codingCaptor

I believe the Lucky Effigy is also a construct.

The way you've asked the question will really coincide with a tier list pretty easily. After all, Mah tucket will perform really poorly without mastering her, since she's just at a lower power level than other masters. But to try and get at the spirit of your question, I'd say Brewmaster and Zoraida are probably the most complicated gremlin masters. Gremlins has a lot of tools for killing your opponents models. Like, a lot. That's our primary thing. We deal damage. We kill ourselves for it. But we deal damage. (Unless you're Ulix who just kinda sits around with his pigs not dying.) Zoraida and Brewmaster are control masters. They're about preventing your opponent from doing things. But in gremlins, the tools they have to control the board is "More murder!" So they end up working at odds with the rest of the factions models. It's not a complete incompatibility, Wyrd wouldn't design like that. But it takes approaching problems from a different perspective, and takes a lot more effort to understand/learn/use than simply "Aim at opponent, murder."

Francoise and Burt are both good melee units, especially with a little bit of support from Lenny. Remember, Lenny reduces damage from ALL sources, including dumb luck! And Lenny is also a good melee unit as well. Gracie is also a good choice, as her ram trigger lets her hit for 4/6/8. Considering Lenny gives out rams, that works wonders for you! Also, if you bring Somer's upgrade Encouragement, you can have your units take a damage to gain a plus flip, allowing you to ignore her aura altogether. The crew I'd recommend is as follows Somer Encouragement Dirty Cheater Do Over Francois Lacroix Stilts Lenny I'll love it and pet it Burt Jebsen Dirty Cheater Gracie Saddle Slop Hauler 2x Stuffed Piglets This gives you 8 models (So you probably won't be out-activated) But gives you a Very Elite VERY killy crew. If Gracie walks up to her opponent (and then gives herself reactivate) she can bring Lenny with her. This means that Lenny's protection bubble will be up the field, allowing the rest of your melee units to move/charge up anywhere 3" from him. Standing next to Lenny, your crew hits as follows: Gracie hits for 4/6/8, Fanc hits for 4/6/10, Lenny hits 3/4/5, and Burt hits 4/5/6 (With crit strike... he can hit even higher with extra rams from Somer or played from hand) Slop Haulers to keep your guys healed up (With both Gracie and Burt being hard to kill, you want to save them for healing one of those two when they get down to the line.) Punch your opponent until they are dead. Note: You will have a lot of problems running schemes with this crew. Trading Francois and Lenny for Trixibell and some Bayou Gremlins (and swapping encouragement for Family Tree) Will give you much better battlefield control (to deny your opponent schemes) as well as give you the opportunity to score more schemes. Adjust as needed to win the game. But No one out-kills a gremlins crew. NO ONE.

I remember reading that it was made by Abyssinia for the Guild, in an effort to show to the people that even after the death of the governor general, the Guild was still strong. Revolutionary new peacekeeping measure. A show of solidarity. Then some dumb gremlin stole it, gave it a dumb gremlin name, and started flying around on a jetpack screaming about how he was a pirate to everyone who would listen. Couldn't tell you where I read any of that from though.

Alright, let's talk about the Piagapult for a second. First, some important rules. Stuffed Piglets have an ability on their card that, when they are killed or sacrificed, they give all units within 3" a condition. That condition gives -1 to sh actions, and prevents you from cheating the damage flip. The pigapult, if it wants to fire stuffed piglets, must sacrifice them 2" away. So a pigapult shooting stuffed piglets will be at SH 5 instead of SH 6. It's still SH 5 3/5/7 with a blast. But you can't cheat the damage flip, so you won't be able to get the 7. This makes Focusing with the pigapult generally a bad idea. There is one way to get around this that I know of, and that's by bringing the Scion of the Black Blood, a mercenary available in the Starter Box. He allows any unit nearby to discard 2 cards in order to remove a condition. I don't think 8 points (that has to be within 8" of your pigapult) and 2 cards is worth it. If anyone has any other methods for allowing the pigapult to remove a condition after the start of its activation but before firing, I'd love to hear about it. Anywhom, you probably already knew that, but it's one of those important things I have to remind new gremlins players about, as the pigapult itself is already a complicated model as it is. Also important to note is a recent(ish) errata to how Paralyze works. The TL;DR is that while paralyzed a unit may not take any action for any reason. This means that if you throw stuffed piglets up the board (Which paralyzes them) they do not get to explode, as their explosion is an action they get to take when killed. Now, if you activate them after they are thrown (which will clear paralyze off) they'll be fine. But you do have to be careful with that usage of them. Oh, and it's attack still has a gun on it, so even though it ignores cover and line of sight, you still have to randomize when firing into melee. Also the pigapult can't be made magical from wong, since it specifies non-peon. With that out of the way... Their place for ht 1 models is really good, but you have to be careful with it. You can only really effectively use it if you HEAVILY out-activate your opponent, as you would need pigapult to activate last, throw a model or 3, and then activate those models to cleanse the paralyze and get them ready for next turn. Otherwise, you risk them flying in there, and then just getting completely eradicated by your opponent. The main problem is a lack of ht 1 units that you really want/need to throw up the board like that. Gracie is our only really big tanky unit, and she's ht 2, so there's nothing you can really throw into their crew to stop their advanced cold. Stuffed piglets will slow them down for a turn or two (and hopefully get in some decent damage at the same time) But at AV4 your opponent can usually just walk away from them. Any of our melee units that need to get in close have Reckless or some other movement shenangins, so throwing people like Burt, Franc, or even a taxidermist up the board is generally waste. Lightning bugs aren't a terrible choice, especially if you can get them onto rooftops or other good sniping vantage points. Raph or Rami can be good targets... even better in an Ophelia crew because Ophelia can remove paralyze from units. Pere Ravage is basically just a really expensive stuffed piglet, but if he survives long enough to get into the middle of your opponent he can do DEVISTATING amounts of damage. You'll only beat someone with that once though, before they smarten up. So, in summary, your throwing people up the board is really limited to 3 effective uses. Bayou gremlins to score points, Stuffed piglets to delay your opponents advance for a turn, or lightning bugs to get into a good sniping position to rain glowy death upon your opponent. Now, offensively, 3 attacks at sh5 pretty much anywhere on the board. It's not going to cut it against some models. Anything that's defense 7 is probably going to shrug your attacks off no problem. And since you can't cheat damage, hitting a DF 4 unit and hoping for the blast is statistically unlikely. It's best used to eliminate medium costed models from the board. Anything DF 5ish is fair game. Units who are armor 1 are good targets, as 2-4 damage on them will generally be very effective. You can also try to fish for red jokers on hard to wound models, especially since hard to wound models typically have lower defense, as 10 damage smarts. It's worth noting that McTavish has only half the range of the pigapult, also ignores cover, doesn't randomize, has +1 AV, and only hits for 1 damage less (a problem which can be fixed via Wong with glowy) On top of that, McTavish's gun doesn't require 10ss worth of ammunition. Defensively... well, anything that can ignore armor will kill the pigapult dead. Perdita, Hans, etc. Incorporeal models can just walk over to it and lock it down, as can any other model which has good movement. Malifaux Raptors, or anything else that can unbury anywhere on the board also completely shut the pigapult down, as once it's engaged there's nothing it can really do. It is worth mentioning that the pigapult IS A gremlin. This means that it can be healed by slop haulers, be affected by Somer's buffs (His suites don't matter, but the pigapult can take a damage to get a + Flip via Encouragement) It can also be lured with Trixibelle, or pulled with Ophelia's "ooh a girl" Which is one of the most effecient methods of moving it around. It can also be pulled along via the Saddle upgrade on Gracie, which is another really effective method of getting it where it needs to go. assuming it needs to go anywhere. If a quick murder is in the pool, it can be hilarious to take only 7 stone or under models, thus making the pigapult the quick murder target. It's going to be very difficult for your opponent to kill that before turn 3, thus forcing them into a different scheme pick. Gremlins is one of the few factions that can get away with tha too. So yea, TL;DR: I don't think the pigapult is a good model, but if you are going to bring it, bring some stuffed piglets and bayou gremlins. Use it to get into position for schemes, and then fire away at your opponents weaker models, softening them up for your heavy hitters to go in and get the job done.

