BMG- The D Listers

Continuing with Batman, this time we're not talking about a specific crew but instead a collection of 3rd Edition Henchmen and Free Agents. These are all the generic releases based off of D-List villains from DC Comics, and they're all really full of character and quite entertaining. 

Kite Man

Kite Man is fairly cheap, and it shows. He has low attack and defense, plus endurance 4 so if he gets hit by blood damage he will die, but willpower 6 is pretty good and he has Charm to help keep him alive a bit longer. Charismatic is nice too cause it gives you an extra Free Agent if you want the option, and although they won’t come into play very often Pickpocket and True Love: Poison Ivy are both decent to have. The other thing to mention is he’s movement 6 which is super slow, but he has Kite to add to his move just by being near suspects at any one point in his movement and he ignores all obstacles and difficult ground so he isn’t cripplingly slow. His best use as a henchman is to fly around and reach those annoying spots most other henchmen can’t access and start manipulating

Phase 1 means it has counterplay, but it really is busted otherwise. You choose one friendly and one enemy model, and if you reveal more suspects than they do during the turn score 3 points. Really really easy if you have Backpack access and they put out a lot of markers because you can choose a henchman for Inspire access and 3 possible reveals, but also choose an enemy that can’t be inspired so they automatically are forced to just not drop markers to deny you (and thus restrict their own scoring) because they can’t natively win the count

The resource gives any enemy making a willpower roll within 4” of Kite Man suffer a -2 during that roll for 1 resource point. Obviously the main use here is Charm rolls on Kite Man himself, but it works great with Scarecrow and Ivy too

Killer Moth

Moth is very good if a bit expensive for a henchman, but he more than makes up for it. Movement 8 is pretty low but he has Bat Cape and Batclaw for huge boosts to his mobility, Echolocation which is nice but situational and the huge Radio. Not only can he be Inspired, it happens anywhere on the table and always effects him so he is a really great piece to send around and manipulate where you need to. His guns are both not bad and it’s mainly a choice between adding blood damage with Firearm or Slow 6 (which is huge) with Beam. Neither will be slaughtering enemies but they’re both nice to have especially with it not sacrificing his manipulating

This is clearly based around trying to get to an awkward position the opponent can likely not reach, and is best used on tall buildings. Phase 1 makes it a bit more difficult, but 3 points for just having a model and a suspect within 4” of a scenery piece you choose is really easy and should force the opponent into making some tough decisions about countering it. 

The resource is also very good because it allows Killer Moth to teleport almost anywhere on the table with minimal setup and for only 1 resource point.

Calendar Man

Calendar Man is a really unique model that benefits crews in a lot of ways but mainly just as an objective runner. His stats are ok, and he does have a Taser for a weapon if he needs to use it (but I wouldn’t often). Trickster and Runaway both make him unpredictable and make sure he can’t be taken out as easily if KO, while Scheming 1 lets him mess with suspect placement to push either scoring or denial and Strategist gives you an always welcome Resource Point. Distract is nice as a debuff if he has Audacity and you can always make sure he has it if you really need it, but I wouldn’t especially make sure he is always in a position to use it. His big special rule is Seasonal Criminal which gives him a buff depending on how many total VP all players have scored, and they’re all really nice. After 12VP he goes to movement 14 until you reach 24, which is ridiculous for a henchman of his type, and 24-36 is +2 attack (not too useful and definitely the worst of the lot) while 36-48 is +2 defence to keep him alive a bit longer until you hit 48-60 and get Handyman for really easy manipulating late game. Cycling back to +4 movement is possible but at that point the game is all but over and it’s not very useful 

This one is a bit interesting and really fun because it transforms the turn it’s played into a game of cat and mouse between players. If the opponent goes first it’s almost guaranteed denied, but otherwise you start them on the back foot and force them into playing a manipulate game just to stop this card (but also countering you or scoring in the process, so it’s mainly tilting away from heavy combat turns). 2VP is nice but not huge, and overall for what’s basically a free card anyway it’s good to have

This resource is amazing because it’s cheap at 1 point, counters enemy cards through normal play and can set up your own stuff really well

Condiment King

Condiment King is a bit of a weird character because he has a ton of traits to make his guns seem pretty impressive, but overall he isn’t really all that fantastic (which makes sense). Opponents can never score off him which is really great, but otherwise he’s based around his guns which are both short ranged Beams with Assault so fairly impressive, although they only do 1 blood each and have 2 shots. 6 blood with Gunman isn’t bad, and his movement of 10 means he can get where he needs to be to get work done with them. They do both have unique effects, the Mustard Gun giving Poison and the Ketchup Gun giving Slow 4 which are both nice, and they have an extra effect of Enervating equal to the number of objectives the opponent has played this turn, making him someone you want to activate in the middle of the turn (so as to either prevent early scoring or make the most out of Enervating later)

His objective isn’t great, as it requires both a lot of status effects and for you to reveal an enemy suspect within 4” of those enemies with status effects. Scarecrow can do it well enough with his ability to cripple models entirely, and CK helps obviously, but it takes planning to pull it off right

The resource is a nice bonus, giving him +1 to hit and Push 4 and Scared for enemies, but not as huge as some others. 

Clock King

Another one that plays around with manipulation and the board state, but this time as a Free Agent so not benefiting from Inspire. He does bring Mastermind for +1 to Take the Lead rolls, and Paranoid can keep him a bit safer once he’s damaged which is nice because he’s not necessarily an easy kill to start with (although not a difficult one either). Confusion is a great trait for when he has Audacity (which should be often) and lets you debuff a single enemy model a huge amount (-1 defense and attack, plus no special actions that turn) from 8” away which is really nice to have up your sleeve. 8” move makes him a bit slow, but then you get into his 3 unique traits though and that’s where he gets really interesting because he does a huge amount despite not being that physically impressive. Time Manipulation is really geared to shutting down the opponents scoring, when Clock King reveals enemy suspects he may look at the first 2 cards of either players deck and put one on the bottom, one on the top so you can either put something harder for you to score on the bottom or the harder one for the opponent on the top and something they can score more easily on the bottom. When he places a suspect though, Time Control lets him choose an enemy model that has to both not activate next and not place a suspect otherwise Clock King can search his deck for any objective and add it to his hand. You shuffle the deck after but being able to sculpt your deck like this is huge and something you really don’t want to happen on the other side of the table so it’ll control gameplay pretty well. His last thing is Time Bomb which chooses a suspect marker for a special action, and it ticks down from 3 whenever a model makes a manipulate within 8” (which you can use Time Control to try and set up a no-win situation). Once it hits 0 it blows up and every model under the explosive template that gets placed takes 1 blood and suffers Slow 4 which cripples their movement a lot

One of the more complicated in this lot of models, you need the opponent to have 3 suspects in the Raise the Plan phase, but for those markers to be either removed or have friendly suspects within 4” at the end of the turn. This is pretty easy to pull off with decent activation choices, and you should really only play it when you can guarantee it will be scored, but it’s easily achievable with most crews. 

