TMNT 2 is out, so it’s time to review the set! Let’s take a look at the pieces that I believe are worth picking up.

TMNT was pretty successful for Wizkids with the only negative aspect of the set being the lack of product. It’s widely believed that they didn’t anticipate just how much people wanted this set and simply didn’t print enough. Coupled with the fact that most of the set was really great, the chases were absolutely bonkers when played together, and the Meta-worthy Krang was hiding in boxes made packs highly sought-after with prices going pretty high on the secondary market.

It seems Wizkids took action to address the supply issue of the first set by producing more of TMNT 2, but it seems the world had other plans. If you checked the homepage during the month of September, you probably know about the shipping issues that plagued the set release. As of yet, we still don’t know if Wizkids got the rest of the product as it’s been quiet. We got two counter top displays at my LGS, and prices aren’t too crazy for singles, so it seems things are looking okay. If there is more product still to hit stores, that will certainly help the prices come down even more.

Like my Civil War review, I’m going to cover each rarity and what pieces are actually worthwhile to pick up for normal constructed play. I’m also not going to review every piece; just those that I believe are good for constructed play. I also won’t be able to add links to the pieces since they haven’t been uploaded into the units section of HCRealms. Instead, I’ll just link you to the thread where you can see all of the dials.

Commons

002 Michelangelo – Of the common Turtles, Mikey is worth picking up, and it’s mainly for his Trait, which lets himself and all friendly TMNT keyworded characters on your force crit with a roll of 11. That might not seem great, but if it triggers even once per game, that’s a free 1 damage that you got just for fielding this guy. His movement power is also pretty great, granting him Sidestep outdoors or Hypersonic indoors. I like a turtle that has Hypersonic on maps that benefit their lack of range, and let’s face it, if you’re playing a TMNT team you’re probably winning Map roll. His values are decent, he actually has some damage reduction, and he’s got Perplex top dial. Pretty good for 60 points.

004 Leonardo – This guy has a bit of the original common turtles in him with solid values for 60 points, mainly in the form of that 11 attack with charge. Traited Leadership is nice to net you more actions and if he succeeds, he boosts the defense of a TMNT keyword figure by +1. What I really like about him though is that he can use Blades, but rolls 2d6 and uses whichever roll he wants. That’s incredible for a 60 point Blades piece.

FF001 Raphael – Sure, the Fast Forces turtles are a bit expensive for 75 points, but I really dig their dials. Let’s suspend the thought that the chases last set were the same cost since these dudes are so much easier to get. All the FF turtles have the same trait that gives them a +1 to attack when hitting someone of 75 points or less and +1 to damage if they hit someone with the Robot keyword. That’s awesome! We have so many cheap figures these days that I can see this triggering a lot. And it’s not like robots are a problem *cough* Ultrong *cough*. Raph has a sweet 11 attack and something that rocks on a melee piece; the ability to use range with a special incap. He keeps really great values for those 75 points and I dig him.

FF002 Michelangelo – Wow. This guy right here. Flurry top dial. Shape Change AND Invul. The ability to “can’t use” attack powers when he hits someone. Prob for over half of his click. This guy is flat out amazing and I love him. I can see driving him in with the Van and dropping him in the thick of the fight and causing utter chaos for your opponent. I don’t know if I like him more or less than the regular common, but he’s really great.

FF003 Donatello – Let’s keep it going with the Fast Forces turtles. Donny here has top dial Outwit which is less valuable than the regular commons’ ability to potentially use it twice which kind of sucks, but his dial is better overall. But what you’re really paying for in Donny is his special attack power. When he hits, he sticks his target with “can’t use” on their defense powers. Not just one… all defense powers. Stop clicks? Nope. Kindgom Come Trait? Bye. For 75 points you get a turtle that can simply shut off defense. That’s downright stupid good. The lack of move and attack is the only thing keeping Donny from outstanding.