Somer's main tournament competitive list, I think, is based around giving out Rams to his crew (and himself) enabling you to deal massive amounts of damage to the opponent quickly. In scheme-marker heavy strats, Bayou gremlins (with the potential assistance of his summoning upgrade) Can be used for additional activation control and scheme running. This leaves the rest of your list free to focus on preventing your opponent from scoring points, primarily through murder. I'll step through Somer, as well as a few other models, talking about how I envision them to be used in a tournament setting. I'm going to be talking mostly "By the book" type stuff, the kind of thing you'll see most players doing. There are always weird things that can work (sometimes better than the mainstream builds) But this isn't the topic for that. Somer Somer has 3 main jobs in most competative lists, listed by their usual priority. The first, is to give out a suite to himself and allies in 8'. This is going to be either Masks for defense/summoning, or Rams for murdering your opponent. The second, is to murder your opponent. If he has a ram (or you spend a stone on a ram) he can hit for 4/4/8 damage, with blasts on moderate+. This is an insane damage track for any other faction, and the one damage he suffers in return is inconsequential. In larger engagements, having him focus so that you can cheat in the blast is important. Usually it's hitting 1 opponent with 1 AP, so focusing such that you can hit 2 or even 3 or 4 opponents for just 2AP is worth the trade every time. His 3rd main job is to Summon Scheme runners. You usually only do this on turn 1, as it's not resource efficient to spend his AP summoning when you could instead be killing the opposition. His summoning upgrade costs 2SS, and with a low mask in hand on turn 1 you can guarantee the suite via his "do it like dis" action. This will allow you to summon an additional 6SS worth of bayou gremlins on turn one, which is excellent for controlling both activations and scoring your schemes. I wouldn't take more than 2 Bayou Gremlin, or summon more than 2 additional Gremlins in a single match. You can also summon piglets if something with very low health ends up engaged with him by killing them with his melee action (SS or cheat for the crow) Or you can force your opponent to discard their hand. Both are situational. Especially the discard. In general, I'd only focus heavily on getting that off if playing against an enemy summoner, or maybe Lynch. Basically, only against masters that rely heavily on cards in hand. It's knowing when to use his other tools in his kit that seperates good players from bad. Encouragement is also a good upgrade, as it allows you to skip focusing when targeting enemies that have soft cover. Note that pigs cannot benefit, so it's a little more situational. Do over is probably the best candidate for his 3rd upgrade, since most of the other good gremlins models like to get up close and personal. Dirty cheater is always a good choice on every model, but I personally prefer to put it on models with Hard to Kill as it makes them significantly harder to.. well, kill. Gracie Gracie's our tank. She's a good tank, with armor 2 and hard to kill. She can also heal to full with eat your fill, which is nice. With a ram, she also hits like a goddamned truck. ML 6 4/6/8 damage track is obscene. Walk 5 unlike most pigs walk 4 means she can get places. Saddle is also a great upgrade on her, as it turns 1 of her walk AP into free AP for another gremlin. In non-somer lists, that's usually lenny as he gives out the rams she needs for damage. With Somer taking up that slack, however, she's free to bring along either a slop hauler for extra healing, or one of your other heavy hitters for murder purposes. Just be careful with her reactivate skill... that 2 Damage hurts on a model with only 8 wounds. Burt Jebsen Speaking of other heavy hitters that murder people, Burt is obscene with somer. He has built in crit strikes, meaning that with an extra ram from somer his damage track is now 4/5/6. What's more, anything that fails to hit Burt will, if he has a Ram (Somer) Take a 2/3/4 damage flip in return. I have had enemy models flurry burt and kill themselves instead. He has some other movement tricks (If he needs to get Gracie back into position) And crackerjack timing can bunch enemy models together allowing Somer to murder the fuck out of them with a well timed blast. But mostly you'll use him in melee to stab things to death. Slop Hauler Slop haulers keep your units alive. They throw out an average of 8 extra HP per turn. They're good, they're really good. They can even hit things to lower enemy defense if there's a particularly defensive model. They belong in almost every gremlin list, and Somer is no exception. The only problem is keeping up with the rest of your crew. You can solve this with Gracie's saddle, or with an Iron skeeter. Iron skeeters can, as a bonus, give Slop Hauler's fast with a middling tome, alllowing a slop hauler to reckless and throw out 2 heals in a turn. Bayou Gremlins Don't leave home without a couple of them. They're not here for combat, although they can kill something if they have to (They might even survive the experience. But probably not.) They're here for interacting with things, and potentially using Drunk and Reckless for an extra AP if they need one to score a point. Mastering their positioning so they can score points without dying is key. The removal of HeadHunter from the common scheme-pool in GG2017 means that it's a lot less dangerous to run these than it used to be. Francois LaCroix Ophelia's henchman will strap on stilts, go the opposite direction of the rest of your crew, and murder any enemy scheme runners with aplomb. He will always die, every game, but that's okay. He has built in dumb luck on his ML6 attack, which means that whomever he gets into melee with is going to die. Alternatively, you can charge him into the opponent's master. A lucky red joker will be the end of any opponent, as there isn't much in the game that can survive 14 damage to the face. (Note that Stilts can be discarded to prevent the dumb luck damage, keeping him alive briefly to kill something else) Trixibelle She allows you to cheat initiative. That makes her worth running. She also allows you to Push opposing models out of the place where they'd score points for strategies like guard the stash and Extraction, or get them away from your scheme markers for things like Claim Jump or Leave your Mark. She lets you go first, and denies your opponent points, what's not to love? Other potential options that are maybe's but are still good Merris LaCroix You'll note that everything except bayou gremlins are in this list to facilitate murdering your opponent off the board. Merris doesn't go in every list, but she's your go-to when a couple of bayou gremlins just aint gonna cut it. She's particularly nice for dig their graves, as she can drop scheme markers regardless of engagement. Be careful though, she's super squishy. It's worth noting that she can (without reckless) Score Claim Jump on her own if left unchecked, a threat which may force your opponent to pull some models away from the strategy (wherever that may be happening) In order to deal with her. Having a unit that can solo earn you 3 scheme points regardless of the scheme pool is really good. But as I said, situational. Also, for the same cost, you could have 2 bayou gremlins score claim jump, and get 2 Activations out of them instead. Lenny Lenny's 2 AP, and ML6 3/4/5 damage track make him weaker than almost every other big beater in gremlins. Which is hilarious, because that's pretty much the big beater standard for other factions. That being said, he's mostly a support piece, granting damage reduction in a 3" aura round him. That's pretty big, and while it won't benefit Gracie, it can really help keep Burt and Franc alive. It also allows Somer to focus on giving out other suites, since Lenny can give out rams in that same 3" aura. This can up Somer's surviveability by allowing him to give out Masks for defensive trigger purposes, or Tomes for Iron skeeters fast (and for Lenny to summon piglets off of using his upgrade) Iron Skeeter Can move burt, Merris, Slop Haulers, or Bayou gremlins around the board. They can also take a sky pirate upgrade, giving them some other utility, although generally I find they're best used to Delvier a Fast Burt to the front lines, and then explode into burning (Maybe netting Framed for murder?) I haven't played much with them, I think they're really strong, but I just don't know yet. The "I don't know" list of stuff I like to bring but probably isn't great Rami, Raphael, The First Mate, Gremlin Taxidermists, Pigapult+Stuffed Piglets, Lightning Bugs, Lucky Effigy, Mancha Roja. All of those can have a place in a Somer crew, either providing additional ranged damage options (raph/Rami/Piagapult, Lightning Bugs) additional movement shenangins (The first mate, Effigy) Or additional survive-ability (Mancha Roja with his Challenge ability) Taxidermist also can summon stuffed piglets which is great for activation control among a variety of other tricks. In addition to murder, which almost all of those units do excellently. Basically, the name of the game is "Kill kill kill" While bayou Gremlins/Merris get the points scored.

