200 Rep Joker Crew - more thoughts

I have been doing a bit of play testing and am beginning to realise that the Batman Miniature Game is going to be very different to what we are used to playing. Its got the mental juices flowing.

Victory Points are amassed on a round by round basis and there are many ways to acquire them. You can kill the opposition, hold Objectives, solve Riddles or meet the criteria associated with Scenarios. I am beginning to realise that the total number of VP's could, in fact, be quite high. This game will not be about just killing the opposition - having said that, if the opposition is dead they can't hold objectives ;-)

I have also been looking at the way the Objectives and Urban Furniture etc are placed. The order is interesting because it forces a 'spreading out' effect.

First off, each player is allocated D3 Sewer Markers. These can be placed anywhere on the board but must be 5cm's from an edge and at least 20cm's from each other. Using the Sewers will be a great way to get up the board fast. Place one marker in a deployment zone, enter the Sewer at the start of the game and exit at another marker in turn 2. Pick up a piece of Loot or solve and Riddle and move on. Only one character from each crew can be in the Sewers at any time but it will be interesting especially if there are a lot markers in use.

Next come the Lampposts and again each player has D3 to deploy. The game is fought in darkness so these are going to be important as they cast a 10cm disk of light. Anyone standing in the light can be seen and targeted.

Finally come the Objectives which are interestingly placed after are the Crews have deployed. This time each player chooses three Objectives (out of the 4 types available) - so there will be a minimum of six in play. Objectives markers cannot be placed within 10cm's of a players own deployment area, they must be 5cm's from the board edge and importantly a minimum of 5 cm's from any others marker i.e. Lampposts, Sewers and other Objectives. They can be placed within the disk of light cast by the Lampposts though. This is going to really spread out the Objectives.

Loot (if any are taken) must be placed on neutral ground unto 20cm's from the enemy deployment zone.

Riddles (if any are taken) are deployed in pairs (I only recently spotted this) and like Loot must be placed on neutral ground unto 20cm's from the enemy deployment zone.

So there is a lot of Objective counters to be in control of. VP's are awarded at the end of each round and to be in control of the Objective you must be the only character in base contact.

I believe that the impact of all this will be force each Crew to start at the edge of its Deployment Zone and then to move forward onto the Objectives as quickly as possible. It might be interesting to place an Objective or two at the back of the opponents deployment zone. Cause a little confusion by effectively taking someone out of the game although this could give away a lot VP's.

The thing is that you will need to have a lot of characters, quite spread out, to be in control of the counters and therefore gathering VP's.

With this in mind and taking account of some of the comments received from my first thoughts I have reviewed my options to improve the number of guys in the crew. This option brings the total to 7 but does dilute the Joker influence a bit.

The Crew

Joker - 90 rep
August - 25 rep - comes with a Handy, Heavy Axe doing 2 blood damage and he can Run
Turk - 25 rep - has two hand guns, firing twice a round
Contra-Auguste - 21 rep armed with a Handy, Heavy bat
Clown Knife - 15 rep
Clown Tube - 14 rep
Prisoner Tube - 10 rep

The cash could be spent Neurotoxic Drugs giving a couple of the crew both Fast and Dodge, probably Turk and Contra-Auguste. Alternatively a couple of Clown Paint guys to gain Distract and a spare Ammo Magazine for the Turk.

The thinking here is to fan out and own some of the Objectives while the Joker sets up to take pot shots at any advancing force.

I don't have all the models for this list and both the Turk and the Prisoner will not benefit from Trickster but an interesting option none the less.

The Joker in the mood

I just couldn't resist and so I have spent a couple of days hacking and drilling and gluing and 'green stuffing' until finally I can field my very own 'Joker with Attitude'.

The gun is a bit big really and I had real problems getting it stay in position. In the end I pinned the gun to the hand and even managed to keep four of the fingers which was a result. I then increased the size of the pin in the shoulder joint and added some green stuff and straightened the arm into a firing pose. I next pinned his head. I had to lift it a bit to get the chin over the shoulder.

He looks a bit daft really but hell, it was a bit of fun and I can't wait to field him against The Batman. You just know that he will pull off the famous One Shot critical hit that will result in a Casualty. Now that he has the gun in plain view - surely he can't miss?

He, he!

A present for the Joker

As luck would have it Harley has been out trying to find something that the Joker will enjoy. Something big and powerful. Something unique. Something that will bring a smile to his face.

Could that be a One Shot Gun?

I was in my Bitz box looking for stuff to make objective counters and came across this old Necromunda metal pistol. I instantly knew that I had to drop everything and have a play.

I drilled out the muzzle. It was so small that I literally created an open sided groove. Then I fitted a length of paperclip and used glue and green stuff to fix it place. Once dried I then added a very thin layer of green stuff to the barrel and squeezed the end to create a little gun sight.

