Freebooter's Fate - First Game!

Rob and I finally played our first game of Freebooter's Fate, and I really enjoyed it. We played with the crews we had, matching 395 doubloons and 6 Pirates for Rob, and 390 doubloons and 5 models for my Brotherhood. As our first game, we opted against adding equipment, simply to keep things as manageable as possible.

We were definitely learning as we were going, but I think we picked up some key things quite quickly, and I like the card driven game mechanics. In fact, I really like the combat mechanics for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, trying to out-think your opponent's choices in combat; when Attacking or Defending you secretly choose which body locations (of 6 choices) to attack or protect. When attacking, as the game progressed I was always trying to include a location I thought Rob wouldn't protect, not just the most tactically beneficial targets. When Defending, I was trying to cover the locations I thought he would go for.

Second, as a model takes critical hits, you are effectively forced to protect those locations, making it easier for the Attacker. I like that things become progressively harder for injured models. There may be a down side to that I have yet to see, but I think it is pretty elegant in function. Add in that base Defense is typically 3, and base Attack value is typically 2, and the Defender does have options, especially if they use cover etc.

During the game I was very, very lucky with some of my Attacks, so much so that Rob's Leader was taken out early in the game. My crew hugged cover as they advanced, and my Leader took advantage of it for his Shadow Run ability. We took away from that impact that Rob should have kept more open ground between his models and mine, and probably should have let me cover more of the open ground between us.

The game had moments of drama, both great and small: the Pirates hunting my Brotherhood through the little alleys and streets created by our terrain layout; the Pirate Leader being brutally injured by a sneaky assassin attack by Apagado; 3 Pirates ganging up on my hapless Coscritti; my Harlequin leaping on top of a cart to get better range to shoot a pirate shooting out from a window frame; my Master Assassin using Shadow Run to attack a Pirate who was defending a doorway in a house.

I think we both enjoyed the game, and we have discussed further additions in terms of adding to our available terrain and also future crews: Rob is thinking about Imperial Armada, and I am thinking about a Mercenary crew as there are a couple of characters who allow you to build an all-Mercenary crew. I am really looking forward to the next game!

Alternative Riddles & Lampposts for BMG

These are some alternative bits I will be using for BMG games.

Riddles
The Riddles were a necessity as the Knight Models Objectives pack only comes with one Riddle, and with the hard-cover book release they changed it to be a pair which was not too well thought out IMHO.

For these I simply ordered some question mark shaped acrylic markers from Counterattack Bases. I used a very, very fine sanding block to key the surface for spraying, then painted them and done.

Lampposts
I have a couple of packs of the first Lampposts KM did, and I was unimpressed. I packed my first 3 safely into my figure case for the first BMG tournament I attended. Unfortunately the poor design meant a light tap with my finger nail pinged the upper part of one from the main body. Consequently I will be using these going forward which are plastic and from a Tamiya set. they will prove more durable, I have little doubt.

Blackgate Prisoner 03 (Henchman)

Another Blackgate Prisoner to to add to my collection, and more specifically the Black Mask crew I have been working on. Currently I have one mini to finish for the tournament crew.

The pictures have washed out the highlights on the orange, which seems to happen each time I photograph a Prisoner. Still, overall not my best work, but in all honesty I don't get very enthused by painting the generic thugs that comprise most Henchmen, so most importantly it is 'done'.

The main reason for picking this Henchman was the decent amount of Blood Damage he offers; his Axe is a potent weapon doing 2 Blood, with Handy to re-roll misses and Heavy to Damage on a 4+. All pretty straightforward and potentially brutal.

This is what I am aiming to take to next weekend's tournament:

• Black Mask
• Deadshot 
• Riddler (for VP acquisition)
• Anatoly
• Goon
• Goon 2
• Turk
• Prisoner 03 
• Prisoner 04 

I hope to get a practice run out with part of the crew this week, so I should try out some of the newer additions I think.

BMG Painting Summary
BMG characters owned: 111 (added: Joker's Daughter and Mobsters)
Percentage of owned characters painted: 15.3% (17 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)

Blackgate Prisoner 04 (Henchman)

After yesterday's post of Black Mask, another Henchmen down, and one that can be used for either my Poison Ivy crew or my planned Black Mask crew.

Prisoner 04 is probably closest to the first Goon for comparison purposes among the minis I have painted so far. Prisoner 04 costs 2 Reputation more between the two. Both are equipped with Brass Knuckles and have the same Willpower, Movement, Attack, and Defense. Goon has better Strength (more likely to injure targets) and Prisoner 04 has better Endurance, meaning he lasts against Damage a little longer. However  Prisoner 04 benefits from Criminal, meaning *if* he can KO or remove an enemy as Casualty, he increases Willpower by 1 point, which is very useful. He also has Bodyguard, allowing him to take hits for better models.

To benefit from Criminal he needs to get the decisive blow, and more importantly, in trying to do that he is less likely to Damage than the Goon. In all, I think Goon is simpler option, and because of that, the kind of model I will get more in-game value out of I suspect, until I get to grips with the game more. That said they will both get table time, but I already suspect Goon will be slightly more effective for me at first.

More importantly, I am another step closer to having a playable Black Mask crew.

BMG Painting Summary
BMG characters owned: 108 (added: a few characters arrived just before this was finished - Lady Shiva box and Commissioner Loeb box...)
Percentage of owned characters painted: 13.9% (15 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)