Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, M.D

I finished up my first sidekick for my Joker Crew. I really liked the classic Harley costume (though the Arkham series ones look great too). I liked painting the split colour costume; should I do a two-face crew? One issue with the model was that I had to base Harley standing on a rock. The handle of her mallet was far too long, I would either have had to cut it down or make her higher.
 
In game, Harley is a bit of a puzzle. With "Acrobatic" and "Fast", she is a very agile model that can jump around the table. I have used this to stalk hiding enemy models, as well as grab an objective early on.

She has the large mallet which is heavy (+1 to wound). It also sends wounded enemies flying backward. However, with her low strength, Harley can be limited in combat. In my last game with her, Harley went after her fellow Gotham City Siren comrade Catwoman. After a few rounds of combat, Harley had barely scratched the cat. Instead, I tried using her in more of a supporting role. I used both "Distract" (-1 enemy defense) and "Discourage" (-2 enemy willpower) on Catwoman.  This dropped Catwoman's high defense down to 4 and robbed her of two key action counters that could have been used to dodge.  This allowed a shotgun wielding henchman to fill the cat full of lead.  Harley Quinn is not as straightforward as she would seem.

I have been following my friend Jay's work on his new Plastic Craft Games terrain pieces.  If you have not seen it, check out some of his work here.  While I was at Lords of Wargames and Hobbies last week, Chris showed me some of the Circus themed Plastic Craft kits.

 They are awesome.  I ended up picking up the "Circus Stage" kit to try it out.  I have also been wanting to make a photo back drop for my Joker Crew for a while.

The kit went together very smoothly, and was a lot bigger then I expected.  For the cost and amount of effort it took to make a nice piece of terrain, I highly recommend it.  I will be definitely be doing a full circus table now.    

Kevin

"The pen is mightier then the sword if the sword is very short, and the pen is very sharp" Terry Pratchett

The Ringmaster - No BATS!

I actually finished up the Ringmaster for my Joker crew late last week.  This models has done well in game.  He has a nice endurance of 7, way above average for a henchman.  He also has the "Unpredictable" trait.  This allows him to spend his special counters as any other counter (and does not count to that actions maximum).  So, the Ring master could put 4 of his action counters in attack and then spend one of his special counters to get a fifth attack dice.  His one down side is an average willpower of 5.

We have started to create a Batman tournament.  We are looking at Saturday in mid May,  More details to follow.

Kevin

"The truth may be out there, but the lies are inside your head" Terry Pratchett  

Joey Bats and his Friend

I finished up two more members of my Joker gang for the BMG. The un-named clown with the shield and Contra-Auguste aka Joey Bats. Hopefully he will swing the bat like the Blue Jays' Joey Bats. Both models are henchmen and have done OK in all their previous games.

I tend to run shield guy in front of the Joker to benefit from the extra "Ping" roll the shield confers. He also has "Demented Laugh (Distract)", which lowers an enemy's defense by one. It just makes it that much easier to the Joker to use that poisoned knife of his when he needs to.

Joey Bats is a little tougher than Shields, and costs a bit more too. With the "Handy" and "Heavy" rules on the bat, he tends to hit and wound fairly consistently. He is great to soak up the opponents defense dice, so someone that can do a bit more damage can land a blow. The "obsessive" (has to go after the first person he damages until they are K.O.) can be troublesome. As of yet, it has not been an issue.

Up next will be the Ringmaster, followed by Harley Quinn...

Kevin

"What he didn't like about heroes was that they were usually suicidally gloomy when sober and homicidally insane when drunk" - Terry Pratchett

The Bat Signal! Crime is afoot!

What Batman crew would be complete without their very own Bat signal. I found this one at a book store. It was one of those small boxes that are always by the cash on the turning tower (and cost as much as a book). There is not much cost savings compared to the MDF one from Knight Models...however this one turns on!  

I will wait to use it in game to decide if I really like it or not. At the start of the game, the signal is OFF. When a Batman crew is beside the signal they can switch it on. For each turn that the signal is OFF, the opponent gets 1 victory point. However for each turn it is ON, the Batman crew gets 4 victory points!  

