Homebrew BMG- Green Lanterns!

Something a bit different today, a couple of weeks ago I decided I would try my hand at some custom cards, using the template that is widely available online. With this, I thought I would add some of the characters related to the Lantern Corps side of the DC Universe, partly as a theoretical exercise, but mostly because I was reading a lot of Green Lantern comics at the time and wanted to use them in game. Hal does have rules for DCU, as do Sinestro and Atrocitus, but Hal is somewhat underwhelming and not worth his cost compared to similarly costed options. That said, his sculpt is great, and I wanted to have another way to use him, so here we are!

Power Ring Trait

Before we start, I'll talk about the Power Ring trait I have written for all of these models. It is supposed to reflect not just the Green Lantern ring, but also most other Lantern Corps rings (which I would modify in other traits where appropriate)

Mobility

The ring gives wearers flight abilities in the comics, usually at quite high speeds, so Fly and Flying High make sense in this case. Just things that are appropriate to the characters and don't affect balance much.

Offence

Ring constructs have a tendency to be large, and hit hard, so I decided to reflect that in the rules. Reinforced Gloves with Reach aren't that big of a thing balance wise, and free pushes are becoming more and more common nowadays, so I feel like it's not that big of a deal.

Defence

Energy Field is the main defensive ability given by the ring, but the immunity it gives to some traits is also important. Immunity to Steal is purely practical, as it saves having to write another paragraph on what is lost when weapons are stolen (or stealing the ring itself), while Hypnotise is something the Lanterns usually have the willpower to shake off quite easily.

Hal was the first Lantern I decided to write, because as mentioned I already had the model. I wanted to make something that captured the feel of the character, but was also balanced for BMG and not stupidly over the top. The first thing he needed was a high willpower, because he's a Green Lantern so duh, but also because he's well known for being incredibly strong of will, even relative to other Lanterns. The other unique thing I gave him was Ace Pilot, which allows him to gain Dodge if he uses Fly or Flying High. This is to reflect his skill in the air, which far surpasses any other human Lantern (and most aliens) but still being able to be ignored by savvy players.
Offence
One of Hal's most famous attack styles is his Green Gatling, which also makes it into his DCU version. I decided to add it here as a one use light show, as Ammo:1 and Beam means it can't be topped up. The expensive funding cost on him reflects its effectiveness, but with no bonuses to hit it is best suited to shooting at low defence models, especially henchmen.
Defence
Nothing really special to write home about other than Ace Pilot and what Power Ring gives, so I'll leave it at that!

With John, I wanted him to be a leader and a soldier, just like in the comics. For these reasons, Leadership and Veteran were obvious choices, as they let him react on the fly and assist his allies.
Offence
John still has a Power Ring, so can punch like any other Lantern, but I felt like I should play up his role as the fire support of the Lanterns. Shooting wise I modelled him off of Lerida, save for the fact that like Hal's Gatling this weapon has Beam, and instead of Red Dot I gave John Master Marksman instead. This makes him a pretty accurate shot, and he can do it while flying fairly easily, but it comes at a high cost and the damage isn't overly high.
Defence
Same as Hal, nothing special here to write home about

Guy is the most expensive of the lot, but that's purely because of his role as an all out melee bruiser. I decided to make him tanky with high endurance but low defence, and that offsets his high melee capabilities somewhat.
Offence
Guy is the supreme punchy character of the Lanterns, and I wanted to reflect this. Close Combat Master lets him hit easier, and Combo on his Reinforced Gloves means he is a nasty opponent to face. The damage potential is high, but with smart placement an opponent can mitigate his effectiveness a lot.
Defence
The goal was to make Guy seem like he can take a beating, while still being somewhat easy to deal with for players. His defence is lower than the other Lanterns, to reflect his aggressive nature, and even if he uses Hover in melee he is at major risk of guns taking him down. Sturdy fits the character and keeps him in action a bit better, but someone can chip him down quite quickly.

And for the villain players out there, I haven't forgotten you. The last of these cards is a generic villain Free Agent, in the form of Sinestro!

Sinestro functions fairly similarly to the other Lanterns, although being a Yellow Lantern I decided to give him more of a debuff/control role.
Offence 
Same as the others, apart from his Fear Blast. Bit more powerful version of Raven's ranged attack, because it fits thematically as the same type of weapon. I didn't want Sinestro to be all that damaging, but he can do some damage in terms of willpower attacks. Discourage also lets him do this from a shutdown point of view, Intimidation helps protect your own models while denying the opponent, and Inspire Fear for the fully appropriate topping off of the character. It has the potential to be devastating when combined, although with only 3 special on Sinestro it can't be, and if he gets hit with anything that stops SC he isn't doing much of anything
Defence
There is nothing special here, apart from Obstinate. I felt like it represented Sinestro's supreme arrogance without giving him Arrogant, and helps him against things like Disarray.

