Deconstructing Rules! Power Battery - HeroClix Realms Welcome back to another edition of Deconstructing Rules! I want to apologize for not having this article up last week. As we all know real life takes priority over our hobby. This week we will be covering the newest resource we have and one that comes in multiple colors, The Power Battery(ies). With this article I’m not going to delve too deeply into the basics of how resources work or their set up. I’m going to write this article with the basic assumption that you know how to set up and utilize resources in general. This article is going to have a different tone and voice than previous articles. For the most part this is going to be a Q &A with you the players. For this Q&A I am going to take questions that were asked and answered from the Wizkids website. I will then fill in some gaps with my own editorial comments. Outside of the Infinity Gauntlet I’ve never seen so many questions about a new game element as I have with the various Power Batteries. In fact there are already 159 instances of Power Battery being mentioned on the Wizkids site. Note that this only from the approved threads that they have accepted and posted! On our own HCRealms there are 74 different threads in the Rules Forum that have Power Battery in the title! Needless to say, there are a lot of questions and confusion about the newest resource. Due to this, I’m going to focus on general questions about the Power Battery. I will not be exploring questions about the different Emotional Spectrum abilities. Those can be asked within the thread itself. With that, I need to say something loud enough for everyone to hear. It is THE thing that confused people the most and causes issues with understanding how the Power Battery works and interacts with other game elements: THE POWER BATTERY IS NOT A CHARACTER! Ok, now that I have that out of my system we can continue. Please keep this in mind while we go through everything with the Power Battery. So before I get to the Q & A I’m going to go through the basics. The Power Batteries are the newest resource we have in Heroclix. These resources are based on the Green Lantern story line from Blackest Night. All of the Power Batteries are identical with one exception, Emotional Spectrum. Each and every Power Battery has a different Emotional Spectrum ability. Wait… Emotional Spectrum? What is that? Ok, perhaps I should go even deeper. Like all resources there are a lot of aspects to the Power Battery. So I’m going to go one step at a time. Let’s begin with Force Construction: Force Construction - The Power Battery must be assigned a Power Ring (ring symbol) and 1-6 distinct Constructs (construct symbol). The Power Battery costs 2 points, plus the combined cost of the assigned Power Ring and Constructs, and must total a minimum of 16 points. The Power Ring and Constructs are all attached to the Power Battery at the beginning of the game. So you can place any Power Ring and any distinct constructs on your power battery. So you could have a Green Power Battery, with a Sinestro Corps Power Ring and Star Sapphire Constructs. This does lead to our first question. Q: What happens if there are no legal squares for me to place my Power Battery? A: We are aware of the placement issue on certain maps. To resolve this, when placing the power battery follow the rules as written, but if it cannot be legally placed in the starting area, expand your starting area according to the rules for placing a multibased character. The power battery must still be placed in clear terrain if possible, but if after expansion there is still no legal place for it, revert to normal starting areas and it may be placed on any terrain. That terrain is then considered clear terrain while the battery occupies it. Q: darkbru - My question is: what does it consider to be distinct? Each construct is given a number such as R200.05 for the green crossbow, and R201.05 for the white crossbow. When constructing my battery can I use six crossbows so long as they are all different colors since the numbers on them are different? A: In regards specifically to the Power Battery, distinct means that each construct initially assigned must be a different name and provide a different effect from each other assigned construct. This is very important to remember. With the Power Battery you cannot have two of the same construct assigned to it during force construction. Q: mattriddle - Can a player use the Form a Construct ability to replace a construct with another construct that may already be in the game? FORM A CONSTRUCT: Give the Power Battery a power action, remove a Construct from it and replace it with a Construct from outside the game up to 2 points higher than the one removed. If the new Construct is a lower point value, this is a free action instead. If the new Construct is a higher point value, this is a double power action instead. A: The distinct requirement for constructs only applies when building your force. Once the game has begun, you may indeed bring in duplicate constructs through the FORM A CONSTRUCT power of the Power Battery. So once the game is up and running you can load up on just one construct. If you want to have 6 Sniper