Taking my game to a higher level

My very crafty husband has gifted me with props for enlivening my Heroclix games, with which I am delighted.  Together we created an elevated, transparent and blank "supra-map" that I can put above outdoor maps to represent the airspace above and on underwater maps to represent the surface of the sea.

You can see it in use in the photo, where it represents the airspace above a public park where Hawkman and Hawkgirl (with some pals) are confronting some Manhawks, Satana, Byth, and Ira Quimby.

The Manhawks, Satana, Byth, and Ira Quimby are all customs.  You have to be willing to put in the work for a Hawkman-specific Heroclix game.

You can also see some of the aerial props he made (you should see the RAINBOW, not pictured).  

Okay, fine; there's the rainbow.

The rules adapt quite simply to a second level: there is no line of sight between the levels (it's too high up!); it costs one square to move up or down; a figure can only move up or down in one turn, not both.  It really brings life and purpose to flying characters and battles!

Here's a photo of the supra-map being used to represent the surface of the sea in game where Aquaman and his finny friends are taking on Black Manta and his goons.

These are the props for use in temperate/cool waters.  He made separate sets for Tropical Ocean and Polar Ocean. These things matter to me.

The Tropical Ocean props

Tropical surface of the sea close-up.

The Polar Ocean props. Brrrr.

The iceberg combo is a really nice touch.

Anyway, this has reinvigorated my enthusiasm for the game and inspired me to make a new map of my favorite, freaky fictionopolis: Apex City!

As in my original Apex map, all of these locations (including the two bridges) and place names are from references in actual Martian Manhunter stories, which were always specific about just WHERE something was happening.  We know more specific places in Apex City than in Metropolis.

My inspiration for the map was post-war beach-town tourist maps and postcards. That really does seem like J'onn's natural habitat (to the degree that J'onn seems "natural" anywhere!).

I am eager to figure out a way to have random meteors, fires, and plane crashes occur during the game and threatening the Martian Manhunter as an added challenge.

The props are ready.

I am also planning to make flocks of Apexians as "mobile hindering terrain".  I just have figured out the game mechanism for their auto-movement. 

Because what is Apex City without its flocks of panicked citizens?

Heroclix Sunday: Ray Palmer's Lab

Today on Heroclix Sunday we do a little something for the little hero with a big brain, Ray "The Atom" Palmer.

I only WISH I could look this gay.

Oops; wrong guy; that's one the large hero with the little brain and nobody's favorite hero, Captain Atom, seen here crapping out the world's largest lithium atom (which apparently has an extra capacious K shell!).

I mean this guy:

The one in the costume, not the hot naked one in the bottle.

Ray Palmer, who, although very much NOT the first shrinking hero or even the first 'The Atom", is definitely the most famous one.

Doll Man is the first shrinking hero and pre-dates Ray by over 20 years.

That's the first "The Atom", an extremely short Golden Age hero whose only power was his lack of a self-preservation instinct.

Ray was (is?) an academic, a physics professor and trained gymnast; he's terribly smart and weighs exactly 180 pounds.

We know this because it's mentioned in every. single. story.

Ray's whole schtick is (un)shrinking and that doesn't translate well into Heroclix.  Figures of Ray often have or can use the Tiny Symbol.

It's an atom, in his honor.

The Tiny Symbol does give a figure some advantages; it can be carried around by larger figures and gets +1 Defense against ranged attacks.  But that's it; it's kind of crappy. It's shared by shrinking heroes, small animals, and baby groot.

While other powers shrinking heroes have try to capture the usual advantages of size-changing -- stealth, the element of surprise, focused and unavoidable attacks--it doesn't capture at all the idea the two shrinking characters can battle on a complete different level that other characters can't access, walloping at each in a train set or a petri dish.

So I made a map for Ray that does.

It kind of matches his costume.

The right side is at our normal human scale.  The bottom part with red wood floors is the hallway and waiting room to the Nanophysics Department where Ray works. The middle part with blue carpet is the lounge/study where colleagues meet and relax. The top part with grey tile is the lab where experiments are conducted.