What I like about this objective is that the model does not need to sit by the signal to control it and earn victory points. You spend a turn to flip it on, then Bat-claw away to face-punch some goons.  

I played two games of BMG this week. First game I played Batman, Robin and Batwoman against my buddy Jimmy's Two Face crew. The second game I used my Joker crew versus Jay's (Lords of Wargames and Hobbies) Batman, Robin and Batgirl. Both games ran very similarly. Two Face and Joker crews were able to get a hold of multiple objects and rack up a lot of victory points early on, while the Bat-family ran around giving the thugs the beat down (except for Robin who became a casualty in both games).

I think that the Batman crews really need some cheap law enforcement henchmen to be competitive. You need someone that can sit on an objective while Batman runs around K.O.'ing people. Plus the cheap cops come with "Arrest" which will get a few extra points and stop people from recovering later.

Covering Fire!

I  was able to finish up my second Joker Crew Henchmen for the BMG.  I went with the asault rifle because he preformed so amazingly in his first game.  He was able to take out a few people (including putting 9 blood damage on one guy in a single round of shooting).

The problem with the playing cards on the base of the first Henchmen was that they where all face up.  It did not look like a natural scattering of cards.  So I added some red and blue card backs.

The crew is starting to come together.

Kevin

"Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one."  Terry Pratchett 

Batwoman and Joker Crew

I got some work done on two of my Batman (BMG) crews this week.  First off I finished up painting Batwoman.  She will be interesting to play in a game.  Her stats sit between a traditional leader and that of a Sidekick.  I am planing on using her in a 300pt gang with Arkham City (AC) Batman and AC Robin.  I imagine it will not be very competitive.  It will be hard to sit on and control objectives like ammo crates with only three models on the table (I guess I will have to depend on some good old fashion face punching).

I also painted some sewer markers (which my buddy Brad made for me) and a new objective counter, Ammo Crate.

With the Bat-crew completed (for now), I started work on my Joker gang.  I started with the cheep knife wielding clown to figure out a painting scheme.  This Joker henchmen has so much character, I really enjoyed painting him.

The plastic bases that come with BMG models are really nice.  I do have one problem though.  With the game taking place in Gotham city, everything tends to be concrete grey.  The bland base tend to wash out the model.  This usually is not a problem with other games,  add some grass or dirt here and there to add some colour (Gotham does not strike me as a place with nice lawns).  I found some playing card prints online, re-sized them and printed them on card stock.  I then cut them out and glued a few scattered to the base to break up the grey.  Plus the playing cards have a certain Joker feel.

Assault Riffle Henchmen and Car Door Henchmen up next.

Kevin

"He’d been wrong, there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and it was a flamethrower" Terry Pratchett

I Swear I was Working!

For all of January I was working frantically on my Stormraven. All my hobby time was dedicated to it. I got a lot accomplished (pics will come). However when it came time to putty and fill gaps in the ship, I hit a brick wall.

Lucky for me the guys at Lords of War Games and Hobbies gave me the perfect distraction. They asked me to run a Batman (BMG) game at their one year celebration. Of course I said yes. So I went to work on some markers for the big day.

The basic idea was a hero/villain beat down game. Everyone bring one model and we fight it out. I wanted to add a little something extra to catch the BMG feel. I added in two mini objectives as a way for the less "punchy" characters to earn points - riddles and loot counters.

Around Christmas I had picked up a few sets of lamp posts for a ceramic village. I figured that they would be a good size for BMG. I liked that the lights turn on and off, and wanted to keep that, so I disguised the battery pack as a military weapons crate (medium obstacle in game terms).

I was able to give them a try against Jimmy's very nicely painted Two Face Crew. Batman and Robin did not win the day, but it was very dramatic nonetheless. It is hard to secure objectives when you only have two models. Can't wait for a rematch.

I also kept busy over the last few weeks with a new hobby. Helen taught me how to use her sewing machine, and now I can make custom bow ties. I have a few done already. Here is my first one (of course it was going to be dinosaurs). So if you are in need of some unique neck wear, give me a shout!

Kevin

It’s not worth doing something unless you were doing something that someone, somewhere, would much rather you weren’t doing - Terry Pratchett