350 rep Joker crew with Deathstroke

350 Rep Joker crew - $1,500

I have been looking at options and have come up with the following crew which uses Deathstroke and has an emphasis on ranged abilities. Batman does spend a lot of his time flouncing around at distance!

Leader
95 rep - Joker

Free Agent
145 rep - Deathstroke ($250)

Henchmen
26 rep - Triston ($300)
25 rep - August
25 rep - Turk ($400)
15 rep - Clown (knife)
14 rep - Clown (tube)
10 rep - Prisioner (tube)

Extra ammo clip ($200)
Clown Paint x 2 ($300)

Total 350 rep & $1,450

I think that there is a nice balance to this crew. The Joker is still the ultimate threat with the 1:6 chance to kill the best model in the opponent's crew, using the One Shot Gun. I do love that weapon.

Free Agent

Deathstroke is my new purchase and he really does look like he can do serious damage and much of it is Blood. He has ranged and close combat abilities and a lot of attack dice if desired.

He is agile - Acrobat makes his movement 12cm instead of 10cm and Undercover allows him to set-up unto 20cm away from his own deployment zone. Stealth means that you have to be closer than 20cm to see him at all.  He can be in the face of the enemy incredibly quick.

He is hostile - his weapons all to 2 damage and he can have 5 attack dice. The automatic gun does 1 Stun and 1 Blood with a Rate Of Fire of 3.  The Reinforced Bo strikes 3 times for every 2AC doing 2 Stun and comes with Handy and Reach giving him a 3cm stretch re-rolling failed Hits. The Sword does 2 Blood and is Sharp re-rolling failed damage rolls. He also has Counter Attack so can strike back in the opponents turn. He can do some very serious damage especially to lower level crew members.

He is durable - his starting Endurance is 8 but he also has Soul Armour which allows him to restore 2 wounds once per game. He is also a Martial Artist and so ignores being out numbered. I reckon he will be happy in a crowd of unfriendly cops :-).

Tactically I think the plan should be to push him forward onto the enemy henchmen. Hit them hard and fast and allow support to arrive. He should be able to survive an initial onslaught whist doing a fair amount of damage himself. This should keep enemy henchmen in their own deployment zone and away from Objectives.

Henchmen

After that I have kept with Triston and August. They served me well last time out although I will make sure that Triston is shooting at low level Henchmen in future. Trying to Hit Batman was a waste of time. I like the steady Blood damage that they can both dish out. I am also including Turk and hoping that he will act like Triston, a mobile firebase.

Then I have included some grunts to do all the running around, objective holding etc.

I have added some Clown Paint for Triston and August and with the remaining money bought myself an Ammo clip. Probably for Triston.

I have dropped Sniggering for the present although I find myself in two minds about this, especially as there should be more low level henchmen against me and he might fair better against such targets. I see him as a defensive character. He needs to be static to maximise his shooting abilities and in the darkness of our first games he struggled to apply the long range threat I was hoping for. I think that in order for him to be effective I would need to purchase a flare. This would improve his threat no end.

That is my eight man, 350 rep crew with plenty of firepower. I will need to remember that Turk, Prisoner (tube) and Deathstroke will not be able to alter their counters at the start of their activation. A little more pre-planning and concentration required.

In order to make this playable I will have 3 new models to assemble Deathstroke, Turk and Prisoner (tube). I am looking forward to that challenge.

Batman continues

After the first few 200 rep games we recognised that we really needed to be playing games of a higher value so that we could introduce some of the 'big boys'. The world of Side Kicks and Free Agents awaits. We have decided that the next Batman Game needs to be played at 350 rep points. We are figuring that this will allow a nice balanced Crew. There will be the ordinary Henchmen and then some characters that will be meaningfully better in terms of base statistics and Traits. The impact should be that there will be more death and destruction and as such more fun!

To this end I got out my wallet at Salute 2015 and added to my Joker Crew.

