The Comic Book
"Avengers vs. X-Men (Part Three)"
Writers Ed Brubaker
Pencilers John Romita Jr.
Inkers Scott Hanna
Colourists Laura Martin
Letterers Chris Eliopoulos
Editors Tom Brevoort, John Denning, Lauren Sankovitch, Nick Lowe
We open up on poor Wolverine who, as you may recall, was burned alive from the inside out by the Phoenix Force last issue. Fortunately for him, Spider-Man is there to give him some clothes after he grows his skin back. Why Spider-Man sat there to watch Wolverine grow his skin back raises other questions, but I won't go there.
Spidey fills Wolverine in on what happened while he was out. Scott apparently surrendered. Great news! But Wolverine has been around the block enough times to know that Cyclops would never give up unless he had a plan. He throws on some spare clothes that Spider-Man likely stole from some poor kids locker in Utopia, and runs out to warn Cap.
Unfortunately, he gets there too late. While Tony and Steve argue about the U.N., charging the X-Men with crimes, and the question of what prison would even hold them, Doctor Strange comes back with the unconscious body of Magik. They had been fighting in the dimension of Limbo until this point. Wolverine isn't fooled for a minute, because he's the best there is at what he does, and what he does is advance the plot.
The X-Men teleport using Magik's powers, and the unconscious form of Magik reverts to it's natural Doctor Strange shape. Wolverine is understandably pissed that 20+ Avengers didn't realize that they were getting played like fools. Meanwhile, the X-Men pop up in...Long Beach? Okay, that's weird, but whatever I guess.
Wolverine and Cap contact Rachel Summers at the Jean Grey School that Logan is the headmaster of, and asks her to use Cerebra to find hope. I'm not sure why it's called Cerebra. Maybe mutant tracking systems are like Pokemon, and Cerebro evolved into Cerebra. I digress. Rachel gives Logan the runaround and Logan starts laying into her about where her loyalties lie. After all, she is the daughter of Scott and Jean from a possible future timeline. X-Men y'all. Anyway, Cap cuts him off and ends the call. Wolverine is like, "Hey, get up out my kool-aid." and Cap is like "Whatevs." because Brubaker is really bad at writing dialogue between those two, and has apparently decided that they hate each other. Even though they were in World War 2 together, and have served as Avengers on the same team for years. Screw that, though, did you see the cover of this issue?! They need to fight!
Sigh.
Back up on the Helicarrier, Cap gives out assignments to all the Avengers, scattering them across the globe. This is where the premise of these single-page battles is laid out.
Cap tells Wolverine he's with him. Onboard, Cap starts laying into Wolverine for going off on his own in Utopia. Wolverine tries to explain that they can't just lock Hope up. The Phoenix Force will find her, possess her, and consume her, potentially destroying entire planets in the process. Wolverine has seen all this firsthand and tries to explain to Cap that killing Hope is the only way. So Captain America does the only logical thing and punches Wolverine.
Wolverine soundly kicks Captain America's ass until Giant-Man comes in and knocks Wolverine down. Captain America then smashes his face with his shield, and Sharon opens the doors of the Quinjet, and Giant-Man kicks him out of it and into the middle of Antarctica, hundreds of feet below. All of this is obviously the only way that they could have worked out their disagreement, and Wolverine shouldn't hold any of this against the Avengers, obviously.
We'll come back to Wolverine in a later episode. For now, let's look at the battle this week:
The Battle
For the map, I chose to use the Krakoa map from Giant-Size X-Men. The only Wakanda map I have is from the AvX set, but it's the "Flooded Wakanda" map, which doesn't make sense for this battle because spoilers. This map has a crapload of hindering terrain, a mountain range at the top of the map, and oh yeah, a giant friggin FACE in the middle of the map. I could have ignored the Krakoa special rules for this battle, but where's the fun in that? We're rollin those dice, baby! At the end of every turn, the dice get rolled and crazy crap can happen. Yeehaa.
So who's facing off this time around? Let's take a look at our combatants:
X-Men
avx015 V Danger
Team: X-Men
Range: 5 :bolt:
Points: 150
Keywords: Robot, Shi'ar, X-Men
(Special) Island Defense Systems: When Danger has one action token, she can draw lines of fire and count squares for range from any square occupied by a friendly character with the Robot or Vehicle keyword.
(Attack) Warden of Utopia: Danger can use the Capture ability, but may not have more than 1 captive.
