lunes, 6 de junio de 2016

BMG Team Builds: Birds of Prey

Birds of Prey

 

First thing first, we look at the special rules available for the team.  As always, there are negative and positive additions to the Team.  The negative here is fairly simple, but potentially huge; the Birds CANNOT use Coup de Grace.  Given that most of the Birds deal primarily Stun damage, this leads to a dangerous situation.  They have the ability to KO, but rarely the ability to bring about Casualties.  Therefore, their enemies might recover and make it back into the game.  Without an Arrest ability, the Birds are at a serious disadvantage.

The benefits of using the Birds, though, are strong as well.  First, all Birds gain the Stealth Trait.  While many of the Birds already have this Trait, giving it to the entire Team does create some new dangers.  Poison Ivy with Stealth and Mortal Kiss?  Don’t mind if I do.  Also, they have the special Strategy Aerie Two granting two models the ability to start the game anywhere on the board at the beginning Round Two or LATER.  Yes, this does take 3 Strategy Points and can be countered with Snitch, but if it works, it works wonders.

Now, with all that taken into account, let’s look at a couple of potential lists, using available models:

Standard Fair (300)
Classic Black Canary
Animated Batgirl
Animated Catwoman
Huntress
Strix

This is all about maneuverability.  Stealth, a good amount of Batclaws and Acrobats, and healthy amount of Movement Counters means you should never be in a fight unless you want to be.  Choose Objectives like Riddle and Loot so you do not have to stay in one place.  Attack enemy models only when you know you can defeat them in a turn.  Use the Sewers and terrain that limits line of sight to your advantage. 


The Swoop (350)
Hawkman
Hawkgirl
Katana
Catwoman
Aerie Two

Place only Hawkman and Hawkgirl on the table during the first turn.  Have them Fly High immediately.  At the start of the second turn, place all your models exactly where you want them.  Grab a Loot and run with Catwoman.  Have Katana defend a Titan canister; with Martial Artist, Titan and Adaptable, she is a Defense 6, non-swarmable anchor of a model.  The Hawks should target a key model like a Leader or a turreting shooter, and use their Teamwork to lay low that model.  Hawkman with a mob bonus from Hawkgirl and a Power Strike attack can Knock Down most anyone with just a pair of attacks, allowing Hawkgirl up to 5 Attacks using Teamwork hitting that same target on a 2+ for 1 Blood/1 Stun each.


Bonus Team: Ivy's Kiss (350) *Recent discussion seems to state that Harley's Affinity: Ivy does not work with the Bird of Prey rules.  Otherwise, I'd be inclined to to to get her in this list

Poison Ivy (blister)
Black Canary
Lady Shiva
TAS Catwoman
TAS Batgirl
Aerie Two

Remembering that Stealth + Ivy’s Mortal Kiss seems like a pretty fun combo, and that Aerie Two lets you place Ivy anywhere on the table before Raising the Plan, you could get a Mortal Kiss on any single model.  The rest of the list can take on either of a pair of roles; either chasing down Objectives or sitting back and waiting for the opponent to come to their Objectives and offering a counter-punch. 


The Birds of Prey are one of my favorite parts of the DC Universe, and fit into the Batman Universe (and BMG) seamlessly.  And I’ve been waiting for a time when a reasonable list could be put together.  The negative/benefit ratio is not out of whack with the Birds, so I could imagine their position as fairly neutral.

For the future, though, there are a few models coming their way:
            Dove, Hawk, Wildcat, Starling

Again, we can imaging a Teamwork situation with Hawk and Dove.  Wildcat will hopefully bring a heavy hitting combat model to the team.  And Starling will add some shooting ability, which is greatly lacking.

 

4 comentarios:

  1. Great but short article! (I know it's difficult according to the miniatures available at the moment...)
    First, I'm almost sure that it is not possible to include Harley as a character. At least, you can not select her when using Hero-Builder.
    Apart from that, the three lists are interesting. The one with the two hawks could be difficult to use but, depending on the enemy, destroyer.
    Lets see the new models that will come. If they are as cheap and different as TAS minis we'll have many posibilities to configure competitive lists.
    Thanks for the info.
    Adriano

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  2. I'm with Adriano. I like these articles and I think we will record some games with these lists.

    It is a shame not being able to use Affinity with, it would have been lovely to see Gotham Sirens as a Team, although they can be played in normal games under Ivy's banner. By the way, we had official confirmation about that, but we hope to see that answer soon in the next FAQs.

    Now Animated models will be more interesting because of their cheap cost and being able to use them in Teams, which at the end are crews with high reputation models forcing them to play with only a few of them.

    I can't wait to read the Suicide Swad article.

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  3. The Swoop team is my favorite. The Two Hawks coming down to destroy a single target in a turn has so much potential. I think I may actually try it out for a few games, just to see if there is an real possibility there.

    Thanks for reading!

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  4. I have a list in mind just for checking how much powerful they are: both Hawks, The Flash and some Cops with the strategy to have up to two models in the sewers (Sewer Map (1/E)) for playing with the "passing on activation". I know this list has nothing to see with Birds of Prey, but Hawks mobility combined with Flash's has to be a pain for the enemy.

    Regards.

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