A few of my early lists included one or two prisoners. As I didn't have the models I couldn't make use of them so that was the first purchase. I have noticed online that a lot of Crews seem to include Turk. I will have to look into this a bit more closely. He is a cheap gun and that might well be the reason.

I love the SWAT van that Knight models do.

I am really getting along with the whole laser cut experience so I made the purchase. It looks like it will be a bit more complex than anything I have assembled so far and I am looking forward to it. It is also a good size so should play well.

And so to Sidekicks.

I absolutely love the Solomon Grundy model.

He is huge and carrying a tombstone of all things. I hadn't realised what a weighty lump of metal he is. He should be fun to paint and play - a real cop crusher!

At this point I was nearly done and then the Dark Templar drew my attention to Deathstroke. Emmmm - he does look cool and I couldn't resist.

I like the pose. Full of drama and completely different to Solomon Grundy. I figure it will give me some wide ranging options.

I have yet to review the rules - I can safely say these purchases were from the heart.

I rounded out my purchases with some blue gem stones. I already have a load of yellow ones and a few red. We have found that counters are really important in BMG. I even bought a couple of black pouches to hold them in.

My final purchase of the day was a complete foible and very unlike me! We spent quite a bit of time on the Black Scorpion stand. There were some wonderful models. Great options for Blood Bowl and a whole load of other cool stuff. It was then that I spotted some wild west characters. I have felt the whole wild west thing 'knocking on the back of my eye ball' for some time now but have resisted. Today I took the first step and purchased some rather lovely Cowgirls.

They are single piece, resin models and beautifully detailed. I have never purchased models other than for being part of a game that I was playing, so this is a complete departure but I think that they will be a joy to paint. Paint for paint sake - now who planted that seed in my head?

It was a great Salute. Normally we arrive at 11am, go around everything, have some lunch, go around again and  make some purchases and have departed by 3pm. This time we arrived at 11am and left after 3pm having only made one circuit and skipped lunch. There was just so much really cool stuff to stop and admire. A credit to the hobby. Well done indeed.

We were chatting going home in the car and started to think that maybe Kick Starter and the like is changing the people that participate in game creation. Cashflow can be such a barrier to a good idea. It did feel like more good ideas, especially at skirmish level, are being realised. I can imagine that it must be difficult to pitch a gaming idea to big business. They might struggle to 'get it'. However a direct approach through Kick Starter is different. If the idea / concept is good enough to those of us that play and love gaming then we can support directly thus over coming the initial cashflow barrier.

Fill my hands with dice - and lets game!

Salute 2015 - an inspiration and a new project

Yesterday was the annual outing to Salute. I always travel in hope and sometimes, just sometimes you come across little gems that surprise and delight. It makes the day worthwhile. Yesterday was filled with such moments - a great day out.

I found a new game that I have high hopes for, Guild Ball!

We enjoyed Blood Bowl last year. It was pure joy and a pity that it is unsupported. Guild Ball can hopefully provide a similar experience. I watched some of the game play at a couple of demo games and fell in love with models.

The idea is that it is a ball game played between Guilds. Each team has unto 6 players. The Guilds are the Butchers, Fishermans, Brewers, Masons, Alchemists, Morticians and Engineers. These are supplements by a group called the Union. I have yet to read the rules and work out how it really works but it looks in interesting.

My team will be the Masons. The female models called to me.

There was a deal at the event that got me two starters sets (one for me and one for the Dark Templar) and a book of rules for £50. Each set comes with three models which, I am told, is all that is needed to get a feel for the game.

The models are beautiful. I have Honour, Harmony and Mallet.

I seem to have an alternative sculpt for Honour but hi ho. The models themselves are metal and have separate arms that will require pinning.

I was also surprised and delighted to find a football in the box.

Mr J - a happy man!

Today was the day that we have been waiting for and we finally got a couple of games in. Two huge victories for Mr J's Crew. Both games finished something like 20 VP's to 3 VP's but to be fair we were more interested in play testing the rules than really playing and the Crew composition really favoured Mr J. You just have to have henchmen in this game.

