Article by THE-MOX
Now, the thing about taxis isn't really so much the use of them, as it is to figure out how long you'll need them and exactly what you're going to do with them. There's always the pure taxi and then there's the taxi with benefits.
You're going to have to start with how long you're going to want your taxi around for purposes of carrying others. If you're just aiming for kamikaze taxi (meaning you'll carry one figure into the fray and abandon everything), then there's plenty for that. This is particularly where the cheap ones come in. The Parademon Scout(R) and Vulture(R) are both under 20 points and serve this quite well. The reason for this is they have little to no offensive capability and but a handful of clicks of health. Meaning, if you leave them around, they'll be quickly wiped out. People love the Parademon Scout for it's 13 point taxi. Again, if you re going kamikaze, it's fine, but his 3 clicks of health mean he may not be making a second run. These guys are also nice if you've got already mobile or otherwise high-movement figures and just need that extra spring in their step. Another benefit is free movement. If these guys are only going to taxi around, you don't want them eating up actions unless necessary. Typically any flyers with about 4 or 5 clicks of health will fall here...even most of the new Legion of Super Heroes members.
The second class are the boardrunners. These are the taxis that you plan on having make multiple trips. Shadowcat's Phasing allows her to break for free and carry around, plus her Super Senses is nice insurance. She's probably top notch in this. Doombots are nice because they don't cost much, but have some Toughness and decent defense to keep them around. Figures in this category should have some measure of damage soaking (whether Toughness or Super Senses) and dials hovering around 6 clicks. Free movements here are nice if you can get them. Also, you don't want these guys costing too much. 40 is probably the upper limit for one of these. The exception to this is Green Goblin(U). His Willpower ensures lots of runs, but his point cost of; 62 exceeds the approximate 40 cap.
The next class contains utility flyers. In this class, you've got flyers that serve some extra purpose other than flying. This is not restricted to attacking. This can be some other ability you find useful. One of the biggest figures in this category is Moondragon(U). Her Telekinesis and Mind Control make excellent secondary abilities to her own ability to carry figures around. The new Batman(U) from Cosmic Justice would also apply here, since in addition to his flight, you love his Stealth and Outwit. You'll be lucky to fit more than one of these into an army, as the good ones tend to be rather costly. You may want to balance one of these with one taxi in the lower classes.
The next step up takes us to the offensive floor. These are the guys who you'll probably be using mostly for offense that happen to fly. This floor is where you'll find Firelord, Thor and Crimson Dynamo along with others. The reason these guys are even classified here is because on your first turn, you'll probably be simply moving them anyways. You might as well let them carry someone. You'll get one good carry out of them and let them go forth on their killing spree. Even so, if it looks like they re going to be around for a while, let someone tag along with them. At least it gives you an extra attacker on the target and, if the target is finished off, let this guy carry the tag-along to the new target so the tag-along gets a shot at the new target.
Green Lantern has his own unique class because there is nothing else like him. His ability to haul around 8 other characters makes him a supertaxi, but simply that. The Green Lanterns printed to date don't bring much else besides that. Plus, even the rookie GL is going to eat up just over 80 points of your army. Still, though, in the right places, he s the only taxi you'll need. So, what class does he fit in? He's most likely a boardrunning taxi. He can take in all your close-combat guys, and then retreat away, carrying your ranged guys, so he makes a pretty good taxi for both. His Phasing makes him incredible for carrying figures so he's probably worth an experiment or two in an army to see how well it works.
So, now you re probably asking specifically what you should do? It depends on your strategy. Remember, different classes are going to come in different point levels. If you're a person more for the rush in blindly and shred it out, you'll want to keep your taxis in the first level to free up more points for the rest of your army. Armies that rely on a lot of ranged combat will be looking for taxis in the second class. They'll need to be able to make multiple runs to keep the ranged combatants out of trouble and able to continue their duties.
You're probably wondering about the utility flyers. When and why to use them? When you do this, think of some secondary abilities you may want in your army like Telekinesis, Outwit, Mind Control, Perplex, Enhancement and maybe even Running Shot or Charge. (There may be others as well. It's at your discretion.) If you can get one or two of these in a flyer then you might want to look at throwing one in. The idea is that you get the abilities you want without bogging down your offensive figures. This way when a flyer isn't carrying someone you can have them using some of these secondary abilities to attack with. Flyers can be good Swiss-army knives in this sense. As to what to replace of the first two classes for this...it still goes by strategy. Most utility flyers work well as boardrunners, but don't think that's what it has to replace. If your strategy is still keeping certain characters mobile and out of trouble, then make sure your other taxis are boardrunners as well.
How many flyers should you have? That's another fine question. I typically prefer the formula one flyer for every active piece. By active piece, I mean pieces you typically use for offense. Figures with things like Support, Probability Control, Outwit and Perplex actually remain relatively still most of combat, moving only to readjust their lines of sight. These figures don't usually need taxis helping them around as usually their base movement will more than suffice (especially if lines of sight are 10 spaces). I'm personally not a big fan of the flyer-carrying-flyers concept, but until Indy Clix and the new rulebook arrive it's a totally legal concept, so go ahead and break it while you can.
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