The resource is very janky, but I like it a lot. For 1 point you can choose a model within 4” of Clock King to drop an event marker in base contact, perform the rest of their activation and then teleport back to it at the end of their activation. It’s a great way to do what you want that turn but also play a bit more guarded and keep safer (or to move out of inspire range and get back in for next turn)

Psycho Pirate

Psycho Pirate doesn’t really do much on paper. Willpower and endurance are high but with nothing else huge in terms of stats, no weapons to speak of and only 3 traits he may seem crap, but the traits he has are amazing. Charm is one layer of defence, albeit an easier one to bypass than previous editions, and Plead is another way to attempt to force the same effect from range. Neither of those do anything outside of keep him alive, and 50 rep for an 8” move model isn’t great, so you have to look at Emotion Control to truly understand. When he activates he chooses an effect for all enemies within 8” and applies it until the end of the round (so he wants to activate early to make the most of it). Love makes them deal 1 less damage while Anger makes them take 1 extra depending on if you need to attack (violence based decks- some League, Two-Face or SoF builds and likely Court) or defend (almost anything else) which are both useful in the right situation. Fear is probably better than Love in most situations against melee though because -1 attack and defence is often higher damage reduction than keeping normal stats but taking 1 damage off (it’s 1 less Dice plus a higher chance to block the rest) and they get -1 defence on top so apart from gunlines I’d take Fear over Love. Sadness for -1 Effort is nice but not as universally useful as the others IMO so I wouldn’t take it

Gentleman Ghost

Gentleman Ghost is a decent control piece with ok damage output, but his main role is as a roadblock that will shut down specific members of the opponents crew and be difficult to take out in return. His stats aren’t fantastic, but he has Ghost to make up for it, and Ice Flash is always a great thing to have. All his attacks have Cold, his melee weapon is blood/stun and Handy which is nice although attack 3 is lower end, and his Flintlock is amazing both in damage and in control potential. It does have Reload, but you want to be shooting it both times.

Gentleman Ghosts objective needs 4 enemy models to suffer movement penalties, which is difficult to pull off in most crews but insanely good in others. Put him in a Scarecrow or Freeze crew and all of a sudden it’s looking pretty reliable with what either of them bring (or take Kite-Man to get FA Scarecrow in a Freeze crew and make it a real drag for your opponent)

His resource is a bit resource intensive on the table, needing 3 suspects within 6" of GG for maximum effect, but it gives out Slow 4 to every model that isn't him which can be super debilitating and cripple crews. 

Hold 'Em- Malifaux Jakob Lynch Tactica

 The 2nd of my "Ten Thunders surge" and really just a crew that appealed to me thematically and gameplay wise, Jakob Lynch's Honeypot are a really different style of crew to what I usually play. I tend to go for aggressive damage/scheming hybrid crews like Parker, Viks, Misaki and McCabe so playing a bubble control crew was a huge change of pace for me and something I enjoy a lot for that reason. 

Keyword abilities-

Rig the Deck- The main keyword ability on everyone but Hungering Darkness, its a great way to sculpt your deck and guarantee most of what you want to happen will happen. Drawing the value of the ability (between 1-3, mostly 2) means you can see what's coming up for attack and damage flips or just to see if you can hit TNs on duels (for things like Tannen's Boring Conversation it's excellent). Not as useful when you have less cards in hand, but still good to see what's coming and plan accordingly. 

Brilliance Tokens- They don't do anything when you first look, but boy there's a lot they can pull off. I'll go into a bit more on each specific model but you can do things like stop interact actions (Beckoners) give out pulse slow (Hungering Darkness, who can also use it for positives and to heal) or just to spike damage (Illuminated and Kitty both have melee triggers and Lynch has the Brilliance nuke)

The Party Never Ends- One of the things that plays into the Lynch denial bubble, this just gives Brilliance if enemies cheat fate within aura 6 of a model with this rule. With Gwyneth and Beckoners having it you can spread it out pretty well and it enables a lot more in the crew which is really nice. 

Don't Bite the Hand- Defensive tech for Lynch and Beckoners, any enemy with Brilliance on them is at negatives to hit them. It's a more situational Serene Countenance but with how easy you can give out Brilliance in the crew it's a great way to shut down enemy beaters (I put it on at the start of the game for defensive reasons mostly)

Succumbed- Pretty simple, it gives models with it Brilliance tokens up to the value at the start of the game. Beckoners and Kitty start with 2, Illuminated and Depleted with 3. Lets them do that little bit more on the models that can use their own Brilliance up, otherwise it sits around for Huggy to pull off later

Keyword models-

Jakob Lynch- Lynch isn’t a master that’s going to dominate the game by themselves, but he is still pretty good at what he does. His entire kit is based around Brilliance and spreading it as much as possible, while he personally can’t gain it or Stunned which is really nice. He chooses 2 models at the start of the game to gain Brilliance for some early and irresistible spread, and when enemy models flip aces he gives them Brilliance, regardless of where they are on the board. He has an aura of 1 damage if enemies cheat fate, and his actions are mostly based around punishing models for having Brilliance. His bonus action pulse puts Brilliance on enemies if they fail a Tn14 Wp duel (and if they don’t top deck it they won’t want to cheat because of all the auras around) plus can give Brilliance and heal friendly models as a built in trigger so you’ll probably declare this every turn. His gun is low range but decent damage, gives Brilliance built in but the big one is to place Hungering Darkness in base contact with the target on a tome trigger. I like to do this late in turn 1 on Kitty after she’s moved up so that Hugh can spend his activation Obeying other things, and between Incorporeal and Inner Glow Kitty won’t actually end up down wounds. Lynch’s melee gives 2 Brilliance which is great, plus an option to reveal both players next cards and if the opponents is lower they take 2 damage. It’s potentially a 3rd card into the deck you’ve seen, or just the 2nd from Rig the Deck, and regardless of what it is you’ll know what will happen for your next AP so can plan ahead a little. His last big trick is the Brilliance nuke, which works like a Bleeding Disease or Blood Poisoning doing the full stack of damage but it caps at 5 and discards 2Brilliance if they don’t die. If they do though, you get to summon a Honeypot minion with cost equal to the amount of Brilliance on the target- mostly this will either summon Depleted or bring back dead Beckoners, but a clutch Illuminated summon is massive and can swing games a lot. The model summoned gets an upgrade that makes sure they die quickly unless they get topped up with Brilliance, but it’s a summon so who cares if they die?

