Bane Crew Review part 1- Batbox and Bird set

Up next for crew reviews, we've got the big guy himself- Bane. A fairly elite crew, Bane and his henchmen are a mix between very solid combat and great shooting, and are a truly versatile crew in terms of what they can do. I've already discussed his quite good models in the Dark Knight Rises starter set, and the rest of the crew are no slouches either.

The big boy of the Bane crew, Rebirth Bane is the Leader in the Batbox, and a large threat. He isn't hugely efficient for his points compared to other options, but he has some very useful utility and is a force to be feared.
Offensive
With Master Fighter and attack 6 his Reinforced Gloves are pretty reliably knocking out most things, but it only gets tuned up by his other traits. 3 Venom Doses lets him become strength 2+ with rerolls to wound, which basically means there is a very very slim chance he will fail to wound, and he can also gain Close Combat Master from I Will Break You for absolute consistency. Being Large, he also gets to make Charge attacks which are very handy and reliable with his strength.
Defensive
Defence 3 is pretty low for 161 rep, but he does have endurance 10, and with Desensitised and Venom Enrage he will still keep in the fight for longer. He is especially prone to shooting with Large giving him Ping penalties, but this is something the rest of the crew can shore up with their own abilities (and really has to happen). Bane will go down to a dedicated attack, but unless he is killed or arrested he will be reliably getting back up and having his full counter spread anyway.
Overall
Like his henchmen, Bane is a Veteran to move around counters a bit and play reactively in game. He has willpower 9 which is awesome, and Mastermind to add an extra counter to the bag, while Cool Under Fire adds an extra strategy point to the crew and gives him a nice buff for his henchmen. When a model with Veteran activates within 8" of Bane (see- all the Bane affiliate models) they can remove a single effect from themselves. This could be as simple as Knocked Down, but removing things like Freeze, Cooled, Fire or Poison will be a huge benefit for the crew and a great mark for his value. Elite Boss: Soldier of Fortune lets him legally run the Batbox, and adds more value to the crew overall in getting some very good Elite henchmen.
I Will Break You
A trait that deserves it's own separate section, his unique I Will Break You is a sort of nested trait that gives him an option of a few different things. All 3 have their uses, and it really just depends on playstyle for what you pick.
The first option is +2 Venom Doses and Military Tradition. This is an increase in his survivability and wound output, but also gives him the movement bonus that Bird has, a great thing with this Bane given his steep cost (as you don't need to hire Bird as well).
The second option of Exhaustive Planner and Boss's Orders doubles down on his support role, giving him excellent pre-game and an in-game hit buff for his henchmen. This is good for Bane as a front-line leader, and can boost up the henchmen (many of whom already have Handy) to great heights.
Lastly he can choose Close Combat Master and One of the Boys, letting him use Let's Go as if he was a henchman and rerolling his misses in melee. This option turns him into a combat monster and can put out huge amounts of damage (or just a KO followed up by immediate Arrest) and is a good choice in general

Bane's sidekick from Arkham Origins (and the comics, just in a different form), Bird is largely a support piece that buffs the henchmen in different ways.
Offensive
Attack 3 isn't that great, especially in such a combat-heavy crew, but he compensates in other matters. Blood/Stun at 4+ with rerolls to wound is nothing to overlook, and he also has +1 to hit with it so if he needs to, he will put out some damage.
Defensive
Defence 3 and Bulletproof Vest is pretty standard in Bane, but he adds endurance 7 to this to be decently tanky, and Self-Discipline makes him immune to the Hypnotise effect which is great. As mentioned above he also has a smoke grenade, which is amazing in how it can protect the crew as well as offensively.
Overall
Like Rebirth Bane, Bird has One of the Boys to utilise Let's Go!, and Veteran to move around 2 counters when he activates (which is great at willpower 6). Batcape helps him in moving around the table, and protects him from being pushed off buildings (although why he would be on a building is a question you should ask yourself).
Being a support piece above all else, he has Military Tradition to support his crew. For 2SC he can move friendly models with Veteran 2" immediately(not himself, but this even includes Rebirth Bane). The big thing about it is that things like Aim and losing RoF on guns only specify movement in their own activation, meaning Bird can move around Rocket Launchers, Sniper Rifles and Assault Rifles for no drop in their capabilities, and although it isn't huge movement it's still something which is nice.

Quick note on "Bane stats"
Something quite apparent in this crew is just how much of it shares an identical statline. Pretty much every model in this crew has 3s across the board, willpower and endurance 5 and strength 5+, and most of these have Bulletproof Vests. There are some exceptions, but in general Bane subscribes to this as a general policy.

Both from Bird's box, these 2 are fairly similar. The cheaper henchmen in a Bane crew, but both of them are great value for what they do
Offensive
Clover is a cheaper gun piece, having an Automatic Gun for short ranged shooting. He also has Rapid Fire to bump up the RoF on the gun, and allowing him to move and shoot for a bit more versatility. While he has ammo he is more efficient than Mercenary 2 with the pistol, but once the ammo is used Mercenary 2 is better with his Reinforced Gloves and higher strength, so they are fairly comparable overall.
Cuchillo doesn't have much in the way of damage, with only a Knife to offer. He has Sneak Attack to help stop blocks, but he won't be doing huge amounts of damage with his kit.
Defensive
Other than their standard Bane loadout, Cuchillo has Stealth to further protect him against guns.
Overall
Bane stats on both again, but Cuchillo has Tireless for a nice speed boost. That, combined with Stealth, makes him a great piece to put Bane's Handcuffs on for a finisher piece, as he can get where he needs to and Arrest in relative safety.

The 2 most expensive of Bane's Standard henchmen, Elite and Dreadnought Op are both beefy and can dish out a lot of damage. Sharing very similar statlines and traits, they change with their specifications.
Offensive
Dreadnought Op is the premiere melee henchman of the crew, and given his high cost probably should be. He carries blood/stun Tomahawks which reroll to hit and roll 2 crit die, and has strength 4+ so wounds a clean 50% of the time. Attack 4 is the highest of all Bane's henchmen, and he also has Devastating Blow to boost up his damage. This special attack costs 1SC to use, and gives him +1 strength and crit blood on his melee attacks (and he still rolls 2, so potential 2 extra blood). With this and Venom he will be a damage monster, and can easily get work done when he needs to.
Elite Op has the always great Assault Rifle for high damage shooting potential, but he also has Shooter to boost up his short range capabilities. When in 8" the target will not benefit from Ping! which means he is likely to do a ton of damage whenever he hits, which is needed at his cost.
Defensive
Neither of these 2 have Bulletproof Vests, which makes them the most vulnerable to guns in the crew. They do have Light Armour though to always be -1 to wound, and have a higher endurance than most with Elite having 6 and Dreadnought at 7, meaning they are still pretty tanky.
Overall
Elite (Soldier of Fortune) means that if you want to take more than one, you need Bird or Rebirth Bane first (which only really effects DKR Bane). Both have Veteran as can be expected, and they're both fairly standard in stats for Bane models.

