Gremlin Swarm

He's not so much weak as tricky. You have to find a trick or, better yet, set of tricks that makes his crew work for you. (Which it looks like you may have already done.) Some of the other crews are good at just going in slugging, but Som'er needs a good amount of finesse (or something that can fake it well, like I usually do).

Don't forget that the Warpig can Eat Your Fill, healing back up to full. Granted, it needs the chance to do so, but I've had one do that many times against me when it was at just 1 or 2 wounds left. Personally, I'd use one as a distraction/speedbump against opposing forces. If you're more interested in keeping it alive, maybe try using it as a sort of backstop defense and keep a wounded Gremnlin (one who just 'Got His Bro' would work great) nearby for it (the pig) to eat if it gets too wounded.

Don't forget that the Warpig can eat a wounded Gremlin to heal itself to full (Eat Your Fill). If you can get the Git Yer Bro thing going well enough, Eat Your Fill can get positively aggravating. (Not that it isn't anyway, if it's on the other side.) Just keep a wounded Gremlin nearby (within the pig's melee range) whenever it's attacking something. If you can't eat your initial target and take a lot of damage, you've got a handy Gremlin burger right there. (A version of this trick works well with the Taxidermist, too.) You've got a good balanced list, but I've found it better to go with spamming down a lot of whatever I decide to field. (Could be just me, of course.) I've sent in swarms of Gremlins (as you may have guessed...), multiple pigs, and the Mosquito swarm. The big thing is not to get discouraged early on (the Gremlins are tough to play). Just keep trying until you find a tactic/crew setup that works for you. Being silly while playing them helps, too. (I've annoyed many an opponent with cheesy caricatures of accents.)

I also did my mob 'o Gremlins with Som'er and Ophelia. It worked great. I kept most of them around Ophelia (for Dammit, Calm Down), and took brutal advantage of Aim High, Boys to pelt an adult Nephilim to death after bogging it down in melee. Whatever you go with, don't get discouraged. Gremlins are hard to play, but loads of fun. (Especially if you're willing to get silly when you play them--silly caricatures of accents being one of my favorite bits.) :vb_tongue The trick is finding tactics that work for you.

I know I go on about this a lot but...Peacekeeper. It's expensive (both ways), but I've always been happy to have it on the table whenever I've used it. Tough, fast and mean...what more to want in a rampaging war machine? Oddly enough, I have yet to use any totem with Sonnia. If you take Hounds, take a lot on them. I did this once, and it worked well.

You could try Som'er and 17 Gremlins (w/1 ss cache). (I often do Som'er and 12 Gremlins for 25 ss games.) Keep 1 or 2 back for him to do Git Yer Bro and Take a Swig and send the rest out to swarm your opponent. They'll drop like flies, but you'll get a whole lot of attacks/actions out of it. If you do decide to try this, though, I'd go with proxies for your first game or two, in case you end up preferring another Gremlin tactic. (A lot of Warpigs or the infamous alpha stank, for example.) Once you've decided, then you can get the minis with confidence. BTW: Since you've got a Taxidermist, you might look into a Pigapult. It's not really as powerful as it looks at first, but it's loads of fun (especially with Stuffed Piglets to throw), and can make a real annoyance of itself to your opponent. (Just don't forget to keep a model near it to do repairs.)

With a force like that, I would drop at least 2 piglets for additional Gremlins. (That would get you 3 Gremlins.) Mashimartian has a good idea, too. If you go with Dumb Luck's suggestion (which would be a variation of the Alpha Stank trick), I'd change the list to get 4 Mosquitoes. In any case, I've found the best thing to do with my Gremlins is to spam down as many of whatever my main 'troop type' is going to be as I can. (Don't forget the Taxidermist can make Stuffed Piglets out of Corpse Counters...) Whenever I've tried to do a generalist approach with them, I've gotten stomped. Whatever you do, don't get discouraged with them quickly. The Gremlins are tough to play, but once you find a play style with them that works for you, they're loads of fun. (Actually, they're a lot of fun anyway, so long as you're willing to get silly with them. I drive my opponents nuts with bad accents and silly voices whenever I play my Gremlins.) :laugh:

Here's a pic of my Gremlins, as requested (finally). I'm not much of a painter, unfortunately, but I do like fiddling with conversions (great and small).

Second Alphawog's question. I've actually got some apparition models from the Twisted line I use for Witchling Stalkers.

All I really did for the telescope guys is to put a different bit on the base. I put some rock bits on the bases, too, which I varied, as well. It's not much of a 'conversion' (especially for the ones looking down the barrel and leveling the gun), but it lets me tell them apart. (Can't seem to get a pic up. Probably my techno-barbarian nature causing me troubles again.)

If you go with Perdita, you could also do worse that getting Abuela Ortega and a Mercenary Gunslinger. I often run a Peacekeeper with my Ortegas (and a lot of my guild crews). It's expensive (both ways), but it's fast, tough, and can dish it out. If you run Marcus more, you might take a look at the Mole Men. They're kinda slow, but I had some fairly good results with them. (That burrowing thing is great for getting them to objectives that aren't too far away.)

The Gremlins are actually a bit more customizable than that. They come with a variety of bits (at least the box set does), and I was able to get all 12 of mine at least 'equipped' a bit differently. (A tankard here, a banjo there, etc. A slight repositioning of an arm can help a lot, too.)

For the size thing with Meat Shield, you could just have the victim get a bonus to resist it if they're of a different HT than the Ruthless Merc. (The bigger ones are just powering out of his grip, and the little ones are more agile.)

You should include that the 'Meat Shield' effect also ends if the Ruthless Mercenary casts Meat Shield again. (No reason he wouldn't be willing to grab a 'thicker' shield.) I can't help but be reminded of Marathon (an old 1st-person shooter that came out right after the original Doom). One of the weapon arrangements you could get was 2 lever-action shotguns.

A lot of folks don't like him. (Largely because he's expensive, stone-wise, at least from the complaints I've seen). I've used him a few times, and I've found him to be a good speed-bump/blocker type of character. He's got a lot of wounds, and can basically pick which of his triggers he'll set off each turn. You have to plan a bit to take advantage of this, but it can be a big advantage for him. My advice is to try him out in a few lists and see how he works for you. Like I said, I've most often used him to shield other models, but you may well find another use for him.