  While he's beating on her, she continues to ask him what the hell his problem is.  Finally, she gets fed up with him dodging her questions and goes full Phoenix nuclear on him

Afterward, his senior staff and advisers, consisting of Emma Frost, Namor, Magneto, Colossus, and Magik talk with him about the Hope and the Phoenix.  Cyclops is more certain than ever that the Phoenix will create a rebirth for the mutant race.  I'm not sure I agree with his reasoning here, since the Phoenix hasn't ever done anything but destroy planets and cause it's hosts to go insane.  But apparently, I'm the only one who questions his logic.  His mutant homies are like "OK, yeah, cool."

So, you know where this is headed.  Cap shows up on Utopia, and Scott comes out to meet him.  Cap tries to use the super power of logic and reason on him, but Cyclops (and probably all X-Men) are immune to that power.  As a result, the conversation doesn't go well.  Cyclops acts pretty childish here, considering he's the self-appointed leader of an entire race of endangered people.  He asks Cap where he's been throughout the years when mutants were having trouble. 

Aaaaaaand then Cyclops blasts him.  As you might expect, Captain America "Avengers Assemble"'s all over his ass:

And Cyclops "To Me, My X-Men"'s right back at him:

And everyone starts kung-fu fighting.  Meanwhile, Hope is inside a building in Utopia, watching this whole thing unfold.  Outside, Iron Man fights Magneto, Thing fights Namor, Dr. Strange fights Magik.  In truth, some really great battle scenes.  Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, brother and sister (maybe?), are watching this as well, and Quicksilver decides he can't just sit around and watch and asks his sister to come with him, but she declines.  A few seconds and a couple hundred miles later, he has a brief family reunion (again, maybe?).

That's not the only family in trouble, though.  The honeymoon is over for our resident Wakandans:

But wait, we've seen all these great battles, but where on earth is Spider-Man and Wolverine?  Well, tune in next time to find out!

The Battle

The map selection was easy once again.  I chose to use Utopia West.  I found that this map had a really cool setup.  We have water terrain along the lower edge, and elevated terrain along the top edge.  One team sets up in a standard starting area, while the other starting area is more of a square area in one of the corners.  It was a lot of fun to play on, for sure.

The teams were a little more interesting to select.  I started by adding the core X-Men team from the AvX set: Cyclops, Colossus, Magik, Magneto, and Namor.  Then I added some of the most important supporting characters.  I think the only X-peeps that I didn't include in this battle were Dr. Nemesis (not clixed), Hezibah, Gambit, Rogue, Magma and Domino.  They didn't play a very active role in this battle, and we'll be seeing more of them in later battles in this series (well, except Dr. Nemesis).  

For the Avengers, I had to be a little more creative.  Cap and Iron Man were easy to grab from the AvX set, but then I had to look elsewhere for the rest.  I wanted to keep these teams theme teams, so it was important to get the right version of each character.  For example, the only Thing that's an Avenger is the one I used, and Daredevil is in pretty much the same boat.  Once I had a good selection of characters, I had to mix and match until I found an adequate point balance between the two teams.  Enough jabbering, though.  Let's see who we ended up with!

X-Men

avx009 V Cyclops

Team: X-Men

Range: 8 :bolt:

Points: 150

Keywords: Ruler, X-Men

(Improved) I Can Still See the Dream: Improved Targeting: Ignores Blocking Terrain. When a ranged combat attack resolves, any blocking terrain along its line of fire to the target is destroyed;  May make a ranged combat attack when adjacent to an opposing character.

(Speed) Ongoing Optic Blasts: Cyclops can use Force Blast and Running Shot. When he uses Running Shot, after actions resolve, he can use Force Blast as a free action.

(Damage) Let's Put The World Back On Track: Cyclops can use Leadership and Outwit. When he uses Leadership, adjacent characters with a shared keyword are considered to have a lower point value.

avx010 V Emma Frost

Team: X-Men

Range: 0 :bolt:

Points: 125

Keywords: Hellfire Club, Hellions, X-Men

(Special) Scott Can Handle It: Emma Frost's powers can't be countered. When a friendly character with the X-Men keyword is more than four squares away, Emma Frost can use Sidestep.

