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This one I'm proud of. ..
Heroclix needs some love lately as the company that had the license and was making it got closed, and it's been shopping for a new daddy. My sources tell me prospects actually are good, but in the meantime, players are a little sad.
This should cheer them up!
Oh, yeah. As Dick Grayson said, "the cave's not the cave without all the stuff."
Hindering terrain is provided by the three most identifiable trophies (the card, the penny, and the dinosaur), as well as other trophy cases, and an old bat-signal. The Batmobile awaits on an elevated platform, flanked by a bottomless pit; if a figure get knocked into it, it's out of the game!
The Batsub gives some water terrain for a visit from Aquaman and stalgmites/stalactites serves as blocking terrain (one of them is actual a rock arch, and you can walk through it). The giant floor map of Gotham makes me happy, and you can exit via the staircase or Alfred's service elevator. Perhaps a Wayne Manor map should be made to place adjacent, eh?
Most Heroclix maps just aren't spooky enough.
Oh, they're fine if you're fond of the glitterati heroes, with their zappy powers and flaming hairdos. But I'm a fan of the scitterati set, with their smoke bombs and skulking capes. And face it, these are not characters who fling hot dog carts at you in the middle of a sunlit park.
I want an appropriate place where Batman and Dr. Mid-Nite can throw smoke bombs at the Scarecrow; where the Blue and Red Devils can confront Etrigan about his breath; where Deadman and the Phantom Stranger can chase the Gentleman Ghost and the Shade; where the Spectre can teach Ragman to sew.
And, so, I created
The abandoned church and its adjacent graveyard make for lots of changing terrain, where walls and hindering abound. The windows in the church and the closed back-gate of the graveyard could be treated as clear terrain entrances or as walls that need to be destroyed; I leave that up to those who play the map!
Too many maps are big open affairs, where all the figures just charge up the middle, as if in a big football game. I like maps that force you to make choices, and finding the right place to confront your opponents on this map will be challenging. Of course, any ghostly figures with phasing are going to have a distinct advantage here, as they'll be able to ignore all those pesky walls.
As for layout, this map was about orienting the "rooms" (the church and graveyard) the "wrong way". Because there's not one obvious way to approach the enemy, it encourages different theaters of action, increasingly the repeat playability of the map. Too many Heroclix maps are almost perfectly symmetrical, which, although fair, is rather boring; I mean, it's not chess, people!
The design was all about trying to create a spooky atmosphere without having the map be too dull. I had fun playing with lighting/shadowing, and using gradient on the grid so that it was visible in both light and shadow. The fog was the hardest thing. Tried a million different things, then I simply cheated. If you can figure out how I cheated, I will be mightily impressed...
This one is for you, Wonder Woman!
"I am sorry, sister; but I must shove this Ionic column up your septum!"Even without going into her dial, it's pretty clear this Wonder Woman is not to be trifled with. So I made her this temple map.
Yeah, I know that actual rituals were seldom performed within the naos of a temple, so the altar is kind of out of place; but nobody knows that other than you and I. Besides, the map needed both color and cover, which the altar, the braziers, and (if you're Aquaman) the pools provide. There's even some elevated terrain, courtesy of the goddess's pedestal. And, please note that the columns are blocking terrain.
Get this map printed and trot this 700-pt level team:
- Nubia (69 pts),
- Cassie "Wonder Girl" Sandsmark (87 pts),
- Donna "Wonder Girl" Troy (94 pts),
- Artemis (95 pts),
- Hipployta in her WW garb (106 pts), and
- Wonder Woman the Column-Carrier herself (at a whopping 248 pts).
To oppose them, field these Wonder-Foes:
- The Cheetah (63 pts),
- Dr. Psycho (100 pts),
- Giganta (108 pts),
- Circe (149 pts),
- and the Big Bad himself, Ares (275 pts).
Hola! Place your bets and see who wins!
In a previous post, Absorbascommando Steven Mitchell challenged me to make a Heroclix map of Dr. Fate's Tower, which I deemed impossible.
Naturally, I start worked on immediately.