I'm aiming at a more competitive tournament focused listing here. However, if you want to know which masters I recommend for new players, I highly recommend getting Ophelia and Somer's box. (both) It'll cost you <$100, but give you a variety of models for a variety of different kinds of crews you can run. Ophelia is a dead simple master that's great for getting into the game (and good for learning how to make best use of the tricks inside our faction) And Somer is an excellent support master that will allow you to field any other models you like and decide to pick up. The natural progression is a box of Slop Haulers, into whatever else it is you think looks/sounds cool that we have. But anywho, a list: 1) Somer - Somer is the best Support master in the game, in my opinion. His ability to give out free suits allows you to build your crew around triggers that you're guarenteed to get off. And that allows for some serious shenanigans. But on top of that, he's also one of our biggest damage dealers, with a shooting 4/4/8 damage spread on (requiring a ram, which he can give himself and others) AND it has Blasts! There's nothing he can't do well, and regardless of strats and schemes there is a crew you can build that will rock it. 2) Ulix - Ulix is also really strong, but for slightly different reasons. His damage output relies on having a strong pig nearby, and while we have a plethora of those once yours dies, he can no longer perform well for dealing damage. Alternatively, he can summon pigs, which works VERY well in some gametypes, but very poorly in others. The lack of control over certain pigs can make some schemes hard to run with him though, which is why he's not quite as good as Somer, as there are some schemepools he just has difficulty performing in. And now, we enter the DPS Block. Gremlins have 3 masters that don't really rely on crew synergy to be good. They're just solid masters who do things, and the rest of your crew can be more or less whatever good gremlins models you want to bring. Also they all hit like a truck. They're all good, But I always feel that whatever crew I build could have a better leader for them. 3) Zipp - Zipp is maneuverable, survivable, detrimental to enemies, and he doesn't target DF most of the time, making him particularly dangerous in the damage department. The sky pirate upgrades aren't particularly amazing, but being able to bring them for free makes them worth it. Zipp can easily go off and distract the entire enemy crew, picking them off, flying around, and generally being obnoxious while everyone else gets the job done. He's really strong and as we see more of him I suspect he could end up much higher on this list. 4) Wong - Wong is a gremlin all about murdering things, although he has a few scheme marker shenanigans that can't be ignored. But mostly he just murders. You let your units bunch up? They die. It really forces your opponents to be very careful with each model they move, giving you options to pick off stragglers with the rest of your crew, or just go about your business scoring points. 5) Ophelia - Ophelia is ALSO a gremlin all about murdering things. The problem with Ophelia is that she has built in synergy with Kin models. And there aren't any good Kin models. Don't get me wrong, Rami and Raph have places in crews (I one-shot Zipp with Raph in a tournament a few months ago, for example.) Even Pere is a useable model. But they aren't GOOD models, and that really hurts Ophelia's viability in higher tier games. She can get the job done, she hits harder than any other gremlin master. But until we get good kin models there's no competitive reason to take her over, say, Somer. That being said, she's also one of the easiest masters to learn and play well, and she is one of my biggest recommendations to new players. 6) Zoraida - Zoraida is a strong support master in a faction with the strongest support master. She can't output the damage of Somer, and she can't enable models to perform as well as somer. She has some interesting tricks with Swampfiends, but there isn't really any Swampfiend synergy going on in gremlins. She doesn't play like a Gremlin Master (which makes sense since we stole her from Neverborn) which kind of puts her at odds with the rest of the factions models. She can be made to work, but for any situation in which she could be used, there are better options up the tree. 7)Brewmaster - When Brewmaster works, he is the most infuriating master to play against in the game. You basically stand in the middle of the bored, poisoned, trying to walk away, but being unable to because your WP is now 1 or 2. Or maybe you try to attack, but instead all you end up doing is getting EVEN MORE POISONED. It's hilarious from the brewmaster players side, and frustrating/unfun on the other side of the board. Fortunatly for the quality of Malifaux, Brewmaster doesn't work more often than he does. Losing initiative means your opponent can do whatever they want, and what they want is generally to murder your master preventing you from using any of your shenanigans. Poison isn't going to kill anything fast, and most of your own models are going to have just as much difficulty scheming as your opponent does. I'm glad that they're playing around with alternate playstyles, and I hope to see him revisited in the future to try and keep his pacifistic area control playstyle while making it engaging for both sides. But not someone I'd take in a tournament. 8) Mah tucket- Is the worst master in the game. Her chores ability is potentially very strong (giving +1ML to all models you control) But there's only a 1/4 chance of that going off. Even if you take Trixibelle (Who can cheat initiative) you're going to have to decide between cheating to win, or cheating for the +1ML. They fixed this with the Emissary (Who allows you to ditch any Ram for the +1 if you so desire) But now you're forced to bring 10 SS worth of Enforcer just to get your masters main buff to function at all. Turning on her melee attack costs an AP, although it does have a trigger to potentially get that AP back for an attack. She has 2 different upgrades based around her not having to waste AP on stupid shit and allowing her to attack more often. But all of these rely on getting the right cards, and/or spending Soulstones. And even if you get everything to off perfectly, she's only one ML8 3/4/5 damage model. That's good, don't get me wrong. But comparing her to Lady Justice, or Victoria, or Perdita, shows just how much pain a damage-oriented master should be able to put out. And Mah can't match that. That being said, she's close to being good. Almost every aspect of her, while bad, is just a small buff away from making her whole kit jel. I've picked her up in a campaign game recently and the change is honestly amazing. I suspect next years errata is going to be a small buff that'll get her going right.

Well then. TIL. Thanks for the info! Probably saved one me from an incredibly disappointed look from my local Henchman.

