Hush / Firefly Review, Fire Errata + Giveaway Winners

Hey all!
My latest review is now up on the Wayland Games Blog. A look at Hush from Arkham Knight and Firefly from Arkham Origins.

But that's not all!

Due to the awesome power of Firefly, Knight Models have updated the Fire rule.
In the book, when a model has a Fire marker, it costs 2 Action Counters to remove it.
This has now been changed to 1 Action Counter per Fire Marker.
Still dangerous but easier to survive.

Finally, the winners for the 'Owly' giveaway have been announced. You can find the names in the Hush / Firefly review HERE and Wayland have also sent emails out to all winners.

- Hendybadger

Batman Scenery Review - Construction Set and Dumpsters

Hi all!
I think it's about time that I catch up with some of my Knight Models reviews.
Over the next few weeks I will be look at 3-4 months worth of Batman and Marvel releases. Some on here and some over on the Wayland Games Blog.

I'm going to start off today with a bit of MDF scenery. The Construction Set and Dumpsters for the Batman Minis Game.

Both of these sets come packed in clear bags with a Batman topper. These bags mean you can see exactly what you are getting before you even leave the store or open it.
They also each include some very handy building instructions. Something a few of the MDF kits out there at the moment are missing.

The Dumpsters come as a set of two on identical sheets while the Construction Set is split between two sheets. These sheets include two skips (one Wayne, one Queen), a Wayne pallet, and a pair of barriers.
The Construction Set came off of the sheet really easily while the Dumpsters needed to have a craft knife run around the back of the parts lightly to remove them. Not too bad as it's something you often expect to do while building this sort of scenery.

Time to glue!

These Dumpsters were very easy to build with the instruction sheet handy. Each section is a couple of layers thick to add raised detail and the fronts have Gotham City cut into them to add a little extra of a 'Batman' feel to your board.
The only thing to watch out with this is the pin that runs through the back of the lids. You will need to run a file over the mould lines to get a good fit. When you do though, it lets you open or position the lids however you like. Another nice little touch.

The pair of Skips that come on the Construction Set were an easy build. You make the main structure and then add the details on top. This makes them very sturdy and strong.
While both are the same design, they have different logos on. One for Wayne Enterprises and one for Queen Industries. Batman's and the Green Arrow's own companies that are involved in several industries in the DC world.

The other items in the Construction Set are the two barriers and the Pallet. The barriers just need the feet gluing on so are beyond simple. They are handy to place around the board though.
The Pallet took a little more work as each strip attaches to roughly three others. Little bits of glue and a bit of patience is needed for this one but it looks fantastic when finished with a Wayne Enterprises logo displayed across the top.

So, how do they scale against the miniatures?

The answer? Really well! These bits of scenery are ideal for blocking paths, adding cover to duck behind and increasing your chances of a 'Ping' roll when being shot at.
The logos also also help make your board feel and look like an actual DC setting.

To buy these kits you are looking at around £4.80 for the Dumpsters and £7.99 for the Construction Set. Prices from Wayland Games.
While they aren't the cheapest scatter terrain on the market, for the quality I think they are a fair price.

Overall I would give them-

Dumpsters - 7/10 Badger Points

Construction Set - 8/10 Badger Points

What do you think of them?
Good additions to a board or not?

More scenery coming soon.
- Hendybadger

City Gameboard Mk 2!

I have added a few new goodies to city city gaming board which has changed it quite a lot now.
Apologies for the rubbish mobile phone pics but that's all I had at the time.

To answer your questions........
Van, containers, billboards, crates, skips, bins, phonebooths and models are from Knight Models
Hydrants, Arkham gate, concrete barriers, portaloos and base toppers are from Fenris Games
Rooftop details are from Ainsty Castings and Armorcast
Batmobile and Batwing are from Eaglemoss
Large Bank is from TT Combat
Large water towers are from Impudent Mortal
Corner Pub is from Timeline Miniatures
Corner Apartments are from Multiverse Gaming
All other buildings (grey and red) are from Sarissa Precision

Several more pictures below.
Let me know what you think.
Anything else I should add?

- Hendybadger

Arkham Dozen Painting - Take 2

A while back I joined in with a Batman painting challenge on the Arkham City Limits Facebook group.
The plan is to paint up 12 Knight Models figures over the course of a few weeks. They called it the Arkham Dozen.
My first choice was a whole load of characters. But as I haven't painted in a while, I decided to swap out most of them and go for easy to paint Henchmen to get me started.
I have posted my new 'Dozen' below.
All models are mounted on Post Apoc toppers from Fenris Games

A couple of points to keep in mind though....
1- I am NOT an experienced painter. I have only painted a handful of models in all my time gaming and those were quite a while ago.
2-  I am learning to use a new camera my wife bought me so the pictures may not be all that great yet.

So that's the excuses out of the way, onto the models.

Models 1-5. League of Shadows Ninjas. Finished.
I though these would be nice and simple to get me going. I'm quite pleased with how they turned out. I may go back and add a little more to the bases though.

