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. 

Comic review- 80s-90s Batman (Year One, Long Halloween/Dark Victory, Knightfall, No Man's Land)

Starting yet another new format, today we have a comic overview! Thought the natural place to start here would be with Batman, but given the huge amount of comic media I've decided to break it up into 2 parts for him. These are some of my favourite pieces of Batman media from the late 80s and into the 90s, a time that I personally feel is the beginning of consistently great Batman media until a little bit into the New 52 relaunch. In these, we have what is widely regarded as the definitive Batman and Robin origin piece and some other comics that are hugely important to the wider Batman mythos. Each comic is listed below with the characters/crews that I think are covered quite well in the stories, and I would put as "must reads" for each character.

Year One- OC/Batman/Gordon

This story is in my opinion the best piece of writing Frank Miller ever did for DC Comics bar none, and in itself is a great look at the grittier side of Gotham through the early careers of Batman, Gordon and Catwoman. While some matter in it has long since been retconned (and then all of it in one of the worst decisions of the New 52) it still holds up to this day as an amazing chronological starting point for Batman readers (or just a starting point in general). I tend to not recommend this as much as the next 2 in terms of starting Batman, and the storytelling isn't as captivating as them, but the artstyle alone is enough to make it stand out as a classic piece. 

The story itself is Bruce Wayne returning to Gotham at the same time as James Gordon transfers from Chicago, and through their viewpoints we get differing perspectives on the corruption that has set into Gotham. Both parties make a dedicated effort to clean up the town through their own methods, and come into conflict with the Falcone mob and the Commissioner. If you're expecting Gordon to get along with Batman right from the start, you'd be dead wrong, but watching them both grow as characters is well worth the read. A lot of the general story beats inspire Christopher Nolan in Batman Begins, and it really shows the quality of both. 

Long Halloween/Dark Victory- OC/Two-Face/Batman/Robin/Catwoman/Calendar Man

These two are together because they should always be read together, it's that simple. While they're very much sequels to Year One, it isn't 100% essential to "get" the story of Long Halloween, while Dark Victory is a direct continuation of the Long Halloween story. The one huge issue with these comics is that the art was dated when it came out, and leaves a lot to be desired in its weirdly abstract style. The story, however, more than makes up for this, and I recommend these stories to anyone wanting to read Batman, new or old.

The Long Halloween details Batman still early in his career while he continues his crusade against Organised Crime in Gotham, this time framed amid the growing conflict between the Maroni and Falcone families. Right in the middle of the war, there is a bit of a murder mystery in the Holiday Killer, who is thinning the ranks of the Falcone family and fuelling gang conflict across Gotham, targeting Falcone members on holidays much to the anger of Calendar Man. Adding to this, we also see Gordon continuing to rise the ranks, Catwoman finding her thieving ways, and Gotham's costumed criminals beginning to take over the evolving criminal underworld. If you want to read more about the Falcones, Maronis, or Calendar Man, this is without question the place to start reading. 

Dark Victory is pretty much a direct continuation of Long Halloween, showing how the mobs are attempting to accustom themselves to the growing costumed crime in Gotham while they are being continually hit by the newly rising District Attorney, Harvey Dent. The way that Don Maroni attempts to deal with this will have repercussions for all of Gotham, and leads to the end of the story. Framed against the growing influence of Maroni, we also see the deaths of the Flying Graysons, and Dick Grayson turning into Robin. Again, this is a great piece for Maroni, but it is also a must read for fans of Robin or Two-Face because it is to this day the creation story for both of these characters.

Knightfall- Bane/Batman/Robin/Azrael

Knightfall. Everyone knows the basics, Bane comes in and smashes up Bruce, Azrael takes the reins and goes a bit nutty. The first arc, Knightfall proper, is without a doubt the best appearance of Bane to date, as its him at his most powerful and most manipulative, but its also a quick rattling off of a great amount of Batman villains, both major and minor. I'll admit I didn't enjoy the Azbat portion as much as other arcs I've read, but that is purely because I think it dragged on a bit too long. Azbat is a great example of 90s edge done well enough, seeing him slash up criminals is pretty cathartic actually, and its a perfect difference from the usual straight laced Batman. The one major complaint I have with this arc though, like No Man's Land after it, is Tim Drake and the drama with his father sucks. I have no love for it, if it went on for a quarter of the issues it did then maybe, but as it was it just bloats page counts for useless circular storytelling. To be fair, its something Robin simply couldn't have before Tim, and it is different, but its crap.
Knightfall starts with Bane blowing up Arkham Asylum, so the stakes are immediately set. Bruce is then at breaking point having to clean up the mess, and when he finally finishes Bane is waiting for him, leading to the famous "breaking". Cue Azbat and a long winded edgefest, and then Bruce is healed and comes back to take back the cowl. All in all I would recommend it up until the "breaking" but after that only if you're really looking to read a lot of Azbat. 

No Man's Land- Batman/Gordon/Penguin/Ivy/Harley/Joker
I'll be perfectly honest here, No Man's Land is one of my favourite Batman arcs of all time. Not only is it the first comic appearance of Harley Quinn and Cassandra Cain, it also has some of the best Penguin material ever published, and is where he truly comes into his own as a broker of all things, and it has a Batman stripped of all plot armour and in a bad way. The early stages of the arc (mainly Road to NML) are very Bruce Wayne heavy as well, with Bruce fighting in Congress to get government aid into Gotham instead of on its streets as Batman until a good way into the arc. All in all, its a refreshing pallet cleanser when compared to a lot of "traditional" Batman stories, and sets the tone for Gotham Central after it which is also awesome.
Set after the events of Cataclysm and Aftershock, Gotham is in a pretty bad way, and after the government declare it a no man's land almost all the residents leave. Those who are left behind have to deal with Gotham becoming a faction based playground for the various supervillains, and huge shifts in power are made among those at the top. Two-Face allying with police? It happens here, and its great. All throughout you watch eagerly as Batman and Gordon come to terms with what they've dealt with and crawl back into control of Gotham through both conflict and negotiation. The fact that Joker is largely missing for it is only an extra bonus, especially because when he does appear it's gnarly...

