Batman!

Last Saturday I enjoyed a demo of Batman The Miniatures Game hosted by Henrik in my FLGS Subcultures in Utrecht.

Batman TMG is produced by Knight Models from Spain, known for their earlier superhero licences. Now they have produced a ruleset, free to download on the Interweb, for their line of stunning superhero miniatures.

BTMG is a tactical skirmish game featuring a handful of models per side. Villains and their goons usually make up the more numerous gangs, while heroes and their sidekicks will be fewer (but STRONGER!). So I played the Penguin accompanied by three Goons (amongst them the giant Killer Croc) and as opposed by Batman and Nightwing. Mission objective was getting the Penguins illegal weapon crates to your table edge.

The most interesting aspect of the game (besides playing with superheroes!) is that it is an IGO-UGO game where the players plan their actions more or less beforehand by allocating counters/dice (every figure has a given number of them) to several activities like moving, attacking, defending etc. These dice give you extra actions on top of movement and the option to attack another player or defend against his attacks. So you get to boost some actions while being incapable to perform others.

So while some of my Goons made a run for the crates, the Penguin and Killer Croc attacked, the latter by sneaking through the sewers and emerging in turn 2 right behind Nightwing!























The rest of the game is straightforward and plays fast, just like the action movies it is supposed to represent. Table size can be small, despite the fact that firing ranges for firearms are unlimited. Gotham is dark and Gothic, so visibility is no more than 30cm (yep, the game is metric). So the action is close and personal. The Penguin got battered by the Bat, Nightwing got beaten up by Killer Croc.


The players alternately draw dice from a box, the colour of which determines who may start. Once all the dice are drawn, the game is over. SO we played six turns and in turn 6 one Goon dragged a crate to my table edge, winning the game!

The figures are stunning pieces of sculpting art and are priced accordingly. However, since an "army" in Batman will only be about 2-6 figures, starting a Batman team will still cost you significantly less than a standard wargaming army.

Until, I must warn you, greed sets in. I predict many of you, once hooked on these magnificent miniatures, will want to collect them all!

Many thanks to Henrik for providing me with a good game and an enjoyable afternoon and to Subcultures for hosting us!