Cop and a Half Episode 34 - The Final Climb

There was no time to rest before scaling the massive cliffs and frozen outcroppings that rose to meet the palace atop the mountain peak.  Lem took a moment to secure his gear as much as possible, and steeled himself for the long climb ahead.

Lem
Male Halfling Bard Charlatan
Card Feats: Spell x2, Blessing, Armor, Item
Skill Feats: Charisma +4, Intelligence +1
Power Feats: 
Light Armor proficiency 
Once per check, recharge a card to card to add 1D4+3 to a check attempted by another character at your location
Add 2 to your check to acquire an ally or defeat a henchman or villain
Starting Deck
Venomous Heavy Crossbow +2
Wand of Enervation
Sihedron Medallion
Staff of Hungry Shadows
Ring of Protection
Incendiary Cloud
Haste
Holy Light
Frost Ray
Lightning Bolt
Mass Cure
Hide Armor of Fire Resistance
Toad
Father Zantus
Charmed Red Dragon
BoPharasma
BoGozreh
BoErastil
BoAbadar
BoNethys
BoCalistria

Valeros did the same, checking each of his weapons in turn to ensure that he would not lose any as they climbed.  Though the distance to the peak was daunting, they had come too far to consider failure at this point.  It was do or die.

Valeros 
Male Human Fighter Weapon Master
 Card Feats: Weapon x2, Item, Blessing, Ally
Skill Feats: Strength +4, Constitution +1
Power Feats: 
Hand Size 5
Add 1d4+5 to another character’s combat check at your location
You may use Melee in place of Ranged when using a weapon with the Ranged trait
Starting Deck
Fanged Falchion
Dancing Scimitar+2
Impaler of Thorns
Longsword +2
Scythe+1
Returning Frost Spear +2
Mokmurian’s Club
Magic Chain Mail
Magic Shield
Magic Half-Plate
Wand of Treasure Finding
Emerald Codex
Staff of Minor Healing
Thieves Tools
Merchant
Zuvuzeg
Saber Toothed Tiger
BoGorum 
BoTorag
BoAbadar x2

Nearly as soon as they had begun their climb up the often-times sheer rock face, crossbow bolts began to fly in their direction.  It made sense that Karzoug would have scouts patrolling, especially since he knew the pair were approaching his lair.  Fortunately, Lem was able to maneuver his crossbow into a firing position, and end the immediate threat with a well-placed bolt of his own.

Turn 1
Lem - BoDesna
Death Zone 1
Goblin Commando - 1 ranged combat damage - Venomous Heavy Crossbow +2 + Valeros = D8+D10+2+D4+5 = 13 = Success = Banished forever

Valeros was similarly able to ward off more of Karzoug's henchmen with precision thrusts of his spear as they descended upon him.  If the enemy insisted on this continuous assault, at least time would pass quickly as they climbed.

Turn 2
Valeros - BoG
Death Zone 1
Cultist - Impaler of Thorns - D10+7+D8+2 = auto-success even if I rolled all 1’s = Banished forever
Emerald Codex - Augury, Consecration, Detect Evil
Detect Evil - BoG
Discard BoAbadar explore - BoG - auto-acquire
Discard BoG explore - Mercenary - Impaler of Thorns = D10+7+D8+2 = 23 = Success
Augury - Henchman - Black Arrow Ranger, Pit Trap, Warlord - all shuffled

Lem, as nimble as he was, was having little issue finding good hand and foot holds in the rock.  They also found that there were plenty of flat areas that served as areas of respite during their climb.  That's not to say it was easy, but rather that it was manageable for adventurers of their experience.

Turn 3
Lem - BoG
Trapped Spellbook - Divine + BoAbadar = D10+5+2D10 = 23 = Success = D4 random spells to hand = 2 = Bewilder, Detect Evil
Detect Evil - Leng Spider
Recharge Detect Evil = Success

As he dispatched another giant spider, Valeros reflected on the sheer scope of their journey.  It felt as though they had been working towards this final battle for years.  How long had it been?  He had truly lost track of time.  He was sure Lem felt the same.  He shook his head in disbelief and continued the climb.

Turn 4
Valeros - BoG
Leng Spider - D6 to see if I can play spells with attack trait - 3 - no attack spells, oh noes!
Reveal and recharge Fanged Falchion + Lem rechage = D10+7+4D4+2+D4+3 = 28 = Success
Wisdom check to close +Lem recharge + Lem BoErastil = 3D4+3 = 6 = Fail

As they continued, they found that not only were enemies a constant threat, but traps as well.  Explosive rune traps were well-placed all over the cliffs.  Lem supposed it made sense, since they were nearing the lair of a runelord, but it made them no less annoying to deal with.

