DC Universe Miniatures Game- My Thoughts

As kind of a double feature with my thoughts on Batman, I decided I'd do a companion piece to write up my thoughts on the DCU game also made by Knight Models. This one will be a bit less in-depth given the simpler nature of the game, but I still hope to convey my thoughts and give an accurate idea of how the game plays.

Unlike Batman which is far more objective based and tactically deep, DCU is more of a beer and pretzels game that often becomes brawls between characters and a lot of throwing. The game is quite fun and a great way to get your favourite characters on the table, with it having a wide variety of the more powerful individuals in the DC Universe plus a bit of overlap with some of the more powerful BMG models or ones who are known to compete with bigger heroes (the entire crew of Lex Luthor in BMG is usable in DCU for example).

Combat is quite simple yet somewhat unique, as it uses a mechanic of "2 dice versus defence stat" much like Warmachine/Hordes but it uses D8s which is far less common in wargaming. It does allow for a great spread of variance though as results have more ability to swing than D6s which adds to the nature of the game. Models also have 4 different defence statistics, which might seem like bloat to an outsider but in reality dictates the terms of the game and adds a greater strategy to it as some characters will be tough to damage with physical or energy attacks but will in turn be susceptible to magic based attacks (this example describing Kryptonians). It means you will want to have things with all kinds of attacks but also a variety of higher defences in your list so you can cover your bases and try and mitigate a rock-paper-scissors scenario where the opponent's list has all the tools to completely counter you. Under the 4 attack types (mental, physical, energy and magic, of which physical and energy are the most common) you also have some sub-types, with energy attacks having the most meaningful ones in Kryptonite and fire. These and the attack types themselves are things models can have resistance to, and thus take reduced amounts of damage from, to trigger the rules for weakness which doubles damage and removes resistance entirely and as such is a great way to deal with the more damage resistant characters should they have weakness. I really love this mechanic because as I mentioned before, it adds a level of needing to cover all bases instead of just having a straight up damage-based list and you will have to work towards countering everything your opponent can put forward.

There is also a level of resource management in the power system and how you spend your power on any given turn. Everything you can do costs you power, and so you have to make sure you have enough to get where you need to go (higher distances of movement costs more power- speedsters and flyers have 3 levels instead of the usual 2 so are significantly faster) and to do what you want when you get there. Depending on how powerful your attack you will need more power to initiate it, and you can overload by spending 1 additional power to add an effect to the attack, usually an extra dice. Characters also have their own special powers with different costs, and there is the ever-present grab and throw that functions as its own special attack that anyone can do depending on their strength (if you're stronger you can throw bigger things like cars and buses instead of just other models).

As for what I don't like as much about the game, that is the scenarios. While there are some great and flavourful scenarios, there tends to not be enough emphasis on actually scoring points this way and it is often just easier to slam your enemies around the table by throws and punching them out. While this is thematic for some teams it isn't for all, and I tend to like more scenario based play instead of just straight brawls. It's something that has been addressed a bit in the physical rulebook, but still not really to an extent I would say makes the game amazing.