Send in the Clowns

I managed to get another game of Batman Miniatures at the weekend. Wes was my opponent for the third time in the space of a few weeks. However, rather than repeating the Batman vs League of Shadows tussles we've been having, we both ran with different gangs.

I rolled out Joker and his clowns, and the gang was made up as follows:

Joker: Rep 90

Harley Quinn: Rep 61

Ringmaster (Clown Painting): Rep 32, $150

Sniggering (Magazine): Rep 25, $800

Contra-Auguste: Rep 21

Clown with Shield: Rep 16

High Security Prisoner: Rep 48

Wes has now bought into the game with the intention of building a gang based on the TV series 'Arrow'. He's using proxies where appropriate.models aren't available:

Green Arrow: Rep 117, $300

Huntress: Rep 66, $100

Canary/Catwoman: Rep 66

Det. Lance/ Agent Ron (Magazine & Flashlight): Rep 25, $600

Diggle/Policeman with Baton: Rep 16

The scenario we rolled up was Chance Encounter, which required all the objectives to be set up in the middle with both gangs starting off the field of battle.

Whilst we're on the subject of objectives, I've recently put together my own set of objectives. I still want to add some detail to the Titan Containers. I decided to use the guy with the briefcase as a loot counter as I didn't have enough sacks to make a second loot pile. They're not amazing, but they do the job.

Here's the set up of the objectives at the beginning of the game. Wes' Ammo Crate and my Titan Container are in the warehouse, whilst both Riddles and both Loot counters are out in the street.

And now onto the game itself. Rather than do a comic, I'll just do this report with pictures and a brief description because the game didn't really lend itself to any narrative other than 'there was this massive fight'.

Turn 1

All seemed quiet on the streets of Starling City as one of Frank Bertinelli's men got out of his cab to wait for his contact, who who hand over payment for the 'merchandise'.

Lying in wait for her target, Huntress was so intent on her quarry that she was attacked from behind by a giggling psycho in a clown mask.

Alerted to the sound of a fight, Officer Lance attempted to investigate, but was similarly set upon by an armoured clown. What were the Joker's men doing in Starling?

The street brawl grew as the city's vigilantes, ostensibly on the trail of the Huntress, leapt to intervene. Canary rushed to the aid of her father...

...whilst the Arrow took to the rooftops.

However, in all the commotion, nobody noticed another clown silently break into a nearby warehouse.

(It's worth noting that the Joker arrived this turn, but managed to miss Canary with his one shot gun.)

Turn 2

Still unnoticed, the sniggering assassin moved into a firing position at one of the warehouse windows (in base contact with the Ammo Crate).

Shots rang out and the Huntress was sent sprawling on the floor, bleeding from multiple wounds.

Meanwhile, another Clown successfully managed to plant a Smilex bomb in the middle of the road...potentially causing carnage in the parade the following day. (Riddle solved)

Ever the opportunist, Harley Quinn, spotted some cuddly toys on the back seat of a nearby car and decided that she 'just had to have them!' (Loot counter picked up)

Turn 3

The brawl continued apace. With Lance outnumbered and Huntress severely injured, Canary realised that the arrival of the Clown Prince of Crime would tip the balance of the fight against her, and so tried to make a tactical retreat to regroup.

However, this left the others vulnerable, and Huntress was shot again, overcome by her injuries and slumped to the floor.

With Canary fleeing the cage, the chuckling Master of Mirth took his opportunity to sidle up the prostrate form of Officer Lance and plant a blade between his ribs.

Too late to help, Diggle arrived to witness an opportunist clown collect his boss' payment from Bertinelli's goon for the chaos they were going to cause.

With all other elements of the plan going so well, Harley Quinn took her plush booty (meaning the Loot...nothing else) over to the warehouse, beyond which the Joker's van was parked.

Turn 4

Looking down from above, the Arrow saw his 'allies' in dire straits. His concern for them was clearly throwing off his aim and he would probably need to wait until the end of the series, and the city was in ruins, before he had the faintest clue what was actually going on.

Canary was set upon by yet another of the Joker's goons: a knife wielding psycho from Iron Heights.

She once again tried to retreat, but was assaulted by a whole troop of clowns and succumbed to their blows.

Not wanting to bother reading the rules about gangs breaking from combat, we decided to end the game there with a brutal victory for the Joker.

To be fair to Wes, I think he was hit by a perfect storm of circumstances that led to his defeat.

 - although were were both fighting with new gangs, the Joker's henchmen all having the Trickster rule really made them easier to adapt to

 - the good guys were outnumbered but scenario meant that they were unable to keep their distance and use their ranged superiority

 - extra men meant the Joker Gang were able to fight and grab objectives at re same time

 - Green Arrow misfiring meant that Wes was effectively fighting with a 200 rep gang

 - lack of familiarity with the Joker crew meant that Wes was not really aware of how dangerous Sniggering's assault rifle was until it was too late

 - the Joker was on fire when doing damage, twice inflicting his maximum blood total to dispatch both Lance and Canary in short order, neither of us were clear on how best to deal with him using Wes' gang

It was still a good game and adding in the objectives did make the game more interesting than a straight fight.

We made loads of mistakes with the rules, as we were unfamiliar with our gangs and forgot how several things worked from last time.

Now that we have a few games under our belts, I'm going to spend half term re-reading the rules and making up some crib sheets for the skills of particular gangs. Specifically, I'll make one for Wes as he's going to stick with this line up to learn their rules properly.

With that out of the way, I can now get back to Zomtober.