So why now, and why this team? Well, that's another easy answer. I grew up watching Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. I loved the show as a kid, and when I got a little older, I was a huge New Warriors fan with the comics both because I got to meet Mark Bagley as a kid, and because Firestar was on the team. When I was looking at Iceman, Spider-Man, and Firestar from the new Spider-Verse set, it's pretty obvious that they were designed to run together and complement each other. However, they're also designed to run with a larger team, so when I was looking for that larger team, the 7 Little Superheroes episode of the show came to mind.
In this episode, the Spider-Friends receive a mysterious invitation to a weekend retreat to Wolf Island, and Aunt May tasks the group to take Ms. Lion with them. Once they arrive on the island, they discover that Captain America, Namor, Shanna, and Doctor Strange have all received invitations as well. It is soon revealed that the invitations had been sent to the heroes by their mutual enemy, the Chameleon, and the island itself is made up of a number of deathtraps designed to defeat the heroes. The Chameleon takes turns assuming the identities of the various heroes in order to lure their companions into these traps, but Ms. Lion manages to foil him because he can sniff the impersonator out at every turn.
Now, the downside to this team is that you're going to be limiting the mileage that you'll get out of the Amazing Friends trait, but it does give you an additional option for their Team Player team ability in the Defenders team ability from Dr. Strange and Namor. The other disappointing thing is that the only option for Ms. Lion is the one from the Team Base that has the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends keyword, instead of the Spider-Man Family keyword like 99% of all other Spider-Allies. It would be nice if Ms. Lion had more synergy with the other Amazing Friends. All that being said, here's the team as I built it. It's 400-point Golden Age non-themed (by keyword) team, and remember, it's intended for casual play.
So let's really dig into the figures. I'll start with the Amazing Friends, because that's really who we're here for. Firestar starts off with Running Shot, dual target Energy Explosion, and Precision Strike, to make sure she can lay down some cover fire for the team, and make sure the opponents feel it, especially if they've clumped their force together. Adding insult to injury, she also sets each hit character on Fire, which could do follow-up damage if they stick around. She can also help Iceman and Spider-Man advance across the field, boosting their defense with her Energy Shield/Deflection.
Iceman can use his Flight (Ice Slides) to drag Peter along with him, and set him up for a follow-up attack on a later turn, while sharing his Toughness with Firestar and Spider-Man. If he moves into the right position on that follow-up turn he can Empower Peter to hit even harder with an iced up fist. Meanwhile, he can slow down the opposition with his dual target Incapacitate.
If Spidey is positioned to jump onto or off of a building, he can use his Wall-Crawler ability to pop into place, and hit his opponents with a Flurry of blows. Spider-Man also gives Firestar and Iceman some welcome dodging skills both with Super Sense and the Spider-Man team ability, allowing them to dodge out of the way 50% of the time they get hit by an attack. They're quite the dangerous trio when their adjacent to each other.
So what do the other heroes bring to this party? Let's look at Cap next. Captain America, like Firestar opens with Running Shot and dual targets. He also has traited Leadership to help the team keep moving, and he has opening Outwit to help weaken those tougher threats.
Dr. Strange is a Mystic and opens with Probability Control, plus he has an opening Smoke Cloud power that he can use in a number of useful ways. He can use it to move himself around for FREE, and boost the defense of himself or other allies occupying it. Alternatively, he can negatively impact the defense of an opponent instead.
Shanna can leverage the printed hindering terrain on each of the maps to booster her attack when her opponents occupy it, and her own damage when she occupies it. Since she opens with Stealth, she's going to want to lure the opponents into that printed hindering terrain anyway, so she can avoid being targeted by most opponents.
At the beginning of the game, Namor generates a square of Water terrain, that you'll want to place strategically, since he can use it to Regenerate for FREE on his late clicks. Otherwise, this is a Charging angry Namor that just wants to punch things. For his 40 points, he can do a lot of damage if you protect him well. I'd likely bring him up behind the Amazing Friends as a secondary attacker, especially if I can keep him adjacent to Iceman for that extra umph from Bobby's Empower, and if he's slipped from his first click, keep him next to Strange to pick up his 18 defense.
Last but certainly not least, don't forget about Ms. Lion to run around and be a nuisance to the opposition. This little yippy dog with Combat Reflexes and Shape Change is probably best used to tie-up minor threats like bystanders and minions. Stick to figures that will have trouble hitting that 17 up close.
All in all, I think this looks like a really fun team to run in a casual 400 point match. I hope you've enjoyed the return of the Al's Clix Cave blog. I hope to post more entries going forward. A lot of Playing the Comic/Episode/Movie/Game articles. Also looking to do another feature called "Missing Link" where I talk about teams that I'd love to run, but can't because we're missing an important character, and maybe some suggestions on how I'd approach the character if given the opportunity.
Let me know your thoughts on this team, and any thoughts you might have on teams you'd like to see my thought's on moving forward. But remember, I'm looking to keep it casual, and keep it fun!
