Swamp Thing- Model Review

Hello again all! For what will be the last of my 2nd edition reviews (now that 3rd edition is confirmed) I'm back to discuss another Magic user for Brave and the Bold, but also for Gotham City Sirens. This was planned to be alongside Jason Blood and Etrigan, with Black Orchid and Deadman to follow, but only Swamp Thing was finished so I decided to just put this out as is.

A big brute of a model available to both Brave and the Bold as well as Gotham City Sirens, Swamp Thing is a very expensive Free Agent that also brings Magic to the table.
Offensive
Strength 3+ and attack 4 aren't strictly amazing, but they do the job when factoring in his other offensive abilities. Large gives him access to Charge, which is excellent, and with Supernatural to give all his attacks the Magic effect stripping Tough Skin, Invulnerable and Incorporeal off of enemy models that have it (suck it Ghost).
His Spikes are basically the same as a Batling and as such they're ok but not amazing. I think that's all that's worth mentioning here, double stun short range is decent when he can't attack in melee but otherwise you want to be hitting up close.
He also has a Metamorphic Branch as his melee weapon, dealing double stun with Reach and Crushing. Crushing compensates for his attack 4 and means he isn't especially easy to block (halving the effectiveness of successful blocks), while Reach gives him the option of keeping himself safe (or on an objective) and still hitting opponents from 2" away.
Outside of the standard Magic Bolt 2 blood, Green Magic gives him access to a couple of spells that buff him up. One of those is offensively based in giving him +1 strength and Claws for some blood damage in melee (and a very good strength 2+). The Claws are an interesting option, but losing both Reach and Crushing to do blood damage isn't fantastic in my opinion, with them offering far too much versatility to trade off (especially in Brave and the Bold crews where Arrest is easy to find). The spell is well worth using though just for the +1 strength, because not only does it cost only 1MP (of his 5) it is also auto-passed in most cases (unless he is hit with a willpower reduction he passes on double 1s)
Defensive
Swamp Thing, despite being only defence 3, is a very good tank. Endurance 12 with Tough Skin means he is tough to stack damage on (and auto-passing endurance rolls) and with Regeneration and Elemental Magic he can take the damage right off again, as well as Green Magic giving him a once per game 2 stun heal for the cost of a single Magic Point. Even when he is killed, Immortal denies the VP for the kill and only awards 3VP for KOing him as a Free Agent, which factors in very well with his unique spell. Insert unique spell here Natural Immunities is the last thing to note here, making him immune to Poison, Steal and Blind which is something that really helps him stay useful at his steep points cost.
He does however have Vulnerability to Fire, which means if he gets hit with those weapons he will be taking good amounts of damage quickly. He has to be very careful to avoid them and take them out because of this.
Overall
There isn't much left on his card to make note of, but what is there is important. Pollution Hate means he can never enter sewers under any circumstance, slowing him considerably, although he does make up for it with being movement 3 and Large for possible 12" movement even before factoring in Green Wings as a spell and Chlorokinesis. Chlorokinesis requires Plants to be taken, so won't work in a BatB crew, but enables the Plants to move him around a bit more effectively in their own activation area. Green Wings is 3MP but incredibly easy to cast (he needs anything but double 1s to pass) and gives him Flying High and Hover. Flying High is a huge speed buff, although once per game, and Hover is very useful for him against melee heavy crews (see Owls) because of his lower defence.
He has Elite Boss:Plants for when he is in a Gotham City Sirens crew without Ivy (read:very uncommon and only possible with Sirens Harley) which lets him take more than 1 Plant in the crew.
All in all, Swamp Thing is tough to build lists for given his steep points cost and the fact he can no longer lead his own crew (Eternal Swamp Thing was a Sidekick which helped immensely), forcing him to be locked into a leader in 2 crews where they aren't exactly cheap (GCS and BatB with a few exceptions). I personally think the best place for him is alongside Constantine as they both provide solid lynchpins for the crew and the combination is cheap enough to justify taking henchmen afterwards. In Gotham City Sirens I don't feel like he has much of a place, if any, because the playstyle of that crew overall doesn't support the addition of such an expensive piece after paying for the better options in that crew, and with Possession Ivy won't have a huge need of a Large beatstick with access to Borgon, Goro or Quiz 4 for a third of the cost.