(Attack) It's Her Decision: Emma Frost can use Outwit and has a range value of 7.

(Defense) Diamond Form: Emma Frost can use Exploit Weakness, Impervious, and Shape Change.

avx011 V Namor

Team: X-Men

Range: 0 :bolt:

Points: 225

Keywords: Atlantis, Defenders, Illuminati, Ruler, X-Men

(Improved) Boiling Rage: Improved Movement: Ignores Characters

(Special) Imperius Rex!: When Namor is hit with an attack or given a second action token, put a Rage token on his card. Before Namor rolls for an attack, you may remove a Rage token from his card so that the attack deals penetrating damage.

(Defense) Entrenched Recovery: Namor can use Toughness. When Namor occupies water terrain, he can use Regeneration and, when it's not your turn, opposing characters can't draw a line of fire to him.

avx012 V Colossus

Team: X-Men

Range: 0 :bolt:

Points: 175

Keywords: Armor, Mystical, X-Men

(Improved) Mantle of the Juggernaut: Improved Movement: Ignores Hindering Terrain, Ignores Blocking Terrain and destroys Blocking Terrain as the character moves through it.

(Speed) I Believe In The X-Men: Colossus can use Charge and Plasticity. If he has two action tokens, adjacent friendly characters that can use the X-Men team ability can use that team ability as a free action.

(Defense) Steel-Skinned X-Man: Colossus can use Defend and Impervious.

avx013 V Magik

Team: Mystics|X-Men

Range: 5 :bolt::bolt:

Points: 125

Keywords: Mystical, X-Men

(Special) Teleportation Disks: Give Magik a power action and choose an adjacent character. Place Magik in any square within range, place the chosen character in an adjacent square, and roll a d6. On a result of 1-4, the chosen character can't be given a non-free action until your next turn.

(Speed) I've Beaten Belasco: Magik deals penetrating damage to characters with the Mystical keyword.

avx014 V Magneto

Team: X-Men

Range: 8 :bolt::bolt:

Points: 200

Keywords: Ruler, X-Men

(Special) Are You Sure About This, Scott?: Magneto can use Energy Shield/Deflection and Telekinesis. During the beginning of your turn, if Magneto has two action tokens, he can use Telekinesis as a free action, but may only use it to place friendly characters.

(Speed) Magnetic Field: Magneto can use Force Blast. When he has no action tokens, he can use it as a free action.

wxm018 V Sunspot

Team: No Affiliation

Range: 0 :bolt:

Points: 76

Keywords: Fallen Angels, Hellfire Club, New Mutants, X-Corps, X-Force, X-Men

(Damage) Secondary Mutation: Sunspot has "Wing Symbol" and a range value of 6.

wkM-020 V Psylocke

Team: X-Men

Range: 0 :bolt:

Points: 62

Keywords: Excalibur, The Hand, Mojoverse, X-Men, X-Force

(Improved) Ninja: Improved Movement: Ignores Hindering Terrain

(Attack) A Well Placed Blade: Psylocke can use Blades/Claws/Fangs. If her attack roll is 10 or higher and she uses Blade/Claws/Fangs to replace her damage, that damage is penetrating.

(Damage) Telepathic Illusions: Psylocke can use Shape Change. If the character targeting her can't use Mind Control or Outwit or Perplex, she succeeds on a roll of 4-6.

