Batman: The Rules - Crew Building

Today I am going to take a look at how to build a crew for the Batman Minis Game from Knight Models.
So you don't buy loads of models and find out they don't work together, Knight have ALL of the Stat Cards available to download from their website HERE. This will let you work out your exact crew and then go and buy the models you want.

To start off, games and crews are worked out in REPUTATION (points). 150 for a small game, 300 for a medium and 450 for a large.
A common size is also 350 Rep.
All picks must have the same Affiliation, like Batman, or be Unknown.

As well as the Reputation, you get $$$ to spend. $500 for every 150 Rep or part there of.
Some models come with a $$$ cost included for the gear they carry which is taken from your $500 per 150 Rep, anything left can be spent on extra equipment.

The other main limitation is for Free Agents. You can take one of those for every full 150 Rep
These limits can NOT be exceeded!

For example-
A large game lets you spend 450 Rep on your crew, $1500 on equipment and hire up to 3 Free Agents.

There are a couple of rules that can tweak this.
Lord of Business gives you an extra $500 to spend and Charismatic lets you take a Free Agent for every 100 Rep instead of the usual 150.

Lets take a look at the different types of models you can choose to take over Gotham. I will use the Batman Affiliation which includes most special rules.

LEADERS
These are the big guys. Often the highest Rep of your crew, they are also the most skilled and dangerous. You can only take one Leader per crew.
Don't mess with the BAT!

SIDEKICKS
These are the helpers and lesser skilled Heroes and Villains.
If you have a Leader in your crew, you can also take 1 Sidekick. OR, you can choose not to take a Leader and have up to two Sidekicks instead.
If a Sidekick is chosen as the BOSS instead of a Leader, their Funding cost is reduced to $0.
Ever wanted the Green Arrow and Nightwing to take down the bad guys without Batmans help?

ELITE BOSSES AND HENCHMEN
Some models come with the Elite rule. Elite Henchmen can only be taken one at a time. So far, they are also all named Henchmen. Batman could use one SWAT member but not all three as they each have Elite (SWAT).
Models with Elite Boss (type) can get around this and take multiples. Commissioner Gordon has Elite Boss (SWAT). This lets any crew he is in take more than one SWAT member.

FREE AGENTS
As I stated above, you can take up to 1 Free Agent per 150 Rep. You DO still need to pay the Rep and $$$ costs on their cards though.
Some Free Agents work for certain crews, like Robin with Affiliation Batman, but most are Affiliation Unknown meaning they can work with anyone. Some also include the Hates rule that stops they being taken with the named crew. Deathstroke has Affiliation Unknown but Hates: Batman, Green Arrow and Law. This means he can be taken by ANY of the bad guys but none of the good.

AFFINITY
Some models have the Affinity (name) rule. This lets them bypass several crew building rules and be taken alongside the named character in a different Crew as a Free Agent.
Arkham Bane is a Leader with Affiliation Bane. BUT, he also has Affinity (Batman). This means he drops his Leader and Affiliation Bane rules and becomes a Free Agent while Batman is on the same team. Normal Free Agent limits still apply.

NAMED HENCHMEN
The rest of your crew will be filled with Henchmen. Some of them are named like Agent Ron above. This means you can only ever take one Agent Ron at a time, no matter what.

HENCHMEN*
Henchmen without a name are also known as Minions and are marked with a * after the word Henchmen. If you want, you can take multiples of these in a crew.

CORRUPT
A recent addition to the game has been the Corrupt rule. This means a model with Corrupt can pick up to 3 Law Forces Henchmen to be hired into any Villian force they join.
Current examples are Commish Loeb joining Organised Crime and Branden joining Organised Crime, Two Face or Black Mask.

EQUIPMENT
Finally, you get to spend any left over cash from your $500 per 150 Rep. Each crew has an Equipment list with max amounts and costs. These items can be given to any of your Henchmen but each can only carry a one of each item on their list.


Lets make an example crew using as much of this as we can.

Batman Crew, 450 Rep, $1500, Up to 3 Free Agents

Leader
Batman - 130 Rep - $0

Sidekick
Gordon - 70 Rep - $200 - Elite Boss (SWAT)

Free Agent / Leader
Bane - 150 Rep - $0 - Affinity (Batman)

Named / Elite Henchmen
Delta - 33 Rep - $300 - Elite (SWAT) - Magazine $200
Bravo - 27 Rep - $300 - Elite (SWAT) - Magazine $200

Henchmen / Minions
Baton Police - 16 Rep - $0 - Whistle $200
Baton Police - 16 Rep - $0 - Flashlight $100

TOTALS
442 Rep - $1500

OK, I know that seems like a lot to pick up and take in, but it's easier than it looks.
Download some cards from the Knight Models Page, try making a crew and see how it goes.

Feel free to post ANY questions you have in the comments.

Next time is Setting up a game.

- Hendybadger