Hungering Darkness- As far as totems go, this is the gold standard. Decent damage and obeys at good stats that both give out Brilliance as built in triggers, he is also quick and very tanky. Terrifying 11 with Incorporeal is already good, but he can also rip Brilliance off of all models in pulse 6 to heal 1 for each Brilliance removed which is a huge amount for a bonus action with no flip needed. As a henchmen he can stone as well, so he should very rarely die

Kitty Dumont- Kitty is in my Lynch core every time because of how amazing she is. On paper it isn't really apparent how good she is but it all adds up to make a deceptively great package. Fast for a great scheme runner, has movement tricks for other models (can play it aggressively to counter schemes and strat points). Draw Essence can work as a pseudo-shockwave but I would usually prefer to just use Unassuming Demeanor because with treating negatives as positives and Sharpened Brilliance she can do great damage (or still have good damage and add card draw). Her biggest boon early-game though is that every model that she moves through (or vice versa) has to take duels or they get Brilliance tokens. With Rig the Deck early on you can sculpt a really good hand while simultaneously building up Brilliance on your own models just by moving through Kitty to get up the board. 

Gwyneth Maddox- Gwyneth isn’t bad by any means, but I’ve come to find she is the one I drop first when I’m looking to fit other things in lists. Her front of card is great, especially Luck Thief, but mostly just doing what Beckoners do just a bit better, while the back has a few interesting options. Derringer is ok, but her melee is deceptive and she quickly turns into a min 3 model provided enemies have Brilliance on them (which is easy). Come Play At My Table is decent and is her way of shoving models around the table like most of Honeypot can do, plus it gives Brilliance on triggers and models with Brilliance already struggle to resist it. Hit The Jackpot I’ve found to be a great way of topping up your hand cause statistically speaking you’re far more likely to draw than the opponent is off it (and you draw 2 cards to their 1 if they pick right). In general I do like Gwyneth, but she tends to be doubling down on what I already have and not providing something to fill a gap so I don’t have a huge issue with dropping her

Mr Graves- board control and melee damage is what Graves does. He can move around models which I like doing for some early game extra movement on the rest of the crew (through Kitty and hitting the trigger its potentially 2 free Brilliance too) and he can force Wp duels for enemies that decide to charge within 6" of him (another 6" aura that punishes the opponent in a Lynch crew, what a surprise). Melee wise he is a stat 6 3/4/5 beater with 2" range which is nothing too fancy, he has Puncture on a ram and Injured on crows for some decent triggers too but the main thing here is Ruthless to get around Terrifying and Manipulative. He has Bodyguard to give nearby models cover, but with Black Blood there's a careful game to be played where you can help out friendly models but not splash onto them. Hard to Kill is nice but if you position badly or get moved by an enemy it means another possible Black Blood splash which isn't great

Mr Tannen- Tannen is squishy, but he is so annoying that you can easily justify him for 6ss. Manipulative props up his Df4 a bit, but it’s mostly his aura abilities you take him for. Betrayal to force enemies to discard before they cheat, on top of what is basically Misery:Brilliance and honestly really rude in keyword (plus it works when you put Brilliance on your own stuff too for extra movement). These are both aura 6 and combo ridiculously well with the rest of the keyword auras already (want to cheat? Discard a card, then gain a Brilliance and take a damage. Because you gained a Brilliance you either take a damage or push 2 and I choose which one) but then you also add in Boring Conversation. Rig the Deck makes it almost certain to happen, and it adds another Wp duel to almost any action in the game so you can shred the opponent’s deck and put them in a spot where they really have to cheat to achieve things near your crew. All of this paints quite an obvious target on Tannen though and he will die when someone wants him to, so keep this in mind and don’t swing him out too far where he will get killed.

Illuminated- pretty good beater minions, they're not cheap at 7ss but they pull their weight well enough. They have 2 roles in keyword, that being melee beater/tank or Brilliance shockwaves. They start with 3 Brilliance but they like being fed more for healing and extra damage (Lynch pulses do the job) and it's not a great idea to pull Brilliance off them with Huggy if you can avoid it. Df5 isn't good or bad really, but with Terrifying 10 (low, but there) and Regen 1 they take a lot more punishment than they have a right to

Beckoners- Always hire 2. The extra Brilliance at game start is amazing, plus they put it out with Distracted and can Lure to pull things around when you need it. They also start with 2 Brilliance on them which is really nice for Huggy to pull off later in the game to heal. All in all Beckoners are great 5SS models that I would always hire both of for the beginning Brilliance, but they can put it out really well too and they add a little bit extra board control with The Party Never Ends and their bonus action (which you'll always do when not Stunned cause it's free) which shuts down Interacts within 6" at the cost of a Brilliance token. 

Depleted- I'd very rarely hire Depleted (mainly for Reckoning/Public Enemies tarpitting of beaters) but when you can summon them with Lynch they're fantastic. Annoying to kill and great at locking down enemies, they're good at just denying something an activation by forcing it to kill them (which then hurts them and gives them Brilliance)

OOK/Versatile models-

Fuhatsu/Miss Guided- Lynch doesn't have huge damage potential and kind of needs an extra beater outside of the bubble hires. Fuhatsu gives this, and can put out obscene amounts of good shooting to force things to engage and just plain hurt them before they close, which benefits the bubble because then they're playing Lynch's game 

Upgrades-

Trained Ninja- Should be great on Tannen to keep him alive a little longer, but once they're in his aura range they can hit him with whatever they have anyway. Nice way to make sure things get into the bubbles but it's not an always take. 

