Batman Miniatures Game Review

My gaming circle recently decided to give the new Batman Miniatures Game a go. We mostly play Games Workshop games and this seemed a good opportunity to try  something different, with a setting we all knew.

The official Knight Model miniatures are nice, but they are not cheap, so we used proxies in our first game. Also none of us have ever really done any games in a modern setting before, so we didn't really have any scenery. Having no idea how this game worked, I didn't want to commit to splashing out before I'd had a chance to try it.

Choosing a Gang
Knight Models already have an impressive selection of miniatures, and they can be put together in quite a flexible way to form your gang.

I've never been a big follower of DC, I mostly read Hellboy stuff these days, though I've dabbled in Marvel in the past. However I have most of Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing on my bookshelf, so when I saw he was available I struck on the idea of having a Batman/Swamp Thing team up.

Batman is a leader and can (I think) only be included in the Batman team. Luckily Swamp Thing is a 'Free Agent' and so can join most teams.

Another interesting idea is that they don't just have one Batman available. Instead you can choose one of a number of versions, including the Arkham City incarnation (who, I am reliably informed is based on the computer game of the same name), and Adam West's iconic portrayal.

Aesthetically I prefer the Frank Miller Batman, and luckily at 109 reputation (points) he is one of the cheapest. With a typical game being 300 points, and Swamp Thing coming in at 150, this does at least leave my some points for a couple of members of the Gotham City Police Department. I've had some Wargames Foundry Cops lying around for ages and am glad to finally have a use for them.

Setting Up
The table is set up to represent Gotham city, so lots of buildings, and plenty of cover. As I mentioned we didn't really have much in the way of modern terrain, but for this first taster game we used some 40k buildings.

The free pdf version of the game is designed for two players and we had three, but this wasn't really a problem, things were pretty simple to adjust.

The scenario we played had our gangs deployed pretty tightly in the corners, but movement can be pretty swift if you choose your tokens wisely (more on tokens below) and on the recommended 3'x3' board you can soon be in combat.

Playing the Game



Batman (who looks suspiciously like a Viking) and the GCPD 

There are a couple of neat ideas that are central to how BMG works. The first is darkness. To represent playing though the gloomy streets of Gotham line of sight only extends 30cm. There are exceptions to this, for example if you are standing within 10cm of a streetlight then you can be seen from any distance. Certain characters can also be given flashlights which enable them to light up the enemy.

This is a pretty cool idea. It means a lot of the game is spent creeping around in the shadows, planning your advance to make the most of the darkness or, if you are a more shooting based gang, positioning your self so you can see people coming.

The second big mechanism is tokens. Each character can place a number of tokens on their sheet at the beginning of the turn. From 4 for a rookie cop, to 8 for Frank Miller's Batman. These can be split up into four different categories: Move, Attack, Defence and Special.

Tokens put into Move allow you to increase your basic move rate, or to do things like cross obstacles, climb ladders etc.



Research material, courtesy of Amazon.co.uk

Attack tokens do what you'd expect, allow you to make either a shooting or close combat attack.

Defence tokens let you try and block close combat attacks.

But where the characters really come into their own is through using special tokens. Anyone can use them to do things like enter the sewer system (allowing them to pop up somewhere else on the board a couple of turns later) but characters like Batman have a whole list of special skills, many of which need a special token to activate. Some examples are using his cape to slow a fall or jump and avoid injury or using his Batclaw to climb buildings.

All tokens have to be placed before any characters move that turn, which means you need to plan your move and anticipate what your opponent(s) will do, to ensure you have the correct tokens to react.

Combat

Our make-do Gotham.

Combat fits in well with my idea of how comic book combat should. There are a few rolls you need to make and in this game I did struggle to remember what I was supposed to be rolling each time, but it's not really that complicated, certainly no more so than the Warhammer family of games. There are a number of options open though which means combat is not just a matter of running your character into theirs and hoping for the best.

For example everyone can choose to grapple or push instead of a normal attack. The former will make the target easier for subsequent characters to attack, the latter can push someone off the edge of the building, possibly fatal if you are 3 or 4 floors up.

Other characters can also use special attacks to add more flavour. When you add this to the variation in attack/defence tokens combat is tactical and fun.

Conclusions

Well I'll certainly be playing the game again. It 'feels' right for the background, and has a lot of tactical decisions to make through-out. The miniatures are nice, although as I said before, not too cheap. Having said that you don't need too many to play. The suggested reputation (points) total is 300, that gives me four people, probably slightly below average, but most gangs will be about 6 or so figures strong.