Rifles on your force, go nuts. Just realize it is going to take you some time to get to that point. While we are on the topic of constructs I want to cover the difference between those from the Power Battery and those with the Construct Trait. Thankfully a charmingly handsom fella asked this question for us. Q: Dragon - If I have a character with a trait such as Guy Gardner and his trait: CONSTRUCT: When building your force, you may attach a construct (Lantern) to this character by paying its point cost. Give this character a power action and replace the construct with any other construct, up to 2 points higher than the original construct. If this character has no action tokens and the new construct is a lower point value than the original construct, this is a free action instead. How does that interact with the Power Battery and this: Corps Members - When a friendly character has any Constructs on its card, it is called a Corps Member and is assigned the Power Battery. Friendly Corps Members can use the ability of the Constructs on its card and the ability of the Power Ring attached to the Power Battery. If a friendly Corps Member is KOd, any Constructs on its card are re-attached to the Power Battery. If the Power Battery is KOd, all Constructs are removed from friendly Corps Members cards. If I activate Guy Gardners trait is he considered a Corps Member? Can I have the same construct from Guy Gardners trait on him as a Construct placed on him from the Power Battery? A: Constructs that may begin the game attached to a character via the CONSTRUCT Trait, do not count for or against any effects of the Power Battery. They would not make the character a Corps member. They would not count towards constructs assigned to the Power Battery during force construction or assigned to characters during the game via the Power Battery effects. So NO you are not a Corps member if you use the Construct Trait to begin the game with a construct. The Trait and the Power Battery DO NOT INTERACT IN ANY WAY! It does not impact your Emotional Spectrum ability. It does not make you a Corps Member. It does not count as a distinct construct for force construction. It does not prevent the Power Battery from adding a construct to your card. It does not interact with the Power Battery period. Speaking of the Emotional Spectrum powers we have some basic questions about them. Q: darkbru - my question is this: Can I still gain the emotional spectrum power if 5 of the 6 constructs and the ring are the same color, the 6th construct is a different color, but on the first turn I give out the off colored construct immediately. Since, at that point in time, the ring and all constructs are the same color would I gain the emotional spectrum ability? Similarly, if I give out all 6 (or any other number that was originally attached to the battery) would I then lose the Emotional Spectrum ability since I would have no constructs to check if they match the color of the battery and ring? A: The Emotional Spectrum Trait for all Power Batteries is active when the Power Battery, attached Power Ring, and constructs (both assigned and attached) are all the same color. If any construct attached to the Power Battery or assigned to a character is a different color, then the Emotional Spectrum Trait would not be active. Ok. Next lets talk about the power Attacking the Power Battery…. This is another one that causes a LOT of confusion. Sorry, but I have to shout again: ATTACKING THE POWER BATTERY IS NOT AN ACTUAL ATTACK! Thank you for letting me do that again. When you activate the Attacking the Power Battery power, you are taking a Power Action. You are not actually attacking. Anything that has to do with an attack does not impact this power. If you have Steal Energy you do not heal a click if you use the Attack the Power Battery power. Why? Because it is NOT AN ATTACK! Q: vesshusban - if I have someone with in their range and line of fire to the power battery but they are base can I still take the power action to attack the power battery? I know if you base you cant make range attacks but this is not an attack so I wasnt sure. “Attacking the Power Battery - If the Power Battery is adjacent to an opposing character or within its range and line of fire, that character may be given a power action to roll 2d6 and add their attack value. If the result is equal to or higher than the Power Batterys defense value, it takes damage equal to the opposing characters printed damage value -2. This cant be ignored.” A: Yes. The effect of attacking the Power Battery is not actually an attack and does not follow the normal rules when making a close or ranged combat attack. Being adjacent to an opposing character would not prevent you from using the effect to attack the Battery if it is within range and line of fire. Q: decorben - Can the Power Battery only be damaged by an opponent through the use of Attacking the Power Battery? Is there a minimum damage value for that action? How does affecting line of sight and being damaged like a character interact with Incapacitate, Pulse Wave, or Energy Explosion? A: The Power Battery can only be attacked by following the rules as described on its card. This is not an actual