Turn 5
Lem - BoNethys
Warlord - Frost Ray + Valeros = D10+5+2D6+D4+5 = 18 = Success
Recharge Frost Ray = Success
Discard BoPharasma explore - Black Arrow Ranger - Diplomacy = D10+7 = auto-acquire
Discard Black Arrow Ranger explore - Explosive Runes - Arcane + Valeros BoAbadar = D10+5+2D10 = 24 = Success

The traps were honestly pretty insulting, Valeros thought.  As though they would fall victim to a simple spell or hole dug into the ground.  To him, it was a clear sign of disrespect.

Turn 6
Valeros - BoIrori
Pit Trap - Dex + Lem recharge + Lem BoCalistria = 3D8+D4+3 = 23 = Success
Wisdom check to close + Lem recharge = 2D4+3 = 10 = Success

The sense of finality that Lem was experiencing only grew stronger as they climbed.  What would they even do after this?  Lem laughed as he realized that he had never given it thought.  Indeed, who would even believe their tale after this.  The whole journey felt like one absurd battle after another.

Turn 7
Lem - BoLamashtu
Death Zone 2
Trapped Locker - just take the damage and banish it forever = D4-1 = 1 card discarded from top of deck

Another spider descended upon Valeros.  This time, he didn't even have to react, as their tiger companion pounced from a nearby rock.  The cat was having no issues in scaling the rocks with the duo.  Valeros wondered if the cat knew where they were headed, or had any concept of what awaited them there.  Probably best if it didn't.

Turn 8
Valeros - BoIrori
Death Zone 2
Leng Spider - D6 or no attack spells - 1 nope, no spells - Impaler of Thorns + recharge tiger + Lem recharge = D10+7+D8+2+D6+D4+3 = 21 = fail = recharge impaler of thorns to reroll = umm wow so much worse.  16.  = all damage to----Lem - Bury Hide Armor of Fire Resistance to reduce to 0

A flash of metal was the only warning that a blade trap had been sprung in the rocks facing the pair as they climbed.  Fortunately, the metal could not penetrate the protection Lem's ring offered.  Nor could it pierce the magic armor that Valeros wore.  The pair sighed in unison and continued onward.

Turn 9
Lem - BoShelyn
Slashing Blade - No way in hell - D4 damage to both
Lem - 1 - ring of prot to avoid
Valeros - 2 - recharge magic half-plate to avoid

As Valeros sliced through another apparition sent to stop their progress, he cocked his head towards Lem.
"So, have you thought about what happens after this?"
"What, you mean the fight at the top?  Not really."
"Yeah, that, and what happens after that's over."
"Nah, you know me, I like to live one moment at a time." Lem chuckled and Valeros let it go at that.  He glanced upwards; halfway there.

Turn 10
Valeros - BoDesna
Ghost - Scythe+1 + Lem recharge = D10+7+2D4+1+D4+3 = 19 = Success = Banished forever
Discard Merchant explore - Spectre - Scythe+1 + Lem recharge = D10+7+2D4+1+D4+3 = 18 = Success = Banished forever

Lem was glad to know that he wasn't the only one coming to the realization that their quest was nearly at an end.  He thought back to when he first met the crazy man next to him, and smiled at the fact that he could never have imagined how close they would become over the course of the journey.  Valeros was like family now.  No, even closer than that.  Would they go their separate ways after this?

Turn 11
Lem - BoG
Collapsed Ceiling - Valeros discard Thieves’ Tools to defeat = Banished forever

Turn 12
Valeros - BoNethys
Staff of Minor healing - Lem 
Clockwork Librarian - Int + Lem recharge + BoTorag = 2D6+D4+3 = 0 = holy crap

They must be getting close now, Lem could hear the rumbling of giants above.  Sure enough, a hulking reanimated corpse descended upon them soon thereafter.  Magical fire was quick to end that threat, though.  It wouldn't be long now.

Turn 13
Lem - BoG
Zombie Giant - I admit, I almost used Bewilder, are you proud of me? :P - Incendiary Cloud + Valeros + Valeros BoGorum = 2D4+3D4+D4+5 = 19 = Success
Recharge Incendiary Cloud = Fail

They were up in the clouds that surrounded the peak now.  The lack of vision was frustrating, but nothing they couldn't deal with.  Ice crystals had formed on their clothes and packs, but Valeros didn't feel the slightest bit cold.  Maybe it was the exertion from the climb, maybe something less mundane, but Valeros wasn't concerned either way.

Turn 14 
Valeros - BoTorag
Slashing Blade - my archnemesis - Dex + Lem recharge = D8+D4+3 = 11 = Success! = Banished forever

Lem took a brief moment to heal the pair before their final ascent.  Neither spoke, other than the incantation that Lem muttered as he mended their wounds this one last time.