Battle Royale!- An alternate format for Batman Miniatures Game

Hi everyone, I've had this kicking around for a while now, decided I'd put it online so there's a place it can be found for everyone. It's intended for quick little character bash games, and I've also had some success in using it for demos as well. 

Crews

- Players have up to 250 reputation and $1000 funding to purchase a crew
- A maximum of 3 models can be chosen
- Normal restrictions on Free Agents and Sidekicks do not apply, and a Leader or Sidekick Boss is not necessary, although what is chosen must be able to normally be taken together e.g. Hawkman and Hawkgirl are available in Batman, Green Arrow or Birds of Prey crews so are a legal choice, while Batman and Deathstroke are not available in any way and as such are not legal
- Models with the Legend rank are not allowed

Scenario- 2 players

- Deployment is a 24”x24” square, with each player being able to deploy in base contact with a single board edge on opposite sides of the table. These zones can be extended through strategies following normal rules
- A single objective marker is to be placed in the centre of the board (Batsignal or safe marker is recommended) and no other objectives are placed by players. This central objective is worth 2VP to the player that is controlling it.
- Instead of the normal points awarded for making enemy models KO or casualty, all models will award 3VP for KO, 4 for casualty

Multiplayer Scenario- 3-4 players 

- The same rules apply as in the 2-player scenario, except for deployment- model bases must be partially within 2 inches from a single corner for each player
- The player who takes the lead each turn chooses the order in which activation will be done

List discussion- Batfleck/SS Katana "Outsiders" and Nightwing/Damian

Welcome back everyone, today we're up with 2 more Brave and the Bold lists to discuss! Both of these lists are somewhat similar in henchman makeup to the Knightfall lists I posted a few weeks ago (because that combination is pretty good) but as always its the characters that tweak how things play. Both these lists I created for purely thematic reasons, just to put specific versions of characters together and see how they work.

Arrests

The Arrest potential in these combinations is pretty obvious, but the models themselves are mostly just there as cheerleaders. Arkham Guard 3 at least has his Riot Gun, but the others will mostly just be babysitting objectives where needed and moving to arrest where possible. That said, it's 3 more activations, and that alone is great.

Guns

Lerida, QRT2 and 2 Riot Guns. What more could you ask for? Double whistles, and I've got those too. Cluster them near an ammo and watch the bullets (and bean bags) fly. The damage output on these guys is insanely high, but you have to play around them carefully (Ivy with her double mind control is a bad time for this). 

First up this list has yet another "movie inspired" feel, but more geared towards Batman's team the Outsiders from the comics. Now the classic Outsiders team don't really exist in BMG yet (I'm hoping for Black Lightning soon though!) so this is basically just a Batfleck cop list with SS Katana added.

The Brave And The Bold Crew
Models: 9
Reputation: 344/350
Funding: 1500$/1500$
[Boss][L] Batman (Ben Affleck) [125/0$]
-Upgraded Batsuit [0/100$]
[H] Arkham Guard 1 [21/0$]
[H] Arkham Guard 3 [22/100$]
[H] Gotham Policeman [16/0$]
[H] Gotham Policewoman [14/0$]
[H] Katana (Suicide Squad) [50/0$]
[H] Lerida [36/450$]
-Whistle [0/200$]
[H] Quick Response Team 2 [33/350$]
-Whistle [0/200$]
[H] Quick Response Team 1 [27/100$]

Good deal of blood damage, tons of stun and 5 models with Arrest. It has the potential to just jam up the board and touch anything that comes close, and with Batman at the centre as a tank piece there is a lot to take in when opposing it. 

Katana

SS Katana is in a bit of a weird spot in my opinion. As a henchman now (the main motivation behind writing this list) she benefits from Inspire and Let's Go, which is awesome, but her stats are still pretty low and she isn't all that hard to take out when needed. As a Bodyguard piece I think she is ok, protecting the already tanky Batman is a neat trick, but she really shines when put in the middle of a Let's Go chain after a Whistle. One of the guns softens up a target for her and she can really go to town with her namesake katana, it can do a ton of damage when needed. 

So now for the second list, I wanted to play a bit of a brotherly list from the comics. Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne has been an entertaining pairing from the get-go with no exceptions, and I wanted to pass that over to the table a bit. Then came new Damian, and I had to write a way to make it work well. Enter AK Nightwing with Heir to the Cowl, and I can have Grayson using Inspire on Damo to make him into an even more effective damage piece

The Brave And The Bold Crew

Models: 9

Reputation: 338/350

Funding: 1850$/1850$

[Boss][L] Nightwing (Arkham Knight) [95/0$]

[H] Arkham Guard 1 [21/0$]

-Runner [0/100$]

[H] Arkham Guard 3 [22/100$]

[H] Gotham Policewoman [14/0$]

[H] Lerida [36/450$]

-Whistle [0/200$]

-Swat Special Training [0/100$]

-Street Patrol [0/50$]

-Radio [0/100$]

[H] Robin [60/0$]

-Intensive Training [0/100$]

[H] Quick Response Team 2 [33/350$]

-Whistle [0/200$]

[H] Quick Response Team 1 [27/100$]

[H] Alfred Pennyworth [30/0$]

So looking at the list there's not all that much difference between this and the Batfleck list, save for the replacement of the "characters" and some equipment. Both have the same guns and arrests with double whistle, although the equipment is where it comes into play. Alfred is in there for another little bit of theme, but mainly because the last 40 or so rep was really awkward to squeeze out and Alfred is still pretty valuable.

Damian

So I've gone over both Damian and Nightwing before in my last post on the Robins, but in this list there is a bit of a different use for them than normal. Having Teamwork on them, and Inspire on Nightwing, lets me play around a lot with passing counters between them, and they can both combo up the table to KO models with ease. They're both decently survivable and very fast, so by the time they can get to combat they should be in top shape to start bashing heads. 

