Starting with movement, the fact that Darkseid has Fly makes him a highly mobile character. Furthermore, once per game he can perform a Teleportation, even as a response to an attack outside of his activation. When he does this, he’s even able to bring a nearby ally with him!

DEFENSE

Darkseid is going to take a lot from your enemy to take down. The only type of attack he isn’t resistant to is Supernatural ones, since he has Resistance/2 against Physical, Energy, and Mental attacks! In addition to this, he has an Energy Shield he can use to protect himself even more against Physical and Energy ranged attacks, Due to his resistances, characters like Aquaman, Cyborg, Deathstroke, and especially Ravager are the safest way to face him thanks to their various abilities to ignore or circumvent his resistances. He has a “passive” protection against being thrown due to his Size 4 and immunity to being knocked down by objects of size 2 or less (Toughness/2).

If you focus your attacks against him in a round in order to take down this “god”, it’s highly recommended to keep going until he’s almost dead, as he can recover up to 5 health points every round due to Regeneration/5! In the unlikely case that he does get KO’d, that’s the moment to press your attack since Regeneration does not work while the KO’d.

ATTACK

If you think Darkseid is imposing defensively, you’re not going to want to be anywhere near him when he goes on the offense… Being able to Overload an attack up to twice once per round (due to Energy) makes at least one of his attacks highly accurate, or, in the case ofGodstrike, both accurate and highly powerful. In addition to this, Overloading is even more profitable as he deals 1 more point of damage due to Power Master (once per attack) if he Overloads!

Don’t underestimate Darkseid just because he’s far away from you. With his beastly Strength of 6, he can throw characters and terrain up to 12”, even something the size of a tank!

However, his highest source of damage is his unique Special PowerOmega Beam, automatically hitting and dealing 10 damage to an unfortunate enemy unless they pass an Agility roll! But even after passing the Agility roll, the target still isn’t safe. They’re forced to perform this Agility roll every round until they fail, depending only on their Agility stat to avoid this threat!

SUPPORT/CONTROL

Lastly, in addition to being a merciless fighter who only cares about his own interests, Darkseid does also contribute something to his allies. Once per game he can weaken an enemy using Soul Manipulation, or he can transfer 4 of his Power counters to a nearby ally due to Power Transference.

SUMMARY

Darkseid is worth all 25 levels he costs, adding great mobility to the team with his Teleport action once per game. If you’re attacking him from far away, consider the threat of him suddenly teleporting towards you with one of his allies!

In terms of staying power, he is practically unassailable due to his decent number of health points, Regeneration/5, and Resistance/2 (Physical/Energy/Mental). He will force your enemy to spend an entire round focusing only on him if they want to take him down before he starts recovering damage. Ravager is Darkseid’s worst enemy, temporarily cancelling all his resistances.

On the offense, Darkseid has a fairly intimidating damage output. He could in theory deal 16 damage with relative ease: Grabbing and Throwing an enemy at his feet (5 damage), Overloading to improve his chance of success, and hitting the target twice with his Godstrike, Overloading for extra damage once and paying only the regular cost of 4. It will be quite easy for Darkseid to hit a downed character even with only two dice and his Attack stat of 6-7 (depending on his health). And all this is without considering critical hits!

As support he has the unique ability to practically disable an enemy for a round using Soul Manipulation. This move sets the target enemy up for Darkseid’s allies to finish the job. While he has the ability to transfer 4 POW to a nearby ally, it would be strange to not want all of it for himself!

The new Superman miniature allows you to represent different versions of the character, taken straight from the pages of some of the most famous comic books ever. The classic version offers incredible mobility (+2 Speed), the Red Son version sports a more aggressive profile (+2 Attack), and the Kingdom Come version represents the most veteran, experienced version of Superman (+1Power), allowing him to perform more actions.

At 16 levels, Superman is considered an expensive character. However, he excels at most things; Moving around the board, taking punishment, dealing damage, and supporting.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It’s Superman! His name is practically synonymous with flying, and Fly allows him to cover great distances, even more if you choose the classic version. This makes him one of the fastest characters in the game, only surpassed in speed by Speedsters like the flash.

DEFENSE

As expected by someone called the Man of Steel, hurting this Kryptonian is no walk in the park, even though his Defenses are relatively low, but because he has the ability to shrug off a lot of damage before feeling it (Resistance/2). However, as a Kryptonian he is weak against attacks from weapons forged from the remains of his destroyed homeworld (Weakness to Kryptonite). Finally, 18 Endurance points and a high Stamina stat means he won’t easily be KO’d, and won’t stay down for long!