Turn 15
Lem - BoG
Exchange Bewilder for Mass Cure in discard
Mass Cure - D4+1 to both
Lem - 5
Valeros - 3
Recharge Mass Cure - Fail

Another spider fell to Valeros' club, as they neared the end of their climb.  The palace ahead of them was truly gargantuan. it shimmered with gold and other precious metals.  It was by far the most ornate and intricately-designed building that Valeros had ever seen.  It was otherworldy, and he would be lying if he said he wasn't in awe.

Turn 16
Valeros - BoG
Leng Spider - D6 for attack spells - 4 ATTACK SPELLS HOOOOOO! - Mokmurian’s club + Discard a card + Lem Charmed Red Dragon + Lem recharge = D10+7+D10+2+D10+5+D4+3 = 35 = Success
Dragon Roll - 10
Wisdom to close + Lem recharge + BoNethys = 3D4+3 = 9 = Fail

Turn 17
Lem - BoG

One final zombie giant stood between the pair and their destination.  The duo did not hesitate, bringing the giant down with ease.  This was it.  Time to see what was on the other side.  They strained and pushed open the palace doors easily four times their size, and entered.

Turn 18
Valeros - BoG
Zombie Giant…..again - Mokmurian’s club + Lem recharge - D10+7+D10+2+D4+3 = 26 = Success
Discard Zuvuzeg explore - BoIomedae - Charisma - D6 = 6 = Success
Wisdom close check + Lem BoGozreh + BoIomedae + Lem recharge = 5D4+3 = 17 = Success 

Post-Game Analysis

Hello again, everyone, and welcome to the penultimate scenario!  This one is one of those scenarios that is a lot scarier to play through the more characters you have in your party.  With two, it wasn't so bad.  I never really felt pressured or endangered.

I wanted to convey some reflection on the part of our characters for this installment.  They never really get a chance to think about the things they are doing, or the obstacles they have overcome to reach this point, so I thought it might be fun to explore that a bit.

There won't be any wait for the final installment.  It's on the way today!

Comic Book Battles - Episode 11: Avengers Vs. X-Men #4 pt. 4

This week, on Comic Book Battles, we continue our exploration of the small side-skirmishes that take place during Act 1 of the storyline.  Today, we finally have a battle that takes place in more than just one page!  This skirmish was expanded upon somewhat in AVX: Vs #5, focusing specifically on the Angel vs. Hawkeye portion of the battle.  Let's get to it!

The Comic Book

"Avengers Vs. X-Men (Part Four)"
Writers Jonathan Hickman
Pencilers John Romita Jr.
Inkers Scott Hanna
Colourists Laura Martin
Letterers Chris Eliopoulos
Editors John Denning, Lauren Sankovitch, Nick Lowe, Tom Brevoort

"Hawkeye vs. Angel"
Writers Matt Fraction
Pencilers Leinil Francis Yu
Inkers Gerry Alanguilan, Leinil Francis Yu
Colourists Sunny Gho
Letterers Joe Caramagna
Editors Nick Lowe

This weeks battle takes place on Wundagore Mountain.  Wundagore Mountain is located in the fictional Eastern European country of Transia.  This mountain is most notable for being the home of the High Evolutionary and his artificially-created "New Men.  It is also the prison of the ancient primeval demon Chthon, who was trapped there by Morgan le Fey.  Finally, it's where Puppet Master gets his special magic clay to make his special magic puppets.  And no, I have no idea why the Avengers or the X-Men would ever want to go there, but go there they did.

In the Avengers Vs. X-Men book, we get a one-page overview of the battle, featuring Red Hulk taking on Iceman, Dr. Strange duking it out with Magneto, and Psylocke and Angel double-teaming Hawkeye.  With the exception of the Hawkeye/Angel/Psylocke fight, which we'll get to in a minute, am I wrong in thinking those other match-ups are pretty one-sided?  Red Hulk not only has all of the strength and stamina of normal hulk, he also literally burns things.  I can't imagine any amount of ice winning there.  Doctor Strange going up against Magneto seems a little more fair, until you realize that Doctor Strange could just attack the man's very soul.  Magneto doesn't have much in the magical defense department.

In the AVX book, we rejoin the battle after the skirmish is over, with Hawkeye waiting patiently to shoot Angel full of holes.  This whole book seems to feature a particularly brutal and callous Hawkeye, which is really weird considering Matt Fraction would go on to write the enormously successful and much more endearing version of the character in his self-titled series.  I mean, yes, Hawkeye is an ex-con and a long-time Avenger, but he always struck me as more of the "lovable rogue" type, not the "I-will-puncture-you-with-as-many-arrows as-I-can" type.