Runner

You may notice I took Runner, one of the pieces of equipment unlocked by Nightwing, on Arkham Guard 1 in this list. This is so I could have 2 endurance 5 henchmen with Arrest and Tireless, so my Arrests can move up quicker and have greater potential at quickly removing anything that gets KO (and with Nightwing and Damian that happens quick). For such a cheap piece of equipment (and cause Alfred gave me excess funding) I feel like it gets a ton of value in this case.

List Discussion- Brave and the Bold, Knightfall Batman (2 options)

Today we've got another list discussion, and it's another one I quite enjoy playing that has a bit of a theme to it (at least in terms of the big names). This one is based around Knightfall Batman and Sirens Catwoman, reflecting their brief meeting in the early stages of Jean-Paul's career.

The Brave And The Bold Crew

Models: 9

Reputation: 350/350

Funding: 1500$/1500$

[Boss][L] Batman (Knightfall) [115/0$]

[F] Catwoman [66/0$]

[H] Lerida [36/450$]

-Whistle [0/200$]

-Swat Special Training [0/100$]

[H] Gotham Policewoman [14/0$]

[H] Quick Response Team 2 [33/350$]

-Whistle [0/200$]

[H] Arkham Guard 1 [21/0$]

[H] Arkham Guard 3 [22/100$]

[H] Quick Response Team 1 [27/100$]

[H] Gotham Policeman [16/0$]

So this list at face value is high model count, high impact (or at least that's the goal). Basic idea is Catwoman taking on objectives quickly for VP, while the rest move up and get to fighting. There is a good deal of endurance to get through, 4 ranged weapons and a flamethrower to get out plenty of damage before things get closer, but it doesn't lose much when it does close up. 5 models with Arrest, most things doing either blood damage or double stun, it's pretty well rounded. 

Batman

Knightfall Batman is in my opinion one of the most unsubtle models in the game, because he has one role- get into combat range and use his claws and flamethrower on anything that moves. He can work as both horde clearer and single model killing, and his Medium Armour keeps him pretty safe from almost any henchmen most of the time. 

Catwoman

Catwoman goes in here as a VP battery, only reason I ever take her. She's quick, hard to land hits on, and can get bonus VP from Loot while being fairly mobile at the same time. Usually she gets backed up by Batman as protection, possibly also the guns, but I almost always make sure she's as safe as possible.

Lerida/QRT2

Same role as in any other list I take them, they're the ranged lynchpin. In this list though, Whistles take on a new highly lethal form in synergising with Batman's fire, stopping enemies from putting themselves out and maximising damage output. 

Arkham Guard 3/QRT1

These guys are here for both Arrest and for their Riot Guns. The guns let me reach out earlier than anything else in the list, and hopefully put some early stun onto models to soften them up for later. Both of these guys for less than 50 rep and only $200 funding is amazing, and if I play lighter on the heroes, I will always tag in these two after Lerida and QRT2.

Arkham Guard 1/Policewoman/Policeman

More bodies on the table, and more Arrest. They arrest things and sit on objectives, that's pretty much it.

Alternate List Option

The Brave And The Bold Crew

Models: 8

Reputation: 341/350

Funding: 1500$/1500$

[Boss][L] Batman (Knightfall) [115/0$]

[F] Commisioner Gordon [70/0$]

-Heliport [0/150$]

[H] Arkham Guard 1 [21/0$]

[H] Gotham Policewoman [14/0$]

[H] Lerida [36/450$]

-Whistle [0/200$]

-Street Patrol [0/$50]

[H] Quick Response Team 2 [33/350$]

-Whistle [0/200$]

[H] Arkham Guard 3 [22/100$]

[H] Sierra [30/0$]

This list is pretty much the same, with the biggest change being Catwoman removed for Commissioner Gordon. This is probably a more synergistic list, and still somewhat in theme, as it provides me more lasting ranged damage, an extra Inspire for the henchmen, and a means to easily set up the Riot Gun popping early shots off on models. The loss of QRT1 is felt, as is the drop in numbers, but compensated by taking Sierra for a reliable and tanky melee henchman.

List discussion- Brave and the Bold, Batfleck/Ezra Flash

Hi everyone, branching out a bit more with a discussion on a list I have had a good deal of success with, so people can get to know my playstyle and list preferences a bit more. This one is a bit of a low model count list at 6 models, but I've managed to get a lot of wins with this against a variety of crews, and placed 2nd in a 17 player tournament earlier this year with a variation on this.

The Brave And The Bold Crew

Models: 6

Reputation: 348/350

Funding: 1500$/1500$

[Boss][L] Batman (Ben Affleck) [125/0$]

[F] The Flash [118/100$]

[H] Gotham Policewoman [14/0$]

[H] Quick Response Team 2 [33/350$]

-Whistle [0/200$]

[H] Lerida [36/450$]

-SWAT Special Training [0/100$]

-Whistle [0/200$]

[H] Arkham Guard 3 [22/100$]

This was originally intended as a somewhat more themed list, with both heroes being from Justice League and the DCEU. Batfleck is somewhat of a default model for me, as I find him to be the Batman I most enjoy using the most, and I simply wanted to use Flash, who was brand new when I wrote this list. The basic idea is using Batman and the guns as both hammer and anvil, with Flash running interference and scoring early VP. An alternate version of this list (and the one I took to the tournament I discuss below) is replacing Arkham Guard 3 with Arkham Guard 1, and giving Batman the Upgraded Batsuit. It lets Batman survive better, but loses out on ranged damage a bit. I have found the Riot Gun not always useful, but it comes more in handy early game than Arkham Guard 1. 

Batman

Batman in here is the brawler, made to get stuck in with the enemy crew and punch up threats. Sustained Defence lets him block a hell of a lot, and in centre focused games he can just plod around with 4 attack and 4 defence to punch out what he needs to.

Flash

Flash's role in this list I've pretty much gone over in my Speedster article, but he is there to quickly grab and defend objectives turn 1/2, then when the cops catch up he runs around and knocks out henchmen. 

