Issue 3 June, 2008
Welcome all to the second issue of the local Clix and Wizkids games newsletter, Michiana Clix. Please share this with your Clix playing friends. If they’d like to subscribe have them send me an e-mail at MichianaClix@gmail.com. The goal is to have this published monthly, with special “alerts” when necessary.
You can also find a copy of this along with periodic information, polls and reader feedback at michianaclix.blogspot.com.
How Lucky can we be?
The South Bend/Mishawaka area has the luck of having 4 very active Wizkids Venues within a 20 minute drive of each other. BuyMeToys.com, Fantasy Games and The Griffon in South Bend, and Uber Geek Gear in Mishawaka. Each month a different Wizkids Venue will be profiled here. This month we’ll get the details on BuyMeToys.com!
BuyMeToys.com, 6237A University Commons, South Bend
Located near the heart of Michiana Retailing, BuyMeToys.com is a nationally recognized, full service comic and collectible store and small press publisher. BuyMeToys.com became a Venue just before the release of HeroClix in 2002 and has run every HeroClix Approved Play Event ever offered.
Like most comic specialty shop Venues, BuyMeToys.com' playing area is actually in the retail area, allowing interested people a chance to observe the game as it is played.
BuyMeToys.com began its life as a show and convention retailer when Casey, the owner, was only 15 years old! At age 19, Casey opened his first brick and mortar shop, Shadow of the Bat, in Mishawaka's Century Center. In 1999 the store, now run by Casey and his wife Kelly, moved to Scottsdale Mall and changed the name to match the website, BuyMeToys.com. When Scottsdale mall was torn down, they moved to University Commons. They host HeroClix almost every Sunday (barring a holiday or family event) and Horror Clix two Thursdays a month.
BuyMeToys.com often brings in comic creators for signings and special events. Up next is Alex Ross (Avengers/Invaders, JSA, Super Powers), coming in July 19th.
BuyMeToys .com is open Wednesday to Saturday from 11 am – 8 pm, Sunday and Monday from 12 am – 6 pm, closed on Tuesday.
AlphaClix debuts with Batman!
June will have the debut of the Alpha Clix format with the DC HeroClix: Batman set. This game is intended to get new players introduced both to HeroClix and Collectible Miniature Games.
The seasoned Clix player will see a lot that is familiar to the game. Folks that played the Halo ActionClix game will see a lot of similarity as well.
With only 30 pieces and three rarities (Common, Uncommon and Rare) this will be a low impact set for collectors and Bat-fans. The booster format will be 4 figures, one (a version of Batman) will be in a viewable window on the booster, character cards detailing each figure’s powers (like a mini-PAC), dice and a 15” x15” (10 x 10 square) map. Boosters will retail for $9.99.
Target has an exclusive “Fifth Batman” figure that will not be found anywhere else. Also, Wizkids is limited the amount of product available to traditional gaming store in order to get this game out to the non-core audience.
Still if you are interested in this game, check your local comic and hobby game specialty stores!
New Starter Rules
July 9th will see the release of the Marvel HeroClix: Fantastic Four Starter and with it the brand new rules set for Heroclix. And yes, this is a set of changes to the existing rules as much as an addition to or “tweaking” of existing rules. Some changes have already been dealt with, removal of soaring, theme team benefits and victory condition being the aspect that were introduced before the Crisis Event series began
Rather than list the differences, I’m just encouraging players to read the new rules, which can be found these documents on the Wizkids’ Website here: Fantastic Four Rules and Fantastic Four PAC.
The Fantastic Four Starter has an MSRP of $24.99 and can only be found in specialty gaming stores.
The Invasion is coming!
As you may have already seen, previews for Marvel HeroClix: Secret Invasion are in full swing at Wizkid’s website, Wizard and in Critical Hit Magazine!
Will you be ready to face it? Check with local retailers for Pre-ordering information.
Available July 30th, MSRP $11.99 a booster.
“Boo!” It’s HorrorClix Errata Time!
As if to remind us all that HorrorClix is still ticking, the latest E & C for HorrorClix was released on May 21st.
It corrects a few mistakes and helps HorrorClix on track for casual and organized play.
- Only Gold and Bronze Tab Monsters are unique, fixing the error from the Freddy vs. Jason rule Book.
- Active Players can play plot twists only on actions that their opponent(s) have not.
- Monsters with 2 tokens can be the target of Possession.
- The Mime Monster does, indeed, rescue victims.
What a Week!
Now that the Crisis Events are over local venues have a series of treats for players! The first whole week of June (or so) has 4 events that are all a great break from the recent, highly regulated, Organized Play series.
The first of these was announced back on Free Comic Book Day at BuyMeToys.com. On Sunday, June 1st, a spectacular 3 booster sealed event with three Big prizes 2007 Galactus, Starro and the winner’s choice of either a ‘Purple Pants’ or SDCC ‘Orange’ Fin Fang Foom! All participants will get something for playing but the big prizes will go to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. Plans call for a double elimination format with fun side games for when players are knocked out.
Uber Geek Gear also has a sealed event with Colossal prizes on Saturday May 31st. Initially for only a single Colossal prize, they have upped the ante to colossal prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place as well. This event however does have a minimum of 8 or more participants required to be played, so help them out and sign up if you plan on playing!
