Mentalities Against the Swarm - Theory Thursday

Swarms are too powerful is on my list of common Batman Miniature Game myths. I thought that should be the end of it.  Unfortunately, people still claim that you need bodies on the ground to be competitive.  Players go so far to say that the Watchmen are the weakest faction due to their low numbers.  Henshini, one of our local players, messaged Crits Kill People with:

One thing I see a lot on Batman posts is something along the lines of "low model count? You're getting murdered." I think you guys should do an article on how not to get murdered when outnumbered. Unless you already have or it's an insurmountable task of course.

Insurmountable? That's some fighting words Henshini. My reply was, of course, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.  But perhaps not with all caps and bold because that's hard to do on a phone. Also, my definition of 'not being murdered' is win. I'm quite happy if I end the game in a solid victory, even if I don't have a single model left standing by the time the game winds down.  So, understand my goal versus yours, though I'm sure we can find some middle ground.  Here are some mentalities you should take when fighting a Swarm with an Elite force.

The very first thing you need to understand is the difference between Tilt and Methodical play styles.  Methodical style stoically plays their game because they know it will afford them victory.  Tilt style is playing more intuitively, using emotional decisions to ensnare their opponent in your energy. Neither is superior or inferior but I'm sure you scoffed at one of the ideologies I mentioned, so I'm sure you can identify which style is more in tune with yours.

The problem, as far as I see it, is when players make a decision to play a faction in Batman they get their signals crossed. The Swarm is better for Tilt players while Methodical players would benefit from playing Elite but those players tend to buy the opposite of their faction. "Oh, Batman is awesome I'm going to play Batman!" is quite reasonable to a Tilt player while a Methodical player might reason "Swarms give me more numbers which I know can overcome any amount of defence."

This doesn't mean that you're screwed, it just means you need to adjust to a new style.  Tilt players feel disappointed in the game not responding to their energy when using a handful of models.  Methodical players probably also feel that way with their swarm, as they cannot overwhelm their opponent - each of their models is a chump. In Batman Miniature Game, it is quite possible to easily set up incredibly defensible positions that a Swarm might break themselves on. Each player has inadvertently chosen a faction that doesn't quite go with their innate preference.

The first handful of games compound this problem due to the Elite faction being under immense pressure throughout the game. Victory will need to be fought uphill each time. With a player that goes with how the game feels, a Tilt player will feel like each game is a loss.  In the hands of a Methodical player, they wouldn't feel the pressure. The Elite player also needs to with very few errors while a Swarm gang makes so many Activations that it's inevitable and possibly not even noticed!

Understanding this paradigm will make the following advice make much more sense.

Feel the tension of the board.  A great thing about the Batman Miniature Game is that there are many theatres of action, whoever wins the Raise the Plan gets to "win" one. The player that lost the Raise gets to "win" another. It is your duty to know where these points are and their priority. This is where Passes are going to be invaluable to the Elite player, as they want certain theatres to lose tension before they act and ensure their models win each of the tensest contested zones. Swarms have great ways to burn through Passes, which is why it's important to know exactly when to act.

Playing with Elites means you need to know your Achilles heel and protect it. The Elite's advantage is that each of their members is competent but there will be one model that's slightly weaker than the others.  Or perhaps you've placed one of your more competent models in a precarious position.  The Swarm is going to go after this model to cut down on the Elite's major weakness: action economy.  This is also part of feeling the tension of the board.  There may be a swarm of Henchmen with Special waiting for a "Let's Go!" chain that might result in your model's destruction.

Leet Photoshop Skillz

Elites need to learn to exploit Elite options.  The Swarm Leaders, with little exception, lack the ability to play mind games or alter plans. Pre-Game the Elite faction might have access to Global Plan to steer the game against controlling Objectives (Plunder, Securing the Area) but more towards fighting (Skirmish, Ambush, Patrol). Change of Plans to push well placed Objectives into terrible positions. Objective Placement is vital for Swarms, as they're unlikely to win in a straight up fight so it's your job to make it into a fight.

Lastly, you need to play defensive against a Swarm.  Swarms lack mobility so they take time to get to Objectives, but once they're there they tend to wrack up points. Elites play defensively by ignoring their own objectives but stop the swarm from scoring.  If you're paying a lot of points for models, mobility is naturally included in that formula.  Intercept the Henchmen that are trying to score.  At the very minimum, you need to ensure that their point gain is minimal.

Elites, however, usually don't do the minimum.  It would be quite easy to walk up to models and outright kill them. Elites gain their points by taking models out. The Swarm is trying to make this game into Objectives, as they cannot possibly best such Elite options.  The player piloting Elites needs to switch the Objective of the game into kills.  It's quite plausible to win without leaving your Deployment Zone, as your opponent needs to come to you.  Make them regret that decision.

To summarize, Swarms and Elites may have had an unfortunate switch in play style.  Swarms can make much more mistakes and still win while Elites are more punitive.  These two things are truly exacerbated when you're new to the system. Elites overcome Swarm's advantages by understanding which theatre requires action, protecting the weaker or more exposed Elites, taking advantage of abilities Swarms lack and turning Batman Miniature Game into a cage match from hell on Swarms.