DC hasn't been getting much love lately. What with the cinematic flop of BvS and the overload of Marvel Heroclix stuff being churned out (Captain America: Civil War, Uncanny X-Men, Civil War, & Spider-Man coming soon), so I thought I'd switch focus and take an in-depth look at Oliver Queen, aka Green Arrow, #208 from the Justice League: Trinity War set.
Improved Movement/Targeting, Traits, & Special Powers
Improved Targeting:
His Improved Targeting ability is very useful when combating characters that have or can use Stealth, and as a bonus he can ignore characters for line of fire purposes. Remember that this doesn't just apply when making attacks, so if you build a team where he can use Outwit, Perplex, etc. he ignores characters when drawing line of fire. He doesn't leave much room for enemies to hide. He is still susceptible to blocking terrain and elevated terrain impeding his line of fire, or is he?
An Arrow for Every Situation:
It looks as though I spoke too soon. Wow, this is a lot of information, so let's break it down piecemeal. He starts with 6 Arrow tokens on his card, so don't forget to add those when starting the game as they will come into play (I always use special dice to distinguish them from the dice I use to roll in-game). You have to give Green Arrow a free action in order to use this trait, so after giving him that free action you then have a choice to use any ONE of those powers or abilities listed. Here they are:
1. Energy Explosion
2. Incapacitate
3. Penetrating/Psychic Blast
4. Smoke Cloud
5. Improved Targeting: Ignores Elevated Terrain
6. Improved Targeting: Ignores Blocking Terrain. When a ranged combat attack resolves, any blocking terrain along its line of fire to the target is destroyed.
An important note to keep in mind is that he can ONLY choose ONE each time you remove an Arrow token. With so much Improved Targeting he shouldn't have a problem on most maps, so even if you lose the map roll in the beginning of the game Ollie here has you covered. Smoke Cloud is an interesting one, but with so many Special Powers, Traits, Resources, etc. running around I'm sure there's several things that might prevent him from attacking, so using a Smoke Cloud might come up from time to time. I'll look at the other powers in the dial section.
Take the Shot and Fade Away
If it hasn't hit you yet, this Green Arrow is insane. Running Shot to keep him moving and shooting, Stealth to keep him safe, and if he uses Running Shot he can use Sidestep afterwards. This means he can expose himself from his hiding spot to use Running Shot, and then find another hiding spot once the action resolves. Coupled with his Improved Targeting he will be very tough to take down as he can fire from behind buildings, walls, or characters.
Dial:
Yikes, kind of pricey point-wise, right? Not so much if you remember all the awesome stuff he can do, and we're not even done yet! 3 Targets, 7 Range, Improved Targeting: Ignores Characters & Hindering Terrain, Precision Strike, Running Shot, Stealth, Sidestep, AND if he uses his "An Arrow for Every Situation" Trait he can choose one more power/ability to add to his ridiculous opening click! Still think he's over-costed? I can see the hesitation of playing him on a 300 point team as he is kind of squishy, but for each 100 points the game increases you're adding more threats to your team and Green Arrow might not be your opponents only target. Since he has Combat Reflexes and Stealth to protect himself in the beginning, first try and take out any opposing character that can bust Stealth. This will ensure Green Arrow can do a ton of damage before he goes down. The Justice League team ability might come in handy if you're playing a swarm team and you have to conserve actions, so don't forget about it as you're playing. I often do.
3 Targets, Precision Strike, AND if you activate his Trait he can potentially destroy teams single-handedly. I've played a games where my opponents leave their teams in clumps and Ollie here destroyed them by choosing Energy Explosion. If he has a drawback it is as I mentioned, he is soft and lacks Willpower up front. Why is Willpower important top dial? He's only 6 clicks, so any damage you do to him really hurts. If you play with resources, min/max teams, or special objects/relics there are plenty of ways to circumvent that. My personal favorite is the Green Lantern Power Battery and placing the Sniper Rifle on his card that gives him 10 Range, and the Green Power Ring on the battery will give him this effect:
WILL: If this character already has the Green Lantern Corps keyword, modify all of its combat values except damage by +1. Otherwise, this character has the Green Lantern Corps keyword, can use Willpower, and when an opposing character targets it with Outwit or Perplex, roll a D6. On a result of 4-6, ignore that effect.