200 rep Crew's

Batman Crew - Batman AC (130), Robin (68)

Joker Crew - Joker (90), Sniggering (25), Triston (26), August (25), Clown (knife) (15), Clown (tube) (14)

We played the Skirmish Scenario for both games.

Game 1 - The Dud!

The Joker crew brought an Ammo Crate, Titian Dose & 2 Gas Canisters. Batman brought 2 Riddles, an Ammo Crate and a Titian Dose.

I decided to keep the Objectives as close to my starting position as I could. I placed them in a line on the edge of Batmans deployment area.

The idea was to Run my guys in turn one directly towards them. I put Clown (tube) in the Sewer and kept Sniggering back to defend Batman's Ammo Crate.

The game almost had a hugely dramatic start because Batman was deployed next to a Sewer (to use his Explosive Gel) but close to a Lamppost and more importantly in Line of Sight of Sniggering. I started to think about the possibility of 9 Blood damage.....

If I could just get the first turn ..... but No! Batman got to go first and used his Explosive Gel to take out the Sewer and the Lamppost. Back in darkness and safe.

My Crew piled forward getting ready for the clash that would surely come in Turn 2.

I got to go first in Turn 2 and was able to manoeuvre Mr J forward and into range for the famous One Shot Gun. Now I had gone to the trouble of putting the One Shot Gun in Mr J's hand. I just knew that it would make the difference. I announced the shot with glee. 'Automatic Hit' I said and '2+ to damage'. What did the Dark Templar retort? 'anything but a one then'. He should never had said that .....

Sure enough - thats what I rolled. Utter disappointment! The opening salvo - a dud!

In truth this became a theme for the day. We both rolled absolutely useless dice. We couldn't get beyond the 1's and 2's most of the time.

Batman took to the air after that. The Batclaw is pretty cool and very characterful.

I moved onto the Objectives and Batman jumped Triston using his Sneak Attack. Our poor dice rolling continued but even so, Triston was taken down.

The game finished up with a bit of hand to hand combat involving Robin, Mr J & August. We knocked lumps out of one another but no one went down. August did a couple of Blood damage so he has earned the Blood on his shirt ;-)

The Joker crew amassed loads of Victory Points by sitting on the Objectives. I thought it was funny to be suffering Gas damage when claiming VP's. We had tested the movement rules, the hand to hand rules and the shooting rules. We found them a bit alien but that is usually the case with any new rule set. Counter management was proving to be a real pain - just something else to get used to.

We were disappointed that that so little damage was done by the combat and equally recognised that our dice rolling had been poor. Maybe Game 2 would be an improvement.

Game 2 - Handbags

This opened up with a bit of fun as I placed the Gas Canisters next to Batman and Robin. When they activated they both failed Willpower tests and took some damage. A very funny moment.

Batman set-up his Ammo and Titan Container along the line of my deployment zone. This was going to be more interesting. I advanced as I did in the first game. This time Batman did not mess around and took straight to the air. He got in position and used his ranged attack to take down my Clown (knife) Ouch.

The Joker was not impressed and reached for the One Shot gun. Ha, ha - this time there was success and the Batman was splatted with Blood damage.

We had allowed the Riddles to be placed up high so Batman & Robin stepped up and solved both Riddles. 

Batman was now ahead in terms of VP's and I was a man down. Could he keep me from getting to the Objectives? I had high hopes of taking out Batman himself. He had taken half damage and all Blood. I had a few turns to make it tell. He would have to come down from his high place to capture the remaining Objectives and start to score. 

How would it play out? As an aside you got to hand it to the Dark Templar - his painting is just outstanding.

I fired Explosive Teeth and Shotgun rounds at Batman for a couple of rounds and nothing! Crap dice! I was getting frustrated. My Henchmen did their job and made it the Objectives.