As Fate fans will know, Dr. Fate's Tower has, in recent years, been portrayed as having architecture reminiscent of Escher's "Relativity". Now, the rules of Heroclix don't even take into account things like windows and doors that close, or make a distinction between crawling over rubble at noon and walking through a dark alley at midnight. So you can imagine, representing something as wacky as Fate's Tower is a tall order. One good thing, though; the Tower doesn't even have doors and windows.
Not only is the Tower's architecture wacky, but it changes (and the first person who says, "Just like Hogwarts!" is fired). Plus, like the Escher piece that inspired it, the architecture is relative; it's different for each person standing in different parts of the Tower.
Yeesh! That's impossible.
Here it is anyway.
There's lots of standard occult bric-a-brac for decor, but none of it in meaningful in gameplay. This one is all about the bizarre layout, folks. There basically two different section in the map: the "floor" and the "chambers".
A bottom level, indicated by the giant ankh in the floor is where the figures start. "Above" it (really, just ... "elsewhere") are the "chambers" and the stairs that connect them. There is no direct, permanent connection between the chambers and the floor. Figures on the floor treat the chambers as (undestroyable) blocking terrain, and simple ignore the staircases. So the floor is kind of like a maze (it's a series of passages with no defined rooms).
Conversely, the chambers are kind of like catacombs (a series of rooms connected by individual passages). The chambers and stairs are self-contained, with undestroyable walls.
Each chamber is marked with a number of glowing symbols that designate the room. The symbols themselves aren't significant, just how many of them are on the chamber floor. For example, the chamber in the upper left corner is a "2" room. Why does this matter?
Well as we used to say when I was a kid, "Here's the tricky part"...
Each player rolls a die at the start of each of his turns. Whatever number is rolled, the chambers marked with that number are suddenly considered part of the floor, with no walls surrounding them. At that point, your figures can just walk into the room from the floor (or vice versa).
Of course, your opponent is also doing the same thing each turn, so you can't count on your perspective remaining the same from turn to turn.
It's a very difficult environment to plan a fight in. With your and your opponent's perspectives on the board changing with each turn, you have to be extremely flexible and spread your team around to take advantage of opportunities that the changing board provides. It's not really a fair environment for either player... but at least it's equally UNfair.
One bright spot is that if you have a character on your team with Probability Control, they can use their power that turn on your "floor roll" if it doesn't turn out the way you wanted. That gives characters like, well, like Dr. Fate an advantage.
Characters with superspeed and long-range would probably do well, because they can quickly take advantage of the changing architecture of the map. No use suddenly being able to see an opponent if you can't reach them to make an attack. The flip side is that when such opportunities do not arise, those expensive abilities are completely wasted because the characters are trapped in most cramped quarters.
Does your team have what it takes to prevail in Dr. Fate's Tower? Do you?
Yesterday, I was delighted to receive, hand-delivered by charming Charlie of Xion Games, copies of my recent Heroclix maps: Ferris Aircraft, the Iceberg Lounge, Central City, and Crime Alley. Soon I'll have to order Apex City and Weisinger Plaza, as well!
I was delighted; it can be hard to get a good sense from staring at a computer screen how a large-scale printing is going to turn out, but these were excellent, with delicious detail. But I also got some news that made me feel like a piker...
Imagine my surprise to learn that an Absorbacommando, Mathias, actually went and made 3D versions of some of my maps, including...
The Crime Alley Map
(including the fire escapes!)
The Big Monkey Map
and the Joker's Hideout Map.
(Hey, what's Iron Man doing in there...?!)
Very impressive, Mathias! I'm honored you troubled to give my work the 3D treatment.
The Giant Prop Exhibit
It's all ready for a visit by a Batman villain;
some of their cars are already there.
Oh, and look closely or you'll miss the
"Vote for Pengy" poster.
Here's the perfect (but quite belated) Klordny gift for all my fellow Legion fans:
a Heroclix map of Weisinger Plaza, the place where Legion Headquarters sits.
Now, Wizkids itself has made a Legion-oriented map but, except for its use of Interlac, it's a rather bland and generic future map. I wanted to make something more like how I think of the Legion.
