Print and Play - straight from the new RA

Yes, that rhymes...so what. No editorializing from me just verbatim what has been stated about this game changing new policy.

Check with local venues to see their take.

Directly from New (old) RA, Norman Barth on HCRealms:

Howdy folks and how about... Print and Play!

Hey folks, it's good to be back in an official capacity. For the most part, expect my participation online to be similar to how things were in the old days. Most of the time there are a number of competent people who answer rules questions way faster than I can. I have no interest in going through threads simply to certify clearly obvious correct answers to questions. On the other hand, if a rule seems to be in doubt or is unclear, I will be as proactive as possible to post a clear ruling. In some cases, a question may not be something I can answer until I discuss it with the appropriate WK folks. In those cases, I'll maintain a posting of questions I have outstanding and will follow up with answers (to my central post as well as the thread it originated from) as soon as I can.

Recently, a number of feat and battlefield condition cards were posted to the Heroclix Hammer of Thor Gallery. The timing of them was a little early, but they are indeed the cardboard that was designed to accompany the Hammer of Thor release. While the original release model only made these available through booster pulls, for the new release we wanted to introduce "Print and Play". The new WizKids is taking a new approach when it comes to the cardboard elements of the game. The same ruling we had in terms of character cards we are now applying to feats, battlefield conditions, and special objects. Players should feel free to print the items and use those in their tournaments.

With this great power comes new responsibilities. A legitimate concern with a "Print and Play" policy is that someone may use their computer talents to create a slightly modified version of a card and try to pass that off as a legal card. Players should be aware that this is completely unacceptable. Any player caught using a modified printout of a legitimate WizKids card will be banned from play. At a local level, players should expect that their judge will verify printouts to ensure the game is being played correctly. At high level tournaments, we've always used the "if you catch your opponent cheating, you get a win" method and I expect that, along with random spot checks by judges, will curb any concerns there.

As I work out where and how I'll be posting rules updates, updated Player Guides, collections of open rules questions, and so on, expect to hear more from me. For now, avoid taking knock back and may all your rolls be crit hits.

What are all these Feats and BFCs doing here?

Calendar is updated for December

What? That title not descriptive enough? Scroll down and see when an where Clix throw downs are happening.

Holiday treats from Wizkids! Oh yeah, some news about some game too...

Wizkids' Website had a great message from friend of the game (and Wizkids honcho) Justin Ziran, just in time for the holiday.

Introductions, Updates and a Turkey

He covers the basics of what is going down at the new Wizkids HQ in Hillside, some insights into other product lines return, and potential new lines that may come from the union of NECA an Wizkids.

At the end of the article (really, go read it it full of good stuff) there is a fun little peice for folks to use at home: The Turkey!

This bird is a potent 5 poultry for just points. He possesses the Special Power Food Coma.

Food Coma (tryptophan) Turkey can use Incapacitate as a close combat attack targeting all adjacent characters. After that action resolves, deal one damage to Turkey for each character targeted this way.

That a good trick for just 5 points. Finding ways to maximize the effect the bird has on the battlefield could include adding something keep him from taking damage (like the Life Model decoy Feat) or controlling the battle field so he can spring his Incap attack on as many vulnerable foes as possible.

Wizkids used another popular information outlet, their Facebook Fan page (you're a fan of Wizkids, right?), the Turducken Special Object.

The Turducken (proof that Paula dean is in league with Dr. Doom) is an Immobile Object that can't be destroyed by an attack. But a character with no Action Tokens who is adjacent to the Turducken can be given a Power Action to remove it from the game. That's a power tool when fielding a Stealth reliant team (or to help counter the stealth of your opponent) bu having a piece of hindering terrain that can't be taken out of the game without sacrificing the action of a completely action token free character.

Check with your local Venues to see it they have ant events where these pieces can be fielded.

Questions and Answers on Hammer of Thor.

I started a thread at the BuyMeToys.com Message Board to answer questions and announce rulings on the new pieces. That is for use specifically at BuyMeToys.com but feel free to assume the answers are correct, you may wish to ask the presiding Judge if you are playing elsewhere.

If you have questions ake them here and I will put the answers there as well.

http://www.buymetoys.com/BB/viewtopic.php?p=15439#15439

8 days Until the Hammer hits!

Well folks, we only have 8 short days until our year long wait for new Clix ends. Many of the pieces have been previewed on several sources. This set has a little bit for most folks. Aspects of Annihilation War/Guardians of the Galaxy, Thunderbolts, Avengers, and of course Thor make appearances.

