Hi all, back with another BMG discussion and this time it's a crew that's actually fairly recent! I absolutely love the new update for the Court of Owls and I've bought into it myself because they look like an absolute hoot to play.
Standard Owl Rules- This combination of trait and weapon are on almost the entire crew, so they're very important, but I thought I'd break them out and talk about them on their own to avoid saying the same thing a bunch of times.
Reanimated Owl- This trait is on most of the crew, and
healing 2 damage (1 stun 1 of your choice) every turn is huge (Call An
Ambulance with this= easy points if your stuff gets KO’d) but it does have the
downside that if they die the opponent gets to drop a suspect marker. Not
massive but it can have its drawbacks (Truth Seeker kills them and gets 2
suspects, one of which can be a Snitch in Batman) and both players have to keep
it at the forefront of their minds all game.
Owl Knife- Only single blood damage which isn’t fantastic,
but it is reliable now. Handy and Sharp to reroll everything that misses is
already great but they gained Crushing so they are pretty hard to block and
almost always getting damage through. Needing 2 successful blocks for each
attempt pretty much means they’re wanting to effort to remove dice, and with
you taking off 2 damage a turn you can effort far more safely than they can.
Lincoln March- The Batman of the Owls (as he is supposed to
be), Lincoln is the direct combat option for Court as their leader. Attack 5
with an Owl Knife isn’t too bad, but he does also bring along Retractable Claws
with Combo so he will usually be using those to fight because he can easily
blend a good amount of models with those. Willpower and Endurance 8 are both
good stats for a leader, especially with Reanimated Owl and Power Armour to
make him incredibly tanky, and Defence 4 for his cost is definitely reasonable
with Martial Artist factored in. Fly is a great way to get him where he needs
to be, and if he has Audacity there is almost no reason not to use it (plus if
you don’t have Audacity its useless). He does have a little bit of support with
the obvious Inspire, but he also gives Joy for the Victory for a bonus on
willpower rolls (so your Talons don’t get mind controlled into killing each
other) and free extra moves when they score objective cards which is small, but
combined with Owl markers moving when things die you can get a lot of sneaky
angles and attack vectors through these movements. He also has Strategist for
extra Resource Points which is very nice, but not massively important in Owls
when the most beneficial Resource is cost 0. Overall Lincoln is very good, but
in 3rd ed Court lists he is probably my 2nd list after
one using The Court and a bunch of Talons.
The Court- An amalgamation of the old High Court models, The
Court is the newest leader option available to Court and works very
interestingly. As an Intel Support model it doesn’t need the protection old
High Court leaders did and it puts out a great amount of support for the rest
of the crew that will help a lot in “traditional” Court lists. 4 different
special actions is a lot, but when you factor in Enemies of the Court to allow
this model to take one every single time a Prey model dies (which should be
every time an enemy dies) you will be taking a lot of actions outside of the
normal sequence of play and this can really mess up an opponent’s game plan.
The most universally useful one is Boss’s Orders to give everyone +1 to hit
making you very threatening with all the Talons jumping around, but Goad
is great to pull things where you need them (need something near suspects to
mark it as Prey? They come to you now!), Demotivate can mean things don’t have
the opportunity to stop you from doing your business and Shadowed Perch lets
you relocate on the fly without having to take movement (thus extending your
movement or just saving actions) so you can get your 60mm base Inspire where it
needs to be. The Court should really never be taking damage either as you have
ways to easily protect your own suspects as well as being able to remove your
own almost as quickly as you remove them to score so you have a means to not
give the opponent opportunities to ever actually damage them.