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.
dofp010 V Rachel Summers
Team: X-Men
Range: 7 :bolt:
Points: 76
Keywords: Days of Future Past, Future, X-Men
(Special) Married Duo: When Rachel Summers is adjacent to a friendly character named Franklin Richards, modify both characters' attack values by +1 if not already modified by this effect.
wxm033 U Forge
Team: X-Men
Range: 6 :bolt:
Points: 90
Keywords: Mystical, Soldier, X-Corps, X-Factor, X-Men
(Special) Intuitive Mechanic: Give Forge a free action and heal an adjacent character with the Armor or Robot keyword or an an adjacent vehicle of 1 damage.
(Attack) Neutralizer Gun: When Forge hits an opposing character with a ranged combat attack, before damage is dealt, choose a power that character can use. That character can't use that power or any combat or team abilities until your next turn.
(Damage) Device Crafting: Once per game, give Forge a power action if he occupies the same square as an object and remove that object from the game. If you do, for the rest of the game, Forge can use Perplex even if this power is countered or lost.
That brings us to a total of 375 points, with an X-Men Theme Team bonus. My plan here was simple: Take the high ground and use Forge to perplex and heal Danger for free. None of the Avengers could fly, and the only one that could climb the mountain was Iron Fist. Taking him out would be a top priority. Once Iron Fist was out of the picture, I could lay waste from on high.
I chose the lowest point-cost Storm and Rachel Summers figures I could, because I had to balance it against a fairly low point team of Avengers The Rachel Summers figure in particular looked a little strange since it's her in her DOFP garb. Same powers-ish though. They were mostly the garnish that I was sprinkling on top of the Forge and Danger souffle anyway :)
Avengers
avx007 E Black Panther
Team: Spider-Man
Range: 4 :bolt:
Points: 100
Keywords: Avengers, Illuminati, Martial Artist, Ruler, Scientist, Warrior
(Improved) Move Through the Jungle: Improved Movement: Ignores Hindering Terrain, Ignores Characters
(Special) You Don't Get to Give Up: Once during your turn, another friendly character within 4 squares that shares a keyword with Black Panther can use Willpower.
(Damage) King of Wakanda: Black Panther can use Empower, Leadership, and Outwit. When he uses Leadership and the result is 6, in addition to the normal effects he may remove an action token from himself.
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.
ca006 V Black Widow
Team: Avengers
Range: 6 :bolt:
Points: 85
Keywords: Avengers, Champions, Marvel Knights, Heroes for Hire, S.H.I.E.L.D., Spy, Thunderbolts
(Special) Spy to the Core: Black Widow can use Stealth.
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.
That brings us to a total of 376 points with an Avengers Theme Team bonus. My plan here was to sneak Iron Fist up the mountain, bring the rest of the team with their relatively short range up to support him, and use Quicksilver to tie up anyone who stayed on lower ground. Iron Fist had dominated the last two games, so I felt like he could handle taking on whoever he ran into up there. This was my first time using Black Panther and Black Widow, but c'mon, this was Panther's home turf. What could go wrong?
The X-Men win the roll-off for first turn.
Danger carries Forge to E17, dropping Forge off at D17
Storm moves to G14, sitting in hindering terrain where she could benefit from her stealth
Rachel flies out to C17
End of Turn D6 for Krakoa - 4 - Earthquake! - Each character takes 1 damage. The only characters this doesn't hit are Danger and Forge thanks to their defensive abilities that reduce it.
Quicksilver runs out to H13, getting up in Storm's grill
Black Panther moves to G10 and Black Widow moves to E9. Both are in hindering terrain.
Iron Fist moves to D10
End of Turn D6 for Krakoa - 2 - Nothing happens
Danger sidesteps over to D15, and Rachel uses Telekinesis to lift Forge up to the rim of the elevated terrain on C15. Forge then moves over to E14 to snag that basketball.
Danger moves to F13
Storm Clears
End of Turn D6 for Krakoa - 1 - Nothing happens
Avengers all clear
End of Turn D6 for Krakoa - 5 - Plants come to life! All hindering terrain becomes blocking, and anyone in hindering takes a damage and is moved back to the starting area.
I totally missed that second part when this happened, and Black Panther and Black Widow should have taken another click of damage. My bad.
Forge uses a power action to transform that basketball into some crazy perplexing machine. He then perplexes Quicksilver's Defense by -1.
Storm takes advantage of that by punching him, hitting on a 16 for 2 damage.
Danger and Rachel clear.
End of Turn D6 for Krakoa - 6 - The Island Awakens! - A target of your choice in range and line of fire of the center face takes an 10 attack, 3 damage ranged attack.
Unfortunately, it misses Quicksilver on a 14
Quicksilver perplexes his attack by +1 and uses Hypersonic Speed, breaking away from Storm on a 6 and running over to D17 where he punches Rachel hitting on a 17 for 2 damage
Black Panther outwits Danger's Invulnerability, then Iron Fist charges to E12, taking a swing at Danger. He hits on a 21 for 2 damage.
