Watchmen Crew

A long-time coming in painting terms, I first started the Watchmen back in the middle of 2014! I have thinking of using them as my main crew in 2017, but they do have a few issues which make me reticent.

Choosing the Crew
Not a problem, but noteworthy is that the Watchmen are an atypical crew in that they only (currently) have a pool of 5 models to draw from. Consequently at 50 Rep increments from 150 to 350 Reputation there are only very limited crew constructions that can be selected.

What I See
For me there are a few major concerns for a Watchman crew, especially if going into a tournament. Comparing them to Court of Owls with whom I had successes in 2016 (two tournament wins and a third place out of 18 among other results), this is how I feel they compare in some key in-game areas:

1. Pre-game: With Ozymandias' Mastermind and Great Strategist, Watchmen are clearly better here.
2. Numbers: Watchmen have the lower model count, a disadvantage for claiming and contesting Objectives, therefore Court of Owls have the advantage. They felt horribly outnumbered in the first game in which I used them.
3. Deployment: Rorschach having Hidden and Nite Owl having Archie trumps Undercover on William Cobb.
4. Mobility: with the new Equipment upgrades available to the Court, they are much, much more mobile than most crews, including Watchmen. With the proliferation of Fly, Grapple Guns and Tireless coming out lately, Watchmen feel pretty slow to be honest.
5. Ranged Combat: Neither crew is top tier, but Watchmen edge it with Comedian and Nite Owl vs Strix and the High Court Member.
6. Close Combat: The Court may be the best close combat crew around, so no contest. After that first game, my opinion has only strengthened.
7. In-game management: Here I think of the stuff that offers synergies to other models, and I call it a tie between the Traits the Court Leaders offer, and the Bodyguard Talon against Comedian's Demential Laugh and Nite Owl's Archie and Arrest.
8. Durability: Beyond the various individual Traits helping model durability, I feel the Court edge it based on their ubiquitous Stealth, Reanimated Owl rule and overall combined Endurance.

I give the Court an advantage in four out of eight areas, Watchmen an advantage in three, which leads me back to thinking they will have a very steep learning curve. Watchmen may arguably be a sub-par choice compared to the Court of Owls, which itself was an arguably sub-par crew until it got additional Equipment upgrades in the Flash and Arrow expansion.

All of the above aside, Watchmen do boast some impressive qualities: Ozymandias seems to have pretty much the best Dodge in the game (89% chance of success except against Silencers); Comedian seems a decent all-rounder for his Rep cost (but slow and a lower-than-typical Defense for his character type); Rorschach may be the hidden gem of threat. So it will be interesting to see how they stack up.