Just like when facing Darkseid, characters with Irresistible attacks like Aquaman, Cyborg, Deathstroke, and especially Ravager are good choices for dealing with Superman. Supernatural attacks are another weakness shared by all Kryptonians, not only due to their relatively low Supernatural Defenses, but because it’s the only Defense stat that cannot be improved. For this reason, characters like Hawkgirl, Hawkman, Solomon Grundy, and Ra’s al Ghul offer great alternatives for facing this godly being. The Hawks in particular stand a good chance since they don’t get penalized for attacking Superman in close combat due to Fly.

ATTACK

Thanks to his superpowers, Kal-El has a wide range of attacks. Even though his close combat attacks are especially powerful, they will require a large amount of POW if you want to make them more accurate via Overloading. Since he is such an iconic hero, Superman’s first attack each round will deal an extra point of damage due to Heroic Action.

For attacking at range, Superman has his famous Heat Vision, and no enemy can hide from this attack (Thermal Vision). If he wants to deal with a group of enemies, he can use his Freezing Breath, which need no roll to hit and slows down enemies. Fortunately for his enemies, this attack can only be used once per game.

His inhuman strength is not only represented through his powerful strikes. As it can be expected, Superman can throw almost anything or anyone, up to and including tank-sized objects, at a distance of up to 12”!

Attacking is where the Red Son version surpasses the other versions. An Attack stat of 8 is impressive, and means that dealing with enemies with low Physical Defense allows Superman to save that one POW that would have been spent on Overloading, potentially enabling him to perform more attacks. Somebody like Catwoman (Modern Age) becomes his ideal dance partner, as she can set enemies up to be taken down by Superman.

SUPPORT/CONTROL

Finally, the Big Blue Boy Scout honors that nickname, as he is able to redirect attacks from nearby allies onto himself with Bodyguard. This combined with his massive Endurance and general toughness means that Superman’s allies are guaranteed to live to fight another day, though it could slow Superman down in the process.

RED SON, KINGDOM COME OR CLASSIC?

At this point it is interesting to look at reasons for choosing one version over the other. This choice mostly comes down to your preferred playstyle, but could also be dependent on the mission you’re playing or the configuration of your team. So:

• Classic: In missions requiring mobile characters, being able to move up to 17” could be the difference between victory or defeat.
• Kingdom Come: If the enemy has enough tools available to hurt Superman easily, this version could be very interesting. As soon as he leaves the Grey Zone of his Endurance bar he will lose Power, but the Kingdom Come version still maintains a more than respectable amount of Power.
• Red Son: With an Attack value of 8, the Red Son can occasionally save the extra POW, especially if teaming up with an ally that makes hitting his target easier.

Thanks to his ability to Fly and his three levels of movement values, the Martian Manhunter is one of the fastest characters in theDCUMG, since by spending 3 Power he can move up to 15”. In addition, the fact that he has the Phase Shift Skill make shim even more mobile, seeing as he can simply move straight through any scenery in his way. 

ATTACK

Martian Manhunter has three attacks with a very differentFrequency and Natures. The first is a melee attack with Basic Frequency. While it does not cause very much damage for its cost, against knocked down characters or characters with low Physical Defense or some other penalty to Defense, the Martian Manhunter will be able to do considerable damage by using his special Overload Effect.

The second attack is perhaps the most interesting, since it allows you to perform a Ranged Mental Attack at considerable range, which will also remove two Power counters from the target.

His third and final attack stands out for being an Expansive Wave attack, allowing the Martian Manhunter to cause an impressive amount of damage in his immediate vicinity.

Don’t forget his Strength 6 and his Special Power Telekinesis: He can focus on throwing large scenario pieces around to cause lots of damage. 

As a possible attack combo, consider using Martian Manhunter’s high Strength value to throw a large piece of scenery at a target, doing lots of damage and knocking them down. Then move into base contact to use his melee attack with the extra damage from the special Overload effect. 

DEFENSE

Martian Manhunter stands out in defense. He has one of the highest Physical Defenses in the game which can even be further improved thanks to Density Shift and Fly.

To top this off, he has Resistance/2 (Physical)! If a Physical attack does go through, the damage will be significantly reduced. The Psionic Shield Special Power can, once per game, increase his resistance and that of nearby characters, friend or foe. In a decisive turn, this can turn the tide in your favor.

As though this was not enough, J’onn can even become Invisible once per game, avoiding the most dangerous attacks – particularly Fire type attacks since he is very vulnerable to them.

SUPPORT/CONTROL

As said in the beginning, Martian Manhunter is very much a support and control type character, particularly because he has one of the most powerful control Special Powers in the game: Paralyze Mind. It allows you to immobilize an enemy character if they fail a Willpower roll!

