As I was having a rare foray into the land of actually playing Heroclix I created two teams in preparation for the event. One was a very ordinary Batman Enemy outfit that would be played if there were a few other less than naughty teams to have a decent game against, the other was created on the suspicion that it would be a hardcore night after the last couple of events. As I arrived and saw/heard what the assorted dairy produce was that the rest of the field would be using I decided that I would have to plump for my team to be lead by the mighty Lord of Cheese (Firelord of course) with with Protected and Trick Shot too. This was the first appearance of Firelord in Middlesbrough Approved Play ... I wonder if it will be the last?

+ +

SPOT THE CHEESE! Ok I admit it I wanted to prove I can actually win a game or two. In my defence I didn't use any BFC's to compensate ... ok that is no defence, There is NO DEFENCE!

Martin's "TK Me To Your Healer" was the quartet of Sinestro, Dr. Mid-Nite, Jennifer-Lynn Hayden and Princess Komand'r. His first match opponent was Alec's "Him, Her & IT" with NGN Superman (him), Wonder Woman (her) and Lucius Fox (it? A bit harsh methinks). Alec's attempts to get into the early pace with his big hitter wasn't too effective as he only managed to KO Dr. Mid-Nite (how did you only manage to KO Dr. Mid-Nite?) whilst Martin took out Alec's entire force to gain a Win and a big fat haul of points. Would he now falter, or continue to do well?

Paul Brown's "Wild Four" saw Manticore team up with Dr. Light, Shadowlass and Experienced Invisible Girl for a triple universe tradgedy. Taking this behemoth on first tonight was Parry Cooke and his "Hard" with Sue Storm, Wonder Woman, Mr Fantastic (Brilliant Tactician) and Detective Chimp. I shall pause a while here to allow you to imagine Detective Chimp in a blue T-Shirt with a 4 emplazed upon it. Well Parry's team could have been called "Hard Enough" here as it certainly was effective in brining the "Wild Four" down to earth with a bang with a points victory in a pretty tight game. He may wish he had lost when he sees who he's getting in the next round though, Mwhahahahahahahahhhhaaaaaaaa!

Paul Spencelayh was joining us once more in the wonderful world of Approved Play and his team name showed his view on how the game should be played as "F For Fun" assembled Spymaster, Batman, SWAT Specialist, Swamp Thing (you don't see him very often) Robin and Elektra. His previous experience, though minimal must have taught him a trick or two as he scored a near whitewash against Anthony Prior's "Death Of Professor". Elongated Man, Speedy and Superman would have been on for a bit fat lonely zero points haul but for the KO'ing of a SWAT Specialist for 18 points. Slim consolation I know, but better than nothing ... just.

Liam was nameless as usual, not the most imaginative player of Heroclix ever are you Liam? His Green Lantern (Trick Shot) Spoiler, Huntress, Speedy, Ashleigh, Scarab, Happy Hogan and Oberon deserved a name as they looked manacing. It was also exactly the type of team I was hoping to take down tonight! He played JP's "X Factor" in his first game, but Scarlet Witch, Cyclops, Quicksilver, Jean Grey and Wolverine didn't pull in enough votes and lost pretty badly ... but not as bad as some of the singing on the other X Factor (the horrid TV Show that is).

Peter Davies went for a "Team In Masks" going with Batman, Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin and Dr. Mid-Nite. This is a team that has done well so far at our events, so how would it fair today in Peter's hands? Phil Guba was looking to make it look very ordinary with his"MIA: Dr Blue Tack" (oh will we never here the end of poor old Dr Blu Tack). Without the stickilly repaired Mystic, Guba's team was made up of Firebrand, Iron Monger, Spider-Man, Ravager and Ghost (Running Start). Guba's team upon closer inspection was damned efficient and had some great pieces, Peter also found this as he inspected the KO'ed clicks of all of his figures dials. Chalk up Win number one for Guba.

Paul Crosby was the unlucky chap taking the first round bye. Two more wins though and the final would beckon for Paul, could he do it? We have seen Mr. Hunt achieve it from here on more than one occassion! (That's Mr. Hunt the UK Heroclix Champion).

The games begin and there seems to be a lot of yellow around tonight! Dave and myself have a tense tactical showdown in the middle of one half of the matches which thanks to a breakaway for the mighty Cheeselord and the first aid skills of Ghost Widow I manage to win ... I do believe that is my first competitive win against Dave (if not my first ever win as we don't play friendlies very often)

Firelord first gets stuck in .. and then runs away like a girl crying 'heal me' to the beautiful Ghost Widow

The level of play on the second batch of tables is no less intense ... Parry's opponent appears to be using their invisibility to give him a tactical edge, that's hardly fair is it? JUDGE!!!

The Fantastic Four must have had about 25 NEW new members since the Alternate F4 Feat Card came out and that's in Middlesbrough alone. The team has never been so popular ... I really can't imagine why that could be, can you ?