The left size, with the atom symbols, is a much smaller (1/64) scale.  It represents a 'zoom in' on any one appropriate square from the other side of the map.  A shrinking character can move from a square on the right side of the map to the corresponding part of the left side (leaving a marker on the spot they 'traveled from' to show where they are in the bigger picture).  Another shrinking character can go where that marker is and transfer over to the left side to following the first one.  There they can do battle ... or just use the left side as a way to travel to a new place on the right, unmolested by opponents who can no longer perceive them.  

You can't make such areas in every map and there aren't that many shrinking characters to take advantage of them anyway. But I thought Ray deserves a map of his own where he can do so and what better place than his own lab?

Heroclix Sunday: Ferris Aircraft

Welcome to Heroclix Sunday. In the forthcoming Heroclix set, there's a sweet new Hal Jordan figure.

Sorry, Sally P; no rear view available.

The black boxes surrounding some of those numbers indicate that Hal has the power "Outwit" (and that Wizkids has one hell of a sense of humor).

In case you were wondering, his construct is a baseball glove.
Because of course it is.

How does a guy who thinks up a baseball glove for protection get "Outwit"?!

So, today's map is for this new figure of everyone's favorite test pilot / toy salesman / insurance adjustor / truck driver / punching bag / boy toy, Hal Jordan.

Q: Why does Hal Jordan have no pupils?
A: Because he's got no class!

While there are generic Heroclix maps that feel appropriate for almost any hero to fight on (say, a public park), it's also nice to have bespoke ones that fit particular characters. Flash already has two such maps shown here, the CCPD map and Central City sidewalk.

As you may remember, Hal Jordan used to work for and date Carol Ferris, heir to Ferris Aircraft.  Neither worked out very well.

Can't imagine why.

Wizkids (makers of Heroclix) actually made a map of Ferris Aircraft once, but I didn't like it very much, so I have made my own.

There's a touch of outdoor blocking terrain on the edges of the map, where buildings (two hangars and two offices) intrude upon the space. There's also some elevated terrain for flyers like Hal to fly around.

Fly AROUND, Hal. Not AT.

And there are some vehicles, including planes, to serve as hindering terrain.

They hinder some people more than others.

In fact I even got some appropriate Hot Wings models to put ON those locations on the map for some 3D goodness.

Looks like Hal taxied those in.

How will YOU celebrate Hal Jordan's figure in the new set, or the new set generally?

Heroclix Sunday: Central City Sidewalk

This Heroclix Sunday we go back to Central City to visit our friend Barry Allen.  The CCPD map was especially for the CW version of Barry, but this map is made with the Silver Age Flash in mind.  

The one who trained simian track teams.  And, yes, they are holding hands. 
Barry is secure in his humanity.

It COULD be in any DCU fictionopolis but there are a few touches that mark it as especially Central-City-esque.  

First, it features THE three places that all Flash Rogues rob from: An Art Gallery, A Bank, and A Jewelry Store.

Sometimes more than one.

Note that, unlike, say, Gotham City or Apex City, where everything has a name (and in the case of Apex, an address), in Central City the Bank and Jewelry Store and Art Gallery do not have names. The only thing that gets named in Central City are toy companies and tailor shops.

Central City takes its toys very seriously.

Second, it has Central City's trademark absurdly broad sidewalks. I would say "impossibly", but I live in Washington DC where the sidewalks actually look like that.

Social distancing is pretty easy in DC.

Third, if you look carefully you'll see that the vendor at the south of the map is a CCJitters stand.  Because of course it is.  

It's really amazing how much happens at a place that only appeared in comics once.

Remember when Iris used to WORK there?  Good times.

Heroclix Sunday: The Pension Building

There's an exciting new set of Heroclix figures coming out this month in honor of the 80th Anniversary of Wonder Woman.  The figures are more detailed than ever (thanks to SCIENCE!), there's a neat new mechanic for empowering sidekicks, and lots of characters are being made for the first time (e.g., Angle Man, Ferdinand the Chef, and Wonder Woman's brother Jason). If you are new to Heroclix, there's even a Wonder Woman-themed starter set to help you learn.

In preparation, I created a new map of Washington DC indoor location: The Pension Building.

The exhibit rooms are empty so you can put object tokens in there for the characters to throw at each other.

Build in the 1880s, the Pension Building is an imposing building inside and out. 

It's monumental. Even for DC.

Even if you ignore the exhibits, the building itself is a thing to be seen.

