Welcome to the another iteration of Generic Reviews.

Generic Reviews covers those figures played en masse, the generic.

Click "Full Story" to read more about the generic that every villain in Batman's Rogues gallery has hired at one time or another, the Hired Henchman.

This week, I will be discussing both of the dials of the Batman set’s Hired Henchman. Both versions are 40 points, and share the same keywords, trait and special powers, with the special powers being on the dials in a different order:

Minion: At the beginning of the game, Hired Henchman can be declared a minion of any friendly character with which he shares a keyword, who is considered the Boss until the end of the game; If Hired Henchman is within 8 squares of the Boss, Hired Henchman is a wild card but can only use the Boss's team abilities.

This trait allows the Henchman to be a wildcard, essentially, as well as choosing a character to serve as the "leader", in reference to the Henchman's "Minion" abilities. (These are not actually the "Minion..." abilities, but are essentially the same). The Henchman's many keywords allow this trait to make him even more versatile. In addition to being able to copy the Bosses ATA's, this trait will allow the Henchman to copy a fair number of different team abilities (not including Underworld, which the Henchman already has):

Arkham Asylum: Batman Ally, Batman Enemy, Police, and Titans
Gotham City Underworld: Batman Enemy, Police, Superman Enemy, and Titans
Injustice Gang: Batman Enemy, Injustice League, and Mystics
Injustice League: Batman Enemy, Injustice League, Mystics, and Superman Enemy
Injustice Society: Batman Enemy, Hypertime, Injustice League, Mystics, and Suicide Squad
Rogues: Injustice League, Mystics, and Suicide Squad

The pattern that's noteworthy is that almost all of these keywords include Batman Enemy, which addresses the Henchman's main problem of having an 8 printed attack throughout the dial. This is especially noteworthy on the b dial, which starts with Flurry, Blades/Claws/Fangs, and the special power giving Penetrating/Psychic Blast if the Henchman is near the Boss. The attack replacement is also important for the a dial, which has Support and 14-Defend. Giving the Henchman a 10 or 11-Attack will allow it to use Support, needing a very easy number to hit.

Lookin Good: When the Boss is 6 or fewer squares away, modify Hired Henchman's attack and defense values by +1.

This power will help buff the Henchman's stats. This is especially useful when combined with a recent addition to the Batman rogues gallery, JW Two-Face, with his 18-Defend. It will also combine well with the Batman Enemy team ability.

Look What The Boss Game Me: When Hired Henchman is adjacent to the Boss, he can use Penetrating/Psychic Blast.

Despite the fact that the Henchman has a 1-Damage printed, giving him penetrating damage is useful, especially with all the Perplex that there is in the various keywords the Henchman has.

At either point value, the Hired Henchman is very effective at his role, either being an attacker that is very good for the points or a medic that can hit needing anything but a Critical Miss. Support is also a rare power to see in all of the Henchman's keywords, and it is a great option to have, especially when running a team that includes multiple smaller attackers, giving you the ability to have one character attacking while healing something else.

The main drawback of the Henchman is limited movement, but that can be helped using the Underworld ATA to carry. No move and attack is also a hindrance on the b dial, but again, Underworld can be used to carry and position the Henchman where he needs to be.


Since the Henchman requires a shared keyword for Boss abilities, running a themed team with him is almost a requirement, so considering what ATA to run is important, especially considering how many the Henchman has access to:


This ATA will either help the Henchman's limited mobility, or allow him to be irritating tie-up with Plasticity.


The Mob ATA will allow the Henchman to serve as Mastermind fodder. Running multiples will allow the medics to heal whatever figure is being dealt Mastermind damage.


Free damage is always good. This ATA is especially great when combined with the other Batman Enemies that are wildcards and have Poison, such as most Jokers and FL046 Harley Quinn.


This ATA is very expensive for something so specific, but if you anticipate seeing Hypersonic Speed, it may be a good idea to run.


This ATA will help with the Henchman's attack value, giving him a total of +2 attack when combined with the Lookin Good special power.

The team that I have made for the Hired Henchman is Gotham City Underworld themed.
I'd also like to note here that I'll be trying something new in these articles. I will, when possible, use the team that I make for the generic in a local tournament and report back on how the team performed in the next article.

