First off, we're starting with the first of the boys, Dick Grayson. A great classic sculpt and an important part of the Batman mythos
Overview
This Robin is in a bit of an odd spot, because he's not a bad model per se, but he is inherently restricted in what crews you can play him in. He is unable to be taken unless you have Modern Age Batman as your leader (or in Teen Titans as their founder) but provides an interesting toolkit when he is taken. Modern Age Batman is in my opinion one of the more valuable Batman variants for his cost, and this only gets better when you factor in the Boy Wonder alongside him.
Defensively
While Robin's stat line is not bad overall, his high movement and defence are the standouts when looking at the profile. These raw stats combined with Acrobat and Reflexes means he is not a model worth shooting in most cases, and when Small is factored in it makes most guns not worth the shot. He also brings the Boy Wonder trait, unique to him, which makes him immune to the Handy trait. It's situational, but comes in handy (or not-Handy?). He packs a few more defensive abilities in Combat Flip, letting him relocate on the fly, and Escape Artist, making him immune to grabs, but his biggest weakness in this case is his lack of Martial Artist. Even at high defence, many gangs pack ways to reduce it before outnumber, be it Stop!, Confusion or Distract, so they can quite readily get him down to defence 3, and that is a point he does not want to be in with his endurance of 4.
Offensively
He's not much of an offensive model, his Batlings do decent damage but nothing amazing, but Disarray is where he comes into great use. He can use this trait to move around opponents counters, so in crews that lack Veteran or Trickster he can really hurt them by putting counters into useless places. It's a very versatile skill, but short ranged and risky to do with Robin.
Other abilities
His Batman buffs, through The Sidekick, are also important to factor in when assessing the use of this model, and whether or not to use him in a crew. The Sidekick on Robin gives him +1 strength when Batman is in play, making his Batlings a more worthwhile choice, although he loses a willpower if Batman is killed. This again emphasises the Dynamic Duo as a risk/reward type of combination, although they are rewarding to play when used well. Batman himself has The Dynamic Duo, which allows him to immediately activate after Robin does, provided Robin is in 8", and Assistance, which increases his willpower to 8 if Robin is in play, but if he dies Batman gets +1 strength. Overall, their synergistic abilities make it so that they are a big package deal, and I personally would take them together more often than not
Upgrades
Being Dick Grayson, he unlocks 2 upgrades for the crew to purchase, on top of the ones opened by Modern Age Batman. Circus Training is quite expensive for what it does, and realistically isn't worth it at all, while Runner is cheap and decent funding filler, giving Tireless. If you have funding spare, I'd buy it, but otherwise give it a miss. In terms of upgrades to buy for Robin, there is one answer- Martial Arts Training. It's pretty cheap, and it fills a big weakness that he has.
Next up, I am going to cover the Arkham Robins together, as they are somewhat similar, and both are Tim Drake.
Overview
To put it quite simply, Arkham City Tim is awful. AC is a cheaper Free Agent when compared to Arkham Knight being a Sidekick, but this means he has less utility in terms of crew wide buffs (although the cards themselves affect this). Arkham Knight Robin is faster, having not only an extra movement but also Undercover, both bring Detective and both have Batclaws, fitting with the character.
Defensively
Defensively they are quite similar, but Arkham Knight edges out on top for a few factors. He has 1 higher endurance, but as a Sidekick he benefits from Bodyguards, and his Shielded Bo has Protective, meaning he has an extra Ping! save in comparison to AC Robin. Otherwise, they are fairly average in terms of their cost. Unlike Dick or Carrie, they are very susceptible to ranged attacks outside the protective, with AC Robin having no defensive tech at all. If they get hit, they'll go down
Offensively
Again, both are fairly similar in terms of offence, both their melee weapons are effectively the same (single stun, reach and handy). Both have combo, AC Robin gaining it from the FAQ, although AK edges out here due to his higher attack. It may not seem like much from raw stat lines, but when Combo is factored in AK can potentially get 2 extra attacks because of it, meaning he has a higher damage output. Both are still somewhat mediocre, due to the Bo being a pretty terrible weapon overall outside of Reach, but they have their uses. In terms of ranged weapons though, there is a substantial difference. AK Robin brings the traditional Batlings (without light here as he doesn't have a resin model), not much to talk about there, but AC Robin brings the little seen Flash Grenade. It is a great way to shut down guns, and the -2 to hit and block rolls is a great debuff to melee models as well. Unfortunately, it's not enough to justify AC Robin in my eyes, especially now that we have the quite good Foxtrot bringing a Flash Grenade
Other
AC Robin does bring Searcher and Follow Me! to play, but there are now quite a few models in BatB with Searcher that are just better(the resin Nightwing and comic Red Hood both costing more but being much more worthwhile, Aaron Cash being cheaper and still better). Follow Me! is situational, but when it comes in handy it is very useful, so that is one bonus for him that I cannot deny. AK Robin has True Love: Barbara Gordon, reflecting the odd story decision of the Arkham Knight game, but in BMG terms it won't apply very often. The Batgirl models currently are far better overall than AK Robin, and with both in a crew Robin is largely dead weight (with the exception of Animated Batgirl, but then you're buying a model for it to die)
Upgrades
The Tims don't benefit all that much from the Batman unlocked upgrades, Martial Artist being the best option as is usually the case. They do have a unique upgrade, however, Inspiring Presence giving Tim the Leadership trait. It's ok, against things like Hatter and Ivy it's worth it's weight in gold, but otherwise it pretty much sucks. At $100 it'd be worth taking just in case, at $200 it's a tough choice, but at $250 it's not valuable at all
Carrie Kelley Robin, from the Dark Knight series by Frank Miller. In game terms she's only really useful to play a list themed around this series IMO, otherwise I think she's trash (even worse than the Tims, but at least she's cheaper?).
