by Jay Solomon
Hello, and welcome to another iteration of Why Don’t I Play This Piece?. This week, I’ll be looking at an old favorite of mine, from the video game set, Batman Arkham Origins. This week, I’ll be looking at a pick for Majestix ROC Age, Bane!
Bane has the Batman Enemy Team Ability, which reads as follows, along with a trait and several special powers:
BATMAN ENEMY – When this character makes an attack, you may replace its attack value with the printed attack value of an adjacent friendly character that can use this team ability.
(Trait) HIRED ASSASSIN: During your first turn, choose an opposing character. If Bane KO’s that character, you score an additional 50 victory points.
This trait is very useful in a tournament setting, allowing Bane to score extra victory points, which can be especially useful in this age of low point Colossal Retaliators and specialized support pieces.
(Special Defense Power) TH1 SERUM: When this click is revealed while taking damage, stop turning the dial, roll a D6, and subtract 3 (minimum 1). Increase Bane’s combat values by the result as long as Bane possesses this power. Bane can use Invulnerability. This power can’t be countered.
Although this old style “STOP click” doesn’t have the same protection that older ones do, it will still help Bane survive, especially with his longer dial. Getting the modifiers should also be especially useful in the late game, doubly so when combined with his Batman Enemy team ability, to get some ridiculous Attack values.
(Special Damage Power) RPG: Bane can use Energy Explosion, Ranged Combat Expert and Improved Targeting: Ignores Hindering Terrain, Ignores Blocking Terrain (When a ranged combat attack resolves, any blocking terrain along its line of fire to the target is destroyed) as if he had a range value of 8. Bane may use Improved Targeting: Ignores Blocking Terrain (When a ranged combat attack resolves, any blocking terrain along its line of fire to the target is destroyed) to ignore up to 1 square of blocking terrain or a wall.
This particular variation of Improved Targeting: Ignores and Destroys Blocking Terrain hasn’t been affected by the new rules, since Bane only ignores one square of blocking terrain to begin with. Having the options of Energy Explosion or Ranged Combat Expert is also useful, depending on the opposing team.
Overall, Bane is a very strong package of dial length, modifiers, and options. Being able to score 50 extra points off of your choice of opposing game element can be very strong in a tournament setting, as can the ability to take a big hit and still not even be on his “stop clicks”. Bane’s main weakness is Outwit, but by the time it gets to the point in the game when he will be near his end clicks, hopefully any opposing pieces with Outwit will have been dealt with. Otherwise, protecting Bane from Outwit will be the strategy to build with. The team that I’ve built for him has this in mind:
120 BMAO021 Bane
-2 ATA081 The Mob
15 HQ044 Kite Man
-2 ATA081 The Mob
25 FFJW004 The Penguin
-2 ATA081 The Mob
40 JW050 The Penguin
-2 ATA081 The Mob
20 BVS004 Henchman’s Goon
-2 ATA081 The Mob
2 WOLR104 Power Battery (Indigo Tribe)
-4 WOLR304 Indigo Tribe Ring
8 WOLR204.01 Net (Indigo)
-10 WOLR204.04 Wall (Indigo)
-10 WOLR204.07 Catapult (Indigo)
-6 WOLR204.14 Sniper Rifle (Indigo)
5 NFAOSNFID-007 S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 7
5 AVASAVID-002 Hawkeye
5 AOUAUID-102 Hulk
5 WFWFID-004 Green Arrow
5 WKMVID-009 Spider-Man
5 WKD17-V001ST Terrain Dial
300
Sideline: ADW067 Hawkeye, NFAOS056 Nick Fury, ADW067 Hawkeye, TMT052 Hulk, WI048 Venom Hulk, EW049 Green Arrow, CWSOP013 Spider-Man, WI047 Poison, WI038 Cosmic Spider-Man
The team that I’ve made with Bane is for the Majestix ROC Age format, so it is intended for the Majestix Open Series. The goal of this team is to send out Penguin pogs across the map to attack, for an all-offense strategy without any risks, with Bane being able to deal damage either on his own or via ID cards. The Penguin pog movement will be accomplished by using JW Super Rare Penguin’s “This is How I Deal with the Bat” trait in conjunction with JW FF Penguin’s ability to let characters, including friendly ones, make attacks on him to move around his Loyalty token. This strategy is also useful against opposing Indigo Power Batteries. Bane is a high enough point value to call-in relevant options, including Hulks and Cosmic Spider-Man to deal with opposing uses of blocking terrain, including from Wall constructs.
That’s all I have for this week. Thanks for reading, and that whether you’re playing in the ROC Age format or any other, remember that practice makes your team better.
