If you are like me, then you enjoy winning. The key to that in Batman Miniature Game Third Edition is the objective deck. If you are one of those people, then this is the right spot. We’ll work on leveraging the general objective cards to optimize your Joker crew.
One of the challenges that players face with Batman Miniature Game Third Edition is what cards to include in their objective deck. Between the crew-specific cards, the general cards, and the character unique cards it can be overwhelming to determine what cards work for you.
Add in the complexity of having to then analyze your crew builds so that you can complete those objective cards just tosses another challenge into the mix. In order to win consistently in this game I find that you need to score 30+ points in the game. With Joker I actually find that I need to be in the 35+ points range.
Let’s take a look at the general card deck and see what makes sense to take.
What Joker Needs Out of the Cards
Well, it would be obvious if there was a card that was just a deck of Jokers. Unfortunately, Knight Models hasn’t done that. While the Joker affiliation card deck is pretty strong, it lacks 3-point objective scoring cards. This means it’s a challenge to score those big points.
That means you are spending a good portion of your actions doing the things to score more of your objective cards and less of your actions killing opponents’ models, removing their suspects, and generally getting in the way of their plans.
That’s part of the reason I think with Joker you need to shoot for scoring a higher objective point total. While you may have the models, you just don’t have the scoring power in the deck so you have to score more of your cards. Don’t worry, the general objective cards can really help out with some of the gaps that come from the Joker objective cards.
Stick to the Plan
This objective card is one of my go-to cards from the general deck. When you keep your Henchmen close to Joker they can put down 4-6 suspect markers in the first turn giving you an edge on suspect markers early in the game. That will put you in a great position to score those valuable two points without having to expend another action at the end of the round.
What I find with the Joker crew is that late in the game I am running low on suspect markers. I can use the card as a 1 resource cost to not only give a henchman +4 inch of the move but also remove a marker that I can use to score another objective during the round. Card cycling is a big deal, particularly late in the game.
Die Hard
No, not the movie!!! This card is a brilliant addition to your objective deck. Unfortunately, you can only take one of these cards. While I never use this card for its resource ability, its objective ability is great. First, it plays during phase 1 of the round so you can get it out of your hand quickly and get another card draw before the round really gets going. Again, it’s another 2-point objective card which is valuable.
While those things are good, this card’s biggest strength is what it does once it’s played. You choose one of your models that is not your current boss and you get to score the card if they aren’t KO or a casualty at the end of the round. That pairs well with cards like Let Them In on the Joke and Let’s Dance from the Joker’s objective cards. I particularly like this card if I need to put Harley or one of the bikers in a risky position early or mid-way through the game.
Disturbance
Here’s another useful card that you can take three of in your deck. Disturbance is another 2-point scoring card (see the theme here), works with an action to disrupt your opponent’s plans instead of requiring you to put more suspect markers of your own on the table, and has a very cheap use as a resource card.
To score this card, use one of your models to reveal an enemy suspect marker like normal. When you do and if you have more suspect markers than your opponent then you can play this card and score it. Remember what I said about round one putting a number of suspect markers on the table, right? Well, now you can move off your base of 4-6 suspect makers and into the thick of the game. Solid mid to late-game scoring card.
If you draw this card early it’s still useful. It costs 0 resources to play it and lets you lock down a single sewer marker preventing it from being used. There’s no range specified on the card which is an added bonus. When you are playing that early game positioning battle, or your opponent brought Killer Croc to the table, this can be really valuable and a sure way to cycle the card out of your hand for hopefully something more useful.
Valuable Commodities
The final card I tend to take in the crew is this one. While I have to use a crew model to reveal one of my objectives to score it, it’s worth a valuable 3 points! Your access, as Joker, to 3-point scoring cards, is very rare. This adds one of those precious cards to your deck!
In order to have an opportunity to score this card, you must reveal one of your suspect markers. This then gives the model revealing the suspect marker a loot marker. If they control it at the end of the game you score the card!
Where this card is particularly nice is that it can be pretty effectively played at any point in the game. Play it early in the game and hang back an otherwise pretty useful henchman to camp on his loot marker that he controls.
That may seem like a waste, but having a 12 or 14-point model score 3 points is worth their reputation cost. Played late in the game and you get all of the same rewards, but are hopefully able to play it somewhere your opponent isn’t making it hard or impossible for them to interfere with your ability to score the card.
This card’s resource is pretty solid as it lets you draw three cards. Of course, that means you have to discard some cards. If you are hunting for a card you can score that can be key.
What to Avoid
I will start by saying you should avoid any and all of the 1-point cards. You have to score object cards pretty constantly. While these are easy to score, they just don’t score enough points to be worth it. If your deck only scores 15-20 points you are going to struggle to win games honestly. Leave these cards at home.
A couple of other cards I will mention by name are: Flanking, Confusion, and Call an Ambulance. All of these cards are too situational for my tastes. Flanking being my least favorite of these. Confusion has some possibilities, particularly as a resource card. However, since I need to consider every card in my deck as a card I need to be able to score on I don’t take this one. Call an Ambulance has potential, but it’s match-up dependent. Against a crew that has heavy blood damage output like League or Court and it’s taking up space.
The Final Joke
Joker has a ton of freedom in his deck to do his own thing and not have to worry about matchups. Leverage this flexibility with your choice of cards and focus on scoring points whenever you can. It doesn’t matter if that pesky Bat is taking out your henchman, only that you score more points that your opponent at the end of the game.
As a final word of wisdom, I find that consistency in my objective deck breeds success. If I am constantly adjusting the deck for matchups or situations then I find myself misplaying the deck and crew. Joker will let you do this more than other crews which is a really good thing.
- Interested in playing Joker? Learn more in this getting started with the Joker crew article
- Does this Batman Miniature Game sound fun? Learn more about getting started with the game here.
- Did I miss your favorite general objective card with Joker? Contact us and let us know!