Heroclix Tutorial: Force Blast & Knock Back Rules

[@MrYola44]

I really enjoy your videos! Before I found this channel I was forced to google my heroclix questions and translate from a forum about 5 years old minimum. Myself and a group of buddies love playing this game and are trying to do it more by following the rules. Please keep posting vids about the abilities and powers they are super helpful! Thank you.

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

That's the plan... More "Rules" videos are always coming. There are usually two "rules" videos per month and one unboxing or review. I try to publish 4 videos per month, but sometimes, I have too much work. Glad you're enjoying the content!

[@odiealegodediego]

Favorite knock backer would be Red Tornado from Superman and Wonder Woman. Sidestep + Force Blast that can be used as a free or power action and deals extra damage if adjacent if I remember correctly.

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

An amazing Force Blast figure, indeed. The Fast Forces version of the same set was also a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing!

[@bkmikmik4534]

Awesome video

[@sriv1965sriv]

Awesome job - LOVE the videos! Thanks!

[@raygun6271]

Another great video!

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

Thank you very much. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@ReallyBigBadAndy76]

Your videos are an absolute lifesaver. I’m trying to learn this game with my ten year old and the printed rules are pretty much garbage....

[@robertdickinson6823]

I love the videos !!! Your job is perfect !!!

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

That's way too kind, thanks!

[@GoramYako]

suscribed , hope u do more heroclix videos!!

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

That's the plan! Thanks for watching and subscribing!

[@eteffeau]

Goblin King choosing Pulse Wave + Force Blast is always good for some chuckles

[@2mirandir]

It's a neat little combo. Character's with Charge or Combat reflexes won't be able to use them to prevent the knockback and they will take any knockback damage dealt to them.

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

Nice! Superman Red (SMWW041b) can also do this on his first 4 clicks, while Major Victory (GOTG005) can do it on his last 4. Very interesting combo idea.

[@matthewrandell5055]

I remember playing in a tournament yeaaars ago, I think the Crisis set had just come out, and we were doing some weird scenario where I don't remember why but if you caused knockback you took it too, it was like space gravity (except you still took fall damage). In one game I forgot that rule and my Kid Flash force blasted an opponent away but in the process sent him flying off the opposite edge of the building and killing him. Maybe that's why I stayed away from the power for a while :') Force Blast (like Barrier and Smoke Cloud) is a power I think is okay normally but amazing as a free action. Anybody who can use it for free I love, especially UXM Mystique after a move action - her especially because people can't attack her until she attacks and FB, as you said, is not an attack. The move action before makes it very easy to get an angle where you can deal damage, she's very fun.

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

I love that version of Mystique! Stonewall from the same collection actually very decent as well in that category of free Forceblasters.

[@ausarthecritic1762]

Finally!Thanks teacher

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

Haha... Glad you enjoyed it.

[@01100101011100100111]

I'm still used to the old rules, so I didn't know Force Blast now let you add knockback to your attacks. That's great, I always felt like it needed something else to make it more worthwhile. It was so situational originally, I always forgot about it.

[@MrMannie1524]

It always did for ranged attacks

[@dragonballAF78]

For the scenario where the flash was force blasted, he was knocked back through an entrance of elevated terrain... does that not throw away the idea of falling off a ledge? Please let me know ✊🏽

[@jakubzegarski7533]

My favorite unit is "gotg027 Gorgon" With good play, you can perform the attack 14 (+2 from INHUMANITY and the next +2 from his special charge). In addition, his quake has an increased range (up to 3).

[@saulmarroquin1099]

I really love your job! I got a question....Can an equipped character been carry? Example overdrive carring shredder equipped with frey

[@redcoonie5114]

Are flying characters able to get knocked back and get dealt falling damage if knocked off of a ledge?

[@2mirandir]

Yes. Under the 2017 rules fliers are not immune to falling damage.

[@zsgamesmore6607]

Here's another one for me, if you please: Black Mamba has Darkforce Consstriction with says She can use poison and smoke cloud. When she removes her smoke cloud markers, deal 1 penetrating damage to each opposing character occupying those squares. If Black Mamba loses this power due to taking damage, would the opposing characters take the damage from the smoke cloud markers being removed?

[@2mirandir]

No. The trigger for that penetrating damage is the removal of the smoke cloud tokens and since the power was lost the "trigger" is no longer there.

