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GAme 8B Recap

Fri, 4 Dec 2009 20:00:54 -0600

Well the Exiles, Suicide Squad and Legion met in yet another titanic battle. Now that doesn't necessarily mean it was a good game. In actuality, it was more like three circus clowns bumbling over themselves with no apparent rhyme or reason. But I'm getting ahead of myself....

So everyone shows up and the map is laid out. The Suicide Squad are lamenting their plight, talking doom and gloom. Apparently they are mentally preparing themselves for what they see as the inevitable. The Exiles are holding to their prediction and taking a "wait and see" approach. Realistically, if team X reveals four 160 point megalomaniacs in their path and team S never reveals anything above two 65 point villains at a time, the options for team X are limited so there is no point in planning too far ahead. Oh, and the Legion didn't know they were supposed to show up until Someone reminded them at the last minute.

Ordinary Day ruined the day again. The Exiles brought White Noise, but as it turned out not much Outwitting or Perplexing happened anyway. Batman didn't last very long and the Squad seemed to forget to do anything at all...but I'm getting ahead of myself again.

Still, the Separation Field Generator worked well. It was placed on the other side of a wall from the Legion's dumpster, rendering it useless until very late in the game. The Phase Generator had mixed results. It didn't really come into play since the Squad barely left their starting area. I placed it in the middle of the map to open that space up late in the game, but it may have been a waste of points.

OK, so what happened can be summed up quickly, but I won't do that. The Exiles and Squad entered to low level villains and the Legion revealed 3 x 150 megalomaniacs and some lackeys. Superman faced Parasite and Super Adaptoid, but (as was noted elsewhere) these two are a waste of villain points so they should have been easy prey. It was not meant to be for the Legion, however, since they entered a dice rolling black hole against their foes. They basically entered, punched air, and got slapped down in return.

However, even though the Legion can't hit anything, they have managed to seemingly make every counterattack roll against the Exiles. So even though the Exiles are making progress, they have taken some punishment in the process. As a result, the VP earned by the Exiles is being eaten up at a regular pace, even with Nocturne making good use of Nanobots.

This is where we entered Bizarro world. In a classic application of the Bush Doctrine, the Suicide Squad decided to forego their activations to pour salt in the Legion's wounds. Down goes Batman! Superman get's pummeled. The villains are taking damage but they are dishing it out as well.

Now, there have been a lot of classic moments in the history of Infinity Quest. There has been name calling and there have been challenges to the manhood of various players. Teams have been brought to tears when the Fates forsake them at the most inopportune time. Still, we may have had the best moment in this game.

So Fire tries to shoot Superwoman hoping to get much needed healing and rolls snake eyes. The Legion have a Kiss From Lady Luck that they have forgotten, so when they are reminded (again) that they have it, they decide to make use of it. Fire promptly rolls...snake eyes. This coming after a pitiful streak that has brought their team to the brink of destruction...and possibly the end of their chances this season. The Suicide Squad pick this moment to offer an alliance to the Legion, like a mugger asking to share a cab ride after pistol whipping you for your wallet. The reasoning was sound, after all, since with the Legion out of the way the Squad could focus on getting past the Exiles, whatever that meant. There was even a promise of the Fantastic Four's gems next game since apparently they have some to spare.

Once the Exiles stop laughing hysterically at the audacity of the Suicide Squad, and after the Legion pause for a brief moment, they simply state, "No, go ahead and kill him. That will just leave me more activations for villains." More Exiles laughter ensued as the Squad got a surprised look on their face, sat down, and simply said, "Oh."

At this point, the Suicide Squad had accumulated some easy VP but still had quite a few crystals to open before they could exit with their gem. They were barely out of their starting area and the future was uncertain, especially in a hostile environment. When faced with an adverse scenario, most sane people will circle the wagons and keep a low profile. True to their nature this season, though, the Suicide Squad decided the only option was to continue pummeling the Legion with villains and anyone else they could find.

