Omenbringer

With alterable Terraclips boards Puppetwars could be the equivalent of Krosmaster or Super Dungeon Explore. Would love to read some of your battle reports and highly encourage the cartoony narrative style. I always enjoy reading the narrative style reports (for Malifaux but could see even more potential for Puppetwars). Just remember to really play up the naivety of the puppets and the parody of their actions. The fact that many people thought it would be "Malifaux Lite" was one of the major (non-marketing) issues with the game. Though I would also say that a major opportunity to cross market the game was missed when Wyrd didn't play that up and include a quick start rule supplement for Malifaux along with Cards for at least a Lady Justice and Seamus crew (the basics of which were present in both the original and Unstitched versions of the game). Could have made a decent 2-player starter box with the added bonus that it was its own game as well. I agree the Malifaux character inclusion makes selling the franchise unlikely. Too bad as this seems to be a very distant project in the development cue (if there is any renewed action please oh please don't make it another reboot!!!). If you do decide to print some 3-d stuff for Puppetwars let me know. I might be interested in getting some from you (or at least the files to use in a Maker space).

@luckyreplica Don't mind my dreary tone; I appreciate the effort. Puppetwars has been one of my favorite games since the original version first came out way back when. Would love to see some new things for the game, particularly since the mini-boardgame genre is so popular now. Would make my day if future Unstitiched booster expansions (aside from finishing off in the larger plastics what was already available in the original version of Puppetwars) featured an alterable board layout (with Terraclips Floor tiles/ Walls/ Doors/ Stairs/ etc) and some 3-d terrain (breakable of course). I still contend that Puppetwars was ahead of its time and still has a lot of untapped potential left.

AS the years go on it is more and more likely that this wonderful game is going to either go the way of the dodo or perhaps Wyrd will sell the license to someone (similar to what they did with Evil Baby Orphanage, though still haven't seen anything from that which is really too bad).

My LGS has most of the product line in stock and is willing to ship. PM if you are interested in the contact info.

While this works it shows the issues with the Moon Shinobi. In order for them to be a viable option over the Fermented River Monk they need the Brew Master to dedicate Actions to just them. Even here though, I would argue, throwing Swill on the model the Fermented River Monk is engaging instead would produce a similar removal difficulty while also limiting that models presence (Offensively as well as defensively). One thing that could push the Moon Shinobi's viability up would be another model that could pass out that all important modifier for them.

I would also throw in that Brew Masters stock crew isn't really that great. He runs much better in 10 Thunders than in Gremlins. Moon Shinobi could use some help, they are in almost all cases worse than Fermented River Monks.

I would throw my hat into the appropriately costed if they were summonable. As is they are too expensive to use them as tarpits (likely only lasting a single turn) or scheme runners (really does require other models to do well enough to justify over other options which again makes them less optimal choices when our cheaper options can perform a similar function (and assist the crew in other ways). I would argue that a lot of the issue is with Sparks and not simply the Survivors. He needs to do more for the crew than simple hand out Fast to a single construct per activation.

@tmod While I like the idea my concern would be that they might then negate the Stuffed Piglets in a lot of ways.

I could see it going both ways honestly. Corpse markers would be interesting in that it would provide the faction another method (aside from the Taxidermists who aren't very good at it) of getting rid of them (and we do tend to create so many of them). I tend to lean toward using damaged gremlins though as I find that is the more balanced summoning mechanism. Perhaps they could give it to us both ways making one function like Asami's Flicker mechanic (i.e. summoned from Corpse Marker having a condition which counts down) and the other allowing summoning of Survivors without the countdown condition. Hell I would even go for an "ability" (decent aura size please) which allows killed Gremlins to "linger" for a turn (think of Reva's stupid Shield Bearers though with a time limit or if you are familiar with last edition the old Slow to Die ability) and the other requiring an action (please make it 1 AP, Sparks has enough going on in the 0 AP range that struggles to consistently function). I think this would go a very long way toward making both of them a bit more palatable over other options in the faction. I want to like both of these guys but getting work out of them (and the Mei Feng's Mechanized Porkchop) is a chore over other options.

