Unusual Leaders - Theory Thursday

When Batman's name is on the game's label, you can't help but look to him to see where the bar rests. Batman provides impressive physical stats for a scrap but also tends to be impervious to some minor tricks while Inspiring his troops. A lot of the classic villains sort of fall into this niche: part combat master, part Mastermind and all suffering for your opponents. With these sort of expectations, there are going to be some odd ducks. Today, let's go over some unusual Leaders.

First of our odd ducks is Gotham Penguin. The Arkham Penguin has a reliable ranged weapon that can used for breaching actions and has the usual kit of Inspire to help his Mobster Henchmen. The Umbrella Blade is also a dangerous weapon, even if Arkham Penguin isn't the most dangerous model around. Gotham Penguin is unusual in that he acts like a Henchman, using Cruel to finish downed off models. He's more appropriate as a Squire or Henchman holding an Objective than an actual Leader in the thick of things. Between Mob, Boss' Orders, Persuasive and Distract, Gotham Penguin looks more like a tricky Free Agent in the line of Riddler or Scarecrow. It's nice to see some brains being put forth instead of brains behind brass knuckles.

The next strange Leader is Black Mask. He reminds me of Choir of Menoth from Warmachine, a unit that looks incredibly unimpressive by itself but the purpose is to synergize every model on your side to an impressive degree.  While Black Mask looks like he carries an impressive amount of weaponry, he is not some sort of shootist. You can see that as soon as you look to Two-Face or Green Arrow where they have actual skills to pull of those shots. Black Mask uses his Henchmen to deliver him to an Ammo crate to sit on for the rest of the game. Worst of all, if someone managed to close the distance with Black Mask he has no melee skills or equipment. He might be the easiest Leader to beat up point-for-point in the game! Black Mask plays more like a Henchman than the Leader.

Commissioner Loeb feels like was converted to the way of Bob the Builder. He shows up and immediately spruces up the environment. He also has probably the most pathetic stat-line in the entire game. Move 1? Strength 6+? The only reason why I know he's a Cop is because he has the Cop stats of Attack and Defence 3. Loeb is another synergistic piece that hopes to survive long enough to bring the pain... Or he just sits there and lets his Henchmen do the job for him. While he's packing an Inspire and "Kill Them!" for a truly impressive damage increase, it's not Loeb that's packing heat. Hell, he didn't even bring an Automatic Gun but a Hand Gun.

This is how effective those 'Guys with Guns' are... pew pew pew

James W. Gordon rounds out our other cop choice of another case of 'guy with gun'. Unlike Loeb's ability to bring some damage, Gordon has more of the capability of being a utility punching bag. He suits more into the "Muscle" category of taking and holding objectives, with Kevlar Vest taking the majority of the beating. He has shown to be quite martial in the comics, depending on the continuity, so while I think that we're missing a "badass" option, it is Gary Oldman's performance in the Dark Knight that influenced this Gordon.

Joker's Daughter screams Squire with her Daddy's Girrrrl providing extra dice on opponents Joker has fought, Cruel to finish off Casualties and a Machete makes short work of downed foes.  The rest of her kit is more towards controlling the game state instead of being a combatant; such as, Detective and Discourage. She is a pure support model in an otherwise straight-forward pile of maniacs that is usual for the Joker's Crew.  Her Acrobat places her in Dancer territory but not so much an exemplar Dancer, such as either Harley. In fact, it is kind of odd from a gameplay side that the Joker's Daughter denies one of the Joker's Fast flankers.

Nyssa is a flat out Dancer.  I don't know any Dancing Gangs, so you can see why I'm confused as how she's in a leadership role as a Sidekick. She runs around the entire board, scoring or intercepting Objectives. With her Martial Arts and Kukri's Defensive stop her from being overwhelmed but she's not quite the type to be in the thick of things, trading blows. While her Master Marksman does make her attacks more likely to hit, Nyssa's damage output is more similar to a Henchman with a Shotgun. Again, if Leaders are supposed to excel at combat and Nyssa is ranged-based, she would need to be as good at Two-Face (or even Deadshot) at dishing out damage. Nyssa, like the rest of the Leaders and Sidekicks on this list, don't quite measure up to the expectations which is why they're Unusual Leaders.

Benjamin Orchard of Court of Owls is by definition an unusual Leader in that he costs less than his troops!  Weapon Master and Veteran sound like abilities of brawlers, but when you compare Orchard's abilities to his Talons, they pale in comparison. With 2 AC and 3 DC, Orchard looks more like a Henchman who got confused when he stumbled out of the creation process. Orchard only wants Talons when he comes to town, using mind games to win out against opponents through Order, Scheming and Persuasive. That's the benefit of the Court, they bring their own in-house experts instead of dallying with the ramble of Gotham's underbelly.

If you're just getting into Batman and want something unusual, or are buying your next Band; these Leaders bring something unusual to the table.