The Exiles came to the aid of the downtrodden Legion, however, even though the Legion had done plenty of damage with their massive counterattack rolls against the Exiles. The Exiles fed the Legion some points as both Superwoman and the Super Adaptoid fell, resulting in some much needed healing and Batman's Return.

Unfortunately for the Exiles, the Phase generator got destroyed while Sabretooth and Nocturne were "in" the walls. After a discussion on the lameness of Instant Death in IQ, they each took three damage. To add insult to injury, soon after the Exiles ran into a couple of megalomaniac tokens, the last being 4 x 160 (thanks for the double sixes roll, Legion!). The Suicide Squad took this opportunity to forego their activations, yet again, and take out Power Princess.

The rest of the game was fairly uneventful. It was clear that no one was exiting with a gem but there were still points to be had. Darkseid tried to terrorize the Exiles, and finally did manage to take out Sabretooth after he failed to make a dent (although Sabretooth did go from his last click to his first click with Auto Regeneration...then promptly missed his attack roll and got smacked back down). The ever resourceful Nocturne then Mind Controlled Darkseid into the Suicide Squad's midst. Finally deciding to try and get some points, the Squad piled on Darkseid, taking him to his last click. Darkseid then promptly phased away to the same tile as the Legion (curtesy of the Exiles ).

In the end, only Blink and Nocturne remained for the Exiles. In a mad scramble for points, they opened up crystals and took on the lowly 13 defense of Doomsday. Putting icing on the craptastic cake that was the Exiles night, the couldn't even manage to roll well enough to get him past his last click.

The Legion earned a flurry of points at the end to max out and the Suicide Squad finally went into action, but it was too little too late. The Squad did manage to save their gem, bringing the Exiles record to a disappointing 1-2 in the roll of gem spoiler.

In other words, not much changed.

Note: The order of events may have been rearranged for dramatic effect, or the author was unable to recall the proper order...deal with it.

Game 7B Recap

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:19:16 -0600

A strange feeling was in the air. The stakes had been raised and the gauntlet had been thrown down! Or maybe it was just the Houston smog.

Either way, we were going to have fun tonight...whether we liked it or not!

Game 5C Recap

Mon, 2 Nov 2009 20:39:52 -0600

The Halloween event was a classic this time around. Nothing earth-shattering occurred, so that can only mean one thing: Lame Fan Fiction!

The smell of death was in the air. Or maybe it was the smell of undeath? Mimic wasn't sure which applied to zombies. All he knew was that the zombies were everywhere. After he blasted one, another seemed to rise in it's place. Not for the first time this dark night, he wondered if maybe he should have stayed behind with Clarice.

The evening started out innocently enough. After barely escaping with their lives during the last mission, Mimic finally convinced Blink to stay behind while they scouted yet another musty set of hallways. Mimic wasn't too proud to admit that their newest member, Sabretooth, helped with the convincing as well. Coming from the same reality, Clarice and "Mr. Creed" are very close so Mimic welcomed the support.

Still, Sabretooth's arrival was disconcerting. Especially considering that a new team member usually followed the return of someone to their own reality...or the far too frequent fall of one of their own. Apparently the rules had changed. The team could use all the help they could get, however. Tonight was no exception.

The zombies would have been bad enough, but there were the usual super powered foes trying to cause trouble. Making matters worse were the scared bystanders wandering the halls. The team quickly organized themselves to focus on escorting these victims in waiting. At least they had saved as many as they could.

The outcome was by no means certain. Mimic had never seen Warpath move as fast as when he came around the corner, looking much the worse for wear, and informing them that a hulking zombie was on his trail. Mimic provided cover as the final innocents were taken out. He had to drag Sabretooh away from a shredded corpse that looked suspiciously like this world's verson of Wolverine, but Creed was on his last legs and finally headed for the exit. Mimic was about to do the same when two more zombies took him by surprise. A well placed blow to his head left his thoughts fuzzy and his vision blurred. Mimic seemed to be only capable of waiting for the darkness to take him. As the end came, he was surprised to hear a voice that sounded like the Timebroker say, "You have done well, Mimic, but now it is time to go home...."