John Constantine- Model Review

Hi all! After almost 2 months off writing I've returned to finish off some older posts before I get into some of the newer toys. Starting off with this quick one I had half-finished, but this is a guy who has been the topic of a lot of conversation since his release almost 2 years ago.

The meta boogeyman himself, John Constantine. As is fitting for his character, this model is a right bastard and can be the bane of anyone inexperienced against Magic. Whilst not as obscene of a damage dealer as others, namely Zatanna, he more than makes up for it in sheer reliability and his toolkit being excellent
Offensive
With only attack 3 John isn't stellar in combat, but his damage potential isn't bad by any means through the use of Magic. As I mentioned with Enchantress, Black Pain is a great spell to put hurt on enemies outside of the classic Magic Bolt, while he also has a couple more esoteric spells to help out in other situations. His unique spell is a quite simple 10" range, double blood and Fire to do some good damage, and at 9+target's defence isn't especially hard to get off. Should you face an opponent with Incorporeal, Ghost, Demon, Vampire, Undead or Entity (read- not often, and what even is Entity? It's not in any book) he has another spell from Exorcism (and this is Exorcise Soul, so the main point of the discipline) at 8+defence instead that deals 2 blood, and they must pass an endurance roll or lose 2 counters. Possible loss of 3 counters is massive and it's good damage for 2 Magic Counters as well, so although it won't come into play often it should absolutely be used when it does.
His regular attacks are ok and have their uses, but aren't excellent. Blessed Knuckles doing double stun damage at strength 4+ is nice, and Magic helps when it's relevant, but he still won't be much of a beater with attack 3 making him so easy to block. The Amulet Lighter is less damage at only a single stun, but it does have the benefit of Fire to add potential stacks of blood damage onto models should he hit. All in all not amazing, but good enough to do the job should a situation call for it
Defensive
John's Defence 4, endurance 8 is respectable, but only gets better with his trait list. Charm helps him from being hit in melee, forcing willpower rolls to be able to attack him, and Survivor kicks in with a little extra chance to protect him once he actually dies. He can also leech off a bit of damage with Necromancy if he needs to, although being once per game and only a single blood it isn't a massive game changer.
Arcane Protection from the Exorcism Magic discipline is a great useful spell as well. Simply gaining +1 defence is good, but also being able to be immune to spells until the end of the round is well worth using should there be an opposing Magic user on the table. Not quite as amazing as Zatanna's Hover against melee, but it does combo well with Charm and is strictly better against guns.
Overall
The big one here is Luck. John will always have 3SC allocated to reroll what he wants, and because of this he can very easily perform when he needs to (spells and punching). Divination is yet another source of rerolls both through spells in the discipline (Guided Hands- it's underrated and amazing) and the trait itself The Devil You Know also plays into this with him being able to palm off potential downsides from failing spells (not that he will often). The usual Magic abilities apply through Elemental, with effect clearing and healing being the big 2, and he also brings along Necromancy and Exorcism for some darker Magic. The spells here have been mentioned previously (above and with Enchantress) and he can do great work with these spells when needed (I've even seen him Resurrect DKR Batman, however unlikely it is). Exorcism also provides him a possible 1 Magic Counter for +1 to Magic tests once per game, which is useful potentially but ultimately not that worth doing instead of another spell.
Detective is nice for reasons I have discussed very often, but BatB don't often tend to make huge use of it as they trend towards a lower model count.
Willpower 8 is excellent for 100 rep, and Constantine tops it off by having the dual rank of Free Agent and Sidekick. This means he can lead a crew or give out Sidekick buffs alongside a Leader, but also has the option of tagging along with another Leader/Sidekick combo (Modern Age Batman and Robin for example) and has a little bit more list versatility as a result.

Suicide Squad Part 2- Team Discussion

Continuing on from part 1, here is another part to my Suicide Squad review with a few things that I think are worth mentioning in the team. These are options that facilitate different playstyles to what I have previously mentioned, and will open up new angles of play.