FF004 Leonardo – Leo’s dial is really sweet. He’s the only one of the FF group with Charge and the second to have an 11 attack. Empower on top click means he’s going to make his brothers hit much harder and when coupled with Donny Ouwtitting a defense power, they’ll make quick work of whatever piece they choose. What puts Leo over the top is his attack power, which lets him use Force Blast as a free action when he hits and he gives the target an action token if they don’t have one. So he can jump in to his brothers, boost all their damage, and injure a potential threat while knocking them back and preventing them from retaliating. Yeah, sign me up.

FF005 April O’Neil – Holy crap on a cracker. You know how there’s always one piece in a Fast Forces set that you pretty much buy it for? April is that piece. Sure, everything here is good, but April is just spectacular. 2 clicks for 25 points is fine, and Plasticity/Super Senses ensures she’ll always be a pain the ass to deal with, and her trait is just gravy. When April “dies”, she doesn’t really die. She forces her attacker to ‘capture’ (just using the term) her, which gives all TMNT Ally’s +1 attack when targeting that character. So for 25 points you get a tie-up piece that gives you a FREE Perplex to attack to your whole team. Oh, and she can heal TMNT Ally’s for free, or use a Power Action to heal ALL TMNT Ally’s adjacent to her. What a steal for 25 points. Seriously, get her.

FF006 Casey Jones – This is gonna be short and sweet. Rules Are For Suckers: Casey Jones’s actions do not count against your action total. Got that? He’s a 50 point attacker that can do whatever he wants without burning tokens. Not to mention he has Charge and Empower. Think about this dude and FF Leo on a team together with April. I think I might actually possess this guy to make him a deadly secondary attacker.

Uncommons

013 Fugitoid – I personally don’t like this piece because I have the Turtle Van, and when I don’t want to play theme, I’ll just play Vanisher/Overdrive. BUT, if you don’t ahve the Can, it’s worth noting that this 50 point taxi can carry all 4 of your Turtles. Traited Stealth and Energy Shield make him tough to kill, and the ability to move for free when he’s missed with an attack keeps him mobile. Mid-dial Outwit and late-dial Support with a 10 attack along with Regeneration make him a pretty decent taxi that can stay alive. Again, if you don’t have the van and don’t want to shell out dough for Renet Tilley, get him.

014 Chien Khan – His top dial looks pretty mediocre for 75 points, and I would agree with that. The reason why Chien is on here is for when he gets to his 4th through 6th clicks. Sporting an 11 attack with Blades means Chien has the capability of being a threat later in the game, and he picks up Steal Energy on his last two clicks that heals him for 2 when he KO’s someone. His special damage power those clicks is the real reason why Chien is good; once per game when he KO’s someone, you get to spawn his Oni with 10 Phasing, 11 Pen/Psy, 18 Impervious with Indomitable, and 3 Close Combat Expert with Colossal damage. That’s pretty sweet. Is Chien an A+ character? No, but he’s decent and he’s got some great Keywords in Martial Artist and Mystical, so he’s feasible and tough to kill.

016 & 017 Bebop & Rocksteady – These two go together and of course they’re on the list. How can you NOT get Bebop & Rocksteady? Sporting the same dial, the only difference between these two is who starts with Charge and who starts with Running Shot. Three clicks of Invincible is incredible for 80 points, and their traits will help each of them deal more damage. What I really like is their second trait that gives them Incompetent Idiot/Mutant Moron tokens when they miss, which they can then exhaust to heal friendly characters. Want another way to heal Krang? Use these idiots! I love pieces that benefit you from missing.

018 Shredder – Perhaps the best piece in the set, Shredder here is quite insane. Just looking over his dial, for 50 points we get 9 Charge, 11 Blades, 17 defense with a special power and 3 damage with a special, and he’s 5 clicks long. His defense gives him no reducers or dodging, trading them for raw numbers; he gets +1 for each opposing character within 3 squares. This guy is meant to run in recklessly. His special damage power is okay; he gets leadership and can remove action tokens from 2 Foot Clan figures regardless of cost. What really throws Shredder into ‘best in the set’ status is his trait, Thermite Grenade. When Shredder is KO’d from an attack, he deals 3 penetrating damage to all characters within 3 squares and on the same elevation. WOW. So charge in, dish damage, and wave as you go kaboom. His damage potential is just silly for his 50 point cost. A+ here.