And Yip - you guessed they started failing Willpower tests and taking Blood damage. At least I was getting VP's. The Joker and Triston stayed in my deployment zone to challenge Batman & Robin. A major hand to hand combat broke out on the Batmobile. Very funny.

Tristan went down. Mr J ran out of Ammo and stepped in with the knife - but, yet again, rubbish dice rolling. It was like 'handbags at dawn'. Funny though.

Yet again - huge victory for the Joker Crew but this was more about learning how to play the game and we learned a lot.

Summary

It was fun. We both would have liked there to be a bit more carnage and it feels like Batman is very under powered. A lot of thinking to do but good fun. I think that the games lacked drama - there were no belly laugh moments and no great tales to tell. That might come on another day and lets face it we both rolled rubbish dice. I even passed a Willpower test of 4. Yes - that is two dice less than or equal to 4. I rolled a 1 and 2!

We both felt that 200 rep was nice to learn but really it needed 350 rep to get a bit more power into the Crews. Maybe then the stories will unfold.

For today ..... suffice it to say ..... Mr J has a big smile on his face.

Joker Gas Canisters

So with time ticking down there was one more visit by the post man. We do like the post man :-)

The Joker Gas Canisters arrived. They have been quickly assembled to get ready for some paint. They are disappointingly plain. No detail on the main body at all which is a real missed opportunity. It would be just as easy to make your own and save the money.

The actual rules card was in the packet.

This will be interesting because in order to gain the VP a character has to be standing in base contact. When he activates next turn he will need to pass a Willpower test or take 1 Blood damage. With two in play I will be killing my guys trying to get VP's. That should be funny. I suppose the thing to do is use the members of the crew that have high Willpower, where possible.

The postman also brought some Urban Furniture in the form of boxes and crates.

I am really impressed with these. Very sturdy and plenty of detail. They will make a great addition to the board and can be used for other games too. A worthwhile investment if anyone was thinking of making a purchase.

It looks like the Containers that I have ordered will not make it for the big game but I'm sure we will be fine without them.

Now - I am off to see if the glue has dried so that I can undercoat and start on the paint job. Well we can't have unpainted models on the day the Dark Templar is fielding a fully painted Crew, now can we ;-)

The Opposition reviewed - Batman & Robin

I thought it was about time I had a look at my opposition this coming Sunday.

I will be welcoming a 200 rep, two man Batman Crew to the Fun Park: -

Batman (Arkham City) - 130 rep
Robin (Tim Drake) - 68 rep

So lets have a look at what they bring to the table. For a start they are both decent characters and have  good basic statistics so it will take a concerted effort to cause any damage, or at least enough damage to take them from the game.

Batman

Weaponry
Batman is armed with a Batarang. It has a Range of 40cm and does 2 Stun damage, (no Blood, this means I can attempt to recover some damage at the end of the turn). It has a Rate of Fire of 2 and comes with 3 ammo.

This means that it can be used 3 times during the game unless Batman can pick up more Ammo from an Objective.

Each time the weapon is fired it can do up to 4 Stun because of the ROF of 2. Also the trait Throwing is applied so the ROF is never reduced by moving. This encourages Batman to move around and he becomes hard to pin down.

The weapon is Remote Control so there is no need for Line of Sight. Batman also comes with Total Vision so does not have the standard Range reduced to 30cm due to Darkness.

Batman can also perform a Sneak Attack that can't be Blocked. This is allowed if the target could not see Batman when activated.

This is a nice steady amount of ranged firepower and could be very effective against my low Endurance Henchmen. - Ouch!

Agility
Batman can put 3 dice into Movement. He can exchange his basic Movement to use the Batclaw which allows movement of 30cm but must also have a height element to the move. Dice can still be used to extend movement both before and after the Batclaw move. This is a really cool piece of movement and far better than any of the Joker crew.

The Batman's Batcape also means that he will take no damage from Falling or Jumping. So he is happy to be in the high places that the Batclaw allows him easy access to.

