Deck Building in BMG- Batman and League of Assassins

 My 2nd BMG post in a row now, this time I'm going a bit more open and talking through the thought processes I have with regards to building crews and their decks. I tend to have a fairly set process in terms of playstyle for specific crews but they generally work off the archetypes for certain packages that I like to take as part of my decks. 

Suspect based and the "Hidden package"

Both of these crews I like to take at least one, usually 2 Hidden models to start putting pressure on and scoring cards right from turn 1. In Batman this is Bullock and a Detective with Radios, because both become insanely good suspect farms that enable almost any card in your deck that need suspects, while League it's High Security Henchman and one of the Acolytes being bought Hidden. I also make sure in League to max out on Undercover via Talia and make the most use out of Scout possible for maximum pressure. 

Both crews I like to add in a little card package based on this early pressure, starting with Flanking and Stake Your Claim. These aren't the most popular objectives for a few reasons, but I find if the opponent has to dedicate resources to stopping me from scoring these they're enabling the rest of my crew to move into position, and Stake Your Claim is pretty easy to score and there's no shame chucking it behind a plot because its only 1VP. In Batman I add Secure the Perimeter to this package because it plays right into that playstyle that I enjoy, while in League it gets a bit more violent with From the Shadows or Blood for Blood. 

Batman

Batman crews love to use Snitch, but there are a few really great cards I always try and sneak into the deck as well. The Flanking/Stake Your Claim/Secure the Perimeter combo I've already mentioned, but They Won't See Me Coming is an autotake in Batman crews mostly for the resource on it which is incredibly good. Comb Through Everything and Secure the Perimeter both also have good resources, and you should usually get use out of Get Them Off The Streets although that one tends to clog up hands far more than most cards. 

Their Plot cards are a bit more tailored to specific things, but I like to usually take Detective Work, Point the Finger and VIP with the last one being flexed between Raid or Point the Finger depending on whatever else is in the deck. With Batman being able to stack 4-5 Detective models in the crew quite easily you have redundancy for the bottom part of the plots

League

League are a bit more violent than Batman, but they still play a good suspect game and the threat they can put out is well worth considering when building a deck. Blood for Blood and From the Shadows are both good objectives with a little bit of setup, and combo well with the melee hitters in the crew as well as other objectives like Overdrive (more scoring angles while you soften things up, or Venom doses to go all out on the offensive). The Fire Rises is somewhat easy as well especially with Talia, and really almost all of the suspect based cards in the deck are things Talia loves to have because she tunes it up really well. Lazarus Pit is also a good take for the resource, but the points on it are decent too if it comes up as an option

League Plots I tend to tailor more towards Violence and Control objectives (so Set Up the Purge and A Step Ahead I always take) with a little bit of flex depending on the specific deck. I do like Shock and Awe with them too because I just have to play how I normally would to achieve it

Bonus- Teen Titans and Bat-Family

With the exception of Oracle, a deck for either of these teams will be made up of mostly Batman cards and a sprinkling of League via Damian. The Hidden package gets cut out of the deck, although I would keep Secure the Perimeter anyway, and put in a few favourable League cards like the Lazarus Pit and The Fire Rises. These give you some really great angles to help in-game and can shift things in your favour at almost any point

Oracle- BMG Model Review

 Back to BMG with what is easily one of the best models anywhere that can take her, Oracle! A really valuable add to any Batman, Teen Titans, Bat-Family or Birds of Prey crew because of how she manipulates the table and the cards she plays with, plus she's a really characterful sculpt that I like a lot. 

