[Smithy Winfred]

So here's my second of my Strategy guides, Enjoy!

Absorbing Man

To simplify the process, I have created a grading format for the units as follows:
Pee-on = Simple, tiny filler units not much use in any format, but in a tourney, they can help close the 30 points extra
Pawn = Useful, but should be sacrificed if need be
Warrior = a powerful soldier, nothing special here, but Warriors work well as midgame fighters
Assassins = Sneaky units capable of evading enemy lines and eliminating key opponent units
Generals = Usually a OM drop unit who should be protected at all costs
Hulk = Insanely powerful and used to approach an enemy and crush them with massive rolls
Special = Units with unique abilities that make them invaluable on the battlefield

Overview
Absorbing Man is a warrior unit, his tough defense and life, and powerful attack, if you fight the right unit, can really devastate the enemy lines. Make sure you don’t move him into areas where he can’t move efficiantly, or those flyers will eat him alive.

Life – 6 Sturdy
Move – 5 slow*
Range – 1 Melee
Attack – 2 miserable**
Defense – 6 Respectable
*Adaption – Ignores terrain effects when there are no absorbtion markers on the card. Tactical Advantage - Low-medium
**Power Absorb– increases attack by chosen figure’s defense. Tactical Advantage - Highest

Offense
In offense, Absorbing Man has the potential to become one of the most powerful units in the game. By absorbing a heavy hitter like Superman or Thor, he can boost his attack to 9 or 10. Even weaker units like Juggernaut Wonder Man will still give him a powerful attack to boast about. The only problem, is his pitiful move or 5 (6 now that we have Wizard). With a threat range of only 6 (7) total, he has little hope against the massive heavy hitters, and even if he can get adjacent to them, most players will take the leaving engagement to get away from him. In order to get the full use out of his attack, you have to find a strategy that will circumvent his poor mobility.

Defense
Absorbing Man’s defense is average for his points. A 6 defense and 6 life will keep him in the game, but it isn’t enough to block most heavy hitters for very long. The trick is to keep him out of the fray until you know you can take out your chosen target, and then strike, trying to save his life, and his Absrobtion Markers, for as long as you can.



Strategy
It may seem that Absorbing Man’s strategy is very strait forward, but it is anything but. Unless you are facing your opponent on a entirely flat battlefield, or your opponent has no ranged unts, then Absorbing man won’t be able to engage most of the enemy units. All they have to do is move to height and bash down his defense and life until he eventually falls.

One way to make good use of his high attack, is to draft a cheap carrying unit like Angel (or Theracus, if classic is allowed) and carry him into an engagement. Once there, angel can continue to use Guardian Angel to prohibit the opponent from simply running away. This strategy works well against many tough to kill units, but gets clumsy if you try to use it too much.

Another tactic is to use a powerful unit with a power capable of holding units, such as Blob, Doc Ock and now, Trapster. Use this unit to hold on to the enemy while Absorbing Man lumbers into position to bash them down. Doc Ock would probably be the best choice for this strategy, because he also benefits from the Criminal Leadership power on The Wizard. He can quickly move (ignoring terrain) and grab the opponent, hopefully inflicting a few wounds, and then AM can hammer it home with a 8-9 attack.

Many people make the poor decision to draft a unit that Absorbing Man can absorb from on your own team. And while this isn’t a horrible strategy idea, it really doesn’t work very well. By using absorb, you limit Absorbing Man’s attaqck if, per chance, you fail the roll, because he can no longer use Ball & Chain Swing. And don’t forget that he can ignore Heavy Snow and Ice as well as water and lava, which gives him a substantial advantage against non-flying figures, but only if he has no markers.

Never forget that he can also benefit from Kingpin’s Organized Crime power and The Hood’s Criminal Motivation power. Both of these give a much needed mobility bonus to the Absorbing man, as well as keeping your options open in the Order Marker department.

Units To Avoid
Any Unit with Stealth flying – They won’t even take the leaving engagement attack, so they will always try to escape Carl’s crushing grip.

Long range Units (over 5) – Unless the terrain is completely flat, he’s done, they can simply walk backward and stay out of the way of his attacks, flying makes it even more of a pain

Captain Marvel – Not only does this bad boy have Stealth Flying AND 6 range, he also subtracts 4 from Absorbing Man’s Power Absorb, making it almost impossible to defeat this cosmic hero

Conclusion
Even though his powerful attack can make him a powerful foe for any heavy hitter, his many weaknesses make it tough for him to get into position. C+