2 of the more gun focused Soldiers of Fortune, Schoolboy and Sharp Shooter both deal a stack of damage in a single shot. They're high damage spiking models, although not guaranteed to always be consistent.
Offensive
Schoolboy has the same Rocket Launcher weapon as the Militia Soldier 3 only lacking Good Aim to make it truly amazing. Schoolboy is good damage, and can ruin clumped together enemies, but is at the whim of the dice as he needs to make sure he can hit, and must stay still to shoot. It's a valuable weapon, but it has to be played around to be truly effective (being moved by Rebirth Bane or Bird is a good option here)
Simply put, the Sniper Rifle is amazing. Unlimited range with a Scope and Anti-Tank, it is a great way to put damage onto enemy models with it's single shot. It also has Bleed:3 for potential 7 blood, but the fact it already one shots most henchmen (and severely wounds most others) is enough to justify this gun for $300 rep. It does have Reload, so will be able to be played around in the turns it isn't firing, but the sheer threat from it is huge, with cover and Ping! not meaning anything. Holds Breath is another great trait on him, shared with his fellow sniper Deadshot, that means he can spend the same 2AC he would fire with to instead get a +1 to hit and to collateral die next round. This not only means he has +1 to hit, but also gets his crit of 3 blood on a 5+, which is amazing.
Defensive
Regular Bane stats, but these 2 have neither Bulletproof Vest nor any armour. This makes them pretty fragile for Bane, but being shooting models that don't really want to be on the front line, it's acceptable.
Overall
Both have Veteran as can be expected, and both are Elite:Soldier of Fortune. Schoolboy has a Gas Mask for those times when it comes into play (having it base is ok, just buying it is crap) while Sharp Shooter has Undercover. This is huge, because it allows him to get into great sniper nests early on and potentially shoot from turn 1 nuking henchmen.

A sort of Bane/League hybrid, Stealth Op is very similar to the Ninjas of the League but with a Bane flair.
Offensive
He has standard stats for a League ninja in attack 3, strength 5+ with a Katana, but in Bane has great easy access to both Titan and Venom. Both of these jack up his power, and can make him great at killing, but in general he is just as effective as League models are in combat.
Defensive
As can be expected for Bane, Kabuto has a Bulletproof Vest for gun protection, but being a ninja also has defence 4 and Stealth. This lets him get up the table pretty easily, and makes him both a great objective runner and protects him on the way into combat.
Overall
Veteran and Elite (Soldier of Fortune) like most of the others, but he does have Undercover as well, meaning he deploys further up the table and gets to wait until after objectives are placed.

A really cool addition in the Batbox, Support Op is as his alias says- a support piece. He is best suited sitting behind the combat, and with his grenade launcher can dictate where he is putting damage pretty easily. 

Offensive

With 2 very good weapon profiles, his grenade launcher is a great weapon to have and is pretty damn cheap. 4 ammo total, he is Medium Range on both profiles (double that of other grenades) and only ever needs a 3+ to hit because of Grenade on both weapons. 

The regular grenade profile is blood/stun and Firearm with Explosive, letting him put out some great area damage at a long distance. 

His other profile is a 16" range smoke grenade. The versatility of being able to put it further out in the field is a great bonus, and as always it lets him protect the crew from being shot at by the opponent. 

Defensive

Bane stats and Bulletproof, but with Hardened added in. It's a nice bonus, but won't really protect him from too much given most blood weapons do double damage anyway (eg 3 hits from a sword or axe will still do 5 blood and kill him)

Overall

Elite: Soldier of Fortune and Veteran again, that's about it. 

Objective- Osito

Bane's Batbox objective is his teddy bear Osito, which works fairly similar to a Loot objective that can't be affected by Strategies. Bane himself doesn't need to spend MC to move with it though, and gains an additional VP from holding it, while he gets 2 free MC if an enemy is holding it, and +1 to hit vs that model so he can very easily take it off them. It ends up being a game of chicken with this objective, as the opponent can score from it, but runs the risk of Bane being super fast and very angry in the process, meaning he will absolutely be in combat. In the end, it's a nice way of having a very useful Bane buff, and if they don't take the bait it becomes a 2VP objective on Bane which is also useful.

Strategy- Titan Container Located!
This Strategy is 1 cost, so cheap to take, but requires you to take a Titan objective to use it. It moves this objective 4" ignoring usual objective rules, so can be useful to pull it into positions where it will work in your favour. It is an especially fun combo with Change of Plans to pull around multiple objectives and cluster them together where they normally would not be allowed. This strategy is also of note in that DKR Bane in a League list can take it, as it fulfils all the requirements of crew strategies (Bane is Boss, so Bane's strategy can be taken)

Equipment
Bane has a lot of equipment options, and many of them now differ from the rulebook as they were updated in the Batbox. They are geared towards his elite/combat focused crew, and there are some really great takes.
Titan Dose is fairly standard in terms of it's use (being good) and at $100 is a steal. Bane should take this fairly often in his crew, even at 0-1 it will make your biggest melee henchman a lot better for one turn.
Handcuffs are a huge way of mitigating Bane himself only doing stun damage, and for $100 is near autotake. Just the ability to remove models from play quicker is such a big boon, and the equipment is very cheap.
Backpack isn't that great, because you have to take Loot to make use of it (and why take that when you can take Osito) and it costs the same as Titan or Venom which are just more useful.
Venom Dose I've already discussed in what it does, but it's use as equipment is slightly debatable. When Venom Lab is taken and they cost $50 you should always take at least 2 (probably the maximum of 3) but at $100 it's much more of a thought as to what other equipment you're taking and how Venom fits in.
Gas Mask is the same as always- not worth it. Gas isn't overly common and paying $150 to ignore it on one model isn't a great way to spend funding.
Antidote like Gas Mask, it isn't worth it to pay $150 on the chance you might be against Poison.
Night Vision Goggles is such a good upgrade I can't find the words to express it. Putting it on an Assault Rifle bumps it's cost up to $800 (NVG is $200) but giving such a good gun Night Vision is invaluable, and will be amazingly useful all of the time.
Grapple-Gun as a 0-2 option is pretty rare, and at $300 is moderately cheap. You'll probably only ever take 1 though with the huge amount of great guns and equipment available to Bane, a single Grapple is enough.

Bane Options

Venom Applicator is a 0 funding upgrade that costs 2 rep, and allows the model to give Doses that they have to a model in base contact. It's not bad filler if you have rep spare, and it's 0-2 so can be spread out, but usually the model with it will want the Doses themselves so it isn't an always use. 

Venom Laboratory is an equipment option only for Leaders and Sidekicks, and it costs $100 but a big 5 rep. It lets models use more than one Titan Dose per game, which is a nice bonus to have and may come in handy (although more useful in Eternal games) and reduces the cost of Venom Doses to a dirt cheap $50, which is great to have. The best part is, the bonus remains even if the model is removed from play, so the crew will always benefit from the extra Titan use. It's a great equipment to take, especially if you're already taking Venom, and even more so if you take Titan as an objective. 

Bird Options

Military Progress is mostly for those few henchmen in the crew that don't have Veteran, because that's what this equipment gives. 0-2 $150 it's decent, and helps Bird synergise with more models, but is at the expense of other equipment so it's usually something that gets added in later. 

League of Assassins- Strategy and Equipment

Following up from the previous Brave and the Bold post, this is just to add to previous posts about their respective crews and have them more completed. Without further ado, let's jump in!

Strategy- Indomitable Will

This strategy is only a situational take, but when it matters it's a great help. Any time willpower rolls on henchmen will be an issue (Joker Gas Canisters, Hypnotise in general) the extra +2 can be a huge boon that helps prevent bad things happening to your crew (and in turn hurts the opponent) although for 2 Strategy Points it gets a bit expensive. Offset by most League Leader models having Strategist, but still expensive nonetheless. 

