The second Heroclix event at Gencon 2005 was the eagerly anticipated Astral Plane adventure (rules) for which I had cunningly crafted an Astral Plane Projection figure of my main figure the Mandarin™. The Mandarin™ was assisted by a hoard of Hand™ Ninja (The Handarin) and a cunningly disguised Taskmaster™ and Aim™ Medic.

The Mandarin™ and his Handarin minions pose for a photograph after the battle. Here the Mandarin and his Astral Projection can be seen together for the very first and last time.

The chosen team adorned in lovely Red Rings were:

Mandarin™ (XPL V) 141, Taskmaster™ (XPL E) 58, Elektra™ (XPL LE) 54, Hand™ Ninja 009 (XPL V) 16 x 3, Hand™ Ninja 006 (XPL V) 17, AIM™ Medic (CT V) 17.

TOTAL 400 points

To be honest the game was a little disappointing as I was looking forward to it so much. Prior to the game Taskmaster™'s sword broke off. I got stuck on a roof at the beginning of the game and found it hard to move away. The game began the sequence of being drawn against Marlow in the first round for four consecutive events (and I am sure he was as sick of the sight of me as I was of him by the end). Waits between turns were lengthy due to the number of players and the game seemed to be over before I had really moved. The highlight of the game included mind controlling Ares™ the God of War to miss the Lockjaw™ whose defence was raised by standing his non astral projection next to the Invisible Girl Rookie back in the real world. This lead to what in my opinion was the first great quote of Gencon Heroclix at the end of the game "Cracking Cheese Lockjaw" (in very poor Wallace from Wallace and Grommit accent).

In fairness Colin who won is a top chap and a good new friend so I am glad he won, but for the second day in a row my Cheese allergy kicked in as I saw Avengers™ not only Thunderbolted to be Mystics™ to gain easy access to the astral plane, but also in touch with Oracle™ for the nice little bonus. They must have some mobile phone to be in touch with her in a completely seperate universe thats all I can say.

Mandarin and company appear to be stuck on a roof without much hope of a safe exit. Ho hum.

To top matters off, the day after the game I realised I had fielded an illegal team as Elektra™ in her ninja garb is in fact an arch enemy of the Hand™ as she shares the same colour base. I didn't think that one through at all well. Apologies to all for this, I was going for the theme and just didnt realise. It didnt really help me in the end though. Daft ruling if you ask me anyway.

The multiplayer format was a change but maybe because of the numbers two separate Astral Planes and real worlds may have worked better and speeded things up a little. It was very scary starting near so many opponents without a classic cheesy big hitter, this was made even more daunting by the choice of maps and starting areas. 

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