[IAmBatman]

Outsiders Faction Strategy

Important Links

• List of Interlopers
• List of Interloper Synergies

Overview
When the Justice League refused to operate outside of international law, Batman created a group that would get done what was needed! The Outsiders are a diverse and powerful group of superheroes who are willing to do things the Justice League won’t. With Batman at the helm and Geo-Force backing him up, they’re competitive enough to take on the strongest armies!

Leaders
Batman (Outsiders) is downright essential. You can assemble an Outsiders army without him but it won’t be nearly the same strength. Geo-Force is a great secondary leader or a primary one if you want to go for it without Batman.

• Batman (Outsiders) (220) – Batman is the piece that brings the Outsiders together and Outsiders Operation Protocol is his key ingredient. Unless you’re playing with Looker, Batman should get all of your Order Markers each round. The trick is to plan out your entire round so that you’re able to activate at least one new Outsider each turn without losing steam. Black Lightning and Katana (Outsiders) are two that are good to move up early for defensive purposes. Metamorpho is one you want to be able to activate multiple turns in a row to keep him in the most advantageous form. Geo-Force is a good any time activation. Halo is a bit delicate and is usually better with a screen in front of her. As for Batman, ideally you’d hold him back and protect him a little bit. Thanks to lack of range or clear sight restriction on Outsiders Operation Protocol, that’s not too hard to pull off. However, you usually will have few enough Interlopers in your army that you’ll want to activate him over the course of a round. Luckily, with a decent screen and Geo-Force as a back up (if he’s in your army) this can work quite well. On his own turns, you want Batman Bat-Grappling to height and staying at range for a triple attack with his Bat Shuriken as much as possible. It’s typically wise to use Batman’s X” for Mission Prep either on a turn where you’ll be mustering a lot of offense (Katana’s Deadly Strike loves the boost, as do Batman’s Shurikens) or on a turn where you know you’ll be facing an onslaught and want to survive. If you feel you can ruin your opponent’s round with overwhelming force, it may be worth the risk to burn the “X” on your first turn of the round and the “3” on your second turn of the round, both to boost attacks.
• Geo-Force (280) – Geo-Force wants you to kill his friends. Geo-Force’s main strategic hook is that when another Interloper is destroyed, he gets to move any Order Markers to his card and then for the remainder of the round, after revealing a numbered Order Marker on this card and taking a turn with Geo-Force, you may immediately choose and take a turn with up to two other Unique Interloper Heroes you control. This can be a powerful effect that can swing games and with the right timing and luck it can work in an army without Batman. In an army with Batman, it can crank your turn efficiency up to truly competitive levels. In an army without Batman, you need to guard Geo-Force carefully and try to lead with other Outsiders to activate his Rally Outsiders power. With Batman, you can play a bit looser and view the triple turn from Rallies as more of a bonus. As much as possible, try to bait your opponent into targeting and taking down Outsiders one at a time, rather than spreading wounds around and killing them all at once in the same round. Geo-Force is also a sturdy, (short) ranged flier, and can throw down lava field and rock tiles for potential auto-wounds. Ideally you want to set up rock or lava field in a way that gives him height advantage and an attack boost from his Earth Strength power. Play your cards right and you can easily be attacking with Range 4, Attack 8 on those Mission Prep boosted turns.
  
• Arsenal (190) – Not an Interloper himself, Arsenal still pairs well thanks to his Team Cover Fire, which lets him attack on Interloper turns and provides bonus movement for himself and Interlopers. He’s not an ideal fit in lower point games if you’re running Batman and want all the bodies you can get, but he provides a little extra firepower in larger games or if you’re trying to make do without Batman. He also bridges the gap if you want to try a multi-faction build with Titans.