I agree that they feel like they are missing something and think I have put my finger on it. As you mention the natural inclination is to wind them up (give them fast on top of Reckless for 4 AP) with Sparks (only one a turn) and send them off to complete an objective. The issue being that they tend to be a one shot option for this in a faction that has many other competing options that also contribute more to the crew or are cheaper to run (Iron Skeeters, Piglets, Bayou Gremlins being the best examples). While they do have some good defensive tech (Hard to Kill, Armor, Df 5, long engagement range and the Gremlin characteristic) they really aren't that great at tar-piting, particularly at a cost of 5 SS each and against either the "big baddies" or high defense models you want to slow down. The best solution I can come up with would be for the designers to include an upgrade for Sparks in the next book that allows him to create Survivors from other gremlins. In this way Sparks gains an expanded role in the crew (he is also a bit underwhelming IMO) by creating and sending wave after wave of Survivors to slow the opponents advance. In this way the Survivors become a prolonged tar pit threat rather than a just a speed bump.

Probably worth considering Bayou Two Card. Not strictly a card draw action but an ability which does function similarly and also contribute to deck cycling.

Head on up to Cleveland and visit the Warzone Matrix. I know they have them (and a lot of other stuff to boot). It isn't a pretty store but if you are looking for something it is likely he will have it (even if it has been out of print for like 30 years). Let me know if you need the address or contact info. If you head up on a Friday night there is a good chance you'll see me up there as well.

I would argue the Place potential is the better reason to hire the Pigapult, though even here I am not a huge fan of it for the cost. That positioning comes with a huge downside in the Paralyzed condition (especially in regards to the most recent errata change). Flinging Stuffed Piglets up field no longer locks down opponents like it used to, at least on the turn they are Paralyzed (they can be killed on this turn without worrying about triggering Bacon Bomb, relevant text underlined and bold below) This makes the Pigapult a lot less dangerous unless you can massively out activate your opponent (not as easy as it once was) and fling the Stuffed Piglets after your opponent has activated all of their models (or at least those in a position to attack the Stuffed Piglets). Again the issue becomes forcing your activation order which is a major downside in my opinion. As for Wong's Glowy ability, the Pigapult is the reason it is worded the way it is. I am not convinced the Pigapult would be all that bad even with access to "Glowy" (it is still expensive to run consistently) but am happy with the playtester's decision to omit it from the discussion.

@Ludvig Why pay to hire them when Lenny can provide all the free piglets you want for the Pigapult (the Pigapult is a great target for his upgrade attack)? Only the Taxidermist can summon Stuffed Piglets (he can only do it once an activation, requires a 9+, a corpse marker, and also a short range of 6") and well that is an additional cost to fielding the Pigapult. Their is a significant difference between Sh 5 and 6, especially when coupled to a damage flip. The two together make you less likely to get reach higher damage profiles and that you are paying a premium for (and not all crews need to cluster close enough to make the a real threat). Also consider that Piglets can move the Pigapult via Truffles (making up for that slow Wk), aren't Insignificant (so can contribute to schemes and strats) and have more than one role in the crew. Piglets really are the superior choice to consistently fuel the Pigpault. @cfrag While I like that Sparks can give the Pigapult Fast it does come at a high cost and limits his presence quite a bit. @codingCaptor That is an awful lot of points tied to the Pigapult and a fairly tight radius to keep your most of your crew bound within. It also comes with some really big negatives in that you have two less cards for cheating, no method of healing the Pigapult outside of the single wound it recovers from Bacon Load, no method of summoning more Stuffed Piglets (so your opponent killing them becomes a major issue), and finally your activation is heavily scripted (at best your Pigapult is firing third in the activation order giving those mobile crews time to reach it or limit the effectiveness next turn). It might work well the first time but once a player has seen it it wont be difficult to pull its teeth (From the Shadows "Sniper" models present some real problems for this setup. While I think the Pigapult is a decent option, getting it to consistently perform is an issue in many games, particularly if your opponent has seen it in action more than once (my players don't have much trouble limiting its effects) or the Strats and Schemes don't favor a static fire base. @Clement Good catch.

I think the poor reception of the multiparts kit might have been influenced by the issues with the female kit. They are also difficult to cross market with other RPG systems due to the setting (not a ton of steam punk RPG's that are super popular).

I would agree with the others that it is definitely not necessary or even all that useful in most builds. As for overpowered...I have rarely found it that dominating against most of my opponents, particularly those that have faced it more than once or have mobile crews. If they can weather the storm it isn't difficult to take out in a single turn (and often a single activation if you catch it between firing and healing). It is a huge points investment (to keep it at max efficiency you really need a Slop Hauler babysitter and Lenny with his upgrade to fuel it turn after turn (hiring piglets to feed it is a losing proposition most times), sparks is also often considered but I don't find him worth his points in general) that rarely pays off in the damage department, most find it more useful for flinging models up the field (I am not one of them since I think we have better, cheaper, and more efficient methods of doing that). I also am not a fan of Stuffed Piglets for feeding it, they come with too many downsides to make them consistently worth using for ammo. I prefer the vanilla Piglet that can do more for the Pigapult in terms of movement assistance. It is a fun model though and worth fielding just for the fun of it.