Black Panther throws some vibranium daggers at Storm, missing on a 13.
Black Widow uses Running Shot to move to G11 and shoot Danger, but misses on a 12.
End of Turn D6 for Krakoa - 1 - Nothing happens
Danger swings at Iron Fist, but misses on a 16. She uses her probability control to reroll that into a 21, Iron Fist rolls a 5 for his Super Senses and avoids the damage though.
Rachel punches Quicksilver, hitting on a 17. Quicksilver takes a lesson from Iron Fist though, and rolls a 5 for his Super Senses as well.
Forge perplexes Danger's Defense +1
Storm and Forge clear
End of Turn D6 for Krakoa - 6 - The Island Awakens! - but misses Black Widow on a 15
Black Panther rolls a 1 for his Leadership, He then grants Iron Fist Willpower for the turn, and then outwits Danger's Toughness.
Iron Fist takes advantage of this and rolls a crit! Danger forces him to reroll with Probability Control and he rolls a 15 instead, which misses.
Black Panther, Black Widow, and Quicksilver all clear
End of Turn D6 for Krakoa - 4 - Earthquake! - 1 damage to everyone but Forge due to his toughness
Forge heals Danger for a click, bringing back her Probability Control.
Forge then shoots Iron Fist, missing on a 13. Danger thanks Forge by allowing him to reroll that into a crit! Forge uses his neutralizer gun to remove Iron Fists Immortal Weapon of Agamotto defense powers, and deals him 3 damage.
Danger then punches Iron Fist, hitting on a 17 and dealing him 3 damage, KOing him. Ouch.
Storm shoots at Black Widow, using Ranged Combat Expert to increase her damage by 2. She hits on a 21, dealing 3 damage. I really should have kept Widow in hindering for her stealth.
Rachel clears
End of Turn D6 for Krakoa - 1 - Nothing happens
Black Panther rolls a 4 for his leadership
Quicksilver punches Rachel, hitting on a 17 for 1 damage
Black Widow shoots at Storm, but misses on a 17
Black Panther moves up to G13
End of Turn D6 for Krakoa - 6 - The Island Awakens! - Targets Storm, but misses on a 17
Rachel punches at Quicksilver, hitting on a 17. Quicksilver avoids damage with another 5 on his Super Senses, though
Forge moves to K12
Danger and Storm clear
End of Turn D6 for Krakoa - 6 - The Island Awakens! - Black Panther is hit on an 18 for 3 damage
Black Widow outwits Forge's Toughness
Black Panther gives Widow Willpower for the turn
Black Widow then shoots at Forge, hitting on a 17. Danger forces a reroll though and it becomes a 16 which misses
Black Panther and Quicksilver clear
End of Turn D6 for Krakoa - 3 - Nothing happens
Danger shoots at Black Panther, missing on a 16. She rerolls that using probability control, and it hits on an 18 for 3 damage, KOing Black Panther
Forge, Rachel and Storm clear
End of Turn D6 for Krakoa - 5 - Plants come to life - Storm takes a damage and is placed in the starting area at E23
Black Widow outwits that accursed neutralizer gun that Forge has, and then she and Quicksilver both clear
End of Turn D6 for Krakoa - 4 - Earthquake! - Rachel takes a damage and is KO'd. Black Widow also takes a damage
Storm moves to I17
Forge perplexes his damage by +1 and shoots at Black Widow, hitting on an 18 for 3 damage, KOing her
Danger flies over to C17
Danger flies over to C17
End of Turn D6 for Krakoa - 5 - Plants come to life - everyone has learned their lesson and stays clear of the plants
Quicksilver punches Danger, hitting on an 18, but you guessed it, she forces a reroll to a 16 which misses
End of Turn D6 for Krakoa - 5 - Plants come to life - Yeah, still no effect
Storm tries to end it, but rolls a 14, and takes a push damage
Forge moves to B16
End of Turn D6 for Krakoa - 3 - Nothing happens
Quicksilver clears, curling in the fetal position and embracing the inevitable.
Forge ends up finishing the job with that damn neutralizer gun of his.
Winner - X-Men
That was a lot of fun. Krakoa and it's random effects each turn threw a wrench into my strategy for both teams, but that's part of the fun. Everything went pretty much according to plan for the X-Men. They were able to take and hold the high ground. The combination of Forge's neutralizer gun and Danger's probability control were just brutal. Netrualizing, outwitting, probability control, telekinesis, etc. all made this one of the most interesting sessions I've played yet. Stay tuned, because next week, we're heading into Tabula Rasa!
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