As Fall Takes It's Sweet Time Arriving, Heroclix

Around this time every year - for the last three or four years - I take a look at DC characters I'd like to see made into Heroclix that haven't had a chance yet. Looking back over the prior posts, the actual date has slipped around a lot, mostly because I forget, or get preoccupied.

Last year was a busier year for DC 'Clix. There was a Batman set, then Streets of Gotham, a big Teen Titans set, and a Man of Steel based release. That last one didn't do much for me, but I figured I'd mention it. One thing that's starting to happen is the inclusion of Wildstorm properties and of characters in their New 52 designs. The Teen Titans set was especially notable for that, but the Batman set had Katana in both her pre and post-relaunch looks, for example. At least the new Harley Quinns we got were her classic look.

One game mechanic they've added this year is Team bases. It's a large base that you fit other, specific characters onto, and then it works like a single massively powerful figure, getting stronger the more of the team you place on there, though you aren't forced to put them on there if you don't want. I don't really care about that, much like Duo figures, it feels like something that limits the mobility of my pieces. I prefer to be able to scatter or regroup at my discretion. But that's a player's choice issue, no biggie. The concern is that in terms of rarity, some figures are listed as Team base figures (which is somehow above even Super Rare), and that makes them expensive as hell to get. Which is really irritating when it's someone like say, Raven, who hasn't had a new figure since the Icons set from about 9 years ago. Gee, tough luck, player who just wanted a new, more playable version of one of the core Wolfman/Perez Titans! You'll have to shell out the big bucks now! Maybe if I wait five years it'll get cheaper, when Team Bases fall by the wayside like 95% of the other mechanics they've tossed out there in the last 4 years.

They do this as well with their Marvel 'clix, but I won't get to that until next month, so I figured deal with it at the first opportunity.

When I did last year's post, none of my Top 5 had been made. To recap, those were:

1. Sand
2. Terra (the one that was friends with Power Girl)
3. The Haunted Tank
4. Enemy Ace
5. the Unknown Soldier

Of those, the only winner is the Haunted Tank, albeit with none of Jeb, Rick, Arch, or Slim coming along. Basically anyone can use it, though you receive certain bonuses if they have "Soldier" as a keyword. Not quite what I envisioned. Hey, at least one its powers was listed as "Clankety-Clankety-Clankety".

Outside of that, the closest we got otherwise was a Terra in the Tenn Titans set, but it's the new 52 version, which I think means it's basically the original Terra, more or less. We did get Thunder, which brings me a little closer to that Chuck Dixon Outsiders team I mentioned last year. They even gave us a new Katana and Metamorpho to add in (also a new Black Lightning and Geo-Force), but they all have earlier versions. Still no Grace, though, which seems silly. The dial designers have really gotten into adding special powers that trigger when two particular characters are working together. You know, Fire and Ice, Booster and Beetle, stuff like that. Grace and Thunder seem like a natural pairing, and isn't like Grace's dial would be hard to come up with. She's a Brick clix. High damage, no range, damage reducers, lots of Charge, Super Strength, Close Combat Expert, stuff like that. There's only about a hundred of them already they can use as a framework.

I feel like the chance was missed, though. The farther we get away from her actually appearing in comics, the less likely I think it is we'll see her. Or any of those other characters up there, none of whom have shown up in the new 52 to my knowledge.