Batman Miniature Game by Knight Models - Back from the Lazarus Pit...

OK, so I sort of forgot about this blog. Not a great start to my life as an online blogger of all things miniature game related.

So, let's try this again.

After several years (!) of not painting or playing miniature, about 18 months or so ago, I was introduced by a friend to the Batman Miniature Game, by Knight Models. It's a skirmish wargame set in the dark and gritty world of the Batman: Arkham City video game.

Over the months, Knight Models have steadily added more and more miniatures to the range, expanding beyond the setting of the video games to encompass the wider DC Comics characters.

Now, I'm a massive fan of all things Batman, as well as comic books in general, so this game sucked me in from the word go. What I immediately loved about the game is the relatively small (by most other games standards) buy-in cost. For a moderately small outlay (Usually the £20-£25 mark), you can pick up a crew starter set, containing an iconic hero or villain from Batman's world, and three accompanying henchmen. This is enough to get you playing almost immediately.

This is how the game works, having iconic heroes and villains, and their accompanying followers, battle it out over the mean streets of Gotham. Most small games need only four or five miniatures a side to get started.

Because of this, I was able to rapidly buy and paint miniatures and have several painted forces, or crews, to play with. This was a big win for me, as historically, I've always had mountains of unpainted metal and plastic on and off the board when it comes to miniature games.

So, for the first time since I care to remember, I'm into a miniature game, and almost all the miniatures I own for it are painted, or assembled and primed and ready to be painted. This pleases me no end, and really inspires me to carry on with this game, and the hobby in general.

Here are a few shots of my painted crews. They by no means include all of my painted Batman miniatures, but it's a broad selection:

A 350 reputation (points) Batman Crew, consisting of the Dark Knight himself, Robin, Commissioner Gordon, and GCPD's finest. 

A 350 reputation Joker Crew. M J and his clowns causing Kaos in Gotham!

A 350 reputation Two-face Crew. Old Harv leads his miscreants in a crime wave, assisted by the imposing Clayface!

A 350 reputation Bane crew. The South American mercenary is out for blood, assisted by the Deadly Deathstroke. 

As you can see, the range of miniatures is superb. At 35mm, they are highly details, and really stand out on the table. 

As the weeks and months progress, I'll endeavour to update this blog with more of my experiences with the Batman Miniature Game. The rules can be downloaded for free from Knight Models website, and a new, hardcover 2nd edition rulebook is due for release in the next few weeks.

Knight Models Website: http://www.knightmodels.com/

Crew Builder: http://bat-builder.com/index.html

Happy gaming!

Cheers, 

WW

Victory!

Greetings folks,

Well, lasts weeks aforementioned game of 40K took place, and the Novamarines go their first outing. As you can probably guess from the title of this post, I won.

I played against a Tau player, and we rolled a Seize Ground mission. At the end of the game, I had two objectives, he had one, and one was contested. And, like a total donkey, I forgot to take pics, as promised. Sorry.

Still a good win for the Novamarines, and I learned a thing or two about how they play. Shrike is made of pure win, and the Assault Marines that accompany him are also worth their weight in gold.

I'll be playing another game on Monday (01/06), which will be 1250 points and a Deathblow mission (to help a friend practice for the upcoming Great Crusade weekend).

I'll let you know how it goes.

Cheers,

WW

Wales

I have just got back from there. Well, on Saturday to be precise.

Had a good break there for the last week, and got some minis built over several quiet evenings. Ten Assault Marines and ten Tactical Marines. Taking my unbuilt miniatures on holiday with me for the win!

Tonight, I'm hoping to get up to Da Boyz Klub and get a game in with the Novamarines. I'll be taking piccies and hoping to get a batrep up later in the week. I'll be fielding Shrike and co, so I'm looking forward to seeing how they do.

Cheers,

WW

A Decision...

Greetings folks,

After blabbering on about which army lists to field for my Novamarines and whatnot, I finally decided to just go with what looked cool.