Equipment

As befitting of a primarily melee crew, their Equipment list is tailored towards buffing the henchmen to attack. Similar to Court of Owls in this regard, although in a different way given the differences between their henchmen.
Magazine is fairly standard, 0-2 $200 for +1 ammo. Great on the special arrow options and on smoke grenades, not useful anywhere else.
Loyalty Tattoo is $200 to give a model Bodyguard. Chuck this on Goro for a really great front line piece that can do everything, it's good value.
Climbing Claws for $100 is an ok choice compared to the later Grapple-Gun, but at the same time it's not hugely useful with sewers and grapple anyway. 

Trained in the Shadows will almost always be taken in a League crew. 0-1 and $300, it gives Hidden which is a huge bonus in reactive play, but also in setting up further up the table.
Gas Mask is the same deal as Brave and the Bold in that it isn't always useful, but it costs even more here. $150 vs $100, it is even less worth taking for that reason.
Grapple-Gun at $400 is certainly expensive, but the bonus it gives is great. Definitely worth the take.
Combat Bracers is 0-2, giving models Defensive for $150. Good take on objective sitters, as they can reliably block more with it, and it's not a bad option to take, especially in a crew with such abundant funding.
Venom Dose for $100 should always go into the crew. Even though they all have rerolls to wound normally, the +1 strength is a very good bump in damage capability and cannot be missed. I personally put it on Damian (or Ichi if I don't take Damian) and I never regret it.
Precise Orders gives the Chain of Command trait for $150. This is the only place Chain of Command exists in the entire game, and it is basically a much worse version of Hidden Boss. A henchman (2VP on kill) becoming a Leader (6VP on kill) after a Leader has already died is a huge loss, and the gain from it is negligible. I would never take it.

Ra's al Ghul

Ancient Weapon for $150 and 1 rep is a good piece of equipment on certain models, and crap on others. 0-2, it adds Bleed:1 to a model's close combat weapons, and being a crit (and thus 1/6 chance) you want it on things that have boosted crits. Hassassin 4 (being the only one without Bleed:1 natively) is a great take for this with his 4+ crit, while Goro rolling 2 crit die is another that is worthwhile. Otherwise I wouldn't take it, and I'd go for any number of other equipment instead. 

Talia al Ghul

Shadow Training is a 0-1 $200 piece of equipment granting Undercover. Slightly more expensive than the BatB version, but at the same time League can hold back models a lot easier with access to Hidden and Undercover. 

Cheshire

Poison Training gives a model Poison Master for $50, which is great and cheap. Usually going to go on Hassassin 1 as he has native Poison, it synergises well with Cheshire for the extra damage and makes it punishing to be poisoned. 

Lady Shiva

Unarmed Combat Training would be good, giving Close Combat Master for $150, but nothing in League has good enough unarmed melee to justify it. Everything is wielding good melee weapons and everything does single stun, so it's not justifiable. It's ok on Tyrone, but I'd rather take Hassassins instead of him in League anyway. Shiva is also Eternal, so not really going to be seen often, and even there you don't have an option that is worth taking this on. 

Nyssa al Ghul

Bow Training gives a model Shooter for $100. This is great on all the ranged options in League, but Nyssa is Eternal and won't be taken very often going forward (plus she isn't that good). 

Traditional Way is a $0 option for Arkham Knight Nyssa only (who hasn't been released, but is pictured in the quick start rules in Batboxes) and changes the crew composition. It stops you choosing models with Firearms or Beams, but instead unlocks the following options:

0-2 Bow for $150 is a steal. It's a great 2 ammo ranged weapon, but Aim has to be considered as well (you won't just be using these to move and shoot as you advance) 

0-2 Katana is the standard weapon in League, but costing $100 and 5 rep to take it has a steeper cost. This will mostly just go on the models with Bows normally, and is a great way to keep them useful when they get engaged or just run out of ammo. 

Brave and the Bold- Equipment and Strategies

In this post I have decided to cover something I have missed over a bit when it comes to my older crew talk, that being Equipment and Strategy options. My newer Militia and LexCorp crew reviews, like my team reviews, have covered Equipment options, and have now also been updated to have a brief comment on crew-specific Strategies to match the plan going forward. This post will go over Brave and the Bold Equipment and Strategies to make sure they are covered, and will be followed up with the same for League of Assassins.

Strategies

Brave and the Bold are lucky in that they have a few Strategies to choose from, doing a lot of different things to help the crew out. This is likely to compensate for the fact they can't take  Vandalism, and one of their options is even a pretty good counter to that. 

Rapid Response Training

1 point, it lets you choose 2 henchmen in the crew to get +2" on their BMD for their first activation. It can only be chosen once, but the value on those 2 models moving faster can be very significant for the later game. It's less value than giving a single model Patrol for the same Strategy cost, but spreading it out can be worthwhile in many cases. 

Public Resource Upgrade

The gunline option, for 1 point this lets you choose 3 lamps on the table (after Vandalism, so it can't be countered that way) and increase their light from 4" to 6". This means a much greater part of the table is lit up, so you can shoot with your guns a lot easier right from the start. In a Gordon crew for example, it is a good way to spread out the potential shooting, and can force an opponent into dangerous bottlenecks where they will suffer. 

I Am The Night

Batman's exclusive Strategy, this is yet another cost 1. It allows him to once per game, at the beginning of the Take the Lead phase, be placed up to 6" away from where he currently is. This is a bit unreliable because it is before counters are drawn for that turn, but can be used both offensively and defensively, putting Batman into positions where he is hard to deal with for an opponent and can threaten them. 

Police Training

This one should almost always get taken. For 1 Strategy Point, halving the counters needed to Arrest is huge in a BatB crew. The fact it spends 1SC frees up movement for actually moving, and lets any given model move further to have a greater reach for arresting. 

Equipment

Brave and the Bold have a very large equipment list, with many options being good, and many more being restricted to specific characters. 

Magazine is the usual 0-2, $200 for an extra ammo. In such a gun-heavy crew, very useful

Flashlight is 0-2 (for some reason) and $100 to give a model Lantern. In Standard there are no models with Lantern, but in my opinion this trait is more than likely going to make the user a target of shooting themselves, while BatB have lots of easier ways of lighting up a table. 

Handcuffs is a 0-2 Equipment piece for $200, giving Arrest. In a crew that does lots of stun, this is pretty nice to have, and I can't really fault taking it. 

Whistle another 0-2 $200 piece of Equipment, this one is what BatB are known for. Giving a model the Stop! trait, it is a great debuff and control piece, and at least one should be in pretty much any Brave and the Bold crew. Excellent synergy with guns, it counters Acrobats and Magic, and can slow down big threats, what more do you want?

Street Patrol 0-1 but for $50, giving a model Street Guy is always worth it. Seriously, if you have $50 left why aren't you taking it?

Intensive Training is 0-1 and $100 funding, giving a model Teamwork:1 (All). Teamwork is useful, and very common in BatB, but at the same time isn't useful on every model that can take it, so you have to be careful who it goes on and have a reason for it otherwise it's a waste. 

Radio 0-2 $100 to get rerolls to Let's Go rolls, it's ok (and pretty awesome with Harry Wells halving the cost) but with the amount of good Sidekicks in BatB to give out the rerolls themselves it's not as huge. 

Antidote 0-1 to make a henchman immune to Poison, it's ok but very situational. Costing $100, it really only has a good frequent use against Cheshire (a subset of League who won't always be seen), Ivy (but not all the time as only one version has Poison) and Ratcatcher (the most likely to be seen, but still not all the time). Because of how infrequently it will be used, I would not recommend taking this in a list, just because it will more often than not be useless. 

Grapple-Gun another 0-1 option, this is a $300 funding way to get henchmen with grapple guns. Great way to speed up the crew. 