Gremlins Zoraida is weird. She doesn't really have any synergies with units, at least not in the traditional sense. She can hire Swampfiends out of faction with an upgrade, and give them from the shadows, but outside of that she doesn't really grant or recieve benefits from putting swampfiends on the board. Zoraida takes the role of a support master, giving out free attacks to big units via Obey and using her voodoo doll to shut down dangerous opponents. Really, her ability to shut things down with the voodoo doll is the main things he provides over other Support Masters in gremlins. You want to give things free attacks? Somer and Ulix can both do it with pigs, and Ulix does it better (There's nothing quite like a ML 6 pig swinging for min damage 4 up to 7 times in a turn. God bless Gracie.) But no one has the control over enemy models that Zoraida does. Which isn't to say you want to ignore her obey. It's just not the reason to take her. Rooster Riders are her best obey target, as they're the cheapest effective 1AP charge unit you have access to. War Pigs are the other one you may consider if you want something big and tanky down the board, and if they kill something outside of their activation they can use eat their fill with no downside (As well as their tome trigger, for that matter.) With voodoo doll, you have a couple options. The first mate can slow and paralyze, Mancha can paralyze (on a trigger) piglets and war pigs can slow. Sammy also has Jynx which can provide a variety of conditions stopping movement, or making your opponent take lots of horror duels (Which probably won't paralyze things, but will certainly remove their hand allowing you to breathe a little safer) And sammy even fits with Zoraida thematically. Of course, you can always hire outside of faction, with Nurses being the traditional go-to for a free paralyze. If you want to do damage through the voodoo doll, however, take Merris. Burning 3 on the doll will not only give the hemmed enemy Burning 3, but when the doll takes 3 damage the opponent model will take 3 damage as well, meaning that if merris sets the voodoo doll on fire twice, you're looking at 12 damage down the board. Which is really good (Although it took 2master AP, 2 of merris' AP, and hitting with a WP attack that most people view as a death sentence.) I've been informed that Merris can only target enemy units, which renders this strategy moot. Gremlins don't really have any other strong burning appliers, although you can take iggy from outcasts and set things on fire with him. As for Zoraida's other swampfiend options... Bad juju can't take it's good upgrade in gremlins, and is best benched. Cilurids deployed from the shadows make excellent scheme runners, and a single from the shadows waldgeist can easily deny your opponent a point on turn 2 as they have to deal with it before they can get to the center of the board for strategy purposes. Is it worth the stones? Maybe not. But it's a tactic I've seen used with gremlins Zoraida. And that ends all my useful advice. HOWEVER, If you want to get REALLY REALLY stupid (this is a bad idea, don't do this) You can use her to bring in support pieces from other factions to buff up one unit really strong. Papa Loco gives out + to damage flips, and can then be obeyed up the board for bonus explosion purposes. Or, if you hire a vodoo doll, he can hem papa loco and you can just walk him up the board with interact actions (Saves you some cards) Scion of Black Blood can also be brought in for condition removal used during another models activation. And what unit does this buff? The Pigapult. Since it can remove the condition that stuffed piglets give it, it becomes a SH6 3/5/7 with + to damage flips (that it can cheat now) Worth it? Absolutely not. Hilariously silly and/or rage inducing? Oh yes. I nuked lady justice off the board turn 1 a few months ago with this list and my opponent forfeigt right there out of anger. Then we rematched and I did the same thing to perdita. He probably would have won those games if we kept playing, since Zoraida was pretty much my only scheme runner. But it was fun.

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.

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.

The problem I have is that for 5 stones, there are better units you could bring with Mah. Survivors can reckless giving them 3 general AP, meaning they can walk and then charge. Not that they'd need to, because they can shoot. With a ML attack, getting the bonus from Mah's chores at a 9 inch range. They only have 4 wounds, but armor 1 and hard to kill mean that they're Just as tanky as a Bayou gator. And they can be healed by Slop Haulers, making them infinitely more useful. Slop haulers with chores are surprisingly dangerous, being ML6 2/3/3that reduce your opponent's DF to 4. Hog Whisperers, ML 6 already with dumb luck allowing them to hit for 2/4/8, way harder than any gator. And all of those are gremlins, who can be healed, who can benefit from Mah's Tome Chores, and have more support options. Even the SURVIVOR has better support options for your crew than a Gator. Hell, a Lightning bug, even though it can't benefit from Mah's +1ML Chore, is still better than a gator. Assuming the +1ML from chores, the only difference in their core stats is the Bug gets +1 WP, and the Gator has +1 damage on severe. But Oh yea the LB can attack at range 8 as well as range 2, and ignores armor, and has better triggers, and has better support abilities, and..... They're not BAD models. They work just fine in a Mah crew, I don't disagree with you. But there are better models you COULD be bringing, and that's the problem with where Bayou Gators are right now.

I've been playing around with Bayou Gators for a while now, and unfortunatly the answer I have for you is that they're never really worth bringing. Bayou Gators are really weird units to have in Gremlins. Not flavorwise, I think they're Great flavor. But they're just so... Average. Average Defense, Average wounds, Average attack values with Average damage. Melee expert makes them moderately interesting, but insignificant brings them right back into boring town. Most Gremlins units usually excel in one area with a major drawback elsewhere (usually surviveability) Bayou Gators don't really excel at anything.... but they're not really BAD at anything either (other than scheme running.) But when building a list you're not going to pick average units. You're going to pick Good units, things that are above average. Or at least things that excel in the strats/schemes that have been flipped. That means the only reason to take Bayou gators is for Synergy. Unfortunately, swampfiend synergy in gremlins isn't really a thing. Being swampfiends mean you can't heal them with Slop haulers. It allows Zoraida to summon them outside of Gremlins, but that's not really relevant to in-gremlins Zoraida. Up to 3 of them can be deployed from the shadows if you're running either Zoraida or McTavish with the appropriate upgrade. McTavish also has a built in bonuses to his gun if his target is near swampfiends, allowing which makes Gators useful for buffing an already strong unit. However, for one point more, Wild Boars could do all of those things. And they don't require an upgrade to deploy from the shadows, they aren't insignificant, have better wounds and a better damage track (And better triggers) Their main problem is controlling their activation, and there are ways to deal with that (Ulix' totem has pork whisperin' and from the shadows, and you can also bring Hog Whisperers or just a gremlin with the pig upgrade from book 4.) Mah can boost them up to AV6 with chores, which is just the spice they need to make them not-average. Unfortunately, that means you're running Mah, and they don't synergize with her other abilities particularly well. Also Mah is terrible. Somer can give out Crows, which will allow them to paralyze things with their 3AP attack much easier. If a 5SS unit can use all its AP to paralyze a >5ss unit, then you're coming out ahead. The First Mate can swallow whole a paralyzed unit, but that's not really worth it. What IS worth it, is Mancha Roja, who can instantly kill any paralyzed unit with his Grapple attack on a Crow (Which he'd also get from Somer) no save, no ditching cards. It's paralyzed? It's dead. However, other units which make good use of crows in gremlins is a little rough to find, as a lot of units have their bad (or no) triggers on Crows. Pigs work well, as that allows them to heal themselves. Sammy also likes crows for summoning off of enemy scheme markers, but that's a really weak reason to bring Sammy. Wong can make McTavish hit harder, which combined with the gators makes McTavish a fearsome killing machine. But once again, wild boars exist. That's about all I've come up with thus far. Nothing particularly amazing, I know. I feel like Swampfiends in gremlins just don't have anything interesting going on with them. Which is a real shame. Maybe in book 5?