There are other supers games and I'd like to try these out, notably Ganesha Games' contribution (Power Legion?) but I can see Batman becoming a semi regular game for my group (well I hope so anyway as I've just ordered Batman and Swamp Thing and started making some scenery). It's definitely more of a tournament-style game than narrative, and one of the minor failings is that there are a few holes in the rules. In a game like Song of Blades and Heroes this doesn't matter too much, but in this type of game it has more impact. I expect these issues will be addressed eventually with FAQs and/or a second edition.

Battle Report: The Ruins of Annis Minnor

 

The Ruins of Annis Minnor

 

For a long while now I've been wanting to do some wargaming set in Middle-Earth. I looked at various rules, probably the most obvious would have been Games Workshop's Lord of the Rings Strategy Game. However I wanted something a little more flexible than this. We (my brother and I) weren't going to base the games on the films, but rather go back to the books.

In the end I chose Ganesha Games' Song of Blades and Heroes. It is a skirmish game, which means we wouldn't need to paint up too many miniatures to start it. It is also very flexible and would allow us to portray anything we wanted from Middle-Earth. It's also a fast-paced, heroic type game, which feels right to me.

I came up with some scenario rules and they can be found here:

http://wargamesdispatches.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/scenario-ruins-of-annis-minnor.html

My erstwhile opponent, Edward, took two Elves, three humans, and a dwarf, and they deployed around the watchtower. My nefarious evil doers, remained a secret to him, instead I deployed ten numbered counters in the woods at the north end of the table.

Two of the good guys, headed over to the Tomb of Ennadin, a risky strategy as although it could contain a Numenorean Blade, it was equally as likely to be hiding Baashab, one of Shelob's cousin's, who if she was revealed would probably kill any close by and go rampaging across the table.

I made a cautious advance through the woods, in hindsight this wasn't a good idea. Although it meant I kept my troops hidden, it wasted some time, and dawn was coming.

Edward's gamble paid off, and entering the ancient tomb he found the elven blade, undulled by time.

My troops revealed themselves as they emerged from the woods. A force of Orcs on the left flank, containing a boss and a big fella, some say half orc, along with two archers with poisoned arrows, a normal warrior and a Warg Rider. In the centre of the table I had a group of Wildmen, one boss and four warriors. Everyone in my band, except the bosses, the big orc and the warg rider, had the Rabble rule, which meant they only had to loose a combat to be taken out of action. Add this to the fact that the dwarf had lethal:orc and it was going to be a close fight.

However just as the two sides closed in, the first rays of light appeared in the east. Oops, I thought (or possibly a different word) maybe I shouldn't have put my orcs so close to the table edge. One by one my orcs fled into the woods, living to fight another day, but leaving their wildmen allies in the lurch. One solitary Orc archer didn't make it quite to the edge and, although he returned to the fray, he soon fell to dwarven steel.

 



In the centre of the table of of the wildmen returned a portion of honour to my cowardly band, two elves charged him but he knocked them both to the ground and put his spear through one before the other got up and knocked him out.

My other wildmen didn't fare very well. The band being below half strength that vacillated between getting stuck in and legging it. In the end the good guys swept across the table, the last wildman fell before he could make it to the safety of the woods.

This is the first time in a while that I've fought a battle were every miniature has been painted, the table has been fully flocked and the scenery has all been finished. It makes a big difference to the feel of the game, and I'm going to make efforts in the respect in the future.

The battle was entertaining, having a narrative always helps, although it was a little disappointing that half my band didn't get to fight. I hadn't really appreciated how far low quality troops will flee when forced to make a moral check. I plan to play plenty more games using the Song of Blades and Heroes rules and their variants in the future and I will bear this in mind.

 

Scenario: The Ruins of Annis Minnor

 

The Ruins of Annis Minnor

A Middle-Earth Scenario for Song of Blades and Heroes

All along the watchtower

Princess kept the view

While all the women came

And went bare-foot servants too

Outside in the cold distance

A wild cat did growl

Two riders were approaching

And the wind began to howl, hey.

Bob Dylan

It was in the year 2935 of the third age that rumours first reached Rivendell of trouble in the north. Travellers told of a king rising in the Ettenmoors. Claiming to be descended from the last kings of Rhudaur, placed on the throne by the Witchking of Angmar, he was unifying the wildmen, and some said other fell creatures were gathering under his banner.

A party of warriors, elves, rangers and a dwarf were dispatched into the border lands of the Ettenmoors to verify these rumours. On the fifth day of their journey they reached the ruins of Annis Minnor. Once a thriving market town, Annis Minnor been abandoned centuries ago, only one building now stood intact, a watchtower serviced by the rangers.

It was at this tower the party was camped one moonlit night, when out of the forest ominous shadows began to emerge…

Forces

This is a skirmish level battle fro two players. One player takes the forces of good, and should pick a party consisting of Elves, Dwarves and Rangers. The other takes the forces of evil and should pick a party consisting of Wildmen, Orcs, Trolls and other fell creatures of the Ettenmoors. Each side should be built on the same points.