Furthermore, the attack Psionic Blast has an element of control due to causing Stun/2, which is particularly interesting against other support/control type characters, or characters with the Bodyguard Special Power.

SUMMARY

Martian Manhunter is ideal for going for scenario objectives due to his speed and his outstanding ability to take punishment, or even turning invisible if things get ugly. On the other hand, his control skills are fundamental to the team. His power to immobilize an enemy character can make all the difference in close combat, being able to just leave close combat with the most dangerous enemy with no fear of being followed.

“Sometimes I think a good fight accomplishes more than all the learning in the world.“

Kent Nelson aka Doctor Fate

Doctor Fate, one of the founders of the Justice Society of America, has come to bring magic to the DC Universe Miniature Game.

Doctor Fate is an expert at controlling, manipulating and surprising your opponent, preventing them from carrying out their plans. Let’s take a look at what his 13 Levels offer:

His Speed value is quite high in some areas (4”/8”/14”), and with the Skills Fly and Phase Shift he is able to move around the board very quickly and effectively with nothing to interrupt him, since all his movement can simply be measured in a straight line.

DEFENSE

Doctor Fate’s highest Defenses are Supernatural and Mental because of the powerful Helmet of Fate. Although his Physical Defense is low, it is compensated for by the Resistance/2 (Physical) Skill. His Endurance value is very high at 16, which is further improved by the Skill Regeneration/1. And remember, due to the Skill Fly, Doctor Fate’s Defense is improved by 1 in melee versus any enemy that does not have Fly!

ATTACK

All Doctor Fate’s attacks are Supernatural in Nature, a Defense which tends to be low for most characters in the game, and which cannot benefit from Defensive Improvements. He is a fearsome fighter since his cost/damage ratio is excellent for this reason. 

One of the most powerful combos when facing two or more closely packed enemies is to perform a Grab and Throw on another character or piece of scenery, and throw it through the cluster of enemies. After they’ve become knocked down, use the Attack Glyph of Osiris with Overload: Pierce/3 since the knocked down targets will be easy to hit, and you don’t need to use Overload to hit!

However, be careful! Doctor Fate’s Special Power Order’s Agent prevents him from dealing damage to characters that have not yet attacked in the game. Of course, if they perform an attack, they will receive swift justice!

SUPPORT/CONTROL

This is where Doctor Fate gets really interesting. He can protect himself or an ally within 6” by allowing them to force an enemy character to reroll one die in an attack. That often means the difference between a hit and a miss. If the enemy character has an ability that allows it to reroll an attack die, that ability is prevented instead.

Another interesting Special Power is Memory Erasing, which prevents an enemy character from using one of its attack for an entire Round. Force them to forget how to use their hands!

Last but certainly not least, Doctor Fate’s once-per-game Special Power Binding Fate simply turns off all the enemy’s Passive Special Powers for a Round! Suddenly, Aquaman no longer has Atlantean, a Parademon no longer has Swarm, or even better… Doomsday no longer has Revive!

SUMMARY

Doctor Fate is a very complete and well-rounded character with a medium-to-high Level cost, which is compensated by his remarkable movement capacity for moving, attacking, and control. His abilities to nullify aspects of enemy characters is very powerful.

After reading through this comparison, you’ll know all the advantages and disadvantages of both versions, allowing you to make the best choice when building your team.

STATS

Luthor Warsuit comes out on top when it comes to stats. Although his Power is 1 point lower, his Speed values and Fly more than make up for this, and his Attack of 7 in the grey Endurance bar and Strength of 3 allows him to throw large characters like Bane with relative ease.

His remaining attributes are quite similar: While the protection of his Warsuit gives him more Stamina, without his armor he’s better able to concentrate and so has a higher Willpower value, which is imperative for certain scenarios and Skills!

Be careful against Spray attacks and thrown objects, as his lowAgility won’t do him any favours when trying to dodge incoming attacks!

Both share the Skill Mastermind, which gives you 1 extra counter to the initiative bag and removes 1 of your opponent’s; But Lex Luthorstands out with his Great Strategist Skill, which adds an additional counter. This advantage allows you to execute your Perfect Plan by being able to choose the moment to get the most out of those sweet, sweet additional counters, or even make the enemy use one of theirs at the least opportune moment for them!

In-game, either version of Luthor needs to keep his allies close to give them a boost with the handy ability Leadership/5.

Both Luthors have the Skill Scientific, which allows you to reroll tests using your Willpower stat – a stat which is crucial for many scenario objectives!

