The Dark Knight ComethSometime within the past day or so Wizkids uploaded the dial for the convention exclusive Batman - The Dark Knight. We didn't notice because it was retroactively included as part of last year's Collateral Damage set.
At this year's conventions he'll be free to anyone once they've spent $50 at the Wizkids booth on other items.
Rather than look at the dial in isolation - though I'll talk about it that way - I decided to at least present it as part of a 300 pt. team with the previous piece in that set's numbering, The Man of Steel.
Quite a pair.
The Superman TA provides Batman with a few advantages over nearly all of his other versions, all involving hindering terrain. Essentially, he gets to ignore it when it comes to movement or attack -- yet, he still gets to take advantage of it. On any of his clicks he can move at full speed from and over hindering terrain, while still gaining the Defense boost (+1) from range and the ability to use Stealth, but he'll also be able to see into Stealth. This will not only enable him to target then with his batarangs, but once he hits his Outwit clicks he'll be able to turn off one of their powers.
While he'll only be able to change elevations on his second and third clicks - where he has Leap/Climb, he'll still be able to otherwise move freely on all of his clicks.
He gets a click of Stealth up front, a few at the end, and some fans are bothered by Outwit not appearing until the fourth quick, and instead starting with Leadership which is apparently something terrible. Admittedly, on this team Leadership is useless, and Outwit up front would be potentially devastating, but it'll require a little more artful approach.
A single click of Willpower up front and a 17 Defense, and two clicks more at the end help him get into place and into action, and potentially to get some necessary distance towards the end. The Defense Values drop badly towards the very end -- not Hypertime/IC badly, but it's down to 12 at the end. The AV's are generally good -- 11s and 10s for the first four clicks. No 12s, though, and two 8s by the end, but by that point any opposing pieces still on the map should have taken appreciable damage. Two targets, 6 Range, and a three clicks of Incapacitate in the second through fourth clicks give him the potential to tie up and wear down up to two opponents at once. Smoke Cloud on his first and fifth through eighth clicks give him the potential to provide a little cover for him and even his super-pal, though these two can aim and move right through it.
I gave a more detailed look at the Man of Steel back in September.
I'm looking forward to giving this pair a try in the spirit of those Silver Age Superman/Batman team-ups when it was still cool for them to be buddies. They should be able to take on some fairly impressive teams so long as they watch each other's back.
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Comments
The biggest conflict for this one in terms of action will be in deciding how long to stay on that first click with the Willpower, Stealth and 3 Damage. Wanting to get to the Incapacitate and then down to the Outwit clicks. Much will depend on the opponents; getting to the Outwit could be critical, so turning off the Willpower and pushing him there could be important. Otherwise, letting Superman pound and blast away while Batman gets into position to score a hit here, rest, then one or two there, may be good enough.
It occurs to me that in the write-up I neglected the Flurry clicks, the two clicks of Close Combat Expert and the final click of Ranged Combat Expert... but I don't find myself wanting to say more than that tonight.