QRT2/Lerida

They shoot things, and they whistle things. Camped on an ammo, or hunting around one, they can put out a ton of damage. Also shutting things down for Batman and Flash to get to, these 2 make almost every list I play. Lerida is also here to do as much damage as possible to higher defence models with SWAT Training, and even defence 5 models will be hit on 2s. 

Policewoman/Arkham Guard 3

As I keep repeating, Moral Compass on Flash is something you need to play around as much as possible. My other henchmen do blood damage in spades, so no issue there, but I still needed to make up Arrests to remove KO models. That's what these 2 are for, with the Policewoman being an amazing budget option for 14 rep, both in objective defence and in arresting, and the Arkham Guard arresting but also can pop off some more stun with his Riot Gun. 

This list I took to Clash of the Titans 2018 in Sydney, Australia, and I ended up coming 2nd overall. This tournament had all 3 scenarios based around the centre of the table, so I knew that shorter/medium ranged guns and brawlers would be highly effective in this regard. All 3 games I took Change of Plans and Police Training as strategies, based around scoring as quickly and efficiently as possible and making my arrests as efficient as possible, using Medical Supplies, Ammo and the Batsignal. This let me easily sit on 9VP a turn and wait out the rest, giving the opportunity to just rely on them having to come to me to not be outscored.
Game 1 I was against Secret Six, and managed to have Flash fight off Catman on my flank every turn of the game (through beams and pushes) to sit quite comfortably on 6VP, while in the middle of the board the rest of my crew had a somewhat tougher fight against the rest of the crew. Here my VP gain was just too much, and I was able to in return contest objectives for long enough to get a convincing victory.
Game 2 I was against a Green Arrow crew that I had some experience against beforehand, so I knew how to best deal with what I faced. Again my cops sat back on objectives to score as many VP as possible early, but this time one of my objectives was in his deployment zone, so I had to send Flash up to deal with that. He managed to survive the onslaught for long enough, and my opponent sending almost all his threat to deal with Flash led to me being able to mop up around his own objectives. It came out to be another minor win by Batmatch, but only by a very small margin at this point
Game 3 I was at the top table, and I already expected a bloodbath. I was up against the reigning champion and his Black Mask crew. This scenario we had to split our crews in half for deployment, so I was already fighting a losing battle, but I was pretty much just picked apart. A lucky turn 1 Batsignal on a 12" high building saved me from humiliation, with Flash managing to hold out long enough to score some more VP, but it ended up in a minor loss to me. It did, however, still put me ahead of 3rd place in VP count, so I still managed to come in at 2nd place at the end of the day.

All in all, I very much enjoy using this crew, and I find that it has a lot of teeth in terms of competitiveness. It may struggle against some faster and higher damage hordes, but in general the basic strategy holds solid.

The Robins Part 3- Nightwing, Red Hood and new Damian!

Hi everyone, back with another model review here, including one of the latest wave of releases! I want to round off my set on the Robins with the "graduates", meaning Red Hood and Nightwing, but when I started reading this we got a new Damian model too, so what better place to put that than here! I'll be sticking to the usual format breakdown for these, except for adding a little bit at the end of Damian's piece to talk more "crew-specific" as in, how he benefits from the different crews.

Nightwing in all 3 incarnations is pretty similar, only with slight changes between them (although they do affect the playstyle significantly). All 3 have almost the same statline, with the exception of the original (now Eternal) model having 1 less willpower and movement. For these reasons alone, I feel like this Nightwing is pretty much obsolete, despite being the cheapest and still pretty capable. The others just do more on top, for little more in cost. All 3 are Sidekick rank, although AK Nightwing has Heir to the Cowl, allowing him to become a Leader when Batman isn't present, which can make for some nice list options in itself at the cost of higher VP gain.
Offensive
Offensively they're all pretty much the same, with Combo on their weapons regardless of name, and all being double stun, Mechanical and Handy. It makes Nightwing a very reliable hitter, and getting knockouts with him is pretty much a breeze. The newer resin Nightwing also has Electric for some potential stunning on a crit, and giving him rerolls to wound against Bot and Cybernetic which can come in handy against LexCorp or Riddler. He does lose Electric Storm for this compared to the others, but as a special attack Electric Storm is pretty bad in general, only being great against a group of nearly KO models. Teamed with a Rapid Firing Arsenal for a bit of a fluffy combo, it can get decent results however. The original one does have Sneak Attack as well, which can be great, but it costs him more counters that can also be spent protecting himself or moving.
Defensive
This is where the differences begin to show in the Nightwing gallery, as they have different little bonuses to keep themselves safe in slight ways. All are def 4 Acrobat, with OG Nightwing having a lower movement and thus harder dodges, but he is also cheaper. OG also has nothing else special in in this regard, being the budget option and the original. Resin Nightwing has Jump Up to protect from knockdown if he will face a group of chain activations (or has already activated), Combat Flip to move away from potential threats, and my favourite Street Guy to crouch for free. Guaranteed def 5 when he is behind an obstacle is great, and keeps him pretty much safe from guns for no effort at all. AK Nightwing is the king of dodging, and as such is absolutely terrified of models that can deny that, but in most cases he will have a ridiculously high chance of dodging, and when you pack it with Ping! he isn't getting shot easily. Rerolls to agility tests helps him dodge very well, but also lets him jump from tall buildings without damage thanks to Agile.
Overall
All versions of Nightwing have Charismatic, which lets you take more Free Agents to run fluffy team up lists with his Titans or Batfam allies and is situationally useful in list building. Resin Nightwing comes with Searcher to negate an enemy strategy point, which is a nice little bonus, AK has the ever present Teamwork that all Arkham Knight Batfam have, which is good if you have other models with it, and OG Nightwing has Explosive Gel, which can be great in the days of modern sewers but is often forgotten.
In Teams
Nightwing is a must have in any team that can take him, because he really is that good. Teen Titans he is their best option hands down (which likely won't change should they get a 2nd edition update) and in Bat-Family he is an excellent second hitter alongside Batman. My personal choice goes to the resin Nightwing, purely because he is slightly cheaper than AK while keeping some great tricks, although AK Nightwing is a very close second place.