Stuffed piglets are probably the most under priced model in Malifaux. Walk 5, Df/Wp 4, Ml 4, and optional death explosion. For 2ss. Even at rare 6, that's kind of absurdly good. While insignificant prevents them from scoring you points, they're still perfectly viable for denying your opponents points. Interacts can't be done while engaged, and stuffed piglets will happily eat an AP or two as you try to get out of engagement with them in order to accomplish your goals. Just tonight I won a game because a stuffed Piglet flipped the red joker on a disengaging strike. Their wounds are such that they'll require at least 2 hits to kill from almost everything, they can explode for a hefty sum of damage on death (Which ignores almost every method of damage prevention/avoidance) and they debuff enemies who use sh actions. They are as good as most other 3 point models, if not better. But they can't cost 3 points, because then the Piagpult balance doesn't work right. Being 1 ss less expensive to make the pigapult balanced might seem like a big deal, but that's a 50% discount. This results in the ability to bring a silly amount of them for activation control, without really affecting much, because even though you spent up to 12 stones on stuffed piglets, you're still probably going to get 12 or more stones worth of work out of them, AND have stupid good activation control on turns 1 and/or 2. There are a couple of balancing options I see. Making it so you can only hire 3 is one. They still give a little activation control, and are still good models, but don't lead to horrible cornercases where people bring 6. By specifically changing it to "you may only hire 3" it keeps the rare 6 restriction, allowing Taxidermists to still summon up to 6 (and also doesn't ruin the taxidermy box's value) You could also make their bacon bomb action mandatory. This creates a downside to bringing them, as in exchange for activation control (which forces your opponent to position well or die) you also have to position well or have your own pigs blow up on you. Removing their melee attack is also an option, allowing your opponent to disengage freely without potentially wasting cards on it. Heck, just dropping their wounds to 2 make them die to many more models. I'm honestly not sure what the best move is to balance stuffed piglets, but I do feel that for their 2ss cost they are just too good. The activation control itself isn't too problematic competitively in and of itself. It's that you get activation control and still get models worth using out of it. Although, I do feel it's worth pointing out that huge activation advantage can create a gameplay experience that just doesn't feel fun. And sometimes, regardless of balance, things should be changed to make the game more fun.

Lenny is an amazing support unit. Giving everything in 3" armor 1 is crazy good. Giving everything in 3" free rams on their duels is crazy good. He enables any number of other models to be consistently better. Bayou Gremlins near him can drunk and reckless and only take 1 damage. Anything with dumb luck (Bayou gremlins, Young Lacroix) will take 1 less damage from that too, which is doubly good since Lenny ensures they can get dumb luck off. And if that was all Lenny did, he'd still be a good model (just overpriced) Instead, he's also a Melee 6 beater for 3/4/5 damage. 10 wounds, hard to wound makes him moderately tanky, although at 4 defense he's not going to be avoiding any attacks. Instead, he relies on hard to wound to ensure he won't take moderate+ damage. This means that anything with min damage 3 or above will be able to finish him in 4 or less hits, vs. 5 or more. Healing works well on him, but he needs a 9 to get his own heal off, which is rough. As always, Slop Haulers are recommended. On top of THAT, he can also summon piglets with his upgrade. On a minus flip, you have a 60% chance of getting weak damage, so it's possible you may accidentally hit for 2 or more damage and fail to summon. But the extra minions are nice, especially in certain strategies (I really like it in Interference) The thing about Lenny, is that if you build a crew to take advantage of his many support gifts, then your opponent is just going to focus fire him. Defense 4 means that he WILL die if focused, unless you devote more resources to healing him than is probably wise. However, if you instead try to use him solely as a melee beater or summoner... well... there are cheaper options inside gremlins for similar firepower. Generally people solve this dilemma by taking him to support one or two models who get a lot of benefit out of having him along. Gracie loves the added damage reduction (Which will keep her alive even if your opponent has attacks that ignore armor) and the extra ram allows her to use her +2 damage trigger making her 4/6/8. Burt goes to 4/5/6 damage while near him, and 5/6/7 if you get a ram on the flip. Sticking the 3 of them together and letting them deal with the killing while the rest of your crew gets scheming done is a viable strategy. However, that doesn't mean you can't go all in and play him as a support piece (I like old cranky with him in this case.) Then it all comes down to knowing how to play him. He only gets 2 AP, and is walk 4, so knowing when to walk, when to try and summon a pig, and when to charge in and start murdering things is key. Keeping him away from enemy lures and obeys is difficult, but you have the advantage of knowing what they're going to do. Just sticking 2 units in base contact with him can keep him in place, and anything that targets willpower for damage is now priority target number 1 for killing. If you're playing support Lenny, you have the damage to murder a unit dead. Do so wisely. Also don't be afraid to lose him. He's a good frame for murder target, as even when playing defensively with him there's a good chance the opponent is going to try and take him out. And if your options are "let him stand there eating a bunch of friendly actions trying to heal him, and still have him die next turn" or "Charge in and kill something and then die next turn" well... the later is usually the better option. He's really hard to use if you don't know exactly what the opponents crew is capable of. You'll make the wrong choices, he'll fall over dead, and that'll be 9-10 stones wasted. But there is no better feeling than playing a game where Lenny just stands there, all game, summoning piglets, hitting people who get to close, and enabling the rest of your crew to be absolute monsters. He's one of my favorite gremlins models (mechanically.) I bring him in more games than I should, but I really want to master using him effectively.

I'm going to go against what everyone else is saying, and suggest Somer. Somer has interesting pig builds that Ulix doens't. His ability to give out any suit of cards to everyone within 8" of him is really strong, and if he chooses crows, that means most pigs will now heal for 1/2/3 everytime they hit something. Somers pigs tend to be a lot more surviveable than Ulix's pigs, which helps since somer is not as good at summoning piglets as Ulix. Somer also has an upgrade that allows pigs to push towards a target and potentially get a free attack. It's similar to Ulix melee, but it's got a 12 inch range, doesn't require a suit, and only requires pigs to be nearby, which makes it infinitely easier to set up. As for continuing to build your Gremlins crew options, Somers box also comes with Lenny (who can summon more piglets) Lenny is a really strong model, both giving strong support buffs in 3" while also being a really heavy hitting melee bruiser. Gracie and burt both love him, as he passively gives out rams around him, meaning that both burt and gracie are min damage 4 while they're next to him, which is AMAZING. You'll also pick up some bayou gremlins, which are handy for certain schemes that require throwing a unit to the side of the board for points. Somers box will give you a new and interesting pig playstyle, while also drastically increasing your options for other crew compositions. He also is a very competitive master in and of himself, and learning how to utilize him effectively will make you a better Gremlins player in the long run. This is why I think picking up the Somer Box next is the superior purchase.

Filth eater reads: "transfer the full value of the Poison condition from target model withing 6" to this model." Meaning that it only transfers 1 way. In your described scenario, you would end up having poison 8 on your akaname. As for Brewmaster... I think they are fine units to bring with him. their 1/3/4 damage track hurts them somewhat, but they are a 4 point model with 5 in all combat stats and can theoretically be swinging at a melee 8. You're not going to be able to rely on them to get things done, but they're really cheap for what they can do. Also, they can drop scheme markers while engaged by using their Foul Gift action (requires a 5 and poison 2) Which is a very nice boon in brewmaster crews. That being said, I'm not really sure what I would take OUT of a brewmaster crew to include them. Brewmaster also has other problems, that the Akaname do nothing to address. Maybe 10-Thunders Brewmaster would want them more?

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.