Meanwhile, his opponent is Angel.  Now, Angel has been through some real bad times.  Real bad.  He was once happy-go-lucky millionaire and founding member of the X-Men Warren Worthington III.  Then the Marauders, specifically Harpoon, jacked up his wings real bad during the Mutant Massacre, forcing them to be amputated.  He then fell into a deep depression until Apocalypse offered to give him his wings back.  Angel then became Archangel as one of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen.  Eventually he managed to fight his way out of Apocalypse's control and became an X-Man once again.  That is, until he fell back under Apocalypse's control and nearly became the next incarnation of Apocalypse himself.  An X-Force team led by Wolverine managed to stop him, and completely erased his mind in the process.  So we're back to square one I suppose.

Angel's sharp vision spares him from becoming a pincushion, and he sprays Hawkeye with his poisoned razor feather blade things.  Oh, did I forget to mention those?  Part of his Apocalypse-upgrade when he became a horseman.  Well, ol' Hawkeye decides to go full Wolverine and use his arrows like claws, gutting and generally beating the crap out of Hawkeye.  

Psylocke manages to find them, and Hawkeye takes the opportunity to threaten to shoot her unless they both leave.  Angel agrees to retreat, then a mind-boggling thing happens.  Hawkeye calls him a "sucker" and straight shoots him in the chest.  The next page is Angel in the hospital relaying the story to Emma Frost.  I'm not really sure what Fraction was thinking, but it doesn't seem very Avenger-ly to shoot a dude in the chest who agrees to stop fighting you.

Winner:  Hawkeye (I guess)

The Battle

The map for this is Wundagore Mountain from the AvX event.  I am so glad WizKids put out official maps for all the locations in this event.  This map features a lot of elevated and impassable terrain, as one might expect from mountainous terrain.  The terrain elevates towards the center of the map, meaning that's where most of the action is likely to take place.

Now let's take a look at our teams:

Avengers

si033 V Dr. Strange
Team: Spider-Man
Range: 10 :bolt::bolt:
Points: 149
Keywords: Avengers, Defenders, Illuminati, Midnight Sons, Mystical

(Special) Eye of Agamatto: Dr. Strange ignores the effects of characters and hindering terrain (including team abilities that give hindering terrain bonuses) when determining line of fire.

(Speed) Winds of Watoomb: Dr. Strange can use Phasing/Teleport and Quake.

(Damage) Wand of Watoomb: Dr. Strange can use Perplex. When Dr. Strange uses Perplex, you can roll a d6; on a result of 5 or 6, you can modify the target's chosen combat value by up to +2 or -2.

avm208 R Hawkeye
Team: Avengers Initiative
Range: 7 :bolt:
Points: 65
Keywords: Avengers, Martial Artist, S.H.I.E.L.D.

(Special) Put Away the Bow: At the beginning of your turn, you may give Hawkeye a free action. If you do, Hawkeye possesses Combat Reflexes instead of Energy Shield/Deflection and Close Combat Expert instead of Ranged Combat Expert until your next turn.

(Attack) Call the Shot, Fury: Hawkeye ignores friendly characters with action tokens for line of fire purposes.

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.

X-Men

ffgsx006 E Iceman
Team: X-Men
Range: 6 :bolt:
Points: 75
Keywords: Champions, Defenders, X-Factor, X-Men

(Attack) Chill Vortex: Iceman can use Outwit, but only to counter Hypersonic Speed, Running Shot, or the Flight ability.

(Damage) Trained Together Since the Beginning: Iceman can use Probability Control if no other friendly character has used Probability Control this turn. He can only use it during the attacks of other friendly characters with the X-Men keyword.

gx023 V Psylocke
Team: X-Men
Range: 0 :bolt:
Points: 74
Keywords: Exiles, Excalibur, Martial Artist, The Hand, X-Club, X-Force, X-Men

(Attack) Psycho-Blast: Psylocke can use Penetrating/Psychic Blast as if she had a range value of 6.

(Damage) Psychic Knife: Psylocke can use Blades/Claws/Fangs and Exploit Weakness. When she rolls a d6 for Blades/Claws/Fangs, on a result of 1 or 2, give her target an action token in addition to the normal effects.

wkM-019 V Angel
Team: X-Men
Range: 0 :bolt:
Points: 65
Keywords: Celebrity, X-Factor, X-Men

(Special) Same Guy, Different Approach: Angel may be attached to the X-Men: Gold Strike Force Team Base instead of Archangel. While Angel is attached, if X-Men: Gold Strike Force could use Archangel's asset power, it may use Angel's asset power instead.

(Damage) Aerial Recon and Assault: Angel can use Close Combat Expert. Opposing characters within 4 squares of Angel can't use Stealth.

(Black-circle) WXM T002 X-Men: Gold Strike Force: This team character can use Energy Shield/Deflection.

avx014e E Magneto
Team: X-Men
Range: 8 :bolt::bolt:
Points: 150
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.