(Black-circle) WXM T001 X-Men: Blue Strike Force: Characters on a Solo Adventure from this team character can use Shape Change.

m10a007 E Storm

Team: X-Men

Range: 8 :bolt:

Points: 59

Keywords: Deity, Morlocks, Ruler, X-Men

(Special) Battlefield Promotion: Storm: When Storm hits one or more opposing characters, after actions resolve, place a Promotion Token on her character card. You may then roll a d6 that can't be rerolled and add 1 for each Promotion Token on her character card; on a result of 8 or higher, you may replace this character with M10A #020 Storm on the same click number.

aw021 V Warpath

Team: X-Men

Range: 0 :bolt:

Points: 68

Keywords: New Mutants, X-Force, X-Men

To top all of that off, I gave them all the X-Men (Utopia) ATA which gives the highest point character on the team Leadership.  The total points came out to 1,295, and gave the team 10 uses of Theme Team Probability Control.  I knew immediately that the AvX X-Men team would be the heavy hitters, but I was excited to use the new Psylocke also.  Sunspot I wasn't so sure about, having never used him.  I have used that Storm before though, and she makes a great sniper piece.  With Warpath, I was just looking to tie up some of the Avengers for a while, and had no intention of him doing much damage.

Now, let's look at our Avengers:

Avengers

avx001 V Captain America

Team: Avengers

Range: 5 :bolt:

Points: 200

Keywords: All-Winners Squad, Avengers, Invaders, Past, S.H.I.E.L.D., Soldier

(Improved) Combat Training: Improved Movement: Ignores Hindering Terrain, Ignores Characters

(Special) Avengers Assemble!: Captain America can use Leadership. When he does and the result is 6, you may place a friendly character with the Avengers keyword, a lower point value, and within 4 squares adjacent to him, but only if you remove the action token from that character.

(Special) Super Soldier & Shield: At the beginning of your turn choose either Combat Reflexes or Energy Shield/Deflection. Captain America can use that power until the beginning of your next turn.

(Attack) Take Down: Captain America can use Incapacitate as if he had 2 targets. When he does and hits 2 characters, he may give one hit character 2 action tokens instead of giving each of them one. If that character can't be given the second action token, deal it 1 penetrating damage instead.

avx002e E Iron Man

Team: Avengers

Range: 7 :bolt::bolt:

Points: 100

Keywords: Armor, Avengers, Illuminati, Scientist

(Special) Enhanced Repulsors: All of Iron Man's attacks generate knock back.

(Damage) Inventing on the Fly: Once per turn, Iron Man can use Outwit or Perplex.

dp033 V Red Hulk

Team: No Affiliation

Range: 0 :bolt:

Points: 150

Keywords: Avengers, Circle of Four, Hulkbusters, Intelligencia, Offenders, Soldier, Thunderbolts

(Speed) I'll Assassinate Cyclops, If You Won't: Red Hulk can use Running Shot, Improved Targeting: Ignores Hindering Terrain, and has a range value of 6.

(Damage) Soldier On: Red Hulk can use Leadership. When he does and succeeds, each friendly character that shares a keyword with him and is a lower point value can use Willpower this turn.

m10a003 E Thing

Team: Fantastic Four

Range: 0 :bolt:

Points: 128

Keywords: Avengers, Brute, Celebrity, Fantastic Four, Soldier

(Damage) Lemme Grab Somethin': Thing can use Super Strength.  Give Thing a move action when he has no action tokens and is not holding an object; after actions resolve, give him a standard light object from outside the game.

ca014 V Luke Cage

Team: Avengers

Range: 0 :bolt:

Points: 98

Keywords: Avengers, Heroes for Hire, Marvel Knights, Thunderbolts

(Defense) Bulletproof Skin: Luke Cage can use Willpower and Toughness. When a character attacks Luke Cage with a ranged combat attack, he can use Invulnerability instead of Toughness.

cw032 V Quicksilver

Team: Avengers|X-Men

Range: 0 :bolt:

Points: 111

Keywords: Avengers, Brotherhood of Mutants, Inhumans, X-Factor

(Special) Sibling Duo: When a friendly character named Scarlet Witch is adjacent to Quicksilver, modify both their attack values by +1 if not already modified by this effect.

