Brave and the Bold henchmen review part 1- SWAT, QRT and Standard options

Now that I've finished League off until new releases arrive, I've decided I'll be going back to my roots in a way for a few more posts. My first crew, and what has always been my main crew, is Brave and the Bold, and there are quite a lot of henchmen to talk about for them. In this post I won't be talking about things I already have, so Damian and SS Katana won't be covered, and I won't be talking about Goliath either (because I'm very indecisive about his actual use, and want to use him a bit before I write about him, and because he fits into a few different places that change him up so I feel he's better suited to his own post). So in this post we will discuss a few of the metal henchmen, all of the resin henchmen, and at the end a little piece on where I think Brave and the Bold sit currently from a Standard point of view and through the lens of their henchmen.

SWAT

The Elite option for Brave and the Bold, the SWAT are somewhat similar to Bane henchmen without the blood damage melee options. Expensive but relatively tanky, elite and hard hitting, although unlike Bane they are best used as supplementary pieces, not making up the whole crew.
Offensive
The main role of the SWAT is to damage enemy models, but they all do it in somewhat different ways. Fittingly, they all have the Cop trait, giving them a +1 to hit vs models with the Criminal trait (that also stacks with any other bonus to hit- see Whistles)
There are a couple of melee models in the SWAT, namely Sierra and Echo, but Foxtrot also sits in this role somewhat. Sierra is a great piece in general because of his versatility, survivability and damage capability, but his Taser is an excellent option when paired with an Arrest. Going after henchmen with him is a smart choice, as wounding on 3s in melee is nothing to sneeze at, although he is somewhat easily blocked like most henchmen. Echo has great abilities in being able to give enemies Stunned through Lethal Blow, while being able to somewhat reliably get out blood damage at the same time and is relatively cheap in BatB for doing so. Foxtrot, however is kind of in an odd spot. He has nice traits defensively, but his offence is poor. He has 2 Flash Grenades, which are decent in a control use and to set up other models in the crew, while also doing single stun damage, but he also has Charge, suggesting he should be up in the action. Charge on him is a trap though, as at strength 5+ he isn't reliably doing the damage, and IMO his points are far better spent elsewhere, especially factoring in his Elite trait.
In sticking with Brave and the Bold henchmen in general, the SWAT really shine in their ranged weapons. They have at least one model to reliably cover any distance, put out good damage and can quite easily kill anything they can hit. Lerida is the star nowadays, as he is the only Standard legal gun option, but damn does he do it well. Red Dot for rerolls to hit, Assault 2 on a double blood, medium ranged Firearm does work and is very reliable even before you factor in that he will usually have a Whistle. -1 to opponent Ping is another thing that makes him a great option, as it ensures he will be hitting more often, and as such also damaging, which helps his reliability at any range. Alpha occupies much the same role as Lerida, although he is better at different ranges. With Shooter, Alpha is better at shooting bunkered down targets within 8", and with no range listed he is better further than 16", but Lerida has the all important Assault and Red Dot to let him have that degree of versatility in his actions each turn. Bravo is a somewhat debatable choice, as many people disagree on the value of Shotguns in general, but I sit on the side of the fence that says the single shot is too unreliable to bet on often, despite it being able to move and shoot freely. It's ok damage, but for what he has I am not a fan for reliability reasons. Delta on the other hand is a great little package of value, having some great versatility that I will mention later, but also bringing an Automatic Pistol. These guns aren't fantastic, being short ranged, but a decent rate of fire and good damage on them for a relatively cheap funding cost makes it worth taking. Once he's sat on an objective he can freely fire away without much threat of being shot back, which is a great thing to rely on.
Defensive
The SWAT all pack Bulletproof Vests at defence 3 and minimum endurance 5, with a few of the more front line ones being endurance 6. Delta and Foxtrot also both bring shields with them, giving them an extra layer of defence both against shooting and melee, although their shooting defences with everything else added in make them very tough to take out. Foxtrot even has a little extra bonus in this regard with Street Guy, making him the ultimate henchman piece to advance up the table and take objectives. Sierra also has Hardened with his endurance 6, letting him be a little bit more survivable.
Overall
The SWAT are damage dealers more than anything, and as such don't have Arrest like many other cops, but they do bring small little differences to justify their higher cost and Elite slot. The previously mentioned ping reductions from the gun pieces fill this role, but many of the other SWAT models (Sierra, Foxtrot, Bravo) have Veteran for a little bit more versatility in their counter distribution, while Delta comes with Undercover for some deployment options.
In general though, the SWAT are somewhat less taken for their job, purely because that Elite slot is a hotly contested group for each SWAT model to have (usually taken by Lerida or Sierra) and Gordon is a big investment to take more than 1 (although still very good, 70 rep to unlock a second 30+ rep henchman is a lot). In my opinion you're usually better off taking 2 QRT for the same cost (albeit higher in funding), Damian or a couple Arkham Guards with rep to spare.