Game 4C Recap

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:06:05 -0500

Prologue

The latest string of missions had been the closest thing to a vacation the Exiles had experienced in quite some time. They still hadn’t figured out what was wrong with their latest reality, but the Exiles learned long ago to make the best of a good situation. So it was with high spirits our heroes set off on another of the Timebroker’s unpredictable missions. The tallus was ominously quiet, but what could go wrong....
Suicide Squad Purchases

Blink: Unlucky
Nocturne: Unlucky
Mimic: Unlucky, Doomed, Cursed,
Poisoned
BFC: Armor Wars
Other: Structural Integrity Field x 3
Home Field Advantage
Cowardice
Cosmic Crystal
Total VP Spent: 850
Recap

The Exiles showed up a little late for their rendezvous with the Suicide SquaD, but everyone seemed to be in a good mood anyway. We won’t pretend that the light hearted attitude continued for long, since it was quickly revealed that the Suicide Squad had made some heavy investments towards the demise of our mutant heroes. (See sidebar) I guess it can’t be said the Exiles were surprised, but they were definitely caught unawares. To add insult to injury, the Exiles had made purchases in the hopes of increasing the XP earned during the game, but in a hostile environment those purchases would merely increase the likelihood of disaster for our mutant friends. That’s not even taking into account the waste of valuable victory points.

The good news was the most of the bad karma was directed towards Mimic. Although he is the most expensive figure points-wise, he is the least effective member of the team. The second lucky break came in the form of Cowardice being used to get rid of the exiles’ ill-advised megalomaniac token purchase. Something happened to the flunkie token as well, but unfortunately the extra crystal the exiles purchased remained.

The Exiles entered and met little resistance. They revealed a megalomaniac token early, but nothing that couldn’t be handled. At this point their lack of proper caution once again reared it’s ugly head. For the first time in four seasons, the Exiles chose to go with the “open dungeon” tactic versus insulating themselves with walls. They quickly realized there was little keeping the two teams separated. If matters became hairy, things could get out of hand quickly.

Meanwhile, the Suicide Squad entered and revealed a megalomaniac token within the first crystal. They tried to reroll the result and got...a megalomaniac token. With a sigh, They quickly went to work on the surrounding villainy. Unfortunately for them, the Exiles had an extra activation they didn’t want to waste, so Captain Boomerang quickly got a fist full of fury. Fortunately for Suicide Squad, they quickly healed and were never significantly damaged again.
Signs of Trouble
Maybe there was more than just a feeling in the air. The Exiles sent a message letting everyone know they would be late. The Suicide Squad responded with:
“No problem. See you when you get there.”
What’s that supposed to mean?! I think we can figure it out now.
The Exiles were not so lucky. They soon revealed two megalomaniac tokens in succession (3 x 100 and 4 x 85). They used their seemingly worthless Fate Tokens to remove two of the 85 point villains and began the task of fighting against their fate.

To make a long story short, the Suicide squad made judicious use of Nightshade’s smoke bombs and barrier (including mimic’s predictable demise), while the exiles came out on the short end of two chasm saves. Nocturne was eventually damaged by a villain and handed off the gem to Blink who made a run for it by starting to open the remaining crystals. Alas she quickly revealed another megalomaniac token! At the same time, Nightshade was somehow able to survive an onslaught of attacks from all sides. At this point the Exiles could see the writing on the wall. Their unceremonious end came soon enough.

Analysis

I guess looking back on things the Exiles should have seen this coming. But really, should they have? I mean what really happened? You have a mediocre team springing a well executed trap on another mediocre team in order to obtain a second gem. What does that buy them but a big target on their backs? Plus they have now lost the element of surprise for future games. This is only game four, after all. Not only that, they spent a considerable amount of resources to achieve their goals...but the blueprint for countering these tactics is fairly cheap (Ordinary Day, Cowardice, Deflection and a desire for an extra gem).

