Prep time with Batman

Well, as some of you know I'm in hobby hell at the moment. Most of my stuff is packed into boxes, I'm in a tiny rental for much longer than expected, my wife still hates gaming and I'm not living in London. 

On the upside, I have decided to play a smaller game whilst I'm in moving hell. The game is Batman. Why Batman? Well it is a lovely skirmish game so appeals to the Malifaux side of me, and it has a small model count. It also has worryingly complicated rules and I'm not sure how many people play it, but I've decided to take the plunge.

Batman has always been a favourite hero of mine. I love Man of Steel and Batman v Superman but even more than that, I adored Batman Begins and the Dark Knight Returns. Such iconic performances. 

That's why I'm pitching into the game.....well that and the fact that I love the Arrow TV and especially Malcolm Merlow and the League of Shadows.

Naturally playing any new game is tricky and it is usually good to just read the rules and perhaps choose a starter box after a demo game. I felt that this was a really good way to approach a new game system. Having an idea and a core crew to start with helps prevent mistakes and disappointments. 

The Models

I went to the Friendly Local Game store and decided, sod the best approach, buy the shinies. I picked up the core rules and the League of Shadows crew with the Batman Begins Ras Al Ghul. I alsoo bought Thalia Al Ghul just because. I then decided to read the actual rules but was worried that the League were a complex starter crew. I went back to the FGL and bought the Dark Knight Returns Batman, 2 Cops, Batgirl and Dark Knight Returns Bane

My deluded thinking is that I can start learning the game with a 200 rep Batman crew, but carry a 200 rep League of Shadows crew so I can try to entice other members of Abnormalifaux into a game to get them hooked.

Assembling the crews has been really straight forward. The models are lovely and fit together really well with the exception of Batgirl. 

Honestly I could buy these models just for the look and being able to paint them.

The Crews

Crew: Batman

          Batman (DNR)

          Batgirl     

          1 Cop

          Agent O'Connell

Total rep 222

So that is over for a demo but if I drop Agent O'Connell it works out just right. It is under for the 350 standard game. I might pick up the Commissioner Gorden box set to get some extra cops or get Catwoman and Black Canary. At the moment I'm all about the looks not the playability.

Crew: League of Shadows

Ras Al Ghul

Thalia Al Ghul

Bane (DNR)

Lotus

Ying

Yang

Plus I've got Shadow and Seeker coming. For my first few games with the League I'm planning on running Bane and Thalia as Ras Al Ghul has abilities that affect scenarios and initiative order and things like that which aren't likely to be useful in the first few games. Sadly I can't have Ras, Thalia and Bane in the same crew. 

The Game

Well, the rules are nice. A good balance between complex simulation and solid core mechanic. Like a lot of games, once you see them on the table they make a lot more sense. I'll start with Batman to get the hang of the core rules first and post up a more detailed review when I've managed a few games.