Rami is a control piece, who forces your opponent to hide key models and pay close attention to line of site or be exploded off the board. Where you deploy him turn 1 is the determining factor on how useful he'll be that game. I you can deploy second, You basically get a free deletion of anything with 8 wounds or less on the opponents side. I personally prefer to have Lenny along, just so he can reduce some of the dumb luck damage on turn one (and to give out the ram so that Somer can focus on other things, like Masks) but it's not necessary. Anywho, Deployment. When deploying Rami, assuming there's nothing worth killing on the other side of the board, you want to look and see where the "Safe spots" are. Can your opponent run a cheap minion up the sides unscathed? Is there one mediumish area that your opponent will put all of his squishes in? etc. Once you know where your opponent is naturally going to be drawn, you can start setting up you traps. Can you drop Pere in the middle of that space? Can you get somer in position to focus-blast that area? Can you keep them isolated there wihle you're running schemes? Rami allows you to take control of the battlefield and say "You're going to go here, or your'e going to lose an important model." Now, good players will just shrug and accept the loss of a model or two. Rami is, as you observed, overpriced. Alternatively, depending on the enemy crew, they may just drop something on Rami's head. Rami doesn't have anything to deal with engagements. With other sniper models, like Katanaka snipers, you kind of need to be concerned about where you place your models, but ultimately getting shot once or twice by them isn't going to end a bigger model. There's nothing quite like forcing your opponent to stone in order to keep their henchman alive on the first activation. The only other model really capable of that is pigapult, but that's a whole different topic. Do over isn't a bad upgrade on him, but only if you're running a lot of height 2/3 models. He already ignores height 1 models when randomizing. Dirty Cheater is nice to keep him healed so he can focus more often, but only if there's not more competition for it as dirty cheater is a really good upgrade. If his height 1 really bothers you, you could bring Stilts. He's also a good holder for show-off, although I wouldn't recommend show off. He's a very Binary model. Either he'll completely explode an enemy model or two, and be worth bringing, or he'll do nothing all game and be a complete waste. Knowing when to bring him out is a skill I haven't mastered yet. But there's a good model there, if nuanced.