Silent Protector- Put this on Hungering Darkness and he will never die. It's not super worth it on anyone else in keyword but I always bolt it onto Huggy's card and it has tons of value. 

Masked Agent- Not really a great upgrade in Honeypot, because the models it can work on (Huggy and Graves) don't get enough out of it compared to other upgrades

Deployments-

Corner and Flank are bad because even with their movement tricks Honeypot is a slow keyword, so it's a tough time. Standard and Wedge are fine though, because the bubble will be halfway up the table by turn 2 so you can play your game from that point on. 

Strategies-

Reckoning- You can do funny things with Depleted here and I really do enjoy the idea of it, but you have better options in Thunders. It's not super reliable cause the keyword can't kill huge amounts of models a turn and you're relying on janky plays or OOK 

Turf War- Not bad but not fantastic either. The bubble in the centre can mess with backfield markers fairly well, and if they don't then Kitty can get there and do the job herself. 

Corrupted Idols- So long as you can manipulate where the Idols drop you can do this really well, but if you don't you'll struggle. Pretty matchup dependent (Tara you will lose) because they aren't the fastest but they can lock down a zone and dominate it pretty well. 

Plant Explosives- Another one they're ok with but not amazing, I would go for Misaki, McCabe or Mei Feng here myself. It's the lack of speed that hurts because while you can get a couple of bombs out the rest will be a lot harder and you can get outmanoeuvred by the opponent

Schemes- 

Detonate Charges- Not bad to do because you can lure enemies into where you need them, and both points are on paper just as easy. 

Breakthrough- Difficult to pull off the max points because Kitty is the one you're relying on here. I'd skip it

Harness the Ley Line- Centreline schemes are great for Lynch and this is no exception. The difficulty is in maintaining the bubble while spreading out enough to get the markers out (Kitty can help here with Lingering Contamination)

Search the Ruins- I'd take it because it only needs you to be in the opponent's table half so it's reachable early enough to score both and keep most of the crew together

Dig Their Graves- Pretty good option because of the bubble- drag something in and kill it. 

Hold Up Their Forces- Beckoners are great here (if only Depleted weren't Insignificant) and pulling things in to just engage them and shut them down is well worth the effort if its scoring you VP. 

Take Prisoner- Drag things in with Beckoners, sit next to them and keep them alive while shutting them down when they want to accomplish things and you'll have an easy time with it

Power Ritual- Just don't. The deployment where this is easiest on paper (Corner and Flank) are the worst for Lynch to play into, and he doesn't have the speed to reach where they need to in order to score. 

Outflank- You don't want to split the crew with Lynch, so you don't want to play Outflank either

Assassinate- Lynch isn't exactly tanky, and your healing in keyword is mostly locked to Huggy. Take OOK healers if you can fit it, otherwise just play cagey with Lynch and try not to get him killed. 

Deliver a Message- It's not a bad option, but it's also not a great one either. I'd take it over others depending on what's in the pool

Claim Jump- This one is veeeeery nice for Lynch. Keep the bubble in the centre, anything comes near your chosen model you shove it away with almost any option in the keyword

Vendetta- Some decent options here (Huggy is amazing) and a few jank ones as well (Lynch can target things like Coryphee Duet, Riders and 2nd masters) make it something I like to take fairly often

GG1

Strategies- 

Symbols of Authority- Having to reach the backfield makes this a tough one so I don't really recommend it, but you could play a denial game and hope Kitty gets deep enough to claim a couple of Symbols. 

Recover Evidence- Very good provided you take damage dealers (1-2 Illuminated for sure here, probably also Fuhatsu). Drag things in, kill them and claim the evidence before repeating. Things get in your bubble to disrupt have a Beckoner further back to say no Interacts and shut them out of scoring as long as possible

Corrupted Ley Lines- My favourite strat for Lynch just because he has so much to deny it and he isn't terrible at it as a keyword. Being able to drag opponents around with so much in the crew is huge and your threat vectors for ripping lodestone bearers away from where they need to be makes for a tough threat. Kitty is also just a pretty great bearer in general

Public Enemies- Not bad, but you also rely on mid-high cost models that aren't the tankiest and don't do huge amounts of damage for the most part. What you're likely up against will win fights far easier than you will, so I wouldn't take Lynch here just because it's an uphill battle

Schemes- 

Breakthrough, Take Prisoner, Vendetta, Assassinate, Claim Jump- Nothing changed here, so my points from above are still my opinion on them. 

Hidden Martyrs- Not a bad take because there's some models in here that are really tough to kill (Huggy, Graves to an extent) and some that are really big targets (Tannen). Tannen and Huggy also fit perfectly at 13SS 

Sabotage- Getting right to the back is pretty hard in-keyword (Kitty can do it but not enough reliably for both points). I wouldn't take it

Catch and Release- Not too bad so long as you can keep minions alive but both options can pull it off well enough given keyword tricks, just have to play carefully

Let Them Bleed- Honeypot is control, not damage. I guess you can keep them damaged and shut down but it's a lot harder to pull this off when you don't have many decent damage sources. 

Leave Your Mark- Not a bad choice because you can just hard deny the middle of the board for Interacts in general while you do what you want

Research Mission- Lynch doesn't have any in-keyword marker generation, so you don't take Research Mission. It's that simple

Spread Them Out/Runic Binding- You don't have the reach to spread out enough for either of these schemes, so I wouldn't take them with Lynch. His game plan doesn't play nice with either scheme because they ask for you to spread out across the table and not bubble

GG2

Strategies

Symbols of Authority, Corrupted Ley Lines- Same as in GG1, my thoughts are the same.

Turf War- Same as it used to be, same opinion as before

Break the Line- With the ball you can push deep on 1-2 of the markers and then make sure they get pushed into the opponent’s zone, while your shutdown can stop them doing anything to put them back. Because it’s mostly around the centreline the slower speed of Lynch’s crew doesn’t mean too much and you can get to where you need to be easily enough

 

Schemes

Breakthrough, Vendetta, Assassinate, Hidden Martyrs, Research Mission, Let Them Bleed, Catch and Release, Spread Them Out- These are all very much the same as before and I wouldn't change how I play them now.

Detonate Charges, Claim Jump- They’re the same as GG0, same as my thoughts there.