Originally a government office, it's housed the National Building Museum since 1980.  I call it The Guy Museum, because male visitors who aren't keen on art or history still eat up exhibits on architecture, city planning, and building construction.  

Although it's too large to accurately represent on a Heroclix map, my scaled down version comes close (although it doesn't capture the second story).  The bespoke element is the rug which is a scanned version of the ACTUAL iconic rug at the museum (and I almost fell off the balcony!).  

The Pension Building is known for holding prestigious events, like the Presidential Inaugural Ball, in its Great Hall, or wacky large-scale interactive art projects:

The Beach

The Hive

The Maze

The Lawn

In fact, it was at the National Building Museum's indoor kite exhibition that I got the idea for the Flying Robot Zombie Shark of Christmas Future. But that's a story for another time.

Heroclix Sunday: CCPD HQ

Astonishingly, Heroclix is still going strong 19 years later (despite every single change, evolution, or improvement to the game being trumpeted by Gabriels of doom as "the end of Heroclix").  And there are lots of new rule and power changes that, frankly, were overdue and make it much easier to play (and which, of course, are being trumpeted as "the end of Heroclix", but aren't).

Making maps for the game (as alternatives to the officials ones, which are often not to my liking) is one of my hobbies, and I'd like to share one of my latest efforts:  Central City Police Headquarters (as seen on the CW show "The Flash").

The real one is 2ftx3ft.

The structure of the actual set on the CW show is hard to capture; properly the Squad Room (in the center) would be UNDER Barry's lab.  But 2D Heroclix maps aren't really designed for that, so on this map it's just walled terrain in front of Barry's Lab, which is up on the upper floor, accessed through the same sets of stairs we see on the show.

Ever wonder why CCPD has a two-story lobby that's NOT on the ground floor (as proven by the elevators)? Never quite figured that one out myself.  Central City likes it's grand Art Deco flair, I suppose.  Set designers love elevators because, unlike doors, they don't require having another set BEHIND them.

Most of the decor is standard but there are two bespoke elements: the CCPD logo used on the show and, at the very bottom, the bas relief wall hanging of JUSTICE that's on the show.

You know, this one, that the villains are always standing ironically in front of when they attack the Detective Division.

For obvious reasons, I start Team Flash figures at the north end of the map at the windows of Barry's Lab (assuming there's no thunderstorm, of course), and the villains in the elevators (although I like to force them to move in front of the JUSTICE mural before they are allowed to attack, because presentation is important).

Heroclix Customs: The Island, Captain Squidd, and the Sea Sleuth

Heroclix doesn't have any maps that have underwater elevations, which are important when you like Aquaman as much as I do, so I have made one:

I labelled the Island because I get easily confused.

It works mostly like a regular map with elevations except that the three lowest elevations (Deep, Mid, and Shallow) are water terrain.  All Heroclix figures can muck about as normal in the Shallows: Walkers have their speed halved and Flyers float above the water.  But the Mid and Deep levels are underwater only so only Swimmers can go there.  And, of course, one can swim in 3D, so no ladder or stairs are needed to get from one elevation to the next.

The topmost level is the Island itself; it's the same elevation as the Shallows, but is not water terrain.  The Island has some vegetative hindering terrain on it.  There's a handful of squares where Aquaman's finny friends can't get to you but... he still can.

Whom might you find in the environs of the Island? Well, perhaps my custom Captain Squidd figure:

You probably don't remember Captain Squidd because he appeared only once, but he made quite an impression.

On Aquaman, at least.

He sits, oddly enough, on the Roland Daggett dial from the BTAS Heroclix set; mostly that's so he can generate pirate crewmembers.

It's all about creative exegesis.

You might also find on this map another character you've never heard of:  Phineas Pike, the Sea Sleuth. 

Phineas Pike, Sherlock of the Sea, was a sort of Alfred-like supporting character for Golden Age Aquaman. His schtick was that he was a consummate expert on everything maritime, but didn't know how to swim.  Comic book irony.

As you can see, I gave him a more reasonable color palette, because, LORDY, old comics are garish.

He sits on the dial of some minor Marvel villain:

A stealthed perplexer with empower and enhance?  Oh, yes, Phineas Pike may be goofy but he'll be a solid support figure for Aquaman & Co.