Defence
Batman has a high Endurance of 8. It is going to take a lot to put him down. Bat Armour and Counter Attack are Batman's two defence options. The Armour gives a 5+ save and Counter Attack allows Batman to strike back at the opponent if he is forced to Block during his turn.

Robin

Weaponry
There is no ranged abilities to consider although Robin does have the use of 2 Short Range (up to 20cm's) grenades that can Blind opponents for a turn and do 1 Stun damage. Mechanical also means that it damages on a 3+ (I think). They have a template effect so will be good against groups. These could be nasty but he will have to be close to use them.

His other weapon is a Bo(a staff) that does 1 Stun damage. It has Reach (3cm's) and is Handy (reroll failed to Hit). Robin can put 3 dice in Attack.

Agility
Robin can put 2 die in Movement and like Batman Robin has the Batclaw but none of the other benefits so if falls or is Pushed off a building he will be in trouble.

Summary
So should I be worried? Well the game should be a challenge as both sides are adopting a very different approach. My Joker Crew have the numbers but are slower and many come with low endurance so are vulnerable to sustained damage dealing. Batman's high level ranged attacks could be hard to handle.

Batman looks like he will also be a hard nut to crack but if I can get him on the ground and out numbered the task may become more manageable.

Robin is impacted by Darkness and will have to get close to do damage. His Endurance of 6 is not a mountain to climb but I will have to be careful not to present a nice target for those Grenades.

Laughing all the way to your grave

Well I couldn't resist them. They are so shiny and nice and well .... joker'ish. I have ordered the Gas Canisters.

My understanding is that they do not cost any Rep or $'s. They can be taken as one of the Joker Crew Objective choices and, like Riddles, you can take 2 for a single choice. I'm sure we can fit it into the story line - the Joker planning to gas the city and these are the canisters that are being taken to the balloon - or something along those lines.

They give 1VP each to the player that controls them and will also increase the number of counters in play. (which is good for me)

But being Joker Crew they have a wicked side, in that all characters with 5cm take 1 Blood Damage unless they pass a Willpower test when the Canister is activated. The actual wording will be important to understand if there is choice when it comes to activating the canister but I believe all will be revealed when the blister pack arrives.

I am imagining a fleeing Clown being chased down by some of Batmans henchmen. When he gets the chance he activates the canister causing damage to everyone close by. Clearly in the upcoming game I am only facing Batman & Robin - no henchmen - but imagination is a great and powerful thing.

Anyway they will look cool on the board and add to the general atmosphere - provided they arrive on time ;-). I foresee mad painting late into Saturday night to get them ready.

Night time board & Urban Furniture Q&A

I have finally managed to get some paint on the board and it makes it 'pop' a bit. Definitely gives it that feeling of darkness. I used a couple of different colour sprays. Black as the undercoat, then some shadow grey, in streaks, followed by more black to take the edge off.

A little more play testing has revealed that it is very easy to 'forget' about the effect of the Lampposts. This was really beginning to bug me. There was a suggestion earlier on in the blog that some disks could be used to denote the light. I have given that a try and it definitely makes a difference.

Urban Furniture Q&A

I have been looking online and seen a number of games recorded on Utube. These have proved very interesting to observe. A couple of things came to mind: -

1. Lampposts & Serwer placement - in the games that I have seen people seem happy to place them anywhere, including up on buildings. I have checked the rules and p80 & 81 say they can be placed 'anywhere in the playing area' within set limits that are defined.

I would welcome thoughts on this - but it does seem odd to have Lampposts and Sewers up high on buildings?

2. Objectives placement - again I have seen them placed anywhere which seems reasonable but I have noticed a line on page 81 in bold - A player cannot deploy objective markers on scenography element. What does this mean? It is followed on page 82 with a picture of a Riddle Objective up high on a piece of scenery.

Unlike the Lampposts and Sewers it does seem reasonable, to me, to have Objectives in / on buildings and at various heights.

Again I would welcome any thoughts?

