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.