Helmet has no number listed (so assume 0-1) and gives a model Hardened for $300. Not really that great, because it's once per turn on henchman (who are usually easier to kill anyway) so I would give this a skip personally

Patrol Training is 0-1, $100 to give a model Undercover. A really good way to set up your Medium Range guns (hello Lerida) so they can shoot sooner. 

Gas Mask a 0-1 piece of equipment to give a model Gas Mask for $100, like Antidote it has great use but against very limited things. Unlike in Militia where you will be gassing your own models semi-frequently, BatB have none of their own ways to get Gas in a crew, and will be relying on matchups where they will be facing it. 

Riot Gear is a 0-2 $150 equipment option that gives Football Gear. With how common Heavy and Sharp weapons are in the game, this is actually a pretty good take if you want to keep a henchman alive longer on the front lines. 

Medic is a great piece of equipment with 0-1 and costing $150. The possibility of 3 Medic models in a BatB crew (Alfred, Dove and whoever this goes on) means you can keep in the fight a lot more than they have any right to, but also costs a lot of counters to do it with henchmen which needs to be considered. 

SWAT Special Training is an option for Elite:SWAT models only, and can do one of 2 things for $100. It's 0-2, so 2 models can take it, and it gives the model a choice of either Precise Aim (for the guns- mainly Lerida) or Tracking (anything else, giving a nice little extra bit of movement at the end of the turn). Precise Aim on a gun is very good for consistency, and I would recommend taking this whenever it fits. 

Bruce Wayne Options

These options have a lot of overlap with Bat-Family that I will not discuss here, but there are a few others that deserve a mention.
Batman Inc is a very expensive piece of equipment at $400 and 3 rep, and although it is useful it isn't anything special to spring for over other equipment. Giving Bat-Armour MkII (so a 6+ save and +1" to their BMD) to a Sidekick or Free Agent is good, but when there are better uses for funding it isn't essential. This is best taken in super low model count "team-esque" lists where Batman will be accompanied by relatively little else costing funding.
Martial Arts Training, Upgraded Batsuit and Mentor are identical to their Bat-Family incarnations, and their usefulness is pretty much the same. 

Kevlar Cowl is a $250 upgrade to Batman that makes him immune to crits. Simple, but efficient. It's at the expense of other equipment though at its cost, so has to be carefully considered. 

EMP is pretty simple, $100 to give a model the EMP rule. EMP isn't that useful, and as far as Equipment goes it's not something you're scrambling to take, with other options being miles better. 

Hidden Magazine is the way for BatB to put extra ammunition on their Sidekicks and Leaders, and for $300 can have some good uses. However, Batman himself won't have much use of this, and most of the best ranged non-henchman BatB models are Free Agents so can't benefit from it. It's good on Rick Flag, but would be so much better on Red Hood or Booster Gold. 

AK Batmobile Synchronizer is $0, but functionally useless. With the old 1st edition Vehicle rules being defunct, the Batmobile it works with doesn't have a use in the game. 

Morality is $50 to give Batman Demotivate and Moral Compass. Ok, but Moral Compass is a big drawback and Demotivate is a big counter cost on a model that will be wanting to be in combat with all that entails. 

Gordon Options

Heliport I have already discussed with Gordon himself, and is basically just a really good way of increasing his attack potential. 

Sergeant Training lets a BatB crew be a bit more versatile, giving Order for $50. While it is ok, and very cheap, it's not a huge thing, and will really not come into play as Gordon wants to be accompanied by a few strong guns and giving them equipment, rather than buff models other ways. 

Note- Every option after this is 0-1, so I will not list this below

Oliver Queen Options

Tactical Gloves is shared with Team Arrow, and it's just as good here as it is there. Giving Green Arrow Reinforced Gloves for $50, it's great value. 

Command Centre Support is a $250 piece of Equipment to give a model Scheming:2. My thoughts on this trait have been well documented on this blog, and I think it's mostly not great, so I would naturally not support spending funding on buying it for a model with no other benefit. I would always skip this one

Dick Grayson Options

Circus Training is a $300 and 5 rep upgrade, so very pricey, but it gives the model Acrobat. It's a big bonus, and can be hilarious on certain models (Lerida or Diggle for example) but ultimately is locked into a 90 rep model minimum and is itself expensive, meaning most of the time you'll just choose other better options. 

Runner is a nice cheap way to speed up a model (probably one with Arrest) as for $100 it gives them Tireless. Low cost and reliable, it's something that will see play on the cheaper Arrest pieces. 

Roy Harper Options

With Roy currently being Eternal-only, his equipment will obviously only see play in that format. Hi-Tech Ammo is expensive for what it does at 2 rep and $150 funding, giving a model Bleed:2 on one of its ranged weapons. It's a less useful version of Ancient Weapon (with most models that goes on having crit bonuses) and although it goes on ranged weapons, this means it's seeing less potential use unless they can get to an ammo. Overall the regular equipment options are better (Magazine, Whistle, SWAT Training)

Kathy Kane Options

The Equipment for Batwoman, Officer Training is a really great option in supporting the crew. For $100 and 2 rep it's cheap enough, while it gives the model Follow Me! to boost up a crew's movement capabilities and speed them up. It's a great thing to have, so if you're taking Batwoman I would recommend buying a henchman this. 

Tim Drake Options

Like Roy, Tim is Eternal. Tim has an upgrade for himself called Inspiring Presence that gives him the Leadership trait, which is not great given Tim himself isn't very good in his current forms, and BatB also have better models with Leadership in Rick Flag and Harry Wells

Barbara Gordon Options

Oracle is a great upgrade for Batgirl that gives her Exhaustive Planner for $200. It's very good pre-game control, and if Batgirl is in the crew it should be taken. Just a shame it can't go in Bat-Family or Teen Titans

Red Hood (Arkham Knight) Options

Deadly Weapons is basically just an upgrade to this version of Red Hood. It's nice because it is still Standard-legal, given AK Red Hood is still standard, and for $150 and 2 rep it gives him Silencer on his guns. It's very expensive as a package, but if you're already taking Red Hood you want it just for the extra reliability it gives him anyway in my opinion. 

Selina Kyle Options

Feline Stalk gives a single model Tracking for $200. Not great though, because it is costing 2SC in a crew that not only likes to spend SC in a turn (Arrest or Whistle primarily) but also on henchmen which will likely only be willpower 4 or 5. 

Loeb Options

Being the corrupt Commissioner, Loeb unlocks Bribe for $150. This gives a model Informer, which can be a great bonus in BatB and removes the need for Alfred. That said, Loeb is Eternal so will naturally see less play than others here, and as such this Equipment piece will be rarely seen

Militia- Crew Review

Another longer post, this is a discussion on everything Militia. I've already covered Deathstroke, but the rest of the Militia crew have a ton of fun toys to play around with and do a semi-elite bunch of mercenaries in a very different way to Bane on the table, choosing to focus around guns and control with far less melee focus.