(Attack) Arrogant Assault: Quicksilver can use Flurry. He may use it normally, or as a free action instead of a close combat attack while using Hypersonic Speed. If he uses it in this way, modify his defense value by -1 until your next turn for each hit.

av024 V Black Panther

Team: Spider-Man

Range: 0 :bolt:

Points: 92

Keywords: Avengers, Fantastic Four, Ruler

asm005 E Dr. Strange

Team: No Affiliation

Range: 6 :bolt:

Points: 90

Keywords: Defenders, Midnight Sons, Mystical

(Special) Gather Them: Secret Defenders or Midnight Sons?: At the beginning of the game, choose one: Dr. Strange and adjacent friendly characters can use the Defenders team ability; or Dr. Strange and adjacent friendly characters can use the Mystics team ability, but only to deal damage to adjacent opposing characters.

dp015 V Daredevil

Team: No Affiliation

Range: 4 :bolt:

Points: 108

Keywords: Avengers, Martial Artist, Marvel Knights, The Hand

(Improved) Rooftop Acrobat: Improved Movement: Ignores Elevated Terrain, Ignores Hindering Terrain, Ignores Characters;  Improved Targeting: Ignores Hindering Terrain

(Special) Ally of Heroes: At the beginning of the game, choose Enhancement or Empower. Daredevil can use that power this game. A Heroes for Hire themed team may include Daredevil and is still a theme team.

(Special) Radar Senses: Daredevil can use Super Senses.

av038 R Giant-Man

Team: Avengers

Range: 0 :bolt:

Points: 82

Keywords: Avengers, Scientist, West Coast Avengers

(Damage) Genius: Giant-Man can use Perplex, but can target only himself or a friendly character within 4 squares and he can modify a combat value only by +2 with each use.

fi007 E Iron Fist

Team: No Affiliation

Range: 0 :bolt:

Points: 80

Keywords: Avengers, Defenders, Heroes for Hire, Martial Artist, Mystical

(Improved) Master of K'un Lun: Improved Movement: Ignores Elevated Terrain, Ignores Hindering Terrain, Ignores Characters

(Defense) Immortal Weapon of Agamotto: Iron Fist can use Combat Reflexes and Super Senses.

(Damage) The Iron Fist: Iron Fist can use Close Combat Expert. When he does and has no action tokens, if his attack total is at least 2 greater than his target's defense value, modify his damage value by an additional +1.

av056 U Hawkeye

Team: Avengers

Range: 8 :bolt:

Points: 56

Keywords: Avengers, Great Lakes Avengers, Thunderbolts, West Coast Avengers

(Attack) Sharpshooter: Give Hawkeye a power action to make a ranged combat attack. Modify his attack value by +2 for the attack.

(Defense) Smoke Arrow: Hawkeye can use Smoke Cloud.

Whew, all of that came out to 1295!  I was pretty happy to get a matching point value between these two teams.  No ATA for the Avengers, but they are a theme team with 12 uses of Theme Team Probability Control at their disposal.  Better yet, I felt like the Avengers had a good spread of decent characters.  I absolutely love Luke Cage and Iron Fist in the comics, so any chance to use them in a game is going to make me a happy camper.  The only dubious choice I felt I made was in the Hawkeye that I used, but he would have to do.  

Avengers Win roll for first turn, and we begin setup:

Starting locations

Avengers
Daredevil – L2
Iron Man – L1
Giant-Man – K2
Dr. Strange – K1
The Thing – I2
Black Panther – H2
Red Hulk – G2
Luke Cage – F2
Iron Fist – F1
Captain America – E2
Hawkeye – E1
Quicksilver – D2

X-Men
Colossus – M21
Warpath – N21
Cyclops – O21
Psylocke – P21
Magneto – M22
Magik – N22
Emma Frost – O22
Namor – M23
Storm – N23
Sunspot – M24

Dr. Strange chooses Mystics team ability for his trait
Daredevil chooses Empower for his trait

Let's get things started!

