Ra's al Ghul, or the demon’s head, is an international terrorist and assassin, whose ultimate goal is a world in perfect ecological balance. He believes that the best method by which this can be achieved is to eliminate most of humanity, so he becomes the leader of the League of Assassins to take out his plans and end the environmental disaster.
The League of Assassins is an organization based on the ideas of its leader, the demon’s head, who aims to improve the world by making whatever sacrifices are necessary (whether material or human). This organization is made up of radicals who will not hesitate to kill anyone to prove that the new world they intend to create is the solution to all problems. Its leader, Ra's Al Ghul, is a man who has lived longer than most mortals, thanks to the regenerative waters of the Lazarus Pits that he has spread throughout the world. This leader is a mastermind and a great fighter thanks to the hundreds of years of experience.
Obviously, this crew specializes in models with great combat skills, although they also have many tricks up their sleeves. They have various traits that benefit from sneak and quick attacks. Although its deck of objectives is focused on completing the great plan (that is, on the placement of Suspects that represent the main theme of all plans), so you will have to choose well how you carry out your actions to, since above all you will be rewarded for how and when you place your Suspects.
The Deck
“I long for a better world… not one commanded by fools! This is my dream!” Ra’s al Ghul
Under Their Noses is a perfect card to reflect all of this. It’s very simple, you will score it for placing a Suspect within 4” of an enemy model, simply that. Using inspired henchmen is usually the best option to score it. Its resource will allow you to protect your advance guard by placing a Smoke template between them and the enemy's shooter models, but remember that it has a random duration, so play it as tactically as possible. Another use could be to use it directly on an enemy so they can't attack without moving.
“He will be cared for. And kept. Protected and sheltered out of respect for his mentor… and his present caretaker” Ra’s al Ghul
These 2 cards are one of the few cards that the League of Assassins has to score due to aggression. From The Shadows guides your next moves, as it's played in Take the Lead Phase, and will force you to defeat the enemy of your choice first in order to score the card, so your best bet is always to pick a model that doesn't have a high mobility, and use bait, to scare the enemy, and prevent the target enemy model from entering the action very soon.
Blood for Blood is a little more difficult to score, as you'll need to take out an enemy model in melee combat, as long as the defeat model doesn't have any friendly Suspect within 6” of it. In order to do this, just remember not to place a Suspect near the enemy you want to remove from the game, or even Reveal that Suspect yourself if you have no other choice. With the From the Shadows Resource you will be able to place any Henchman in contact with an allied Suspect, wherever it is, and then remove that Suspect. Keep in mind that this model can no longer move that round (unless it has some kind of special movement) so, if we want to use it offensively, it must be a Suspect attached to an enemy model, although the most beneficial thing would be to use it to solve a problem for one of our acolytes.
However, Blood for Blood is a last resort, as it goes against what you normally want to do with the League of Assassins, which is to lose all your Suspects. In exchange, before you remove them, you will put an Explosive template on top of each one that will deal 2 damage to any models below them. This is a great move if you need that damage to take down a couple of injured models that are hard to remove from the game.
“On its own, humanity is a destructive force. It needs a master” Ra’s al Ghul
We return to talking about cards that are only scored based on placing and revealing Suspects. Do Not Deviate from the Plan is the main reason why the opponent will always try to reveal at least 1 Suspect to you per round. It is normally very difficult to accomplish, unless you use its Resource to avoid it. Doing this will complete the card, and cancel an action for your opponent, which is always a good option.
Eradicate The Order is a key card of the League, and it asks you for something very simple, though not always easy to complete. During Recount, you have to have more Suspects placed than the opponent. To perform this action, you must always keep in mind what your strategy is. Don't deviate from it by making attacks you don't need to make, as this will slow down your actions to set/reveal Suspects. Its resource is most powerful when used in conjunction with a Smoke source you place yourself, such as the one on the From the Shadows card, which will help you take down smoke-affected models with impunity.