Now if the team was built to hold onto gems, I would understand. But let’s be honest, Nightshade must have used up eight of her nine lives. Both her and Captain Boomerang are paper tigers. Even Bronze Tiger’s defensive prowess will fail him eventually, as Nocturne learned. The question any aggressive team must ask themselves is can they stand up to two adversaries dedicated to their demise? The answer for the Suicide Squad is obviously no, so to play this card so early in the season is reckless, crazy even. if you think about it, it’s Suicide...oh crap!

Game 3B Recap

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:44:59 -0500

Where to begin? I guess we need to start with a confession. Last night's "game" between the Exiles, the Marvel Knights and the Legion of Superheroes was possibly the most pathetic display of clixing since that time a person (who we all know but shall remain nameless) let me beat him in an official HeroClix tournament so long ago. At least back then I got a prize out of the deal. This time I just feel cheap and dirty. Really, it's not even worth a write-up so I'll go with the bullet point style to give you the low-lights.

• When I got there I saw the Marvel Knights and thought I had shown up on the wrong day. Once that was cleared up I quickly pointed out that he had no gem, like I was expecting! (Cue foreshadowing music)

• Everyone bought an extra crystal and we all picked large extra tiles so the board was filled to the gills with shiny goodness.

• The begiNning of the game boiled down succinctly to the following:

• The Exiles revealed a megalomaniac on their first crystal with 3 for 120-something showing up. And then revealed another megalomaniac token at 3 for 85ish behind them.

• The Marvel Knights rolled four 7s for their first four crystals (which is teleport to the nearest crystal) until they finally revealed the Gem Guardian on the fifth one. A bloody battle between the Knights and the Guardian ensued.

• The Legion entered and promptly missed on the AIM Medic. First Superman and then Fire. They refused to use a Fate Token because...well, I was never sure why. It was the only trouble they encountered the entire game so don't feel sorry for them, they don't need your pity.

• The Marvel Knights whittled the Guardian down to it's last clicks, taking a lot of damage in the process. At this point we are playing way too friendly, attacking with nearly dead villains and telling stories of what we planned to do with all the VP we are getting. Well the Legion are getting a lot of VP, the Exiles are buying re-rolls and heals because they are still in their starting tile and are contemplating the cheapest X-Man with Outwit. As for the Marvel Knights...they haven't killed anything yet!

So with the Knights bloodied and bruised, yet near their reward, the honorable Legion turn around the ping the Guardian past it's last two clicks. They then must decide if they want the Big Blue Boy Scout to steal the Space gem (+3 to his 12 movement, Flurry and...oh who are we kidding, it's Superman with Flurry! That's all we need to know.)

I literally saw an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other as they argued about the proper course of action. To their credit, the Marvel Knights remained silent throughout the proceedings.

• The next six or so turns consisted of the Exiles slowly mopping up and finally leaving their starting tile; the Marvel Knights picking up the Space gem, getting bitch slapped by 20 point figures, buying a Fate Token, immediately missing and then using the Fate Token, knocking out said 20 point figure so they could buy another Fate Token; the Legion quickly maxing out on points (with 900+ VP) and then being forced to watch forlornly as the Knights struggled to move past them. To make it worse, the Legion waited patiently while the Knights slowly moved out of the way so Superman could head towards his exit. It was an amazing feat of self control.

In the end, nothing of note happened, really. And yet we should all be ashamed of ourselves because of it.

Game 2B Recap

Fri, 9 Oct 2009 11:11:54 -0500

It wasn’t a game worthy of a full blown comic book representation, but sometimes pictures speak louder than words. Or at least I don’t have to type as much.

ANyway, here you go...

Game 1B Recap

Fri, 2 Oct 2009 12:11:59 -0500

Prologue
It was yet another new world in another screwed up timeline and the Exiles were already complaining about how the odds were stacked against them. They were questioning the logic the Timebroker employed when he put the team together. As it was, Blink was already planning to kill off Mimic in the hopes of getting a more durable teammate. But really, what else is new?