An ideal present for the Joker.

The Batman is going down!

The Joker Rulebook in the house

Great excitement with the arrival of the Batman Miniature Game Rulebook (Joker version). I ordered it a few weeks back and have been looking forward to receiving it.

It is a cool piece of artwork on the cover and a quick flick through the book makes for a mouthwatering experience. There is good background to the characters. Obviously my interest is currently focused on the Joker ....

And there is also a good section displaying all the miniatures from each crew. There are more than I was aware of.

I have a good selection of the Joker crew at this stage and the painting is coming along nicely. I am looking forward to getting them involved in a game. My playing table is also coming along and I am in need of crates and street lamps. These are essential to the playing experience.

I have not play tested yet but now that I have the latest rulebook I will be giving it a try. Should be interesting. It is always fun getting the basics of a new game under your belt and this reads as if it will be very different with lots of special rules to get to grips with.

Fun House progress

I really liked the idea of turning the Joker mask into some kind of Fun House. The idea is that it takes up the side of a building and maybe becomes the entrance. I found an old cardboard box that was about 2 thirds the height of the mask and used this as my starting point.

I glued a piece of foam board to its base making sure that it stuck out enough to take at least a single playing model. I then began a process of cutting out wall pieces about waist high to act as balustrades.

Next I added a 'storey' under the box so that the mask was able to stand to its full height. This gave me a three storey structure plus a roof. I made great use of cocktail stick dowels to give rigidity combined with lots of PVA.

The idea is that the Fun Park is abandoned and locked up - so only the outside can be used. The piece of terrain is large enough to substantially break line of sight and will also provide multiple height platforms. Strategically placed objectives will be great to ensure that the terrain is well used.

Next I needed to place a second line of maintenance platforms and do something with the roof to allow access to all areas. The dowels were less effective for this task so I hung the platform from the roof and added a support pole to the front corner. It is actually quite stable and takes the weight of a model no problem.

I have had a look online and the average Fun House seems to be a riot of colours and levels. The 'more is less' principle so go mad with additions and make it all look crazy. Here is a particularly loud example.

Reds and yellows will fit in with my chosen colour scheme but lets see how things develop.

Joker crew development

Its been a weekend of cutting and carving and pinning and green stuff. I thought that I would keep with the sewer base theme and made some purchases. I bought some resin bases and some metal inserts. There should be plenty to go around and it should give the crew a common theme. It does mean even more pinning but hey, ho.

To get me properly started I wanted to add the Joker to Harley Quinn, then Triston, August and Contra-Auguste.

I have been building up the paint layers and have yet to do the faces but it is coming along nicely. I had some fun painting the sewer slime. I started with a base of green and then dotted in lots of very small colourful dots. It gives it a vibrancy. In the main though I want the faces to be the main thing to draw the eye and I intend to spend some time on them to try and get them right. I have learned from Harley Quinn that white is very unforgiving. I love the skeleton hand clinging to the ladder on Triston's base, sweet little detail.

Next in line is Mr Hammer (yet to get him a base), Borgon and some of the clowns.

I have had a nightmare with Clown (tube). When pinning his feet I broke the model at his ankle. Then the arms didn't fit into the shoulders and when I tried to prize them apart, a little, the model broke at his hands. Currently I have a pin in each foot, a pin in each arm and another at his hands. He will need lots of green stuff but he will be properly 'bionic'.

Anyway - it is all coming along slowly and I have a third batch on models following along behind.

Mr Hammer is awesome and I am really looking forward to getting some paint on him.

Unboxing The Joker Crew - Oh dear

Great excitement - the postman finally arrived and had my Batman delivery with my Joker models. Just couldn't wait to get stuck in.

The first thing to say is that each model comes with its own game card which is very useful indeed and was unexpected.

So - I reckon that the makers of models have a couple of choices when it comes to assembly.

A. They recognise that the model will need pinning so they make sure they present the buyer with two nice big flat surfaces for ease of drilling.

or

B. They are confident of there modelling skills and design a male a female joint so the the pieces slot together quite easily and can be glued.

It is clear that Knight models have chosen option B above. It is also clear that confidence in their modelling skills has been misplaced (at least with this box set). Not one of the male, female slots is a tight fit. I have tried gluing all four models and am an unhappy chappie.

Pinning is going to be required and without flat surfaces it will be a pig. Not only that, but why oh why does anyone choose a wrist joint for a joint. It is the narrowest part of the arm and drilling will be a nightmare ... actually probably impossible. I might be able to cut the arm off at the elbow to form a pin surface and then use green stuff to remodel the arm. How absolutely dreadful!

Mr Hammer is a bigger model so I move on to him with hope in my heart. It would be nice to be able to assemble him.

