We had a 450 point event today, and I wanted to try out a Military Tank, so I built the following 'Modern Age' force based on the Dark Knight Rises:

90 DKR 205 Bane
4x45 DKR 008a Mercenary
2x45 DKR 008b Mercenary
75 (piloted) Military Tank
5 Gamma Bomb

= 440 points

This is a "soldier" keyword team, so I was able to force games on the Prison Map. 'Soldier' triggers the 'Ranging it in' ability, but I never used it. All figures except the tank have the Underworld team ability.

The map I chose was just about right for my printed range values of 5, but I did occasionally catch players by surprise with Bane's 8-range RCE...so I suppose a sneaky boost to range might have helped catch players unaware as well.

Standard comment on vehicles: I was careful to play the movement very strictly by the rules, which makes them harder to maneuver than you might expect. I was also very strict about only destroying blocking terrain in squares I actually moved through as if it were a single-based character. I suppose there might have been a clarification, but I wanted to make sure I was not cheating...so the Mercenaries occasionally did some wall-breaking to assist in final positioning.

Some comments on the tank abilities I did use:

I did get to use RAM twice (2 different games) and I hit one of those times for a (perplexed) damage of 4. The prison made it possible for me to make the attack roll from a blocked line of fire position, thwarting attempts to use PC. This helped crush John Constantine under the treads!

Being able to multiple-carry was quite useful, because I could reposition characters in-and-out of close combat, to better take advantage of Enhancement.

The tank never made any other attacks besides trample, it was mostly just a huge piece of blocked area!

I had the tank piloted by one of the "8b" Mercenaries, since I felt that ejecting one that could charge (and possibly end up on an 18 DV) would be more annoying, but honestly the "8a" Mercs were so effective I should have played a ratio of 5/1 instead of 4/2. I only ejected the pilot 1 time, as the tank was about to get KOed by an angry Thor.

Comments on Bane:

I played this version because of the team ability and keyword, but I wanted to see how this figure would do. Bane never left his first click, until the last game in which I pushed him to KO an AVM Hulk on its final click! Just being Bane..and 'Molding' two-thirds of the mercenaries for either +1 attack or damage was enough.

The large size of the tank, and the 6 mercs meant that I could keep Bane in reserve, behind the lines. If any opponent had been foolish enough to over extend to try to hit Bane, his un-counterable Mastermind would have kept him on the top click, ready to command his forces to counter-attack.

I've played a variant of this force with both the starter Bane (Batman Enemy, "Brute" keyword) as well...and I'm impressed that this force has a 3-1 record. It's painfully slow to play, but with the and the Bane boosts...and now with enhancement...it can actually hurt opponents.

The gamma bomb is to make the opponents come to me, as this force is slow to deploy. It never damaged any opponents, but it did speed up 2 of 3 games. My force actually has to disarm an opponent's gamma bomb: it took 4 tries!

The Mercenaries are peculiar in that 8a and 8b can only team together with the "soldier" keyword. The 8a/"Brutes" are IMO the better of the two dials to be led by Bane, but I wanted some Toughness of the map for mastermind purposes.

Final verdict on the tank: if you can stomach a slow game, the piloted tank is a decent vehicle. It is not too abusive IMO, with only the deep dial for the cost being the most suspicious aspect. Starting Enhancement (for double the cost of the auto-piloted tank) and the potential range is probably better, especially if a very cheap old Easy Company medic is piloting.

Thanks for the write up. Sounds like a very fun team, albeit simple. I love that Bane.

Thanks for the write up! I always love when players write their strategies and experiences, because I find this helps me with my own army building.

Also, I'm not fortunate enough to have any vehicles yet, but I suspect my in-laws bought me a super booster for Christmas. So I can't wait to see what I get and I'm glad to read how the experience worked out for you!

Thanks for the kind words...it wasn't until after I posted this force that it hit me that I used 6 of the same figure ("Mercenary") from DKR, and that not many folks may have that many of one figure from a single-figure release. I've played a non-vehicle) 300-point version of the team with a different Bane and 4 mercenaries, which was enough to convince me that this team could be successful (with map choice).

I don't think the price on singles-market Mercenaries has gotten unreasonable yet, so let me just say that with Bane I think they are well worth it. I suppose I need one more to play this force at 500 points, so maybe Santa will bring me one!

I'm going to be thinking of this if I ever play a Bane/Mercenaries team again:

Just so you know, Bane's Mastermind CAN be Countered since it says he "possesses" the power.

The special power can't be Countered...but the powers that it grants CAN be countered. :/