Both Red Hood models are as you can expect, they shoot things and put them down. They operate in slightly different ways, despite their identical statline, but in general they're both aiming to shoot things as much as possible. The other key difference, other than affiliation, is the ranks of the 2. AK Red Hood is a free agent, while Disco Hood is a sidekick in rank. 

Offensively

Both versions have similar stats on their guns, with blood/stun firearms at short range, but they have slight differences. Disco Hood doesn't have Light, and 1 lower native RoF, but has 1 extra ammo. However, Disco Hood has both Gunman and Instinctive Shooting, so he can move and shoot with no penalty and with both weapons at a time, so he will go through his ammo quicker. AK Hood has Takedown instead, which lets him remove models he knocks out as casualties instead, for only 1 special. This is insanely efficient, and with his RoF4 he can clean up henchmen very quickly. Neither have bonuses or rerolls to hit with their weapons, but with their volume of fire they can go pretty well against lower defence models. I wouldn't attack high defence models (4/5) with them though unless they have no other option, just because it isn't all too reliable. 

Defensively

Movement 4 Acrobat is always great, and both have slightly different vests to help them in different ways. AK Hood has a Bulletproof Vest, making him harder to wound with the guns that do hit, while Disco Hood has Kevlar Vest, letting him drop damage off every hit he takes, ranged or melee. AK Hood also have Safe Hands, but Steal is borderline useless so it will rarely see play. 

Overall

Neither model has too much in the way of other traits, but both do different things related to the game flow. Disco Red Hood has Searcher, so he negates a strategy point right from the get go, and AK Red Hood has Scheming:1, which is situational but potentially useful.

Bat-Family

Both Red Hoods guns become double stun, but with easily bought Arrest this isn't that big a deal. Disco Hood is pretty similar to always, but AK Red Hood is great because he has Takedown for a bit more efficiency in removing models from play.

Thanks to Little Gotham for the new traits here, everyone should give their podcast a listen! 

The new version of Damian is quite an excellent model, in his new role he is one of the most points efficient options in the crews he can go into. A few big changes to him, first off he is a henchman as opposed to the old free agent, and 10 rep more, but he can also now go into League of Assassins and Court of Owls as well as Brave and the Bold. His statline is the same, as are most of his traits, with him losing True Love:Batman, Master Fighter and Technique and gaining Combo:Katana and Invaluable instead. Invaluable seems bad initially, but once you factor in that it's still less VP on death than the metal Damian gave up, isn't all that bad. 

Offensive

Damian's output massively increased in this version, because he not only gained a katana but he also got Combo with it. At attack 4 that means he can reliably do 6 attacks with rerolls on both hit and damage rolls, at strength 4+. In Court and League, he is doing 2 blood each attack, so he can kill very quickly (more efficiently than any other in their respective crews), while in BatB (and Batfam) his blood becomes stun because of Mentoring. What this means though is he is only a little bit weaker offensively than Nightwing in the same role, but a great deal cheaper. The two of them together (especially in Batfam)? Right on the money, KOs a plenty!

Defensive

He didn't gain anything extra from the old model in the way of defence, except for in Brave and the Bold. Mentoring here gives him Boy Wonder, so he ignores Handy, which can help him in many cases but ultimately can be dealt with. In League and Court, he's left to himself as a somewhat fragile model, but he is still decently survivable.

Overall

Damian is a very good model in general, and should be able to find space in most crews. Inspire and Let's Go! are both great additions to his skill set, and his damage output keeps him in the game a lot. Detective is always great, and the crews he works for helps their natively low model counts in a good way. On the occasion he dies in a BatB crew, he gives Bruce Wayne True Love to him upon being hired, so he can give Batman an extra attack and willpower, which is pretty crazy in most cases.

Brave and the Bold/Bat-Family

Not much to say that hasn't already been said, I don't find the equipment options in BatB all that great on Damian. Football Gear can be very nice in certain matchups, but I prefer my Whistles on guns where the counters are more efficient. 

Court of Owls

Court I think Damian is one of their best offensive pieces, on the same level as Strix or the 1880s Talon. Unfortunately Damian can only take 1 piece of equipment total, because of Mentoring, so no Stealth/Fast combo, but either one is very good in any case. 

League of Assassins

Damo with his maternal family tend to bring out the worse side in his character, same as Court, but the use of him is slightly different in League. Things like Goro can tune him up into even more of a monster, especially when combined with an Inspire for 9 attacks on his katana (the most damage on any single model in the game!). Equipment wise, Combat Bracers or Trained in Shadow stick out the most, just because they make him more efficient (Damian and HSH team-up? I sure would)

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.

Brief update- Eternal format and teams

Hi all, just thought I'd jump in with a quick update on how this blog is going to work in the future. Knight Models had a huge shakeup last night alongside their new releases, the way the rules work for tournaments has now changed massively in not too positive of a way. All these changes can be found on the KM website here: http://www.knightmodels.com/en/

As of last night, standard format Batmatch events are now restricted to 2nd edition models only, with the new style cards, and older models are their own "Eternal format". While this is something that is undeniably for the health of the game, it is a bit of a bummer to read. There has been a lot of negative reaction to it on the various platforms for BMG discussion, but the general sentiment from TOs, myself included, is that the Eternal format will be the unofficial standard, because the standard as it currently is favours certain crews far too heavily to make a fair tournament setting. I would not complain at all about the change, because of the wider TO call, but also because if this month is anything to go by, the re-releasing of models is seriously amping up in volume and we're getting tons of stuff redone very quickly.

On top of this, and the main reason I decided to write this post, is that there was a new team PDF released last night. This updated the Suicide Squad, and added 3 new teams (Secret Society, Bat-Family and Team Arrow) but the Teen Titans, Birds of Prey and Secret Six have all disappeared entirely. Because of this, I will not be continuing with any further posts on the teams other than the overviews I have already begun (Birds of Prey, and I am currently working on Teen Titans). I had planned to detail out the whole rosters for these teams, but now that the book and the teams in it are ruled entirely invalid, I don't see as much point in doing so. Should there be a further update to these teams I will continue, but as it stands I will be moving focus to the new teams, and boy are they exciting!

