Last month gave us the new Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. set which has been a blast to play so far. This week we’re going to zoom in and take a closer look at NFAOS024 Winter Soldier. As an uncommon, he is easily accessible and well worth his points.
Winter Soldier first appeared in the comics in 2005, but for many people he became familiar in the movie Captain America: Winter Soldier in 2013. Winter Soldier’s real name is Bucky Barnes and he started his soldiering career as Captain America’s kid sidekick during World War II. But Bucky was seemingly killed during the war, until he returned years later as a brainwashed assassin for the Soviets during the Cold War. In the movie, he worked for Hydra instead of the Soviets. After encountering Captain America, Bucky began to remember who he was and has been working to redeem himself ever since.
I am a major fan of this Winter Soldier piece. He’s a diverse piece. Each two clicks changes in power set. The first two are a stealthy, ranged sniper. The next two are more close combat oriented. The last two are mid-range gunman. I love his top two clicks most and build most of my strategies for him around that sweet spot.
His “Deadly Sniper” damage power gives him 10 range, Outwit, and Ranged Combat Expert. The only caveat is that if he uses Outwit and RCE in the same turn, he can only target the same character. He also has Improved Targeting that lets him ignore hindering or characters, so don’t worry about anyone blocking his shot or figures hiding in Stealth. Sit Winter Soldier in some hindering terrain behind the rest of your troops and let him get to work.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
NFAOS024 Winter Soldier 95
NFAOS035 Deathlok 75
NFAOS051 Steve Rogers 150
NFAOS023 Skye 45
NFAOS021 Fitz 35
400
First up is S.HI.I.E.L.D. Steve Rogers and Deathlok head to the front with Winter Soldier setting up a sniper nest behind them. Skye and Fitz stay in your starting area where they can safely offer support to the rest of the team. Make sure you get one of Fitz’s drones up next to Winter Soldier so he can increase his damage with Enhancement for those sniper shots. Use Steve Rogers to attack first. With his high attack value, he will almost certainly hit and that will allow Winter Soldier to use Probability Control when he takes his shot.
Invaders
NFAOS024 Winter Soldier 95
NFAOS037 U.S.Agent 80
NFAOS042 Spitfire 95
NFAOS04 Radiance 65
AOU020 Captain America 65
400
Next up is the Invaders. Unfortunately the Invaders lack a lot of support powers but they are far from sitting ducks. There are a few things going on here that should make your team hard to hit. Captain America has Defend and increases adjacent friendlies’ defenses by +1 at range. Radiance gives adjacent friendlies Shape Change. Spitfire gets +1 defence at range after she uses Hypersonic Speed. U.S.Agent can block lines of fire to one of his sides. Keep your enemies at a distance and take your shots. If they get too close, send in U.S.Agent to be your brawler.
Assassin
NFAOS024 Winter Soldier 95
DP059 Kingpin 118
DP036 Bullseye 110
DP029 Lady Bullseye 72
395
Let’s take a look at Winter Soldier’s bad side with the Assassin keyword. Kingpin’s damage power is a great buff to Winter Soldier and Bullseye if they are adjacent to him. They will both be able to use Ranged Combat Expert, Improved Targeting Ignores Hindering, Precision Strike, and Sharpshooter. To top it all off, Kingpin has Enhancement to increase their damage. Since Winter Soldier and Bullseye both ignore characters for targeting, they can shoot just about anyone anywhere. Unfortunately for her, Lady Bullseye is the lightning rod. Send her up front to tie up opponents. She has Outwit and Kingpin can draw lines of fire for his Outwit through her, which should both help at keeping opponents away from your two hit men.
That’s all for this week. Winter Soldier has been a mainstay on my S.H.I.E.L.D. teams lately, but I’m looking forward to putting him on some other teams and seeing how he does.