The main Leader of the Militia, their founder the Arkham Knight, is a very strong model that is primarily based around his shooting expertise. He is a highly mobile sniper piece who will likely operate independent of his crew.
Offensive
As makes sense from his old name as Arkham Knight (Sniper), he is a shooting model mainly. His Combined Sniper Guns MKII are probably the best ranged attack on any Leader rank in the game, what with being Medium Range and Scope at triple blood, but they only have 2 ammo and Aim hinders his movement without another quite large investment in counters for Vanish. Rapid Fire is very good for him to use and should pretty much always be used, bumping him up to a better Assault Rifle in his 16" range, but at the same time he is relying on basic hit rolls with this gun and has nothing to boost it, so is still most reliable at nuking henchmen and other models with lower defence stats (or things near the Drone), because if he misses shots he's suffering a lot.
His EM Smoke Grenade is a great control option like most Smoke Grenades, but with the added benefit of having Light, single stun damage wounding on 3s (as opposed to none) and Electric for potential crit:Stuns. It also gives him the massively useful Vanish as a trait, which while costing him 2 counters it acts as an effective Mixed Combat Style, letting him shoot his EM Smoke with making an automatic hit, and if he is inside the template he can immediately be placed within 4". AK ignores the effects of the Smoke, and his place does not count as movement (thus not affecting Aim and letting him shoot afterwards) but does cost an ammo on the Smoke. Everything considered, it's a very useful trait to have that lets him cover himself with Smoke in awkward positions, but also to relocate and get into good shooting positions himself.
He does benefit from getting Reinforced Gloves care of Cybernetic Arms, but with no bonuses to his melee it is really just an option to have rather than a different playstyle.
Defensive
Arkham Knight is deceptively survivable, as Defence 4 Martial Artist isn't amazing but he stacks a lot of other things onto it to help out. Endurance 7 with Kevlar Vest means he's taking a lot of hits before he does go down, and ignoring damage on those hits, while being an Acrobat at movement 4 means he can pretty reliably dodge enemy shots. His EM Smoke is also useful in this regard as it still behaves like a normal smoke grenade, and can help block off lines of sight or Blind an enemy beater. Agile is a little bonus that helps if he ever takes fall damage (and for someone who likes rooftops so much, it's possible) making him take an agility test and if passed, all fall damage is cancelled. There is a 66% chance of success on this, making him pretty happy to sit on rooftops where he can shoot below.
Overall
Most of Arkham Knight's kit is based around his combat prowess, with little left to note otherwise. He does have Undercover, which on him is mainly used to get into a good spot to ideally get a shot off turn 1, or to quickly reposition into somewhere he can be shooting from turn 2.
Another trait he has that's worth mentioning is Elite Boss:Militia Brute, which is ok but ultimately doesn't mean much as I will cover below with the Brutes themselves.

The second Leader option, but also now a Sidekick, Scarecrow is a strong control piece with most of his kit coming from shutting down opponents.
Offensive
Scarecrow's offensive potential isn't in the form of pure damage. He is a control based leader, and this is what he does best by far. Inspire Fear gives him an action to choose a single model to make a willpower roll compared to the Inspire Fear chart as seen below, while he can use Discourage to penalise an opponent even more for this roll at the cost of all his SC (4 total). At a range of 4" it's something he needs to be careful with, although his equipment Secret Laboratory shores this up a little bit as I will discuss later. He also has a 1SC trait The Fear Master which lets him affect all non-vehicle models in 4" when he uses Inspire Fear, friend or foe (including himself) as well as giving it the Gas trait. This means any of the Militia henchmen who come stock with Gas Mask completely ignore this (as does Scarecrow, or anyone who buys a Gas Mask) but simply being able to hit everyone in a 4" bubble is huge, and can cripple a crew.

Important Note- The Inspire Fear chart in the rulebook is out of date, this is the current one

He also has his Syringe Fear Claw as a melee weapon, although this is pretty much a last resort for him. Having single blood damage is ok, and at strength 4+ is a 50% chance to wound, but it is Handy and Scared that make it good. Putting Scared on models is obviously something very easy for Scarecrow as seen above, but it is a good way of spreading it on models that might pass willpower rolls more likely (things like big Free Agents- higher willpower and lower defence)
Defensive
Outside of his defensive stats Scarecrow isn't all that impressive on the survivability front. Defence 4 and endurance 7 is pretty good for his points, but he has nothing that particularly boosts him up other than Psycho, which stops him losing willpower by any means.
Overall
Like all other Militia Boss options, Scarecrow has Undercover to both deploy further forward and reactively, being able to adjust to the opponent's crew (mostly). He also has Scientific, which adds 1 to his Special stat and makes him give away an extra VP on death (something quite nice on him though, and the old Secret Lab gave it anyway). Gas Mask keeps him safe from his own gases, but also many Ivy and Joker tricks, and Psychologist gives him a nice easy bonus on Riddles (auto 2VP, no roll) and a sub-trait to remove Mental Disorder traits temporarily. There aren't many models he has access to that have detrimental Mental Disorders though (Enchantress and Red Death are the only ones in Standard, although he can use it on enemies to remove beneficial ones).
Scheming:1 is ok, but really it won't mean all that much often because it is only a single model and you can just plan for it anyway.

The main melee model of the crew, the Militia Brute is a hard hitting and tanky model, albeit a slow one. He is a pretty cheap model for what he does, although there are some major drawbacks to balance him out.
Offensive
Having attack 4 is pretty great, especially when his weapons are added in. With Handy to reroll hits he is fairly consistent, and Reach giving him extra range on his attacks (somewhat making up for his slow movement) he also wounds on 3+ with double stun, making him a pretty great KO piece. With +1 to hit from the Drone he is a veritable monster.
His strength 4+ only really matters if he is doing Push or Charge special attacks, but he isn't bad at doing these. Charge especially is a nice way of getting extra damage when moving to attack, and an extra chance of knock down before attacking. It does cost 2 counters though, so cuts into what he can do in any given turn.
Defensive
At defence 2 with Large, the Brute is very easy to hit. He does make up for this with endurance 7, Light Armour for a little wound penalty, and Sturdy to stop him losing huge amounts of counters. Cybernetic is a good way to keep him going as well, but the block bonus isn't huge with his defence 2
Overall
Like a few others in Militia, he comes stock with a Gas Mask to protect him from Gas attacks and traits. He has the Elite:Militia Brute trait to go with Arkham Knight's Elite Boss, but the other option is Eternal and not that good so currently it doesn't mean too much. His speed is something worth noting as well, as he is very slow for a Large model (maximum 8" movement) and as such tends to need equipment to get him going properly (Camo Vest or Neurotoxic Drugs).

The basic henchman options of the crew, the Militia Soldiers are solid henchmen for fairly cheap, if their stats are a little mediocre. They've got some awesome options in the crew though, and every one of these is worth it. 

Offensive

Militia Soldier 1 has an always-good Carbine, but also packs Shooter on it. This means 8" of him is a KO zone for anything with armour, and he is in general a valuable piece. It also means when combined with Gustaf the crew can take 2 Carbines, which is a great thing. 

Militia Soldier 2 carries an Extendable Baton, which is a nice weapon with double stun and Reach that makes him wound on a 4+. He's basically a Militia version of Arkham Guard 1, who is also pretty great, so I would recommend him as a cheaper model that can put out some hurt

Militia Soldier 3 is the second gun piece, and while he has a single shot weapon it puts out a ton of hurt. The Rocket Launcher is something I generally think is situationally good, but on this model it is without a doubt a weapon to be feared. Aim is completely negated by having Good Aim on the Soldier, so not only can it be shot on the move it gains +1 to hit, and as an Anti-Tank Firearm with Explosive it will tear through a lot of the tankier models in the game (LexCorp Troopers, Tumblers, Goro, even The Merciless will be afraid). If opponents have groups of henchmen bunched together (Bodyguards or to benefit from Leader buffs) this will be a rude wake-up call, as they will potentially all be taking 3 blood from this single shot. It is best used on Large or Huge models, who will have less chance of making Ping! rolls, or in situations where the opponent won't be getting a Ping! through clear lanes of fire. 

