HeroClix is a

collectible miniatures game Collectible miniatures games (CMGs) are a form of miniatures game that is also similar to collectible card games (CCGs) — the primary difference being that while CCGs are card-based games, CMGs feature miniature figures. A popular theme for CMG ...

that uses the Clix system that centers on the world of superhero

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

s, especially the

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...

and Marvel universes like

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939. I ...

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byrne, are credited as bein ...

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the Si ...

the Incredible Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book a ...

, the X-Men,

the Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 (cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the firs ...

and the Avengers. Players construct teams of comic book heroes, villains, or characters from various video games series such as

Street Fighter , commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...

Gears of War ''Gears of War'' is a media franchise centered on a series of video games created by Epic Games, developed and managed by The Coalition, and owned and published by Xbox Game Studios. The franchise is best known for its third-person shooter v ...

, and

Halo Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * ''Halo'' (franch ...

and engage in a turn-by-turn battle on grid maps based on various storyline locations. The game was originally designed and produced by WizKids, but was discontinued in November 2008 when WizKids owner

Topps The Topps Company, Inc. is an American company that manufactures chewing gum, candy, and collectibles. Formerly based in New York City, Topps is best known as a leading producer of American football, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, soccer, a ...

shut down their HeroClix line. In September 2009, collectible toy producer

National Entertainment Collectibles Association The National Entertainment Collectibles Association (mostly known by its acronym NECA) is an American manufacturer of collectibles typically licensed from films, video-games, sports, music, and television based in New Jersey. The company was foun ...

(NECA) purchased some of the WizKids'

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

from Topps, including the HeroClix rights and then soon after began to produce and sell new HeroClix series, the HeroClix series of the

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green L ...

and

Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians o ...

(Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hulk, Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four etc.).

Game history

The HeroClix game utilizes the "combat dial system" originally created for the

Mage Knight ''Mage Knight'' is a miniature wargaming, miniatures wargame using collectible figures, created by WizKids, Inc, and is the earliest example of what is now known as a collectible miniatures game (or CMG). The game was designed by founder Jordan ...

game. The Combat Dial keeps track of a figure's game statistics via a rotating dial in the base. As the figure suffers damage, the dial is turned a required number of "clicks" to reveal new stats and possibly special abilities. HeroClix was designed to appeal to comic book fans and players of

wargames ''WarGames'' is a 1983 American science fiction techno-thriller film written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes and directed by John Badham. The film, which stars Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood, and Ally Sheedy, follow ...

and subsequently also became collector items due to the quality of detail in the HeroClix figures. The first game set, Marvel's '' Infinity Challenge'', was released in 2002 and included figures and maps. The original ''HeroClix'' figures were all from comic books printed by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...

, but later expanded to include sets from

and from various independent comic book publishers such as

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-o ...

and

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops know ...

. Later expansions also added new card-based mechanics such as "Feats" and "Battlefield Conditions", expanding the game beyond the addition of new characters. The Original HeroClix won three awards at the 2002

Origins Awards The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so (for example) the 1979 a ...

including ''Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Game Board Game'' for ''Marvel HeroClix: Infinity Challenge'', "Best Board Game Expansion Or Supplement" and "Best Science Fiction Or Fantasy Miniature" for the

Sentinel Sentinel may refer to: Places Mountains * Mount Sentinel, a mountain next to the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana * Sentinel Buttress, a volcanic crag on James Ross Island, Antarctica * Sentinel Dome, a naturally occurring gran ...

Figure. WizKids had a prize support system for organized tournaments at comic book and hobby shops, as well as regionally and nationally, consisting of special limited edition variant figures given to winners.

(NECA), the current owners of the HeroClix rights, resumed this practice in 2009. WizKids, the company behind the HeroClix game, was acquired by The Topps Company in 2003. Topps later announced that as of November 10, 2008, Wizkids was ceasing production of all its product lines, including HeroClix. Scott Silverstein, CEO of Topps, said: The HeroClix property was expected to be sold off to a 3rd party in May 2009, but the two parties were unable to come to an agreement. While a Marvel license "to manufacture figures and card games" had been acquired by

Upper Deck Company The Upper Deck Company, LLC (colloquially as Upper Deck and Upper Deck Authenticated, Ltd. in the UK), founded in 1988, is a private company primarily known for producing trading cards. Its headquarters are in Carlsbad, California, United Stat ...