Gotham Butcher- Just like he looks, the Butcher is a simple
bruiser. He hits hard, plays really nicely with the Master Fighter equipment
and while not super fast like some other Court missiles he is still pretty high
speed. High attack, endurance and willpower together make a scary beater, and
when he starts killing he gets even better every time which is really great
with how the Court play now. He should be bullying weaker models at the start
so he can get his buffs up and running before jumping on the harder to kill
models and hurting them, same as most of the crew. Between Huge and Reanimated
Owl as well it is really hard to keep him down because he shrugs off and
removes heaps of damage, plus also has defences against strength die (although
his lower defence means he is usually just relying on the -1 because there will
be other die to block). Against some crews damage really doesn’t matter either
because of Desensitised so he will keep on running at you and tearing things
apart until you manage to straight up kill him- there is no KO for the Butcher.
Calvin Rose- The Batman of the Talons, which is fitting
because he also works for the Batman crew, Calvin is a stun damage model first
and foremost but also really good at objective running. Fairly average stats
for a Talon, but with Scout for free moves at the start of the game, Runaway so
he can’t be Arrested (amazing on a Reanimated Owl) and Escape Artist for
free moves if enemies attack him. He’s slippery, annoying and in doing stun
damage can punish people who choose to effort too much against some of the
bloodier Talons so overall he’s a great choice if you want a Free Agent, but
Owls in general I would personally avoid it because of them not being able to
benefit from Inspire at all.
Raptor- The weirdest of the Free Agents because he isn’t a
Talon and thus doesn’t have Reanimated Owl, but he does do some very
interesting things for the crew. His Gas is a great way to put Enervating on a
bunch of models at once and deny them the chance to effort when the Talons hit,
and his claw does it too but at a lower level (2 vs 1 on the claw). Blood/Stun
at attack 4 is ok but is really a setup for what comes after when a second
model hits it and the target probably dies. He has the great combo of
Desensitised and Sturdy so he can always effort the full 3 and doesn’t get KO
when he reaches his willpower in stun so he can play a bit more freely than a
normal model (although probably not as much as Talons with their healing). Batclaw
as standard is nice for the movement, and Street Fighter might help in some
situations, but otherwise he is mostly a flavour pick if you really want Raptor
(or if you want a melee Free Agent in Kobra- he is a Kobra Cultist which can be
really useful)
Strix- The blender. Strix has a reputation of being a murder
machine and she more than deserves it with how fast and aggressive she is as
standard (and can get faster with equipment). This is one of your main damage
pieces you send into Prey models and enemy Bosses to guarantee they die and you
score your points when you need to. She is somewhat fragile for a Talon though
so be careful with her because it is a big impact when she goes down. Possible
10 blood damage with her attacks, plus being -1 to block and rerolling all dice
is already pretty consistent even without possible +1 from The Court, and 11”
move (which can become 13”) with Stealth keeps her fairly safe until she can
pounce on something and guaranteed kill it.
William Cobb- He languished in mediocrity for 2 editions but
finally The Talon is in a spot where
he is really quite good. Instead of combo on a fairly average Knife profile
while he also had the better Owl Knife he now just has combo on the Owl Knife
(mentioned above- its great) so he is the threat he should’ve always been. Not
as high output as the ladies, but he’s still a great option and worth
considering almost always now especially because he is ridiculously consistent
when fully buffed (Boss’s Orders plus Precise Blow gives him +2 to hit and
rerolls so you should almost always land every hit). Exhaustive Planner in the
days of Resource-heavy play is huge, Undercover is nice to have and Martial
Artist helps keep him alive if people decide to gang up on him (which isn’t
what you want in general, Court like to pounce on weaker targets wherever they
can)
He can also be taken with Bane the Bat which should be noted
as quite a fun and flavourful option now, if a little hamstrung by how
expensive the pair is. It’s not something I would consider as a massively
competitive option, but it is an option nonetheless
1880s Talon- The missile of the bunch, she’s cheap at 50 rep
and quite fragile for a Talon, but she is very fast and hits hard. Her Gladius
is Overwhelming and Sharp so she can get hits through easier, and her 13”
movement means she can get to where she needs to be, be that Prey or a model to
mark, very easily and almost guarantee kill it. This means she is fairly hungry
for Audacity just like Strix, but that isn’t a huge issue when she will be
scoring for you fairly reliably.