Rares

021 Karai – One thing lacking in the Turtles sets is good ranged attackers, and Karai fills that hole rather nicely. 6 range with 8 Running Shot and 11 Precision Strike means that she’s got some real potential to dish damage. I like that her trait gives her a +1 to attack when she’s adjacent to a friendly Leo. That’s pretty great considering you’ll probably snipe before running in. Outwit is icing on the cake as she now fills two rolls on your turtles team. Mid-dial, she gets an impressive stop click which shifts her to close combat mode, but not before she fires off one last shot; she can make a ranged attack once per game as a free action, and she deals penetrating damage equal to your attack roll minus the target’s defense value. Remember April giving +1 attack? How about Mikey Perplexing her attack up? Since this is a replacement effect, you can effectively deal a truck load of damage with this piece. Plus, she has TMNT Ally and Foot Clan. What a ranged attacker we got!

024 Rat King – Is this dial really in the Turtles set? REALLY? Oh man, he isn’t fair at all. 100 points, Mystics team ability, and Animal, Diety, Monster, and Mystical keywords. He ignores hindering for movement, and has a trait that lets him teleport to any hindering terrain within 6 squares if he occupies hindering terrain as a free action. Kinda like Faust from SMWW, but better. His special movement grants him Stealth and Mind Control with a range of 6, but let’s him ignore hindering, elevated, blocking, and characters. THIS DUDE CAN HIT PEOPLE NICK FURY CAN’T. Let that sink in. Nick is blocked by walls, Rat King isn’t. Oh, and he has Perplex and Prob on his damage. What are those last two clicks? Oh, just regen and Shape Change, along with Phasing. No, he isn’t going to be a pain to deal with… How is this guy in the Turtles set?!

025 Donatello – The IDW Turtles are pretty sweet, but a big determent is their lack of indom for 100 points. I don’t like that running the 4 of them uses all of your points in a 400 point match and you’re left with no willpower. That being said, their dials are great. They all ignore hindering and elevated for movement, and have the “Turtle Power” trait which gives them Stealth and Toughness. Traited Stealth is such a pain in the ass. Donny as usual has a somewhat mediocre dial for numbers, but his special powers more than make up the difference. His attack lets him reposition characters he hits which can be very valuable for setting up combos with his bros. Meanwhile, his damage let’s him use Outwit, Perplex or Support. Yep, Donny is a mini-Batman. Super Senses is nice with the traited Toughness for a miniature Impervious. Again, lower values, but still a great piece.

026 Leonardo – 11 attack is more like it when you’re dropping 100 points. I also really like Leo’s 18 defend, but it will be tougher to chain since you’re going to want to keep your Turtles in Stealth as much as possible, and 4-packs of hindering are somewhat rare. Leo packs just one special power on his damage that lets him use Leadership and increases the result by +1 for each adjacent ally with TMNT. His numbers are very impressive.

Super Rares

028 Raphael – I think someone at Wizkids has a really soft spot for Raph as he’s routinely good. Precision Strike for over half his dial rocks, and on his last click he’s got a 12 attack with Flurry and Blades. He’s also got Combat Reflexes his entire dial. He sports only one special like Leo on his damage that grants him Empower, and when he’s missed by an attack, you get to remove an action token from him. If you can’t, the attacker’s defense gets a nice -1 until the end of your next turn. That’s pretty great. Probably the second best of the IDW turtles. A very solid dial. You’re absolutely not losing value here.

029 Michelangelo – If someone at Wizkids has a soft spot for Raph, they have a crush on Mikey. Easily the best of the IDW turtles, Mikey has Charge, 11 attack with Quake, 17 with Combat Reflexes and Super-Senses, and Probability Control. How can you ever go wrong with a melee piece that’s tough to hit and has Prob? He’s the real deal. Oh, and his two mid-dial clicks have Flurry and Perplex, so Mikey is going to be a pain at all times. Man, I love this figure.

