The Book of the Batmobile

[A3n]

hmmm, that is a deviation from the destructible object cards. If we remove the subtitle "Vehicle Destructible Object" & replace with this "model" or "secret identity" then what indicates that it is a VDO? This would move away from the current established DO cards (which are based on the official ones).

????

[IAmBatman]

I think we might just have to make the model number an extension of the title of the card.

[Ronin]

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Batmobile @250 points

Army Test
Map: Custom
Units: Batmobile, Batman (II), Catwoman (II), Batgirl (Babs), Robin (Dick), Lucius Fox, Atom (Ray Palmer) (1000) vs Original X-Men (1000)

Spoiler Alert!

Batman starts the game with the Batmobile Remote. The mobility wasn't super key here, but Batman made pretty good use of the Batmobile Remote to bypass Chuck and Warren's defensive powers and get some auto-wounds in (successfully destroying Chuck). Beast also stole the Batmobile and took it for a joyride at one point, cruising it into the SZ and hopping out to attack Lucius Fox and Atom.

Ended up being a moderate win for the X-Men.

Unit Summary:

• Batmobile Remote: moved 6 times. 6 rolls, 3 successes. 2 wounds to Professor X, 1 to Angel
• Mobile Gadgetry: chose First-Aid Kit. Ended up getting yanked by Beast, who healed with it.
• Nitro: used 2 times
• Automated Defenses: 2 rolls, 0 successes
• Damage Taken: 2 wounds from Iceman in 2 special attacks, 1 wound from Jean in 1 attack, 1 wounds from Beast in 2 attacks (destroyed), 0 wounds from Cyclops in 1 special attack

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Beast with 1 wound, Angel with 1 wound

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Army Test
Map: Custom
Units: Batmobile, Batman (II), Nightwing (II), Robin (Damian), Lucius Fox, Oracle, Alfred (1000) vs Original X-Men (1000)

Spoiler Alert!

Same sort of strategy here, with Batmobile mainly being used to occupy space and score some auto-wounds. It didn't have quite the same longevity in this game, but got better d20 rolls for the time it was around. Helped soften up Jean, which is always appreciated.

Nightwing was the star of this game: he was rolling solidly on offense (not crazy, but he was pretty consistently hitting 2 skulls, which is pretty deadly against folks on the power level of the X-Men, when you factor in his Shock Batons) and superbly on defense, and managed to go on an OM-killing spree.

Unit Summary:

• Batmobile Remote: moved 1 time. 1 roll, 1 success. 1 wound to Jean.
• Mobile Gadgetry: chose Caltrops. Didn't get equipped and dropped onto the map when the Batmobile was destroyed. Iceman picked it up and set it down near the middle of the map. Everyone walked around them.
• Nitro: used 1 time.
• Automated Defenses: 2 rolls, 1 success. 1 wound to Jean.
• Damage Taken: 3 wounds from Cyclops in 3 special attacks, 1 wound from Jean in 1 attack (destroyed)

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Batman with 1 Life, Alfred, Oracle and Lucius all at full Life

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: Couldn't quite unlock the potential of the Batmobile in terms of a mobility upgrade, but frankly I don't own a table big enough for that. It has some cool movement/auto-wounding tricks, though, assuming you have the remote in play. Doesn't feel super exploitable, but it's a cool option for Batman that encourages looking at a slightly different set of Utility Glyphs: I think the Bat-Grapple becomes a lot less key for him when playing with the Batmobile, and the Bat Shuriken a lot more.

This was my first time playing the new vehicle rules and it went pretty smoothly. I was referencing the text a lot during the first game, but not at all during the second.

My instinct on cost is that it might be slightly over-costed for the way I was using it here on the smaller map, but that its value would tick up quite a bit if you were playing on a bigger map. I don't think that's necessarily a negative, though.

[IAmBatman]

Looks good! So you only activated it via remote - never had Batman ride in it?

[Ronin]

Batman drove up in it for one turn both games, but charging out of the SZ with 11 move was enough to get him where he was going, so the remote afterward was a much bigger deal.

[IAmBatman]

For sure. I like to have the remote equipped while also staying in the Batmobile for cover sometimes. The nice thing about Batman (I) and Batman (II) is that they can use defensive powers to hop back into the Batmobile if they want (Evasive Strike/Shadow Strike). They do give up the auto wound if they choose to do so, though, due to clear sight restrictions.

[MrNobody]

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Batmobile

Army Test
Map: Country Road (No Glyphs)
Units: Team 1 (700): Batmobile (250), Batman II (250), Robin (Jason Todd) (70), Nite Owl (130)
Team 2 (700): TMNT

Spoiler Alert!

Pre-game: Batman comes equipped with the Remote, Batarangs, and Bolas. The Batmobile comes equipped with a Medkit.