Table two saw Phil Guba's "MIA: Dr Blue Tack" get to try it's thing against namesless Liam. Phil was showing that not only could he build a strong team, but he wasn't afraid to get stuck in either as he used Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends (no not those Amazing Friends) to manouver the game in his favour. The offensive tactics worked well for Guba nd he picked up a second win for the night.

I was lurking on table three with Cheesey 'n the Ghost and the unfortunate soul drawn against me this round was Parry. After a few turns of manouvering into postition, Parry's Wonder Woman charged forward to attack. Firelord tried to 'cut her off at the pass' but missed. Wonderwoman pushed, losing her Impervious (where have we seen that before Craig?) and a mighty battle of fists and flame ensued. Firelord took a beating but escaped a KO by breaking away from a badly beaten Mr. Fantastic. The end result was 600 points to me and 0 to Parry, but the game had been a lot closer than the scoresheet looked at the games conclusion. H. P. Gyrich even managed to get a hit in on Wonder Woman to showcase the mightyness of pogs!

Paul Crosby, having had a bye early had his first 'real' game against Paul Brown. Paul C's "The Flying Chair & The Car Bonnet" was a cunning name for Magneto and Norman Osborne (together at last) oh and he had a Paramedic too. The combination of raw power and err more raw power in addition to a Disbanded BFC did the trick for Paul C and he took a convincing win as he whitewashed Paul Brown. Would Magneto and Goblin be propelling themselves to a final?

Peter Davies tried to turn his early poor form around against David Smith in his second round match. I'm pretty sure David, in the knowledge that he wasn't going to qualify for the final went into teaching mode and tried to help Peter with his moves. Even with this help Peter still only managed a disappointing 42 points as he lost badly. Oh well, these things happen (usually to me though!).

JP had a big turnaround in Round Two too (is that a skirt?) as the "X Factor" Assembled and showed their collective potential against Alec. It may well have been that we saw Atlantis Rising thanks to Alec, but we didn't see "Him, Her & IT" rising through the ranks as they proved they were still being wet.

Anthony Prior's dismal first round showing left him with a second round bye, but half way into the round he had to leave so we had an even number of players for Round Three.

Roud two is underway and the top table hosts Martin Teece and Paul Spencelay meanwhile, despite my win, I am as low as table three due to the numbers of players again tonight ... must ... win ... again!

These six unlucky chaps all suffered first round defeats so had to play on the second row of tables ... but they are laughing if there is a fire as they are right next to the fire extinguisher and fire exit! Can anyone extinguish Firelord's flames tonight?

Playing off for the second final spot on table two were Phil Guba's "MIA: Dr Blue Tack" and Paul Crosby's "The Flying Chair & The Car Bonnet". Having finished my match early I watched the end of this one and it looked a thriller with Phil pulling out all his tactical know-how to deal some death to Magneto and his glider-riding companion. Firebrand and Ghost were lost in the fracas but ultimately the awesome Spider-Dude and the scrap iron merchant Iron Monger showed enough class to win through.

Liam's recovery from his first round loss was completed as he took Paul Spencelay's "F For Fun" on a tour of hard to take down land. Maybe Liam's team could have been called "B For B*****D"? Oh hang on I was hiding behind human shields too, that makes it a really good plan actually! Liam finished with a very respectable 1212 points with 2 wins and 1 loss, whilst Paul was happy enough to continue his learning.

JP and his "X Factor" were still trying to get someone to notice their talent, this time by spanking Peter Davies and his "Team In Masks". The mutant maestros worked their magic again this time round and thanks to 126 points worth of KOs finished with a very respectable 2 - 1 record that the Professor would have been proud of. The "Team In Masks" alas finished winless thanks to this third consecutive beating, back to the Bat Cave for this lot.

David Smith and the Emerald Empress lead "Name That Team" saw off the challenge of Parry's "Hard" in round three. Maybe the team should have been remaned "Less Hard Than I thought" after the second and third round defeats? Parry only managed to KO Jinx from Davis's squad which was about 255 points short of what he needed to score a win, so not too close then? The Isolation BFC will not have helped Parry's cause much as Mr. Fantastic's defence would have dropped noticably. It wasn't close in the result and by the looks of the scoresheet it wasn't pretty either for Parry.

Paul Brown managed to complete a hat trick of defeats too as his "Wild Four" were tamed once more, this time by Alec's Superman and Wonder Woman. It just goes to show that a high defence isn't always that helpful if your opponent has a decent attack ... or if your attacks and dice rolls suck, or worse yet BOTH! The best way to really optimise the Alternate Fantastic Four is to use some decent Wildcard figures, I am sure they will catch on to this soon enough though.

Firelord and his cheese-covered companions take on the Fantastically Cheesey Four with their Alternate Team Ability in a second round 'Fromage Fracass' or was it the 'Cheese Challenge'? The poor old Batman Enemies would have been torn to shreds with their nicely themed inability to hit these guys ... not that I would have beaten Dave with those bozos mind you so I wouldn't even be playing against these freaks

The final placings after the Three Swiss Rounds were ...

Oh yeah and I nearly forgot, Dave got Fellowship for his sporting play.

See you all next week for more Heroclix action!