Mechanically Inclined: 10th Anniversary: Battlefield Promotion

Some players in the HeroClix community scoff at the deluge of new HeroClix mechanics that seem to appear from set to set. However, any player that has any experience with collectible games knows that new mechanics are the life-blood of keeping the property fresh and vibrant. That said, not every new mechanic is going to become the "new hotness" and not every mechanic is going to play they way that WizKids expects. I plan to use my Mechanically Inclined articles to break down what works and what doesn't, and hopefully give you some tips on how to make it work better.

With that, I turn my eyes to the 10th Anniversary: Battlefield Promotion mechanic. Conceptually, I love this mechanic, even if there are some weird promotions, I think it's a pretty neat idea, and like what WizKids tried to do. However, in trying to make it work, it's really hard to execute. Let me start by setting the stage. As I've mentioned before, my oldest daughter, who's about to turn 6, has started playing HeroClix with me. We don't play with theme rules, and I have yet to introduce Special Object, but we play with darn near everything else.

The other day we were playing a 300 point game, and she had White Queen and Marvel Girl on her team (among others) and I had Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern (Alan Scott) on my team, so we had a lot of promotible figures on the map. We do not play with a timer, so we just go until one team is KO'd. In that time, you would think that at least one figure would successfully promote, right? Wrong!

Over the entirety of the game, the most tokens any one figure earned was 4, if I remember correctly. Alan Scott gained his forth on the final attack of the game that finally KO'd White Queen. After the action resolved, I did actually roll and get the 4 I needed, but the game was already over. In a timed game, I honestly don't know how you'd have the opportunity to take enough actions to make this mechanic work. I had 3 out of 4 figures with Willpower and I still couldn't get one to promote. Granted Batman was one hit KO'd by a Mind Controlled Wonder Woman early on in the game, but Robin and Green Lantern were not hurting for targets, and they hit most of the time.

So, what are my tips for making this mechanic work for you?

1. Do not try to play with more than one or two of these figures on a given team. If you really want to make this mechanic work for you, you need to be able to focus on the character that you're trying to promote.
2. Employ a method to get this character more opportunities to attack. Whether you employ Leadership, play a promotible character that has built in Willpower, or select a more indirect means like using Telekinesis, Edward Nigma, or Aragorn (for his free move ability), use something that can help you get the characters more chances to attack.
3. Insure your ability to hit the target. Sure, the most common way to do this is with Probability Control, but I like Perplex and/or abilities like Hydra/PD to increase the characters overall attack number. The less you need to rely on the dice the better. During a game you also may want to consider not using this character to target the primary threat on the other team as well. If you want to rack up promotion tokens, go for the easier-to-hit high profile target first, if one is available to you.

Ultimately, my best tip here is, if you really want the promoted version of the figure, just leave the points for that figure on your team. However, if you'd rather play the promotible figure anyway, and just want the opportunity to have an extra goal in the game, these characters are a lot of fun, with a fun little bonus if you can pull it off.

I still really like the idea of this mechanic. It may be slightly overbalanced but I'd rather it be overbalanced, then under-balanced, so I'll take it how it is. I just wish characters like Blue Beetle and the Black Lanterns would have had a promotion mechanic more similar to Marvel Girl, since it would have made just as much sense for those characters as it does for her. For the next Mechanically Inclined, I'm considering a two for one feature on Split/Merge and Morph, because I love how it works for Hank Pym!