Ulix is a master who focuses on Pigs. If it has pig in the name, he synergies pretty well with it. However, just because he has Synergy doesn't mean that more pig models will always be the best models to bring. But composition can come in a second, lets look at Ulix Himself. Ulix While Ulix only has 10 wounds, that's to offset just how excellent the rest of his defensive kit is, even among gremlin masters known for their strong defensive skills. A built in defensive trigger which can give him up to +2 defense is his main feature, assuming he's around pigs. Keep in mind that it's a trigger, and you declare triggers after you cheat, so there may be circumstance where even though you'd technically be winning, you still have to Cheat fate first because his unmodified def is lower. This trigger can also go off on his willpower, although it's only built into his defense, so keeping a high crow in hand (or spending a soulstone to add a crow to a willpower duel) Can save his bacon against big willpower attacks. He's also impossible to wound, which gives a single minus flip to damage (Forcing your opponent to either focus, or beat you by a margin of 11 or more in order to get a straight flip) Even if they get a straight flip, they can't cheat damage, so he's resilient to big Severe or Red Joker attacks. Offensively, he's got a lot less going for him out of the gate. Hitch a ride means he can only take 2 walk actions per turn, and he's walk 4. That usually won't be a problem as he can use hitch a ride to move whenever a friendly pig declares a walk action. Keep in mind it doesn't work on charges though, so if all your pigs charge off into the melee Ulix may be left behind, and vulnerable. His main melee attack has a whopping range 4, allowing him to tie up enemies and engage them, if he ever gets into melee range. However, it's only cast 5 so models with higher defense will be able to walk away unless you're willing to burn high cards on keeping them there. Ulix can give another pig within 2 inches an attack action with a + flip by using 1 AP, which is generally the better option than using Ulix attack. however, this may change if you have an opportunity to cheat in a high ram (Or use a soulstone) and get a lot of pig attacks off, especially if you have piglets or a warpig nearby. Sooey isn't that great, but can be useful to get your pigs out of engagement range. With Accusation in the scheme pool a lot, this can be really good to break engagement on your pigs so that they can activate and remove the condition. Keep in mind it stipulates "May" push their charge. This allows you to keep a piglet or two engaging the enemy lines so that they don't charge you, and let your heavy hitters charge back in. (More on charging in a bit) Finally, for support, Ulix has a 0 action to take 2 damage and heal all pigs in 6inches. No other restrictions apply. It's REALLY good, but only if you have ways to heal Ulix, and can get him in range of enough pigs for it to be worth it. Keep in mind that it doesn't say the damage can't reduced. This allows for using Lenny to reduce the damage suffered. Lenny has a lot of other synergy with pig lists, so knowing what damage he can reduce and what damage he can't is important. So, without upgrades, he's a tanky master that has problems getting into melee, but once there can give out free attacks to his pigs. With upgrades, there are 2 additional playstyles you can go with. Husbandry is a 3 stone upgrade allowing you to play Ulix like a summoner. With 1 AP and a 9, he can summon a single piglet off of any 50mm base pig. (Old Major, Gracie, War Pig, The Sow, Mechanized Porkchop) Both the base pig and the piglet suffer 2 damage, unreducible. This is exactly the same amount that Ulix heals with his 0 action, which just works out perfectly. With 1 AP, 3 firendly scheme markers within 4", and a 12 or better, he can also summon a war pig. Both he and the warpig suffer 4 damage, reducible. This is an expensive action. War pigs are 9 point models with an above average attack (MI6, 2/4/6) and 12 wounds. Which sounds good, but their triggers can make them difficult models to control and get the most use out of, which makes it hard t know when summoning one is the right answer, especially with how much work it requires. That being said, there are a lot of ways to get the setup to summon one without affecting what you're doing too much, and few other summoners can summon such a pricey model without some other huge drawback (The exception being McMourning) It's strong, but still situational. Keep in mind that both models are a minion, and summoning a large number of minions may not be a good idea against certain strategies or schemes. Last Stand, Hunting Party, Collect the Bounty, Dig their Graves, or Headhunter are really bad strat/schemes in the 2017 GG pool for summoning in. If you see two or more of those strats/schemes, I'd recommend looking for a different plan. Ulix other big upgrade trick is his Hunting Bow, which is focused more on turning Ulix into a ranged support piece. It gives him a Sh7 ranged attack with average damage. On a crow trigger, it can make enemies damaged by it takes +1 damage from pigs (does not stack) which can be useful for prepping a key target to be eliminated. This is mainly how you make Ulix deal damage with his walk problems, by turning him into a ranged Sh7 turret. However, that's not the only thing it does, as with a 6 of rams (or higher) he can make a friendly pig within 6 inches declare a charge against any legal charge target. (note this can't be used if the pig is engaged, giving Sooey a more practical use) The kicker is that if this pig kills the target of the Origional charge, it gets to make another charge action for free. Unfortunatly, the second charge (and any future charges) must target the closest target. So make sure Ulix isn't the closest person to the murderous pig! Free pig attacks are important. Ulix has 2 other upgrades only he can equip, Clobberin' Stick and Pig Sling. Clobberin' stick gives him additional card draw, which can be useful if you're fishing for cards to summon with. It also gives him a melee 7 attack with a weird 2/3/7 damage spread. I'd never bring it for the melee attack. And the card draw costs Ulix an AP. Once again, maybe for summoning Ulix, but otherwise not a good choice. Pig Sling removes the Beast characteristic from all pigs in play. This is HUGE against an enemy Marcus crew, but completely irrelevant everywhere else. Worth considering if your opponent declares Arcanists. It also allows Ulix to throw height 1 pigs. (Piglet, Stuffed Piglet) For piglets, this isn't really worth all that much... they want to be charging things so throwing them into an engagement is a bit of a waste (and it deals damage to them!) It's situationally useful for a couple positioning shenangins, but isn't useful often enough to be worth bringing just for that. Stuffed piglets make EXCELLENT sling bullets, as if you get (un)Lucky, throwing them at the opponent may not only place them 10 inches away, hurt the opponent, but also cause the stuffed piglet to explode for an additional 1-4 damage. Worth a master AP and a 1 SS upgrade and keeping a bunch of stuffed piglets within 2 inches of Ulix? Probably not. Composition There are a handful of models that work well with Ulix. I'll cover Non-pig models first. Slop Haulers can provide healing if Ulix is too busy or out of range to heal pigs. Their ability to give 4 units a 1/2/3 healing flip, along with bayou 2 card (Which can be used to cheat the heal flip) is probably the strongest healing ability in the game. Lenny can reduce the damage pigs take by being summoned, summon more piglets with his upgrade (situationally useful) and hand out Rams to nearby units. He can't give rams to Ulix anymore, which makes a lot of Ulix's tricks harder to pull off. The Stampede trigger on Warpigs and Piglets is excellent, but it's very hard for Lenny to give the ram to them for that without being the closest valid charge target himself. Sammy LaCroix is a good mate for Lenny, mainly because she can hold Ulix Hunting Bow. Now only requiring an unsuited 6 to send pigs hurtling off to charge things, Sammy can happily sit back with Ulix and Lenny, being the 3 person support team that keeps the bacon flowing into the front lines. Probably not worth the points, but an interesting Combo nontheless. Gremlin Taxidermists have a 1 action that can give pigs flying. This allows them to ignore other models which might block their ability to charge key models, and to largely ignore terrain as well. Since a lot of pigs rely on being able to charge, this can be a game changer. They're also summoners, summoning Stuffed Piglets with an unsuited 9 off of a corpse marker. They can also generate corpse markers on their melee attack, although unfortunately only off of enemy models, making them super efficient at what they do. They are worth 7 stones, but always hard to fit in a list. Burt Jebsen has some triggers which allow pigs to move and take free attack actions. He's also a HILARIOUSLY dangerous melee bruiser, with a VERY good attack action, which gets significantly better if hes' teamed up with Lenny. Generally, if you want to bring Lenny, you'll bring Burt along side him, using Lenny for the summoning damage reduction early on, and then as part of a 1-2 murder punch with Burt later on. Pigapult can reposition piglets or stuffed piglets anywhere within 24 inches. It can also sacrifice spare piglets or stuffed piglets to attack models at that range. Generally, you don't want to sacrifice piglets for that, as they're 4 stones to stuffed piglets 2 stones, and the pigapult deals less damage that way. However, when stuffed piglets are sacrificed they give nearby models -1 sht, making the pigapult drop from sh6 to sh5. So it may be worth it if you need to be accurate. Generally not worth the 8 points to bring, especially since it's largely immobile and requires other models to deal damage. McTavish. He's just good in any list. He doesn't randomize into melee, so he can shoot things that are surrounded by pigs, and he gets bonuses when enemies are surrounded by Swampfiends (Wild Boar) Composition - Pig Models Old Major is the most important Ulix support pig. It makes pigs immune to charge actions generated by friendly pigs. This makes things like Set Er Off, Stampede, etc. significantly more manageable. Ulix is still vulnerable however, as are any other gremlins you bring along, so be careful with your positioning. Old Major also gives pigs that activate near him + flips to attacks generated by charge actions. This is super important when playing Summoner Ulix, as you'll often have spent your good cards on summoning and need to rely on those + flips to really get anything done. He can also push pigs around, allowing them to reposition for more charges. ON TOP of that, he has a really strong melee attack, and gets reactivate if your opponent uses up all their cards. He's just a REALLY STRONG model, as he should be for 10 stones. Unfortunately, he only gets 2 AP and he can't charge as a 1, meaning he never has enough AP to do all the things you need him to. War Pigs and Piglets are both mostly unremarkable units. They can charge as a 1 action, but neither of them really have the attack value or damage to be particularly notable. War pigs have an above average to hit at 6, but a 2/4/6 damage spread means they're usually going to be hitting for 2, which is pretty average for a melee attacker. That being said, 2 things make these units stand out. The first is Old Majors + to charges, meaning the 1 ap charges their doing will be hitting moderates more often, making war pigs damage output significantly more appealing (However, if your opponent runs a lot of hard to wound models (like Rezzers) than once again they may be underwhelming) The other is their triggers. On a Ram, they get another free charge, which can be very convient, especially when given attacks out of turn order. A 1AP Obey from Ulix becoming 3 total attacks is excellent. During their activation, you want to avoid the Tome as it will end their activation (although it does give out slow) If you're outside their activation, however... The FAQ has stated that their action does not end if something would end their activation outside of their activation. So basically, if Ulix makes a Warpig charge with the Hunting Bow, and the Warpig gets a Tome, he slows the target and gets to keep on attacking. This is doubly nice with Eat your Fill, allowing warpigs to heal to full if they kill something, and keep on going if it's out of turn activation. Giving warpigs free attacks is the main thing that makes warpigs a good model, and the more ways you have to do that the better. Piglets don't get eat your fill, or a decent damage spread, but they do have the same Tome and Ram trigger for Slowing and Rampaging respectively. They're not going to hit hard, but they can hit a lot, and dish out some slow as well making them the excellent support piece. Gracie is not a good model to bring for summoning Ulix. However, With lenny nearby, she can really dish out some Damage, and she's an excellent target for Burts other shenangins as well. She's also one of the better tarpit models gremlins has. You have to be careful with her though, because while she IS a tank, there are some things that will just flat out murder her. The Sow is a very nice 8 cost minion with 3 headed, giving her built in +flips to attack and damage. She doesn't charge as a 1 action, but charging a unit after starting next to old major can deal some SERIOUS damage. After she takes 5 damage though, she becomes significantly more manageable. She summons 8 points worth of piglets when she dies, so shes' doubly worth the cost you pay. A good model, but one that's easy to overextend with. Remember that while she's good at killing things, she can only kill one thing at a time and charging usually means she'll be in range of other models that can and will kill her. Mechanized Porkchop may have uses in a Ulix list, but is generally outclassed by other options. Wild Boars do not get pig charge as a 1 action. But they're slightly worse War Pigs for 3ss less cost. They're also swamp fiends, and come with from the shadows, making them particularly adept at certain strats and schemes. They're very situational, and not a model that all Ulix lists should have. They're also 40mm pigs, so you can't summon off of them. But a non-summoning Ulix may be able to make good use of them. Keep in mind they're more fragile than their War pig breathren. And I think that's everything. I kinda ran out of steam at the end, so someone else is going to have to come by and pick up my slack. Ulix really operates best as a summoner in my opinion, and while you can run him without summoning I feel he underperforms there. Since there are a decent number of strats and schemes that are unfavorable to summoning masters, it may be a good idea to have a backup master to pick for the tournament, like Ophelia (who generally excels at everything Ulix is weak at, and vice versa.) OH! And Corn Husks! I can't bleieve I forgot to talk about Corn Husks. Probably one of the most amazing upgrades in the game. Anti-scheme running upgrade that also allows you to scheme really hard with Piglets. The main reason I think Summoning Ulix is better. Hope you do well at your tournament!