Models 6+7. Arkham Robin and Arkham Batman. Finished.
You can't play the game without the Dynamic Duo can you?
For a first attempt, I like them. I AM going to do second copies of each once I get some more painting experience under my belt though.

 Models 8-11. GCPD Police. Base coated.
These were chose for two reasons. 1- They seemed fairly easy to paint. 2- They will make a fully usable crew with Batman and Robin.

Model 12. Clayface. Base coated.
For the last one I wanted to do something a little bigger that can be used by most of the crews. Clayface seems to be a basic mix of browns so shouldn't be too difficult. He's also very impressive looking.

Extras.
If I get these finished soon, I'm also going to do Arkham Scarecrow and the GCPD SWAT. Mainly because I'm using those colours already. They will both be good crew additions as well.

Next up.
The next batch of 12, if we do it again, will be a couple of characters for the League, some Green Arrow good guys to use with the police and the start of my Joker and Harley crew.

What do you think so far?
Any and all comments are welcome.

- Hendybadger

Titan Joker Preview for the Batman Minis Game

"Happy Valentines Harls. Do you like my new look?"

Beasts of War  have a preview of a new Huge model for the Batman Minis Game from Knight Models.

The massive Joker on Titan is a stunning beast. One of the bosses from the Arkham console games, he's out the crush the Bat.
Can't wait to see this model in person. Looks like he is the size of the Hulk from the Marvel range.

What do you think of him?

- Hendybadger

Game and Crew Design with the Knight Models Team

Recently I had the chance to throw some questions at the game design team at Knight Models.
With the new Batman Rulebook about to hit, I thought it would be great to get a little insight into the creation and development of the game and crews.
The answers have been tweaked a little as I don't speak Spanish and English is thier second language.

Hendybadger - "What were your plans and aims while designing the game?"

KM Team - "The first part of the development for game game like the Batman Miniature Game is to learn about the characters. We have read tons of comics since we were children but there are so many characters to remember  and for some we only know a little about them. So we hit the comics and videogames hard.

The first idea for the game was to simulate the Arkham City video game, but later we expanded to the wider Batman background because its SO HUGE!!!!
75 Years of history from DC Comics.

To develop a crew, the first thing we have in mind is how to represent the character (their lore and abilities) the best we can in the game. People want to play the characters they know and want the character to do what they do in the comics.
We can't see Batman without a Batclaw or Bane without Titan. When we have the ideas clear we go and test to make the rules for each as playable as possible for a tactical skirmish game.

We hope people like the different ways to play each crew. We are very happy with the way things are now going. In the future you can see the Wonderland Gang which have the mechanics we are the most proud of so far."

Hendybadger - "What changes during the development process?"

KM Team - "We need to adapt some rules for the different crews. In game we love different forms of play. Specific rules for some characters and crews etc.
We have to keep this in mind as we need to combine it with the merchantability of the products.

This is the most difficult part to implement in the game, but we are very happy with the final result.
For example, we know Batman and Joker will be some of the best sellers as they are the most charismatic characters from Batman lore so the crews need to be the easiest to play.
This idea came to us because miniature gaming is a very specific hobby but with the Batman license it could bring new people into the hobby.
So Joker and Batman need to be easy to play in a very specialised game.
It's very difficult to create a simple miniature game. Even more so if you can do a lot of very cinematic things."

Hendybadger - "What types of crews did you end up with?"

KM Team - "Basically, looking at the personality of each character, the Henchmen are a continuation of the Leader. We create the Leader and work with ideas based on them
For example,
The Penguin is a very rich person who always uses other characters or Henchmen to help make his business plans.
The Joker is very unpredictable and you never know what he is going to do. I think the Kaos Agent trait represents this well.
Black Mask is a criminal who uses brutality towards people to get on the favourable side of the dirty business he has in Gotham"

Huge thanks to Knight Models for these answers.
I will see if I can get them to answer some more for us in the future.
Is there anything you would like to ask the designers of the Batman Miniature Game?

Head over to Knight Models to see what they has been working on.

Until next time,
- Hendybadger

Batman Model Review - Arrow Nyssa al Ghul + Arkham City Ra's al Ghul

Today's review is a couple of people that have caused several problems for Arrow and Batman in the past.
Nyssa al Ghul from the CW series Arrow and Ra's al Ghul from the Arkham City console game.
The League of Assassins / Shadows have just become a lot more dangerous!

Packaging is the usual Knight Models blister packs. Foam holding the model parts in place and a backing car showing a painted version of the model which also doubles up as the game stat card.
There is something a little different this time though.On the bottom right corner if Nyssa's card is the CW Arrow logo! The first model from this series in the game so far (Arrow out this month) so I wonder how many more we will see?

In the packs you will find two 30mm plastic bases, two new design fold out stat cards and two highly detailed, 35mm scale, multipart metal models.

