Gremlins in a campaign

[wizuriel]

So any advice on picking Gremlins for a campaign? I find when I make my crews I tend to pick the master and everything flows from that. Just trying to pick a henchman to lead seems like it really limits Gremlins (most of our henchman I find are very specialized or situational (though is mainly coming from Guild being my other faction)).

Was Thinking trying to start general with some combination of:

Trixie as leader (generally pretty useful and good with schemes)

Gracie

Slop hauler

Burt

Iron Skeeter

 

Hoping Swine Cursed come out soon

 

[FrumFrim]

Wong...its a good choice!!!

[codingCaptor]

Mancha, McTavish, Trixie, and Old Major are all good henchmen choices for Campaign games.  Mancha/McTavish are just solid units, Trixie's tricks are so strong she can find use in any crew, and Old Major can make a pure-pig list work quite well.

I'd recommend sticking to units that fit well in almost any crew.  Things like rooster riders, trixie, Burt, etc.   Then, whenever masters are available, you'll be able to build into whomever you want, picking up their specific support units as neccessary.

One particularly nasty setup is Trixibelle, Gracie w/Saddle, Lenny, and Burt.   Most crews won't have anything to handle that sheer amount of killing potential, and trixie can just run around the map scheming while the pain train goes and takes the strat objective.   Next buys could easily be a slop hauler, rooster riders, or merris depending on what you want.   Personally, I'd make sure to pick up Lenny's summoning upgrade because the extra piglets are really strong.

 

Speaking of, In my current campaign I started with an almost pure-summoning build.    Mancha, Lenny with upgrade, and two Taxidermists.  It works REALLY well.   You could theoretically drop mancha for Sammy to have the maximum amount of summoning possible, but it's just not worth it.   You could also swap Mancha for McTavish, which honestly isn't a bad idea.   I went Mancha because I never get to include him in lists, so I figured the campaign was a good time to do so.

[Four_N_Six]

I'd go with First Mate, though I had success with Mancha as a leader.  I feel like First Mate does quite a bit well, and his leap means he can get the Hell out of combat if things get too dangerous.

[wizuriel]

Thinking of going with

Trixie

Burt

Gracie + Saddle

Slop Hauler

 

That should be pretty combat effective and hopefully tanky. 

[wizuriel]

So going into week 3 and not sure what master to pick (currently have 11 scrip).

Crew is

Fingers + Regen

Gracie + Saddle + Regen - 1Wk

Burt + Dirty Cheater

Slop Hauler

Lenny

 

So my list of masters

Zip - All around a fun master and not too upgrade intensive

Somer - Also a good generalist that can function without upgrades. Though would want to get Sammy + Encourgement right away which would be expensive

Wong - Fun master, but would need a bunch of upgrades and Sammy imo for him to really shine

Mah - Not used her much and don`t have trixie in the crew so not sure how useful she would be

Brewmaster - Never really meshed with him and no idea what he really wants beyond trixie 

Ophelia - Haven`t played since the cuddle. She can function though without many upgrades.

 

Only other master in play looks to be Jack Daw and possible a Collodi 

 

[codingCaptor]

First, You really don't have the crew for Ulix, or for Zoraida or Brewmaster.  The worst 50mm pig to summon off of rules out Ulix, no good 1AP obeyers for zoraida, and without Trixie around Brewmaster's going to have an almost impossible time setting up.  Also, outside of Fingers, you don't have anything to dish out poison.   So avoid them unless you particularly want to play them.   It could be made to work, but it's a bad idea at this point.

One thing to think about when looking at masters is their eventual Avatar upgrade.   Somer, for example, when he manifests (once per game)  Will give every single gremlin in play a free Ranged attack action.   That could be insane, although not so much with your more melee focused crew.

Ophelia is nice because she doesn't need any upgrades at all... you can pick up her totems for 2 scrip apiece and they can attach upgrades to her in-game for no cost.  If you're having problems earning Scrip but want a master, she's not a poor choice.   If you got Long Lost Cousin from your Bounty (you did complete a bounty, right?) Then you can summon in additional young lacroix, which can be VERY good with Lenny.    Young Lacroix shoot as accurately as a Bayou gremlin, but hit for significantly harder.  If they're standing next to lenny, and/or you can summon them.... well, that's mighty efficient right there.    Ophelia's Avatar is weird though.... pre-manifest she becomes a god for scoring dig their graves or other scheme marker reliant schemes.   Post manifest she trades that for... well, some bad abilities.   Instinctual is good, but you can get it just via the campaign upgrades.  And uncharitable isn't really worth ditching a 9 to target herself.  Not as an avatar ability.    Leave her unmanifested and score VP.   The only problem is that so much of your crew is height 2 or above, she's going to have problems shooting into melee.  But she can operate more or less seperate from the rest of your crew and score you VP while everyone else participates in murder.  Or vice versa.

