Tournament 11th September 2005

The full day Heroclix© event on Saturday at Gencon 2005 was the Armor Wars Celebration Event (rules). Teams were entirely constructed from 3 boosters provided on the day and had a maximum of 400 points.		The chosen team, again naked without any rings, were: Herbie (Bystander) 5, War Machine™ E 109, Aurora™ E 60, Cannonball™ V 111, Captain America™ V 115 TOTAL 400 points

It was on or about the Saturday that I suddenly realised that I was at Gencon and I hadn't had a sniff of a role-playing game. I had already preregistered for all the Heroclix© games and I didnt want to miss any so I decided to combine the two. As I opened my first booster it became obvious what had to be done. I had pulled the Herbie pog and he must maraude around the maps collecting all the special Armor Wars powerups and attempting to smite evil (and good) in all corners of the map. From the other boosters I got a good assortment of figures with a couple of duplicates and one Unique (Jocasta) taking my total to three from nine boosters but the real high point was when I pulled a V Captain America™ from the last booster than went very nicely with the Cap Football Shirt I was wearing. Captain America™ was immediately selected as the first 'Herlad of Herbie'. Having already seen and used a V Warmachine™ in a game the day before, the E Warmachine™ I pulled was an excellent choice for the second 'Herald of Herbie' position. My third V Cannonball™ of Gencon slotted in as Herald No. 3 (it must have been ordered by the Gods) and E Aurora™ was chosen as Herald 4 for no other reason than she made it exactly blob on 400 points. Let the games begin ...		Herbie and the 'Heralds of Herbie'!

Yet again I managed a first round Swiss Pairing with Marlow, most of whom's team totally escapes me now. I made a mad dash for the power up with Herbie and he gained Charge and Super Strength powers. His new gained powers were short lived as Marlow went for the easy kill and first five points with a Running Shot that blow poor Herbie away. The Heralds were not amused. The rest of this encounter was really tight. I got some good roles early on which seemed to have put me into the stronger position and I thought I was looking good for the win. As Captain America™ got bashed he gained Outwit and this helped no end. Late in the game (or so I thought) Lady Luck struck me again and as I put in an attack with Captain America™ he critically missed and dies. D'OH! This really swung the battle Marlow's way and he duly cleaned up the pieces. It was a hard fought battle and a game I enjoyed, though poor Herbie didn't get to see too much of it. As our game ended with only 1 figure remaining on the board, I looked around to see that in most of the other games hardly any pieces had been lost. I am glad I was in a faster paced affair. I lost but at least I wouldn't have to face a monster in the second round ... or would I?

As I looked at my second round opponents team I could not believe my luck. I lost in round one and now I had to face a Sentry™ lead team as his poor dice had caused a first round upset. Herbis was back and looking for more power up action. This time he managed to get the Ultimates™ team ability - fantastic as he has zero range, but he was powered up. Again Herbies joy was short lived as he was this time picked off by a Hypersonic range attack. Another very close battle ensued until the only pieces left were Sentry™ who had taken a sound beating and Quicksilver™ for my opponent to my War Machine™ and Aurora™. The mobilty of QuicksilverV and Sentry™ saw off Aurora™ and everytime War Machine™ approached for a shot he was Hypersonic attacked and they moved out of range. It was clear that the only think pursuit would get me was dead, so the decimated Sentry™ survived as a Mexican stand off occured. Another loss thanks to my inability to deal Sentry™ a killing blow.

The third round provided some joy for the Herbmeister at last. After scoring two early critical hits (though one was dodged with Super Senses) and seeing my opponent roll and miss on just about every attack I realised Herbie's day may have come. This time there were two power ups in play per side and Herbie wasn't about to pass up on an opportunity like that. After taking two early kills in previous matches this time the 'Heralds of Herbie' positioned themselves to take his hits and Herbie managed to snag the Ultimates ability again and flight too. My opponent had wretched luck this game and couldnt hit a barn door. But the highlight for me had to be when Herbie ran after the wounded and escaping R Quicksilver™ and pushed to deal the killer blow. Ok so Herbie died again, but what a way to go! I actually won this game, but to be fair my opponents dice were the MVP.

After negotiating a late start for my last game as I really wanted to eat today and wasn't going to affect the top placings I played my last competitive game of the day. Players were allowed to change their teams and use any Armor Wars© figures they had. I choose to stick with the mighty 'Heralds of Herbie' team as I thought it was more in the spirit of the game, plus I was really enjoying them. I faced off with another Sentry™ (joy) and three Shaman™. This was by far my most fun game as I ran in and bashed Sentry™ about. I lost a couple of Heralds but took out two of the Shaman™ and was left with War Machine™, Aurora™ (or Auroraurorauraoura as she was now known) and a Herbie that had powered up with flight and a Vampiric Collar. Flying Vampire Herbie - you can't buy entertainment like that! It didn't actually have any real affect on him since he has no clixs but what a cool thing to have. By this time Sentry™ had had a good kicking and was down to his last couple of clicks. Shaman™ had Support but I kept basing them so there was no way he could heal. He kept running, but it was no use, my team were more mobile. Victory was in sight. I called my play - War Machine™ ran into position to hit both of the remaining figures. He intended to split the damage to see of the Shaman™ and take Sentry™ to his last click. Herbie ran in for the kill. Sentry™ was scared to death of being slain by a flying vampire pog and attacked our hero slaying him. Damn you Sentry™! War Machine was not amused and blow Sentry™ a new set of eye sockets. I won the game but Herbie was robbed of a second and very impressive tournament kill. Having done a quick rules check you can be assured that flying vampire Herbie shall make a return with the Lazarous Pit and some Vampire Lackey minions - you ain't seen the last of him!		Ste Date's classic fling vampire Herbie sketch (direct from the Post It™ Note)