Round 1: T2 wins initiative
-Bats and Robin enter the car
-Robin equips the medkit
-Robin exits the car

Round 2: T2 wins initiative
-Automated Defenses gives Leo a wound
-Leo slashes the car, inflicting 3 wounds
-Donnie gives Robin 2 wounds, causing Jason to drop the medkit
-Automated Defenses gives Raph a wound
-Raph destroys the Batmobile
-Mikey gives Bats 2 wounds
-Bats counters Mikey, inflicting 1 wound
-Bats puts bolas on Leo, Raph and Mikey
-Robin gives Donnie a wound, causing Donnie to drop the gauntlet
-Bats gives Raph a wound, causing the bolas to fall off
-Robin gives Donnie a wound

Round 3: T1 wins initiative
-Bats kills Raph
-Robin kills Donnie
-Leo and Mikey free themselves from their bolas
-Robin picks up the gauntlet
-Robin gives Leo a wound

Round 4: T1 wins initiative
-Robin kills Leo
-Bats gives Mikey a wound
-Robin kills Mikey

Nitro Boosts Used: 1
Automated Defenses Wounds: 2
Remote Wounds: 0


Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Batman (2/4 wounds), Robin (2/3 wounds), Nite Owl (0/4 wounds)

Both the Turtles and the Batmobile flubbed pretty hard on defense, causing them to fall pretty quick. The Batmobile was useful to get everybody into battle and for some cheap reactionary autowounds, but I didn’t get a chance to utilize the remote at all.

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Army Test
Map: Country Road (No Glyphs)
Units: Team 1 (810): Batmobile (250), Magneto (375), Quentin Quire (130), Destiny (55)
Team 2 (810): Nightwing (200), Raven (190), Starfire (210), Tempest (210)

Spoiler Alert!

Pre-Game: Batmobile comes with the Caltrops

Round 1:T2 wins initiative
-Quire hops in the car
-Quire equips the Caltrops
-Mags tosses Raven twice, inflicting 2 wounds
-Nightwing gives Mags 2 wounds
-Raven transfers a wound from herself to Mags
-Starfire gives Mags a wound
-Mags tosses Nightwing, inflicting a wound

Round 2: T2 wins initiative
-Raven moves a wound from herself to Mags, killing him
-T1 can’t take their first turn because they had an OM on Magneto
-Quentin inflicts a wound on Raven
-Starfire gives the Batmobile a wound

Round 3: T2 wins initiative
-Raven moves a wound from herself to Quentin, causing him to drop the caltrops
-Quentin removes the 3 OM from Kori

Round 4: T2 wins initiative
-Raven moves a wound from Dick to Quentin
-Kori gives the car a wound
-Quentin removes the 2 OM from Kori
-Quentin puts a wound from Kori and removes the 3 OM from her too
-Quentin gives Dick a wound

Round 5: T1 wins initiative
-Quentin puts a wound on and removes the X OM from Nightwing
-Quentin gives Dick another wound
-Kori destroys the car
-Kori gives Quentin a wound
-Quentin removes the 3 OM from Kori

Round 6: T2 wins initiative
-Raven takes 3 wounds from Dick to herself, then transfers a wound from herself to Quentin, killing him
-T1 can’t take a turn because they had the 1 OM on Quentin
-Kori gives Destiny 2 wounds
-Destiny gives Kori 2 wounds
-Kori kills Destiny

Nitro Boosts Used: 1
Automated Defenses Wounds: 0
Remote Wounds: N/A


Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Nightwing (0/4 wounds), Raven (2/5 wounds), Starfire (3/5 wounds), Tempest (0/4 wounds)

The plan here was for to position Magneto and Quentin (in the Batmobile) in the middle of the map and have Magneto to toss the Titans in and out of the Automated Defenses range while Quentin used his Psychic Assault from the safety of the Batmobile.

Unfortunately, with Magneto dying so early, the plan fell apart hard. Still, the armored car was a decent hidey hole for Quentin to hunker down in. He did about as well as he could against a full Titans assault.

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THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: It’s a solid car that drives fast and has high defense. That feels on point and viable. Automated Defense is a useful tool; if you can position the car in the right spot it can really railroad an opponent away from that spot.

I must admit to not being totally in love with the Utility Glyph mechanic. You get to choose between 3 of the worst U-Glyphs, and it feels like they’re just as likely to end up in the enemy’s hands as your own. I think it would be way cooler if you could somehow switch the Glyph in the Batmobile with the ones on a Utility Belt figure’s card. So Bats II could hop in the car mid-battle and rearrange his equipment without having to bring along a 1-use Glpyh.

Both my games had some pretty swingy luck, but overall, 250 feels good.

GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT: Feels very good and very Batmobile. I’d personally consider fiddling around with the Mobile Gadgetry power a bit, but either way I’m excited to get this design on the road!

I'm ready to flatten Aaron Carter and Shaquille O'Neal!

[IAmBatman]

I believe you can swap. From the Equipment Rules:

A Unique Hero can only carry one Equipment Glyph at a time. If a Unique Hero you control carrying an Equipment Glyph lands on another Equipment Glyph, after activating the Glyph you may choose to replace the glyph already on the Unique Hero's card with the newly activated Glyph. Place the Glyph formerly on the Unique Hero's card power-side up onto a space the figure currently occupies.

The Batmobile would be considered the space that its driver is on (as would the space under it).

[IAmBatman]

I'm happy with what we've got here. I propose we move to Final Editing.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

I’ll be back to vote on this in like an hour.

[MrNobody]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

I believe you can swap. From the Equipment Rules:

The Batmobile would be considered the space that its driver is on (as would the space under it).

But he’s not “landing on the glyph.” The situation seems more similar to the Zombie/11th Doctor situation we discussed before imo.

Maybe I’m just being pedantic, but it seems like just a line explicitly saying you can swap would clear up a lot of potential confusion.

[IAmBatman]

I believe the intent of the Equipment Glyph rules is to allow you to swap. The wording may not be air tight due to shifting situations.