BMG: Analysis Captain Boomerang

Hello everybody.

If the other day was Deadshot, today is time for other of the shooters of the Suicide Squad: Captain Boomerang, although on his case more focused in short distances. For a considerable reputation cost he is a character with a good variety of boomerangs all of them with different effects, from support tasks to reinforce their lethality. Unlike the reputation, their founding cost is not as expensive looking at the arsenal he is armed with. As it can be expected he feels a terrible aversion to all the crews related with the good guys, so he can only join a villain's crew.

Starting with the Mobile aspect, George (like Deadshot) has a value more common for Acrobat characters, although on his case it must be added the up to 2D6 extra cm he can advance at the end of the round thanks to his Tracking (2 SC), which main particularity is its immunity to Halt/Stop! effects. Due to it happens even after the Victory Points recount phase, it can be used for positioning the Captain for the next round.

In the Offensive area he should be analysed with more detail. In general terms, with the exception of his Melee Boomerang, all his attacks are limited to 20 cm but allowing him to move before shooting without having affected his ROF (Throwing). Added to this, the enemy can find difficult to hide himself because Harkness not only can ignore 1 Ping! during the attack for being Shooter, he can also repeat failed impact rolls for being Master Marksman (it can be seen as the seesaw effect of his weapon). To all this it must be added the Ricochet (1 SC) effect of his boomerangs if he desires that which can make them to bounce to a second target (lamppost, enemy, friend...) within 5 cm of the first one (it can even be a lamppost) and in line of sight of this (it is not necessary to be visible by George neither being within range from him, the origin of this effect is the primary target of the attack), although this new affected can respond to it as if it were an attack (Dodge, Bodyguard...). Looking more carefully all his boomerangs:

• Blade (2 x ): Despite not dealing a total lethal damage, this is the most dangerous of all the boomerangs. In addition to being able to repeat failed damage rolls for their Sharp (without forgetting it has been also possible to repeat failed impact rolls) it must be added the penalty of -1 on the Agility rolls done for characters with Dodge due to they are Accurate, that means almost all the character with Dodge must roll 2- due to practically all of them has a value 3 for Movement. Among all his ranged Boomerangs, this is the only which doesn't have one single use due to all the others have Ammo 2.
• Electric (2 x ): Due to its Electric, if there are enemies with the trait Bot (such as Riddler's Robots), Cybenertic (such as Cyborg and both Militia Brute, besides the Spider Robot of Spiderman), or Robot, allows to repeat failed damage rolls which becomes them into a good alternative to the Blade ones to save them for other enemies, although their damage is totally non lethal. Against Bots they can be considered lethal due to one of their handicaps is not being able to recover contusion damage by themselves; on the other hand against Cybernetic are more useful to end with them rather than hitting them to simply damage them because they recover contusion damage to 3+ instead of the usual 4+. To all this it must be added the always circumstantial critical hit which on this case forbids the affected target to use any action counter (Stun).
• Gravity (2 x ): Perfect for denying the control of objectives to the enemy, or setting aside enemies avoiding to do that to any mate, thanks to their Push effect. They should be seen as boomerangs with to options of Pushing and also dealing one lethal damage. The negative part is they have a single use (unless he recharges them on an Ammo Crate).
• Acid (1 x ): The only ones with ROF 1 and perfect for supporting the mates that come after him, making their impacts easier, in addition to their blocking due to the -1 the affected enemy suffers both in Attack and Defense. They are also a nice tool for dealing with those enemies with Light Armour because they ignore them, as they can be Cyborg and Militia Brute 1 and 2, although with the second ones it has not much effect reducing their defense because a 1 is always a failed roll.

The bad point of him is his Strength 4+, which will only grant him 50% chances of damaging, at least he can repeat failed impact rolls, and seeing that almost all his boomerangs have ROF 2 it can guarantee him at least 2 contusions for Just a Scratch! and the loss of an action counter for that. Although he has no ammo for 6 rounds, due to his short range it can be difficult to attack on the first one, which invites to think that his 5 boomerangs should be enough for all the game. Despite being a character focused on ranged attacks, George still has a tool for close combat which will let him to deal a lethal wound with option to repeat failed damage rolls (Sharp), although with Attack 3 shouldn't be expected to deal too much damage.

In Defensive terms, if he is reached in close combat he has no more mechanisms than his Defense 4. At least against ranged attacks he can use his Dodge with up to 3 options with 50% chances on each one.

Lastly, in Support/Control tasks he has something much more useful as it can seems, his Follow me! can increase the movement capabilities of the close Henchmen. It is important that it can't stack with other Follow me! as the ones on Harley Quinn Arkham City, Penguin Emperor, Rottor or Christopher Nolan's Scarecrow (Robin Arkham City is not mentioned because it is impossible to play both of them in the same crew), but it can be stacked with Inspire, for example, to become Bane's mercenaries or League of Shadow's ninjas in real Roadrunners with Movement 5.

Summarizing, regarding mobility, he not only has that plus of dynamism even immune to Whistles given by its Tracking, he also provides it to close Henchmen thanks to his Follow me!.

Despite of being a character focused on ranged attacks, his range limitation (20 cm) exposes him to the range of other distance weapons. His Boomerangs offers different utilities:

• Blade: For damaging, also against the Acrobat characters.
• Electric: As an alternative for the Blade ones against "mechanic" enemies.
• Gravity: For pushing enemies.
• Acid: As previous supporting tool for helping mates in combat.

Also, his options to impact are quite high due to being able to repeat failed impact rolls for being Master Marksman, ignore 1 of the Pings! (Shooter) and being able to make his Boomerangs to bounce to a second target near the first one (Ricochet), and due to all of them are Throwing he can move first to find a better shooting position without having his ROF affected for that.

Again, he is another of those character with so many options for only Willpower 6:

• At the moment he is in distance to use his Boomerangs he will have to adapt himself to the situation with only 4 counters left due to 2 of them will be used for shooting. The remaining 4 will be needed for SC to use Ricochet (1 SC), if there are options to impact a second target, and between Defense and Movement to defend himself.
• Follow me! (1 SC) probably has more impact during the first rounds when all the crew is together and it is desired to advance fast.
• Tracking (2 SC) is maybe the most versatile due to at any moment of the game can be useful.

So, a good planification in combat to explode his virtues will be:

1. Begin the round hidden and activate as last as possible, or at least when the closest enemies have activated to avoid their reprisals.
2. Using the basic movement to leave the cover and have an enemy in range.
3. 2 AC for shooting and 1 SC if Ricochet can be used.
4. 2 SC for come back again to the cover at the end of the round using Tracking and begin next in cover.

This planification will left 1 remain counter which could be used in Movement if it is needed to advance more.

Greetings and we keep reading in La Biblioteca de Alfred and Reino de Juegos.