Birds of Prey general thoughts- Canary, Katana, Catwoman and Huntress

Hi all, back with my first proper team overview, focusing on the Birds of Prey. In this post I'll be talking about general tactics to use when playing Birds of Prey, and then a few choice models to take (Huntress, comic Katana, comic Black Canary and Sirens Catwoman)

General Tactics/Team Overview
In a Birds of Prey crew there is a somewhat limited potential hiring pool, although in terms of options they are now firmly a competitive team in my opinion (Suicide Squad being the only other one of the 4). As a team, all members gain Stealth, with the drawback of also gaining Moral Compass. Despite being able to very easily KO models, not being able to use the Coup de Grace rule is nasty, although there are ways to get models off the table and score VP otherwise. Being a team they are prone to a lower model count, and so I would almost never split the team up, preferring at the very least 2 model teams (usually now Canary/Huntress while the rest move up). The Birds are somewhat more forgiving in terms of VP given away, as they give up 2VP for a KO, then 1 more for a casualty (so 3 all up), with the Boss counting as a Leader. The Boss of the team also gains Reinforced Gloves and +1 Willpower, which ranges from amazing to of little use depending on the Boss. In terms of objectives, Medical Supplies and Ammo are a must, because 3VP each objective is huge for a team, but then the third standard objective depends on crew build. If Catwoman is in the crew, Loot is a definite in my opinion, because easy access to Hidden and Undercover means you can reach it quickly to hand it off to Catwoman.

So as in my Rogues overview, starting with the model I think is the best fit as a Boss model. Black Canary brings so much to a Birds of Prey crew that she is almost always worth including in a list, the fact that she has to be Boss is also pretty negligible. The only case I think the Boss buffs are big enough to warrant taking another character is in the case of Batgirl, because her 59 point version is absolutely insane with the Birds buffs.
Offensively
Attack 4 with Reinforced Gloves and Martial Artist is awesome for her cost, but factor in that she is now Willpower 7 as well and she can be a great rewarding piece most of the time. Her other huge trait is Canary Cry, which is unique to her but can be offensive in both control and in damage. If she's against a horde of mooks, she can quite reliably shut them out of the game entirely or force them to split up away from buffs (Inspire, Leader and Sidekick Let's Go! changes). Leadership is the biggest thing to look for with her, because you want to absolutely knock it out as quickly as possible. Further adding to her aggressive shutdown playstyle is Technique, which means if there's a model that isn't Stunned from the Cry, she can beat it down a bit to paralyse it and shut it out for that turn. Don't rely on her to solo a crew, but she can pretty easily lock them down for everyone else, or at least to protect the advance.
Defensively
Stealth from Birds is awesome on everyone that doesn't already have it, so Canary loves that. She's also a Movement 3 Acrobat for when people do actually shoot, and Defence 4 Martial Artist, so takes an investment to take out in any regard. Keep in mind though, that she is only Endurance 6, gives up Leader VP, and losing her is punishing to the crew in general. You can realistically shut down a huge amount of models a turn with her, but be careful that it doesn't end up with her being left in a position to be easily damaged should things go wrong. Preparing for failure is very important with her.
Overall
Canary is a relatively quick model, and as previously mentioned oppressive in terms of shutting down models. With Hidden she can start doing her thing from turn 1, and now she has quite a good partner for it in Huntress. Between the two you can put pressure on early, and your crew can relax on the advance without much of a threat.

My personal favourite version of Catwoman, she plays well into the Birds purely because she can rack up VP for the crew somewhat easily, while being a royal pain to deal with.
Offensively
In terms of combat, Sirens Catwoman doesn't particularly do anything special. Modern Age Catwoman is the one you want to be fighting in any case, she is far more competent at it. Retractable Claws are a decent attack, but at Attack 3 and Strength 5+, even with rerolls, she is someone who should be at most supporting a combat or harassing an objective, not diving in herself.
Defensively
Simply put, this is where she shines. Acrobat at Movement 5, combined with Defence 5 and she's not easy to take out at all. Add in Stealth and guns are a non-starter without ways to stop her spending counters, meaning she's more of a target to melee models. Defence 5 is always solid, leaving a 33% chance to hit, but she is still prone to defence debuffs, and with no Martial Artist she can't be caught outnumbered. Endurance 5 makes her a bit of a liability, so I am personally prone to keep her out of harm's way as much as is humanly possible (with her movement tricks though, it's easily doable)
Overall
She works best as a simple VP battery. With the inherently lower model count in team lists, someone like Catwoman who can comfortably sit on 5VP a turn (8 with a lucky Change of Plans) is a huge boon to them. With Primary Target:Loot I would take it in most situations Catwoman is in the crew, purely because it lets her be mobile and keep doing her thing. Sneaking lets her always score the 2VP, as long as the contesting model doesn't have it as well, but at the small cost of 1MC still. Her easy scoring opens up the crew to deal with threats, and as long as you can defend them easily enough you will have an easy VP game. Like almost all members of teams, Catwoman works best when she has someone to back her up, in this case to clear off objectives and prevent the opponent from scoring.

Huntress is a character who was largely not worth taking in any crew until July, when she got an update to resin and a new card. The changes on this card compared to the old one are HUGE, and now she is definitely worth using whenever she fits, because she is awesome. +1 willpower and ammo and picking up Hidden are game changers, completely revitalising her.
Offensively
Huntress is an offensive piece first and foremost, being able to do solid damage herself and also enable the rest of the crew to fight better. Her ranged attack is RoF1 with Rapid Fire, so she can always move and shoot with no penalties, and at 2 blood per shot with Mechanical is consistent enough in laying down hurt. At Medium Range she has a great threat range, being able to damage most threats before they can even see her, and with Distract she has an effective means of reducing enemy defence so the rest of the Birds can hit easier, especially helpful against high defence targets. Her Hand Crossbow is also effective at getting around Moral Compass, letting her deal blood damage so there is less need to Coup de Grace enemy models.
Defensively
Nothing too out there for Birds, she's almost exactly the same as Canary defensively. Runaway is situationally very good, making her immune to Arrest, but won't factor in all the time.
Overall
She works best in conjunction with other pieces, mainly as a supporting firebase. As a secondary Hidden piece with Canary, you have a ton of potential threat in a pretty cheap package, right on the opponent's doorstep, and can put the hurt on right from turn 1 to threaten flanks and get early VP. As a Boss she isn't the most desirable, not getting much out of the buffs (Reinforced Gloves on attack 3 is meh, and she has no huge need for willpower 8) but she could potentially lead if needed.