But ... no, it is just the same. This time there is a great big shoulder joint which would be easy to pin if given two flat surfaces again we are presented with a male, female joint. This time it is quite large which should be a positive as the hammer is heavy but ... it is not a tight fit and wobbles. God I hate it!!!

I will have to carve out the shoulder joint and then come back with green stuff to remodel the shoulder in some way. Going to be a complete pain. Really, really?

I have two more blisters to open but am going to leave them for another day.

Customer experience opening this: -

Initial excitement - 10/10
Finding the card - 10/10
Model assembly - 3/10 and feeling very cheated.

Don't get me wrong the models themselves have lovely detail and I am looking forward to painting them but.... I wanted to assemble at least one of them (probably all of them) and get a base coat on so that I could start painting tonight - not going to happen and I am very disappointed.

A Joker Crew, first thoughts

So the challenge has been thrown down to create a couple of Joker crews so that we can get a game or two under our belts. The first crew is to be 200 points of Reputation and the second 350 points.

Lets start with the models that I have purchased and see where that takes us.

I bought the basic Joker Crew. This gives me the Joker (90 rep), the Ringmaster (32 rep), Contra-Auguste (21 rep), and Clown (knife) (15 rep)

to which I added August (25 rep) and Triston (26 rep & $300)

and then Snickering (25 rep & $600) and Clown (shield) (16 rep)

and then the model that I really love Mr Hammer (71 rep)

And I already have Harley Quinn (61 rep)

I have started reading and all these models don't necessarily go together so I will have some thinking to do. Lets have a look at some options and how a crew comes together.

The gang limit is set by Reputation Points together with dollars. For every 150 points of reputation I gain $500 to spend and the option to take a Free Agent.

The basic dynamics are that I can have one Leader, a Sidekick, Free Agent's and lots of Henchmen.

200 rep Joker Crew

The main limitation here is that I can take a single Free Agent and I have $500 to spend. I don't have any Free Agents as yet so that is an easy decision. I think that the dollars should be spent, $300 on Triston and use the remaining $200 on extra ammo.

So, Leader will be my Joker at 90 rep and then Triston at 26 rep that is 116 points so far.

It seems reasonable that I take Harley Quinn as I have some paint on her so that will be another 61 rep. That is 177 total leaving me with 23 to spend. Contra-August costs 21 rep so I reckon that is the way to go to make sure I am getting value for the points available.

Now the only thing about this is that Harley Quinn has rules that influence other members of the crew and there are very few here. Emmmmmm. Also the Joker has a Chaos Agent rule that helps all members of the gang other than his Sidekick. Maybe when the crew is this small I should consider not taking a Sidekick?

I could take August 25, Contra-Auguste 21 and Clown (knife) 15 instead. This would probably have better balance.

350 rep Joker Crew

Plenty to think about here and probably best to play a game first however there will be three Free Agents available and $1500 to spend. On this basis both Snickering and Triston will be in play so that will be $900 plus $400 on extra ammo leaving me with £200 to spend.

Joker at 90 rep, Triston at 26 rep and then Snickering 25 rep. That is 141 rep so 209 rep still to spend. I think I will need more models to get to this total but ...

71 Mr Hammer
61 Harley Quinn
25 August
21 Contra-Auguste
32 Ringmaster
15 Clown (knife)
16 Clown (shield)

That is 241 in total however I can only take one Sidekick so I will need to get in another few crew members for when we step up to this level.

Looking forward to it.

Joker time

Decisions have been made and I have plumped for the Joker's gang. I have made some purchases and am currently waiting for the postman to make the delivery. Very exciting indeed. Should be a good start to 2015, hobby wise.

There are lots of interesting looking models and I am looking forward to working my way through them. The colour schemes will be 'stand out' with lots of clowns wearing funny costumes with mad wigs and of course the white faces. Totally different to anything that I have done before.

To get me started the Dark Templar sent me one of the first models that he purchased, the ever wonderful Harley Quinn. The model had been assembled, pinned and undercoated on a splendid base and as such was ready for me to get the paints out.

The model is tiny with lots of detail. I am working my way through and really trying to pick out as much as I can. I am glad to have the magnifier and daylight bulb or otherwise I think it would be impossible. I am delighted with the progress and I can see how the white faces will really set this gang apart. They should look great on the board.

Speaking of which - I have made a visit to a couple of the local arts and crafts shops and started to assemble some raw materials.

I was reminded by the Dark Templar of a superb board that we saw at Salute 2011. A real inspiration!

I am liking the idea of creating a ferris wheel. Obviously that is currently really daunting and I have no clue where to start but I learned from all the blood bowl terrain last year that sometimes you have to just go for it and see what happens.

I guess it is true to say that for me 'Batman Begins'!

Through the keyhole

So the big question is .... who lives in a house like this?

Any idea who I am liking ??

I calculate that the ferris wheel would need to be 805mm for a 35mm scale (approximately)

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha :-)