Things BMG Needs

Batman.  He's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now.

And, just like Gotham, BMG does deserve more Batmen...but it doesn't need them right now.  There are still too many gaps to fill in a number of different bands, and every Batman - or Joker, or Punisher - released is a month one of those gaps doesn't get filled.

As much as the Batmans and the Jokers and the Marvel characters sell, they sell to collectors, not to gamers.  Knight Miniatures has a fantastic game going right now, though, and it would be a crime not to capitalize on the gamer's market.

Here's a short list of things that are still missing from BMG:

1) Sidekicks

This game is still missing a handful of Sidekicks in bands that don't yet have any.  Robin's just up there to look pretty (the Law band has plenty of Sidekick options), but a number of Sidekick options for major bands are still missing.

• Two-Face: this guy has a small band already, though that problem is being fixed with the release of the Mafia-style characters.  He has no Sidekick option at all, though; this is in stark contrast to the multiple options for bands like the Law band or even the League of Shadows.
• Bane: again, no Sidekicks despite the obvious choices of Barsad (TDKR) or Bird (comics/Arkham Origins).
• Ivy: maybe a little less appropriate, but if certain one-armed men can be Sidekicks, then why doesn't Ivy get a monstrous plant or a brainwashed servant or even a band-specific New-52 Harley "Free Agent Sidekick" selection?

2) Henchmen

BMG is also missing a large number of Henchmen for existing bands.  Rather than putting out miniatures that gamers (a notoriously collecting-addicted bunch, such as we are!) can't use, KM should look at expanding the collection of Henchmen available for bands that are simply limited in options.

Sadly, the list is going to look much the same as it did before:

• Two-Face: he has a small handful of Henchmen, and is starting to get access to more via the new Mafia releases.  This may fix the problem, but it would be nice to see some more faction-exclusive Henchmen released.
• Bane: the Bane band lacks Henchmen, having access to only the Origins blister.  On top of that, the rules now allow all of Bane's mercenaries to work for TDKR Bane over in the League of Shadows, leaving the actual Bane band with no unique Henchmen.  This definitely needs to change.
• Ivy: I understand that Ivy is something of a unique case, but she currently only has three in-faction Henchmen options.  It would be nice if more plants were released in the future, but it would be even better if Ivy had a means to recruit/hire/whatever brainwashed mooks of her own.

Rather than putting out a healthy handful of BMG-unusable models every release, Knight Miniatures could do a bit more to cater to their BMG crowd.  Filling the gaps in existing bands would be a great start, especially as it looks like a few new bands are on the horizon!  If they're worried about the change affecting sales, I don't think it will make much of a difference - after all, gamers are rabid collectors too; probably even moreso because they buy up minis all their bands can use!