Recap
We started a little late because the Titans were busy trying on lingerie or something like that. But eventually everyone was present and accounted for. Things started off pretty calm. The Exiles were being snarky and warned all involved that it would continue throughout the game. Meanwhile, the Titans were getting fed up with the attitude pretty quickly. In the Exiles defense, the Titans went a whole round of four Robins missing some Skrull lackey and refused to use a Fate Token. I started to wonder if they knew something I didn't, that maybe I should horde Fate Tokens as well in case the Apocalypse came, but realized they just had an unhealthy fear of snake eyes. Still, once the Exiles threw some XP at the Titans, they were mollified.

In fact, everyone was getting along so well, the following exchange was heard:

FF: <Gives Titans some free XP>
Titans: Thanks, I'll owe you one.
Exiles: Like you can do anything for him, you don't have any extra actions to use.
Titans: Maybe I meant in another game...when we're ganging up on Big D or something.
Exiles:

The only controversy in the early part of the game was the awesomeness of Blink. The Titans and Fantastic Four soon realized that Blink TKing villains into the crevice was resulting in much more XP than they were getting. Add to that the fact that Blink was sitting next to her third crystal by turn four and everyone started doing the "silently look at the remaining villains/crystals and try to add up XP in your head" move to see if they could max out on XP without too much trouble...and it didn't look good for the non-mutants. It was going so well that the rulebook was brought out to try and tighten the loopholes in the TK power, but to no avail.

Still everyone was being friendly. The Titans and the Exiles used at least three Fate Tokens to reroll a crystal result in the hopes of getting more villains on the board. It ended up working out, but I had to listen to the Titans bitch about not having any more Fate Tokens for the rest of the game.

There was a tense moment when the Human Torch was left alone within proximity of the Titans, who were looking for all the XP they could find. Cooler heads prevailed, however. Still, the Titans declared the earlier good will between the two teams to be paid in full.

Soon after, the FF opened the last crystal and revealed...GEM GUARDIAN! The FF sought some advice on whether to take the result or use a Fate Token to try for a different one. Luckily, the FBI had me wired before I showed up, so I was able to capture the conversation that followed:

FF: Should I keep it?
Exiles: No, reroll it.
FF Advisor: You are short on points and this (holds up the Solonavi Celestial delicately in his hands) is worth a lot of points. And you get a gem!
Exiles: Don't do it.
Titans: Yeah, I wouldn't.
FF: <Blinded by the shiny wings>How many clicks does that thing have.
FF Advisor: 8...maybe 12...or 15. And remember, he can't counter attack for a whole turn!
Exiles: Look, even if you beat him up you aren't leaving this dungeon with a gem. You are low on points and your exit is on the other side of the map. What will probably happen is you will soften him up and one of us will finish off the Guardain to get the VP and then someone will take the gem and you will end up with no points and no gem.
FF Advisor: It'll be fun!
Titans: If I can I will take the VP for the Guardian but you can have the gem. I'll even block the Exiles so you can try to get out.
FF, Titans: <Look at the Exiles>
Exiles: There are two things to get and three of us...you don't want to do it.
FF: Ah what the heck, it'll be fun!
Exiles:

Well, the quick recap goes like something like this. The Thing misses twice on the initial attack on the Guardian so the FF use their remaining Fate Tokens to get a good hit on the Celestial. Human Torch moves in for the kill. The Titans move in for the steal. On the other side of the map Mimic gets held up by the Vanisher but Blink starts heading towards the action. The combined assault has crippled the Guardian, who will fall any moment now...but the Titans can't kill him! Blink was going to swoop in and snatch the gem but instead must finish off a wounded Human Torch to get some healing points and even the odds, since Mimic has been left behind. Next turn, it's all up to the Thing to get some points and...the dumpster misses! The Exiles and the Titans make a deal where the Titans steal the Guardian points and stay out of the way. Luckily for the Exiles, this includes the Titans "sacrificing" a Robin so the FF can get some much needed points. This takes the form of Robin going next the Thing, which distracts him while Blink swoops in and picks up the Soul Gem! Blink promptly leaves the next turn so that nothing is left but the crying.

On the plus side, everyone maxed out on points and they even have some VP to show for it. Some more than others....