1890s Talon- Xiao Loong is a bit of a weird one cause he
costs less than 1880s, has a slightly better statline but is overall not as
useful. Replacing Acrobat and Fast with Stealth and Climbing Claws (decent, but
not what you want most of the time) he has Owl Knives and a Tanto which is very
useful if you just want a model to sit somewhere and never die (Die Hard? Xiao
does it better than most for his cost). Overall he is weird and a little janky,
but I don’t rate him super highly because he doesn’t bring enough over other
models that can fit into the crew and do a ton of work.
Ephraim Newhouse- Another one of the double damage Talons,
Newhouse has a Scimitar and Throwing Knives for his damage and with Weapon
Master he is already at +1 to hit with the sword (although he lacks rerolls to
hit, instead getting Bleed:2). He is fairly tanky and one of the faster Owls
out of the gate, but his real job is through Primary Target so you can mess
with the opponent and use their suspects as your own (stealing them to mark
models as Prey is great and turns it around). His willpower and endurance are
higher end for Owls and pretty great, but not too much to rave about.
Henry Ballard- Ballard is a tank that you want to be hitting
your opponent’s suspects and setting up your own game before he starts
swinging. Evidence Tampering means you can steal opponent suspects and turn
them into your own, but the real struggle is the combination of Invulnerability
and Reanimated Owl with his standard stats so he is really difficult to take
down and keep down. He’s harder to fit with the other amazing options, but if
you can get a space for him I would wholeheartedly recommend it.
Dementor- A newer character in both comic history and BMG,
Dementor is an absolute monster on the table. A bigger model on a 40mm, he’s
hard to take out with defence 4 and Light Armour on top of his endurance 8,
plus he also has Stealth and Obstinate to help him effort a bit more when he
has to or against potentially bad willpower rolls. Sneak Attack on top of his
Stealth is really nice, and he has 2 weapon choices for different situations
(although I think one of them is for almost every situation). His Claw is ok,
but his Sickle is almost strictly better trading Bleed:2 (which won’t often go
off) with Poison built in which absolutely will help you and the Sickle also
has Reach to keep him safe. He also has Inspire Fear which is ok, but ultimately
he will only use just because he has a special action spare and it might do
something beneficial. It isn’t amazing on him but it is there. The other huge
thing to note is Unstoppable Monster, which gives him a free 2” move when he
activates (so he moves 12” with full movement before upgrades) and no one can
manipulate within 4” of him. This is a bit of a drawback because it makes it
harder to mark things as Prey nearby, but it also shuts down the enemy too so
he can be a great disruption piece that drags things down with him as the
opponent is forced to deal with him.
O’Malleys- The cheap Owls, Son and Grandfather are both 30-odd
rep with lower stats than the other Talons (although still good stats for their
price) and all come with an Owl Knife and a Katar (blood/stun, Bleed:2 and
Sharp- all around a pretty good weapon for when people want to effort against
the big hitters). They’re all Martial Artists for when it matters (although at
defence 3 that isn’t often) and then all bring another trait with them to play
around with. Son has Distract which is fantastic to soften up Prey
targets (although he needs Audacity to do it without sacrificing the rest of
his activation which hurts a bit) while Grandfather has Bodyguard (less useful
nowadays with The Court but decent with Lincoln) and Protect the Shadows to stop
enemies removing suspects near him (which in turn keeps The Court alive and
lets you play your game). Father is a more expensive 51 rep but has the bumped
defence and attack to 4 to justify it, with Brutal for increased chance to crit
(great with Bleed:2) and a +1 to hit built in so his hitting is pretty great
(although at the cost I’d probably just take someone with more utility).
Assassin:2 is nice but not really as high value in an Owls crew as in some
others because of the amount of resources that are cost 0 and how important
they are.
