by Paul Cote
Hello Clixfans. I managed to take first place (of those eligible to win) at the Majestix $1k Trial at Best There is Games in Roseville, CA. A few weeks earlier I was able to Top 4 with slightly different version in Newark, CA.
This was my team for the Roseville event:
Ruler + 5
Jason of Sparta 60
Jason Wyngarde x2 150
Ultron (Future Drone) 30
Surtur 25
Reality Gem 10
Bat Signal 2
IDs 23
It’s been called ‘Jasons Three’, I call it the ‘Redcoats’ since both Sparta and Wyngarde have matching red coats with similar hair. But you probably want to hear more about their powers than their wardrobe so let’s talk about that.
The team plays much like an Alpha strike/swarm team with Jason Wyngarde creating I.S.S.A.C or Dr. Demonicus tokens after being carried by Jason of Sparta, who then gives the squad a turn of immunity with his movement power:
MY EARLY ADVENTURES WITH SHIP: Jason of Sparta can use Charge and has “wing symbol”. When he uses the Carry ability, he may carry up to 3 characters if they each share a keyword with him. Once per game, give Jason of Sparta a free action and he and characters he carried this turn can’t be targeted by opposing characters until your next turn.
The Bat Signal sends Jason of Sparta back to the starting line to keep him away from Pulse Waves and other attempts to turn off the Immunity he granted. I usually equip and pass the first turn (assuming I won map roll with a +5 bonus). Turn two I carry the team, create two tokens that attack (usually aiming at a retaliator or a low Defense support piece), then Bat Signal back the Sparta. Turn three is when the Drone can call in a big hitter like Green Arrow or Nick Fury both which give amazing inspirations to the nearby pogs. For example, Nick Fury’s inspiration would give +1 to ranged attacks and up to +3 Range (from the SHIELD team ability on your whole firing squad). If you give those bonuses to a pair of Cerebus (a Demonicus token that I often used) in the middle of an outdoor map, then you have the range to hit almost every square on the map. You have countless combinations of call ins from the Drone, their inspirations and bystander created from Whisper man to create whatever ‘silver bullet’ you need for that game. If they have STOP clicks and reducers, you can call out Green Arrow to strip away those protections. If they have Shape Change and Stealth you might call in Nick Fury or 3-D Man and use close attack bystanders rather than range. If the number of attacks is what matter (Daredevil, Danger Room Constructs, etc) then you can take a Flurry bystander. So it has the raw fire-power to take out a tent pole in one turn but also has it also has considerable flexibility. The Bronze Age format looks diverse (and I still don’t fully know it) so I wanted a team that could adapt to whatever my opponent came up with.
I have a Surtur in the back to heavily discourage the opponent from attacking the bystanders that don’t have immunity from Jason Sparta and the ability to Bat Signal the Surtur back to my starting area.
The action economy is not to be overlooked. Much like the Medusa team, this one is filled with several autonomous actions and Leadership. Unlike a Medusa team, Wygarde has the advantage of being able to take off tokens regardless of adjacency due to Wyngarde’s trait:
Inner Circle Club: White King Jason Wyngarde has PROTECTED: Outwit. // Leadership, but may remove the action token regardless of adjacency. One of my favorite bystander is Chaos from I.S.S.A.C who has autonomous, meaning actions don’t count towards the action total. The Future Drone has a trait that sometimes acts like autonomous as well. When you add up all the extended Range, Leaderships and Autonomous actions it can really help to out action certain teams.
I was impressed by how well Wyngarde performed and expect to see a lot more of him in the near future, especially in Bronze Age.