Force Build 8806570 0
Set	#	Name	Team	Pts	Value
JW	059	The Joker		140	SELL
FL	046	Harley Quinn		65	SELL
JW	003A	The Joker Thug		10	SELL
JW	030	Two-Face		65	SELL
WF	053A	The Joker's Daughter		75	SELL
BM	006A	Hired Henchman		40	SELL
ATA	010	Monster Society of Evil		5	SELL
Force Total:				400	$0.00

I decided to run The Hired Henchman on the Support part of the dial, as this team is very Mastermind focused, so healing is important. As previously mentioned, the Monster Society ATA works well with characters that have Poison, such as Harley Quinn, who also has Sidestep and Outwit to go with the potentially penetrating Poison and ATA. Two-Face's 18-Defend will give the Henchman a 19 Defense, with the +1 to Defense from the Lookin Good special power.
The Joker will be your primary attacker, with the Joker Thug serving as Mastermind fodder, and the rest of the team including 2-3 tertiary attackers, depending on which dial Two-Face is on.

Thanks for reading this week's Generic Review. I hope you've enjoyed it, and that you'll be back in two weeks, as I write about catws007 S.H.I.E.L.D. Commander.

Feedback is appreciated on the new formatting that I've tried with this article.

Great writeup as always! Header image is a little large, but it's nice that it leaves no doubt which figure you're discussing.

I dig the suggested team build- Two-Face and Joker with Joker's Daughter is heck of thematic. ;-D

That was exactly the idea. I'm glad someone noticed.

When I first started playing I was lucky enough to pull three of these guys. At the time I played casual games with my son, so we were always pretty loose with total points values. These guys made it on almost EVERY Batman Enemy team I had... But the problem was that we had no idea what Team Abilities even were. lol

They would be very effective as Mastermind fodder now, but just seeing them is really nostalgic.

I like the new super-cheap thugs and goons we're getting recently, but this guy still has a lot of nice tricks for the extra cost.

On the subject of TAs he can potentially copy, in addition to the ones he can get through more natural means, the FF Owlman trick opens up the chance to get JLA, JSA, Green Lantern Corps, SHIELD, Avengers, Masters of Evil, X-men, 2000 AD, Top Cow, and maybe more I've missed.

That Gotham Underworld team looks great! Makes comic sense AND good gameplay synergy.

Hired Henchmen are my favorite generic figures due to their flexibility and utility. It was rare that a DC villain team wouldn't have room for one or two to back up their employers. The new Thugs are great as cheap scab labor, but these guys are prime candidate for most extra-legal operations.

-J

Nice team idea. I may have to play that team myself one day!

I started playing Heroclix around the time the Batman set came out and I tell you, I've probably played these guys more than any other figures, usually 2 or 4 at a time. The look on my opponent's face when I rolled two 6's in a row for Flurry/Blades with my 40 point nameless mook to take down their 300 point Power Cosmic beast will ensure that these guys remain as one of my favourite generics.

Digging the new format, btw.

Love this guy, and all of the attention to possible ATAs. It honestly never even occurred to me to wildcard Batman Enemy, and that seems like the most obvious thing to do now. Great Article!

Way back, two of these guys and Batman013 Joker won me a Batcave in a constructed event. 11 Attack, Flurry Blades, and one of them could carry 2 more for repositioning... no one saw them coming! Great article. Rolling them out again for a Mad Love, Joker/Harley event tomorrow night, what a coincidence you featured them today!

They pair really well with:

Just wanted to chime in and tell you that I really enjoy this article series. One of my biggest problems with this game (besides my crappy dice rolls) is that sometimes I'll look at a fig, come up with all these great uses for them, and then put them on a shelf and forget about them. This is helping me re-look at the generic figs that have been collecting dust in my clix bins. I knew I had big plans for them - I just can't remember what. So, thanks for that, JaySol.

One question: "The attack replacement is also important for the a dial, which has Support and 14-Defend." I thought that when using support you had to use your unmodified attack value, but I guess replacement is different than modifying, so therefor it's okay? If that's the case - that's great!

Yes, replace and modify are different. These fellows make for excellent Bat-Enemy medics. The Batman Enemy TA allows the Henchman to replace his Attack Value. His Defend allows the patient to replace his or her defense value for the Support attempt.

Edit: Note that the "unmodified" stipulation for Support means that the Henchman cannot take advantage of the "Lookin' Good" SP for the Support attempt. You use only the vanilla printed value of the Bat Enemy in question.

Played this guy recently, he was largely ignored but was undoubtedly the mvp