I like Jump Packs. I like Shrike. So I'm going with Jump Packs and Shrike! Also, in a slight tweak to the Shrike list I posted this time, I've decided to drop the Sternguard, cool as they are, and go for another Dreadnought in a Drop Pod.

After my last game, in which my humble Dread held up a unit of four Bloodcrushers of Khorne for the entire game, I figured another of these bad boys wouldn't hurt. Also, the Sternguard unit in the list was only five men strong, and units that size tend to be a bit squishy.

When it comes to army lists, I tend to get stuck in one train of thought, and I become blind to all other options. For example, while deciding in which direction to take my Novamarines, I'd become convinced that I must have a ten man unit of Sternguard, no matter what else I field. However, slowly, as I play test various aspects of these lists and make adjustments, I realise that theres more to life, and indeed army lists, than Sternguard Veterans.

I'll continue to test the lists, but one thing I can guarentee is, nothing brings as much satisfaction as seeing two Space Marine Dreadnoughts land in your opponents deployment zone on the first turn!

Cheers,

WW

Lists, lists and more lists...

Greetings folks,

No, I'm not talking about shopping lists, no siree, I'm talking about army lists.

In my last post, I waffled on about which HQ choice to go with for my Novamarines army. I have two contenders, Kayvaan Shrike or Vulkan He'stan.

Each option changes my army list dramatically, so I thought I'd post both lists up for your perusal (all two of you). Both lists are Drop Pod lists, as thats the whole point of the army (did I not mention that?).

First up, the Shrike list. This list relies on the scary hitting power of Shrike and ten Assault Marines Infiltrating/Outflanking into the enemy lines. Shrike and the unit he is with can pull off a devastating first turn assault if pulled off right. This combined with anywhere up to thirty other Marines landing in DP's on the first turn makes for some serious ouch time for the bad guys. Anyway, heres the list:

HQ: Captain Kurtt Halcyon (195 Pts)
Counts As Captain Shrike; Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Iron Halo; Jump Pack; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; The Raven's Talons

Troops: Tactical Squad (245 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad; Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Meltagun; Multi-Melta
Sergeant; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Combi-Meltagun; Power Fist
Drop Pod; Storm Bolter

Troops: Tactical Squad (235 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad; Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Plasmagun; Plasma Cannon
Sergeant; Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Weapon
Drop Pod; Storm Bolter

Troops: Tactical Squad (220 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad; Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Flamer; Missile Launcher
Sergeant; Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Weapon
Drop Pod; Storm Bolter

Troops: Scout Squad (90 Pts)
4 Scout Squad; Bolt Pistol (x4); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Scout Armour; Camo Cloaks; Sniper Rifle (x4)
Sergeant; Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Scout Armour; Camo Cloaks; Sniper Rifle

Elite: Sternguard Veteran Squad (160 Pts)
4 Sternguard Veteran Squad; Bolt Pistol (x4); Bolter (x4); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Special Issue Ammunition
Sergeant; Bolt Pistol; Bolter; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Special Issue Ammunition
Drop Pod; Storm Bolter

Elite: Dreadnought (150 Pts)
Dreadnought CCW; Multi-Melta; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Heavy Flamer
Drop Pod; Storm Bolter

Fast Attack: Assault Squad (205 Pts)
9 Assault Squad; Bolt Pistol (x9); Chainsword (x9); Frag Grenades; Jump Packs; Krak Grenades; Power Armour
Sergeant; Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Jump Packs; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Power Weapon

Total Roster Cost: 1500

And now for the Vulkan list. This list relies on lots of Flamers and Melta weapons to capitalise on Vulkan's chapter tactics rule. Its designed as a hit em hard hit em fast list, with the ability to nuke most armour it sees, or burn down massed infantry:

HQ: Chapter Master Kurtt Halcyon (190 Pts)
Counts As Vulkan He'stan; Artificer Armour; Bolt Pistol; Digital Weapons; Frag Grenades; Gauntlet of the Forge; Kesare's Mantle; Krak Grenades; Spear of Vulkan

Troops: Tactical Squad (255 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad; Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Meltagun; Multi-Melta
Sergeant; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Combi-Meltagun; Power Fist
Drop Pod; Storm Bolter; Locator Beacon

