Avengers Versus The Wrecking Crew

The Avengers:  Wrecking Crew Breakout!

Welcome back, true believers!  This Power Legion battle report comes to you from a sunny day in downtown New York, as Earth's mightiest heroes are about to face off with those perennial miscreants, the Wrecking Crew.  The Wrecker was recently taken into police custody after a recent defeat at the hands of the NYPD's anti-supervillain squad, Code Blue.  The Wrecker was placed into power dampening restraints and put into a police SUV with two officers for transfer to the superpowered confinement section at Ryker's Island.  Due to an administrative error, no additional security was provided, and the rest of the Wrecking Crew intercepts the NYPD vehicle next to a city park, intent on breaking their leader out of custody.

Thunderball steps into traffic and winds up his wrecking ball.  Officer O'Malley wheeled the SUV off the road in an attempt to avoid the ambush, but crashed the vehicle into a tree.  He and Detective Riley stepped out of the vehicle, guns drawn, ready to make a valiant stand to keep The Wrecker in custody.  Just as the Wrecking Crew closes in, three Avengers - Captain America, Iron Man, and Hawkeye - rush to the scene and confront the villains.  The Wrecking Crew need only two actions to free The Wrecker - one to pull open the SUV, another to break his restraints and hand him his enchanted crowbar.

But first, the tale of the tape:
Avengers:  2,687 points

Captain America (956 Points)
M	A	S	K
d6	d10	d10	d10
Knockout	d10+3	Activation	d12
Shield d12 (Device), Armor d6, Marksman d12 (Throwing Shield), Leadership d10, Tactics d12, Ranged Damage d8 (Device: Thrown Shield), Strong Will d10, Weapon Master d12 (Fighting with Shield), Acrobat

Iron Man V (882 Points)
M	A	S	K
d10	d8	d10	d12
Damage Resistance	d12+4	Activation	d10
Armor d8, Flight d12, Ranged Damage d10, Flare d10, Combat Computer , Immune to Flare , Sealed Armor , Boost , Night Vision

Hawkeye (849 Points)
M	A	S	K
d4	d8	d6	d8
Knockout	d8	Activation	d8
Ranged Damage d8 (Device), Sonic Attack d6 (Device), Swinglines d8 (Device), Entangle d10 (Device), Blast d10 (Device), Marksman d12, Acrobat , Fire into Melee , Smokescreen (Limited),

Wrecking Crew:  1,294 points (1,732 if Wrecker is freed)

Thunderball (494 Points)
M	A	S	K
d8	d8	d10	d8
Damage Resistance	d8+3	Activation	d8
Weapon Master d10, Lethal HTH Attack d10, Armor d6

Piledriver (374 Points)
M	A	S	K
d4	d6	d10	d8
Damage Resistance	d8+3	Activation	d6
Armor d6, Martial Arts d10

Bulldozer (426 Points)
M	A	S	K
d4	d6	d10	d10
Damage Resistance	d10+3	Activation	d6
Armor d6, Martial Arts d8, Flying Kick

In police custody:

Wrecker (438 Points)
M	A	S	K
d4	d8	d10	d8
Damage Resistance	d8+3	Activation	d8
Martial Arts d10, Armor d6, Leadership d4

And now, off to battle!

State of the board at the beginning of the game.  Extraneous toy soldiers, tanks, planes, and cars courtesy of my 5-year old.

Turn 1:
Captain America's leadership gave the Avengers the initiative.  Hawkeye used a grappling arrow to mount the nearest building and fired an explosive arrow at Bulldozer.

Hawkeye gains a vantage point over the battlefield.

The Avenger just missed knocking out Bulldozer, but still received a knockdown result.

A bird's eye view of the battlefield from Hawkeye's perch.

Captain America rolled into action, advancing toward the fight and throwing his shield at Thunderball.  High rolls for the First Avenger produced a major damage result and, on account of Thunderball's poor save roll, a knockout!

Captain America leads the way, throwing his shield into Thunderball's back and getting a knockout in the first turn!

Iron Man flew into the developing melee, flaring and landing in between Piledriver and the soon-to-be smashed Detective Riley.

Iron Man flares for landing between Detective Riley and Piledriver.

The Avenger fired two blasts at Piledriver - one missed, the other pushed Piledriver back.

Iron Man saves Detective Riley from certain doom with a well-placed repulsor blast.

The remaining Wrecking Crew members activated.  Bulldozer rolled a full three actions, peeling himself off of the ground and charging to the police SUV and peeling the door off, all the while ignoring the police gunfire from Officer O'Malley and Detective Riley that danced on his skin and steel helmet.  The Wrecking Crew only needed one more action to free their leader.  Piledriver only managed one action, moving back into contact with Iron Man.

The state of the battle at the end of Turn 1.  The Wrecking Crew have almost freed their leader.

Turn 2:
Hawkeye fired at Bulldozer again, this time with entangling arrow heads to keep Bulldozer from freeing the Wrecker.  It was not meant to be.  One hit but failed to entangle, one missed, and on the third try (rolling a 1) Hawkeye ran out of entangling arrowheads and had to dig in a pouch if he wanted to assemble another such device.

Captain America spent his two actions running toward Bulldozer, ending his turn as he vaulted over the hood of the police SUV in an attempt to peel Bulldozer off of the vehicle before the Wrecker could be freed.

Iron Man spent the turn in an unsuccessful melee with Piledriver.

