Greetings Fellow Clix Fans!

The newest five figure booster set for HeroClix is going to be the DC Batman The Animated Series set, due out July 18, 2018. You can pre-order this set at your FLGS and I definitely recommend you check it out! This set will also include a Starter with a new type of map, and a Dice and Token Pack! Make sure you check those out as well.

I try to cover the awesome Traits and special powers in this article and not focus so much on the standard abilities printed on the dial. If you need to see what a particular power does, you should totally check out the Power and Ability card on WizKids site (if you don’t have one already). You can find it, here.

Preview #1 – Zatanna (Super Rare)

Zatanna is lacigam and citsyM!

I can’t wait to see this sculpt in person! She’s going to look amazing! The first thing I noticed was her point values and how many clicks she has. I thought it was a little expensive, until I read her powers and then it all made sense. Her trait is great for Justice League theme teams, and there seem to be more players trying out theme teams lately. Her trait says: At the beginning of your turn, roll a d6. [SIX]: Remove an action token from another friendly character with the Justice League keyword that’s 100 points or less. Seems good to me! The character doesn’t need to be adjacent to Zatanna for her to be able to remove a token from them. She can’t remove the token from herself, because her trait specifies ‘another friendly character’ and not just ‘a friendly character’. It doesn’t cost you an action either to use this trait.

She has a special attack power that says: Penetrating/Psychic Blast, Telekinesis. FREE: Generate a Bat bystander [MAX 2]. Now, Penetrating/ Psychic Blast and Telekinesis are great powers and she has them both at the same time. If that wasn’t good enough, she can also generate Bats that have Sidestep, Enhancement, and Shape Change. You can only have two of them at one time, but that’s still awesome! They’re also Tiny, so Zatanna could pick one up and carry it with her when she moved. Enhancement makes Zatanna’s damage go up and makes her more offensive. But she has more!

Her special damage power gives her access to both Perplex and Probability Control. Having both of those at the same time is so convenient, and makes her worth playing at 75 points.

But if you could only fit her at 50 points, she’s still great. She won’t get her Bat bystanders at 50 points, but she does have her Perplex and Probability Control. Zatanna is a piece I will definitely be trying to track down!

Preview #2 – Inque (Super Rare)

Inque is full of surprises!

Inque is a cool looking piece and she’s from the Batman Beyond series. She cost 75 points and has six clicks on her dial. She also has a trait that says: FREE: Choose one: Stealth, Shape Change, [TINY], -or- Giant Reach: 2. Inque can use the chosen power or ability until your next turn. I think this trait is really awesome! It’s not like a special power that could potentially be lost, and she has options that can’t be Outwitted. Every turn, you have the option of one of the several cool powers/abilities and you can change them on your turn based on the game state. You could hide her in hindering terrain and choose Stealth. If you knew she could be the target of an attack on your opponent’s turn, you could pick Shape Change. You can choose [TINY] so other regular sized characters can carry her around. And Giant Reach: 2 makes it very easy for her to make close combat attacks and not have to worry so much about getting hit back.

Inque also has a special movement power on her first four clicks that says: Hypersonic Speed, Sidestep. If Inque occupies water terrain, she modifies her combat values -1 and she can’t use Hypersonic Speed or Sidestep. She’s able to use Sidestep and Hypersonic Speed on the same clicks, which is so awesome! You only need to keep her out of water.

Her special defense power allows her access to Super Senses and Energy Shield/Deflection on her first three clicks. Inque also has Improved Movement for elevated terrain.

I like this character a lot for her trait and I think she’s going to be a lot of fun to play with!

Preview #3 – Wonder Woman (Chase)



Wonder Woman! Don’t think I need to say anything else, because it’s Wonder Woman!

Wonder Woman has a really awesome looking sculpt and I can’t wait to see this piece! She has six clicks for 70 points and three clicks for 30 points. She also has two traits, but one of them only applies if you put her on your Sideline. Her first trait says: SIDELINE ACTIVE – Friendly characters have “FREE: If this character critical missed this turn or made the third attack this turn to miss all opposing targets, place a character from your Sideline that can use a Troubalert trait adjacent on its blue starting line.” // At the beginning of your turn, if Wonder Woman started the game due to the Troubalert trait, roll a d6. [FOUR] – [SIX]: Deal Wonder Woman 1 unavoidable damage. This trait is a great way to get an extra character on the map without having to use an ID card. There is a drawback, of course. There is a 50% chance of Wonder Woman being dealt one unavoidable damage at the beginning of each of your turns, but for a free character, that’s worth the risk of giving your opponent 30 points.

Her other trait is a conditional one, depending on what pieces your opponent has on the map. Her second trait says: Characters that can use Telekinesis modify attack +2 when attacking only Wonder Woman. Characters that can use Telekinesis modify defense +2 when Wonder Woman attacks them. There are a few really good Telekinesis pieces out there and as long as you avoid attacking them and don’t get in range of their attacks. This trait is most likely there for balance, but you can still work around it so it’s not a huge drawback.