Captain America moves to E9
Thing moves to I9 and picks up heavy object
Giant-Man carries Daredevil to K8, sits on Super Heavy object
Daredevil placed at K7
Iron Man moves to N9
Dr. Strange moves to N8
Black Panther moves to J9
Red Hulk moves to D11
Hawkeye moves to D8
Luke Cage moves to F10
Iron Fist moves to F9

Magneto uses Telekinesis to move Colossus to I17
Magik uses Teleportation Discs to move to J18, taking Magneto with her and dropping him at I18
Warpath moves to L13
Psylocke moves to P15
Cyclops moves to L17
Emma Frost moves to K17
Storm moves to E19, in hindering
Namor moves to D16, picking up a light object
Sunspot moves to H17

Captain America passes Leadership, removing an action token from Hawkeye
Luke passes Leadership, removes an action token from Iron Fist
Red Hulk charges to C15, and smashes Namor with a light object. He hits on a 19 and Namor fails Impervious, taking 3 damage after reduction. Namor gets a rage token.
Captain America running shots using Takedown on Namor and Sunspot – a 20 hits both, and they both receive a second action token. Namor gets a rage token as a result.
Hawkeye Running Shot to F12, shooting Sunspot. Sunspot uses Colossus’ defense thanks to Defend and the shot misses on a 16
Daredevil charges Warpath, moving to L12 and critically missing, causing him to take a click of damage
Iron Man Running Shots to N13, shooting Psylocke and Warpath, but missing both on a 15
Giant-Man charges Warpath, moving to K12 and missing on a 15, taking a push damage and destroying the super heavy object he held
Quicksilver moves to E9
Luke Cage, Thing, Black Panther, and Dr. Strange clear

Cyclops fails his leadership
Colossus charges Captain America with a heavy object, moving to G15 and rolling a critical hit. Captain America fails his Impervious roll and takes 5 damage and gets knocked back into the ocean at A9
Magneto Running Shots to J14, shooting Daredevil and Iron Man, hitting on a 21, dealing 1 damage to each thanks to their Toughness
Warpath uses Exploit Weakness on Giant-Man, missing on a 16 and taking a push damage
Cyclops shoots Iron Man, missing on a 16
Storm, Magik, Sunspot, Namor, Emma Frost, and Psylocke clear



Iron Fist Charges Colossus, moving to G14 and hitting on a 20. Colossus passes his Impervious roll, reducing damage to 0
Luke Cage charges Colossus, moving to F14 and hitting on a 21. Colossus fails his Impervious roll and takes 2 damage
Thing moves to J15
Black Panther moves to O14 and perplexes his Defense +1
Daredevil Flurries Warpath, missing on a 13, but then hitting on an 18, dealing 1 damage thanks to Toughness
Dr. Strange moves to E12
Hawkeye, Captain America, Red Hulk, Giant-Man, and Iron Man all clear

Namor uses Imperious Rex on Red Hulk with a light object, hitting on a 21 for 5 damage
Colossus punches Iron Fist, missing on an 18 thanks to Combat Reflexes
Sunspot charges Iron Fist and hits on a 19, but Iron Fist passes his Super Senses
Psylocke punches Black Panther, hitting on a 21 and using Blades to deal 2 damage due to Toughness, then perplexes her Defense +1
Storm uses Ranged Combat Expert on Dr. Strange with +2 damage, hitting on a 19 for 5 damage. Dr. Strange then Masterminds it all to poor Hawkeye
Magik uses Teleportation Discs to move to F17 and taking Emma with her, dropping her off at F16, but Emma fails the roll after and cannot take an action this turn, but outwits Red Hulk’s Close Combat Expert anyway
Warpath, Magneto, and Cyclops clear



Luke Cage passes leadership and removes an action token from Iron Fist
Captain America moves to D13
Hawkeye uses Smoke Cloud to place smoke in F12, E12, and D13
Red Hulk punches Namor, but misses on a 16
Iron Fist uses Close Combat Expert on Colossus with +2 damage, but misses on a 16. Luke Cage isn’t going to let it go down like that, though, and uses Theme Team Probability Control to reroll that…into a critical failure. Luke takes a push damage from the TTPC use and Iron Fist takes a damage from the fail. Thanks, Luke
Quicksilver uses Hypersonic Speed to move to E15 and use Arrogant Assault on Emma, hitting on a 19. Emma fails her Super Senses and takes 2 damage. For the second attack, Quicksilver rolls a miss on a 14. He then breaks away and continues his move to D18
Thing punches Magneto with a heavy object, hitting on a 20 and dealing 4 damage due to Magneto’s Impervious, and taking a push damage himself
Giant-Man punches Warpath, hitting on a 16 and dealing 1 damage due to Toughness
Iron Man Running Shots to N15, shooting Psylocke and Cyclops, rolling an 18 which misses Cyclops but hits Psylocke for 3 damage
Dr. Strange, Daredevil, and Black Panther clear