Wong is just good.   His upgrades make him better, but by himself, without upgrades, he functions just fine.   And his avatar upgrade makes him HILARIOUSLY GOOD.   taking 3 activations with him only to then sacrifice him may seem like a bad idea (because sacrificing your master is never good)  But if you trigger this on turn 3 or 4 (or, if wong is feeling particularly survivable today, turn 5)   Then Wong beats the opponent on total activations, and will probably get more done that turn than anyone else.  Especially because, at that point, he can use cards to add suits to duels (after flipping to hit)    He's a good general leader, gets better with upgrades, and will work with what you have.   You can pick up Sammy later, if you wanted, but campaigns are good times to try out masters without all their usual support toys and see just how well they can perform without.

In a similar Vein, Somer is an amazing support master and doesn't need no Sammy to get stuff done.    He can give out Rams in a larger area allowing Lenny to focus more on beating things to death, and making Burt that much more deadly.  Nothing quite like 3 built in rams for crit strike.   Mancha also benefits since he gets +flips to damage for each ram, not that you have Mancha.  But it's a good upgrade path.   And then Somer is just Somer, with his big boomer hitting for tons of damage and blasting.   His avatar is alright... infinite skeeters is kinda cool but not really that useful.   + flips after you spend all your cards is nice, but he generally won't benefit unless he's attacked, as bigger hat is generally best saved for his last AP of the turn.   His Avatar's power is really in his manifest ability, and only Burt and your Slop Hauler can take advantage of that.   That being said, he's still a really good unit, even without ugprades.

 

Now, lets talk about Mah.

I'm running with Mah in my current campaign, and there are 3 things that make her significantly more amazing in a campaign setting than the normal game.   For one, Metal Plating is +1 armor for 1 SS, 1ss cheaper than her normal +1 armor upgrade.    But you can take both.   Armor 2 mah is suprisingly hard to kill.   Add her avatar upgrade giving her a 1/2/4 Healing flip every turn, and suddenly our frail glass cannon melee master has become our unkillable tar pit.    What's more, if you can get a 13 on a barter flip you can buy yourself a Relic Hammer.   Mah's "aim for the sore spots"  just states that it gives all ML attacks +1ML and a +2 inch range.   Which means a Relic hammer goes from ML6 3inch 3/4/5, to ML7 5inch 3/4/5.    5 Inch Range.   At that point, she is better at tying up enemy models than Brewmaster is.   She can engage everything within 5 inches of her, and prevent them from charging, taking interact actions, or shooting.   It's broken.   It's STUPID broken.   It's exactly the kind of shenangins you expect when you enter a campaign game.   When she manifests she gets Reactivate.   After manifest, she draws a card when she kills things.   Considering her two main problems in the game at the moment are her card intensity and her lack of surviveability, the Campiagn is perfectly suited for taking her from worst master to putting her in the top tiers.

What's more, your crew (which is mostly ML focused)  Works really well with her.  Fingers for scheme running, Burt/Lenny/Gracie for murder, Mah for murder and  engaging ALL the enemies, and finally a slop hauler to help keep everyone alive.    Trixie is nice with a mah crew, since you can cheat intiative and get whichever chore you want, but instead I'd recommend picking up the emmissary.   5 scrip to hire one week, plus 2 scrip for Mah's upgrade, but it will allow you to ditch a ram (low or not)  each turn to get the +1 to ML, AND get whatever other chore you flipped.    It won't help you go first, but your crew is so tanky going first isn't really a priority.

 

Maybe I'm biased, since I took mah in my current campaign.   But if you're ever interested in playing Mah, and seeing how fun she could actually be when she's not getting her ass handed to her, a Campaign game is the place to do it.

[Four_N_Six]

I would have voted either Mah, Zipp, or Wong.  I feel like Mah is underrated, so any time I can convince someone else to give her a fair shot, I take it.  She's just so much fun to play, and I run her without Trixiebelle every time I use her, so I wouldn't worry too hard there.