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

Johan is correct. When a power is lost (not on the dial anymore or through some other game effect), unless it specifically says otherwise, its effects are also lost.

[@tylerlofton1458]

Peace machine

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

An amazing figure. Love it! Force Blast with range is great. Plus TK, Outwit and limiting damage to 3... a fantastic support figure! Thanks for sharing.

[@TheArkilo]

Favorite force blast, kid flash (white uniform) discard one speed tocken and have a free force blast

[@djknox141]

Can the attacker choose the direction of the knockback?

[@paulcoy9060]

8:31 I'm sure this was unintentional, but the angle of the camera, Iron Rick's position, and the reflection of the light against the base, lead to quite an inappropriate view. It looks like his name should be Iron Dick.

[@philipgray2410]

Acknowledged it but ultimately ignored.

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

Oops... That was unintentional. Of all the figures this could happen with, it had to be Iron Rick ;o).

[@shauncaley7777]

How did the Dr.Stark in the example vs poison. How did he use pen/psycblast the force blast? Arnt both a power action?

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

Force Blast has a "passive" effect which grants knockback to range attacks. There's also a POWER effect, if you will, where you simply get to knock back an adjacent opposing character.

[@zsgamesmore6607]

Hello...another great video! Can you please help with this... Y is the attacking, normal sized character with giant reach:2 and is directly diagonal to 1. e are empty squares. o are opposing characters and 1 is the intended target. 1 is 2 squares away from y. I don't think y can attack 1 because the two o's blocks line of site from y to 1. I hope you understand what I mean. Any help is appreciated. y eeo o1

[@2mirandir]

Giant reach needs to draw a Line of Fire to it's target. And if I understand you diagram correctly the LoF between "y" and "1" are on a perfect diagonal. When a Line of Fire is drawn through an intersection you consider which of the squares to the sides is least restrictive. Example given: Lets simplify it using only4 squares like this: 12 34 If a Line of Fire is drawn from square 1 to square 4 you look at squares 2 & 3 and apply whichever is the least restrictive. If at least one square is clear then the LoF is unaffected. if one of the blocks hindering terrain and the other is hindered terrain then the LoF will be considered hindered. In your example, if I understand it correctly, squares 2 & 3 is occupied by characters, and characters that is the same size or larger block LoF. So assuming both characters are the same size or larger than "y" then the LoF to character "1" is blocked as none of squares 2 & 3 is less restrictive than that.

[@zsgamesmore6607]

Thanks so much. I didn't allow the attack because of line of fire being blocked it and irked some players. The attacking character was Silhouette from Civil War.

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

Johan is correct. Giant Reach ignores hindering terrain, but not character bases (no matter if they're friendly or opposing). In your example, line of fire to "1" is blocked by both "o".

[@awbr1991]

With the new rules how has knockback been effected?

[@jesusterrones6590]

Hi table top!!! as always nice video, man i have a noob question with the new rules plasticity still stop hypersonic speed, i mean complete stop the action or its diferent now?

[@2mirandir]

It is different now. The reason why plasticity previously shut down hypersonic speed was because Hypersonic Speed contained one continuous movement with an attack baked into it. Since the attack happend *during* the movement if the character was forced to stop, like moving adjacent to a character with plasticity, before the attack was made, the character would not get to make the attack. However, under the new rules Hypersonic Speed has changed. Now it is a move-attack-move. So even if the character is forced to stop before the attack it still gets to make that attack. It may even attempt to move away after the attack. However, the character needs to make a break away roll if it is adjacent to one or more opposing characters.

[@jesusterrones6590]

Johan Karlsson i get it, thanks bro

[@TheShadesOfBlack]

When do you choose knockback? Is it before the attack, before damage dealt, or after? Basically can I see if the character has a reducer before knocking them back? Since you seem to determine if they're knocked back before dealing damage, I'm assuming you have to choose knockback before dealing damage

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

You choose knockback before dealing damage : "When one or more opposing characters take damage from this character’s attack, you may choose to..."

[@alterrealm2071]

Omg! Sir ... you fucking killed this !!!!! ❤️🙌🏽. Great job , you made this awesome to understand. This was fun to watch , and this video took me back to when I was a kid , when I first started learning how to play hero clix. #TTT ( table top teacher 👨‍🏫 ) boom ! I’m subbing.

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@reginald9183]

so i can choose to use knockback as a power which does not do damage by itself OR roll a successful attack, damage the opponent and choose to knockback him/her based on the damage dealt? i have iron rick and i'm planning on using him.