Troops: Tactical Squad (245 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad; Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Plasmagun; Plasma Cannon
Sergeant; Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Weapon
Drop Pod; Storm Bolter; Locator Beacon

Troops: Tactical Squad (220 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad; Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Flamer; Missile Launcher
Sergeant; Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Weapon
Drop Pod; Storm Bolter

Troops: Scout Squad (90 Pts)
4 Scout Squad; Bolt Pistol (x4); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Scout Armour; Camo Cloaks; Sniper Rifle (x4)
Sergeant; Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Scout Armour; Camo Cloaks; Sniper Rifle

Elite: Sternguard Veteran Squad (340 Pts)
9 Sternguard Veteran Squad; Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x3); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Special Issue Ammunition; Combi-Meltagun (x4); Heavy Flamer (x2)
Sergeant; Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Special Issue Ammunition; Combi-Meltagun
Drop Pod; Storm Bolter; Locator Beacon

Elite: Dreadnought (160 Pts)
Dreadnought CCW; Multi-Melta; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Heavy Flamer
Drop Pod; Storm Bolter; Locator Beacon

Total Roster Cost: 1500

So, there you have it. Two very different lists, that work in very different ways. I've begun to play test the Vulkan list, but need to do the same for the Shrike list. We'll have to see how I get on.

Cheers,

WW

And the winner is...

Greetings folks,

I've been trying to decide which lucky Space Marine special character would get to lead my Novamarines army. After hours of pouring over the Space Marine Codex, I've whittled the short list down to two serious contenders. Shadow Captain Kayvaan Shrike or Forgefather Vulkan He'stan.

Both are seriously tough cookies when it comes to assault, but its what they bring to the table in terms of Chapter Tactics that interests me the most. Basically, Shrike allows your entire army to use the Fleet universal rule, and He'stan allows you to treat all Flamer and Melta weapons as twin linked, as well as treating all Thunder Hammers as master crafted. Hmmm...

Obviously, whichever I use will be a 'Count As', namely my own version of the charater. Also, whichever I use dictates what sort of army I'm going to field. I'll go into the actual army list in a forthcoming post. Thats a whole posts worth of ramblings in itself!

Shrike favours lots of assault type troops, and He'stan lots of burny goodness in the form of Melta weapons and Flamers.

As its going to be one or the other, and I have enough models to do both lists, I've gone ahead and made my 'Counts As' miniatures. Here they are:

Shrike

He'stan:

I think both are cool models, but I'm going to have to decide in which direction to take my army...

Cheers,

WW

Supernova...

Greetings folks,

So, one of my recent planned projects was a Raven Guard Space Marines army, which has been on hold due to lots of real life happenings (new house, new baby). I really liked the background for these guys, and thought that Shrike was a bit of a badass.

However, due to the aforementioned reasons, my interest in the project itself sort of waned a little. I had already bought the army, but it was sitting in boxes in a cupboard.

Anyway, a couple of months back, I picked up the UK Game exclusive of Dawn of War II and played as Novamarines, as they were the 'exclusive' chapter included. I didn't know much about these guys, so did a bit of reading about them. As it turns out, they have roughly four lines of fluff that I can find in the GW publications I reviewed, including the new(ish) codex. Hmm.

The colour scheme really got me going, quatered white/bone and blue, and as I'd already painted a dark toned army (Dark Angels), I decided to revamp my halted Raven Guard project into my Novamarines project!

So, below is my first test model for my new army.



The painting of this miniature is a slight departure from what I'm used to. I used Quick Shade, a varnish 'dip' (not that I dipped him) from Army Painter over the blocked in base colours, and highlighted over the top.

Overall, I'm pleased with the results, and have since painted the rest of his squad (piccies to follow soon). A few things bug me though. The matt varnish was slightly too thick, and shrank and cracked the paint slightly, which was annoying.

I quite like the dirty look to the white, as I can't see white plate remaining pristine on the battlefield.
I've tried to use a limited palette, and I think it works.

More to follow soon.

Cheers,

WW