Militia Medic isn't that great in a fight, but he can do a little bit of damage if necessary with his scalpel. Single blood and attack 2 strength 5+ is bad, that should be known, but he does have Handy and Sharp for rerolls to both hit and wound, which means in a pinch he can potentially hurt something. It's not somewhere he should be though really

The Lieutenant is a mid-field offensive model, having both close ranged shooting and combat weapons. His Grenade isn't any different to regular grenade profiles other than it having crit blood which is nice potential extra damage, and his Electric Baton is a similar profile to the Brute and Nightwing, which at his attack 4 lets him put out some good damage in close combat. 

Defensive

There's not much to say really. Outside of the Lieutenant, they are all pretty soft at defence 3 and endurance 4 so they're not hard to take out. On the Lieutenant though is endurance 6, which is a nice little bump in survivability that is very welcome given his higher cost. 

Militia Soldier 2 does have a Shield though, which will provide him with free Ping! rolls whenever he gets shot and +1 to his block rolls. This is a great bonus to have, and will keep him a lot safer than he really has any right to be with his profile and his cost. 

Overall

They all have Veteran and all that entails, being able to move around 2 counters when they activate. This is huge for them though as it is half their counters, giving them a lot of flexibility in what they do on any given turn and can be very useful. 

Militia Soldier 2 and the Medic both have Gas Masks, which will protect them from anything with the Gas trait. This is quite a significant amount of weapons in Standard though, as it prevents Ivy from doing any damage to them, a significant portion of Joker's crew (and the Joker Gas objectives) and opposition Scarecrows from having much of an effect. It also helps them if they're near models Scarecrow is Fear Bombing, as it means they don't get affected by it while the enemy does. 

The Militia Medic has what should be obvious in the Medic trait, which lets him fix up models in B2B for the cost of 2SC. This is a nice way of keeping the better damaging models alive, and through his counters can protect those who want to stay alive. 

Eternal options

The original version of the Arkham Knight, this one is a slightly cheaper Sidekick with the same statline, but worse in some important ways. Now that AK Scarecrow is a Sidekick, allowing Arkham Knight/Scarecrow combos that way, this model is almost completely redundant and the newer Sniper version is better in most regards, with this version having little to offer. 

Offensive

Somewhat similar to the newer Arkham Knight, but he has a few notable differences that affect how he works. Losing his EM Smoke and replacing it with an Automatic Pistol is a definite downgrade in terms of utility (as is the loss of Vanish that comes with it), and although his Combined Sniper Guns still benefit from Rapid Fire, they are only inherently RoF1 on this version so nowhere near as oppressive as the 3 shots AK Sniper can potentially reach. 

He still benefits from the various equipment options he has, especially Cybernetic Arms to get Reinforced Gloves, but overall isn't as great as AK Sniper for only a slight drop in points (and a $500 funding cost)

Defensive

The same statline and traits as the Sniper, he is still as survivable. 

Overall

A few nice traits that are different to AK Sniper, but then stacked on with Arrogant to stunt crew building. Strategist and Order are both very good to have, but when the crew are already mostly Veteran Order isn't a huge bonus anyway, and he still has Elite Boss. Arrogant, however, restricts his list to models 95 rep or less, so any of the Dark Knights or evil Speedsters are simply not an option, nor is even Deathstroke. A lot of desirable options for this crew are not allowed, and this fact hurts them for options more than AK adds himself. 

The 2 Militia Troopers that didn't get updated in the Batbox, these 2 are still not bad. The Commander especially is a model that is quite excellent and a great support piece, and would be a great return to the crew should he be added back into Standard
Offensive
Militia 2 has a Knife at attack 3 strength 5+, which means he is only putting out little bits of damage at a time and will rarely (if ever) kill something by himself in a game. Rerolls to wound is great to have, but it's a low damage weapon and won't do fantastic work. He is a cheap model though at 15 rep, so you can't expect any better.
Militia Commander 1 has 2 different weapons that serve different roles in the crew, while also being attack 4. His attack stat is largely useless though, as with no melee weapon he is only doing single stun, so he should just use his ammunition and ranged attacks when he can. He has a smoke grenade, which anyone who's read my League overviews will know I love, that can help both shut down enemy pieces and protect from ranged attacks against his crew, and for damage an Automatic Pistol. This gun is pretty good for its cheap cost, and at RoF3 blood/stun it's a little Firearm that can punch above its weight well, especially with Expert Marksman to reduce Ping! rolls against it.
Defensive
At defence 3 and endurance 4/5, they're fairly easy to take out.
Overall
Like all Militia Troopers, they both have Veteran to push counters around, which helps a lot with willpower 4 and 5. Militia 2 has a Gas Mask which is great to have when Scarecrow is around, while the Commander has Kill Them! which is a great way to boost up other henchmen, particularly the melee ones (anything with a Baton weapon)

The second Brute for the crew, the Gatling Brute is the opposite of his counterpart in that he is a ranged model. His gun is very expensive though, and he seriously cuts into the effectiveness of his crew while being not that reliable as a gun piece. 

Offensive

In melee (which is not where this Brute wants to be) you would think his size would make him decent, and attack 4 is good, but at strength 5+ with nothing else to mention he really isn't. At that strength he's not even a good Charge piece either with how unreliable it is. 

His namesake Gatling is a weapon that is halfway to amazing, but it is stacked with a couple penalties that make it a choice that isn't seen often. $850 is expensive, but for possible 12 blood with Anti-Tank can be justified, although Imprecise severely restricts it to shooting low defence targets. When the gun hits it is very good, but -1 to hit has to be played around or else it won't have the impact it is intended to. It has decent play with the Militia Drone to cancel this, and it definitely is a good answer to targets with Armour, but at it's cost I can't help but go with a combination of 2 models (Carbine+Rocket Launcher are both standard and only 5 rep more expensive for the pair)

Defensive

Exactly the same as the melee Brute, except for having a worse endurance. Not huge on a gun piece, but for his huge cost he is pretty soft. 

Overall

Again here he is the exact same as the melee Brute in his traits, but with Invaluable tacked on. This is a huge downside as he is easier to kill than the other Brute, and gives up extra VP when he dies. 

In general he is not worth 53 rep in this day and age, and although the funding may be ok he needs either a buff or a points drop to be worth taking. 

Equipment Options

Militia, like any crew, have a lot of equipment options to consider. Many are worth taking for various reasons, and they have a lot of equipment unlocked by their comic character options too

0-2 Magazine is very useful. Extra shots for almost any gun in the crew is worthwhile, but the Carbine and Rocket Launcher especially benefit. 

0-2 Antidote isn't very useful, and for $150 it won't see play often. Even though models like Ratcatcher and Cheshire are out now that play with Poison, it isn't worthwhile to spend funding on when compared to the other great options. 

0-1 Neurotoxic Drugs is a great option on the close combat Brute, as it makes him very quick as standard. Dodge isn't really worth considering in a crew of mostly movement 2, but the speed boost is good, especially with Secret Lab in a Scarecrow crew. 

0-2 Camo Vest is a nice way to protect the more valuable henchmen from shooting. $300 for it is expensive though like a lot of Militia options. 

0-3 Gas Mask is what you take in a Scarecrow crew to protect your own men. High Security with this is almost autotake in said crew, and for $150 it's worth chucking one in for what you use Secret Lab on to keep them safe from it. 

0-1 Grapple Gun is just like any other Grapple Gun equipment. Good for quick movement and rooftop security, but $300 is expensive so you need to have a plan with it. 

