Davies' Marvel Appendix (Super Mission Force)

[Davies]

So...it has been many years collecting Heroclix. The game changes from a clunky superhero game to a headache, money eating hobby, but the miniatures, until the recent and unfortunate change in size, are cool. I'm sure many of you here experienced the same astonishment I felt twenty years ago, when I discovered the game in my comic store. A superhero game! With collectable miniatures! Here, is Spider-man! Captain America! Kang! The Wasp! So many characters I personally love since I was a kid. But, as my collection started growing, I was aware of a problem.

See, I love Marvel comics, but I always feel fascination for underdog characters. I frequently choose to watch a film for its supporting cast, instead of the main actors. Same logic I applied to comics. Yes, I know the big stars and they are awesome. Peter David's Hulk, Moench's Moon Knight, all the good years of Spider-man or the Avengers, all gold readings to me. But my favourite group has always been the Thunderbolts. C- rate characters who could be as interesting and compelling as the big players.

And, as a collector, I slowly understand that some of these characters will never see the light in miniature. Set after set, we have a plethora of A-characters remaded over and over again, so I started to create some of my favourite secundary characters. Many of them were made years ago, so my sculpt skill were poor, but my lovely wife convinced me to post them here. Oh, and she made me a dice bag:

[Davies]

First of the bunch: Aqueduct, the favourite of my wife (I really don't know why), so I made this many years ago for her.
Aqueduct is a water controller, Ghost Rider and New Warriors enemy. He was called the Water Wizard, but now his rookie identity is adopted by a new hero (so new he only has appeared in three comics to the date)
All the minis are in translucent bases because from Heroclix we went to Heroscape, and from here to Scott Pyle's Super Mission Force, which is a blast and I highly recommend.

Aqueduct (Blaster)
Force Blast (major), Flight(only 10'' per turn)

Water Wizard
Force Blast (minor), Force Field (minor, only protect characters within 5'')

There are some "house rules", as you can see, but we play in family, far from competitive, and our main goal is to reflect the characters' powers. Sometimes one of our C-listers is weak, so we count him as a Street Level character instead of an Standard type.

[Bob Hume]

Those are pretty cool. Did you sculpt those completely or are part of them cuttings from off of Heroclix figures?

[Davies]

Hi, Bob, thank you! All my superhero customs are, well, just customs with Heroclix figures. After so many years, I don't remember the original pieces of many of them. I think Aqueduct is based on Aquaman, with the glasses and ponytail sculpted in green stuff. Water Wizard is perhaps a Daredevil with a Robin head.

Water Wizard has a friend, Queen Cat, formerly a lame Spider-man villainess, Menace, and now a sort of B-grade Black Cat. (She is in a fact a repainted Black Cat)

Queen Cat (Street level)
M 8''
BD 5
PD 5
Minor powers: Melee specialist, Super agility
Backgrounds: Criminal, High society

But, speaking of lame villains, don't forget 8-Ball, a loser who has lived more time that the common sense dictates. In a world of supers, his main weapon is a billiard cue.

8-Ball
M 6''
BD 5
PD 5
Minor powers: Force blast(minor), Grenades (sometimes, he throws explosive pool balls)
Backgrounds: Criminal, Science.

[Bob Hume]

OK, 8 Ball is great.  Now I'm gonna have to make one of him.

[Davies]

Marvel's Irish superheroine! (no, not Siryn)

Shamrock (Street level)
M 6''
BD 5
PD 5
Minor powers: Fortune, Inmortal
Backgrounds: Arcane, Athletics

And a villain, Flying Tiger. I love how the guy is a IIWW veteran aviator who thinks the better way to return to civil life is by a furry flying costume.

Flying Tiger (Street level)
M 6''
BD 5
PD5
Minor powers: Flight, melee specialist
Backgrounds: Criminal, military.

[fourcolorfigs]

OMG! I was just wondering the other day how I could Convert a Flying Tiger, and you've given me the eureka idea I needed! I going to scavenge that Banshee and combine with a head swap from Bronze Tiger!

Your stuff is great! Thanks!

[Davies]

Thanks to you, Scott. The Goalsystem is, IMHO, the ideal way to approach to superhero games. We are having great fun in family, way more dynamic and narrative than with Heroclix or Heroscape.

Let's go with some great forgotten characters:

Man Bull (Brick)
M  5''
BD 8
PD 6
Major powers: Resistance
Minor powers: Rage, X-Power (When Man-Bull charges, he adds +2D to his melee damage)
Backgrounds: Criminal, Wild

Le Peregrine (Street level)
M  6''
BD  5
PD  5
Minor powers: Flight, Melee specialist
Backgrounds: Athletics, Art

Man Bull, one of those dull bricks with only bad luck. i'll say it would be a good candidate for a future Thunderbolts team if he wasn't so narrow-minded. And Le Peregrine, Alain Racine, France first hero! I highly recommend Marvel Contest of Champions, with his first apparition, and James Robinson's Scarlet Witch series, where he has a sad, beautiful moment shared with Wanda.