First thing you'll notice as the navbeam guides your autoflyer over the Plaza is that the future is not bland; it's eye-pokingly colorful, like Mr. Nebula's Eventual Revenge. Read any old Legion story (particularly as gloriously reproduced in the Archive Volumes); the 30th/31st century is aggressively colorful, like a Easter Egg gone postal.
Second you'll notice the "Super Hero Clubhouse", complete with Legion cruiser, Time Bubble, Mission Monitor Board, Legion flag in the courtyard, and, of course, the Planetary Chance Machine. Oh, and that garden beside the Old Upside-down Rocket-ship isn't just a fancy; early Legion stories always depict the HQ against a background of trees and plants.
No visit to Weisinger Plaza would be complete without a tour of the Superman Museum and a stop at the Nine Worlds Ice Cream Parlor; I recommend the Martian ice cream.
Little things to notice:
- graffiti tags for many Gotham gangs;
- the Zorro poster;
- several "real" Gotham newspapers;
- the "Park Row" street sign;
- the fire escapes are hindering terrain;
- the Joe Coyne Wanted poster.
As you'll remember, I had previously deduced that the Silver Age Martian Manhunter lived in Apex City, Florida, and was further committed to making an Apex City Heroclix map for him and his fans.
Why? Because it was the will of the people as determined by my poll, and I am the Slave of Duty.
At first I was worried. This isn't like making a map of Metropolis where you throw in one landmark, like the Daily Planet, and call it a day because everyone will recognize it. Did JJ's unnamed city even have any local features for a map to feature?
I shouldn't have worried! Apex City is full of recognizable features, even if the only people who'll recognize any of them are serious Martian Manhunter fans. But, then, that's who the map is for!
Naturally, the principle feature of Apex City, "America's Most Flammable City!", is that something is ALWAYS on fire. So I included many of the buildings we've seen burning in Martian Manhunter stories, like
- the Ajax Apartments, which are...
- near the Mason Mattress Co. ("The Girl-Hero Contest),
- the Jones Supermarket ("The Impossible Manhunt'),
- the Bijou Theater (from "The Crime Conjurer" and "The Dog With a Martian Master"),
- Jones Hardware ("The Impossible Manhunt"),
- the Jones Clothing Store ("The Impossible Manhunt"),
- and the July 4th Fireworks Co. ("The Impossible Messages")
- Police Headquarters (under attack by a cloaked Venusian ship, as in "The Defeat of J'onn J'onnz"),
- Highgate Bridge (a hotspot of Diane Meade activity)
- Union Drawbridge (which J'onn so memorably replaced one time with his butt in "John Jones' Pesky Partner")
- the Apex Art Galleries ("The Crime College")
- the Daily Clarion (where J'onn worked as "The Super Reporter"),
- the Ace Time Company Building with its giant radium covered rooftop alarm clock ("The Menace of Mr. Moth")
- the City Planetarium (from "The Menace of Mr. Moth" and "The Getaway King")
- Rainbow Beach (from "The Sleuth Without a Clue"... I am so sure, Mary!), which sports a dangerous shark (there were sharks every single time J'onn went in the water!), a sexy cephalopod with whom J'onn can enjoy sweet sweet octopus love, and a Hot Dog Stand (which actually appeared in the story, thank you very much);
- a mosaic honoring the city's champion baseball team, the Flamingos ("The Case of the Magic Baseball").
- surely, you didn't think I would omit the Human Squirrel climbing the Apex Loan Company Building (just like in "The Ex-Convicts Club")
- and Apex City's most unique landmark, the Statue of Atlas Painted With Phosphorus (once stolen in "The Menace of Mr. Moth"). If that doesn't qualify as a landmark, I don't know what does.
- Elm Street ("The Martian Show Off", "The J'onn J'onnz Museum", "The Ex-Convicts Club", and "Ordeal By Fire"), Shore Road, Front Street ("The Martian Show Off"), State Street ("The J'onn J'onnz Musuem"), Eastview Drive ("J'onn J'onnz vs. the Vigilantes") are all specifically mentioned in various stories. Highland Street & Union Street are not, but I'm inferring them from the Highland Bridge and the Union Drawbridge.
