King Black Bolt is here!

With the alias of Blackagar Boltagon you can field him OR original Black Bolt, but sadly not both. RIP Bodyguard and Leadership.

He has 4 defence across the board, and with a total of 15 health (7 front, 8 back), that is a little low health for 6 threat, but he does have a reroll and damage reduction, which will hopefully compensate.

He is size 2, medium move, and on a medium base. The medium base really helps with range and mobility, but the size does leave you vulnerable to a lot of displacement.

Abilities

Sonic Blast, his gainer, is very strong, a range 4 beam, with 5 dice that can Push. The wording may look odd, but each attack in the beam will gain 1 power, which is essential to fuelling his expensive toolkit.

Wrath of the Midnight King feels like a modified Master Punch, the throw is now conditional on dice, but the mobility is enhanced. It does not compare well to Thor2’s spender, which gets 2 more damage for the same power and has a built in throw and place.

Increase The Volume harks back to pre-buff Black Bolt, when he could pay power to increase attack dice. Increase the volume turns 3 power into 2 dice for the next attack action. If you have a 3 target beam lined up, that equates to 6 dice, and 3 power back. These are the kind of attacks where KingBB will dominate the table.

Hit & Run is great action compression when you need to be mobile . You gain 2 power every turn, so you beam, move to an optimal position and beam again. This mobility almost makes the spender feel superfluous, but with 6 energy you can use the spender to attack and double move and still have an activation.

Telepathic Command is a great counter to displacement (a big Inhuman weakness). but overall his kit is rather expensive and you need to prioritize each turn until you start getting those big beams.

The Inhuman reroll is always good to see and is a powerful staple of the faction.

Anti-Grav Control will be vital to his survivability. Having the health and defences of a standard 5 threat. That damage reduction will come in really handy (see Abomination for reference). It also comes with an extra power gain every Power Phase. This is essential to getting KingBBs kit running, but is subject to Stun, so be careful.

On the subject of conditions, Inhuman King will remove one a round. This helps protect your core team from the worst conditions when in faction, and protect KingBB himself from Stagger or Stun when he is splashed outside Inhumans.

Finally he has Poison Immunity, which is a fun little addition to Inhumans and leaves me longing for the days of Terrigen Mists. In the age of Abomination and Poison Hydra lists, this feels like a nice little quality of life.

Leaderships

Under Queen Medusa’s new leadership he will work very well as long as he dazes something every turn he activates. This is hopefully quite likely given he should be able to hit at least one 7 dice beams every turn. Doing so will net him more power, a reposition, and a very nice heal. Healing on a damage reduction character is added value for sure.

Maximus the Mad will give BB a defensive and offensive reroll once per turn, which will make his attacks more consistent.
The first defence each turn will be 4 dice with 2 rerolls and a damage reduction. This is a great amount of survivability.
His first beam each turn will have that slightly higher chance of doing some damage.
Even if he rerolls a Skull and is displaced, KingBB can Hit & Run or Wrath of the Midnight King back into position if he is pushed off position.

As for splashing, he would be a good Avenger under SR1, and his beam would become much more effective in Cabal under RS1 (gaining up to 2x power).
Any team with rerolls is bound to like him too (SLDD for example) and his ability to clear a point and then advance an ally could help other scenario teams that like a meaty turret on E maps.

Strategy

Gaining 2 power turn 1, and on a medium base, KingBB can start the game by walking medium, and then using Hit & Run to beam the midline before advancing onto it.

This is a strong late round activation that punishes the opponent hard for being near the line. You have around 17.5 inches of beam coverage turn 1 and even Toad will be in range if he grabbed the middle extract from “safety”. Even a safe grab that doesn’t fall back fully could be in range.

On Super Powered Scoundrels KingBB can sit in the middle and have enough range to threaten all 4 surrounding points, forcing opponent to cling to the edges to avoid his beam. Alternatively he can sit on a rear point and have the opposite point covered and half of the middle point, using Hit & Run to bounce between points as he goes.

On E Maps he can advance from deployment line, Hit & Run to beam everyone on/behind the central point, and then advance onto it. Now he will have the rear point within range for turn 2 beams.

On Deadly Meteors he can sit on the central point and have both side points in beam range.

D Maps have historically been an issue for Inhumans, as we lacked enough models to rotate cleanly, and our originalBB wanted us to group up. But now KingBB can walk towards a point, and then Hit & Run to beam the point (hopefully displacing defenders) and advance onto it. Big improvement on before!

On S.W.O.R.D he can sit in one corner and have the 2 adjacent corners fully in range, using Hit & Run if necessary to move to another point and flip it.

Infinity Formula likewise allows him to control a point whilst having the opposite fully in beam range

Overall

A strong and mobile menace who carries that strength in many maps where Inhumans have previously struggled due to leadership and strategy limitations.

I feel he is going to help us perform well on wider maps and score more points.

He forces you to open up one of our two new leaderships and lean into a team that does not need to be meticulously placed within 3 of each other and 2 of him. Simultaneously, moving away from this leadership might be his biggest weakness.

Against attrition teams he may come with survivability issues. He will have to be careful around other 6+threats.
You lose (arguably)the best leadership in the game and could run into power issues if you do not manage your activations well.

I like him, and he will really change how we play, but I don’t know if I am ready to stop playing originalBB in the competitive scene yet.

_{Image source: https://www.atomicmassgames.com/transmission/from-panel-to-play-maximus-black-bolt/}