, that license specifically excluded the HeroClix game and concept. Topps owned all the rights and licenses for all versions of HeroClix, giving them the rights to sell the license to a third party. There were three companies known to be interested in acquiring the WizKids properties:

Catalyst Game Labs Catalyst Game Labs (CGL) was created in May 2007 by InMediaRes Productions, LLC for the purpose of publishing print ''Shadowrun'' and ''Classic BattleTech'' sourcebooks.NECA announced that it had purchased the majority of the Wizkids properties, including HeroClix, on September 15, 2009. Beginning on July 28, 2009, NECA began selling the " Thor's Mighty Chariot" large figure at conventions in North America. Since this game piece had not been released by Wizkids, it came as no surprise that NECA had purchased the brand. The relaunch of HeroClix occurred with the release of the "Hammer of Thor" series in November 2009, the first series under the management of NECA.

Gameplay

Each ''HeroClix'' figurine is modeled in the approximate equivalence of the

O scale O scale (or O gauge) is a scale commonly used for toy trains and rail transport modelling. Introduced by German toy manufacturer Märklin around 1900, by the 1930s three-rail alternating current O gauge was the most common model railroad sca ...

for model train sets with a figure based on the design of the comic book character and a dial base that contains all statistics for the specific figure, such as Point Value, Range, Experience, Speed, Attack Value, Defense Value, and Damage. These statistics are all printed on a dial that serves as the base for the miniature. When a piece takes "damage", its base is turned a number of "clicks" clockwise, revealing altered stats to correspond to the damage it has taken from an attack. Most damage weakens characters, although some actually get stronger when wounded, to represent a transformation or rage. Pieces have an overall point value assigned, representing how powerful they are. Team creation is restricted to a predetermined total point value for the HeroClix figures, which is usually in multiples of 100. The Range value indicates how far away a character can attack another character and if they are able to attack multiple characters at once, generally defined based on the powers of each figure. Originally, characters would appear in multiple rarities with altered statistics. These altered stats represented the "Experience" of the character, ranging from "Rookie" (yellow ring on base) over "Experienced" (blue ring) to "Veteran" (red ring), (although this is no longer used) the more experienced a character is the higher the stats usually are. As a result, the point value would also be higher. Some characters have multiple point values, and have multiple corresponding starting positions. The trait symbol corresponds to a character's Character Card. A Character Card is a card specific to a particular HeroClix character. If for some reason you do not have the corresponding Character Card for your miniature, it is available through the Print and Play System on the WizKids Website. Character cards outline which abilities the character will have on its dial, but does not say where they will be on the dial. Also, it shows special traits and abilities would otherwise be too complex to communicate on the Combat Dial. Many of these abilities are completely unique to the characters that possess them. The HeroClix game can be played by arbitrarily many players in principle, although the HeroClix rulebook recommends two to four players in practice. The Battles are played out on maps, overlaid with a grid of 35 mm x 35 mm squares. These maps generally come in two different sizes 3 ft by 3 ft (36" by 36") or 2 ft by 3 ft (36" by 24") (with the exception of the Marvel Universe Starter Map which was 13 by 13 squares). The maps used are of different locations found in a typical comic book story, often related to the "theme" of the HeroClix series the map was produced for. The older maps were generic places but recently the maps have taken on more comic-book-specific places, such as the

Justice Society Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

Museum. Participants take turn moving or attacking other players, using 2 six-sided dice to determine the success or failure or of their attacks. Games can be time limited or played until all other teams are eliminated.

Storyline Organized Play

As part of their promotional efforts WizKids holds a number of events throughout the year, focusing on month-spanning tournament events that play out like a comic book storyline called "Storyline Organized Play". Stores participate in tournaments and receive exclusive figures and promotional items to offer their players for each month's Storyline Organized Play tournament(s). The events can span up to six months and have an overall, across all stores leaderboard that tallies all officially participating stores.

HeroClix series

Main series

HeroClix normally releases their figure sets in series, often including maps that are specific to the theme of the series. All series are product specific. The series often include starter packs, boosters, limited editions and individual figures. HeroClix's longest and most prominent runs include characters from

and

, as well as Mirage Studios'

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (named after It ...

