Dark Rain Batman

As we approach the Halloween holidays I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about one of my favourite Batman models “Dark Rain Batman!”

Dark Rain Batman is from the 1992 Elseworlds Graphic Novel Red Rain by Doug and Kelly Jones. I had enjoyed Kelly’s work on The Sandman and his art during the Knightfall Saga and bought the Graphic Novel when it came out. 

During this storyline Bruce Wayne becomes infected after being bitten by a vampire. He then does battle with Dracula himself. 

So why do I like this Batman? 

Firstly you can’t get anymore Gothic than a Vampiric Batman! Crouching over a Wayne gravestone, clutching a skull with smoke billowing around him he looks the business. 

In terms of gameplay he is pretty solid with willpower of 7 and an endurance of 9. His defence is high with models needing a 5 to wound him and he also has Bat armour mark 1 which means attacks against him do not benefit from the attack die. He is hard to hit at long range too unless your opponent has additional equipment as he benefits from the Master of Stealth rule. 

In an offensive sense he is pretty formidable having 5 attacks and claws which can be  causing one blood/ one stun per attack and the standard 2 stun damage for his Batarangs. If his opponent is not able to have line of sight befor he attacks, he can use sneak attack which cancels out the use of effort to reduce the number of his attacks. 

Detective is useful too allowing him to manipulate suspect markers 3” away and in line of sight. 

You would be right in saying that these are bog standard features of most of the incarnations of Batman, so what sets him apart from the others? 
I think it’s his ability to fly. Once per round he can move anywhere with an added 8”. Unlike the Batclaw which can’t be used in consecutive turns, the ability to fly every turn makes him extremely manoeuvrable. In tandem with Batcape he can move 20” per turn and drop down without injury using his Batcape. 
Another feature I really like is implemented by not actually having him on the board. Leading from the Shadows enables Batman to Inspire the whole gaming area if he is not on the board. 
Last but not least is probably my favourite feature of this Batman. He has an ability called Shadowed Nightmare. Batman is basically not deployed on the table. He is still given an audacity token. When a suspect marker is placed he can be deployed 8” from there. All henchmen within 6” suffer enervating 1. This in effect allows you to place Batman anywhere on the board. 
If you’re interested in giving him a try, you can purchase him directly from Knight Models here: 
https://www.knightmodels.com/en/batman-miniature-game/batman-miniature-game-batman-elseworlds-i.html