Equipment-
Owls are unique in that their equipment list is open to Free
Agents as well as Henchmen, so you have a bit more variety in where the
equipment goes (and you will have a lot of equipment to throw around). Their
most important piece of equipment is Genetic Alteration as $100 to give +2
movement to anything in the crew is very powerful, and I would always take all
3 (Strix for sure, but any of the beaters do well with it). Grapple Gun is also
excellent for the same reason (and it adds a special action where most things
lack it so you can use Audacity a bit more efficiently). Camo Vest is decent
but not super amazing, Mixed Martial Arts for Combat Flip and Ancient Training
for Master Fighter are really good in their own niches and the rest is kinda
middling in terms of usefulness.
March unlocks Talon Serum Infusion for the crew, which is a once per game extra strength dice on 3 Reanimated Owls at the cost of them taking 1 blood at the end of the turn (which they can then heal anyway). It’s nice to have for sure, but it isn’t worth basing your whole game plan around 3 extra dice in the crew.
Decks-
Far more than most decks, the Court are based around killing
select enemy models. A few objectives are all but mandatory because of their Resources,
that being some combination of Owl’s Night, Talon’s Claw and An Owl’s Tale. Of
these I really like Talon’s Claw and An Owl’s Tale choosing to leave Owl’s
Night at home over other objectives. In terms of generics I find myself leaning
towards They Must Know Pain, Call an Ambulance, Die Hard and Overdrive because
they do the same thing I want to be doing with Court, while I take Gotham is
Ours and The Owl’s Labyrinth for my Control objectives especially for their
ability to manipulate board state in my favour, and Terrible Accident because
it’s all around pretty great as a card.
The Court’s unique objective is simple, but good. All you
need to do is kill 2 Prey models in a single turn, and because it’s a phase 2
card you can score 2 other cards (or more if you play Terrible Accident
carefully) at the same time meaning you get huge spikes of VP at one time. The
resource is also simple yet effective as it’s 1 point for 2 free Efforts
against Prey, so you’re more likely to be killing what you want to
Lincoln March lets you play a shell game which is really fun
and forces your opponent to react to it if they want to deny you VP, or you can
use it to hide a model for a turn and really threaten them the next turn with a
nasty blender of a model like Strix or Lincoln himself. The resource is also
super lethal because it stops Efforts entirely, which is almost a guaranteed
death sentence on Prey models and thus easy scoring for other cards.
Calvin Rose has an objective that works a bit like a more difficult
Die Hard depending on when it gets played, but it needs a model to not be
removed as casualty by the end of the game so you want to either put it on the
hardest to kill model in the crew earlier in the game or on something turn 4
that you can guarantee won’t die (or the easy option, put it on The Court
whenever you want and guarantee the scoring). The resource is also built to
keeping your own models alive, and 3 extra defence dice for 0 resource points
is massive with how it can swing games.
Cobb’s card is another simple one, all you need to do is
remove the enemy Boss as a casualty with one specific Reanimated Owl so long as
the Boss is already Prey. Again, phase 2 card which means it stacks with
Terrible Accident if you get them in hand, and potentially also any other card
that needs models to die as Prey. The resource is similar to the other ways Court
can apply Prey to enemies, but instead of Owl Markers it triggers off Cobb
himself and immediately gets placed back on top of the deck guaranteeing it as
your next card.
In terms of Plots, the Court ones are all pretty good
depending on how your deck is tailored, but with the amount of good violence
objectives they have I would prefer to take 2 violence Plots which means taking
Shock and Awe. Although the special condition is somewhat difficult (more friendly
Suspects than enemy models in play, when you would rather be killing- better
make sure you’re Inspired!) the Plot itself is pretty achievable and the once
per round bonus is very nice to have. Otherwise I wouldn’t take any generic
Plots, choosing to drop Soundless Nightmare because it is the least able to be
scored by just passively playing the game with Court.