The other standard version of Deadshot, this one trades off the mobility and potential spread of Willshot for pure single target deletion.
Offensive
As an assassin piece, Deadshot's best role is understandably his damage. His Barret is similar to Sharpshooter from the Bane Batbox but with slightly changed critical effects and without Reload. It is still the amazing 4 blood Scope gun it is on Sharpshooter, but with Bleed:2 and Devastating it can put out an extra 4 blood on crits (something boosted by Holds Breath) and he can do this for a few turns with 3 ammo and lacking Reload.
The Barret alone lets him be a model that is great for simply locking down areas of the board with his sheer threat, but he also has some bonuses to it that make him truly great. Ranged Master gives him a +1 to hit (+2 with Holds Breath), Obsessive gives him a +1 to wound if he targets the same model with all his attacks (which he will always be doing) and although this doesn't help much on the Barret (only against Amazons and Demons really) it is still a good way for him to work against armour or Tough Skin while using his 9mm Twin Cannons.
He also has 9mm Twin Cannons for a ranged attack, and it's a nice piece to give out some little extra damage if he doesn't have Barret ammo (or wants to move that turn).
Defensive
Defence 3 isn't great on someone of his cost, but he does have endurance 7 and a 50/50 Dodge to make up for it. As someone who will likely be popping between sniping positions anyway, he is decently survivable.
Overall
As well as being a great shooting threat, he is also decent at supporting other models. Outlaw Field Commander means he should always have a counter in Special, because it acts as a pseudo-Inspire on one model, and if no one else is around he can use it on himself to put it somewhere useful.

The cheapest option available to Suicide Squad, which is a virtue in it's own right, Electrocutioner is somewhat ok as a filler option.
Offensive
With his Shock Gloves, he does double stun at strength 4+ at a pretty good attack 4, and with crit:Stunned he can set up some nice vectors for attack (or just stop a beater from hitting him back). He has Electric Storm just like Little Spark and Nightwing, but it still isn't great and especially when he is only willpower 5. EMP is handy to have given the increasing numbers of Cybernetic, Bot and Vehicle models in the game as well, letting him reroll to wound against them. Taunt is a nice little control element, moving counters into attack which can be a nice way to shut things down. It is best used when something has already activated and is sitting on dodges or blocks, or if they are a control based model that needs SC and isn't great in attack (AK Scarecrow, Mad Hatter to an extent)
Defensive
Just like the Arkham Origins version this is based on, Electrocutioner has a glass jaw. Defence 3 endurance 5 is ok for his cost, although it isn't especially tanky.
Overall
Criminal is not bad given his stun output, and will reliably trigger if he decides to hit weaker models (which really, he should do anyway). He also has Expendable so he is worth only 1VP when he dies, with nothing being awarded for KO (which is amazing in a team like Squad where every VP matters). Charismatic is ok in some lists but useless in Squad, as you have no Free Agent limit in a team anyway.

The magic user of the Squad, Enchantress is an absolute powerhouse of a model and a huge boost to the crew despite her very steep cost.
Offensive
In terms of straight up attacking she has a quite simple Magic Strike that does double stun and has the Magic effect. At attack 4 and strength 3+ she's not a bad beater, but it isn't her best role.
In terms of control capabilities Enchantress is right up there for the best options (and rightfully so for her cost). With Mind Control she can straight up take threatening enemies, and possibly even lock them into a permanent loop by choosing another model with Persuasive (which is excellent otherwise just to counter opponents plans).
Her Magic is the last great thing about her offence, and it plays into her role as a board control piece more than anything else. Magic Power 5 lets her put out a couple of great spells a turn, and with her Magic disciplines she has some really good spells. Curse from Occultism is another great debuff to the opponent, stopping them from spending SC (counters both Magic and opposing SC abilities) and Necromancy has the excellent Black Pain, which is fairly easy to cast makes 2 models take a willpower test or suffer 3 stun and -1 willpower until the next Raise the Plan. This obviously makes her own Mind Control easier to do, but is also good in just making it harder for an opponent to do what they want as they will effectively be down 2 counters next turn.
Defensive
Another surprisingly tanky Magic user, Enchantress is pretty tough to get damage on unless you manage to play your turn order carefully. Safe Hands is just a basic immunity to Steal shared with most Magic users, but Magic Tatoos also makes her immune to this plus Fire (which is very strange that she would have both). Her real defensive strength comes in just how hard she is to kill, between defence 4 endurance 7, being a movement 3 Acrobat and Invulnerability:2 to top it off. She will take a very big effort to remove, and is definitely a formidable tank, but she also has Occultism to give her a +1 defence when she needs it once per game, on top of all the healing she can do with Magic.
Like Raven she can use Black Shadows as a means of defending herself from ranged attacks (although with Acrobat this is less necessary) as well as moving her around the table,
Overall
Outside of the healing from normal Elemental Magic, she can also heal herself once per game through Necromancy, by spending 2MP and dealing a blood damage to another model in contact which heals her 1 damage. Best used as a finisher to take out enemies, but it is useful nonetheless as a means of healing. As a Necromancer she has the Revival spell, which lets her put models back into the game that had died earlier. This spell is excellent, if difficult to get off on the larger models (difficulty increases based on endurance) and can be a great way to turn a game back around with Squad as it can stop them snowballing into a major loss. The only other thing to mention is her Bipolar, which isn't as huge as it may seem. The 50/50 chance to lose or gain a counter isn't major because she is already willpower 8 and a Magic user, so she isn't suffering for counters as much as a pure beater would, and it doesn't affect her actual willpower stat either so she is unaffected for casting. It's a negative for sure, but just not something that will ruin her in a game.