The X-Men win the roll for first turn

Magneto moves from C23 to H17

Angel carries Psylocke from H23 to J16, dropping Psylocke off in J15

Iceman moves from M23 to P14

Red Hulk moves from L2 to M9, picking up a super-heavy object on the way

Hawkeye moves from G2 to J9

Doctor Strange moves from C2 to H9

Magneto uses Running Shot, moving to I13 and attacking Doctor Strange and Hawkeye.  He hits on a 19 for 3 damage to each

Psylocke moves to H10

Iceman uses Running Shot, moving to P10 and shooting Red Hulk, missing on a 13 and taking a push damage

Angel clears

Doctor Strange Outwits Psylocke's Combat Reflexes and attacks, missing on a 16, taking a push damage in the process

Red Hulk Charges to O9 and attacks Iceman, missing on snake eyes, but Hawkeye is in range and has line of fire, and uses Theme Team Probability Control.  Red Hulk rerolls, hitting on a 17 for 6 damage.  Iceman is KO'd in one hit, and Hawkeye takes a push damage from the TTPC use.

Angel moves to J10 

Magneto and Psylocke clear

Doctor Strange Perplexes his defense +1

All Avengers clear

Psylocke attacks Doctor Strange, missing on a 16.  Magneto uses TTPC to allow her to reroll.  She hits on a 20, but then Doctor Strange rolls his Super Senses and succeeds on a 5.  No hit.

Angel uses Close Combat Expert to give himself +2 damage and targets Hawkeye, but misses on a 14

Red Hulk moves to J14, picking up a heavy object along the way

Hawkeye uses Close Combat Expert to give himself +1 attack and +1 damage, targeting Angel hitting for 1 damage

Doctor Strange Teleports to E12

Magneto attempts to use Telekinesis on Red Hulk, but misses on a 14

Angel and Psylocke clear

Red Hulk uses Leadership and succeeds on a 5, giving the rest of his team Willpower for the turn

Red Hulk then attacks Magneto, hitting on an 18, but Magneto's Invincibility reduces the damage to 3, and the heavy object is removed

Doctor Strange Perplexes his attack +1 and shoots at Magneto and Psylocke, but misses on a 15

Hawkeye uses Close Combat Expert to give himself +1 attack and +1 damage, but misses Angel on a 13

Psylocke uses Telekinesis on Doctor Strange, hitting him on a 21 and placing him at J11

Angel attacks Doctor Strange, hitting on a 17.  Doctor Strange makes another Super Senses roll on a 5, so no hit again

Avengers all clear

Magneto attacks Red Hulk but misses on a 14

Angel and Psylocke clear

Hawkeye uses Close Combat Expert to give himself +1 attack and +1 damage, hitting Angel on an 18 and dealing 1 damage thanks to Angel's toughness

Doctor Strange Perplexes his attack +1

Doctor Strange shoots Magneto and Psylocke, hitting on a 19 and dealing 3 damage to each.  (NOTE: this was a mistake on my part.  I didn't realize that Doctor Strange didn't have Sharpshooter, and thus couldn't have made a ranged attack while adjacent to Angel), Magneto is KO'd

Red Hulk Charges to I11 and hits Angel on an 18.  Angel fails his Super Senses roll and takes 4 damage.  He is KO'd

Psylocke attacks Red Hulk but misses on a 16

Red Hulk attacks Psylocke, hitting on a 19 for 4 damage, KO'ing her

Winner: Avengers

I feel bad having made that mistake with Doctor Strange that likely ended the game prematurely.  That said, I don't think the X-Men were having much luck at all this game.  Red Hulk was still untouched by the end, and taking him down would have been no easy feat.  I feel like our Avengers teams have had much more success lately than the X-Men.  I guess we'll see if that holds true in our next battle, deep in the Savage Land!  

Comic Book Battles - Episode 10: Avengers Vs. X-Men #4 pt. 3

Welcome back to Comic Book Battles!  Man, it has been...well, almost a year, but I'm back!  We're going to pick up right where we left off, in the middle of the biggest hero battle since Civil War!  This week, we have an AvX skirmish taking place in the middle of Dr. Doom's nation of Latveria!

The Comic Book

"Avengers Vs. X-Men (Part Four)"
Writers Jonathan Hickman
Pencilers John Romita Jr.
Inkers Scott Hanna
Colourists Laura Martin
Letterers Chris Eliopoulos
Editors John Denning, Lauren Sankovitch, Nick Lowe, Tom Brevoort

Here, again, we're seeing a skirmish in progress through the telepathic visions of Emma Frost, who is scanning the globe for Hope. 

The Battle

For this battle, I'm using the Latveria map from the AvX event.  It doesn't necessarily represent the battlefield depicted above, but it's interesting nonetheless.  As you can see below, it has our teams facing off from corner-to-corner.  In between are a couple buildings and a giant fountain statue of Dr. Doom himself!