attack and does not follow the normal rules for attacking. There is no minimum damage value for the action. Other than the special rules for attacking it, the Power Battery cannot be attacked through any other game effect. Q: kabalzero - Would rolling double 6s or double 1s still result in a critical hit or critical miss, respectively? A: No. You are not making an attack roll when attempting to attack the Power Battery through its rules, so a Critical Hit or Critical Miss cannot trigger. Q: rockdrigo - When attacking the battery, can you Prob control? A: Yes. Any dice roll that falls into the conditions Probability Control states can be re-rolled. So again, YOU CANNOT NOT ACTUALLY ATTACK THE POWER BATTERY! No, you cannot use Pulse Wave on it. No you cannot use Energy Explosion on it. No you cannot use Flurry on it. No you cannot activate any effect that requires an attack. It is not an attack On top of all of this, you must remember THE POWER BATTERY IS NOT A CHARACTER! Sorry, but I really want to stress that. Anything that effects a character will not effect the Power Battery. Q: dataloss - HEART OF COMPASSION: Friendly figures that can use Support may do so even if an opposing figure is adjacent to the friendly figure or the target. When they do modify the result of the 2d6 roll by +2 and dont subtract 2 from the d6 roll. Does this affect the support used by the Power Batteries? I know they are not characters but are they still considered figures? A:Per section 1 of the Players Guide under GENERAL: Game effects which refer to a “figure” refer to a “character” for gameplay purposes. The Heart of Compassion effect would not affect the Power Battery as it is not a character. Nothing that specifically effects a character will not effect the Power Battery. This includes effects such as Poison. You cannot Poison the Power Battery, because Poison specifically only deals damage to characters. Ok with the basics out of the way lets take a look at the special powers/abilities of the Power Battery. Corps Members - When a friendly character has any Constructs on its card, it is called a Corps Member and is assigned the Power Battery. Friendly Corps Members can use the ability of the Constructs on its card and the ability of the Power Ring attached to the Power Battery. If a friendly Corps Member is KOd, any Constructs on its card are re-attached to the Power Battery. If the Power Battery is KOd, all Constructs are removed from friendly Corps Members cards. So again, the only way to make a character a Corps Member is to assign it a construct from the Power Battery. There are no point restrictions on who can be assigned a construct, so you could literally assign it to a zero point character. Once a character is a Corps Member it is then assigned the Power Battery, and it can use the ability of any constructs it has from the Power Battery and the Power Ring attached to the Power Battery. PERMEATE THE UNIVERSE: The Power Batterys range value is equal to its click number. This one is very straight forward. The Power Battery has four basic powers that use Range. They are Barrier, Perplex, Outwit, and Probability Control. When using those Powers the range value for the Power Battery is Replaced with its click number. Just remember that with all four of these powers they have a minimum range value. So if you are click #2 which has Perplex, you can use Perplex up to six squares away. This is because Perplex has a minimum range value of six and the Power Battery uses the power as if it were a character. Power #1 USE A CONSTRUCT: Give the Power Battery a power action. Place an attached Construct on a friendly characters card that isnt already a Corps Member. Again, very straight forward. If your character does not have a construct assigned to it from the Power Battery, then you can place on its card and it becomes a Corps Member with all of the benefits. Power #2 SWAP A CONSTRUCT: Give the Power Battery a free action. Exchange a construct between two friendly Corps Members cards, or the Power Battery and a friendly Corps Members card. Ok, this one is a little bit more complex. First and foremost, you must have two constructs to use this ability and those two constructs cannot both be assigned to the Power Battery or the same character. You can swap constructs between two characters or between a character and the Power Battery. Remember this power DOES NOT interact with characters who have had a construct assigned to them by any means other than from the Power Battery whose Power you are activating. Power #3 FORM A CONSTRUCT: Give the Power Battery a power action, remove a Construct from it and replace it with a Construct from outside the game up to 2 points higher than the one removed. If the new Construct is a lower point value, this is a free action instead. If the new Construct is a higher point value, this is a double power action instead. So this one is a bit confusing. Thankfully Bluerat cleaned this up for us: Q: Bluerat- There appears to be some confusion over how this works, does it work like this: Remove construct with cost X. Free action if it is replaced with cost
Posted on: Fri, 07 Nov 2014 20:44:59 +0000
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