Jason Alvey

Welcome to Casual Digest. It is 4th of July so it’s time to break out the Red, White and Blue on the table top (or Roll20 these days) and take a look at one of my favorite heroes, Captain America!

I’m just drawn to the character Steve Rogers. I think it’s just that unwavering goodness and sense of right he has that makes me want to follow him to Hell and back, so who better than Captain America to build around for this holiday. I have a 300 point Soldier theme to take a look at and think it will be really fun play.

First up ABPI Captain America 043

and we will be adding the +5 points for his additional trait Bearer of the Time Gem.

This figure to me is pretty much the perfect Cap so lets take a look at him. His trait grants him either Close Combat Reflexes or Energy Shield Deflection.

SENTINEL OF LIBERTY: FREE: Choose Combat Reflexes -or- Energy Shield/Deflection. Captain America can use the chosen power until your next turn.

Coupled with his starting 18 defense and Invulnerablity it makes him very tough to hit and I really enjoy the flexibility it gives you while surveying the battlefield. Captain America is also very mobile with his starting speed special power.

FIRST THROUGH THE DOOR…LAST TO LEAVE: Charge, Running Shot, Sidestep.

Again, Captain America is very flexible depending what your fighting. Cap is a great fighter either close up or at range so this power suits the character quite well. Add Sidestep to that for extra positioning and that starting 12 attack value and you have quite a formidable attacker. Finally, lets look at his damage special power.

THE IDEAL THAT INSPIRES THROUGHOUT TIME: Leadership. When Captain America uses it with the ABPI Time Gem equipped and succeeds, after resolutions he may remove an action token from a friendly character.

Sporting Leadership as he should, Captain America also gets a bonus when he makes a successful Leadership roll from the Time Gem he’s carrying around. It allows him to remove a second action token from a friendly character anywhere on the map, even himself. The Time Gem will also grant him Probability Control his whole dial which will be needed since we are running a generic theme team. It also grants him plus one range and if his attack roll is 10 or higher your opponent can’t reroll your attacks that turn.

Next up we have SWB Captain America 033

The rare Cap starts us out with Leadership and a potential stat boost :

TRIANGLE SHIELD: Leadership. When Captain America uses it, you may give him an action token. If you do, increase the result +2.

A SYMBOL OF LIBERTY AND FREEDOM FOR 75 YEARS: When Captain America uses Leadership and succeeds, choose a combat value except damage. Friendly characters within 5 squares that share a keyword with Captain America or any [SW: B] Captain America on your sideline modify that combat value +1 until your next turn.

I started with the rare because it was the only one with the soldier keyword. On the sideline we will have :

Again it is about flexibility that comes with Shifting Focus Cap. I really enjoy this set of figures. I like the uncommon on the approach due to the 9 movement with Sidestep , Energy Shield Deflection and Shape Change he has top dial. He also can grant your team plus one defense with :

EXPANDABLE HARD LIGHT SHIELD: Energy Shield/Deflection. FREE: Choose one to last until your next turn: Adjacent friendly characters modify defense +1 when targeted by a range attack -or- Choose a side of the square Captain America occupies. As long as Captain America occupies that square, opposing lines of fire drawn through that side of the square are blocked.

Common Cap comes in to bring the pain. He starts with a 12 attack value and Charge or he can pick Running Shot with his trait:

VIBRANIUM SHIELD: FREE: Choose one: Running Shot or Close Combat Expert. Captain America can use the chosen power until your next turn.

Also if you were able to sidestep adjacent to the enemy with the Uncommon or Rare you can shift to the Common and pick that Close Combat Expert for a 5 damage uppercut to the face!

Next we have WI Captain America 036

Cap with the power of Mjolnir! If you didn’t scream with delight when Cap picked up Mjolnir in Avengers: Endgame your probably more mature than me. Anyway, Thor’s mighty hammer and Cap’s shield are represented here by:

HAMMER AND SHIELD: Captain America can use Energy Shield/Deflection and Ranged Combat Expert.

Captain America can use the extra ranged protection granted by this trait due to his starting 17 defense. He doesn’t have the longest range at 5 but the Ranged Combat Expert can definitely help you lay the smack down on any annoying purple guys you might be facing. Cap starts with 4 base damage so he can really make a big dent in our foes using this trait and if they are anything like Ant-Man they will notice Cap’s:

INTIMIDATING PRESENCE: Captain America can use Leadership. If he does and succeeds while adjacent to one or more opposing character of 150 points or less, give those characters an action token.

This will let us token up the opposition while simultaneously clearing tokens from our own team and can really shift the tempo of the game.

