DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES--A Pre-Crisis DC Universe campaign

BACKGROUND: The arch-enemies of Superman and the Flash have teamed up to take vengeance upon the heroes by kidnapping Flash’s wife Iris Allen AND also kidnapping Superman’s girlfriend Lois Lane. While discussing their plans, the enemies of Flash remember the numerous times that Elongated Man teamed up with the Scarlet Speedster to foil their plans. They decide to kidnap Sue Dibny as well.When the heroes show up to rescue their women, the villain will have traps ready to nullify their powers.But the heroes outthink the villains. Sharing information, the heroes decide to “swap wives,” with each of them launching a mission to rescue the wife of one of his allies.


So the various traps prove useless. The kryptonite surrounding Lois Lane won’t effect Flash or E.M. The “Speed Force Suppressor” won’t hinder Superman or E.M. And the unique radiation meant to nullify the Gingold in Elongated Man’s bloodstream won’t do a thing against Superman or Flash.


The various battles meant to rescue the kidnapped wives will be fought on equal terms.


TEAMS: One player operates the good guys and the other play is the bad guys. They will be respectively referred to as the Hero and the Villain.


The Hero makes three 400 point teams. One team must include any version of Superman. The second team must include any version of Flash. The third team must include any version of Elongated Man. LEs are allowed.


These three allies have called on their allies from both the present and the future to save the women they love. The rest of the teams are made up of any figures with the JLA, Superman, or Legion TAs. The Hero may use only one version of any figure. No figure may be on more than one team.


If the size of the player’s collection does not allow him to make up these three teams, he may also include Outsiders and Teen Titans.


The Villain also makes up three 400 point teams. One team must include either Lex Luthor OR Braniac.This team may also included any number of Lexcorp Battlesuits (here representing Lexbot battle robots. If Lex isn’t used, then Braniac has some in his possession left over from a previous team-up with Lex.)



The second team must include at least one figure with the Rogues keyword. The third team must include at least one of these figures as well. These teams may also employ Lexcorp Battlesuits. The rest of the Villain’s three teams are made up of any named figures with the Superman Enemies Team Ability (no Intergang agents/medics or Lexcorp Security) and any figures with the Injustice League, Rogues, or Legion of Doom keyword. In addition, the villains have looked both to the future and to alternate dimensions for allies. The Villain may use any figure with the CSA Team Ability, plus any member of the Fatal Five. LEs of any of the above figures are allowed.


If the size of the player’s collection does not allow him to make up these three teams, he may include Kobra and any number of Kobra Fanatics and/or HIVE troopers.


The Villain may not use duplicate figures and may not place the same figure on more than one team.


FEAT CARDS: Neither player may use ICWO or Lazarus Pit. Otherwise, Feat Cards may be assigned freely.



THE DIMENSIONAL TRANSMITTER: A good villain always has a back-up plan. Each kidnapped wife has a dimensional transmitter strapped to her. If not rescued by the end of round 10 in each scenario, then she will be transported to away from earth to an inter-dimensional location known only to the villains.


DISABLING THE TRANSMITTER: The Hero can rescue a wife only by removing the Dimensional Transmitter from her, which is attached to her with an encrypted and booby trapped lock. The Transmitter is also freezing her muscles, so she cannot move. It’s also jamming any teleportation beams. A figure belonging to the Hero and adjacent to a wife may be given a power action. Roll one die. On a 6, the Transmitter is detached and the wife is free. She is immediately beamed to safety. Add one to the die roll for each successive try. (+1 to the first try, +2 to the second try, etc.)


VICTORY: The Hero wins after the first three scenarios if he rescues all three wives. Otherwise, he must travel to another dimension in a last desperate attempt to rescue whichever wife or wives he missed the first time around.


SCENARIO #1: “I wish Clark would hurry and rescue me—I’ve got a story to file!”


Background: Lois is being held in an old warehouse, where the lead-lined crates filled with kryptonite. When Superman arrives, the crates will automatically open, bathing the Kryptonian with lethal radiation. But it’s not Superman leading the rescue party!!!


Map: Use the Warehouse map that came with the Marvel Premiere set.


Teams: The Villain uses Team #1 (The team headed up by Lex or Braniac). The Hero uses either the team headed by Flash or the team headed by Elongated Man.


Set-up: Roll for first player and set up normally. After placing objects, the Villain places the Lois Lane pog in clear hex inside the warehouse that is within two hexes of at least one of the crates.


Length: Ten rounds or until Lois is rescued, whichever comes first. If Lois isn’t rescued by the end of round 10, then she’s zapped away into another dimension.



SCENARIO #2: “This is the last time I take you shopping with me!!!”



Background: Sue Dibny is kidnapped while shopping at the mall. She’s strapped into a dimensional transmitter while the mall is flooded with a radiation that will cancel out Elongated Man’s power. But, of course, it’s not Ralph who comes to the rescue.


Map: Use the Shopping Mall map.


Teams: The Villain uses either his second or third team. The Hero uses his team headed up by either Superman or Flash. (If he used Flash’s team in Scenario #1, he may not use him now.)


Set-up: Roll for first player and set up normally. After placing objects, the Villain places the Sue Dibny pog in any clear hex next to the fountain.


Length: Ten rounds or until Sue is rescued, whichever comes first. If Sue isn’t rescued by the end of round 10, then she’s zapped away into another dimension.


SCENARIO #3: “Fastest man alive, my foot! Why am I waiting so long to be rescued?”


Background: Iris Allen is taken to a chemical factory, with a “Speed Force Suppressor” hidden in one of the vats of toxic waste. This does the villains no good at all, since it isn’t Flash coming to the rescue.


Map: Use the Chemical Factory map from the Icons Starter Set.


Teams: Both players field whichever of their three teams they have not previously used.


Set-up: Roll for first player and set up normally. After placing objects, the Villain places the Iris Allen pog in any clear hex in the small room near the center of the map.


Length: Ten rounds or until Iris is rescued, whichever comes first. If Linda isn’t rescued by the end of round 10, then she’s zapped away into another dimension.


INTERLUDE: At this point, if all three wives have been rescued, the Hero wins and the campaign ends. But if one or more wife has been zapped to another dimension, then the campaign continues.


SCENARIO #4: “AAAAAHHHH!!! MY WIFE’S BECOME A HIDEOUS MONSTER!!”



Background: The missing woman (or women) are tracked to another dimension, where the good guys discover they have been mutated into hideous monsters and forced to join up with the villains.


Teams: Both players make up 600 point teams. The Hero must use Superman, Flash and Elongated Man, plus any figures of his choice from his available pool.


The Villain must use Lex Luthor or Braniac (whichever he originally used), plus at least two figures with the Rogues keyword. The rest of his team are any figures of his choice from his available pool. For each kidnapped wife, generics from the Marvel Universe are used to represent their mutated forms. Use a Morlock, Vampire Lackey, Rock Troll, Fire Demon or Brood Warrior for each wife. If there is still more than one wife in need of rescue, the Villain does not have to use the same type of figure for each one.


Map: The first player picks the map. He may use the Danger Room map from the Marvel Map Set, but treat it as an outside map OR the Swamp map that came with the Hellboy starter set. In either case, this is the landscape of a barren alien dimension.


Set-up: Roll for first player and set-up normally. Length: 12 rounds.


VICTORY: This last scenario is determined normally by victory points. If the Hero wins, he rescues the kidnapped wives (even if he had to KO them first) and turns them back to normal. If the Villain wins, the wives have been permanently turned into monsters, which puts an awful strain on the respective marriages.