“I want to be a physician. I want to help people” Ra’s al Ghul
Another card that asks you to place (in this case protect) Suspects, and another one that is scored for defeating enemies.
Multiple Threats is best played when there are few activations left, and you have at least 6 Suspects placed! Its Resource will help you a lot to place the Suspects where no one can remove them, or to finish off a rival that is isolated from the crew, as Lazarus Pit asks you, since normally to reach an enemy that is not within 8 "of another enemy, it is usually something more complicated.
The strong point of Lazarus Pit is its Resource, which allows you to place the marker with the same name. Until the end of the round, all damage dealt by friendly models within 4" of the marker will be placed in the Pit, then for every two markers in it, friendly models following this distance will take 1 wound damage marker. The important thing to play this effect is to see clearly that "following", since, if we move away from it, we will not suffer that damage, so we can use it preventively and then, when they have suffered all that damage, move our models away to save them.
The Models
As the boss of the crew, Ra's Al Ghul gives you an edge by starting each turn with Mastermind, to try and score From the Shadows before your target escapes. With Strategist, you will have an additional resource point to play the powerful effects of your cards. Blood for Blood will also be easy to score, since, with an Attack of 5, with a powerful Sword with Reach (2), which will allow you to have many options to position yourself around your rivals. With Exhaustive Planner you will be able to cancel any enemy Resource once per game, even from an enemy Resource that cancels one of your Resources! (especially useful so you don't get canceled by Lazarus Pit, for example). Speaking of the Pit, you'll love playing this resource with him around, as he will never take the damage from being the Lazarus Pit Owner. We've already talked about how good it is in melee combat, (even having a special action with which you can kill an opponent directly if you roll a critical result!) And this is exactly what will help you to make the rest of the crew keep doing what the League prefers, which is working in the shadows setting up Suspects. Use Ra's al Ghul to focus the opponent's attention on him, since he will be able to resist all the damage that the opponent can inflict on him, and return it.
“The virus will be mine. And so the world” Ra’s al Ghul
In case we fear for Ra's al Ghul at some point, Ubu will be there to defend our boss. He is a great Bodyguard, who, in addition to being hard as a rock, not to forget that he has a great damaging weapon, Huge Scimitar. Take advantage of the fact that he is a Henchman and that he will normally be very close to Ra's Al Ghul, and therefore be inspired, to always place or reveal 1 Suspect per round with him.
“I shall dance on your corpse!” Ubu
To have more options, we can count on all the members of the League Acolytes box, and on the ninjas Ichi and Ki. These last two models are defensively very powerful characters, with high stats and great abilities, including Stealth to make them more difficult to deal with from a distance. They are the perfect candidates to complete Under their Noses, as their high defensive capabilities make them less afraid of direct confrontation.
League Acolyte 3 and 4 will greatly support you in ranged combat. People tend to despise bows, as they are cheap ranged weapons, but both have special arrows with very annoying effects for the opponent.
League Acolyte 4 is especially accurate and League Acolyte 3 with his Falconry (remember to place Suspects close to the opponent) is completely unpredictable, knowing where he will attack. Also, he will deal even more damage while performing this action. These 2 models are the most indicated to try to score Lazarus Pit and From the Shadows, since being ranged attacks allows you to attack where you need it with greater flexibility. With League Acolyte 1 and 2 you have a couple of henchmen who will also have to place Suspects to score Multiple Threats and Eradicate the Order for example (remember to try to keep them inspired).
Although if you need to use them in that action, they are not bad at attacking. Remember that all Acolytes are Assassin, so you will be able to recover the cards used as a Resource when they defeat their enemies. Do not hesitate to use this great advantage in your favor!
That’s all! Now it's your turn to play with these expert assassins and defeat all your enemies to gain control of Gotham City.
In future articles we will show other League of Assassins crew options and how to play them. Don’t miss them!