Here are our teams:

X-Men

avx012 V Colossus

Team: X-Men
Range: 0
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.

wxm008 E Dazzler
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 6
Points: 75
Keywords: Celebrity, Excalibur, Mojoverse, X-Men

(Speed) Charge of the Light Brigade: When Dazzler has no action tokens, she can use Running Shot. When Dazzler has one or more action tokens, you may give her a free action and characters within 4 squares can't use Stealth until your next turn.

dp027 V Domino
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 6 :bolt:
Points: 89
Keywords: Six Pack, X-Corps, X-Force

(Speed) Infiltration Assassination: Domino can use Running Shot and Stealth. Give Domino a free action when she has no action tokens, and until your next turn decrease her speed value by any amount and increase her range by the same amount. 

  

And that comes out to 339 points.  Unfortunately, no theme team bonus since Domino isn't a member of the X-Men.  Colossus is the only one with a team affiliation as well, and it's X-Men, which requires another character with the X-Men team affiliation to be useful.  That said, Colossus is a monster, and Dazzler and Domino can provide decent ranged support.

Avengers

ffcw005 E Mockingbird
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 2
Points: 50

(Special) October 12th: When a friendly character named Hawkeye is adjacent to Mockingbird, they both modify their attack values by +1 if not already modified by this effect.

avx004e E Spider-Man
Team: Avengers|Spider-Man
Range: 5
Points: 100
Keywords: Avengers, Scientist, Spider-Man Family

(Special) Whatever a Spider Can: When Spider-Man is the target of a ranged combat attack, he can use Super Senses, but evades the attack on a result of 4 - 6.

dp015 V Daredevil
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 4
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.

cw037 V Spider-Woman
Team: Avengers
Range: 5
Points: 82
Keywords: Avengers, Detective, Hydra, Lady Liberators, S.H.I.E.L.D., Spy, S.W.O.R.D.

(Damage) Pheromones: Give Spider-Woman a free action. She may modify the attack value of an adjacent friendly character by +1 and she may modify the defense value of an adjacent opposing character by -1 until your next turn.

That comes out to 340 points.  This team features my favorite incarnation of Spider-Man that I've played in Heroclix, so I have high hopes.  Daredevil is pretty mean as well, and Mockingbird and Spider-Woman are great harassment characters that opposing teams can't afford to ignore, despite their cheap costs.  All of that, combined with four Avengers Theme Team Probability Control uses and Avengers team affiliations, means the X-Men have an uphill battle ahead of them in this one.

Before the game starts, Daredevil chooses Empower for his "Ally of Heroes" special ability, in case I need him to support Spidey or Mockingbird in melee.  

Avengers win the roll-off for first turn

Spider-Man moves to I19

Daredevil moves to I20

Spider-Woman moves to F14, making herself a tempting target that far out

Mockingbird moves behind cover at C14 to support her in case things get rough

Colossus wastes no time, picking up a super-heavy object and smashing through the buildings in his path, moving adjacent to Spider-Woman at F13

Domino moves to K9 in cover

Dazzler moves to O1, hanging back until a decent target presents itself

Daredevil moves to M14, since he has indomitable

Spider-Woman uses her Pheromones on Colossus to reduce his defense and increase her own attack by 1

Everyone else clears

Colossus uses that super-heavy object to great effect on Spider-Woman, hitting on a 17 for 7(!) damage.  Ouch!  Even with Spider-Woman's toughness reducing it to 6, that one hurt.  

Dazzler and Domino clear

Mockingbird moves to E14 to support her teammate against Colossus

Spider-Woman uses her pheromones again on Colossus

Spider-Woman uses Close Combat Expert to attack Colossus and give herself +1 attack and +1 damage.  She hits on a 17, but Colossus rolls a 6 on his Impervious roll, reducing the damage to 0.  Tough break!

Spider-Man uses Perplex to increase his own attack by 1 and Charges to G14, missing Colossus with a roll of 15.  So close!

Daredevil clears 

Domino uses Running Shot to move to K14 and attack Daredevil, hitting on an 18.  Daredevil rolls his Super Senses and gets a 6, evading the attack!
Dazzler moves to K9
Colossus clears

Spider-Woman uses Pheromones on Colossus, and gives the +1 attack to Mockingbird
Spider-Man perplexes Mockingbird's attack by +1 as well
Mockingbird uses Exploit Weakness on Colossus, hitting on a 17 for 2 damage.  It can't be reduced, so no impervious roll for big C.
Daredevil charges to L14, hitting Domino on a 19 with a Precise Strike, which Domino attempts to use Probability Control on, forcing a reroll.  The reroll is a 22!  3 damage is done to Domino.
The two Spider-peeps clear their action tokens

Colossus attacks Spider-Woman, but misses on a 16 thanks to her Combat Reflexes.
Domino and Dazzler clear