Sammy is 7 points for 2 more Master AP. A sammy with Family Tree can do all the summoning while Somer just shoots things to death. A Sammy with hunting bow can deal damage or shoot pigs in the rear while Ulix summons things, or Vice-versa depending on whether you want to focus on summoning or shooting. A Sammy with Jug Rocket can help Ophelia Reposition her crew around, freeing Ophelia up to use her 0 on other things (Like killing people harder) I haven't played brewmaster so I'm not sure if his upgrades would go well with Sammy, but a cast 7 range 12 on Sammy that can free Brewmaster up to do other things seems pretty good. Of course, Zoraida/Wong's best use is still to add an additional Limited. And Mah tucket just has terrible upgrades, and is a weak leader besides. While that's her strongest use, I think she also can perform alright solo. Jynx isn't that short of a range with 8, and it doesn't randomize so she can tag along with a melee crew. Don't discount the 2 damage either... that's about what I'd call average, especially when dealing with Hard to wound targets. Being able to shut down a key enemy melee model is also nice. And summoning Stuffed Piglets off of enemy Scheme markers is great against certain masters and enemy crews. She's also got additional card draw (assuming you have any kind of card draw already in your crew) I think she's worth the 7 points if you're running a master who just doesn't have enough AP to get the job done. Being able to offload AP intensive tasks to Sammy makes her worth the points. Running her JUST for an additional limited slot, or just to bring Encouragement so that Somer can benefit from it.... That's going to be rough. She really needs something to do on her turn, and using her as a scheme runner isn't really gonna cut it either.

Rami is a one trick pony. That's usually okay, because it's a really good trick. Turn 1, Lenny should be deployed withing 3" of Rami. Ideally, a slop hauler should be hanging out nearby as well. This allows Rami to activate, Double focus, and murder something in your opponents deployment zone. Lenny nearby guarntees getting Dumb Luck off. 1 damage from reckless, and a maximum of 4 damage from a dumb luck red joker flip (Remember, Lenny's damage prevention aura helps against dumb luck!) means that even if you hit someone for 10, Rami will live. The trick is picking something that has 8 or less wounds (10 if you have red joker in hand and can't find a good 8 target) and doesn't have a bunch of armor or hard to kill or enough defense that Rami won't be able to hit. Summoner lists in particular are vulnerable to this, since they will end up using their good cards early to summon things leaving you free to murder whichever model is nearby. It's not an overpowered trick. It has counters (I would never bring him vs. Rezzers. Too much impossible to wound) But the ability to delete an ~8 stone model off the enemy side of the board on turn one (OR, better yet, crippling a key model that their build needs to function) can be worth it depending on your opponents. It can also scare players. Not good players, mind you. But if you do reach out and touch someone, the opponent will spend a lot of the rest of the game making sure to position such that Rami can't get them. Such an inconvenience to their positioning is almost worth the 7 stones in and of itself. To be honest, I don't use it very often anymore. It's just a little too situational to be worth bringing most of the time. His turn 1 activations when he's next to his support and has a handful of good cards that aren't needed by another other models are always the best. His other turns won't be nearly as exciting, and in some games it won't have been worth it to bring him for what he gives. But he performs well in just enough games that I still keep him ready at all times to drop into a game and punish my opponents for their hubris.

I own 6 piglet models and 3 War pigs. I ran with just 2 war pigs for a long time and didn't run into any problems, but I bought the 3rd Because I REALLY like the war rabbit model so now I can field 2 war rabbits. I've had to proxy some piglets in the past, because I got a little too summon happy. I don't think you'll need more than 6 piglet models over the course of normal play. I go out of my way to not play normally War pigs are an interesting conundrum. At 12 wounds with the ability to heal to full if they kill something, and a healing trigger on their main attack, they have potential to be amazing tanks. Offensively, they're also petty amazing, capable of up to 6 attacks in a round. With their upgrade, or Old Major support, those attacks can have plus flips to attack and damage. Their main weakness is their 2/4/6 damage spread. War pigs really work best when they can kill a target, both to trigger healing and break engagement so you can point them at somewhere useful. And with 2 min damage they're going to have a hard time eating through any kind of tanky unit, which will just tie them down and make them easy pickings for the enemy. Their Stampede trigger on a ram can be used to get them out of such situations, but since it stipulates "Closest" Model, oftentimes it'll just take you from a bad position to a worse position. In cases where they can get that straight (or a plus flip) on damage and hit for moderate, they're going to shine. In cases where they can't, they're going to under-perform, especially for their cost. In general, you're best to summon them over hiring them. Which isn't to say hiring one isn't a bad idea... Ulix can summon a whole litter of piglets off of them only for the war pig to run off and kill something healing to full. And their upgrade is really nice for a turn when you need to ensure that they perform as advertised (Or make up for a bad hand draw) But a 9 point model in exchange for an unsuited 12 isn't a bad deal. But keep in mind EXACTLY what your costs are. Running Corn Husks and 3 piglets will allow you to get a war pig on turn one (assuming you get the 12+, a 65% chance, 75% if you stone) Which is 12 points of model, and 5 points of upgrades, 4 wounds on your master, and a master AP in exchange for a 9 point model. Now, ideally those 12 points of model and 5 points of upgrades are going to be worth something over the course of the rest of the game. But that's a big investment. If you don't run corn husks, or run less piglets, or heaven forbid have other models dropping scheme markers, now you're exchanging unit AP for your 9 point model. And while most turn ones are boring affairs of "I move all my units up into position" You still need to be getting your pigs set up and their charge lanes ready, because you'll need them to get in there turn 2 and start eating your foes. You can't dwadle in your deployment zone summoning pigs all day. (it's at this point I highly recommend a Taxidermist, as they can grant pigs flying. This greatly hinders your opponents ability to block charge lanes by summoning terrain, or throwing weak units in between you and more juicy targets. Also more suitless pig summoning more better.) This isn't to say war pigs are weak. Ulix ability to summon them is part of what makes him work really well. But they're far from fire and forget, and learning when to summon them, where to throw them, and how to position them is the largest hurdle in figuring out how to use Ulix effectively. (I've actually found hired war pigs to be hilariously effective in a Somer list, where somer can just throw out Crows to them. Everytime they hit, that's a 1/2/3 healing flip which makes them incredibly durable. Being able to bigger hat your opponent and then relying on you innate + flips from one pig against the world or Old Major works wonders. But for Ulix, summoning is still the better choice.)

Wait, you got a flying stand with your skeeters? There was no such thing in my box.

I've run into a bit of a problem while putting together my Mechanical Skeeters. The models themselves aren't actually that bad (although all the tiny ropes cause me no end of grief) The issue I'm running into is that they don't fit on their 40mm bases. At least, not in any remotely useful manner. Heck, one of them (Skeeter 3 in the build instructions) Stands on its own completely surrounding a 50mm base without touching it at all. I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do about this. I've looked around online, but there aren't really any 40mm flying stands available for sale. I tried buying some 20mm square flying stands and gluing those to the 40mm base, but A. the stands I got were defective (round peg, square hole) and B. It looked ugly as sin. I'm curious how other people with these models have solved the issue.