Battle Squad

The Battle Squad is a team of Decepticon Micromasters from the Generation 1 continuity family.

In a race of warrior robots, their name doesn't really say much.
Top row, L to R: Meltdown, Direct-Hit, Fireshot
Bottom row, L to R: Half-Track, Power Punch, Vanquish

The Micromaster Combiner Battle Squad, led by Direct-Hit, is central to the Decepticons' off-radar defense. When they band together with a cybernetic compressor, their firepower is incredible. Aided by their advanced visual tracking systems, they can annihilate anything in a three-mile radius. If an Autobot spacecraft vanishes from radar screens, the Battle Squad is usually the culprit. When they separate, however, they tend to spend their time taking potshots at one another.^[1]

• Direct-Hit and Power Punch the cannon transport
• Meltdown and Half-Track the anti-aircraft vehicle
• Fireshot and Vanquish the Blackbird jet

Fiction

Marvel Comics continuity

Marvel The Transformers comics

The Battle Squad refereed a football match between Defensor United and Bruticus All-Blacks. They were distracted from Brawl handballing a goal in the final minutes by being stepped on by Bruticus. The goal stood.^[2]

Regeneration One

The Battle Squad were members of Soundwave's group of Neo-Decepticons at Fort Scyk in Polyhex. Counterpoint

Toys

The Transformers

• Battle Squad (Micromaster Combiner Squad, 1990)

The Battle Squad was sold as a blister-packaged six pack. The team forms three military-themed vehicles, and shares a common color palette of purple, black, magenta, red and light blue.

Members from this team were used — without alteration — to make the Japanese Autobot Crane Cannon W Team and the Jet Tank W Team.

War for Cybertron: Siege

• Direct-Hit & Power Punch (Micromaster, 2020)
  • Hasbro ID number: WFC-S47
  • TakaraTomy ID number: SG-44
  • TakaraTomy release date: February 22, 2020

Part of wave 5 of Siege Micromasters, Power Punch and Direct-Hit of the Battle Squad transform and combine into Cannon Transport vehicle, which can be flipped upside down to be used as an over-the-shoulder weapon. As a part of the C.O.M.B.A.T. System, their weapon mode can be attached to any toy with a 5 mm post-hole. "Fire Blasts" can also be attached to various hardpoints on the toys. They're painted and molded such to stay as separate vehicles. Instructions show to attach the barrel to Power Punch, however, it is packaged already attached. Though, the barrel can be easily detached and mounted above Power Punch's head.

Strangely, the classic G1 combined vehicle mode is not shown on the package, except in its capacity to be held upside-down and backwards to resemble an over-the-shoulder bazooka-like weapon for larger figures. It’s glimpsed in the instructions, but not as a final step; only as part of the process of forming the bazooka.

Though designated for release in the first quarter of 2020, this wave reached U.S. store shelves in late 2019.

War for Cybertron: Earthrise

• Direct-Hit & Power Punch (Micromaster, 2020)
  • ID number: WFC-E40

Direct-Hit and Power Punch were later re-released for the successor of Siege, Earthrise. The two releases appear to be identical outside of packaging.

Like all Earthrise toys, the cardboard back of the Earthrise version of the Battle Squad's package includes an exclusive cut-out collectible piece of a larger star map. Theirs is the only piece without a path of any kind, only part of Gigantion on it.

Notes

Foreign names

• Italian: Squadra Combattenti ("Fighter Team")

References