- Hey, there's the tank from the Criminal Army in "One-Man Army".
- Three fire trucks, because in Apex, that's about how many you need per city block square
- an ice cream truck so J'onn doesn't have to waste his energy creating ice cream cones from the power of the void (as he had to do in "The World's Greatest Magician")
- that crazy future car in front of Jones Hardware probably belongs criminal genius Monty Moran ("The Getaway King"), or to the professor at "The Crime College", or it could be one of "The Impossible Inventions" of wacky inventor Hiram Horner.
- a recently plummeted meteor, because, as previously discussed, meteors are the standard weather in Apex;
- and, commenting on the general aflame-edness of Apex, a pick-up with some flammable barrels in the back, a propane delivery truck, a barbecue gone bad, and a sewer fire.
home of the Silver Age Martian Manhunter!
Click on map for a blaze of close-up glory.Who says Martian Manhunter lived in a nondescript urban locale? Surely, this map could only be Apex City! Believe it or not, I didn't even begin to exhaust the catalog of Apexian locales. However, one can only reasonably place so many landmarks on one tiny Heroclix map. Places I didn't put on it, but wanted to, include:
- the Apex Warehouse ("The Defeat of J'onn J'onnz"),
- the Apex Movie Studios ("The Mixed Up Martian Powers")
- the Apex Paint Company ("The One-Man Army")
- the Oil Cracking Plant "The Alien Bodyguard'),
- Flamingo Stadium ("The Case of the Magic Baseball")
- the Benton Optical Company ("Escape to the Stars")
- the United Oil Company ("Ordeal By Fire")
- Jones' Fancy Fruits ("The Impossible Manhunt" and "The Mystery of the Martian Marauders")
- the Balloon Factory near the Government Vaults ("The Crime King of Mount Olympus")
- the Mythological Museum ("The Crime King of Mount Olympus")
- Wilmore Flights ("The Impossible Messages"),
- the Glenwood Museum of History ("The Man Who Exposed John Jones"),
- water towers (they're all over the dang place!)
- the "Carnival of Doom",
- the Jewelers Building ("The King of the Underworld")
- the Yardley Toy Company ("The Crime Conjurer")
- the abandoned circus grounds ("Earth Detective for a Day")
- the Sam Jones Museum of Famous American Ships ("The Impossible Manhunt")
- the International Fairgrounds ("The Animal Crime Kingdom")
- the Mansfield-Cowan Company ("The Phantom Bodyguard")
- the Ardmore Natural History Museum ("The Crime Conjurer"),
- Marsville ("The Menace of Marsville"),
- the Jones Waxworks ("The Impossible Manhunt"),
- the Jason Warehouse ("The Hero Maker"),
- West Street ("The Crime King of Mount Olympus")
- the Croyden Art Shop ("The Man Who Exposed John Jones"),
- the Modern Art Museum ("John Jones' Super-Secret")
- Swathmore Jewelry Salon ("The Ex-Convicts Club")
- the Barnes Museum ("John Jones' Female Nemesis")
- the Floating Island ("The Amazing One-Man Crew"),
- the Martian Manhunter Museum (from "The J'onn J'onnz Museum")
- the Clang Bank (in "The Getaway King").
P.S. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO PLAY HEROCLIX
Red flame terrain does 2 clicks damage, and the yellow does 1 click. The rules for it are printed on the map (over on Rainbow Beach), including special rules for the Martian Manhunter himself.
- His defensive powers don't work against flame terrain (duh!);
- yellow flame turns off one of his powers, red flame two of them; as long as he's not in flame terrain,
- he can destroy it with an attack, turning it to regular hindering terrain ("I'll use my Martian lung power!")
Yes, that is hindering terrain atop the Ajax Apartments and flame terrain atop the Fireworks Factory.
Yes, the stairs at the boardwalk are just for decoration.
Yes, the Broken Hydrant special object token can be used to turn flame terrain into water terrain.