One strong combo to use with Lex Luthor is the following:

– Activate Lex Luthor and use his Special Power Intimidation to decrease the Physical or Energy Defense of an enemy at 8”.

– End Lex Luthor’s move within 5” of an ally and use his powerful Special Power Inspire, giving the ally +2 Attack and +1 to all their defenses (NB: Inspire can be used on Lex Luthor himself!).

– At the end of his activation, as Lex is within 5″ of the ally under the effect of Inspire, use Order to activate the ally and give it 1 additional Power counter due to being within range of Leadership/5, as long as the ally has Power 8 or lower. That how you motivate your troops!

If you want to improve the combo even further, Absolute Power allows you to remove 2 Power counters from every enemy model within 8”! As you can see, this Lex Luthor in his business suit shines: Strategy and game control.

ATTACK

In this category, Lex Luthor Warsuit takes the cake. After all, this is the main reason for wearing an awesome suit of armor! He is specialized in ranged attacks, though he does have the Hidden BladesAttack for when he needs to get up close and personal.

With Fly he can find a strong position and repeatedly shoot his enemies with Electrical Blast to weaken them, taking away any notable impact they would have had on the game. If you are in front of a group of enemies, use Energy Blast on the enemy model with the lowest Energy Defense and hit the surrounding targets withExplosive/3!

And of course, Lex Luthor Warsuit is especially prepared to fight his hated enemy, the Man of Steel, with his Kryptonite Beam andHidden Missile Attacks which, although expensive and rare, can do considerable damage. The Nature of these attacks is Supernatural, the most powerful of all types of attacks since you can’t use Defensive Improvements and most models have low SupernaturalDefense.

Lex Luthor isn’t going into battle empty-handed, however. He brings a nice green stone, which gives him a Supernatural Attack that reduces the enemy’s Mental Defense. Enemies should be wary of getting too close!

DEFENSE

Brilliant Mental Defense aside, both versions of Lex generally have low defenses. Lex Luthor Warsuit compensates with his 18 points ofEndurance, where you’ll see his warsuit get destroyed piece by piece as he takes damage, to the point that in the Blue Zone its thrusters that previously carried him through the air and catch heavy objects will break. To increase his durability he has the Special Power Energy Field, perfect for resisting the brutal punches of an angry Super.

Lex Luthor has low Endurance. However, he naturally never enters battle unprepared: His Special Power Energy Shield will increase hisPhysical and Energy Defenses considerably against ranged attacks. But don’t let the enemy get too close! A good tip is to try to keep a model with the Bodyguard Special Power near Lex Luthor at all times.

SUMMARY

Lex Luthor is charismatic and affordable enough in the world of DC to include in almost any team, and is always a great choice in the game.

The choice between one or the other depends entirely on your playstyle. Lex Luthor Warsuit is focused on combat using a more aggressive and overwhelming style. Remember that his AttackKryptonite Beam can do 4 damage to a Kryptonian in one turn – and that’s without counting critical hits!

Lex Luthor’s goal is to control the flow of the game by constantly surprising and manipulating the enemy and supporting his allies. Using combos like the one we discussed earlier can make Luthor’s allies a lot stronger than they initially appear on paper.

Like a real life gorilla, Grodd moves slightly slowly, but he’s very agile. His Speed value is only 4/6, though it is balanced by the Skills Wall Crawler and Agile, allowing him to perform two move actions and stick to any kind of surface. Do you know how much fun it is to slap an enemy while hanging from the side of a building? Try it out!

One great use for this combination of abilities is to move up to an enemy, Grab & Throw them and knocking them down, then moving up to them again and pounding them into the dirt. Just like a real gorilla would!

DEFENSE

Grodd’s Physical and Energy Defenses are mediocre, but his Mental and Supernatural Defenses are great. His high Endurance helps make him a tough enemy to overcome. In addition, focusing on Grodd first until he goes down may not be a great idea. When he recovers from KO, he comes back with more POW than you would think! Due to Rage/2, he recovers an additional 2 POW counters, which essentially negates the penalty for coming back from KO (recovering 1 POW less and the cost of 1 POW to stand up). Talk about going bananas!

ATTACK

Grodd’s Physical attack Megastrike allows him to deal up to 6 damage (not accounting for Critical hits!) if you perform twice, and if you score that sweet Critical hit you get the Effect Push/4 due to the Brutal Skill! Getting up close and personal with Gorilla Grodd can be dangerous business!

His other two attacks are interesting as well. They have the Mental Nature, a Defense stat which is typically lower on most models.

His truly interesting offensive ability is his Special Power Mind Control, which allows him to force one miniature to attack another model of your choice. Select the most powerful enemy model and force him to attack his allies! Of course, as the rules for Frequency are ignores, Extraordinary attacks are not considered to have been used and so may  be used again… Be careful!