With this all said and done, I think it's only fair to promote some other places to get custom cards. Over on Facebook you can find Hell's Kitchen and Tales From The Multiverse, which both have specially made cards for BMG, and in the case of Hell's Kitchen is keeping the Spider-Man and Marvel side alive. I myself am currently working on a team card for the Lanterns, with a few more options (Simon Baz, Jessica Cruz, Salaak, Kilowog and Ch'p), and 3 factions for the Hellboy/BPRD series (BPRD, Ragna Rok and the Frog Cult) which should be coming in the next few weeks.

Speedsters part 2- the villain side

It's been a while, but here we have part 2 of my Speedster overview, this time talking about the villain side. These are just going to be quick little overviews of the special stuff they bring, just because actual uses of Speedsters in general are over in my first post.

These guys are a little bit different to the heroes, but occupy largely the same role- a piece to annoy henchmen while being really annoying to take out. As beater pieces they have a lot more competition from things like Killer Croc, Clayface and King Shark, and as such can't be seen in that role because they are on the whole worse in that regard.

Going to go over both versions of Eobard at the same time because they aren't all that different to each other. Both have Scientific, Speedster:5, Dodge and Fast, fairly standard overall, and their stat lines are almost identical, with the exception of willpower and endurance. TV Eobard is 7 rep cheaper, and brings a few more valuable traits to play with in my opinion. The comic version has Phase Strike as a unique power, which is expensive and super unreliable, so not worth using (Brutal or Devastating would instantly make it a choice, but he has neither). The TV one previously had this power, but it is now replaced by Kinetic Tornado, which is a really cool power I've found. It's relatively inexpensive, decent strength and good damage and effects means you have a good use for Eobard zipping near objectives and forcing groups of models away from them, making it a tougher choice as to what the opponent will spend their resources on in any given turn. The TV version also brings some Speedster-related traits which are situational but very helpful in Tachyon Device and I Know What I'm Doing, and the ever thematic Survivor. Survivor just means he is slightly more annoying to kill, and is a better trade-off overall than the +1 endurance comic Eobard has, while still not being a complete negative play experience for the opponent. Tachyon Device lets him add up to 2 extra Speed Force Counters to himself if there are none in the pool at that point, which really only lets him work at his full potential when another Speedster is present, instead of being hamstrung by going second. I Know What I'm Doing is a once per game ignore Paradox, which really shouldn't be happening all that often anyway, but with Kinetic Tornado having a 6+ Paradox there's always the chance of it happening, so it's nice to have.
All in all, I think the comic Zoom is just a bit dated, and could use an update, but the TV version definitely stands up to the modern standard of models.

Red Death is the cheapest of the villain Speedsters, which is always something to consider, but he operates very differently to the others. He is far more Batman than Flash, having high attack and strength but lower movement and Speedster level to compensate. At Speedster:4 he doesn't have access to some of the more impressive powers, but the lower cost ones are what shine far more anyway, so it isn't much of an issue for him. Muscle Growth as a power isn't as useful on him, as he is already at strength 3+ (you can go to 2+, but why not just use more attacks?). He will usually be attacking the same amount of times as a Barry Allen would, but he has one power that makes him quite an interesting and pretty good piece to use. His unique power Black Bats is cost 2, no paradox, making is incredibly easy to do, and all it does is give all enemies within 4" the Enervating/2 effect. If he can get into a group of models in the Speed Force phase, this is huge, as he can just strip 2 counters off of every single enemy. Willpower 4/5 henchmen? 2 or 3 counters this turn, he'll do it again whenever possible and can chase you down when needed. Martial Artist also plays into this, as if that big group of models do decide to try and take him out, they can't gang up on him to do it, and have to get through defence 5 to land a hit. Only other thing to say is Bipolar is a little bit of a negative, possibly losing him a counter a turn, but it can also give him one too, and at 50/50 chance is ok to work around considering everything else. Not the best of the Dark Knights, but they're all excellent and Red Death is very far from bad.

Johnny Quick has had a little bit of an update with the latest round of updates to resin, but it still isn't all that much of a change. He's almost identical to comic Flash except for Willpower (which is "compensated for" by Criminal), which makes sense given the character, but in neither case does it make a model that's very useful. Molecular Vibration isn't a bad power, allowing for some close up shutdown (combo with pushes on scoring models for some fun) and it's gotten a reduction in cost now too, allowing Johnny to do a little bit more with his Speed Force. Atomica is also a pretty nice trait, although the most valuable targets (high defence models) are more often than not higher movement as well, so it's not all too reliably happening.
All in all, he's a very mediocre model and not really worth his rep. If you're looking for a Speedster pick Red Death or TV Eobard. That's all I have to say.