[Davies]

Quicksand (Brick)
M  5''
BD  8
PD  6
Major powers: Resistance
Minor powers: Density increase, Fluid form
Backgrounds: Criminal, science

Xemnu (Powerhouse)
M  6''
BD  8
PD  8
Major powers: Super strenght, Mentalism
Minor powers: Resistance, Iron Will, Paralysis, Telekinesis
Backgrounds: Alien, Monarch

Masked Marauder (Mastermind)
M  6''
BD  6
PD  6
Major powers: Enhance
Minor powers: Gadgets, Stun
Backgrounds: Business, Criminal

Quicksand, Thor's foe, like the Sandman but without his good side. Xemnu the Titan, one of those lovely characters from the Monster era. And the Masked Marauder, Daredevil's foe, a brilliant criminal mind as arrogant as a comic cliché evil character could be.

[pahoota]

These are so awesome!  And serendipitous… I’m just reading Daredevil (1964) #27 now. 

Keep ‘em coming!

[Davies]

Thanks, pahoota! Yes, Masked Marauder is one of these old villains who, at certain moment, put Daredevil against the ropes...and just a minute after, he is completely forgotten for the next forty years. It's a harsh life for some characters.

Cardinal (Wildcard)
M 6''
BD 6
PD 6
Minor powers: Armor, Flight, Power blasts
Backgrounds: Crimianl, Military

Scorcher (Street level)
M 6''
BD 5
PD 5
Minor powers: Power blasts, Damage field
Backgrounds: Criminal, Science

Cardinal, a New Warriors' foe who later was in the Thunderbolts. He always seems a good guy to me, with a cool armour. And Scorcher, who has a flame-thrower suit, and is surprisingly promoted to the big leagues at some point(during Norman Osborn's Dark Reign, he is considered one of the "big guns". I suspect he is a social climber)

[fourcolorfigs]

Such a great thread! I shared it with my Four-Color Studios Facebook group. Hope some members come by here and check it out!

[Davies]

Much appreciated, Scott, thanks. Funny thing is most of these minis are ten or even fifteen years old, and they are only here thanks to the insistence of my wife and my daughter.
Speaking about old ones:

Walrus (Brick)
M  3''
BD 8
PD 6
Major powers: Resistance
Minor powers: Rage
Weakness: Average Joe (Psyche Defense of 2D), Glass Jaw, Slow.
Backgrounds:Blue collar, Criminal

I know, poor, dumb Hubert Camperter has three weakness, and only one minor power. And I highly recommend play him without Trade offs! Yes, he is almost useless, but this circumstance is overcompensated by the laughs of the players. He is here with his partner in crime, a White Rabbit in need of a repaint.

Shark Girl (Brawler)
M  7''
BD 7
PD 6
Major powers: Scrapper
Minor powers: Amphibious, Resistance
Backgrounds: Athletics, Exploration
A shark-school girl from the X-men, in case you need a swimmer. My daughter loves to put her in her team with other X-cadets.

[Davies]

Razorfist (Street level)
M 6''
BD  5
PD  5
Minor powers: Melee specialist, Reflection
Backgrounds: Athletics, Criminal

Shockwave (Street level)
M 6''
BD  5
PD  5
Minor powers: Armor, Melee specialist
Backgrounds: Espionage, Criminal

Two martial artist, Shang-Chi foes. Not very happy with my custom of Shockwave, maybe I remade him some day.

Equinox(Wildcard)
M  6''
BD  6
BD  6
Minor powers: Barrier, Power blasts, Entangle, Stun
Backgrounds: Science, Criminal

I always have a place in my comic reader's heart for poor Equinox. He has the powers of the Human Torch AND Iceman, and despite the coolness of that, he is a tragic character, struggling for left his criminal tendencies in the past. He is the most apologetic villain I've ever read.

[Davies]

Howdy, gentlemen!!A friend of mine from the USA told me this is a perfect way to begin a conversation in Texas, so to Texas we go, with the favourites of nobody...

Texas Twister  (Wildcard)
M   20''
BD  6
PD  6
Minor powers: Flight, Force blasts, Telekinesis, Melee Specialist
Backgrounds: Espionage, Performance

And his partner in law...

Shooting Star (Street level)
M   6''
BD  5
PD  5
Minor powers:Power blasts (10'' at +1D[2], Rapport (with Texas Twister)
Backgrounds: Athletics, High society

...in a family picture, along with their partners in the Texas Initiative team (and don't forget West Coast Avengers), the Rangers (minus Red Wolf and Phantom Rider)