Spider-Woman keeps using those Pheromones on Colossus, giving Spider-Man the +1 attack.
Spider-Man uses Perplex to give himself another +1 attack
Spider-Man uses Precise Strike on Colossus, hitting on a 16.  Colossus has impervious, but Spidey still deals him one damage thanks to the Precise Strike
Spider-Woman uses Close Combat Expert to give herself +1 attack and +1 damage, but misses on a 14
Daredevil uses Precise Strike and hits Domino with a 21, dealing 3 damage, enough to KO her

Dazzler uses Precise Strike on Daredevil, hitting on a 19.  Daredevil misses his Super Senses roll, so he takes 2 damage thanks to his Toughness
Colossus hits Spider-Woman on an 18 for 3 damage, KOing her

Spider-Man uses Perplex to increase Mockingbird's damage by +1
Mockingbird uses Exploit Weakness, but misses Colossus with an 11
Daredevil and Spider-Man clear

Colossus and Dazzler clear

Spider-Man Perplexes Colossus' defense by -1
Spider-Man uses Precise Strike, hitting Colossus on a 16.  Colossus still has Impervious, though, and takes only 2 damage
Mockingbird uses Exploit Weakness, but misses Colossus with a 14
Daredevil moves to K9

Colossus attacks Spider-Man, but misses on a roll of 13
Dazzler uses Precise Strike on Daredevil, but misses on a 13 as well

All the Avengers clear

Colossus attacks Spider-Man, but misses on a 14
Dazzler clears

Spider-Man uses Perplex once again on Colossus, reducing his defense by 1
Spider-Man uses Precise Strike, hitting on a 19 for 1 damage thanks to Colossus' Impervious
Mockingbird attacks using Exploit Weakness, hitting on a 15 for 2 damage, KOing Colossus
Daredevil uses Flurry on Dazzler, hitting on an 18 with doubles, dealing 2 damage and knocking Dazzler back into a wall for another 1 damage.

Dazzler uses Penetrating Blast on Daredevil, critically missing, dealing 1 damage to herself.  She wants to end this as much as I do, I think.

Mockingbird moves to I8
Spider-Man and Daredevil clear

Dazzler uses Precise Strike on Mockingbird, but misses on a 16

Spider-Man charges to J9, hitting on a 21 for 3 damage, KOing Dazzler.

Winner: Avengers

This fight was very one-sided.  It quickly became clear that while Colossus is really great, his teammates were not.  If I were to play this again, I might group my X-Men together so Dazzler and Domino could take advantage of Colossus' Defend ability.  Alas, I still think it would be tough for the X-Men to claim victory.  

I hope that you enjoyed this return to CBB.  Next time, we have another AvX skirmish in the Wundagore Mountains!

Comic Book Battles - Episode 9: Avengers Vs. X-Men #4 pt. 2

Hello again!  This week, we take a brief tour of Tabula Rasa with a few of our friends from the X-Men and Avengers.  As you may recall in last week's episode, Captain America gave everyone assigned locations to have really cool battl...err...to find Hope.  He then took Wolverine with him to the Savage Land and kicked everyone's Canadian little person into the middle of the antarctic.  But we'll talk more about that later.  For now, let's enjoy some mindless violence!

The Comic Book

"Avengers Vs. X-Men (Part Four)"

Writers Jonathan Hickman

Pencilers John Romita Jr.

Inkers Scott Hanna

Colourists Laura Martin

Letterers Chris Eliopoulos

Editors John Denning, Lauren Sankovitch, Nick Lowe, Tom Brevoort

This episode is going to be short and sweet.  There's not really much exposition or story to cover.  It's all action this week!  We'll get back to the Hope saga soon enough.  For now, let's just enjoy watching Benjamin Grimm punch Namor in the face.  Really hard.

Also, I've got some gaps in my X-History, but I would love for someone to explain to me what Hepzibah's doing hanging out with the X-Men.  Last I saw her, she was a Starjammer making outer space whoopie with Cyclop's space-pirate dad.  I have a knowledge gap from about '95-'12, so...yeah.  Space-cat!

On a side note, for those of you who aren't familiar with Tabula Rasa, it was introduced during Rick Remender's run on Uncanny X-Force, in Uncanny X-Force #15.  In Beaver Lake, Montana, the mutant named Genocide basically blew the whole town up.  Dark Beast (Beast from the Age of Apocalypse dimension) used one of the Celestials' Life Seeds, which created a domed structure with a ten-mile radius.  The dome collapsed the next day, but inside of it, 130 million years had passed.  It's an unforgiving and deadly alien environment in the middle of Montana, basically.  That run of X-Force was great, by the way.  You should read it.

The Battle

The map for this battle is Krakoa again.  Yes, I realize that makes two weeks of Krakoa in a row.  Sue me.  It was the only map I had that contained both jungle terrain, and a way for the map itself to beat the crap out of both teams.  In case you missed last week, it's a giant jungle with a face.

