Boris/Mr. Pink

Boris is part of the 'Mobsters' blister pack and not really a mini I planned to include any time soon in my Black Mask crew, primarily as he would compete with what I feel are better options for funding (like Mesh or Deadshot); as Boris is conceived he looks pretty durable with Street Guy backing up Defense 3 and Endurance 7; I feel he is decent enough but Anatoly and Mule Goon also offer similar durability, so nothing new there, and his Funding takes out an ammo equivalent.

The reason why this mini stepped up the painting queue is the 'tournament card' version of his rules as Mr. Pink. The Mr. Pink version has Defense 4 (yet still a Henchman), Endurance 6, has a Bulletproof Vest and is immune to Arrest thanks to Runaway. He also adds Informer (a free 'pass') and has a 2 Blood Gun, but most of all costs $0! He has a high Reputation cost (55), but in my opinion that is worth paying for the rest of his package, especially as he offers a different kind of durability than Anatoly, Mule Goon (and especially Boris). I recently managed to acquire a copy of the 'tournament card' and that motivated me to get him done sooner than later.

The model had some big chunks and lumps of flash, which was an issue; cleaning up his face left some markings, so I decided to paint that up in a different shade of pink to invoke a sense of scar tissue (probably not visible in the pictures). In all, once again not a great cast from Knight Models unfortunately. On the plus side, for whatever reasons I was able to get the mini turned around pretty quickly (by my slow standards!), so most importantly this marks another minis 'done' from the range', and further progress to my annual painting tallies ( I am ahead of the same point last year which is nice), as well as now meeting my target for BMG minis for the year.

BMG Painting Summary
BMG characters owned: 201 (added: Ice Penguin and Savage Penguin)
Percentage of owned characters painted: 21.4% (43 models)

Mesh (Black Mask Henchman)

Mesh is the last of my Black Mask Henchmen (except the Mobsters: Boris and Dirty Tom), and should be going straight into my revised crew line-up. As it doesn't look like any more Black Mask Henchmen blisters are on the near horizon, the only thing likely to get swapped in is more Blackgate Prisoners for the weaker Henchmen I am currently using

The painting was done in a few brief, quick sessions over consecutive evenings, and I was surprised at how quickly I finished the mini especially in light off having managed to finish around 10 BMG minis over a period of 8 or so weeks, especially finishing this hot on the heels of painting Nite Owl.

Getting this done has got me thinking about exactly how I want to configure the crew for my next couple of games. Mesh is replacing Turk, a mainstay of my crews so far. In terms of pros and cons, Mesh just about comes out on top for me:

1. Reputation: Mesh 22/Turk 25
2. Funding: Turk $400/Mesh $600
3. Maximum Attacks per Activation: 4 for Turk/3 for Mesh
4. Action Counters for Maximum Attack: 2 AC for Mesh/4 AC + 1 SC for Turk!
5. Maximum Base Potential Damage: 9 Blood for Mesh/4 Blood and 4 Stun for Turk
6. Range: Mesh unlimited/Turk 20 cm
7. Close Shooting: Turk has the Light rule/Mesh does not have Light
8. Collateral Die: Mesh has Brutal/Turk has no extra bonus
9. Ammo: Turk 4/Mesh 2
10. Endurance: Turk 5/Mesh 4
11. Strength (as back-up if caught in close combat): Mesh 4+/Turk 5+

BMG Painting Summary

BMG characters owned: 125 (added: nothing when Mesh was painted)

Percentage of owned characters painted: 17.6% (22 models)

Mule Goon (Black Mask Henchman)

Another Black Mask Henchman done, and this is the first that is intended to refresh the crew. To fit in Mule Goon and Arkham Scarecrow  I will be dropping the Riddler and Goon 2 for the same overall Reputation cost.

With Will 5, Endurance 7, Sturdy and Veteran, Mule Goon should prove pretty durable, although I suspect maybe not as tough as Anatoly since he lacks any kind of armour. His very decent Endurance means he has a 58% chance per Round of recovering from KO; by contrasts an Endurance 5 model has 28% chance, while Endurance 4 has 17% chance. Basically Mule Goon has a very good chance of recovery and thus getting back in the game if not removed as a casualty (see bottom of post for a probability breakdown).

Durability is one thing, and the chance to do 4 Attacks with a 2 Stun weapon is how Mule Goon threatens. Again, better than the 1 Stun per model output from some cheaper models like Goon 2.

As for the model, as it shares a lower half with Anatoly, again the main hassle was hacking off the lump of metal Knight Models used to make the minis' overhanging feet fit to a 30 mm base. The painting progressed pretty quickly by my standards, which was nice, as it gives me a good start for the month, and I am pretty pleased with how he turned out. I declined trying any tattoo work as I could not imagine a good outcome of me trying that at this time. As usual, the mini is based on a Dragon Forge 'Fraktured' style base as are all my BMG/DC minis from Knight.

The refreshed crew just needs Mesh adding to it, and then it will be as I want it for the time being. I wish I could take Hush, but alas he is limited to only a few crews.

BMG Painting Summary
BMG characters owned: 125 (added: nothing more since the haul noted in the Scarecrow post...)
Percentage of owned characters painted: 16.0% (20 models)

KO Recovery
         End 4 End 5 End 6 End 7 End 8 End 9 End 10 End 11
1 Round 16.7% 27.8% 41.7% 58.3% 72.2% 83.3% 91.7% 97.2%
2 Rounds 30.6% 47.8% 66.0% 82.6% 92.3% 97.2% 99.3% 99.9%
3 Rounds 42.1% 62.3% 80.2% 92.8% 97.9% 99.5% 99.9% 100.0%

Anatoly (Black Mask Henchman)

Anatoly is the last mini I needed for my newest crew. I had put off painting Anatoly simply because he looked the most complicated of the Black Mask Henchmen to paint of those I had chosen, but included him because I read some very positive stuff about how he functions in the crew. He looks to be a pretty decent and durable option for a relatively low cost, so all good. Unfortunately I have not had the time to get him on the table to try him out, so I am far from sure I will fully get to grips with him in the upcoming tournament!