. HeroClix has also featured smaller runs of figures for various other franchises or series, including

Assassin's Creed ''Assassin's Creed'' is an open-world, action-adventure, and stealth game franchise published by Ubisoft and developed mainly by its studio Ubisoft Montreal using the game engine Anvil and its more advanced derivatives. Created by Patrice D ...

BioShock ''BioShock'' is a 2007 first-person shooter, first-person shooter game developed by 2K Boston (later Irrational Games) and 2K Australia, and published by 2K Games. The first game in the BioShock (series), ''BioShock'' series, it was released f ...

Dota 2 ''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve. The game is a sequel to '' Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment's '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.'' ''Dota ...

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harr ...

Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in ...

Middle-earth Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the '' Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is ...

Pacific Rim The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The '' Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geologic Pacific Ring of Fire. List of ...

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

, and WWE. All figures are mutually compatible, except for the ships from Star Trek HeroClix, (the figures from the Away Team pack are compatible as normal). These compatible figures can be played in the same game under the "Golden Age" rules. None of these sets, nor any sets released under the Indy brand, can be played in Modern Age tournaments as the rules exclude anything not under the DC, Marvel or Street Fighter brands, as of the rule update of April 26, 2012. However the WWE miniatures released with their own ruleset and powers-and-abilities card. They can be played in their own universe games with modern age Heroclix rules, or even alongside Marvel or DC in "Multiverse games" where the rules are changed a bit to help buff the WWE superstars.

Expansions

At times, the HeroClix producers have introduced additional figures and maps to either coincide with an event or to further enhance an existing HeroClix series. These have been promoted under names such as "Action Pack", "Fast Forces", "Battle Packs" or "Starter Set". Most of these packs include a number of characters, as well as maps and cards related to the theme of the pack. The Infinity Challenge, Hypertime and Indy starter sets all contained random characters from the full set. The Premiere sets contained specific figures. Starting with the "Universe" series, Starter sets contained figures not found in regular booster packs.

Limited release figures

Some of the HeroClix figures were only released in limited quantities, which meant that the number of figures produced was significantly less than the rest of the figure series, making the odds of finding a figure lower, or they are produced for a special event only and not for general retail. The limited numbers often result in the figures gaining a higher value in the resale market. These limited number figures can be referred to as "Chases" if they can be found through general purchase or simply "LE" for limited edition if they are event specific. To help "

brick-and-mortar Brick and mortar (also bricks and mortar or B&M) refers to a physical presence of an organization or business in a building or other structure. The term ''brick-and-mortar business'' is often used to refer to a company that possesses or leases r ...

" stores compete against internet retail stores HeroClix used a "Buy it By the Brick" promotion for a number of their series. A ClixBrick consisted of 12 shrink-wrapped boosters that included a special coupon for consumers who purchased HeroClix at their local retailer. Consumers who sent in 12 UPC codes, the coupon, and the receipt from that one-time retail purchase received a special free figure, only obtainable through the ClixBrick offer, as well another coupon that allowed the customer to purchase the Collector's Set associated with each release at a 25% discount. The ClixBrick promotion was discontinued but WizKids do offer special "store exclusive" offers that retailers can use as game prizes for purchase incentives. ;Large figures HeroClix produced a limited number of large based figures, normally four times the size of a regular figure, but even larger bases exist. These figures are produced in a limited number and at a higher price and at times only sold at gaming or comic book conventions ;Team bases In 2013 HeroClix introduced the concept of a "Team Base", a larger base where figures can be slotted into for team play. These will be available as part of the "Teen Titans" line and feature a base for the Teen Titans (Robin, Wonder Girl, Cyborg, Raven, Starfire, Changeling and Kid Flash) and "Teen Titans: Villains for Hire" (Deathstroke, Cheshire, Cinder, Tattooed Man and Osiris). Each base comes with some of the figures while the rest will have to be purchased separately. HeroClix has published modified rules for the use of the team bases.

Spin-offs

HorrorClix

The

HorrorClix HorrorClix is a collectible miniatures game. Released on August 30, 2006, it uses WizKids' Clix system. The game's tagline is "wicked fun." The product was discontinued in November 2008 when WizKids' new owner Topps shut down the compan In Septemb ...

game, also produced by WizKids, was designed in a similar way to the HeroClix game and figures, however it only had limited compatibility with the HeroClix figures and organized play. The figures and rules were compatible with both Clix systems but HorrorClix figures are not tournament-legal for HeroClix tournaments.

