Battle Report- Brave and the Bold (Batfleck/Ezra Flash) vs new Bane

Hi everyone, after a bit of a break in posting I'm back with something else new! The newest set of releases has been done to death from all the BMG podcasts (give them a listen, they're worth it) and I don't really have anything to add there, but I do have a battle report of a game I played early last week against the new Bane. I took my Batfleck and Ezra Flash list identical to how it is in that list discussion, and the Bane list was as follows. My opponent is somewhat newer to Rebirth Bane, and in this game is trying a few different things to get a handle on how the crew runs in general.

Bane Crew

Reputation: 343/350

Funding: 1500$/1500$

[Boss][L] Bane (Rebirth) [161/0$]

[F] Captain Boomerang (Suicide Squad) [48/200$]

[F] Slipknot (Suicide Squad) [42/200$]

[H] Dreadnought Op [44/0$]

-Venom Dose [0/100$]

-Grapple-gun [0/300$]

[H] Clover [30/300$]

[H] Prisoner 04211 [18/400$]

The list is based around damage for the most part, and a combination of solid Free Agents with the staying power of Bane. Slipknot's use is obvious, Boomerang is there because he is value and can put out some good damage. The original intention was for Bane to move up through sewers with Boomerang and Slipknot as backup, while the henchmen sat back and protected my Batsignal. Dreadnought is in there to put out fires as they rise, with his potential mobility and damage.

Setup

Scenario was Patrol, and for I Will Break You Bane chose Close Combat Master and One of the Boys (consistency is the reason for this, the rerolls are great). As far as strategies went, I took Change of Plans on my Medical Supplies and Police Training for cheaper Arrest, while my opponent took Sewer Maps, Titan Container Located and Patrol on Bane. 

As in the photo, deployment was pretty much deploying as far forward as possible. Clover and carbine prisoner sat on the roof because it was an obvious Batsignal position, and Bane in range of a sewer. 

Turn 1

Mostly just movement, although on last activation of the turn Bane popped up out of the sewers in base contact with Lerida. No attacking happened this turn, but I knew that I was in a bad position next turn, where Bane could do any number of horrible things to my crew. 1-0 Bane's way because of the Batsignal.

Turn 2

Bane wins activation, Lerida gets knocked out and Bane retreats through the sewers. Flash has run up the board by this point, and in retaliation knocks out Boomerang, only to witness some amazing carbine rolling (and failed dodges) to take 3 blood and 2 stun. Otherwise nothing remarkable occurs, it's 3-4 Bane's way at this point.

This second photo is actually the board state after the turn 3 Speed Force phase, but is mostly unchanged from end of turn 2

Turn 3

Barry begins the turn by using Speed Force to heal some damage, and then zipping around to keep himself safe for a turn. Dreadnought gets shot at by every gun I have left on my henchmen, but being on Titan this turn saves him from most of the damage. Batman grapples up and does 4 stun to Clover, while carbine prisoner moves to protect my objectives and stripper cop uses the sewer to get near Boomerang for an arrest. Bane and Slipknot sewer next to Lerida, their objectives are completely unprotected. Points don't shift very much this turn, it stays at 3-5 to Bane.

Turn 4

Speed Force now puts me in a position to claim all my objectives this turn, but my opponent activates first. Because Lerida is guaranteed to be arrested, he decides to activate Gustaf first and put shots into stripper cop, which succeeds in knocking her out. After this Dreadnought gets KO and then arrested, Gustaf gets KO by Flash (and then Flash claims my objectives) and Clover gets KO by Batman before he turns the Batsignal on. Slipknot arrests Lerida and Bane moves to his objectives. Score is now heating up, and this turn ends on 16-12 my way. Boomerang wakes up at this stage but nothing else

Turn 5

This turn not much happens, other than Boomerang getting KO again and then arrested everyone just sits on objectives. Bane can't really move off his because I will score too much against him otherwise and so is now playing to score as close to me as possible. Gustaf and Clover both wake up this turn, and Flash has now pretty much healed all his damage off from earlier in the game. Score is 26-20 my way.

Turn 6

Again not much to be said about this turn, Gustaf gets KO and then arrested but that's all that happens. Clover runs away and I don't chase, Bane and Slipknot remain on their side of the board. Game ends with both of us scoring Diversion, so game ends on 41-31 my way.

My thoughts on Bane and the list

The list on paper is quite solid, with a lot of models that I personally like a lot and think are individually very good. However, the low model count of a Bane crew doesn't seem to mesh as well as a Brave and the Bold crew does, or a few others for that matter, and there are a few things that seem a bit off. My opponent learned a lot from our game, and I'm sure that he will play significantly tougher next game we play, but we agreed that the crew lacked staying power. Slipknot will remain, but I think Boomerang, as amazing as he is, is too much of an investment in the crew when points are already wrapped up in Bane and Slipknot. Once the new Batbox does actually arrive it will be a great help to Bane, mostly just because the 2 new henchmen fill some great roles for the crew. Bane himself is now really a force to reckoned with, but at his points cost the crew has to have very specific jobs in what everything does, and has to have a bit of overlap in terms of roles IMO. His new support capability is much needed, and his personal buffs are amazing but he, like Brave and the Bold, suffers in Standard Batmatch due to an abundance of expensive options and not so many cheap ones.

Follow-up 1 week later
This game was obviously a great learning experience for my opponent, because at a tournament over the weekend he won after 2 good wins (one against myself after I decided not to play my cheesiest list that game) and an almost unavoidable loss against AK Riddler (while demolishing the crew, he couldn't move quickly enough to counter all the VP). The list was built differently, but it covered all the bases and was an absolute monster to face, being both quick (movement 3 across the board!) and deadly (cause Bane, duh). After seeing this, I think Bane is in a great spot even in standard, and once the Batbox is out he's only better.