The only issue with Zipp is that he doesn't get an avatar.  Not necessarily a problem, though it could make for a bit of a difficult time if you're up against a master that does have one.  I'm finishing up a campaign right now as Reva, and it's definitely holding back a bit.  I'd have to look at the upgrade list to see if it would be worth it for Zipp to be in the game, though I would probably still have a ton of fun with him.  Since his attack is a Ml against Ht, getting the upgrade to boost his Ml value (it maxes out at 7, so no problem there), can essentially make it impossible to miss that attack.  Or damn close to it.  If you were somehow able to get it to Ml 7, then even flipping a 3 means that your opponent would most likely need a 9 to not be hit.

Wong would be my first choice of the options you have available with your current crew.  Burt is a good Glowy target, and so is Gracie, so you have some options.  Getting Sammy in is a bonus of course, but you can nearly afford her now.  She would only cost 2 scrip to hire.  Same thing with Swine Cursed if you wanted to really go for a powerful Wong list (assuming they're each your first/only hire of that week, of course).

Personally, if I were in this current boat, I'd get Wong with maybe 1 of his upgrades (not sure how you guys are doing upgrade cost, we're just paying their SS value to hire) and a Lightning Bug or other 5 stone model so that you don't lose any extra scrip.  By the next time you can hire models, you should have enough for Sammy and Wong's other upgrade.  Depending on the weekly event that shows up and a little bit of luck on your end, and you might be able to get Sammy and a Swinecursed, too.  Just the two of them (without the extra upgrade) is 9 Scrip.  Not really breaking the bank, depending on how many games you get in for the week.

[wizuriel]

I didn't actually choose my reward yet, but on my flip I can choose any from the Gremlin option but 

Dolly Making time on Mah or Zipp could be fun.

 

Upgrades cost double their SS cost of Script so after my master I can't afford any upgrades. Was thinking of hiring an Iron Skeeter though with my master (can help carry around Burt or Slop Hauler)

[codingCaptor]

Iron skeeters are an excellent choice.  But I probably love Fast Slop Haulers way more than they're actually worth.

Dolly Makin' time is good, but generally you want it on a high AV low Damage model.  Putting it on Mah will make the paralysis not worth it most turns, since whatever she's hitting will probably be dying.   It's actually a great choice for Fingers, with his inherant ML7.  You won't usually get the paralysis off, but it will burn a couple of cards most turns.   That being said, if you have Mancha and Somer (neither of which you currently have)  You can throw dolly makin' time on Mancha, and have Somer give out Crows before making your opponent discard their hand.    Now Mancha 1-hit kills everything he can hit with his grapple, and there is literally nothing your opponent can do about it.

Personally, I'd take a rooster rider, give it a change of station, and then put dolly makin' time on that.   Since they can get up to 6 ML attacks off a turn at a good AV, it's entirely feasible that a single activation will destroy your opponents hand, or maybe even paralyze a few models.

Somer and Wong both would like Extra Powder.  It can result in hilarity.   You can also pick up a Flammenwerfer with a barter flip of 3 for 4 scrip, for any gremlin who needs another sh blast attack.  I wouldn't personally go with it, because I feel it's just kind of boring.  No fun tricks, although I suppose it's a solid upgrade.

Long-lost cousin is the one I would personally go with, because there are a variety of fun things you can do with it.  Every crew can benefit from an Old Cranky at the cost of 1SS and an AP.   Being able to summon the Little Lass in a Mah crew can be great, as she can attack, miss, and then be sacrificed to give everyone Plus flips for the turn.   Young Lacroix are hilarious and expendable.   Being able to summon more weasly's for a Brewmaster crew is REALLY good and pretty much guarentees Brewmaster will survive the game (well, A brewmaster)   And being able to summon voodoo dolls for Zoraida without spending 2 AP is pretty good too.    Zipp in particular can be a lot more reckless with earl for scheme running, because if he dies, oh well, we'll just make another one!

It also allows you to summon Student of Conflict in order to give your master fast.   Or a Malifaux Child, although I'm having a hard time thinking of masters with CA actions that the child could reproduce.   Maybe with Wong to zap more things?     Regardless, the ability to choose between 4 totems (Cranky, Child, Student of Conflict, or your master's totem)  for only 1SS, after you've seen your opponents crew, is really strong.

 

Some food for thought.

[Dogmantra]

You don't need trixiebelle for Brewmaster. You have a fairly good killy brewmaster crew going, although you're lacking in the cheaper stuff.