Rounding out the team we have another Super Solider from WWII, Father of Josiah X and Grandfather of Patriot from Young Avengers:

FFCAAV 001 Isaiah Bradley

Isaiah Bradley comes in at only 25 points but can cause plenty of trouble for the opposing team. He’s only four clicks deep but his trait says he’s a

LIVING LEGEND: The first time each game Isaiah Bradley would be KO’d, instead turn him to his last non-KO click, then roll a d6 and heal him equal to half the result. Protected: Pulse Wave.

So even when he would be KO-ed he has the potential to heal to his top click again. He can also keep coming at you every turn due to his second trait:

EXPERIMENTAL AMERICAN SUPER SOLDIER: Colossal Stamina.

Your opponent can’t afford to ignore him because he can come at you every round with Colossal Stamina and even if they waste attacks killing him he can come back and do it all over again. The team has plenty of leadership to keep tokens off him and could potentially give him a stat boost to help his attack from Rare Shifting Focus Cap.

While lacking some support powers the team makes up for it with good stats, lots of Willpower and flexible powers that can be adapted to the situation. I think you will have great time playing them and putting boots to your opponents back sides. Enjoy the holiday and remember have fun!

Welcome back to Casual Digest. Today, I am again looking at figures from the Justice League Unlimited set. I just absolutely love this show and the JLU set is a dream come true. I wanted to build a fun 300 point team from Episode 1 of the series, “Initiation”. The show opens with Green Arrow taking down some dirtbags in a grocery store using the signature boxing glove arrow. Green Lantern appears for an assist and brings Green Arrow to a gathering of heroes to form the now larger Justice League.
Our team consists of Green Lantern, Supergirl, Captain Atom and Green Arrow who is hitching a ride back to Earth after refusing a spot in the League. The team is sent to battle a giant unnamed nuclear powered robot (maybe based on Chemo, who desperately needs a clix remake, but that’s another article). I will be using the following figures:

JLU002 Green Lantern 65 points

JLU032 Captain Atom 100 points

JLU042 Green Arrow 60 points

JLU044 Supergirl 75 points

Total: 300pts

Green Lantern will serve as the team taxi with the Green Lantern TA and his special movement power :

ALL ABOARD: MOVE: Green Lantern can carry regardless of [Wing symbol] and modifies speed +1 for each carried character with the JLA team ability. Move (up to his speed value).

This will allow Green Lantern to carry both Captain Atom and Supergirl, who both have the wing symbol, into position. Since all of our characters have the JLA TA the power will also negate the negative modifier to his speed value. While not an offensive powerhouse Green Lantern offers a good deal of utility with top dial Barrier and TK and can push to Perplex. Thankfully he also has Indomitable as all Green Lanterns should. We will also be using the Green Lantern Team Up 002.05 to give Green Lantern Probability Control when he is targted by a range attack.

TEAM UP: GREEN ARROW: If the listed friendly character is on the map, Green Lantern can use Probability Control, but only when targeted by a range attack. (After revealing forces, you may replace a game element’s default card with an alternate card. You can’t choose a Team Up card if any characters on your starting force share a name).

Captain Atom will be the tank of our group with his eight click long dial full of reducers. He starts out as a range threat with Running Shot but quickly switches to close combat. Once he reaches click four you will want him in the thick of the battle to make use of his special attack power:

CONTAINMENT SUIT BREACH: Poison. Whenever Captain Atom takes damage from an attack, after resolutions deal each adjacent character 1 penetrating damage.

He will be able to punish his opponents for daring to attack him while still dealing out big blows of his own with Close Combat Expert.

Supergirl can also mix it up and deal out some great damage starting with Charge and four damage as well as Impervious. Try to aim her at targets with lower defense and use her trait to pull tokens from her and keep attacking round after round. Just don’t miss!

NOT SO SURE THIS IS A GOOD IDEA OR NOT…LET’S SEE WHAT HAPPENS: When Supergirl has no action tokens and makes an attack, if she hit after resolutions remove an action token from her -or- if she missed after resolutions give her an action token.

Thankfully the whole team has the Justice League Unlimited trait:

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED: At the beginning of your turn, roll a d6. 6: Remove an action token from another friendly character with the Justice League keyword that’s 100 points or less.

This will help when she misses an attack and will also benefit Green Arrow who is our only character without willpower.

Green Arrow wants to stay back and cause trouble for the enemy with his seven range and dual targets. A seventeen defense with Energy Shield Deflection will help keep that twelve attack value showing up top, but if he takes a hit Green Arrow can use Steal Energy from range or as a close attack. He also gets bonuses to his attack once a friendly character has been KO-ed as well as damage if he is the final character on his team for one final hail mary.

I’m excited to run this team! What team are you looking forward to playing from JLU? Post it in the comments and remember to have fun!