The other thing we're looking forward to is the return of Organized Play supported by Wizkids! This is great. The venues have been supporting this product, during the down time in various ways, but getting fresh prized for Winners and Fellowship is really exciting.

Over the next three months (or so) we have five brand new LE figures, three brand new Event Dials, three new FEATS, 2 brand new Alternate Team ability Feats and a brand new Battlefield condition to compete for. Top it off with a brand new Asgardian map to duke it out on and we're in a for quite a treat.

The NECA - Wizkids Announcement!

Well, it finally came! The announcement that is not shocking, but still an encouraging sight for sure!

The National Entertainment Collectibles Association, Inc. (NECA) has purchased the majority of the assets of WizKids, Inc. from The Topps Company, Inc., including the award-winning Clix family of games, which includes HeroClix, ActionClix, HorrorClix and SportsClix. NECA will also acquire the WizKids brand, the Pocketmodel Game family of games, including the Pirates of the Crimson Coast, Pirates of the Spanish Main and Pirates of the Cursed Seas games, and the Mage Knight line of games.

See the rest for yourself here.

Hammer of Thor Thor's Might Chariot piece available online and at SDCC

Great News all. Wizkids has partnered with NECA to bring out Hammer of Thor. More details on that as they emerge.

First big impact of that is the Thor's Mighty Chariot piece. While formerly this was intended to be the BTB piece for Hammer of Tghor, it is now available $20 at the NECA booth at SDCC or at Amazon.com.

Additionally NECA-Wizkids will have a booth at GenCon. Like I said, there is more information to come as NECA has some announcements to make at Comic-con today!

Justin Ziran tells of proofs arriving from China

At HCRealms Justin Ziran of Topps, tells more of the progress being made at getting Marvel HeroClix: Hammer of Thor out to the players.

News from Topps - June 2, 2009

We’re starting to see sun breaks through the clouds.

Samples arrived late last week and have been sent to Marvel. I must say I that I am looking at a pretty impressive piece. Only two small tweaks for the factory and I think this thing is a winner. (pending Marvel’s approval, of course).

Packaging proofs are arriving today and I expect they will look great as well. 

We’ve knocked down a lot of obstacles but we’re up against some tight timelines and still a bumpy ride ahead of us.

-Justin

Bumby Ride may be a clue as to some of the figures they are proofing...

News From Justin Ziran.

Justin Ziran, formerly of Wizkids and now with TOPPS shared some information wit ht efan's today at HCRealms.

One step forward.....(news from Topps)

Greetings from New York! For those of you that haven't heard, I moved to New York to join the Topps team, today is my 10th day on the job at Topps. Now that my head is above water, I thought it would be a good time to share the latest and greatest from the trenches. 

Regarding the sale of HeroClix: We felt it would be irresponsible to start any sort of official communication before we were close to the finish line in terms of a deal coming together. We’ve been working toward that end very diligently and hope to have some news to share shortly. Deals of this nature sometimes move at glacial speeds while at the same time require quick responses by all involved. 

As mentioned in the ICV2 article, we’re looking into the feasibility of releasing HeroClix product this summer given the extended hiatus. That, in and of itself, is a tough proposition as there are many obstacles to overcome. The good news is that we’ve started that process and we are working with our vendors and some key former WizKids employees. Yesterday, in a conference call, we kicked the plan into a higher gear. We’re not out of the woods yet (in terms of a release), but we are starting to see some clearing. I will provide updates on hcrealms as we move down that path. 

Until then, keep the faith.

-Justin

I find that some encouraging news.

February events in the area!

Keep yourself abreast of all the action in town.

BuyMeToys.com has Clix Every Sunday this month, Fantasy Games will have events on Thursday, and The Griffon has 2 fantastic events on Fridays the 6th and the 20th!  check the Calendar above for the details.

BuyMeToys.com Closed 1/25

BuyMeToys.com will be closed on Sunday,January 24th, due to family illness.  The clix events for today will be post-poned until 2/1/08.  The same event with the same rules and prizes will be run that day.

Sorry for the short notice. 

UberGeekGear's HeroClix "Last Hurrah" (held at BuyMeToys) on 1/17/09 at 1:30pm

UberGeekGear's HeroClix "Last Hurrah" (held at BuyMeToys) on 1/17/09 at 1:30pm 

Sign up here: http://www.wizkidsgames.com/eventdetail.asp?eventid=788518 

For those who don't already know, 
Keith was unfortunately forced to close the UGG doors recently. He was kind enough make arrangements to get the January HC prize support to me so I could run one last event on his behalf, and make those LEs available to his deserving former players/customers. 

