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| THE DEFENDERS The hairless version! |
VS.
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| THE MINDLESS ONES They want to destroy you a lot, but they don't know why. |
Originally, the Runaways were the scheduled heroic team to fight in this game, but the Defenders seemed a more appropriate choice of opponent for the Mindless Ones, those inexorable terrors from the Dark Dimension. Additionally, I needed a way to get Moondragon, one of my all-time favorite characters, into the campaign whether she liked it or not.
And I'm glad I did! This was a tense game - the most suspenseful so far!
The Mindless Ones all have the "Mystic" team ability. That means every time a Mindless One takes damage from an attacker, that attacker take one point of damage in return! So, fighting an all-Mystic team demands that a player thoughtfully considers how to deal the most damage with the least number of attacks - an especially tricky feat when my solo Deployment Rolls don't always allow for optimal order of actions. This would prove to be a significant challenge.
Strategically, the Defenders positioned themselves throughout the airport concourse awaiting the oncoming monstrosities. Methodically, the Mindless Ones plodded their way across the battlefield. Diligently, airport security screened teams of cheerleaders on their way to a Vegas cheerleading convention, so they wouldn't be of any assistance. As soon as he had the chance, Gargoyle grabbed something heavy and engaged a monster.
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| Duty-free demolition is imminent! |
The plan was to make every Defenders attack count for as much damage as possible, considering the Mystical punishment each attacker would receive. My own solo rules did not make this always possible, though; order of attacks shifted from high-to-low or low-to-high, and twice I was forced to push. I had to make concessions, often choosing opportunity over optimization. Honestly, playing the Defenders side in this game was the toughest solo clix session I've had thus far!
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| The Mindless One in the upper-right corner of this pic got bashed over there by Gargoyle's attack which knocked the behemoth back three spaces! |
Playing the Mindless Ones was, well, pretty mindless. They're pieces with absolutely no finesse to them. Move, blast when you can, bash when you must, then move some more. With their "Impervious" defenses and "Indomitable" wills, they don't care about taking damage, just dishing it out.
Early on, I was sure the Defenders would prevail. Gargoyle drew first blood or first ichor or whatever (see above pic), and combat rhythm seemed to be on the heroes' side. That changed pretty quickly when the Deployment Rolls became less favorable. Let me tell you, when attack optimization matters, randomized actions make battle strategy impossible to fulfill.
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| Gargoyle retreats to his allies, Iceman takes a hit, and Moondragon wishes I'd stuck with the Runaways. |
At this point, it didn't even feel like I was playing solo - it was me and my Defenders against the Mindless Ones, and I wanted to win! I tried my best to avoid sacrificial attacks, but, eventually, the hard choices had to be made. The Mindless Ones had gotten close enough to hurt the Defenders, and I knew more retreating wouldn't have mattered much. Iceman fired a last-ditch blast of ice at a Mindless One who would have probably knocked him out next turn. Iceman made the hit, but the retaliatory Mystic damage KO'd my first Defender.
Gargoyle was the next to go, but not before he finished off the brute he had knocked back earlier.
Lest you think Moondragon wasn't pulling her own sexy bald weight, she was preoccupied with the other two Mindless Ones most of the time, and she'd done her part to eliminate one and seriously injure the other - but at the cost of her own precious clicks of life!
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| Showdown |
Flying off to exploit her longer range, Moondragon waited two agonizing turns for the chance to blast the final monster. I couldn't take the chance to push her, so I held my breath as I rolled for Deployment. The Mindless One trudged closer and had Moondragon in his range. In one more turn, he would probably KO her. But she still had a chance, and it all came down to the final Deployment Roll.
Success! Moondragon was allowed to attack! Her attack was high enough to hit and KO the Mindless one! Defenders win! But, Moondragon took the Mystical damage and...
...survived by ONE click of life! Hooray(-ish)!
What's left of Moondragon now moves on to the next phase, if she's not mad at me.
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| Yeah. She's pissed. |
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