As the Wrecking Crew started its turn, Piledriver finally found some success in melee, managing to knock Iron Man to the ground.  Bulldozer rolled a turnover, handing initiative to the Avengers just as it seemed he was about to free the Wrecker.

The battle at the end of Turn 2.  Piledriver has knocked Iron Man to the ground, and Bulldozer narrowly misses freeing the Wrecker from the inside of the vehicle.

Turn 3:
Iron Man hoped to shoot his way out his predicament, lying on the ground at Piledriver's feet.  Unfortunately, he rolled a 1 and missed with his repulsor blast.  Captain America took his two actions to throw a Power Blow at Bulldozer from the hood of the wrecked SUV, but failed to do any damage.  With these two failures to stop the Wrecking Crew members, either Bulldozer or Piledriver could spend an action to free The Wrecker.  Luckily, Hawkeye entangled both of them with specialized arrowheads.  Bulldozer burned his two actions to get out of Hawkeye's entangling arrow, while Piledriver did the same.  Neither had a chance to do anything else.

Turn 4:
Iron Man peeled himself off of the ground and shot Piledriver with a repulsor blast, which Piledriver shrugged off.  Captain America hit Bulldozer and knocked him back, then followed up and hit Bulldozer again.  Hawkeye fired three entangling arrows at Bulldozer, wrapping the villain up again.

Piledriver delivered a punishing blow to Iron Man, denting the Avenger's armor and knocking him out Piledriver's path to the police SUV.  Bulldozer spent his actions freeing himself from the cords of Hawkeye's entangling arrow.

Turn 5:
Iron Man fired his repulsors again at Piledriver, staggering the villain.  Captain America hit Bulldozer again, but the villain's armored helmet soaked up the force of the Avenger's blow.  Hawkeye lent Iron Man some support by firing another entangling arrow and wrapping up Piledriver.

Bulldozer said, "this game is getting old!" as he launched himself with his trademark charging headbutt.  The blow sent Captain America flying over the hood of the wrecked police SUV, leaving the Avenger limping.  Bulldozer again moved over to the side of the police vehicle, ready to free The Wrecker.  Piledriver freed himself from the steel cords of Hawkeye's latest entangling arrow and moved next to the gaping hole in the side of the police SUV, able to see The Wrecker inside.  With one free action, either of them could free their leader in the next round.  Both Detective Riley and Officer O'Malley drew back from the advancing villains.

Both Bulldozer and Piledriver have knocked their opponents away and advanced to the side of the SUV holding The Wrecker.  Can they free their leader before the Avengers regroup?

Turn 6:
Hawkeye took the lead this turn, firing yet another entangling arrow and wrapping up Piledriver.  As the villain fell to the ground in a heap, Iron Man spent two actions in a Power Blow, using his boot jets to leap temporarily into the air, then using the force of his thrusters to spear down like a dive bomber, planting a crushing blow against Piledriver and knocking the villain out.

Iron Man flares his boot jets for a moment before he delivers a knockout blow to Piledriver.

Seeing that Bulldozer was a moment away from freeing The Wrecker, Captain America launched himself like a missile over the hood of the wrecked police SUV, arms outstretched with his shield in front of him.  He speared Bulldozer in the midsection, doubling the beast over as they tumbled into a ball and skidded across the park's surface, shearing off the grass and digging a shallow trench as they slowed to a halt.

Bulldozer lay there for a second, looked to his left and saw Iron Man striding out of the crater where Piledriver lay unconscious, the weight of Captain America's shield still pressing down on his torso.  It was over - the Avengers had beaten them again.

Iron Man drives Piledriver into the ground as Captain America leaps over the hood of the SUV to spear Bulldozer with his shield.  The Avengers have triumphed again.

"I give up," he croaked.  Seeing The Wrecker's eyes staring balefully at him from inside the SUV, Bulldozer closed his eyes and let his head drop to the earth, waiting for his own journey back to the superpowered confinement wing of Ryker's Island to begin.

Post-Game Thoughts:
1.  Gameplay.
- The scenario started the Wrecking Crew off at a disadvantage in points and they never dug themselves out of that hole.  The activation advantage that the Avengers had proved decisive; the Wrecking Crew had plenty of chances to roll just one more action in a turn and free The Wrecker, but just couldn't pull it off.
- The scenario also drove a static slugfest, as the Wrecking Crew was just trying to reach their leader in the SUV.  Had this been a more open scenario, I would have like to have seen some trees uprooted and cars tossed around with the Wrecking Crew's super-strength.
- Hawkeye gets the nod as the MVP of the game.  His entangling arrows (of which he seemed to have an infinite supply) proved to be just the delaying capability that the Avengers needed to keep the number of villains to a minimum.

2.  Play Aids.
- The one thing this game needs is a minor and major damage table sheet that adds the spice that belongs in a superhero skirmish game.  I've been using one from the Ganesha Games Yahoo! group, but there's just something missing from scoring a Power Blow.
- I reiterate the importance of printing your hero stats and the effect of each of their powers in a game-friendly format.  There are too many special rules not to.

3.  Scenery.
- This game was only possible because of the excellent service I experienced with TrollandToad.com, which I detailed in this post.
- I used Fat Dragon Games' excellent modern city set for the urban terrain.  Possibly the prettiest game I've ever put on.  Will provide a write-up and review later.
- I really need to rebase my HeroClix minis.  The obnoxious and huge bases they come with are just too much.

Until next time, true believers, excelsior!