Overview
For her cost, she has an ok stat line. The movement and defence are good, but attack 3 and endurance 5 make me think of a 30-40 rep gun Henchman, not a Sidekick. She brings all the benefits of being a Sidekick, not that I'd ever even consider her as a Boss option. Willpower 6 is really good for her cost I guess? She just doesn't do anything exciting with it. After the recent update to Huntress, for 12 rep more she's an infinitely better option, unless you explicitly want a sidekick.
Offensively
Not much to write home about, she has a slingshot and Handyman. The slingshot can do 2 blood at short ranged, and rerolls to hit so she's not all that inaccurate. It's like a shitty, cheap carbine- if you hit you've succeeded, they're taking damage. Handyman means she can keep getting ammo for free as long as she's in contact, and that's probably her best use- concealment to hunker down and defend while she pings targets
Defensively
She's not hurting against guns, between movement 4 Acrobat and Concealment. However, nothing helps her from being chopped down with an axe, and if one can catch her, it will kill her. She's just as fragile as Dick, if not more, and needs to be just as close. If you do use her, be careful
Upgrades
Again, Martial Artist. With Handyman, Hidden Magazine is useless, and at ammo 3 she's not short of it either.
Last but not most definitely not least, Damian Wayne. My personal favourite Robin, he is somewhat maligned by many, and I feel this is unwarranted
Overview
At a glance Damian appears to be a more combat oriented model, and this is certainly the case. Despite this, he is not a straight beater, and should never be used as such. Instead, he is a finesse piece, best used in tandem with another more effective model, as I will cover in more detail later. He has the traditional Batclaw, and in addition to his movement, he makes a decent Batsignal runner, and is probably the Robin best suited for it, if only because Carrie wants to sit on an ammo more.
Offensively
Putting it simply, this is where he's meant to be. Master Fighter means he can hit well, and attack 4 lets him throw out a respectable amount of attacks. Strength 4+ puts him at 50/50 to wound, but his best toy is Technique. Pair him with a Batman, have Damian paralyse a juicy model before Batman comes along and pummels it the rest of the way. Damo only needs one stun to go through to paralyse, and the odds on it are pretty good
Defensively
Damian's defensive abilities are mostly based around close combat, and as such guns are the way to take him. He still has Acrobat at movement 3, which is impressive, but higher rate of fire will grind him down (treat him like a LexCorp suit in a way, he can't dodge everything). Martial Artist helps him a lot in combat, and he's the only Robin to have it (and rightfully so, if anyone should have it it's Damian). Anything that reduces his defence hurts, but that's the same as any model with defence 4 or higher
Other
True Love is his only other major trait, and it is where he gets janky. True Love Talia requires you to take AC Talia through affinity, when it works it's funny (Batman/Damo/Talia is a list I quite enjoy and is very fun). True Love Batman, however, can get hilarious. Just notice, it isn't True Love Bruce Wayne like Talia's, it's True Love Batman. Jean Paul Valley? Sure, Damo loves him! Thomas Wayne? Love you too grandpa! Nothing to build a list around, but it's good for a laugh
Upgrades
Martial Artist is already covered, so nothing is really worth taking on him. Spend freely elsewhere!
Thank you for reading, and I will be writing more soon! Any feedback is welcome, and if you have differing opinions, feel free to let me know!
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