Nik and I threw down some DCU Miniatures Game at Axes and Ales recently, letting me get some of my Marvel models onto the table. Apologies in advance for the quality of the photos, as Axes and Ales is held in a brewery/bar the lighting is not ideal although this should change in future.
The Teams
Nick ran a team comprising a collection of DC bombshells with Raven, Harley Quinn, Katana, Batgirl Rebirth, Huntress, Black Canary, Catwoman and Supergirl.
I had originally thought I’d run Constantine and friends, but couldn’t quite make the level count work for them, however have a new idea so watch out for that in future. I settled on Avengers and ran an atypical list to my usual, containing several heavy hitters and only one non-superpowered model. The team comprised Hulk, Captain America, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Thor and Hawkeye.
The Board
We didn’t define everything on the board upfront, however there wasn’t a huge amount of scatter, with mostly densely packed post-apocalyptic ruins featuring. Thanks go to Knights of Dice for the terrain – a company, you may recall, I’m a big fan of. The boards would’ve also worked extremely well for This is Not a Test, so we’ll likely get that to the table at some point as well.
Round One
Nik wins initiative and we see a lot of movement as we position models. Key for me this round is Hulk throws Wolverine forward, with Wolverine then scrabbling up a nearby ruin to come to grips with some of Nik’s forward guard. Raven teleports into that ruin with two more friends which sets the stage for a major brawl. Catwoman uses her whip to great effect against Wolverine towards the end of the round.
Round Two
I win initiative this round and Wolverine retaliates against Catwoman, but only lands a couple of point of damage.
Supergirl flies over and punches Wolverine for some damage (Nik acknowledged a misplay here, as he should’ve ordered Catwoman before Supergirl’s attacks, and whilst I offered to let him take it back prior to the attack he lived by the choice).
Thor flies over to Huntress and makes a For Midgard! attack, hammering it home into her and pushing her off the top floor of the ruin she was hiding in.
Wolverine gets whipped by Catwoman again, reducing his physical defence considerably.
With the large brawl happening in the nearby ruin, I have Hulk move up and use his Thunderclap given I’ll be able to pick up three or four of Nik’s team with it (as well as Cap and Wolverine). Unfortunately, my dice are unkind and I only end up hitting one of Nik’s girls (Katana), although luckily Cap and Wolverine also escape unscathed.
Raven smacks Wolverine, taking him out of action, then teleports away towards my deployment zone with Batgirl and Black Canary.
Black Canary then runs into my deployment zone, which scores Nik one VP at the end of the round and Batgirl’s ‘Genius’ ability getting another, putting the score at 2-0.
Hawkeye also becomes KO’d at the end of the round.
Round Three
Nik wins initiative and Catwoman opens up making several attacks on Cap, who fails his Shield Block attempt on one of them.
Spidey kicks Supergirl off the nearby edge to put her out of position, then makes a Web Swing away towards Nik’s deployment zone.
Supergirl flies back up and makes a couple of failed attacks on Cap.
Thor flies down towards Nik’s deployment zone but doesn’t quite make it there.
Hulk moves back towards my deployment zone and Thunderclaps Batgirl, managing to hit.
Harley Quinn comes around the corner of a ruin and attacks Hulk but fails to hit.
Raven teleports and pulls Katana and Supergirl with her back towards Nik’s deployment zone in pursuit of Spidey.
Nik scores another VP for controlling my deployment zone, two VPs for being the first to get two models into my deployment zone and one for Batgirls’ ‘Genius’ ability, putting him out to an unassailable 6-0 lead. I offer to concede here given I can’t peg back the lead at all, but we play on to see what happens and potentially get some more bashing in.
Round Four
Nik wins initiative again, and Raven puts Chronokenesis on Supergirl (provides her two activations and +6 POW).
Hawkeye stays asleep, and Spidey moves into Nik’s corner to hide.
Thor makes an overloaded For Midgard! attack on Raven, which hits and explodes onto Katana, Raven is basically up against a wall though, so isn’t pushed out of Nik’s deployment zone.
Supergirl comes in and starts wailing on Spidey who soaks up most of the damage, before cancelling the last attack with Spidey Sense.
Hulk triggers Fury this turn and makes an overloaded Gamma Strike on Harley Quinn but fails to hit by a large margin. He then makes a Hulk Smash attack but rolls a one and a two on the dice also missing.
At that point we call it as it’s clear my dice aren’t doing me any favours. And Nik wins it 8-0.
Conclusion
Despite quite a convincing defeat I had a lot of fun getting this back to the table. I was super rusty on how things worked, and made the cardinal mistake of attacking Nik’s team rather than making a beeline for the objective. Thor performed exceptionally well this game, and I’d certainly play him differently next time to better use his explosive/push attack and mobility. Hulk was disappointing as the most impactful thing he did was throw Wolverine, so he’ll probably get dropped for someone else when I run the team again. Nik’s team has some interesting tricks, and I think that shutting down Raven is key to curtail mobility, and Batgirl is probably next priority so her ‘Genius’ ability doesn’t get out of control. Looking forward to my next hit-out, potentially with a DC team!
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