Now let's take a look at our X-Men:

X-Men

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.

cm018 V Hepzibah

Team: No Affiliation

Range: 6 :bolt:

Points: 27

Keywords: Martial Artist, Starjammers, X-Men

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.

Boy oh boy, that Hepzibah is garbage, huh?  We really need modern remakes of about half of the Starjammers, to be honest.  I'm shocked that they weren't in the Guardians of the Galaxy set that was just released.  Hopefully, Namor and Sunspot can pick up the slack.  The total point value comes out at 328.

Avengers

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.

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.

ih007 V She-Hulk

Team: No Affiliation

Range: 0 :bolt:

Points: 105

Keywords: Avengers, Fantastic Four, Heroes for Hire, Lady Liberators, S.H.I.E.L.D.

(Special) Breaking The Fourth Wall: When She-Hulk makes an attack, after actions resolve you may destroy one square of blocking terrain or one wall that is adjacent to a targeted character.

And that also comes out to 328 points.  Hooray for point symmetry!  Luke Cage is one of my favorite characters in comics and I love this clix of him as well.  We saw Thing tear it up in AvX #1, so we know he can dish out the pain.  I've never used She-Hulk before.  All in all, I would say the X-Men have their work cut out for them.

The X-Men win the roll-off for first turn.
Namor moves to C15 and picks up a Super Heavy object
Sunspot moves to J16 and picks up a Super Heavy as well
Hepzibah moves out to I14
The Island doesn't do anything

Thing moves to H8 and grabs a heavy object
Luke Cage moves to L8
She-Hulk moves to L9
The Island does nothing

Sunspot moves to K9
Namor moves to I9
Hepzibah clears

Luke rolls a 1 for his leadership
Everyone clears
The plants come alive on the island, but no one is in hindering terrain.

Hepzibah moves to J8
Everyone else clears

Luke punches Sunspot and hits on a 17 for 4 damage, reduced to 3 by Sunspot's toughness

She-Hulk hits Sunspot on an 18 and deals 4 damage, KOing him.  Ouch.  I was way too aggressive with my X-Men here.  

Thing punches Namor and hits on a 18 for 5 damage.  Namor rolls for his impervious and fails, taking 3 damage.

The Island comes alive and shoots at Namor, missing on a 14

Namor punches Thing with Imperious Rex!  Thing fails his Shape Change roll, and Namor hits him on a 16 for 5 damage. 

Hepzibah shoots with Ranged Combat Expert pumping her damage by +2, but misses Luke Cage with a 15

The Island comes alive and shoots at Thing, but misses on a 15

She-Hulk charges Hepzibah, moving to K8.  She hits on a 17, but Hepzibah makes her Super Senses roll on a 5, so she takes 0 damage and She-Hulk takes 1 push damage.  She now has Outwit, so Namor can kiss that Impervious goodbye

Luke Cage charges to K9 and hits Hepzibah on an 18.  She makes her Super Senses roll again, because I'm the best ever at Super Senses.  Again, 0 damage to Hepzibah and one damage to Luke for the push.

Thing punches Namor and hits on a 16, dealing 3 damage since Namor's impervious is gone thanks to She-Hulk   

The Island does nothing

Namor tries to flurry Thing, using Imperious Rex! for the first attack, which misses on a 14.  He then misses the second attack on a 13

Hepzibah clears

The Island does nothing

All our Avengers clear
The Island does nothing

Hepzibah uses Ranged Combat Expert to target Thing with +2 damage, but misses on a 15
Namor clears
The Island does nothing

Luke hits Hepzibah on a 14.  Yes, a 14.  She fails super senses and takes 3 damage
She-Hulk hits on an 18, dealing another 3 damage which KOs poor Hepzibah.  Better luck next time, space-cat.
Thing finishes things up by hitting Namor for 3 more damage, KOing the fish-man.

Boy, space-cat, fish-man and sun-spot all had it pretty rough, huh?

Winner: Avengers

This one went way faster than I would have expected.  I honestly think the X-Men never stood a chance.  All the heavy lifting would have had to come from Namor, and if rolls didn't go his way (which they didn't), he wasn't long for this world.  Meanwhile, the Avengers had 3 big bruisers, all of them credible melee threats in their own right.

Next week, we have another round of senseless violence!  Stay tuned!

Comic Book Battles - Episode 8: Avengers Vs. X-Men #3-4 pt. 1

Hello again, and welcome back to Comic Book Battles!  This week, we begin a 5 part mini-series of 1 page battles that appear in the pages of AvX #4.  These battles really had no explanation or description; they were simply single page scenes drawn to depict that the Avengers and X-Men were fighting around the globe as they searched for Hope.  Some of them were later explored in the AvX VS comic, but I thought it would be fun to take them and play them out in full in clix form.  So without further ado:

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

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!