Ra's al Ghul , Head of the Demon, is a new Leader for the League. 125 Rep $0 with Willpower 8 and average to high stats. He's expensive but well worth it once you look at his weapon and Traits.
His Soultaker Sword gives 2 Blood damage each time and removes an opponents Willpower. On top of that he also has Weapon Master on it.
His other Traits are Elite Boss: Ninjas, Grand Strategist, Immortal, Martial Artist, Mastermind, Precise Blow, Undercover and Veteran. You are going to need to throw a LOT at Ra's to stop him.

Nyssa al Ghul, Heir to the Demon, is Ra's' daughter and new League Sidekick. 83 Rep and $300 means shes another expensive choice but again, worth taking once you look at what she can do.
Willpower 6 and average stats don't look like much. But add in her 2 Blood Bow, Kruki knife, Acrobat, Good Aim, Hook Arrow, Martial Artist, Master Marksman, Reflexes and Stealth and you have a great fighter who can get any where, shoot anyone and hold her own in close combat.

A closer look at the parts.
Nyssa has main body, quiver, bow arm and arrow arm.
Ra's has main body, head, sword arm and small left arm.

A VERY close look at the two bodies for mould lines and issues shows that there is almost nothing.
These were so quick and easy to clean up and get ready to build.

Building these was fairly simple. The parts all slotted together easily with only minimal gaps that may need a little filling. They each had something I'm not keen on though, metal parts that need lining up and gluing in two or more places at the same time. Grrrrr! It's probably because I have huge hands, but I can never seem to get parts like that in the right place.
Ra's' arms need to be glued at the shoulders and wrist at the same time to get them to line up properly. Nyssa has the same with her arrow arms attaching at the shoulder and the top of the quiver.
Although these type of parts annoy me, they do give stunning poses. Both of the models look to be in the middle of drawing their weapons and joining the fight.
Ra's does have the old 'foot on rock' thing going on but again it adds to the pose and can easily be removed and replaced if you wanted to. I decided to hide it behind some rubble.
Nyssa is standing on the edge of a rooftop. I can't decide if I like this or not. It does add to the character of the piece really well but at the same time it doesn't really tie in with the rest of the crew. I ended up basing it on the floor so it looks like it's a bit more rubble.

Each of these models cost roughly £12. Not bad for characters compared to several other popular games. Especially when these are bigger, very detailed and licensed.

Nyssa and Ra's add some serious skills to the League of Shadows / Assassins and if used together, they are over half of a standard sized crew on thier own.
If you want to use them together in the League, a list to look at could be-

Ra's al Ghul - 125 Rep
Nyssa al Ghul - 83 Rep - $300
Seeker Ninja - 27 Re- - $200
Ying Ninja - 30 Rep
Yang Ninja - 31 Rep
Lotus Ninja - 48 Rep - $100

That gives you a crew of 344 Rep and $600. Leaving you with $900 to spread some useful equipment between the four Ninjas. Nyssa would appreciate an Ammo Crate objective placed some where hard to reach with a good vantage point as well.

I do like both of these releases. They make me want to use the League which I didn't really want to use at all before. Probably because it was Dark Knight movie based and I'm not really a fan of those movies.
I can forgive the multi-glue parts as that is balanced by giving them great poses.
All in all I would score them -

Nyssa al Ghul - 8 / 10 Badger Points

Ra's al Ghul - 8 / 10 Badger Points

If you like the League or want some enemies to face Batman and the Arrow, I would recommend picking up both of these.

What are your thoughts on these two?

- Hendybadger

Red Hood and Loki join Arrow, Swamp Thing and more for the Jan Releases

The Knight Models Marvel and DC releases have just hit. They are awesome!

First up we have the anti-hero, Red Hood (Jason Todd). The model looks fantastic and his rule can be seen below.

Red Hood is an 84 Rep Sidekick for the Batman and Organised Crime crews. He goes up against 3 other Batman sidekicks, but if you wanted short ranged killing, Jason is your guy!
The Organised Crime Affiliation is great as it lets him run a street crew from Under the Red Hood.
The down side? Jason can't work with Speedy / Arsenal so no Red Hood and the Outlaws.

Next up we have this months only Marvel release. The God of Mischief, half brother of Thor, Loki.
Loki gets his classic comic look which is stunning. He doesn't have game rules yet, but Knight Models have said there is a game in the works.

The next Batman Minis Game release is Swamp Thing. While we did see a preview a couple of days ago, KM have now added his rules card as well.
A 150 Rep Ivy Sidekick with Affinity: Batman and a massive 11 Endurance! This guy is going to see a lot of table time on both sides of the law.

The final model for Jan is CWs Arrow. The preview was up last week but here it is again as a recap.
I can't wait to get Oliver to lead my Green Arrow crew. Plus it's the same week as the show starts again!

 The Tokens this month are for the businessman of Gotham, the Penguin. The logo is great. Going to have to grab a couple of packs of these I think.

Last but not least are the Arkham City Warning Signs. These will be great for rooftop cover and LOS blocking.

Which is your favourite release this month?

What would you like to see with the new rulebook next month?

By the way, Knight Models have said that those people waiting for more Henchmen will be very happy next month.

- Hendybadger