Hard Traveling Heroes---a mixed Universe campaign

The most famous superhero road trip was 35 or so years ago, when Oliver Queen and Hal Jordan piled into an old pickup truck and (accompanied by a Guardian of the Universe) set out to “find America.” It was an adventure-filled journey and, whatever else they may have found or not found, it at least allowed Ollie re-discover his hot girlfriend Dinah Lance (aka the Black Canary). Poor Hal came out of it with the news that the Guardians had turned his ring down to half-power.


But there is one little knows side-trip our heroes took during this time—a trip which until now has gone unrecorded. While the Guardian decided to go to work at a Stuckey’s in northwest Utah for a few weeks to better learn about us fragile human beings, Hal, Ollie and Dinah drove off to see the sights. But they unwittingly drove through a dimensional rift and ended up in the Marvel Universe. During the two weeks it took them to find their way back to their own dimension, they had several encounters with the heroes and villains of Marvel U.


Now those encounters have been translated into a Heroclix campaign.


One player will operate Hal, Ollie, Dinah and one Marvel heroic guest star in each scenario. His opponent will operate the designated villains. The two players will be referred to as the Hero and the Villain respectively.


Both players have specific challenges to overcome in this campaign. The Hero always has just 4 characters on a 400 point team, while the Villain must figure out how to effectively use teams made up largely of generics.


TEAMS: All teams in this campaign are 400 points.The Hero his choice of G.L. (Hal Jordon)Black Canary and Green Arrow (Ollie, not Conner) figures--though the Canary figure should be one that represents her with her sonic scream power. He’ll also be designated a different Marvel guest star for each scearnio.T


he Villain gets a different pool of characters for each scenario.


Neither player may use the ICWO or Lazarus Pit Feat Cards. Otherwise, Feat Cards may be assigned freely. The Hero may redistribute Feat Cards freely for each scenario. (In other words, he’s not required to use the same feat cards each time.)


SCENARIO LENGTH: All scenarios in this campaign last 10 rounds.


VICTORY: Keep a running total of victory points throughout the campaign.


SCENARIO #1: “No one I know would ever use drugs,” snarled Green Arrow.


The Hard-Traveling Heroes run across one of Kingpin’s drug-smuggling operations.


GUEST STAR: The Hero adds any version of either Spider Man or Daredevil to his team.


THE BAD GUYS: The Villain uses Kingpin and any two figures with the Sinister Syndicate Team Ability. The rest of his team is made up of Henchmen, Criminals, Thugs and Lackeys.


SET-UP: Roll for 1st player. The 1st player then picks either the Chemical Factory map from the Icons starter set OR the Factory map from the Inside Adventure set. Set-up then continues normally.


VICTORY: Calculate victory points normally.


SCENARIO #2: “It looks like this world has its share of terrorists in funny suits as well!”


The threesome help a Marvel hero take out a Hydra cell.


GUEST STAR: The Hero adds any version of Captain America to his team.


THE BAD GUYS: The Villain uses Silver Samurai, 2 Dreadnaughts, and any number of Hydra agents/footsoldiers/technicians/officers. He may also include one Hydra medic on his team.


SET-UP: Roll for 1st player. The 1st player then picks either the Underground Base map, the Castle Ruins map, or the Office Park map. (Hydra is either using a traditional hidden base or the Hydra goons were all undercover working for a dummy corporation.) Set-up then continues normally.


VICTORY: Calculate victory points normally.


SCENARIO #3: “I’ll bet that’s not her natural hair color either,” snapped Canary.


The voluptuous Asgardian Lorelie has used her mind control potion to start a cult of worshipers. Our heroes work to free her hapless victims from her sway.


GUEST STAR: The Hero adds any version of Valkerie to his team.


THE BAD GUYS: The Villain uses any version of Lorelie. The rest of her team consists of Henchmen, Criminals, Thugs and Lackeys. He may also use up to two Con Artists. Finally, Lorelie has brought two former Hellfire Club employees under her control. The Villain may use up to two Hellfire Club guards.


SET-UP: Roll for 1st player. The 1st player than chooses either the Japanese Garden map or the Mansion map from the Indoor Adventure kit. Set-up continues normally.


VICTORY: Calculate victory points normally.


SCENARIO #4: “How’d we end up with a walking mud pile on our side?”


Hidden in the Everglades, an invading force of Skrulls have made an unholy alliance with an evil scientist. They plan to detonate a devise that will destroy the Earth’s ecology (causing both global warming and a new Ice Age at the same time), thus making our planet easy to conquer.


GUEST STAR: The Hero adds any version of Man Thing to his team.


THE BAD GUYS: The Villain uses either Mad Thinker OR The Leader. The rest of his team consists of Skrull generics.


SET-UP: Roll for 1st Player: The 1st player than chooses the Park map, the Swamp map from the Hellboy starter set or the Japanese Garden map. Set-up continues normally.


VICTORY: Calculate victory points normally.


FINAL VICTORY: If the Hero is ahead on points at this time, then Hal, Ollie and Dinah have left the Marvel Universe a better place, saving it from destruction and raising the general social consciousness. The Hero wins the campaign.


If the Villain is ahead, then the side trip into the Marvel U. has been a disaster—none of that hippie, long-haired freaky philosophy is welcome there, thank you very much. The Villain is the winner and our heroes return to the DC Universe only to find that the Guardian has been fired from his job at Stuckey’s.