Marvel Zombie figures

Four chase figures, classified as "Ultra-rare" were available in 1 out of every 100 Marvel HeroClix "Supernova" series booster boxes: These included the Marvel Zombies figures Colonel America, Wolverine, Spider-Man, and Hulk. These were the first dual-branded figures as they appeared in a HeroClix set yet also came packed with HorrorClix monster cards, making them fully compatible with either Clix system. Although further Zombies appeared in the 2007 set Mutations and Monsters, the original four figures were not reprinted and the subsequent Zombie HeroClix were not part of the HorrorClix games.

Indy HeroClix

The

B.P.R.D. The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (the B.P.R.D. or BPRD) is a fictional organization in the comic book work of Mike Mignola, founded by the United States and United Kingdom governments, charged with researching the occult, paranormal ...

and

Hellboy Hellboy is a fictional superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in ''San Diego Comic-Con Comics'' #2 (August 1993), and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossover ...

has seven figures, which could be used in both HeroClix and HorrorClix game play. The figures included Hellboy, Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman, Hellbaby, Johann Kraus, Roger the Homunculus, and Captain Ben Daimio.

Star Trek HeroClix

In 2012 NECA began producing a separate line of HeroClix based on the

franchise, which instead of having figures based on people the figures were all space ships as seen on the various television series and movies. These figures have their own unique maps, rules, objects and cards and cannot be played with any other set of HeroClix figures. The original Star Trek HeroClix was released in February 2012 under the name "Star Trek Heroclix: Tactics" and include space ships representing the

United Federation of Planets In the fictional universe of ''Star Trek'' the United Federation of Planets (UFP) is the interstellar government with which, as part of its space force Starfleet, most of the characters and starships of the franchise are affiliated. Commonly refe ...

as well as the

Klingon Empire The Klingons ( ; Klingon: ''tlhIngan'' ) are a fictional species in the science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. Developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon in 1967 for the original ''Star Trek'' (''TOS'') series, Klingons were swarthy humanoids ch ...

. The maps were space based and the rulebook modified to play with the new theme. NECA later released a set called "Star Trek Heroclix: Away Team", which contained the crew members from the J. J. Abrams rebooted Star Trek movie in theaters at the time. In January 2013 NECA released "Star Trek Heroclix: Tactics II" adding more space ships to the game including Vulcan,

Romulan The Romulans () are an extraterrestrial race in the American science fiction franchise '' Star Trek''. They first appeared in the series '' Star Trek'' (1966–1969). They have appeared in most subsequent ''Star Trek'' releases, including '' The ...

Ferengi The Ferengi () are a fictional extraterrestrial species in the American science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. They were devised in 1987 for the series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', played a prominent role in the following series ''Sta ...

, Breen,

Cardassian The Cardassians () are a fictional extraterrestrial species in the American science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. They were devised in 1991 for the series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' before being used in the subsequent series '' St ...

, Jem'Hadar, and other Dominion Forces spaceships. The set also included additional Federation and Klingon spaceship figures.

Yu-Gi-Oh! HeroClix

In 2013 NECA began producing a separate line of HeroClix based on the

Yu-Gi-Oh! is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine between September 1996 and March 2004. The plot follows the story of a boy named Yugi Mutou, w ...

franchise. Inspired by the

Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game The ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' Trading Card Game is a collectible card game developed and published by Konami. It is based on the fictional game of ''Duel Monsters'' created by manga artist Kazuki Takahashi, which appears in portions of the manga fr ...

, figures from this set feature a new game mechanic called trap/spell. Figures with the trap/spell mechanic have a trap and spell click on their dials that have distinct effects, and the chosen click is hidden from an opponent by turning the base face-down using SwitchClix technology. In 2014 the Yu-Gi-Oh! Heroclix: Battle of the Millennium Organized Play event was announced to span over 6 months with participation prizes and a grand prize, using a similar format as the Marvel and DC Organized Play events.

References

External links

* *{{Official website, http://www.heroclix.com
HCRealms.comHeroClixWorld.comClixNexus.com
Games and sports introduced in 2002 Clix (miniatures) games Collectible miniatures games Games based on comics Origins Award winners WizKids games Marvel Comics games DC Comics games 2002 establishments in New Jersey it:Clix#HeroClix