Goliath- model review and example lists

Welcome back everyone, to something I've alluded to for quite a while now. The only henchman I've not covered for Brave and the Bold and one of the very few I haven't discussed for Bat-Family and League, Goliath is a great sculpt that is a little bit underwhelming in rules terms. In this post I will be covering his rules in my normal fashion, but also introducing a new format for single models in discussing a few different list options with how I would run him in his different crews.

Offensive
With attack 4, Claws and strength 2+, Goliath is a decent combat threat in any list he goes into. He lacks bonuses to hit though, so is best suited bullying low defence models, or using a 9" Charge to put out stun damage onto anything and hope for knockdowns.
Defensive
Defence 2 and Huge means he is getting hit very often, and is super open to being shot, but at endurance 10 and Tough Skin he is at the very least requiring a dedicated effort to remove. Just have to be very careful of assault rifles and snipers, because they will run a train on him.
Overall
Huge and Animal combined mean his movement of 1 is largely offset with his 9" BMD, although 3 of his most flavourful traits cost movement counters and as such mean he is starving for them every single turn. Fly and Charge are both hugely useful to him, but it's one or the other unless he's inspired, and at willpower 5 either of them leave him lacking in other areas. Overall I would use him as a big block to sit around objectives, fighting what he needs to but using his huge base to block zones or score off multiple markers.
Carry is the first of his unique traits, and allows him to ferry models around the table with him as he moves. He may pick up models within 2" of him when he moves and drop them in base contact with himself at the end of the movement, but only move models on 30mm bases to restrict it slightly. If he does so to a model that isn't Damian, they must forfeit their entire next turn, while Damian reduces his BMD to 0 and can't use his Batclaw in that turn. For 3 of his 5 counters (1MC+2SC) it is really not worth it, and will very rarely see play just because of how big of a penalty it gives to most things.
Meet Goliath! is a simple trait that means he can only be hired when Damian is also present, and as such deserves a mention here.

List Discussions

Brave and the Bold

Reputation: 348/350

Funding: 1500$/1500$

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

-Upgraded Batsuit [0/100$]

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

[H] Agent 2 [15/0$]

-Whistle [0/200$]

[H] Lerida [36/450$]

-Whistle [0/200$]

-Swat Special Training [0/100$]

-Street Patrol [0/50$]

-Patrol Training [0/150$]

[H] Robin [60/0$]

[H] Goliath [70/0$]

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

-Medic [0/150$]

This list represents a lot of what I like about playing Brave and the Bold, having good amounts of stun damage backed up with Arrest and Lerida to sit behind and act as a great gun piece. Batman, Robin and Goliath are the 3 combat models here, so as long as they're being backed up by the 3 Arrests in the list they can quite easily take models out of action and keep the game moving in your favour. On top of this, every model other than Batman is a henchman, and as such will benefit from Inspire. 

Goliath's role in this list is primarily to be a third melee piece, helping Damian and Batman in combat by fishing for knockdowns and extra stun on Charge. With this he basically pinballs around the table hitting enemies as much as possible. 

League of Assassins

The biggest issue with Goliath is hands down his hunger for counters, and how badly he loses them when he takes damage, so naturally he would run best with Rebirth Talia. Not losing counters is a huge boon for him as it means he will stay in a fight far longer, and will be far more relevant when he does so.

Reputation: 346/350

Funding: 1750$/1850$

[Boss][L] Talia (Rebirth) [100/0$]

[H] Goro [50/0$]

-Loyalty Tattoo [0/200$]

-Combat Braces [0/150$]

-Grapple-gun [0/400$]

-Rare Nth Medallion [0/150$]

[H] Robin [60/0$]

-Venom Dose [0/100$]

[H] Goliath [70/0$]

[H] Hasssasin 1 [20/0$]

-Shadow Training [0/200$]

[H] Hasssasin 2 [24/0$]

[H] Hasssasin 4 [22/0$]

-Trained in the Shadows [0/300$]

-Combat Braces [0/150$]

-Climbing Claws [0/100$]

This list is mainly based around overlapping buffs to make the most out of the lower willpower henchmen, and to get them hitting up as much as possible to hurt the opponent. It is almost fully melee based, as most League is, but with Kill Them from Goro and Inspire from Talia, plus the fact they never lose counters from enemies or damage, means that the crew can barrel ahead and get stuck in before swinging, and even if they do take a little bit of damage they're dishing out as much as possible anyway. 

With Goliath being the only model in the crew to do stun damage, his value might seem lower, but in reality he is quite effective when buffed up in this way. Benefiting from every bonus there is to play with in the crew, with these he can pull off a quite impressive flying Charge before also putting 3 attacks into a model, or simply deliver Damian far further up the table than would normally happen. Goliath is a bit of a clutch piece in here, not being the super damage dealer Damian is or the lynchpin of Goro, but he has a place and is great at plugging gaps where needed in the crew's lines. 

Bonus- Batman Family

While there is some debate over whether Goliath is actually allowed in Batfam (mainly based around the ambiguities of Meet Goliath) I am still providing a list here to talk about, mainly because it is simply a fun option. While not doing anything huge for Batfam competitively, he is a nice thematic option should someone wish to do so, and this is the list I would play him in:

Models: 4
Reputation: 334/350
Funding: 1000$/1500$
[Boss][L] Batman (Ben Affleck) [125/0$]
-Upgraded Batsuit [0/100$]
-Reconnaissance [0/300$]
-Handcuffs [0/300$]
[S] Nightwing [90/0$]
-Handcuffs [0/300$]
[H] Robin [60/0$]
[H] Goliath [70/0$]

As can be seen in the list, and as mentioned in my Batfam discussion, this is a pretty standard roster for the team outside of Goliath. Batman, Damian and Nightwing all ready to hit hard and KO, with as much equipment as possible to benefit that. Someone can also take a Magazine, but it's practically irrelevant for the most part so I left it off when writing the list (although not taking it would be stupid, there's no reason not to).
Goliath in here is basically just a big guy that can utilise Charge to spread out extra stun damage, as well as his own melee damage, but also serves a great purpose in grabbing objectives. Batfam as a crew need to be careful about scoring objective VP as well as brawling, but with Goliath possibly scoring 2 (or even 3) objectives by himself the rest of the team is better off. Still not really a competitive option, but it's interesting to play in fun friendly games and as such has a definite place in the game.