Article by THE-MOX
Ok, kids. Class is in session. Professor Mox is in charge now. Welcome to my first of what should be several strategic seminars. This is HeroClix 201: Intermediate Army Construction. Everything I will be going over in all of these seminars is based on personal experience and observation over hundreds of casual and tournament games of HeroClix. Believe me, it's not just the things I do, but I observe the things other players do and don't do. Failure occurs mostly on the field and not in the build.
HeroClix 201 is an add-on to basic HeroClix. Now, you've read the rulebooks, PAC and maybe the FAQ, but there's always a couple fine points to army building, especially when dealing with particular army sizes. Most people know there are strategic differences between 200, 300 and 400 point armies and so on, but do the inexperienced particularly know what makes them tick?
First off, a few subtle points when determining your army. First off, experience shows that you shouldn't spend over half your build on one figure. Think about this, if you did do that, you could lose the game when it gets knocked out. Example: Someone runs Doc Samson(V) (cost: 102) in a 200pt. army. Now, if Doc Samson gets KO'ed, you've lost 102 and your opponent gained 102 victory points. That's a 204pt. swing in a game where there's only 400pts. Your odds of victory just dropped dramatically. After a while, running Darkseid in a 300pt. army just wasn't cutting it. Second point is taxis. I'll cover this in depth another time, but I'll dab on it here. My favorite formula says an army should have one flyer for each active piece. It's not rocket science. It's simple logic. For each piece you're going to send into the fray, keep someone to get them around. This is more important for close up fighters than ranged fighters, but sill important. Obviously your medics or Prob. Control or Defend or other support pieces won't be doing a lot of deep moving, so they don't need flyers. That's how to determine your active pieces from your support pieces.
Now, level 2 building aside. Let's talk about army sizes. Yes, you really should build armies differently at different levels. Why?
Well, here's why:
200 point armies: I didn't have much experience these before, but played 200pts. this past weekend. By the time I was finished (and won Jane Foster) I had realized a couple important determining factors. The most important strategy in playing 200pts. is action management. Realizing you only get 2 can handcuff you if you're not ready. You're going to want things that maximize action effectiveness. Free movements and wild cards are probably more valuable here than any other level. Otherwise with 2 actions, you carry and shoot and that's it...potentially leaving yourself open to 2 opposing attacks. Free moving flyers are very good here because they get your movement and can still leave 2 actions for attacking. Leadership, while not essential, can help immensely. Be careful in choosing your offense. You don't necessarily have to balance it, but don't put all your eggs in one basket, like one of my opponents did with a Firelord(V). In doing this, your strategy can go into ruin if your offense gets hit or even KO's. You can go 2 range or 2 close fighters or mix, but I'd say get 2. I used Silver Samurai(V) and Storm(V) and was pleased with the results. I was still able to win even after I lost Silver Samurai. Value in offense, there's the key.
300 point armies: Typically my forte. I play more 300pt. than anything else. I've seen the emphasis in 300pt. armies is balance and support. You tend to want to keep your offense 2-dimensional and make sure your support pieces are just right (whatever abilities you deem as support). You don't need to be skimpy with your support pieces, but don't spend too much either. Quality is slightly more important than quantity. Value is good, but if you get a little more punch for a few more points, go for the boost. With 3 base actions, management isn't as important, but don't be foolish. I like to be able to get off 2 attacks a round. 2 good attacks seem to weaken my target enough to minimize retaliation. A lot of targets don't weaken significantly after one 2 or 3 click attack, which leaves them a risk to take out their frustration. That's why 2 attacks usually suffice for my action plan, so I've still got a flight/movement action to burn off in the process. It's also why action management is so important to me in the 200pt. army. I still avoid 100+ point figures unless they're godsends. That's still a lot for one piece at this level.
400 point armies: Only played a handful of these myself, but still know the difference. As far as I recall, 400pt. armies are typically more aggressive than other things, putting more emphasis on offense and less on support. Armies usually have close and ranged combat, but it's not uncommon to favor one. Quality of pieces is most important, since here you are likely to find Dr. Doom, Thor, Iron Man, Abomination, Superman and Darkseid going berserk. The reason is that many of them can be easily played and not violate the half-build limit. Small-to-mid range pieces you found valuable in the 300pt. army may not be so effective here (like Nightcrawler or Moondragon). There's little to do with action management since with 4 actions, you should be able to do what you need already. Big guns come out at 400pts. so either pack one of your own, or be ready to take one down. Once you get here, you're going for more of the slugfest than anything.
I know no strategies over 400 points, but anyone that plays them frequently is free to let the rest of us know. Anything that big usually just takes too long for me to want to play.
Back to the Articles Main Page