Cyclops outwits Iron Man’s Toughness and shoots Iron Man, hitting on a 17 for 4 damage
Magneto takes a free Force Blast shot on Thing, rolling a 4 and knocking him off the elevated terrain. Thing doesn’t take any damage thanks to Invulnerability
Magneto then outwits Black Panther’s Toughness and shoots him, missing on a 14
Warpath punches Daredevil, missing on a 12
Sunspot punches Iron Fist, missing on a 17
Emma charges Luke Cage, moving to F15 and using Exploit Weakness, but misses on a 15. Magik uses Probability Control to reroll that into an 18, hitting and dealing 3 damage. See, Luke? That’s how you do it.
Namor uses Imperious Rex and punches Red Hulk, hitting on a 19 with doubles, dealing 4 damage and KOing him. He then gains a rage token for having two action tokens
Storm, Magik, Colossus, Psylocke clear

Captain America rolls a 6 for Leadership, allowing him to move Luke to D12 and removing an action token from him
Iron Fist uses Close Combat Expert for +2 damage on Colossus, hitting on a 22. Colossus fails his Impervious roll and takes 2 damage. Iron Fist takes a push damage.
Dr. Strange shoots Colossus, but misses on a 13
Captain America uses Takedown on Namor, hitting and dealing 1 damage since Namor already has two action tokens
Quicksilver uses Flurry on Storm and Crits for 3 damage on the first attack, knocking her back. He then takes a push damage
Black Panther Outwits Psylockes Telepathic Illusions, and hits on a 20 with doubles. Dealing 2 damage, then knocking her into the map edge for another 1 damage, KOing her
Iron Man uses Regeneration, but rolls a 1, healing 0 clicks
Daredevil Flurries on Warpath, missing on a 13, but then hitting on a 16 with doubles for 1 damage, and knocking Warpath back 1
Luke Cage tries to break away, but fails
Giant-Man, Hawkeye and Thing clear

Colossus punches Iron Fist, hitting on a 20. Iron Fist passes his Super Senses, so no damage
Storm shoots Thing, hitting on an 18 for 1 damage due to Invulnerability
Magik shoots Quicksilver, missing on a 17
Magneto Outwits Daredevil’s Energy Shield/Deflection and shoots, hitting on a 17 for 3 damage
Cyclops Outwits Thing’s Toughness and shoots him, hitting on a 22 for 4 damage
Warpath, Emma, Sunspot and Namor clear



Captain America passes his leadership and removes an action token from Dr. Strange
Dr. Strange uses Telekinesis to move Captain America to C15
Captain America uses Exploit Weakness on Namor, critically missing. Hawkeye uses Theme Team Probability Control, rerolling that into a 17, hitting and dealing 2 damage on doubles
Thing moves to I21
Giant-Man punches Warpath, critically hitting and dealing 3 damage, KOing him
Daredevil Sidesteps to K13, then uses Close Combat Expert on Magneto for +2 damage. He hits on an 18 for 3 damage due to Toughness
Iron Man, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Black Panther, and Quicksilver clear

Emma charges to E13, hitting Dr. Strange for 3 damage, which he then Masterminds to Hawkeye, KOing him
Colossus punches Iron Fist, hitting on a 20. Iron Fist then passes his Super Senses, which at this point is just crazy
Sunspot punches Iron Fist, but misses on a 16
Namor moves to H21
Magneto, Cyclops, Magik, and Storm clear

