Videophiles can Clix on super heroes with WizKids Games

    by Justin Gilmore

    When you were young, did you ever run around the house with a towel cape pretending to be Superman or Batman?

   What about jumping off furniture in your Spider-Man "Underoos" while telling everyone that you were the wall-crawling, web-slinging hero?

   Even if you wonÕt admit it now, you can relive those days without the embarrassment of the towel capes or silly underwear thanks to WizKids Games and HeroClix.

   HeroClix is a comic book-themed miniature game where players can fight classic battles such as Batman versus The Joker and The X-Men versus Magento. Or players can team up former enemies like Doctor Doom and the Avengers and have them take on even bigger threats like the mutant-hunting Sentinels.

   WizKids Games, a Seattle-based gaming company founded by industry veteran, Jordan Weisman, has produced miniature games since July 2000.

   Strategy-based miniature board games use figurines combined with maps, items, special rules and abilities to create unique battle scenarios.

   Until recently, most miniature games had been based on generic characters and ideas like the creatures in Mage Knight and the robots in Mech Warrior. In May 2002, however, WizKids released a miniature game based on characters from the Marvel Comics universe. The game, Marvel HeroClix: Infinity Challenge, was a huge success, selling over three million figures in the first two weeks of its release.

   Since then, WizKids has released a set based on characters from DC Comics as well as a Marvel expansion set that added 96 figures to the existing set of 150. The figures come packaged randomly so that buyers never know what they are going to get until they actually open the package.

   Most of the characters come in three versions, but some figures come in one version and are put in one out of every six packs. Limited edition figures must be won in tournaments at local comic book stores and gaming venues.A schedule is available at www.wizkidsgames.com.

   A new expansion for Marvel in March will coincide with release of the X-Men movie sequel, X2. The set will feature X-Men characters that did not make it into the first two Marvel sets, as well as new sculpts of previously released characters like the Incredible Hulk and Daredevil.

   A new DC set is also planned for next year as well as a set based on characters from comic book publishers like Dark Horse and Image called IndyClix. With the abundance of characters from all publishers, the possibilities for new sets seem limitless.

   HeroClix has spawned Web sites devoted to fans of the game and to the game itself. One of the more popular sites is www.hcrealms.com. On this site, players can share strategy, tips for team building and information about upcoming sets or have casual conversations. The site also has a trading post, where members can trade "clix" with other players, and a section where people can post pictures of custom-made figures and maps.

   Other Web sites, such as www.creationmatrix.com, offer online maps that allow participants to play via the Internet with people they normally would not get to play against.

   The rules of the game are simple enough most children can play, yet the strategy is complex enough for adults to enjoy. Unlike most other games of this type, HeroClix uses a grid-lined map for game play instead of players having to measure out inches with a ruler. This aid makes play a little less complex and time consuming. In most miniature games, players must track game information on paper whereas HeroClix uses a turning dial base so that all of the needed information about a certain figure is on the figure itself. All that one needs to start playing is the starter box, which contains the map, a pair of dice and eight random figures, all for $19.95.

   Booster packs containing four figures are also available for $6.95, as well as Adventure Packs that contain items for use in the game. Larger scale figures like MarvelÕs Sentinel and DCÕs Sinestro are sold separately. The game is available at most comic book shops, many toy stores and video game retailers. For more information on WizKids and HeroClix visit the WizKids Web site at www.wizkidsgames.com or www.heroclix.com.