Arkham Guards

These guys were the first of the 2nd edition BatB releases, and even a year and a half later they're phenomenal henchmen. All 3 are great value for a variety of roles, and can go a long way in any BatB crew, but especially ones built towards KOs like Speedster crews. 

Offensive

When compared to some of the other options in BatB they don't seem like they do much in the way of damage outside the Assault Rifle, but they have some great clutch weapons. Assault Rifle is obvious, big damage for high funding, no frills killing, but the other 2 play into the Arrest style very well. AG1 has an Extendable Baton, something which can do surprising amounts of damage to other weaker henchmen when needed, but can also keep him safely out of immediate retaliation range with Reach. The Riot Gun on AG3 is one of my favourite ranged weapons in BatB period just because of how much value you get out of it in most cases, and in general he is just great for his cheap cost. Unlimited range, possible 6 stun, Mechanical and 3 ammo all for $100 and 22 rep is a steal, I'd take him whenever you can fit it. 

Defensive

Not much to be said here. Defence 3 and endurance 5 are good for their cost, and Hockey Gear keeps them safer when Sharp comes out to play, but they'll go down to big hitters without question. 

Overall

Arrest is their one big thing, but they are definitely good at it. Pair these guys with the Police Training strategy and you have a surefire insurance policy for your KOs. Tireless on AG3 only helps this, as does Radio on AG1, both letting you maximise your output before the second hit of an Arrest taking things straight out of the game. The only downside I see to them is willpower 4, but as a second rank piece they are definitely a great addition to any BatB collection.

QRT

My personal favourite across all the BatB henchmen, the QRT are strangely still Eternal but still excellent. Although funding heavy, they provide some great tools for the crew and are some of the best gun pieces in faction. 

Offensive

QRT1 has a Riot Gun and Extendable Baton, both great ways to reliably deal stun damage and knock things out, and he himself can then follow up with an Arrest on it too. He's basically Arkham Guard 1 and 3 rolled into one model offensively, which is amazing
QRT2 brings my favourite gun in the game, the Carbine, adds a Silencer to it, and has an Extendable Baton to top it all off. Carbines are great because Just a Scratch lets you dice out opponents and at least deal stun damage for every hit, so it's not a loss in terms of actual damage counters, and stun in BatB isn't an issue cause of easy Arrest access. If he does do blood, great! If he doesn't roll damage, oh well they've still taken that much stun. Great against Armour in any form (LexCorp for example) and Bulletproof Vests
QRT3 is the heavy hitter of the bunch, with a lot of ammo. She brings versatility in ammo types (the one use Anti-Tank and Enervating shots can be very handy in the right matchups) and her basic Precision Rifle is great at just putting damage onto things, being an unlimited range Firearm with 2 blood and a stun for damage, as well as having 2 ammo. 

Defensive

All 3 are defence 3, endurance 5 with Bulletproof Vest, which keeps them well protected against guns, although they will struggle against big melee threats. QRT2 also has Street Guy, so he can crouch for free and have even greater defensive ability against guns, but is still just as weak to combat.