Captain America passes leadership again
Iron Fist uses Close Combat Expert for +2 damage on Colossus, hitting on a 17 for 3 damage
Dr. Strange punches Emma, but she passes Shape Change to negate the attack. Strange then takes a push damage
Luke Cage flurries Sunspot, hitting on an 18 twice for 1 damage each due to Toughness
Iron Man uses Regeneration again for 1 click
Iron Man then Outwits Cyclops’ outwit
Black Panther moves to M17
Quicksilver uses Hypersonic Speed to move to G20 and Arrogant Assault on Namor, hitting twice for 2 damage each, KOing him. He then continues his move, ending at G21
Thing, Giant-Man and Captain America clear

Storm punches Quicksilver, hitting on a 19 for 3 damage
Sunspot punches Luke Cage, hitting on a 16 for 2 damage
Magneto takes a free Force Blast on Daredevil, knocking him back a square
Magneto then tries to Pulse Wave, rolling a 14 and missing everyone
Cyclops shoots at Black Panther, hitting on a 16 for 3 damage and choosing to knock him back 3 squares
Magik shoots Captain America, hitting on a 21 for 2 damage
Emma, Colossus clear



Captain America fails his leadership
Captain America then Charges to E16 and misses Magik on a 16
Iron Man Regenerates 4 clicks of health, bringing him back to his starting click
Giant-Man punches Magneto, but misses on a 16
Luke Cage punches Sunspot, missing on a 17
Thing punches Storm, hitting on an 18 for 3 damage and KOing her
Dr. Strange, Quicksilver, Iron Fist, Daredevil, and Black Panther clear

Cyclops Outwits Iron Man’s Toughness, then shoots him but misses on a 14
Magneto shoots Daredevil, hitting on a 16 for 2 damage, KOing him
Colossus punches Iron Fist, but misses on a 17
Emma outwits Strange’s Super Senses, then punches him, hitting on a 17 for 3 damage
Magik, Sunspot clear

Captain America fails his leadership
Captain America punches Magik, hitting on an 18. Magik then uses Probability Control to reroll that, but it’s an 18 again, dealing 3 damage to her, and 1 to Cap from Mystics team ability, KOing him
Quicksilver perplexes his damage +1 and uses Hypersonic Speed to move to G18 and punch Magik, hitting on a 20 for 2 damage
Iron Fist punches Colossus with Close Combat Expert giving him +2 damage, rolling a 20 on doubles. Colossus fails his Impervious and takes 3 damage, KOing him
Dr. Strange fails to break away from Emma
Black Panther moves to K14
Iron Man, Luke Cage, Thing, and Giant-Man all clear

Sunspot punches Luke but misses on a 14
Magik shoots at Iron Fist and misses
Cyclops, Magneto and Emma clear

Luke punches Sunspot, missing on an 18
Thing moves to G17
Black Panther punches Magneto, missing on a 15. Giant-Man uses TTPC, but it still misses on a 14. BP takes a push damage and is KOd
Quicksilver, Dr. Strange, and Iron Fist clear

Cyclops outwits Iron Man’s Toughness, then shoots him, hitting on a 22 for 4 damage
Magneto shoots Giant-Man, hitting on an 18 for 1 damage
Sunspot punches Luke Cage, hitting on an 18 for 2 damage, KOing him
Emma punches Doctor Strange, hitting on a 20 and rolling doubles, dealing 3 damage and KOing him
Magik clears

Quicksilver perplexes his damage +1 and punches Magik, but misses on a 12
Iron Fist uses Close Combat Expert for +2 attack on Sunspot, hitting on a 22 for 2 damage
Iron Man uses Regeneration to heal 1 click
Thing and Giant-Man clear

Magik punches Thing, but misses on a 14
Cyclops misses Iron Man on a 14
Magneto misses Giant-Man on a 15
Emma and Sunspot clear

Thing punches Magik, hitting on a 17 for 3 damage, KOing her, and dealing 1 damage to him from Mystics Team Ability
Giant-Man punches Magneto, critically missing and taking a damage as a result
Iron Man regenerates 2 clicks
Iron Fist and Quicksilver clear