Important Outsiders

• Katana (Outsiders) (150) – In addition to her Attack 2 Deadly Strike pairing nicely with boosts from Mission Prep, Katana has two great synergy powers. Outsiders Advance offers an initiative boost and an opportunity to reposition three Interlopers when you win initiative (great for getting Geo-Force on a rock tile, Black Lightning next to your allies, or anyone out of trouble). She can also trigger unblockables this way, so it’s good to try to keep Katana near the front lines. With 4 Life and 4 Defense, she can be a bit delicate, so you’ll want to guard her, but she also has Iajutsu Strike to help keep her and her allies alive. So long as Katana is engaged with an enemy figure, when they try to target any figure, whether it’s her or not, a 14 or higher on the 20-sided die will end that figure’s turn and give them one wound. If she’s rolling hot, you’re in great shape. Just watch out for range!
• Black Lightning (160) – Black Lightning is a pretty conventional defensive unit in that he and adjacent figures you control add one to their defense against normal attacks. There’s an added benefit that if the attacking figure is adjacent to Black Lightning, the defending figure can counter strike the attacker. So, like Katana, Black Lightning appreciates being on the front lines. He also likes drawing fire, as a few wounds will power up his special attack to nasty levels. And if he dies early, well, that’s why you brought Geo-Force!
• Looker (190) – Her requirement for Order Markers makes her an awkward pairing with Batman, but it’s often worth sacrificing the “X” you’d use on Mission Prep to shut down an important enemy power for a round. Her Can’t Look Away power can be extremely powerful at denial, especially when it comes to an opponent’s synergy powers that require clear sight. The rub is that she has to be on the front lines to pull it off and she needs Order Markers. I wouldn’t recommend her without Geo-Force as back up. Katana is a nice pairing as well, to help her get to the front faster.
• Halo (190) – Halo is fragile, but she’s an absolute utility knife. She can inflict an auto wound, add an auto skull to her attack, add one to her attack number, freeze a figure in place for a round, remove an Order Marker, throw a figure, and heal 2 wounds from herself. But each of these effects can only be used once per game, so choose wisely!
• Metamorpho (290) – Metamorpho has a fair amount of utility, being able to kite and stay invulnerable at range, get in multiple attacks against squaddies, or go rock solid and battle it out in melee. The last of these is probably where he’s at his strongest, but the others can help get him there safely. Once you start rolling with him, you want to be able to activate him multiple times in a row to keep his Shapeshifting at the ideal point. He pairs well with Batman as a result.
• Jade (240) – A fast, (short) ranged flier with a hefty defense and low life, but an ability to self-heal, Jade also benefits from activation flexibility. You want to be able to time her healing just right to keep her in the fight.
• Katana (I) (190) – More offensively-oriented than her cheaper counterpart, everything Katana does is meant to wound other figures. She shines brightest against enemy figures with low defenses or lower attack melee figures. If you’re facing a horde army, she’s a good bet.
• Creeper (120) – Creeper’s low cost and 5 Life with Healing Factor make him a nice addition. He might go crazy on you, but so long as it’s just a little bit crazy, he’ll have value. Also at his best with Batman around to keep him healing when you need it.

Army Build Examples:

600 Points

• Batman (220) and two of Halo (190), Looker (190), Katana (I) (190)
• Creeper (120), Metamorpho (290), Arsenal (190)

700 Points

• Batman (220), Metamorpho (290) and one of Halo (190), Looker (190), Katana (I) (190)

800 points

• Batman (220), Katana (Outsiders) (150), Jade (240), one of Halo (190) or Looker (190)

900 points

• Batman (220), Geo-Force (280), Black Lightning (160), Jade (240)
• Batman (220), Metamorpho (290), Katana (Outsiders) (150), Jade (240)

1000 Points

• Batman (220), Geo-Force (280), Black Lightning (160), Katana (Outsiders) (150), one of Halo (190) or Looker (190)
• Creeper (120), Geo-Force (280), Black Lightning (160), Katana (Outsiders) (150), Metamorpho (290)
• Geo-Force (280), Katana (Outsiders) (150), Halo (190), Looker (190), Arsenal (190)

1100 Points

• Batman (220), Geo-Force (280), Black Lightning (160), Katana (Outsiders) (150), Metamorpho (290)
• Geo-Force (280), Katana (Outsiders) (150), Halo (190), Looker (190), Metamorpho (290)
• Batman (220), Jade (240), Black Lightning (160), Metamorpho (290), one of Looker (190), Halo (190), or Katana (I) (190)

1600 Points

• Batman (220), Geo-Force (280), Black Lightning (160), Katana (Outsiders) (150), Metamorpho (290), Creeper (120), Halo (190), Looker (190)

Outsiders by point value:

Spoiler Alert!

120 - Creeper
150 - Katana (Outsiders)
160 - Black Lightning
190 - Halo, Katana (I), Looker, Arsenal
220 - Batman (Outsiders)
240 - Jade
280 - Geo-Force
290 - Metamorpho