029 Renet Tilley – If there’s a contest for best figure in the set, Shredder is in a race with Renet here. Her dial is okay and her values are mediocre, but her specials are where it’s at. Her movement power grants Phasing and she can carry 4 people. Okay, we’ve seen this before a LOT in the past and even in this set with Fugitoid. Her damage special on clicks 2 and 4 grant her Prob, but she can use it regardless of range and line of fire. Wait, go back. Regardless of range and line of fire?! Are you telling me she’s better than KC Spectre at cheap prob? Yes, she absolutely is. For 55 points, you get to smash your hyper-taxi and hyper prob together and get this lovely lady. She’s also got regular prob on her odd numbered clicks, so you’re always going to get dice re-rolling. To top it all off, DAT SCULPT.

Chases

032 Griddex – Ho ho ho boy! What’s that? You wanted an insane melee turtle that didn’t get squashed if your opponent has Nighthawk Prime, or some way around Combat Reflexes? Well my friend, look nor further than Griddex! 125 points (or 100), Griddex has an absolute insane top click: 7 Charge, 11 Super Strength (special), 19 Invincible, and 4 Empower. Oh you want more? OKAY! How about a Trait that can turn himself Giant for Giant Reach or Tiny for easy transportation? You got it! So what’s that special attack do aside from Super Strength? Oh, just let’s him attack again if he hits with an object for free. So 10 damage in one turn from a turtle? Seems legit. And it’s not like he wimps out. For 100 points, he drops to 6 movement and 18 Impervious and keeps an 18 defense his entire dial, still pretty great considering his trait and special attack. The lack of willpower is probably the only downside to Griddex. I’m super pumped I already got mine!

034 Shellectro – Shellectro here is a prime candidate to show that you don’t always want to pay full points for good figures. He clocks in at 100 or 50 points, and I guarantee you’ll see him on his 50 point line 9/10 times. He’s got flight which is fantastic since most TMNT don’t, and Running Shot on his 1st, 4th, and 6th clicks. If you play him top-dial, he has Energy Explosion (7 range and two bolts) and hit characters are knocked back 3 squares, as well as Outwit. That’s pretty cool, but it’s nothing compared to his special damage he gets on click 4, or the 1st click of his lower point value. When he hits with a ranged attack, you get to choose one hit character and they can’t make ranged attacks until your next turn. Imagine TK’ing this dude out 8 squares a la Jean Grey, moving 5 squares for Running Shot, and shooting their primary ranged target 7 squares away. That’s a 20-square swing and you just turned off their ability to hit you back. Plus, he’s got Pen/Psy and Energy Shield. To top it all off, he gets Running Shot + Pulse Wave on his 6th click with that special damage power. So good!

035 Graviturtle – The cheapest of the chases, Super Leo has his normal sweet attack values, with 11 for his first three clicks. He comes in at 75 or 50 points, and has flight like Shellectro, but he does come with Sidestep on top dial at his higher value. His special attack on clicks 1 and 4 is somewhat of a reverse from Shellectro in that when he hits, you give the character an action token and they can’t make close attacks until your next turn. That’s really great too, but it appears less times than Shellectro and you have to pay full points to get a guaranteed use of it, and he doesn’t have Charge on that dial. His special damage power lets him roll once per turn when a friendly TMNT hits an opposing character and if he gets a 4-6, he flat out removes the token from that character. This is only present on his 75 point line, so you really can’t play him at 50 points or you’re not gaining his full benefits. I do like that if you need a TK’er, you can forgo the bells and whistles and play him at 50 strictly for TK, but that’s a bit expensive.

So there you have it. The pieces you don’t see aren’t necessarily bad, they just aren’t worth picking up in my honest opinion. Armaggon gets an honorable mention, but I think he’s just too expensive for the points. 170 for 12 Phasing on top dial is really lame and although his mold is amazing, I feel I’d never play him and I’m trying to be a little more realistic with myself as my space grows smaller and smaller.

Feel free to comment on what you think makes sense or what pieces you feel should be added and why. If you have any suggestions for further reviews, throw those in too.