The last piece for this post is comic Katana, who is the simple melee killer of the crew. While there are other models that can quite reliably damage, Katana is the one to take to remove models from the equation, because she completely ignores Moral Compass with her Soultaker.
Offensively
As is obvious from her name, Katana kills things. She is quick enough to get into combat, and her traits are geared around her being in the thick of it cutting things down ("like she's mowing the lawn"- Rick Flag 2016). Weapon wise she isn't too special, basically being the same as Lotus from the League of Assassins, with the exception of her Soultaker having Enervating/1 on it. She will be quite reliably hitting models with Handy and Precise Blow, so she is at least stripping counters off of what she lands hits on. Her Soultaker is nice damage, same as any other Katana wielding model, and the Shurikens are decent at hitting lampposts or little damage at models you can't quite reach. She has Feint, which is awesome on her as it shuts down blocks for 1SC, meaning she will be hitting easier, but the real star is Precise Blow. She should always be using this, because it tunes up her damage output quite significantly, giving +1 to hit and a reroll on the collateral dice. This means she easily hits models, as I have already said, with a +1 to hit and rerolls to hit, then rerolling damage and the collateral she is relatively consistent. Use the reroll to fish for Knock Down, that's what it's best used for with how much counter denial Birds can get going.
Defensively
Like Huntress and Canary, she is again a movement 3 Acrobat that gains Stealth, so she is already quite good against guns. She also has Martial Artist, so Outnumber is very hard to get in a standard Birds of Prey crew, and it suits her a lot with where she wants to be. Her biggest boon, however, is in Adaptable, which effectively means she will be Defence 5 most of the game.
Overall
Katana is the main attack piece of the crew, but I would still make sure she has some form of support as she can only do so much by herself. As a Boss, she doesn't benefit from the Reinforced Gloves at all, but +1 willpower can help a lot in using her as an attack piece, which can come in very handy.

The Rogues- thoughts

To follow up from my earlier post on the Flash family, I'm now covering their opposites in the Rogues. I will be discussing all versions of Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, and Heatwave, before going in depth on the existing villain Speedsters as well down the line.

 The obvious starting point of the Rogues, we have their traditional leader Captain Cold. Cold is a great support piece with his traits, and also provides great ranged threat with his Cold Gun. He can be a Free Agent to any villain crew bar Joker and League of Assassins, but also as a Sidekick in a Mr Freeze. This is how I personally use him most, leading a predominately Rogues themed crew, but he slots in excellently in many cases.
Offensively
Captain Cold excels in situations where he isn't in close range fighting himself, preferring to take a more backline approach with his ranged weapons. Ranged Master on his RoF2 double blood gun means he is hitting fairly reliably, and it being a Beam with Accurate and Cold means he is a tailor made Acrobat hunter, or anyone with Dodge. Medium Range allows him to shoot at models while he is still relatively safe early on, and Cold as a weapon trait plays quite well into Heatwave, as losing movement counters means a greater chance they can't remove Fire. This weapon mode has 3 ammo, meaning he can be shooting it for half the game, but his other alternate fire mode is also very good. The full power mode of his Cold Gun, it's main differences are Ice Template (punishing for low movement models) and Aim. Aim on this mode isn't all that bad, because at Short Range you likely won't use it until models are closing in anyway, using the Ice Template to stop an advance. It also sacrifices 1RoF for an extra stun damage, meaning you can clip a few models for more damage on this hit, but the main intention is for them to be taking agility rolls from the template, and hopefully being Knocked Down.
Defensively
In terms of defence, Cold doesn't have anything special really. Defence 4 endurance 7 is a solid stat block for his cost, but as a Free Agent one needs to play carefully. In a Mr Freeze crew he benefits from Prisoner 4, and the Bodyguard here I feel is pretty essential.
Overall
Cold's trait list is suited towards a midfield firebase, providing henchmen with some great potential support, and dealing out a good amount of damage himself. Leadership is great against Mind Control models, and Order helps get out of potential misplays with counters. Mastermind is always good to have, but his greatest trait for his cost is Strategist. The extra strategy point really just sets off his whole card
Best crews
Cold is obviously keyed into a Mr Freeze crew through being a Sidekick, although it is not the best choice to run both him and Freeze together. The Freeze crew already seriously struggles with funding, introducing the $400 Cold into it just adds to the problem. He provides an excellent kit for it, but it's expensive to do. As a boss, Cold is great, not costing any funding at all for all the toys he brings. He naturally also plays off of Heatwave in any crew, but the place Cold really shines is in Organised Crime. The tools he has play off any henchman mob well, but Joker that isn't an option, and Penguin in general has fallen to the wayside a bit. OC, on the other hand, he is maximising his potential skill set, while also being an offensive piece

To round off the TV Rogues, Heatwave is a very good all rounder, and provides a lot to any crew he is included in. He doesn't have any buffs for other models, but as a damage dealer he can do a lot of work to clear models, and he is decently tanky for his cost. Def 3 is on the lower end, but at endurance 8 for 65 points, he takes a kicking. He works for the same crews as his partner, Captain Cold, so no Joker or League here either!
Offensively
Heatwave is pretty obvious in his naming, he has a flamethrower and he burns things. The actual damage on it is in multiple bands, as it is a 1st edition card, but it is more than capable of dealing great damage on its own, especially so when you add in other models. He also has attack 4 with Reinforced Gloves, meaning that he can lay the fists on when he needs to, something which is a great addition in a worst case scenario.
Defensively
Heatwave lacks many "traditional" defensive abilities, but he has some more interesting corner case traits that can be useful in certain situations. He has Escape Artist, meaning he is immune to Grab, but at defence 3 with no Martial Artist grabs aren't all that useful anyway. He is relatively easy to hit, but at endurance 8 and Sturdy he has the potential to hang around for quite a while, and be a pain while he's still alive.
Overall
There's not much else to say about Heatwave, he's a very unsubtle model in what he does. Teamwork/2 Captain Cold is about his only tricky ability, and when Cold is willpower 6 himself it's  something to use very carefully.
Best crews
Heatwave, like all models with Fire, work best when you can deny movement counters being spent. This often means Freeze, although any crew with Killer Frost can do it for a cost, and the synergy with Captain Cold also works well enough in most cases. He is a good general use model, and can find a spot in most of the crews he works for.

