The Liberators

The Liberators - Dial Talk

 
     This was a very challenging team to create - not just in the physical modification aspect, but also in the dial choice/team-building aspect. After all, when the choice was made to mod these figures, Ultimates 2 #10 was the current issue. Which means that I had to gauge their powers based off a 2-issue appearance in which only one person actually used any abilities. So, I had to make some assumptions and improvise.

Perun

We can assume that he will be a good match for Thor, but ultimately Thor is a god. I chose Veteran Thor from Clobberin' Time as he was still a powerhouse in his own right, but fell in power pretty reasonably. This is a good match up for the Ultimate Thor Unique as they are very close in power, but due to the upswing in the Ultimate Thor's dial, as the battle wears on the true Thunder God will be revealed!

Abomination

This version seems a bit different than the standard 616 version... and Abomination fans everywhere will tell you that his previous Xplosion dial was an abomination to his character. So, in an effort to create an Abomination that could actually go toe-to-toe with the Hulk, I used the Experienced Juggernaut from Fantastic Forces. I know that the Juggernaut dial is lacking a little Leap/Climb... however, we have still yet to see him perform that skill (with those weird legs) to any significant effect. In anticipation of something like that, I did outfit the Abomination with both Unstoppable (a guy that big is not going to be slowed down by an overturned trash can) and Movethrough. Overall, I feel the Abomination's power will not be able to handle the Hulk's rage in a long battle and the slowly sinking dial compared to the Hulk's power-up dial will be a good match indeed!
 

Crimson Dynamo

All that armor, but what can it do? We saw a little more of it in action during issue #11, but that didn't tell us too much. So to find the right dial for him I had to look at his counter-part, Iron Man. Crimson Dynamo seems to be packing the power, but is he clever and outfitted with any gadget you might ever need like Tony is? I don't think so. To represent the Iron Man-esque power but with very little versatility I chose Experienced War Machine. Pretty much an all-out attack kind of dial with some decent staying power and a dial that I feel is a great foil to Ultimate Iron Man. I threw Nanobots on him to give him a little longevity and a possible Ace up his sleeve.

The Swarm

Bugs? Silly at first but scary when you think about it. Is she a powerhouse or a sidekick? We don't know yet, so I had to really think about what her powers did. They allowed her to be mobile while tying up and damaging her opponents. Running Shot/Incapacitate with Stunning Blow (or Stinging Blow in this case) would do the trick nicely. I have to assume that chitnous shell gives her some kind of protection, so I equipped her with Force Field to grant her some Toughness (Which she can use on a majority of her clicks). She doesn't fly, so that knocked out a lot of fun potential right there. In the end, Experienced Captain Cold won out. Every power could be utilized and justified, plus with his Calculator Team Ability the dial allowed The Swarm to truly be a part of the team.
 

Hurricane

Okay - we actually get to see her in action. She's our standard speedster with nothing crazy about her powers (so far). For her I chose Experienced Quicksilver from Armor Wars. An ideal Ultimates Team would have either The Experienced or Veteran versions of Quicksilver, so it'd definitely be a good match up (how many of you wanna see Pietro wake and start smacking the bejeezus out of her?).
 

Colonel Abdul Al-Rahman

What is this guy's supervillain name anyway? I keep calling him Jihad or Captain Arab. We know we're going to see him and Cap fight in the next issue, but this guy needs a base now! So, for his base I chose Experienced Captain America from Armor Wars. Since his pair-off would be a Veteran Ultimate Cap, the fight looks like a good one. I was a little nervous about the first click of Impervious (traditionally representing Cap's Shield), but between the unknowns (can his energy weapon block things like Cap's Shield? Does he have some kind of crazy enchantment from Loki? Is he tougher than Cap?) and the fact that the dial is otherwise perfect from what we can safely assume - It's what I went with.

Final Thoughts

So, did you notice that 4 of the members have the Avengers TA and 1 is a wildcard? Know what that means? Yep, you guessed it - you could drop a couple of Feats, spend 20 points for the Thunderbolts Feat Card and assign the Liberators their own Team Ability. But what to pick? Mystics because they strike when you've been weakened? Batman to represent how they hide in the shadows until they attack? Masters of Evil since they do seem to be the Ultimates answer to that team? The options are limitless.

But what would I pick you ask? Oh, you didn't ask? Oh well... I think that these guys are all targeting the Ultimates and as such should have a TA that reflects that. The Ultimate X-Men TA is perfect for this (and so is the Alpha Flight Feat card which will save you 20 points and allow you to keep the Feats listed).

The Liberators Themed Team Total:

699