Taxidermists (even a pair) don't eat enough of her corpse counters too really slow her down. Reva is a difficult match for Gremlins...extremely difficult. I would try the Pigapult. It has a long range, can actually get at her, and can do some decent damage. I would also recommend a more elite build since our staples tend to just make her worse of an experience as they die too easy. I still feel Reva needs to be toned way down. Not saying she is absolutely unbeatable but definitely saying that she is a very negative play experience in most instances. I would much rather find something (anything really) else to do than play a game against her. She really does have a lot going for her.

I would say the gremlin faction uses the Characteristics better than most...at least the Pig and Gremlin ones anyway. Most factions feature a lot of virtually useless characteristics.

Not arguing that it needs to be taken to the extreme, but as is most characteristics are nothing more than "flavor text." If the Characteristic doesn't really add anything then why even bother putting it on there? As for the Brewmaster, well I would prefer to see a list like that over a list of random top-tier crap that makes him competitive but has very little reason to work with him. To each his own.

I would agree that compared to some of the other Emissaries we sort of got crap. A faction that functions on synergy doesn't need a model that doesn't really tap into that well, especially one that is also expensive. With that said, the last time this topic popped up I recall there was at least one poster that found it useful.

It is an expensive model that tends to be at odds with itself. As has been stated getting performance out of it often takes significant set up and additional hires. My thoughts are that they tried to do to much with it at the expense of making it good at any one particular option. As has also been stated we have better options to do what it can, and often they are cheaper too. Some of the Master Specific Upgrades are worth a look but I often finding hiring a 10 SS model to hold it is less efficient than simply doing with out it (10 SS can hire quite a bit of other options (2 Bayou Gremlins and a Piglet for example).

As you point out our problem is that the so called "models designed for a specific master" are often still lackluster in comparison to others not necessarily designed for those Masters (Moon Shinobi vs Fermented River Monks are a good example of this). That is poor design. I would like to see the next edition really focus back on the thematics of the game and tie benefits to keywords in a much more significant way than they currently do (i.e. Model A provides a beneficial suit to model B when also in the crew). As is, often times the Characteristics of a model don't really matter within the context of the game (you would see Rotten belles a lot less in Resser crews and Seamus a lot more if that exceptional Lure Action they have, with its two required suits was tied to him providing one of them as a passive ability). The Pigapult flinging models around the table is not what it was really designed to do, it is more of a thing players have found to be useful over the substantial negatives of trying to attack with it every turn. Hiring it to increase your models mobility can be worthwhile (I would still argue that as a faction mobility is not really something we struggle with so hiring it is often inefficient to other options), while trying to get it to function as an artillery battery consistently is not (it requires significant inputs and additional hires to pull off, aside from limiting how your crew deploys and moves about). As for getting at it, none of my players have seemed to have an issue doing that consistently or before it can cause significant issues for them, nor getting around that high Armor value (only really significant if it hasn't damaged itself trying to fire each turn). The goal should be to have things be consistently viable options, particularly within their own thematic crew. As is this is often not the case. That is not good for a business that makes most of its money from selling miniatures (wonder if Privateer Press has made the money back on all those Deliverers that get overlooked in favor of better options?).

I think a lot of our bad models are examples of your Nurse-Shinobi combo. Making them work requires either expensive combos which pigeon hole you or require out of faction models to pull off (and not all Masters can hire the required models). It is also unfortunate that a lot of our recent offerings seem better out of faction than in. The low cost thing is a common argument however very few models inflict anywhere near the amount of damage on their own models that gremlins do in order to function at peak performance. As a faction Gremlins are not that durable...even the Pigapult with its high Armor tends to crumple easily. When you build your faction identity upon synergy and self-inflicted damage to increase performance, those models which do the former best and the latter least are always going to be the best choice.

Reckless wouldn't be that great on them as they would just die quicker. They really need some method of generating lots of flips to make them viable. From the Shadows is a worthwhile ides, particularly given the fluff.

I tend to agree that the Moon Shinobi is our worst model. I think your errata's are a good start to make them worthwhile (right now they compete with Fermented River Monks who out class them quite a bit). I might also add an Enforcer model that provides some of those modifiers that could make them more viable options. Perhaps based on this guy: I would also look at Sparks and the Mechanical Porkchop as likely models in need of something else.