Brutal.
Teams:
Green Arrow has the Martial Artist and the Justice League of America keywords, but today we're only focusing on the latter.
Green Lantern's of America
135 JLTW208 Green Arrow
6 WOLR200.14 Sniper Rifle (Green)
300 JLTW054 Martian Manhunter
10 WOLR200.09 Nurse (Green)
180 WOL107 Kyle Rayner (Green Lantern)
6 WOLR200.06 Decoy (Green)
140 JLTW020Firestorm
10 WOLR200.04 Wall (Green)
8 WOLS300 Green Lantern Ring
2 WOLR100 Power Battery (Green Lantern Corps)
797 Total
This is kind of a joke/for-fun team, but it's very rewarding to play. Even with only 4 characters there's so much going on here. The constructs corresponding to each character is right underneath them. Green Arrow with 10 Range is nigh-untouchable, and Martian Manhunter with the Nurse construct is really just to keep him alive as long as possible. He's deadly upfront with starting 19 Defense, Shape Change & Super Senses, so if you have the opportunity to Regenerate him, why not do it? His Trait "Martian Telepathy" also helps make up for it only being a four-man team, and the "Emotional Spectrum: Will" of the power battery will also curb your opponents from out-pacing you with free actions. It helps make it a fair game, somewhat. Kyle Rayner with Decoy just makes him as hard to hit as the Martian since he already starts with Super Senses. Firestorm is the rouge, but Outwit and Perplex help a lot and if your opponent uses a resource too he'll also be hard to take down (see a pattern). You can switch out the Wall construct for the Catapult if you want some Telekinesis on your team, but I use the Wall to cut off enemies. Again, I try to stick to the strategy of reducing the amount of actions my opponents take, and making it so my team is hard to hit/take down.
Justice League of Earth 2, 3, 40.7, ah Who Cares...
135 JLTW208 Green Arrow
75 JL001 Batman
64 JLTW013 Atomica
25 FFJLTW007 Atomica
299 Total
I usually don't like to have multiples of the same character on the same team, but Atomica here is from Earth 3. So, why can't the other one be from Earth-(insert number here)? The original Crime Syndicate were from Earth-2, so I gave myself some wiggle room here. Batman is an oldie, but a goodie. The point of this team is rely on your team's Stealth to take your opponent down. 25 point Atomica doesn't have Stealth, but she has a potential 21 Defense from range attacks in Hindering Terrain. Have Batman carry the 25 point Atomica around to tie up enemies, and have the 64 point version hang back to protect Green Arrow and counter-strike on encroaching enemies. Just remember, you can't carry Atomica with Batman if he's doing his "Out of the Shadows" Special Power, so use them wisely but be aggressive and push Batman and Green Arrow as needed.
Justice Freedom of Choice
135 JLTW208 Green Arrow
84 JLTW035 Vixen
90 WKD15-014 Amanda Waller
169 AN053 Hal Jordan
4 ATA036 Justice League (Silver Age)
4 ATA036 Justice League (Silver Age)
4 ATA036 Justice League (Silver Age)
4 ATA036 Justice League (Silver Age)
5 WFWFID-001 Superman
499 Total
Aptly named as each character/game element you're using presents choices. Green Arrow has his Trait to choose Trick Arrows from. Vixen has her Trait and Special Power which allow her to choose her power set and size. Waller's Trait let's you choose a character to gain the Suicide Squad keyword, and Hal's "One-Man Justice League" Special Power lets him choose a standard attack power. The Additional Team Ability (ATA) lets you choose which team or character to gain +1 Attack against, and finally the Superman ID let's you choose a Superman from your sideline. I'd add all the World's Finest Supermen with the "Shifting Focus" Trait for more choices! Waller is tricky in this team since you don't want to Mastermind the damage to your team, so if that's a problem for you take out the ID card and add in a bystander to soak up a hit. Who you choose to join Waller's Suicide Squad is more dependent on the team you're facing, so choose wisely. This team is by far the worst of the 3, but for these articles I like to make themes within a theme team. Feel free to change it up as you please.
As always, thanks for reading. If you spot any mistakes, my bad, and feel free to leave any comments here or any of my social media outlets.
