2011 HeroClix Rules

Boom! That's the sound of your player's guide, printed diligently every few months hitting the trash can.  things are getting simplified! (word-wise that is)

They new set of rules, which take effect 5/1/11 were released Friday.  Read them, understand them, keep them handy.

But make sure you are familiar with them by the 1st of May.

Go read through Norman Barth's rundown of rules change '11 at Wizkids' blog.

The Download your copies and start reading!
2011 rules set
PAC

In the mean time, there are a few more scheduled events for April, so remember the differences and check with each venue when they will schedule events to us the new rules, some may want to adopt them early, some may wait.

Giant Sized X-men Alternate Team Abilities and the annual update of rules!

Wizkids started rolling out the ATA's this week.  Cruise over there to check them out.
Hellfire Club
Reavers
Next Wave UPDATE: 4/6/11
Horsemen of Apocalypse UPDATE: 4/7/11
New Mutants UPDATE 4/8/11

Also, we'll get some tweaks to the rules this May.  Norm is doing a great job detailing those changes.  You should check those out as well, they take effect May 1!
Action overhaul
Wildcards and Theme teams
Terrain, elevation and LOF
Combat Abilities UPDATE: 4/6/11

A busy week worth of updates.

While I've been having a very busy time at both work and home (all very good, though), Wizkids has been dazzling the interwebs with a ton of news.

Information about the Watchmen set continues to come in from Wizkids and Alliance.

The Brightest Day set is coming at us (and is a mere $24.99).

And Web of Spider-man is coming down the pipes with a reprint of the Fantastic Four Starter wit the new updated rules.

For the tournament scene we have a big change to a strategy favorite Special Object Structural Integrity Field.

Structural Integrity Field 

0 points

Blocking terrain (but not blocking terrain markers) and walls 6 or fewer squares from this object can’t be destroyed.

Plus, today We get an updated set of Players Guides AND our introduction to Alternate Team Abilities!

I would suggest that everyone planning on attending origins or Gen-Con study up sooner rather than later!  (Very soon for Origins since it is NEXT WEEKEND!)  Also remember that the Rules from Blackest Night as well ass the material from the Players Guide and the Print and Play ATAs are legal as of posting so keep that in mind at this weekend's events!

And about those ATA's look below!

              

Alter Ego Explained (Updated)

Jake Theis took the reigns of this weeks previews again. And what a preview it is!

Finding a Phone Booth

Now, every so often we get the addition of a new game mechanic. We've become used to it, and this is the first real addition since the game returned. Sometimes these mechanics don't have an impact on overall play (Event Dials), sometimes they become ingrained in how we think about the game (FEATs, BFCs, and Theme Teams).

We'll have to see how Alter Ego holds after a few releases, but we have an iconic set of characters to experience with Brave and the Bold; Clark Kent/Superman, Diana Prince/Wonder Woman & Bruce Wayne/Batman! But it is certain that this new mechanic will be explored with enthusiasm while we play these out these concepts.

Eagle eyes folks may have already spotted the 4th Alter Ego pairing in the set, but those who haven't will enjoy that pairing as well.

Update:  Clarifications of Feating up and a no brainier on healing AEs by Norm.

Feats

* Feats that Clark can use that Superman cannot - get assigned to Clark and Clark can use them. Superman cannot. They remain assigned even after transformation - points are not scored for them until/unless Clark is KO'd or the feat says otherwise.

* Feats that Clark can use that Superman can use as well - get assigned to Clark and Clark can use them. Superman can too. They remain assigned after transformation and are scored normally.

* Feats that Superman can use (past the orange line) and Clark cannot - can be assigned to Clark but Clark cannot use them. After transformation, Superman can use them. If Clark is KO'd before transformation, the feats points are awarded normally.

* Feats that Clark and Superman cannot us - let me know which of these feats causes a problem.

Starting Lines

As with all figs that have multiple starting lines, you cannot heal past the line they begin on. This is true for a Superman brought in through the Alter Ego mechanic.

Organized Play gets a makeover: Modern Age and Gold Age Play!

When DC HeroClix: Brave and the Bold debuts next month, so will a new system of play. retirement is gone, and is the Unrestricted, Restricted play environment. Instead officially sponsored games with have one of two "Ages" assigned to them.

Modern Age, basically what is being produced "now" and Golden Age, all of the elements from sets gone by.

The Modern age will basically be the previous 2 years of sets up to the current expansion. For the time being it will go beyond that a bit due to the 11 month hiatus between Topps and NECA owning Wizkids.

Modern Age set include:

Marvel HeroClix: Avengers, Monsters and Mutations, Secret Invasion (which includes the Fantastic Four starter), and Hammer of Thor.

DC HeroClix: Justice League, Crisis (which includes the Anti-Monitor Action Pack), Batman Alpha, Arkham Asylum, The Brave and the Bold, and the Blackest Night starter.

HeroClix Classics: All of the HeroClix Classic figures are a part of the Modern Age format. Any figure from a Golden Age set that has been reprinted in a HeroClix Classics set is considered Modern Age as well, and can be used in place of the Classics figure. A reprint is a figure that is identical to an older figure in every aspect except for set symbol and collector’s number.

Colossals (if the build total in your Modern Age game is high enough): Galactus Eater of Worlds, Fin Fan Foom, Starro, Anti-Monitor, and Sinestro Corps Anti-Monitor. Though only one Fin Fang Foom debuted after Avengers, all versions remain legal. As the two versions of Galactus have slightly different powers, only the more recent Coming of Galactus event version remains legal.

Maps: All official HeroClix maps with the modern color-coding remain legal in Modern Age, regardless of what set they were released with.

This is a big change. So, before discussing this and the effects of the change in further detail on this Blog I would ask that all of our players head to Wizkids' site and read Norm's article on the topic. In a few days, I'll post a follow-up to this answering and questions I can, and some insite to gameplay changes here on the local level.

Send questions to: michianaclix@gmail.com or post them on the Facebook page.

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.