Emma Frost charges to F16, missing Thing on a 14
Sunspot also misses, rolling a 14 on Iron Fist
Magneto and Cyclops clear

Iron Fist uses Close Combat Expert for +2 damage on Sunspot, hitting on a 20 for 5 damage, KOing him
Quicksilver perplexes his damage +1 and uses Hypersonic Speed to move to F17 and attacking Emma Frost. She fails her Shape Change. He rolls a 16, hitting her for 2 damage. Unfortunately I forgot about Invulnerability, so he breaks away to K17
Giant-Man and Thing clear

Cyclops outwits Iron Man’s Toughness, then rolls a 19 to deal 4 damage to him, which KO’s him
Magneto shoots Giant-Man, hitting on an 18 and dealing 2 damage
Emma clears

Thing punches Emma, but she passes her Shape Change
Giant-Man misses Magneto on a 13
Iron Fist and Quicksilver clear

Cyclops shoots Quicksilver, hitting on an 18. Quicksilver fails his Super Senses and takes 4 damage, KOing him
Magneto shoots Giant-Man but misses on a 12

Iron Fist charges to I15 using Close Combat Expert for +2 damage and hitting Magneto on a 20, dealing 5 damage and KOing him
Thing and Giant-Man clear

Emma outwits Thing’s toughness, and hits him on a 17 for 3 damage, KOing him
Cyclops clears

Iron Fist charges Cyclops but misses on a 16, taking a push damage

Cyclops shoots Iron Fist, hitting on a 20. But yep, Super Senses prevails again
Emma moves to J16
Iron Fist clears, then Cyclops and Emma do the same

Iron Fist uses Close Combat Expert to give him +1 attack and damage, hitting Cyclops on an 18, and dealing 3 damage

Cyclops misses Iron Fist on a 14
Emma misses Iron Fist on a 15

Everyone clears again

Iron Fist punches Cyclops and hits him for 1 damage

Emma hits Iron Fist on an 18, but…seriously? Super Senses again

Cyclops has had enough of this Super Senses garbage and Force Blasts Iron Fist for 6 squares, which knocks him off the elevated terrain and deals 2 damage to him as a result

Iron Fist clears

Cyclops moves to J17 and Emma clears

Iron Fist charges to I15 and punches Emma but misses on a 14

Emma misses Iron Fist on a 13, Cyclops clears

Iron Fist punches Emma, and her Shape Change fails, she takes 3 damage and is KO’d. Iron Fist takes a push damage as a result

Cyke moves to J16

Iron Fist hits Cyclops two more times and Cyclops can’t hit Iron Fist and is KOd.

Winner: Avengers

Man, that was an epic battle.  MVP of the Avengers side was obviously Iron Fist.  My luck with him rolling Super Senses on those rare occasions that he was hit was just insane.  If I were going to do this battle again (which believe me, I'm not going to) I would definitely make an effort to Pulse Wave IF to take away those defensive powers.  Also, I didn't note it as I was playing, but Cap was using his ability to choose between Combat Reflexes and Energy Shield/Deflection every turn, so don't worry about that.

On the X-Men side, I would say Cyclops ranked as one of the most effective.  He is a beat stick with that 4 damage starting click, especially if Emma is there to give him enhancement. I probably should have used the X-Men team ability at some point, but it was hard to find a good opportunity to spend an action on it.  I do wish that I had gotten to use Colossus' ability to have that team ability used on him for free.  Honorable mention goes to Namor as a runner-up for ass-kicking potential.

It was interesting how the battle split between the upper elevation and lower elevation areas as the game went on.  It really felt like the heavy hitters for both teams were on the beach, with Red Hulk and Namor going toe to toe, Colossus and Iron Fist duking it out, and a lot of other great match-ups.  I hope that this episode wasn't too long for you.  On the bright side, I doubt we'll do another battle that big anytime soon.  Next week, we check in with Wolverine to see what Mr. Stab-hands has in store for us!