[@2mirandir]

Vee Sea Yes, that is the two ways this power can be used. Just note that when used in an attack the knock back is based on damage *clicked* and not damage dealt. Might seem like nitpicking but they're different thing.

[@reginald9183]

i'm new and based from playing a couple of games, nitpicking is a very good thing when it comes to heroclix. excited to try out iron rick. thanks for confirming KB.

[@katarinajenniferschtaffenb9113]

Noob question: Can I knockback a character that is already adjacent to a wall?

[@bulletsunderpressure]

do you take fall damage if you can fly?

[@jovarx2064]

Force blast is nice to get those pesky plasticity guys off your main attacker. Iron rick and peace machine are crazy good knockback pieces.

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

Peace Machine is a fantastic figure. I wanted to put Peace Machine in the video, but mine is headless... It was missing its head when I pulled it from the booster. Doesn't look as nice on video ;o). Quick strategy with Peace Machine... If you have him jump in a vehicle at the beginning of your turn, your characters can deal more than 3 damage. Might make a Heroclix Nugget out of that.

[@jovarx2064]

The Tabletop Teacher ooo thats nasty...but ill allow it!!

[@bigk9710]

So if a character is knocked back and the path goes adjacent to another friendly character (on forceblast team) would the forceblasted character stop or still go past it

[@2mirandir]

BigK97 No. A character that is knocked back is only stopped if it is knocked back straight onto the character. when a character is knocked back it does not move. It is placed in each square along it's Knockback path until it has been fully knocked back, hits something solid (a character, blocking terrain, edge of the map or terrain with higher elevation) or falls down from higher elevation. Since it is placed, not moved, none of the normal movement rules apply.

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

Johan is correct. They key concept here is that a character is placed along a knock back path; it does not move.

[@joseosoelunico]

Hi what happen with Characters like smww021 Red Tornado? Her TRAIT lets her use force blast as free action and then she can attack, so she can use KNOCKBACK again as result of the damage of her attack?

[@2mirandir]

Jose Valencia Yes. The KNOCKBACK keyphrase is completely independent from the action part of Force Blast. It's a passive effect that can be utilized for any attack as long as the character can use the Force Blast.

[@joseosoelunico]

But, would She do the penetrating damage again result of the knockbak of her attack if the target is still adjacent? (RIDE THE CYCLONE: Red Tornado can use Force Blast normally or as a free action. When she activates Force Blast, after actions resolve, if the target is still adjacent to her, deal that character 1 penetrating damage.)

[@2mirandir]

No. The 1 penetrating damage applies when forceblast is activated. Using a passive effect is not to activate it. To activate something an action has to be given to the character.

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

Thanks to Johan for answering! Indeed, KNOCKBACK, the keyphrase, is not something you activate... The keyphrase tells you that you may choose that your attack generates knock back. It's a choice you make once a character is hit and is dealt damage. What's special about that version of Red Tornado, is that a character that ignore knock back (larger size, multi-based, can use Charge or Combat Reflexes) will take 1 penetrating damage after Red Tornado is given a POWER action to use Force Blast. So it's giving you a reason to activate Force Blast (not an attack, instant hit) against a character that you normally wouldn't try to Force Blast away usually.

[@carlosrivera5390]

I'm a little confused here... by your explanation i would say Charge doesn't work in the next example, but i'd like to know what you think: If i hit a character with charge, damage is clicked, then character ends up in a click without charge, does it ignore knock back?

[@2mirandir]

Carlos Rivera Yes. Knock back prevention is checked before damage is dealt for the attack.

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

Johan is correct. A similar example was shown in the video (when Zombie Galactus hits a group of characters); Nighthawk didn't get knocked back because he had Combat Reflexes when he was hit. He took the damage from the Energy Explosion, but was not knocked back because he *had* Combat Reflexes.

[@carlosrivera5390]

Ohhh, yeah, i realized that after commenting, haha. Thanks for the replies :D

[@sirrios02]

Hey TT question: mister sinister Survivor Of The Age Of Apocalypse...For Now: When Mister Sinister is damaged by an opposing character, give that character a Revenge token. When Mister Sinister attacks a character with one or more tokens named "Revenge", modify attack and damage +1. When Mister Sinister is KO'd, you may choose an opposing character with a token named "Revenge" and remove all those tokens and roll that many d6s. For each roll, 5-6: Deal that character 1 penetrating damage.... Does damage from force blast trigger that revenge token?