Table Set Up

The table should be set up to represent the ruins of Annis Minnor. Some ruins should be placed to the south of the board, and forest to the north. The ruins should include one intact watchtower and a ruined tomb, 'The Tomb of Ennadin' (rules below).

Deployment

The evil side deploys first. They do not place any miniatures on the board but instead place ten numbered counters within Medium distance of the north table edge. They should then write down which miniature is at which counter. Up to three miniatures may be at the same counter, and some counters can have no miniature.

The good side must deploy all their miniatures within medium distance of the watchtower.

Special Rules

Secret Movement: The evil player may move the counters. They all count as Q:3+ and may be group activated, up to 5 at a time as long as the are with long distance of a central point.

At any point the evil player may choose to reveal any miniatures represented by a counter. To do this place the miniatures in contact with the counter, then remove the counter. If at any time a miniature from the good force can draw a direct line of sight to a counter then it is revealed.

Dawn: The battle begins under the cover of darkness (though on a moonlit night so there are no restrictions on line of sight). At the beginning of each turn a die is rolled and a cumulative total kept of the results. When this total reaches 25 then day light dawns. This will affect all models with the 'Fear of Sunlight' and 'Photopetrification' rules (see below).

Fear of Sunlight: All orc/goblin miniatures must be given this rule. It has a base point modifier of -2. On the turn daylight dawns (see above) this model gains the coward rule. In addition it must take a moral check at the beginning of this turn.

Photopetrification: All troll miniatures must be given this rule. It has a base point modifier of -10. All miniatures with this rule must roll a die on the turn day dawns (see above). On a 4+ they are turned to stone and removed as a casualty. On a 1-3, they will automatically turn to stone at the beginning of next the turn.

The Tomb of Ennadin: One the ruins on the table is the Tomb of Ennadin. When any model moves into the Tomb of Ennadin for the first time in the game, roll on the following table to decide what they find:

1. Numenorean Blade: The model finds a magical sword from times long gone. This blade negates any bonuses anyone fighting the bearer would normally get for combat, be they from skills, ambush etc. IE They only ever use their basic Combat score. It also negates any free disengage they may get.
   
   
2. Numenorean Amulet: The model finds an ancient armlet with magical warding properties. If the bearer looses a combat, roll a die, on a 5+ the result is instead a draw.
   
   
3. Skagger: An orc from the red mountain tribe has taken refuge in the tomb after being pushed southwards by the shifting power in the Ettinmoors. He has the following stats: C:3, Q:4+, Fear of Sunlight. He joins the evil side.
   
   
4. Baashab: A gigantic spider unfolds it's self from the tomb. It has the following stats: C:4, Q:3+, Huge, Entangle, Dashing, Long Move, Tough, Terror. Follow the AI rules below each turn to determine motivation.
    
5. Giant Spiders: C:3, Q: 3+, Dashing, Entangle. Follow the AI rules below each turn to determine motivation.
6. Re-roll (or you could have a cheap good character join the good side)

AI for Spiders:

The Spiders will try to make d3 activations. The four great spiders will activate as a group, though their AI should be worked out individually.

If the spiders are in combat, they will fight. If against more than one opponent they will randomise their attack. Otherwise roll a dice each turn and consult the table below:

1. The Spider will attack a random standing enemy who is within short distance. If no enemy is within short distance they will attempt to drag an entangled enemy towards the tomb. If no models are already entangled they will attempt to Entangle any enemy on the floor with in long distance. If there is no such target they will move towards the tomb.
   
   
2. The Spider will attack a random standing enemy who is within medium distance. If no enemy is within medium distance they will attempt to drag an entangled enemy towards the tomb. If no models are already entangled they will attempt to Entangle any enemy on the floor with in long distance. If there is no such target they will move towards the tomb.
   
   
3. The Spider will attack a random standing enemy who is within long distance. If no enemy is within long distance they will attempt to drag an entangled enemy towards the tomb. If no models are already entangled they will attempt to Entangle any enemy on the floor with in 2 x long distance. If there is no such target they will move towards the tomb.
   
   
4. The Spider will attack a random standing enemy who is within 2 x long distance. If no enemy is within short distance they will attempt to drag an entangled enemy towards the tomb. If no models are already entangled they will attempt to Entangle any enemy on the floor with in 2 x long distance. If there is no such target they will move towards the tomb.
   
   
5. The Spider will attempt to drag an entangled enemy towards the tomb. If no models are already entangled they will attempt to entangle any enemy on the floor with in 2 x long distance. If no such target exists the spider will move towards the tomb.
   
   
6. The spider will move towards the tomb.

Victory

Their are no winners in war. This is a narrative battle so judge for yourself whether the benefits outweighed the costs for your party.

A battle report is soon to follow...