Wonder Woman has a special movement power, but you have to play her at 70 points to access it because it’s only on her first click. Her special movement power says: Hypersonic Speed, [FLIGHT], [PASSENGER]: 2. Wonder Woman may carry one same size with [SWIM] in addition to any other carried characters. This power’s name made me snicker when I read it. “Giving the Super Friends a ride in the Invisible Jet… even Aquaman.” This power essentially lets her carry three characters, so long as the third one has the Swim icon on their movement.

Wonder Woman has one more special power and it’s on her attack. She has the special attack power on click 1, 2, and 4. Her special attack power says: FREE: Choose an opposing character within 5 squares and line of fire that has a character adjacent to it. Roll a d6 for that character and each character adjacent to it. [FOUR] – [SIX]: Give the character you rolled for an action token. This is like a free, and buffed up Incapacitate! I like Incapacitate, but only if it’s included in another power. Incapacitate printed on the dial is not the way I like using it. Wonder Woman’s power is actually really great to use with a character that can use Telekinesis. The TK piece can move the opposing pices into position and Wonder Woman can use her free power to try and put an action token on them. And because that power is FREE, she can still be given an action token to attack or move!

Wonder Woman has some fun possibilities and I look forward to seeing how folks decide to utilize her.

Preview #4 – Hawkgirl (Chase)



Swooping in to save the day, with Average Birds at her side!

Hawkgirl looks really pretty and she’s a little cheaper than Wonder Woman on her first dial. Her points are 50 points for six clicks and 30 points for three clicks. She also has two traits. Her first trait says: SIDELINE ACTIVE – Friendly characters have “FREE: If this character critical missed this turn or made the third attack this turn to miss all opposing targets, place a character from your Sideline that can use a Troubalert trait adjacent on its blue starting line.” // At the beginning of your turn, if Hawkgirl started the game due to the Troubalert trait, roll a d6. [FOUR] – [SIX]: Deal Hawkgirl 1 unavoidable damage. This trait is just like the Troubalert trait on Wonder Woman. If you have multiple Troubalert characters and the FREE ability is triggered, you can choose any of those characters to pull in. Wonder Woman and Hawgirl are both close combat characters, so you’d want to pull them in close enough that they could charge in and attack. She also has the condition that Wonder Woman does where you have to roll a the beginning of turn to see if she takes one unavoidable damage.

Hawgirl’s second trait says: Unless Hawgirl’s attack is the first during your turn, characters modify defense +2 when she attacks them. Characters modify attack +2 when attacking Hawkgirl if it is the first attack of their turn. This is another conditional drawback that can be worked around. You have to make sure you attack with her first or you’re going to be giving an opposing character a defensive advantage against Hawgirl. If an opposing character wants to take advantage of the attack bonus, they will have to attack her before your opponent attacks anything else. If your opponent has a particular character that needs to attack first in order to buff their team, you can tempt them into not using that character by sending Hawkgirl after a different opposing character. Your opponent would then need to decide if the +2 to attack Hawkgirl is worth losing whatever bonus they may be getting from their other character.

Hawkgirl has one other special power and it’s on her attack on clicks 1, 2, and 4. Her special attack power says: POWER: Generate an Average Bird bystander. If no other friendly characters are within 4 squares, generate two instead. I like gimmicky powers and abilities, especially ones that let me generate extra characters, regardless of whether or not they’re super powerful. The Average Bird bystanders have an speed of nine and can use Flurry. They only have a nine on their attack, so they won’t be hitting much of anything. And since they’re tiny, you only need a to roll a three to break away from them, so they aren’t great for tying up characters. They can be a huge nuisance though if they roll critical hits against dudes without damage reducers or if they’re adjacent to an opposing character that’s having trouble rolling higher than a one or two for a break away roll.

Final Thoughts

The Batman The Animated Series is shaping up to be a pretty awesome set! I don’t think there’s any particular figure that I don’t like, so far. They all have their own play style that will appeal to players of all different types. Zatanna is definitely my favorite so far, but also like Wonder Woman too. I like the Troubalert ability because it doesn’t cost any points to add those characters to your Sideline and you might be able to get a free character on the map if you happen to be having a bad time with your dice. So far, these two are close combat type characters, but I bet there’s a range centered Troubalert character out there too. I’d be very surprised if there wasn’t.

I also noticed that none of these characters are Indomitable and only Inque has Willpower (and only on two clicks). It’s unlikely you’ll want to push any of these pieces because they will damage for it. Zatanna is the only piece with a Team Ability and it’s one of my favorites – Mystics: Each time this character takes damage from an opposing character’s attack, after resolutions deal the attacker 1 penetrating damage. Uncopyable. Mystics is a nuisance for any piece that doesn’t have Invincible, because Invincible is the only damage reducing power that can reduce penetrating damage.

I can’t wait to see what other pieces are in this set and I can’t wait to see what pieces I pull in our pre-release that’s coming up on July 14! Be sure to check with your local venue to see if they’re hosting a pre-release! And don’t forget – the set releases on July 18, 2018!

Which figure are you most looking forward to?

What do you think of the abilities on these figures?

Let me know in a comment here or on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty!

Thanks again to WizKids! And thank you, to all of you who are reading and sharing this article. I appreciate it very much and would also be very grateful if you remember to like, follow, and subscribe to my pages.



Live long, and Prob it!