Overall

The QRT don't bring much in the way of special traits or versatility, but what they do have is great. QRT1 has Arrest, which is always valuable, and QRT3 has both a Radio and Tracking, which means she is a great follow up piece and can easily get around Aim on her guns. 

Diggle

Other than Damian and Goliath, Dig is the most expensive henchmen in all of BatB, but damn he's good at what he does. He's a tanky and reliable short ranged damage dealer, and he works very well in the right hands. 

Offensive
His offensive kit is made up of two weapons I have already discussed my feelings on with the SWAT, and Diggle just does it better than them. Master Marksman for rerolls to hit is huge and really great on a henchman (put a Whistle on him for more fun) and with attack 4 the Taser lets him hit quite hard and not be hugely susceptible to being blocked. 

Defensive
At 60 rep defence 3 isn't too great, but with endurance 7 and Kevlar Vest he takes an investment to get rid of. Even compared to higher defence models at the same cost, he has the other tricks to offset this by a great margin.

Overall
Diggle has a few different things here that can be helpful in games, but at the same time are also somewhat counter-synergistic to each other. Lantern in theory can help him in lighting up targets for the rest of the crew (see here- Green Arrow for theme synergy), and because of his short ranged toolkit he isn't as highly threatened when doing so, but he is also a Bodyguard, so if he's in range to use that Lantern is almost entirely useless. He does also have Scheming:2 which can come in handy occasionally, but if you have a plan for the turn it's not the greatest. 

Harry

One of the newer additions to the BatB henchman roster and the second CW model in this list, Harry is another choice that is well worth taking. He sits at a higher price level, but brings a lot to the crew that just can't be had anywhere else. 

Offensive

Harry has a very good gun, that's about as concise as I can put it. 4 ammo across the game (no more as its a Beam, but that's all he needs) on what can only be described as a shorter ranged stun/Beam Assault Rifle, plus the one use expansive blast, he is a great piece when used well. Stun damage might seem not that great on paper, especially not for $500, but when you consider that BatB have Arrest all over the place, and that he's doing a lot of stun at once, it is pretty great. -2 to Ping! with it is something else to look at in a positive light, as it means he is reliably landing hits even through obstacles, and damaging a lot easier as a result. 

Defensive

For his points Harry brings nothing in the way of special defensive tricks, being a bog standard defence 3/endurance 6 model. 

Overall

Harry brings a lot to the table in this regard, and its in the pre-game that he truly shines. He is one of the only sources of extra Strategy Points in the entire faction (the others being variants of Batman), and the only source of Smuggler in faction. Smuggler is of less value in BatB than in other crews like Penguin, as BatB tends to just buy extra guns (or whistles) over Magazines and Radios, but its still a nice option, and Leadership is a great protection against potential Mind Controls. Scientific tops off his trait list, but more as a thematic way to have him give up more VP than a regular henchman rather than giving any inherent value. 

Final Thoughts- BatB in Standard

Honestly, I think in comparison to a lot of other crews Brave and the Bold struggle to build lists in a standard format. Of their non-eternal henchmen, only 7 are less than 50 rep, one of which by only 2 rep, and 3 of those are Elite, so require a 70 rep model to unlock more than one. That leaves only 3 henchmen to put in lists, one of which costs $600 Funding, so there are a multitude of layers that make standard list building prohibitive for BatB despite having a plethora of good options. They have a ton of variation in more expensive models, and more than enough leader options to leave them comfortable for a long while, but what is really needed is henchmen to bulk out crews and fill odd points gaps. A replacement model for Gotham Policewoman or Policeman to fill the sub-20 gap would go incredibly far, as would reprinting the QRT in resin (they're newer sculpts, and the rules are still great). With only those 2 additions to the BatB line, you have a crew that can be versatile and stand up in a 2 list format, instead of being very static and monobuild in terms of henchmen options. While it is really great that most heroes have now been redone in some form for BatB, it's the henchmen that really need it now. I've tried to get myself into a Standard frame of mind many times now, and with what we have I find it very restrictive and quite frankly uninteresting. As is, I'm playing League and teams in Standard, but not Brave and the Bold, just because I find my lists lacking in too many ways.