[@2mirandir]

No. Rulebook page 17: "Knock back damage never counts for effects that check if a character “dealt damage” to or “damaged” a character."

[@sirrios02]

Johan Karlsson thank you very much

[@kuro160]

In the last scenario, Loki vs Iron Rick, if Rick uses force blast and loki falls from a higher elevation, Rick doesn't take damage from the Mystics Team Ability, since Force Blast is not an attack, right?

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

Indeed! Well... Loki would hit blocking terrain, but that's the idea. Force Blast is not an attack so it's amazing for that as well. Your character is not dealing damage, it's the fall or the hitting of a wall that does it... Can't "Mystics" a wall ;o). Great point!

[@2mirandir]

Francisco Ávalos Correct. But also note that Iron Rick is not considered to have damaged or even dealt damage to Loki.

[@trainerredcharizard7982]

i have to Lean how to use force blast.. god i hated in uxm the freedom force clixes with that free force blast

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

It's an extremely useful power. It was instrumental in getting of Teekl (Klarion's cat) in a game I was losing (I still lost, though ;o).

[@trainerredcharizard7982]

Its STILL annoying..i get that it is a good skill. And i havent played New Klarion yet..is the cat that hard to kill?

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

That darn cat ;o)! 5-6, Super Senses as usual; 3-4, Teekl goes back to Klarion. 66% chance of it avoiding attacks. Peace Machine took care of it, though ;o).

[@trainerredcharizard7982]

The Tabletop Teacher i have to play him sometimes..there is so many others to play as well pre new set

[@mangoseabolt2111]

Can you move and use force blast in the same turn?

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

Nope... Both the MOVE and POWER actions are costed actions; only one costed action can be given to a character on a turn. Mind you, some special powers will allow that combo (all the Freedom Force characters from the Uncanny X-Men set come to mind).

[@zsgamesmore6607]

Sorry but I want to get this right: Radioactive Man 016 from Civil War has Nuclear-Level Radiation which says: at the beginning of your turn, if Radioactive Man is adjacent to an opposing character, choose on: Deal 2 damage to each adjacent character -or- deal 1 damage to all other characters within 3 squares. Can friendly characters adjacent to Radioactive Man sidestep away before having to choose?

[@2mirandir]

Manuel Villarreal No. Sidestep is a FREE action and actions cannot be given during the beginning of turn phase.

[@zsgamesmore6607]

thanks for the quick reply!

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

I'm lucky to have such dedicated viewers! Thanks, Johan, for your spot on quick responses!

[@zsgamesmore6607]

Thanks to you also, TTT, for the follow up confirmation. Great channel!

[@ausarthecritic1762]

When can you use force blast?

[@2mirandir]

Golgari Forever The KNOCKBACK keyphrase is always active so it can be used whenever you make an attack. The rest of the power is activated by a POWER action. So it can be used whenever you can give the character that power action to activate it.

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

In the Action phase, since it is a POWER action.

[@Robcockulous1]

I love my Freedom Force team with their Freedom Force Trait that allows them all to make any Move action, get a free action to use Force Blast! One of my opponents claims that damage caused from the knockback (hitting a wall or falling off a higher elevation) is nullified from having Toughness, Invincible, Impervious, or Invulnerability. I claim that damage caused from knockback is NOT nullified from these defensive powers. Who is right?

[@2mirandir]

Your opponent is correct. Knock back damage is neither unavoidable nor penetrating so it can be reduced as normal.

[@Robcockulous1]

Thanks for the reply. I have to agree, now - after finding other references to reducing knockback damage. Looks like I have to add an Outwit to the Force Blast team!

[@st-christian14]

How about Hypersonic speed?

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

I'm not sure I understand your question. What would you like to know about Hypersonic Speed?

[@fermerb]

Seria excelente si fuera en español

[@jovanni_orb5116]

Hi

[@2004verybigd]

knock back damage is dead

[@mistert4797]

Can characters be knocked back if Charge or Combat Reflexes are not currently showing on their dials?

[@zsgamesmore6607]

Will a character who is giant size or colossal that does not have charge or combat reflexes be knocked back by the same sized, or bigger, character who hit with doubles or had super strength?

[@TheTabletopTeacher]

Yes, as long as they are not multi-based.