Death Beds- As a crew that doesn’t drop their own non-scheme markers, I don’t rate this with Honeypot

BMG- Batman Who Laughs

The next catch-up post for BMG is talking about the Batman Who Laughs and his team list, because it really is something interesting. In truly matching the character the team is a hybrid between Batman and Joker crews and although a bit stale in terms of build options is pretty interesting to see. 

Team Rules/Equipment

Other than being able to use both Batman and Joker objectives, the only rule the team gets is Freed. It means when you kill enemy models within 8" of BWL you can spawn your own models based on what traits they have (henchman or free agent above 25 rep gives a Robin, leader or sidekick gives Commissioner or Damian) but you can't have more than models are sold for (so 4 Robins, one each of the others). It's a neat ability but not really huge cause of your options being heavily restricted in list building which can lock you out of some options entirely. 

Their equipment is all $0 so you'll take all of them, its just a matter of who gets what. Death Pack goes on BWL because everyone else who will use it already has it, and the rest are really up to personal choice because they don't shine on any specific character (except maybe Darkness on Grim Knight to act as a bunker firebase) and at least one will probably end up on a Robin anyway. 

Batman Who Laughs

The lynchpin of the crew for obvious reasons, BWL is ridiculously good but pretty expensive. For the sake of this article I'll only be talking about the Batbox version, although they're both pretty similar all around in what they do. Def 5 with Martial Artist and Stealth is already impressive, but adding in Protect Me! with his Robins makes him really tough to take out despite being on a 60mm base. Psycho stops his Willpower from being reduced which is corner case but useful nonetheless, and he has a whole lot of tricks to represent his chaotic planning that he is so known for. Strategist gives him more Resources to play with, Trickster messes with Audacity allocation and adds unpredictability (however small it is) and Goad can put opponents into really bad spots for either scoring or getting killed. Detective is nice for if he is manipulating, but as the primary beatstick of the crew he probably shouldn't be manipulating to score cards where possible. He has Attack 5 with Reinforced Gloves for stun damage, or a 2 blood Scythe with Reach, Sharp and Bleed:2 for a far better option that will cut through a lot of things despite him lacking any hit boosts normally. Luck comes in handy as a single reroll a turn, but is only one reroll, and Blood Scent gives him +1 to hit and strength die provided the opponent already has blood damage on them (which is possible, but not guaranteed). The last thing to mention is him gaining Inspire on the 60mm base so the rest of the team will have free manipulates (even less reason for BWL to ever manipulate) and at movement 10 with Sneaking he is fast enough to make sure most of the team will stay in the bubble as much as possible. 

The Commissioner

He's Archie and Gordon made into one, and boy is he annoying. He has a lot of different things he can do but mainly his role is to hurt the opponent by forcing them to Effort more, while he blasts away with his 2 guns. He can pass off damage to Robin Who Laughs when he gets hit, and with Detective and Veteran is pretty great at scoring objectives if needed. 

Damian Who Laughs

An upgraded version of the Robin Who Laughs he has the same statline as them but with +2 Willpower and Endurance. He also gains Acrobat and Duelist so he's faster and more accurate in attack (plus Duelist and Death Pack work together) and upgrades Stealth for Master of Stealth and Sneak Attack. That means a potential 5 dice with +2 to hit and rerolls that opponents can't Effort against which is absolutely disgusting and will do a lot of work. With his speed he can do whatever is needed between fighting or suspect running and either are worthwhile options depending on cards in hand. 

Robin Who Laughs

The "cheap" henchmen, these guys are made to run around and avoid trouble until they pounce. They have good stats with 4s almost across the board (which means when they do get hit they're likely to go down) and 12" movement they can get around easily to do whatever objectives you need. I would personally use them mainly for scoring cards while the big boys do the fighting, and only potentially use them in combat when I can guarantee Death Pack will trigger. Sneaking is also a great way to add extra movement between turns to add to their unpredictability and annoyance factor in games. 

The Grim Knight

Grim Knight is pretty similar to Knightmare Batman but way more gun-focused. Both have the same stats (except for -1Willpower and Endurance on GK) and almost the same traits just replacing Knightmare's Mixed Combat Style for Living Arsenal which is pretty ridiculous but the main reason you take GK. GK is also cheaper natively but with a $500 funding cost, and he gets down to 104 rep in a BWL team which is really a steal. Bat-Armour Mk1 makes up for Def4 a bit and Martial Artist helps a lot too, but really GK's best defensive tech is killing whatever comes near him. Living Arsenal makes his short ranged, 2 blood firearm into a variety of different things that all mix his playstyle up a lot. Medium Range and Scope is the opener, letting him get some early shots off to soften things up before they get closer, and then depending on the situation he is likely to use either other option. Explosive and Anti-Tank, despite lowering the gun to RoF1 (from 3) means you're not carpet bombing the table but the attack is still great against almost anything if a little low on damage output with it capping at the minimum 2 blood. Assault and Red Dot is probably his best option when in range, because 3 dice and the strength dice at -1 to hit isn't bad with a reroll (even if its only one for the whole lot) if you're gunning down goons to lower their output every turn. He has a Sharp, blood/stun knife as well but why would you ever use it over his rerolling to hit Reinforced Gloves even in BWL, because you can convert it to blood with resources or just Arrest with the Commissioner. The other big thing to note is he's super slow in comparison to the rest of the crew. While his guns let him reach out a lot better, he struggles to move as much without his Batclaw. 

Decks

The big boon of a BWL team in spite of their limited options is the ability to take from both Batman and Joker decks. This means Snitch and It Doesn't Look Fresh go in automatically, and probably Secure the Perimeter to make almost half the deck then add to taste depending on how you build the crew. For an all-Robin build with Damian I would make the most of its speed and double down on suspect-based cards from all the decks plus You're Expendable. They Won't See Me Coming is always great and even more so in a team that has Stealth on so much and Die Hard is good if you take the Grim Knight or the Commissioner. 

BWL brings 6 of his own cards as well in 2 sets of 3. Both are pretty weak and IMO the reason for this is to balance what would otherwise be a super optimised deck and quite easily overtuned. Apex Predator requires 3 suspects to be near an enemy model when it's killed which is doable, but needs a lot of setup for a 1VP card, while Corrupted needs 5 models to have Enervating and/or Poison in Phase 1 to be scored for 1VP. The resources just slightly change what damage you do if near BWL because Apex Predator changes all stun to blood for one attack and 1 resource point, with Corrupted adding Poison to that attack. Both work well enough and with Joker cards (and the Robins having Enervating) you can pull them off easily enough, but they're low reward and made to clog up the deck a bit. 