Oracle

A card almost entirely based around objective play and suspect markers, Oracle is really great at playing an objective game and controlling board state. Informer is always great for free pass tokens, especially at her cheap cost, while both Scheming and Hacking let her easily move around markers and put things where they need to be (your suspects where you can score, opponents where they won't or even lamps/sewers in more opportune places). Intel Support is her jankiest rule (now shared with the new Riddler model) and it basically details how she isn't technically on the table and thus can't die. It means she is a guaranteed shoe-in for Die Hard and cards that need to kill the enemy boss is also impossible when Oracle is the boss (more likely mid-late game but you could still hire her as the boss). The only way she takes damage is is 4 suspect markers get removed, but she can then come back at the cost of an audacity marker and keep going at her game. In general, Oracle is a very versatile piece and does a lot of work to help your crew win games just by being taken in your list. 

Unique Objective- Webmaster

Oracle's objective is played in phase 1 but scored at the end of the turn, meaning with what you need to score it it's decently hard if you're not building for it. Choosing a friendly model is definitely better than it being enemy, but needing 6 suspects within 8" is a lot and you need to set it up somewhat in advance otherwise it'll become a turn where the opponent can quite easily dedicate resources to stopping it (removing markers, killing or pulling the model out of position)

The resource is amazing, and being able to move a huge amount of markers 2" for just 1 resource point can change games depending on what you move and when. It also gets the card out of your hand when you couldn't score the points from it. 

Batman Crew

Of all the crews she's in Batman plays the suspect game the hardest with things like Snitch and Secure the Perimeter, so she's a super easy slot in to get those. She doesn't redefine the playstyle of the faction, more doubles down on it and makes it very tough to face. 

Birds of Prey

She doesn't do anything particularly game-breaking in Birds compared to elsewhere (and even locks you out of a lot of options with her also being Batman affiliate) but she is still as good as ever. As a surprise attack angle with Sisters in Arms, or even just boosting the regular suspect game while shutting off opponents she's easily worth the rep if you want to slot her in. 

Bat-Family and Teen Titans

Both teams that already have team-wide Inspire access, she turns them into suspect machines on top of already being tough as nails with their selection variety. The big thing here though is giving them access to Birds of Prey objectives though, which is really amazing and her biggest boon in terms of tailoring team lists to one specific build. Sisters in Arms is always insanely good in terms of damage output via the resource, and No Protection Needed, Aerie Two and the Nest all have potential in either team. Hacking also plays really nicely with the League of Shadows objectives that require specific placement in relation to enemy models and with Damian in the same team list this is easily achievable and works fantastically. 

On the Table- Star Wars Legion, Infinity and Blood Bowl

 Hi all, another little update with what I've been working on over the last couple months. My gaming habits have shifted quite a bit in a new direction with some of the older games falling to the wayside for a while as newer ones become the focus. 

My last update my Rebels were done awaiting bases, and since then the basing is finished and I've added a few more units. Clan Wren and Sabine started off my Mandalorian expansion, and the generic unit in the box got painted up as Bo Katan and her Nite Owls for a bit more colour variation. R2 and C3PO got finished as well and they've been seeing a lot more use than the rest, mainly because I'm finding Republic a lot more fun than Rebels and I've been playing them a lot. 

As just mentioned, I've been really getting into Republic and enjoy them a lot. Anakin has been my favourite model to play in the entire game (closely followed by Operative Luke and Padme) and I almost refuse to not take him at this point based purely off the enjoyment factor. I have all my Republic painted as well as you can see below

Getting back into Infinity again with N4 is something I've had a great time with as well, and it's meant I've finally gotten around to finishing off my Steel Phalanx. I really have a blast playing them and they can do a ton of work, plus I get to play a bunch of Greek heroes and I really love that theme, doubling down on it with painting everything in bronze armour to really accentuate the Greek feel. I'm now working on a StarCo army so I can use all the Outrage manga characters which should have a very different feel to my Phalanx as well so I'm looking forward to that. 

Last thing I've been working on is finishing painting my Goblin team for Blood Bowl. At the moment I haven't started on the trolls but the rest of the team is well underway, with only a couple more nights worth of work until they're done. I've always loved the team and they're hilarious to play, plus this lets me play Underworld when added to my Skaven as well (and that's why they're painted all in the same purple and yellow scheme so they match). Updates on them soon when they're finished!