7 - "They Watch you at your Hearth"

I finished the owls only sidekick midweek, the High Court Lady.  This model was really fun to paint.  It is fairly simple in its design (just a lady in a fancy dress), but it is very sharp, especially when she is surrounded by the other owls.  It was also fun to paint some bright colour after all those dark browns.

I tried switching up how I painted the red a little bit for this model.  Usually I start with a base of Mephiston red, then a wash of Carroburg Crimson.  Then add some highlights with Mephiston red, Evil Sunz Scarlet and Wild Rider Red.  This was how I painted Batwoman's cape oh so long ago. 

This time I started with the base coat of Mephiston red.  I then jumped right to the highlights with Evil Sunz and Wild Rider.  Then at the end I went back and used Carroburg to add some spot specific shading.  It was one of the methods that Dai Vet showed me a few months ago.  I was really happy how this turned out, the colour transition was much smoother then usual. 

The High Court Lady is amazing in the game.  She probably has the worst stat line for any Sidekick though.  Her gun is decent but only has one ammo (if you need to use it, better make it count!).  "Boss's Orders" (friendly henchmen within 8 inches gain +1 to hit) can be really great, but with such a short range you will have to make sure she is protected.  Since she also has "Invaluable" (worth and extra victory point if killed) you want to make sure she stay healthy ("Protect Me! can help here). 

However, the rule that makes her so sought after is "Enemies of the Court".  This rule awards an addition victory point whenever your crew kills an enemy model.  This is especially important in a crew where everything is designed to kill something!

I finally got to play a game with my Court last night.  I was playing against a new player to BMG, who was trying his first game, Zimmer.  He was using the Riddler Batbox.  We only played 4 rounds (had to call it due to time constraints).  It was a good close game (23-18ish when we ended it) with a lot of back and forth.  The talons did fairly well.  They where able to go toe to toe with almost anyone on the table (Irish was a problem).  However due to my sucky roles and no handy weapons, I had a very hard time cutting people down.  I was usually one or two wounds from KO/killing something.   

The last round of the game was very dramatic.  I was stupid and left the High Court Lady alone and under a lamp post.  She was first shot by Quary then mushed by a rampaging Irish.  I did get a little revenge a few moments later when a very wounded (one endurance left) Brandon O'Malley chased down the Riddler, hit and wounded 3 times with a critical (5 Blood, 3 Stun).  With Riddler unconscious on the ground,  Brandon's son walked over and finished the job. 

Looking forward to learning how to use this crew more!

Kevin