Relic Hunters- Malifaux McCabe Tactica

Back to Malifaux after a long break between posts, I'm talking now about the Wastrel keyword. Over the past year I've migrated almost fully into Ten Thunders from my Outcasts, and McCabe has been the main reason for doing so as I love the crew. 

Keyword abilities-

Looted Supplies- Pretty simple, if the model starts their activation within 1" of a corpse or scrap they draw a card. It's on the whole keyword, and you can generate scrap decently enough to set up a bit of card draw if need be but it's just a really nice incidental thing too. 

Artefact Upgrades- They all have Take This! As a bonus to pass it to another minion or Wastrel within 6” on a 4 and Paid With Trinkets to give Fast at the start of the models activation provided the upgrade was attached this turn. Both of which together can give you great Fast chaining but I think it’s a bit of a trap and Fast just happens to be something nice to give out when you need it to happen

Timeworn Blade- My favourite one, just cause it’s easy to use. Giving Precise (the important one) and Blade Storm it’s the most directly offensive of all the Artefacts and ignoring so much defensive tech can win games on its own. Blade Storm is ok but not amazing, and a lot of models in keyword have much better bonus actions already so it competes with a lot (Ride With Me, both of Sidir’s bonuses, Leap)

Phantasmal Mask- The defensive one of the lot, this gives Life Leech and Protective Spirits (pulse 3 Shielded +1 as a bonus action needing a 7). The potential for healing from this is great even if its initially low (Protective Spirits also has a ram trigger to heal 2 and choose to end a condition) but it is a great way to passively heal up if you’re in the middle of a scrum. This is what I give McCabe after the Blade because boy it makes him annoying to deal with.

Faded Mirror- My least favourite of the lot just because it doesn’t do as much as the rest, it’s very card draw focused in a keyword that can already get good amounts of card draw fairly incidentally. The bonus action it gives is just draw a card if the opponent has more cards in hand which is meh compared to almost any other bonus you already have, and Know the Warrior requires you to have Focus and not spend it while also cheating fate to draw cards. It’s a far worse Showboating and I would really only put this upgrade out if I already had 2 copies of Blade and Mask already out

Keyword models-

Lucas McCabe, Relic Hunter- McCabe is a really big bag of tricks, but they all lean towards one specific thing. He's quick with Mv7 and Unimpeded, plus he can move through other models and has Ride With Me for extra movement as a bonus action. All of this alone gives him potentially 26" of movement a turn, but with Make Way! this becomes huge amounts of damage and turns him into a shockwave-lite master. Tn13 Mv duels every time he moves through a model will happen a lot, and the 2 damage stacks up really quick if he runs around like he should be. He has a few tactical actions, digging up relics (and he can immediately dump it off on a trigger) is nice but Luna does it for less valuable AP, and he can force Wp duels that do 2 damage and Injured 2 if he discards Artefacts from friendly models. His attacks are where he shines though, because his Netgun blasts around Staggered and Slow (both of which protect him a lot and increase his damage potential) and his Bull Whip is just amazing. Low damage with 2/3/4 but it explodes into a bunch more duels to hurt the opponent a lot. 2" move built into the attack can clip plenty of things, plus the triggers to either move 5" (through more models for more duels) or the built in ram trigger to make enemies in pulse 2 take a Tn13 Df duel or take 2 damage. This means if you set it up well you can do absolutely massive amounts of damage to bunched up enemies and with the Timeworn Blade you can tear through most defensive tech on all of it except the Mv duels which is insanely good. McCabe tends to be a distraction piece for me in most games because of this potential, and he either gets focused (and still does a lot of work going down) or ignored and dominates the game. He's an amazing Ley Lines piece too because of the movement potential

Lucas McCabe, Dismounted Hunter- the 2nd version of McCabe, this is assuming the mounted version gets killed (which isn't out of the question playing trample McCabe, and honestly something I expect late-game). He loses a lot (Unimpeded, Ride With Me, Make Way! and Trample),  but does pick up +1Wp, Swagger and Extended Reach plus swaps his attacks out for 2 different versions. Collier Revolver is a decent gun but not anything to write home about (especially compared to the Net Gun) but his Glowing Saber is insane, especially when you add it to the Timeworn Blade to ignore almost every main line piece of defensive tech there is. All in all he's really just a last resort for when he does get knocked off the horse, but he's still pulling his weight. 

Luna- Basically only a way to cheaply get more Artefacts out, but Luna does it really well. Turn 1 and usually 2 she just digs up a scrap and removes it for an Artefact before passing it off to someone else which is a little card intensive but not huge enough to not do, and you can reliably topdeck most of it anyway. As a totem she doesn't do too much but what she does is great

Sidir Alchibal- Sidir is the beater henchmen in the crew, and he is pretty damn versatile. Both his shooting and sword are stat 6, he has Analyze Weakness for Armour and Shielded and his triggers are all excellent. Crit Strike on his sword means he can spike damage far easier or he has the option for card draw/cycling, while his gun can either get extra shots or give the target Slow (both will affect the board state a lot). Swagger for free focus is amazing, Parry is a good defensive trigger when it works and Ruthless is pretty self-explanatory in how great it is. Mv4 isn't great, but Swagger is a nice compensation and Ride with Me from McCabe or Rough Riders (or both) do the job really well. His 2 bonus actions will both see play as well between having Juggernaut (keeping him really hard to put down when added to Artefacts and Silent Protector) and Blow It To Hell for ignoring cover on the guns in the crew which you can combo with things like Samurai for great effect. 

Desper LaRaux- Package everything you want in an ideal scheme runner and make it a henchman. This is Desper, absolutely worth taking every time you're playing anything needing schemes or interacts. Leap, super-Unimpeded and Don't Mind Me makes enough of a package that he's just amazing, but also Loot Their Corpse to generate Soulstones and a Df trigger that's basically better Butterfly Jump (albeit needing the suit). Plus he ignores Armour on his melee attack and can steal stones for if he needs to play aggressively, which he usually doesn't but it's hilarious when it comes up. If you can't tell already, I love Desper. 