The model had a horrendous mould line, one that meant I simply had to hack at parts with my scalpel to get something approaching a cleaned up model. That was compounded by Knight Models choosing that the model would be sculpted to struggle to fit on the designated base size, and he had a lump of metal that I wanted to cut away from his feet for aesthetic purposes.

Despite all of that, and despite my reticence about painting Anatoly, I am quietly pleased with how he turned out. So much so, that I want to paint the last two Black Mask Henchmen I have (Mesh and Mule Goon) and get a few more games in soon with the crew. in addition, I have part-painted Scarecrow, so would like to finish him soon.

BMG Painting Summary
BMG characters owned: 113 (added: Two Face Gang set II)
Percentage of owned characters painted: 15.9% (18 models)

Goon 2 (Black Mask Henchman)

Another model done, which is good, and the crew grows; I still have two more minis to add to it. That said, this was a pretty disappointing casting once again, with a partially-unformed lower hand where it was supposed to grip the bat, and some big lumps of metal (too chunky to be called flash) under the arms. In all, the weakest paint-job of my weekend's three finished minis (although the photograph seems to have washed out some of the highlights unfortunately), but another one done, which was satisfying after April's painting slump.

In game terms, when compared to the first Goon I painted, with identical skills values, identical Personal Trait (Brutal) and near-identical cost, there does not seem much between that model and this one.

Goon (the first one) has Brass Knuckles, dealing 2 Stun with Strength 4+. Goon 2 (this one) has a Baseball Bat, dealing just 1 Stun, but with Handy (re-rolling misses) and Heavy (adding +1 to the Strength value, meaning Damage on a 3+. All very much of a muchness?

Not quite.

Apply a little maths and it appears that each has a subtly different advantage to the other. Overall Goon (the other one!) is better at taking models down based on basic Damage output, simply due to the superior Stun output. However, Goon 2 (this one!) has an advantage of generally producing more hits to match against the critical die. Goon 2's best role though, is probably in taking out KO minis, since he should achieve more hits against them (thanks to that reroll), and the surplus Stun of the Brass Knuckles is then redundant. Stuff for me to remember when fielding my Black Mask crew!

I can see a tag-team of sorts with the two models: Goon attacking first, and if a model is KO, maybe using Goon 2 to try and convert Stun to Blood. We shall see how it plays out I guess.

BMG Painting Summary
BMG characters owned: 108 (added: nothing more at present)
Percentage of owned characters painted: 14.8% (16 models)

Black Mask

Black Mask is my third BMG Leader, opening up a second crew option for me. Poison Ivy has too many downsides at present for me to try to get to grips with (immobile Henchmen unable to score Objective VP's, and that are vulnerable to becoming one-shot Casualties with the right Special Attack; other Henchmen cannot benefit from equipment upgrades; a tricksy Leader used with less-than-effective Henchmen), so I settled on painting up a Black Mask crew, supplemented by Riddler, Deadshot, and some Blackgate Prisoners.

Now my evaluation of Poison Ivy may be harsh, but for now, she is not for me. So I am hoping Black Mask better fits my approach to games, and has fewer in-built Henchmen limitations to overcome.

Tackling Black Mask was surprisingly quick by my standards. I knew from the outset that I was not going to try pin-stripes - too fiddly for me. I wanted a simple white suit with some dark contrasts, kind of influenced by Archangel from 80's action TV show Airwolf. I only started Black Mask after commencing work on a couple of other minis, but pretty quickly I had the bulk of him done, and I am happy with the final look. Simple but satisfying.

Moving forward I ideally have another four minis to finish. One is finished (posting him tomorrow), and two are part-painted. I am hoping to give the crew a run-out in mid-June to try and get some practice in before my second BMG tournament at Titan Games. The pressure is on!

BMG Painting Summary
BMG characters owned: 100 (added: Ra's Al Ghul Arkham City when this one was finished)
Percentage of owned characters painted: 14.0% (14 models)

Goon (Black Mask Henchman)

The first mini completed for my Black Mask crew. A very simple paint-job, but that is exactly what I needed after losing a lot of painting momentum recently. And choosing not to bother with pin-stripes was basically to keep the paint-work as simple as possible. For this mini, finishing something for table-top readiness was the most important thing. It isn't my best work, but I have been in a painting slump, so I am glad it is done.

The rest of the Black Mask Henchmen in suits will have simple choices like dark grey, dark blue etc.

The sculpt is far from the most exciting pose I have seen. Also, as with many Knight Models minis I have the metal was softer than I am used to, and the casting was a bit rough in places. Sorry to say, but for me the quality control in production by KM does not match the premium price-point for their products. There are others who have been very satisfied, but for me, their casting is nowhere near the industry best. That said, and in the interests of balance, I know of others who have had no such issues, so maybe I have just been unlucky.

With the pose and the QC issues considered, the reason for me buying and pressing ahead with the mini is that Henchmen are vital to play most viable BMG crew configurations.

Going forward I hope to finish one or two more BMG minis in the next few days. I hope to get in another game in early June, and have a second tournament in late June.

BMG Painting Summary
BMG characters owned: 99 (added the Arkham City version of Scarecrow)
Percentage of owned characters painted: 13.1% (13 models)