AK Scarecrow Options

0-1 Fear Gas Dispenser is a $250 upgrade that gives a henchman Inspire Fear. Playing into Scarecrow's toolkit, it's an extra source of Inspire Fear that can help shut down opponent models. 

0-1 Secret Laboratory is a $100, 2 rep upgrade for Scarecrow that is pretty much amazing. It gives him a big buff to his Inspire Fear in that he can choose 2 friendly models to do it from (thus keeping him safer) and any willpower test from Inspire Fear is at a -1 penalty. The penalty doesn't stack with Discourage, but that doesn't matter when it's just saving him counters anyway. If opponents are to lose counters from Terror, Scarecrow's controller also chooses which counters are lost, which is a great control ability. 

Arkham Knight Options

0-2 Radio $50 to give henchmen a reroll to Let's Go is good and very cheap. But if you're already taking a Sidekick in the crew (be that Scarecrow or Deathstroke) it's less valuable, only working to let the crew spread out more. 

0-1 Hidden Magazines is effectively the same as the Magazine upgrade, but is exclusive to Arkham Knight. Great for buying any of his ranged weapons extra ammo, it's a pretty common take for him. 

0-1 Cybernetic Arms for $50 is almost always going to be taken. Giving him Reinforced Gloves, there really is no reason not to take it for how cheap it is. 

0-1 Arkham Knight Secret Armoury is more of a support equipment option, allowing a model in the crew to give its weapons Acid for $100, which is cheap enough that it can be worthwhile. Putting it on the Carbine or Grenade is a great way to boost the value of the crew in spreading defence debuffs so everyone else can benefit. It has good synergy with the Drone objective too, putting anything at a +2 to hit the crew can easily punch out opponents. 

0-1 Hook Pistol is an additional weapon for Arkham Knight himself, while also giving him the Batclaw trait which is a great addition. The weapon is only a short ranged single shot at double stun, but with ammo 2, Mechanical, Electric and Devastating it's a great sidearm to use when someone else in the crew is in a bad situation. The extra potential to not only damage them but 2 chances to put the Stun effect on is very worthwhile, especially if there's a Brute or Lieutenant in attack range (or even Deathstroke)

Deathstroke Options

0-1 Martial Training gives Martial Artist and Master Fighter for $150, but there's nothing that really benefits from both in Militia that justify taking it. 

0-1 Contract affects Deathstroke himself, and changes his rank to Sidekick. It can't be affected by Broken Equipment, and is worth using if the Sidekick slot is free just for what buffs it can give henchmen. It's free after all. 

Objective- Militia Drone

The Militia objective is a bit funky in how it works, but is without a doubt an excellent take. Going anywhere on the table 12" away from an enemy, the Drone picks out enemies within 4" of it to be Target Painted, which gives friendly models +1 to hit when attacking them. This alone is a great bonus, but when these models are hit by successful rolls the owner gains 1VP (once per model per shot, so thankfully doesn't work with Explosive or Expansive) and the Drone can be moved during the game. A model must be elected as the Controller for the Drone at the start of the game, and in the Recount phase they can spend extra counters left over to move it an additional 1" on top of the 4" it moves as standard. This is a great way to not only get easy VP just by attacking things, it also is a great bonus to hit for many models in the crew, making higher defence enemies much easier to manage. It shores up a big weakness for many models in a Militia crew, that being no way to "hit fix" and does it in a way that not only removes that weakness but also gains good amounts of VP in the process. 

Strategy- City in Fear

At 2 points, this is a bit more of an expensive Strategy. Basically all it does is allow you to choose a single non-Boss, non-Vehicle model at the start of every Take the Lead phase and force it to take a willpower test, giving it Scared if it fails. This is a nice way to shut down Acrobats and stop them dodging the huge amount of guns in the crew, but most of said Acrobats will have a somewhat higher willpower so it isn't as reliable as on henchmen for example. A very interesting take into Central City Villains, because it will help kill apes a lot quicker, and should be considered in a lot of Dodge-heavy crews. The impact of Scared isn't great outside of shooting, but in such a shooting-heavy crew it should be a decent take when it's useful

Is AO Deathstroke behind the curve?- My thoughts

Topping off a few of the teams I've previously discussed, Deathstroke is the absolute upper tier Free Agent in terms of cost and statline. As one of the best fighters in the DC Universe, he can reliably take on opponents in combat, although he is very pricey and he is difficult to compare to other generic Free Agents because of just how much he brings.

Offensive
With 3 different ways to attack and 2 weapon profiles, Deathstroke is a pretty good toolkit when it comes to killing.
His Reinforced Bo is a pretty great weapon with rerolls to hit and Reach doing double stun, but with his attack 5 Combo on top he can very easily knock out most things, and can even take multiple henchmen out of the game in a single activation. The consistency in hitting is needed against higher defence models, and it is for that reason I would always use the Bo against them
His other weapon is a simple Sword, doing double blood with Sharp. Not getting Combo here isn't great, but the damage is still very good and should be the weapon of choice against low defence models because it will quite likely outright kill them.
Hidden Sniper is his way of attacking at range, and it is a pretty good one. As previously mentioned with Commissioner Gordon, it is a way of getting unlimited range pingless shooting that is pretty good damage, letting him cover targets he normally wouldn't be able to reach, and as it is a trait he can use his regular attacks against a different target anyway, spreading out his potential damage a very long way.
The last piece of offensive tech Deathstroke has is his Counter Attack, letting him use successful block rolls to hit his opponent back and do some extra damage. It is most often best to use the sword for this as it is blood damage, but it depends on the target. Counter Attack in general isn't something I see as hugely valuable although it is good, as it relies on first hitting defence 5 then you rolling successful blocks before you can make your attacks (that is, it's a lot of hoops to jump through and not that great outside of Bronze Tiger) but if he is defending a position that's important, it can be very useful.
Defensive
Martial Artist and Defence 5 are always amazing, but adding it to the rest of the tricks he has makes Deathstroke a very tough model to remove from the table. Stealth is a little extra protection against guns and synergises very well with his Acrobat, which at movement 3 means he is not likely to be getting shot very often, and when he does he will be dangerously close.
His Soul Armour is a once per game ability that lets him heal 2 damage counters off himself, although at the cost of 3SC to do so it's a hefty investment and must be assessed if it's worth doing. It can be very good, but oftentimes it's just better to hit an opponent that is threatening him or to block.
Overall
Acrobat helps speed him up with +1 to his BMD and some placement tricks, but the more important trait in this regard is Undercover. Being able to not only deploy further up the table, but to drop after most other models, gives him a great degree of flexibility and reactive play to where he goes, letting him choose his game plan a lot better than most FA beaters.