Another small point concerning Ammo Crates & Titan Containers - victory points are awarded 'to its owner when they control it' Does this mean that you only get VP's for your own Objectives and not those owned by the opposition?

The wording also talks about the act of 'activating' so that the Objective can only be 'manipulated' once the Objective is 'activated'. Does this mean that only the owner can 'activate' the Objective?

Such are the questions of one who is yet to play - but better ask them now and have the answers for Sunday.

Joker Crew, 200 rep

Well we are in the final week of build up. The big game is on Sunday and so I figured that I should make some decisions and then apply some more detail, paint wise, to the chosen crew.

I have been attempting to max out on both the 200 rep and the $1000 dollars. As I began to pull the various rules together and compared this to their weaponry, proposed role for each character and overall Willpower, I had a rethink.

I am beginning to think that this game is going to be about controlling space or at the very least applying threat to space. Sure it will be important to have bodies on the ground but they will be 'easy meat' unless they can be supported, preferably from distance.

The Joker and Sniggering will be excellent at applying this threat. Mr J has Total Vision allowing him  to effectively ignore the dark and even see around corners. This compliments his Explosive Teeth as they are Remote Controlled. Once an opposing model is within 20cm - the One Shot Gun becomes a potential killer. Sniggering offers similar threat in that he has full range over the entire board. His devastating 3-9 Blood damage can also be an outright killer. This will allow him to support other models from distance provided there is light and Line of Sight. The preference will be for him to get a good vantage point and stand still, maybe even sitting on an objective.

The Clowns (tube & knife) are still worthwhile and will be able work with Mr J and / or fan out up the board. If they stay with Mr J they will benefit from Inspire and they have Demential Laughter to Distract. This is a nice combination. There is also the potential opportunity to Outnumber. Lets face it they are cheap and are present in the Crew to provide numbers.

August is also a strong choice. His 2 Blood damage from the Axe is strong. And his Run ability saves a Movement Counter so that it can be for Movement purposes. He is good value for his cost of 25 rep and can operate with a clear purpose in the game.

I have reviewed Contra-August and I have figured that his Obsessive trait could be a big problem. Basically once he gets into hand to hand combat he has to stay with his target. I could want him to be doing something else - like holding an Objective. This is a big potential downside. Also his Baseball Bat is only a 1 Stun weapon. In play testing he has not done much in a fight.

So I have thought it through and I think that Triston will be a better choice. His weapon is ranged and does 2 Blood. He can move and fire so is agile. He can offer real support / threat and can move around to take Objectives if needed. He costs $300 so I will lose the Drugs and Clown Paint that I had been planning on. I will also have to drop the Prisoner Tube who was costing 10 rep.

I am not spending every single rep point or even every single dollar but I think that the result is more stable and predictable.

The final list therefore is as follows: -

90 Joker
26 Triston ($300)
25 August
25 Sniggering ($600)
15 Clown (knife)
14 Clown (tube)

Total 195 rep, $900

Excitement levels increasing be the day - bring on that 'Batman'!

Joker Crew - 200 Rep & $1,000

Well the first game is only a week away. In the week I discovered that a 200 rep game has $1,000 of spend associated with it. This changes the possibilities for inclusion in the crew. I have been doing a tad more research and putting combinations together. The result is that I really am liking Sniggering.

I found this guy online and I thought he was impressive

(If anyone fancies a look at the rest of the beautifully painted crew then go for it)

He comes with a dollar cost of $600 so he wasn't available when I thought I could only spend $500. What an asset he is! His weapon has a Rate of Fire of 3, so that is 3 amounts of damage each turn. Each shot does 3 Blood of damage, that is potentially 9 in total. This is simply unbelievable and is far more than anyone else. He is a massive threat and I just have to include him.

The play testing is also teaching me that Objectives are probably the best way to accumulate Victory Points. There will be 6 - 8 Objectives as a base line, maybe more in certain Scenarios. To hold an Objective a character must be in base contact with it. So I will need lots of bodies in the crew who can fan out and hold the Objectives. 6-7 bodies would be great so that I can keep some of them together. Safety in numbers and all that good stuff.