Casey and Kelly at Buy Me Toys have been kind enough to let us use their store space for one last tournament. For those unfamiliar, they're across from U. P. Mall at 
6327A University Commons 
South Bend, IN 46635 
574-271-TOYS 

This will be a no holds barred, 600pt Unrestricted event (with some additional rules thrown in for fun). Everyone who plays will get a prize (from among January Arkham Asylum prize support provided by Keith at UberGeekGear as well as other LEs provided by the Judge Nick). 

As it says above, this is no holds barred Unrestricted. That means colossals, themed teams (including non-keyword themes with Judge approval), promo figures(barring the original sets' Spidey and Bats promos that have incorrect, prototype dials), bystanders, feats, battlefield conditions, special objects, and whatever else you want to throw in is fine. All normal HeroClix rules will be followed, with the additional special round rules below for added entertainment. I suggest that you construct your force with fun in mind more than victory, as everyone's guaranteed a decent LE prize (and the rules below might mess with anyone's efforts to 'win'). 

Round One: Ultimate Fun! 
Back by popular demand, it's Ultimate HeroClix for the first round. Y'know, the thing where you write down every power on the dial (if the fig doesn't have a character card) and play as if all of the character's powers were available on every click of its dial. If you haven't played this way before, check this thread for further details:http://nicksclix.naughtykitten.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=10. 

Second Verse: Dials in Reverse! 
After leaving Ultimate HC behind, we go on to what some call the "Bizarro" match. In Round Two, we click dials in the opposite direction we normally would... That means that the last click before the normal KO slot is now the character's starting click (any healing turns the dial clockwise toward that click), and the click past the character's normal starting green line is now its KO slot (damage clicks the dial counterclockwise). If a character's good clicking in the 'forward' direction, is it also just as good 'backwards'? Let's find out. 

Round Three: Trade Teams with Me! 
If you think backwards clicking is a trip, you ain't seen nothing yet... now try to defeat your own team! For the final round, opponents will be forced to switch teams with each other. Knowing your strengths and honing strategy with a team you've constructed is one thing; trying to quickly learn someone else's force to exploit your own team's weaknesses is quite another. Good luck! 

Prizes: Unlike most events, the first person who will get to choose from the available prizes will be our Fellowship winner (as chosen by the Judge). After that, the Fellowship winner will choose the prize-picking order: either going from 1st place on down, or from last place on up. I'll make sure to bring plenty of stuff to choose from (including UGG's January Arkham stuff). 

I'm hoping to see you UberGeeks there! 
{If you plan on attending, please do sign up for the event on the WK site to give me an idea of how many are attending, or at least email me, Nick Hartley, at 
midnight69@prodigy.net. Any efforts in getting the word out to other UGG/local players is also very much appreciated. See you soon!}

Uber Geek Gear closes doors

I was notified earlier today that Uber Geek Gear has closed its doors as of January 1.  This is very sad news.  I was rarely able to get out and play on their Saturday games, but when I did I always had a good time.

I wish Keith and his crew the best of luck with their future endeavours.

While it is distressing to lose a venue from our area, remember that there are still three active in our area.

Update

Their Judge Nick has sent out the following message.

In case you haven't heard, UberGeekGear was forced to close its doors recently. Keith, being the stand up guy he is, will be getting the HeroClix January prize support to me so his (now former) players can still get a shot at grabbing those LEs.

To try to determine our best course of action (without the benefit of our own venue to use), if you would, please respond to me with what you think would work best for you.

Options include: we could go ahead and show up outside the UGG doors at normal tourney time on 1-3-09, then take the group wherever we think would work to run one last 'hurrah' in which I give away all of January's prizes; we could try to arrange a different time and place where the most players could show up at a later date to do the same; I could pass the prize support on to BuyMeToys and they could give it away in their normally scheduled HC events as 2nd Place and 2nd Fellowship prizes; we could even skip the whole tourney thing and just do a get-together to perhaps toast the good times at UGG and give the stuff away randomly; or whatever suggestion you think is best.

Email me at midnight69@prodigy.net , or jump on my board and sound off in this thread:http://nicksclix.naughtykitten.net/f...c.php?f=2&t=94

Also, if you can get the word around to other players that might not have heard, so perhaps they too can have their voices heard on this issue, it's much appreciated.

Sorry for the short notice(I was shocked as well). Hoping to hear from you soon,
Nick Hartley