You just can’t keep a good game down!  Heroclix returns from the land of canceled games and I, for one, couldn’t be happier about that.  Heroclix players who attend the San Diego comic con were thrilled to learn that Thor’s Mighty Chariot was available at the con and is now available for pre-order. The much anticipated Hammer of Thor set will be coming out this fall.

So with this great news, here is a review of the first official preview character - Thor’s mighty Chariot.

There is a lot of stuff going on here!  First off, let’s discuss the abilities of Thor’s Chariot.  The transporter, duo Attack, and indomitable abilities are all accessible to this character. This gives the character some nice options. Transporter, of course, will allow goldilocks to use the move and attack ability and bring a teammate along for the ride. The duo attack will allow the son of Odin to make two attacks on his turn.  Indomitable will keep Thor and the goats from having to take pushing damage. These abilities open up many strategies for Thor. However, these abilities are subject to outwit and can be countered so don’t count on them being useable each round.

Next up, let’s look at the powers.  Thor’s chariot is loaded with powers.  Standard powers include: charge, running shot, super strength, quake, poison, invulnerability, regeneration, toughness, super senses, enhancement and exploit weakness.

But wait!  Thor’s Chariot also has four Special Powers: Butting Heads, Hooves and Horns, Battle-Forged, and Drag.

These special powers give Thor’s Mighty Chariot some interesting options. Butting heads is a powerful way to use force blast; normally force blast pushes a figure away from your character equal to the die roll you make. This power allows you to not only push them away, it forces them to take damage equal to the number of spaces it passes thru as well as any additional damage provided by slamming into a wall. This could be devastating!  I’m guessing we may see an errata on this power.

Hooves and Horns is pretty straight forward.  It grants Blades and Claws but with an interesting twist. You get to decide if you want to replace the damage after you make the roll.  This is enough to make Wolverine cry with envy.  Battle-forged is a combo power of impervious and defend.  Impervious protects Thor and Defend makes him more of a team player.

Drag is interesting. Automatically breaking away from opponents is always nice, but being able to take them with you while causing them to take damage, that’s just plain nasty!

Thor’s Mighty Chariot also has two traits. The first trait states this character must start its base completely in the starting area. It can also make ranged attacks to any character it can draw a line of fire to.  Lastly, it can carry up to two friendly characters when using the carry ability.

The second trait allows this character to destroy any walls or blocking terrain adjacent to it. You do this at the start of your turn as a free action - handy indeed. This can be a good way to get the drop on an unsuspecting opponent who thinks they are safe behind a wall.

This character also has the following keywords: Asgardian, Deity, and Vehicle. So his choice of teammates is sort of limited, but with characters like the warriors 3 and Asgardian warriors coming soon, it won’t be long ‘til Thor has plenty of good company. This is the first character to posses the vehicle keyword.  I’m guessing there could be some interesting vehicle’s coming our way in the future. Make way for the spider buggy!

Ok, so on to pros and cons.

The pros: Thor’s Mighty Chariot has 17 clix of life and solid combat values. Powers and abilities like: transporter, defend and enhancement make him a possible team player in bigger games. Combine his 8 range with running shot or the transporter ability, and he is just as effective at range as he can be in close combat. His damage never goes below a 3.  So in most cases, Thor is going to be able to damage even the most impervious of foes.

The cons: It cost 500 points to field this puppy. So in a 500 point game, Thor and the goats are on their own. He is subject to Outwit as he does not possess the power cosmic team ability or any thing that will protect him from outwit. Thor’s Chariot is also susceptible to character with the stealth power.  His transport ability and powers like charge and running shot can help him deal with stealth; it will just take a bit of planning is all.

Overall, I would say Thor’s Mighty Chariot seems very playable for its point value. In games of 600 or more, he can be the primary attacker and still offer support to his team mates. In a 500 point game he is like putting all your eggs in one basket, but its one heck of a nice basket!