Who doesn’t want to play Batman? Let’s face it, the good guys are probably a big reason why we got into this game. I am a huge Batman fan, though probably a little less the comics and more the big screen and the animated series. This meant that I was drawn to this game and wanted to expand beyond the Suicide Squad box right into the Batman and Law crew.
Of course, those were a thing of first edition and now that we have third edition, those have all been combined into the Batman crew. This makes one of the largest single collections of both resin and metal models that a person can choose from. Lots of selections though, can feel very daunting from the go. I will take a look at how you could get started with two easy to purchase model lists.
Getting Back to Gotham
Just like with the Joker crew, the Back to Gotham two player starter box is the easiest way to start collecting a Batman crew. The starter included a playable 350 reputation Batman crew in the box. It includes a very good Batman model, Jim Gordon, and a number of police officers to fill out the crew. This gives you a very classic Batman crew for the game that plays and feels very narrative.
Batman can move out, sweep the streets for thugs while Gordon and the cops work on scoring objectives and arresting anyone that Batman leaves behind. If Gordon and the team get in over their heads, Gordon can quick flip the bat signal on and Batman will be there to lend aid. The theme of this list by itself tells a narrative and the game play only gets better when it’s on the table.
The List
- Leader: Batman (Todd McFarlane)
- Free Agent: Commissioner Gordon
- Henchman:
- Sgt. Harvey Bullock
- Officer Merkel
- GCPD Detective
- GCPD Cop 2
- GCPD Cop 1
The crew comes to 350 reputation exactly so nothing to spare there. You do have a spare $900 in funding to work with. That will give you a number of equipment options that you can change up on your crew depending on your play style. To keep it simple, equip Batman with an upgraded batsuit for a bit more endurance. Also give him the kevlar cowl so that you can ignore critical hits.
Commissioner Gordon will always take his heliport upgrade. Radios are very big for your henchman to have in this list, so equipping any two with those will be sure to aid as Batman will spend most of the game likely working away from your crew. Finally, I add a grapple gun to any of the cops. This will allow them to get in position to be able to sneak in and make an arrest on some of the knocked out models Batman leaves behind him.
You Have Failed This City (but not this list)
There are a ton of people out there that love the CW universe. For them, I wanted to build a list of models that would work together. This list really feels like a crossover show on the Flash, but it has speed and some ranged capabilities that may come in handy. This is just a 4 model crew so it’s going to be very easy to start collecting and get painted on the table.
While you can also buy John Diggle, I couldn’t quite find a way to fit him into this list. In addition, I think this list would be more effective if you drop Green Arrow and add some cops in from the Back to Gotham starter box. Flash can be the leader due to his sidekick rank which could give you a very well themed Flash crew.
This crew could be adjusted to use the Team Arrow Team rules which opens up a little with equipment options. Finally, at the time of this writing, there are no speedster rules out for 3rd edition so you won’t be able to take full advantage of the Flash until those rules are available.
The List
- Leader: Green Arrow (CW)
- Sidekick: The Flash (CW)
- Free Agent: Vibe (CW)
- Henchman:
- Harrison Wells (CW)
As Harrison Wells is your only henchman, you can really load him up with equipment. You will need handcuffs in this crew to arrest some people when the game comes down to some close combat. Command Center gives you Scheming 2 which will be handy to shuffle around a pair of suspect markers during each Raise the Plan phase.
Green Arrow will get ahead of the crew, so taking a radio will keep Harrison in inspire range. This will let him have a free manipulate and still use a tactical action. Finally, give him patrol training. This will let him deploy a bit forward of your deployment zone so that he can drop a suspect marker or take a shot from an advantageous position.
Whatever Gotham Needs
There are so many options available to the Batman crew that you could go crazy (and broke!) with this crew. It’s really pretty awesome. I didn’t even get into fan favorites such as Nightwing, Robin, Batwoman, or Catwoman. This crew can be worked to make your favorite Batman work as well. From the Christian Bale Dark Knight Rises Batman, to Frank Miller variants, and even a variant for Zur-En-Aarrh Batman! Whatever crew you want to build you can find a way to do it with the Batman crew.
Check out some of these great articles from WiscoDice while you are here!
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