 The first Captain Boomerang we're dealing with is the movie version, from Suicide Squad. Simply put, this model is one of the best Free Agents in the game point for point, bringing a ton of value for very low cost. 48 rep and $200 is not a major investment in any regard, and any gang that can use him will likely be able to get value from him
Offensively
This is really where Boomerang shines for his price point, being able to put out reliable ranged damage that ignores Ping!. His Monitoring Device should always be used if you're shooting, unless you are shooting a pingless shot, just because it negates the most prevalent ranged defence in the game. In terms of actual shooting, Master Marksman means he is rerolling misses (keeping him quite accurate). He has 3 ammo as standard, 2 for his Bladed Boomerang and 1 for his LE Boomerang. The Bladed Boomerang keeps him mobile, able to be thrown at full RoF on the move, and at strength 4+ with rerolls is semi-reliable damage. The LE Boomerang is more suited towards a stationary Digger, keeping him static on an ammo to keep arming himself and letting fly. It does slightly more damage, double blood vs blood stun, and is a Firearm so it is far more likely to wound. His best trait offensively though, and the one that is quite hilarious, is Ricochet. The potential to make another whole attack against a second target each turn is huge, and can potentially mean massive amounts of damage output from a quite cheap Free Agent. If you can catch a Bodyguard near their Leader, you can get both, or at the very least nuke a Bodyguard so the rest of the crew can gang up on the Leader. Should he get caught in a bad spot and put into melee, you can also attack with his Melee Boomerangs, which have the same function as his Bladed Boomerangs but lack any rerolls to hit. This is a strictly worse way of playing than simply moving out of B2B and shooting with a Bladed Boomerang, unless it's against a dump character like a Dollotron.
Defensively
Boomer is a bit fragile at defence 3 endurance 5, but that can be expected for his cost. He does bring Elusive, which allows him to spend MC to reroll Ping! rolls, but this is very situational. In general, play it safe with Boomerang. Behind the action is where he wants to be, just like the movie
Overall
This Boomerang is very good as a cheap offensive model, firing away from behind his allies, but he is not a great VP piece. He's only able to score off of Safe Boxes and Loot, so you have to plan around lower VP gain per turn if you actually want Boomerang to score himself, or not have him gaining objective VP at all. That said, as a force multiplier he works incredibly well for offensive crews, being able to shoot into combats without any chance of a Ping! being given away. However, a Riddler bot list can also find a very good spot for him as another shorter ranged piece, preferably to defend the bots and clues.

The comic Boomerang is fairly similar to SS Boomer, gaining +1 endurance, movement and defence and a ton of different tricks, but he costs 34 rep and $150 funding more. It is quite a significant increase in points, but also quite an upgrade overall.
Offensively
This Boomerang is lower in terms of raw shooting power, but he brings along some interesting trick boomerangs, adding up to a whopping 5 ammo, that can help out a crew in many ways. He has Master Marksman like SS Boomer, so he rerolls all missed ranged attacks, but replaces the Monitoring Device for Shooter. This means he is less counter intensive for max damage output, but without Total Vision and Remote Controlled he doesn't have the ability to shoot around corners. The first profile is his melee profile, which as a single blood with sharp is decent enough, but all of his ranged attacks are throwing with rerolls, so why stay in a combat with him? In terms of other weapon profiles, he has the same Blade Boomerang as SS Boomerang as a "standard" (the only one with more than one ammo), but his trick boomerangs are where he starts to look special. The Acid Boomerang is his best single damage attack, at 2 blood, but at only RoF1 it is somewhat restricted. Acid enables him as softening something for a further beatdown, acting as a defence reduction to make others hit easier (and Ricochet lets you get it on 2 models, efficiency!). The Electric Boomerang deals only stun, but has the potentially amazing Electric trait, meaning he can Stun models and stop them using counters on a crit (again, Ricochet for the control factor is great). At RoF2 it is a solid attack to KO models, but in the most common case where Electric is a factor (reroll damage vs Bots and Cybernetic) the Blade Boomerang already has Sharp, but with blood/stun. The Gravity Boomerang is his most potentially interesting, having lower damage than the rest (1 blood) but at RoF2 and with Push you can force a lot of models out of position. With Ricochet you can potentially push 4 models a turn, moving things how you want them and dictating the flow of the game in a huge way.
Defensively
As previously mentioned, this Boomerang has defence 4 and endurance 6, both higher than SS. This means he is natively harder to take out, combined with trading Elusive for Dodge, and at movement 3 no less, you get a model that can stick around a lot longer.
Overall
Some big changes between Boomerangs, this one loses Greed, so can score of any objective, and gains Follow Me! and Tracking. Follow Me! makes him a great secondary piece in slower crews like OC, as he can help with counter efficiency and increasing movement, and Tracking means he himself is able to be sped up when necessary (although at willpower 6 he is unlikely to have much left after a full turn of action). He is harder to slot into crews than SS Boomerang, but still fits very well into a great many builds. As a boss in Suicide Squad, he is also an interesting option. While not being as singularly effective as Deadshot or Deathstroke, he is able to manipulate the effective Let's Go! that Suicide Squad have, and enable the real heavy hitters to play with it.