Zatanna- Model Review

The second Brave and the Bold Magic user I've covered (first one being Raven in my Teen Titans review) and this one is hands down my favourite to use. Zatanna is just a blast to play (and that really is her playstyle- blasting) and although she may be a tough model in terms of damage output, the meta has largely caught up to Magic users in general and I feel like Zatanna is now fairly balanced in the greater scheme of things.

Artwork from the great BTAS poster series by George Caltsoudas. Some great art in there and a few will work well scaled down on terrain or on bases

https://imgur.com/gallery/1HArE 

Offensive
Zatanna is an offensive blaster, and her kit is based mostly around dealing a stack of damage to enemy models. Between the regular Elemental Bolt and Eldritch Bolt she can choose to put out 6 blood damage onto an enemy with her magic (for 6MP and 2 tests, both now allowing Ping and Dodge which is a pretty fair tradeoff). The low range of these spells is somewhat offset by Distort Magic giving an extra range extension to it (which you can use to make it ignore Ping if placed right) and helps to extend her threat range more.
As a ranged attack Pyrokinesis Bolts are firmly ok, but they do have a lot of potential in their damage spread (5 blood max on one model or 3 each on 2). Like the rest of her tricks it's short ranged, and needing 5s to wound is rough (but manageable) but they just help maximise her offensive potential and spread out tons of damage. They're also Light so she can use them as a pseudo-melee attack if someone closes in, and Throwing so she can move and shoot with no penalties.
Her Eldritch trait not only lets her use the excellent Eldritch spells, it also gives her a once per game +1 to her attack value for the round. This is pretty much useless however as she has no other bonuses to her melee and has everything she needs to just blast away from range.
Defensive
There's not much to say here, she has a fairly average defence 4 endurance 7, just with Hover to keep her very safe against melee attacks. If guns are locked down, she can very easily rely on Hover plus a few blocks to keep her safe. Safe Hands also leaves her immune to Steal which is nice, but ultimately not all that common to come into play anyway.
Eldritch Magic gives her the Force Field spell which while useful, is probably better spent on just attacking things or healing as it still won't save her from being KO (it does make her immune to Coup de Grace, but the next turn she will still likely die anyway).
Overall
Being a Magic user (and at Magical Power:6 a quite impressive one) she has all the healing and effect clearing that is standard. With Divination she can choose once per game to reroll a single die and can choose either result which is great to make her more consistent and reliable in game, while Homo Magi gives her a +1 willpower when she takes Magical tests putting her at effectively willpower 9 for them.
Divination gives her a couple of very good buff spells as well in Precognition and Guided Hands, giving a single reroll and a +1 to hit respectively (great combo with Assault Rifles for example). Both are immensely useful in using Zatanna as a buff piece to add to her offence (casting one of them doesn't prevent her from also doing a Bolt spell as well) so is a great piece in her toolkit.
Unique Spell- Tropelet
Her unique spell is a teleport (the spell name is teleport backwards, reflecting her magic style) that is once per game and costs 4 Magic Points. It lets Zatanna place up to 16" away from her position (which with Distort Magic can be an effective 20", 2" more than if she just spent the MC to move). It's a great way in BatB to easily reach the Batsignal or just any objective, or to get her into the fray alongside other fast models (Nightwing, Green Arrow, Flash for example). It won't be used all the time, but it will still be useful when it needs to be.