With this in mind I have come up with the following 7 man, 200 rep, Joker Crew.

Leader
90 - Joker - you gotta love the One Shot Gun and Explosive Teeth.

Henchmen
25 - August - who can run and has a Handy, Heavy, 2 Blood Axe (add $150 for Clown paint to give him Distract)
25 - Sniggering - ($600) - with his awesome gun
21 - Contra-Auguste - who has a Handy, Heavy 1 Stun Baseball Bat
15 - Clown (knife) - who comes with Clown Paint (add $250 for Neurotoxic Drugs giving him Fast & Dodge)
14 - Clown (tube) - who comes with Clown Paint
10 - Prisioner (tube)

If I can pick up some Titan Dose during the progress of the game so much the better.

I reckon this Crew is both Hostile & Agile. Hostile because it has plenty of ranged firepower and also some good weaponry when up close and personal. Added Strength when combined with Clown Paint to Distract and also Outnumber the opponent. All great options and the benefits stack. Agile because there are characters that can Run and also the Neurotoxic Drugs give Fast. There is also the potential to use the Sewers to get around the board.

Yes - I think this has some nice flexibility. I will need to get the Prisoner model though.

Funfair progress - first paint

I have had a real good go at trying to get some paint on things. I am conscious of time and I want to make sure that there will be some funfair themed atmosphere and lets face it, that needs some bright colour.

I have made the Hot Air Balloon the centre piece and gone for the image of the Mr J's head. Well it stands out at least ;-) Other than that I have thrown on the colour and even cut out some paper advertising posters and stuck them on to large open areas using PVA.

It really is coming along.

I need more urban furniture to scatter on the ground and maybe a ticket kiosk or fast food outlet or a few seats to support the boxes and containers that I have coming.

The carousel remains unfinished. I have yet to find the right size horses for it. Maybe this weekend I will have success.

The board will also need some paint to reflect the night-time conditions. I have run out of spray so again another shopping trip required.

All in all I am happy with progress. It won't be long now until it is used in anger. Bring on the Batman! Mr J is ready and waiting.

Balloon Assembly

Well the big moment has arrived and it is time to pop the balloon and see if the paper mache structure has survived and hardened properly overnight. I left it in front of the fire so that it maxed out on heat. I didn't go for the Linseed option because I wasn't sure how the paint might interact so .... without further a do ..... I give you -

The Balloon Port will sit between the Funhouse and the Ferris Wheel with each providing access. There is a platform from the Fun House roof and we will have a special rule for the Ferris Wheel, maybe expending 1 MA and 1 SA to interact with the Ferris Wheel (or something like that). It is also less than 30cm high for Batclaw access.

I needed a basket for the balloon and this was assembled using foam board, cocktail stick dowels, PVA and 4 BBQ skewers. I added a layer sellotape later to give strength.

Then I needed something to link the balloon to the basket.

The loading would be vertical and downwards through the wooden skewers. I cut out a larger piece of foam board and took a nick out of each corner. These would house the top end of the skewers which would also be pushed outwards into a small curve which should look good. I then glued four squares over the top of these holes. I tried adding tape but without great success.

Now I needed to connect the ballon. It also had to be removable for easy storage later. I went with the idea of an upturned Coke plastic bottle which has a curved bottom and would sit well inside the top of the balloon. I cut off the mouth piece and then cut out two large vertical slots in the shape of the foam board top platform.

This worked a treat and the Coke bottle sat on top of the foam board in a stable way.

I was delighted. All that needed to happen now was to add the balloon itself.

And there we have it - one balloon. It dominates the playing table and I am thinking of painting it up like a Joker's head.

Then it will be ready for the Joker to invade Arkham, dropping poison gas or whatever his wicked plan might be. Can Batman & Robin stop him, that is the question?

Thanks for all the ideas guys.