Saturday the 7th, Uber Geek Gear will host the 2nd annual (they hope) Live HeroClix event! This unique event has the players using a 100 point, single figure with no more than 20 point of Feats allowed, team that they play as on the gridded sidewalk outside the store. Players then compete in a life sized battle, every player for themselves!
Fantasy Games also has a great diversion from the norm on Thursday June 5th. For this Unrestricted event players will bring a massive 1000 point team!
HeroClix Approved Play for June
June only has one restricted event for HeroClix.
Heroclix World Championship Qualifier I: Restricted 300 point event.
Prizes include a local champion certificate for the winner plus entry into a drawing at GenCon for several recent HeroClix full sets.
NOTES: Players cannot win more than one invitation, and once they win, cannot play in any others or they may be disqualified. Invitations will be issued to the player in our system that was reported as winning the event; events reported more than two weeks after their date, or those run incorrectly, will not generate invitations. Venues must run the tournament according to the “How to Run Swiss Rounds” document found here, including "final" elimination rounds.
Tournament Legal Sets
Marvel: Armor Wars, Danger Room, Sinister, Days of Future Past, Fin Fang Foom, Supernova, 2099, Avengers, Mutations and Monsters
DC: Collateral Damage, Spectre, DC Giants, Green Lantern Corps, Origin, Legion of Super Heroes, Justice League, Crisis
Indy: City of Heroes/City of Villains, Invincible, Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.
MichianaClix Hero Clix Calendar
HeroClix
Sat 5/31 Fight for the Big Boys Event 1:30 pm UGG
Sun 6/1 Battle for Foom, Galactus and Starro Sealed Event 1:00 pm BMT
Thu 6/5 1000 point Slugfest! 7:00 pm Fan
Fri 6/6 HeroClix World Championship Qualifier I 7:00 pm Grif
Sat 6/7 HC Live Action – You’re the Click 100 point, single figure 1:30 UGG
Sun 6/8 400 point Unrestricted 1:00 pm BMT
Thu 6/19 HeroClix World Championship Qualifier I 7:00 pm Fan
Fri 6/20 Unrestricted Event 7:00 pm Grif
Sat 6/21 HeroClix World Championship Qualifier I 1:30 pm UGG
Sun 6/22 HeroClix World Championship Qualifier I 1:00 pm BMT
HorrorClix
Thu 6/5 200 point Constructed Event 6 pm BMT
Sat 6/7 200 point Constructed Event 6 pm Grif
Thu 6/12 300 point Constructed Event 6 pm BMT
Fri 6/13 300 point Constructed Event 6 pm Grif
Thu 6/19 400 point Constructed Event 6 pm BMT
Sat 6/20 400 point Constructed Event 6 pm Grif
MechWarrior
Tue 6/2 Storyline Event 6:00 pm UGG
Thu 6/5 600 point Constructed Event 6:30 pm Fan
Tue 6/10 600 point Constructed Event 6:00 pm UGG
Thu 6/12 Storyline Event 6:30 pm Fan
Tue 6/17 Unrestricted Event 6:00 pm UGG
Thu 6/19 600 point Unrestricted Event 6:30 pm Fan
Tue 6/24 Unrestricted Event 6:00 pm UGG
Thu 6/26 5000 point Special Unrestricted 6:30 pm Fan (See Venue for full details)
Venue Guide
BuyMeToys.com (BMT)
6327A University Commons
South Bend, IN 46635
in University Common across from University Park Mall
Fantasy Games (Fan)
52025 State Road 933
South Bend, IN 46637
N of the Toll Road
The Griffon (Grif)
121 W. Colfax Ave.
South Bend, IN 46601
At the corner of Colfax and N. Main, next to the LaSalle Grille
Uber Geek Gear (UGG)
2441 Miracle Ln.
Mishawaka, IN 46545
In the Town and Country shopping center near Dairy Queen
Free Role Playing Game Day
June 21st marks the second annual Free Role Playing Game Day. Locally, Fantasy Games will be participating in this event. Check out games from publisher such as Wizards of the Coast and White Wolf Publishing. Some promotional items are available for interested players, as well as demos.
Fantasy Games is looking for Game masters for a variety of games to run demos that day. Contact Mark at fantasygamessb@aol.com for more details.
June Kicks off Summer Conventions!
The month of June starts convention season here in the Midwest. Wizard World Chicago will be June 26th -29th. Plenty of Clix competition there, as well as the chance to pick up the Convention Exclusive Knight Fall Batman!
At Wizard World you can find large tournaments of up to 128 players that can go all day as well as faster Battle Royals that can occupy as little as an hour!
Not to mention the other trapping of conventions, Comic creators, television and movie personalities, publishers big and small, costumes and so much more!
As well as Wizard World Chicago, GenCon (4 great days of gaming), is in Indianapolis in July plus you can always find small regional conventions.
If you know of any regional gaming conventions or comic shows, please let MichianaClix know! Send information to: MichianaClix@gmail.com.
About the author
Jon Loftus has been a HeroClix player since day one and became an Envoy in September of 2002. He is currently the regional “Level 3” Envoy for Wizkids. That means he helps with any issue that come up for Wizkids players, new and existing venues or other Envoys as well as runs games regularly. Jon works as a technician at the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Environmental Science and Technology. He and his wife, Christy, will be celebrating their 10th anniversary this summer. You may see Christy and their daughter Emma at area events along with Jon.
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