Jessie Halliday- I think Jessie is good but she doesn’t really do much for McCabe in the grand scheme of things like Sidir or Desper offer. Archaeological Dig is a really great action McCabe gets a lot out of, but somewhat dependent on board state and it needs markers to exist first. Her front of card is amazing with her being unaffected by Severe, Hazardous, Shockwaves, Pulses and Blasts plus Hard to Kill, but a Harpoon Gun on one of the slower models in the keyword isn’t really needed (good in combo with Sidir but otherwise a bit meh to me) and the Soulstone Flare isn’t going to fire off as much as one would hope. The ways she interacts with Artefacts are also lacking to me and that's something I like to consider a lot in McCabe crews

Rough Riders- Fast shooters with Ride With Me, they can do a lot of work at a lot of different things. Their melee isn't strictly amazing but their gun brings a lot to a keyword somewhat lacking in shooting, and their 2 bonus actions both are helpful (although Ride With Me is what you want most to ferry around the slower stuff like Sidir and Cryptologists). They get nice bonuses off of Severe terrain (while ignoring the Severe trait) and the extra inch or 2 on deployment is ok as well (especially with RWM to pull everything else forward too). They're somewhat fragile so be careful not to overextend them, but with Survivalist they can heal a lot when they need to (and the trigger on RWM to heal is great too)

Hucksters- I love Hucksters, but who doesn't? Front of card is ok, and their attacks are nothing to write home about, but their tactical actions are amazing and the reason you take them. False Claim lets you get out obscene amounts of scheme markers mid-late game with some setup, and Secret Passage is huge amounts of movement is a little bit card intensive. Hucksters tend to be pretty card-hungry with TNs but it's lower moderates they need anyway so not a huge issue. 

Cryptologists- Really awesome design and fluff, but they're incredibly niche takes in Wastrel crews. Their big thing is being able to shut down enemy start of activation effects unless they discard a card first (Regen, Tools for the Job and Rig the Deck are the funniest interactions) or triggering friendly start of activation effects on their bonus action (all the Artefacts ability to give Fast is start of activation so one upgrade can get Fast for 2 turns on the same model). Otherwise they don't have anything especially fantastic but they're an interesting take in general. 

Ruffians- Looking at them compared to Hucksters for 1 less stone, Ruffians aren't worth taking. Sure they have Ruthless and Swagger which are both great, but they don't really play into the Wastrel game plan that much and Hucksters almost define that game plan, so I'd just eat the cost and take Hucksters almost every time

OOK/Versatile models-

Ten Thunders-

Samurai- High cost high quality minion is something McCabe likes a lot, and the Samurai are exactly that. Good shooting and good melee on a tanky body that loves all the upgrades McCabe can give it (and all of the faction upgrades too) just makes for a safe choice in Wastrel crews

Terracotta Warrior- McCabe loves good quality minions. The opponent won't, and will probably try to kill those minions. Terracotta Warriors can bring those minions back, and can steal a whole bunch of actions from the crew (Hucksters especially). For 4 stones why not? I love fitting one in

Jorogumo- I know for a fact it will be mentioned by someone else if I leave these out, so here they are. I personally don’t use them, but they’re insanely good beater minions made better by McCabe and the relics (particularly the sword), the only issue with them OOK is Flicker management. But if they take down 2-3 models in the opponent’s crew before they die is it really an issue?

Wanyudo- Doubling down on forcing a bunch of duels on the opponent, Wanyudo works like McCabe but giving out Burning. Can't benefit from Artefacts but it doesn't need to when it burns the opponent's crew and especially their deck, and it also benefits from being a great 2nd option in Ley Lines, an already great McCabe strat. 

Katanaka Crime Boss- These guys are something I've learned to love a lot and McCabe works wonders with them. Artefacts do work and they can get sped up by Ride With Me access, plus they're tough fighters already. Expensive and in a contested price bracket, but well worth it when they suit the pool

Explorers-

Hopeful Prospect- Similar to the Terracotta Warrior in that they're just decent cheap minions (although Insignificant here) and they can turn into a far better model. They have to kill a 5+SS model to do it, but with the Timeworn Blade and Fast it becomes a whole lot easier and then you have a 4SS Huckster or Rough Rider

Brocken Spectre- Same deal as the Jorogumo in that they're just big beefy beaters, but there's no synergy with the Blade because they already deal Irreducible damage. It does give them Fast though which is really worth it

Botanist- these guys at first look a bit meh for their cost with pretty low stats, but once they get stacked with Grow tokens they become great shockwave minions and even pretty fast. Creating Artefacts while they're nearby feeds them Grow tokens and once they've got some they should be fairly self sufficient. They also will all get tokens for each marker removed, so taking multiple doesn't lose token generation (although it cuts into the list a lot and I wouldn't recommend it). Them hitting with shockwaves before McCabe goes in makes the damage potential so much higher as well with Injured, or their melee attack giving Staggered and either adding movement shenanigans or Injured on triggers. Bonus action move when you can get to Mv6 is pretty obscene, especially because then you can do the shockwave twice after it. As minions they will also gain all the benefits of Artefacts, particularly in getting Fast

Thunders Upgrades-

Trained Ninja- Not hugely useful in keyword because on a lot of things parts of the upgrade are somewhat redundant (From the Shadows when Hucksters are already insanely fast, Unimpeded on Desper) so I tend to give it a miss. Useful and hilarious on Samurai though especially with McCabe to hand out upgrades

Masked Agent- On McCabe it’s excellent (I love it on any beater master just for Relentless and With Me), but the keyword kind of lacks in melee beater henchmen so otherwise it’s mostly wanting you to take OOK and Versatile to get a lot of use out of. I usually just stick with it on McCabe 

Silent Protector- A great way to keep Sidir alive for a bit longer, but otherwise I don’t really take it on anything else in keyword. The other upgrades just do so much more

Explorers Upgrades-

Treasure Map- Its simple and nice, but the models Deadly Pursuit is funniest on (McCabe mainly) don't get a lot out of it otherwise. Hucksters it could work with, but Hidden Agenda is so much better

Flush with Cash- With the crew having a couple of ways to generate stones it could be good, but it also has 3 henchmen and thus a ton of models that want to be using stones. I'd usually just rather take the 2 extra stones and hope to win duels or reduce damage myself. 