Comparison to other villain FAs- Is Deathstroke overcosted? 
Deathstroke's 145 rep cost may seem to make him an unfavourable choice in comparison to some of the cheaper villain FA options (primarily King Shark, Batman Who Laughs and the Merciless, who I will talk about below) but he does bring a ton of tricks to play that can make this argument a lot more positive in his favour.
King Shark
While King Shark looks very similar in his offence to Deathstroke, both having attack 5 with combo and strength 3+, Deathstroke comes out on top for a variety of reasons that cannot be discounted. Against shooting, Shark is defence 3 with Huge, meaning he will realistically be getting shot a lot more than Deathstroke, and Bulletproof Vest and Regeneration are helpful but ultimately stacking damage on him isn't all that hard. They share the same endurance, but Deathstroke's defence 5, Martial Artist, Stealth and Acrobat giving him a 50% chance of dodging means he is significantly harder to take out in all regards, something which is a huge factor in his 50 rep increase in points.
Movement wise, Shark is 2" faster at his full output, and Amphibious makes sewers a lot cheaper.  But Deathstroke's Undercover and Reach compensate for this, making them overall roughly similar in threat range although Deathstroke's smaller base and Acrobat can help a lot in positioning him on the table.
Talking their weapon profiles they are fairly comparable when you look at the Bo, as Shark trades Reach and Handy for getting blood damage and rolling 2 crit die, which synergises greatly with Brutal to let him fish for what he wants. Shark's Bloodthirsty offsets his first counter loss from damage, and he is tuned up when he is attacking models that have taken damage through Blood Scent getting +1 to hit and wound and crit blood. This puts his potential output higher than Deathstroke, but it needs to be set up and thus isn't as efficient as Deathstroke (and probably needs an investment that is almost as high as Slade anyway). Either one of them will destroy whatever they touch, but Deathstroke is slightly more efficient in doing it, and can do it on the defence as well with Counter Attack if needed.
Batman Who Laughs
This is probably the worst comparison for Deathstroke, but BWL is only 5 rep cheaper and costs more funding. They share an identical statline apart from 1 higher willpower and endurance on BWL, both have ways to heal (Cannibal vs Soul Armour, BWL wins here) and both have great defensive traits (Martial Artist on both, Counter Attack on Deathstroke). Trickster gives BWL insane versatility, and while Deathstroke has Undercover for an increased deployment (and later drop) BWL has Large to increase his movement slightly more over Deathstroke (6" vs 5", Deathstroke will still make combat sooner due to Undercover).
It is where they have ranged protection that they first begin to tip slightly towards Deathstroke, as Protective on BWL is only a 33% chance of passing, while Deathstroke's Dodge (if he has the counters) is a 50% chance of success, making him that little bit more likely to make combat. It is less counter efficient, but Deathstroke having Combo offsets that anyway once he gets to where he wants to be fighting.
Offensively BWL seems slightly better through having Blood/Stun as compared to Deathstroke's Bo and having Luck to possibly reroll wound rolls, but Combo on the Bo means Deathstroke is usually fighting with even more dice thus guaranteeing damage vs lower defence targets and hitting higher potential damage at the same time, making him better against low defence/high endurance models in general. BWL's gun is also strictly inferior to Hidden Sniper most of the time, having worse damage, far less range, allowing Ping! and less native shots. Deathstroke can't use his gun turn 1, but realistically neither can BWL outside of silly play from an opponent and neither of them will likely be attacking until turn 2 anyway
BWL also provides pre-game bonuses and little bits of control through Strategist, Detective and Persuasive, while Deathstroke doubles down on his combat through the not wholly reliable Counter Attack. This is probably more in favour of BWL.
BWL is more versatile in his counters between his higher willpower and Trickster, but Deathstroke is very efficient with what he has, and they are overall fairly comparable in their costs, although Deathstroke should probably be a little lower in relation.
The Merciless
When you're looking at Merciless, it is apparent he is seriously undercosted. His statline is excellent for his role as a beater, and he is very reliably killing most models. Deathstroke is worse here in terms of sheer killing ability sure, but Merciless has a few things that make him a bit more manageable than Deathstroke and that play into Slade's favour. This is absolutely not a favourable comparison for Deathstroke by any means, but in my opinion this is because Merciless needs to be increased in cost if anything, because he is a bad comparison to anything in his cost bracket.
Attack wise Merciless is almost just better. Higher strength and attack, and his sword is better than Deathstroke's by virtue of having +1 to hit and Anti-Tank, and Unstoppable potentially shuts down blocks, but Deathstroke is more counter efficient with Combo and with Reach is able to easier reach models. Hidden Sniper gives a ranged option to Deathstroke, while Merciless has none, making him better in this regard.
Defensively it's a tough competition, as Deathstroke is harder to hit and has Dodge against ranged weapons, while Merciless has a lower defence and Large making him somewhat prone to shooting, although he compensates with Medium Armour. Both have Martial Artist making it a moot point, that's as good as each other, but Merciless does have 1 extra endurance which matters. Soul Armour is clutch, and can keep Deathstroke alive longer, but isn't going to always see play.
Speed wise it's the same as BWL, Large is offset by Undercover.
Deathstroke has the win of being able to claim objectives and score VP though, while Merciless cannot. This is a big point in comparison, as it stunts Merciless in his role while Deathstroke can do a variety of things while he moves around.
Veteran is another in favour of Merciless, as he can move around some counters while Deathstroke just can't.
Overall
For the reasons discussed above, Deathstroke is still largely justifiable for his premium cost, and will do a lot of work in game despite being very expensive. There are absolutely cheaper options that will do one of his roles better, and this allows extra models to fill out the crew, but in the end none of them majorly compare to Deathstroke in the role that he fills, and they will do different jobs that aren't 100% comparable.

Commissioner Gordon- Model Review

Continuing my overviews into the Brave and the Bold with one of the few Leaders I haven't covered, today is a look into Commissioner Gordon. Someone who is quite a strong Leader, while being a far cheaper model than the rest in BatB, Gordon facilitates a very different playstyle to the costumed heroes.

Offensive
Gordon's attack 3 and strength of 5+ may not make him look like a great attacking model, but he has 3 different ways of shooting enemies that are all decent options. As standard on his card is his Automatic Gun, which is a short ranged option that he will only really use if he gets into a bad situation but with blood/stun damage, RoF3 and Light can put out the hurt fairly well, and Hidden Sniper, which is one of his primary abilities. This lets him make a RoF2 double blood shot, treated as a Firearm, at anyone he can see, provided you can also draw a line to a table edge and they are within 12" of said edge. The shot also ignores Ping! which means as long as he hits he is doing reliable damage, and can potentially do 6 blood to something in a turn when used with Heliport. Hidden Sniper can't be used turn 1, giving the opponent time to evade it, but it will always be a very good tool in Gordon's kit.
Air Support is the other of his main gimmicks, and it lets him support the rest of his crew's ranged weapons (because let's be real, you will have guns in BatB). It lets him choose a spot on the table to be lit up by an explosive template, meaning anything in your crew can draw line of sight to any model in it. With his $150 funding equipment Heliport which may as well be stapled on, he can also make a single RoF double blood shot at a model under the template, ignoring Ping! which is a nice way to get a little bit of extra damage out from him each turn. Some great synergies with Hidden Sniper, but also board and scenario dependent because larger buildings will block off sight for this to happen.
Defensive
Defence 3 and endurance 6 means he is soft, and if someone gets to him he will die. This only affirms his role as a backfield leader, and he benefits greatly from Bodyguard models (those being Diggle and SS Katana). He has a Bulletproof Vest to help against shooting, but that's about all he will benefit from in this regard, and any half decent melee beater will quite reliably take him out.
Overall
Detective is fairly standard for BatB Leaders, and Affinity:Batman gives him some nice options to play around with for list building. Take Cover! is an ok ability to give henchmen extra defence counters, but when Heliport costs 2SC and he can Inspire instead, it won't really ever see play. Cop gives him a nice little bonus against models with Criminal (awesome when he pings things from far away) and Arrest helps BatB crews out a lot. Commissioner plays into this as well, making it only cost 1MC when he does it so it is very cheap (although not quite as great as the 1SC Arrest henchmen can get). Veteran is a very good way of keeping him versatile, allowing him to move counters when he activates, and Elite Boss: SWAT opens up a ton of list options for any crew Gordon is in