SUPPORT/CONTROL

Grodd’s Special Power Paralyze Mind stands out. It allows you to prevent an enemy model from moving, which is a powerful way of preventing them from scoring scenario goals or running away from you!

Mental Blast deserves to be mentioned as well, which is great for applying not just a bit of damage, but the strong Effect Stun/2. There’s nothing better than dealing damage AND reducing the damage coming back at you!

With the Skills Acrobat and Scientific, Grodd is able to reroll all Agility and Willpower rolls, which puts him in an interesting place to secure scenario goals based on stat rolls.

SUMMARY

While he’s quite an investment at 12 Levels, Gorilla Grodd is a great choice who offers strong offensive and control elements. He’s capable of forcing your opponent to change their plans by causing damage or Effects, and wages psychological warfare by forcing your enemies to attack each other. Seeing an enemy team take itself apart is priceless!

TEAM EXAMPLE

This Team consists of the main characters from the group and its corresponding Team Card. You get a starter and two blisters, which make up an aggressive, hard-hitting Team with a plethora of tactical options. In addition, two of the members are Multiverse models, so they can do double duty in the Batman Miniature Game!

You need the following packs: Crime Syndicate starter, Owlman andJohnny Quick.

Team of 60 levels:

· Ultraman (18 Levels)

· Superwoman (12 Levels)

· Johnny Quick (10 Levels)

· Owlman (10 Levels)

· Power Ring (10 Levels)

· Crime Syndicate Team Card (0 Levels)

LET’S PLAY!

Ultraman’s stat card is focused solely on attacking, ready to destroy any enemy.

With his high Power value you can use powerful but expensive melee attacks like Ultrapunch and Ultra Attack while taking care of enemies at a distance with Heat Vision and Super Breath.

The base damage of these attacks increases if the enemy is in the Blue Endurance Zone due to Cruel, and if there is any model with attacks with the Type Kryptonite anywhere on the board, Kal-Il will cause 1 more damage and sport 1 extra Power Counter. And if the enemy is 16 levels or less, he deals yet another point of damage on his attacks thanks to their Team Card!

Ultraman’s impressive damage potential serves to compensate his Special Power Mental Instability, which limits him to gaining VPs only by incapacitating enemy models unless there are no enemies within 12”. The ideal thing to do is to incapacitate whichever enemies are close by a scenario objective and you’ll get points for achieving it and for Incapacitating enemies!

Remind your opponent of the Special Power Block the Sun to let them know that as long as Ultraman is in the Grey Endurance bar, their models with Weakness to Kryptonite will be weakened!

The Special Power Lasso of Submission is very useful since it can pull an enemy closer to Superwoman so she can attack them, or further away from an objective they’re trying to protect.

In addition, she is very tough due to her high Endurance (19 points!), good Defenses, Regeneration/1, reroll Stamina rolls with Soldier, great recovery from KO with Rage/3, and Acrobat to better dodge throws, Sprays, Explosions, and Expansive Waves. She’s a very well-rounded fighter!

With Mastermind and Strategist Skills you can control the flow of the game by changing an Initiative Counter from your own to one of your enemy’s, and being able to choose to pass on activation to force the enemy to act before you.

With Infiltrator, Owlman has the advantage of setting up almost anywhere on the board, and with his Teleportation Device he can get out of an ugly situation in a pinch, but not before throwingRazorangs at your enemy, attempting to hit several of them wihPierce/2 and Homing!

In addition, if Johnny finishes his movement within 2” of an enemy model, they need to take a Stamina roll or receive Distract/2 from Atomica! This instantly makes it easier for Johnny to hit his target.

Johnny Quick can easily move 30” in a single turn, or up to 35” with a buff to his Defenses due to Hyperspeed. The most thematic choice with this model is to use him to rush at weakened enemies off to quench this maniac couple’s notorious bloodlust!

The powerful Skill Energy allows him to activate the specialOverload on his attacks along with the usual additional die, and due to his bully Ring of Volthoom, you can decide to take 1 damage to add +1 DMG to your next attack.

CONCLUSIONS AND ADVICE

• This is clearly a very aggressive Team whose goa lis to do as much damage as posible and Little else. Move its members together as a block that instills fear into your enemies and focuses on eliminating one weak enemy at a time before moving on to the next one.

• Use Ultraman and Superwoman as a brutal melee force whilePower Ring attacks at range and pull enemies closer to his friends by using his ring.

• Use Owlman and Johnny Quick primarily to achieve scenario goals that will give you VPs and to support their partners in crime.