Hidden Agenda- This is amazing. Put it on Hucksters and they become both annoying to take on but also really great at pushing for endgame schemes by gaining Fast

Deployments-

Wastrel as a keyword have such obscene amounts of movement they don't really care about deployment type, more about amount of blocking terrain for Hucksters. Tables with less blocking means less movement angles but they still have a lot to give on any table. 

Strategies-

Reckoning- As a more scheme-based crew I don't think Wastrel are super geared towards Reckoning even though they can kill really well in certain situations. I wouldn't take them here unless the pool was scheme-heavy but even then, Thunders can do it better with other keywords. 

Turf War- Not a terrible take but I wouldn’t be reaching for Wastrel first in either faction for a similar reason to Reckoning. They’re decent enough but you’re not playing into the main game of Turf War with the game plan of most Wastrel crews

Corrupted Idols- With a crew that can relocate as easily as Wastrel they’re a decent take here, but be careful of taking wounds on your own stuff cause it’s a risk for late game.

Plant Explosives- Super easy. Chuck bombs on Desper and Hucksters, place where you need to and drop bombs. McCabe runs at the enemy carriers and him and Sidir play a kill game

Schemes- 

Detonate Charges- False Claim. That’s it

Breakthrough- A great scheme to take between Hucksters and Desper, it’s pretty easily achievable. I always take it when it comes up in the pool

Harness the Ley Line- Again, Hucksters. But with Wastrel it’s not difficult to do with literally anyone

Search the Ruins- Guess what? Hucksters and Desper. Terrain even potentially lets you Secret Passage right into position to drop the marker

Dig Their Graves- Actually pretty great. First point isn’t hard in keyword, but the 2^nd can be done purely with hitting triggers on False Claim and you can build it up throughout the game with good placement.

Hold Up Their Forces- I’m not a huge fan of this one just because if you deliberately engage more expensive models you’re probably going to lose what you have pretty quick. McCabe has tons of high-value models too both in cost and game use so the opponent probably won’t hesitate if you engage and this is in the pool

Take Prisoner- I don’t like this scheme mainly because your models are great things to choose as targets for it. You can pull it off pretty well with all the movement you have though so it’s not a bad choice, just something to be wary of.

Power Ritual- Corner or Flank then do it, Wedge or Standard it’s a tossup. Doable with Hucksters and Desper going deep but also not guaranteed early and hard to do other schemes at the same time

Outflank- Another easy one, you just have to make sure to survive

Assassinate- McCabe takes a fair bit of punishment, but he tends to be a bit of a magnet for hits so it’s a risky take. Depending on who is on the other side of the table though it can be good for you as long as you push hard and force as much damage as possible (max out simple duels plus Life Leech)

Deliver a Message- Huckster drops into leaders face, delivers message. 2^nd point is a bit more work but it still isn’t impossible

Claim Jump- Non-leader is the biggest downside here. It’s got game and I don’t dislike it, but it isn’t super scheme heavy like I like to play McCabe and it needs careful planning of placement and activation order to pull off 

Vendetta- If you're taking good beater minions, great take (although they're usually still 9-10SS and targets are restricted) but most of the time you don't have high enough damage on the models you want to really guarantee it with in keyword. 

GG1

Strategies- 

Symbols of Authority- Really good take for McCabe. You can't put Hucksters directly on the Symbols unless the opponent puts them near blocking terrain, but between the crew you have enough easy movement to threaten almost every symbol placement pretty reliably. 

Recover Evidence- McCabe can do it pretty well but I'm not guaranteed to take him here because he isn't the only good option in either faction. It all depends on the situation I find myself in at the start of the game as to who I will go with. 

Corrupted Ley Lines- This is my favourite strat for McCabe. Chuck the lodestone on him or a Rough Rider (or Wanyudo) and you'll pretty easily score at least 2-3 points. The amount of movement you get from Ride With Me and native Mv7 is enough with McCabe. 

Public Enemies- Because McCabe isn't really a combat heavy keyword I don't think he's a great take here, I'd rather go for someone like Misaki, Yan Lo or Cooper 

 

Schemes- 

Breakthrough, Take Prisoner, Vendetta, Assassinate, Claim Jump- Nothing changed here, so my points from above are still my opinion on them. 

Hidden Martyrs- I'm not a fan, but you can choose 2 Hucksters as your Martyrs and it becomes a really tough decision for your opponent. Do they kill the Hucksters and score you this or do they leave it and risk scoring more off the other scheme and strat?

Sabotage- I take this often. Backfield scheming is something Hucksters and Desper can do really well and this just plays into that fact. 

Catch and Release- Doable with Hucksters, who can get in and engage and then pop away really easily

Let Them Bleed- Not something I would ever take with McCabe. It's difficult to predict and a lot of the keyword don't want to be fighting (plus 3 henchmen all with little defensive tech makes it hard to deny for you)

Leave Your Mark- I’m not a huge fan of the scheme, but McCabe can do it easily enough. Having a Huckster in place can get you both points fairly easily, and in denying it will even gain you soulstones

Research Mission- Pretty great take between generating scrap, scheme and blown apart markers. 2nd point is harder but still doable, I like it a lot

Spread Them Out- Hucksters. They break off to get 2 markers down and whatever else places the 3rd, it's pretty easy to do with this crew. 

Runic Binding- With the movement and easy marker placement the keyword has, Binding is almost a safe take for the first point. If you start shooting with McCabe instead of trampling it gets even easier because you're slowing them down a lot. 

GG2

Strategies

Symbols of Authority, Corrupted Ley Lines- Same as in GG1, my thoughts are the same. These are still McCabe’s top 2 strategies and the main reasons you will be reaching for Wastrel

Turf War- With the mobility you can get in this you can do some pretty good work, but not going to be as amazing as some other masters in either faction

Break the Line- Scheming and mobility makes this a pretty good strat for Wastrel although not their most fantastic

Schemes

Breakthrough, Vendetta, Assassinate, Hidden Martyrs, Research Mission, Let Them Bleed, Catch and Release, Spread Them Out- These are all very much the same as before and I wouldn't change how I play them now.

Detonate Charges, Claim Jump- They’re the same as GG0, same as my thoughts there.

Death Beds- With your scrap generation as well as schemes it could be worth it, but the errata also severely dulled the killing potential of the keyword so you’re forced OOK a bit more which loses you synergy. I wouldn’t really recommend it much.