DanteJH

On 12 April 2017 at 3:56 PM, Math Mathonwy said:

That "or" between "Sammy or Nurse" was meant to an exclusive or, not an inclusive one. I have never taken both (though I admit - I've been tempted!).

As for the Crystal Ball - well, in my last two games I've managed to hit the TN for Obey and Hem four times total when casting them probably thirty times total so I kinda feel like I need all the card draw I can get! Also, I've never had problem positioning Zoraida as her ranges are long and she doesn't care about cover.

As for the Bayou Gremlins - yeah, they aren't bad but Spawn Mother Summoning Gupps was kinda subbing for them.

Finally, the suggested list of Frank, Lenny, Raphael, Burt, Slop Hauler and 2 Bayou Gremlins is 41SS without Upgrades so it's basically a whole list and no room for Wisps or Nurses or anything. I suppose you can get away with Zoraida using less cards since her AP goes into flying around and summoning the doll.

Edit: reading that, I suppose it sounds dismissive of the advice I got - didn't mean it that way. Zoraida is the Gremlin Master I've played the most and I've used all sorts of crews with her including something very, very close to the suggested crew (several times in various iterations) but I'm not all that enthused about going back to Wispless life of yore so it doesn't really address my concerns all that well, I don't think.

If you're really into the swamp fiend side of things then why are you playing the gremlin side? I suggest having a think about why you are and try to capitalise as possible on whatever you come up with. I'm not sure what exactly you're wanting help with but only taking one wisp and less voodoo doll support is my advice. Try giving yourself a ss 'budget' on different aspect of the crew like 5ss for upgrades, 20ss for beaters ect and make sure you keep your voodoo support small and stick to it 

8 hours ago, Dogmantra said:

:OOOO

I tend to play with the doll similar to you, but I just can't justify not having a nurse to also paralyse the hem target basically every turn for one card, then also being able to buff up your other stuff and in an emergency full heal a model. Sammy is more situational, but generally I'm bringing her for Animal Shape to do Undercover Entourage instead.

To be perfectly honest I've never tried the nurse because I couldn't bring myself to buy a box that is only use one model of for 1 master. Maybe I'll try and borrow a friends

Thanks guys!

Hey kin! I'm thinking of fun things to get next for the faction and it's between pigs and the lucky Emmisary. I was just wondering what everyone's opinion is on this model, I've read his pullmyfinger page and he seems fair for his cost but lacks the keywords we like (gremlin, pig and more recently, construct). Do you use him? Why not? What for? Would some pigs be better?

Thanks as always!

I'll back waffle in that you shouldn't bring sammy and the nurse and would go even further to say don't bring either. I've played gremraida for about 8 months now and I find that zoraida with hex bag can do enough to make it a problem for the opposition. I'm also a big fan of not using the doll for raw damage but rather I use him as a tool to really mess with enemy positioning. The idea is that you summon it right in their face, hem it to something they like and then make it stab or walk it around to get in the way of the enemy. Just engaging them with it makes life a lot harder for them, they can't drop markers, it can stop movement and if they hit it they hit their mate. It saves a lot of stones and keeping him around saves AP and gives you another activation.

I really don't want to make this a lecture because I'm worried about making a reputation for myself with the whiskey golem stuff but I'd also drop crystal ball in favour of beast shape. The 15 inch place gets you set you in position turn 1 which I really like (especially if you can get somewhere hard to reach) and if you take it for the card draw, bewitch is a fantastic action, drop it on something with nimble, melee expert, ect and you can draw a whole new hand! 

In terms of crew selection make sure to take your bayou boyz! It might just be me but I always take 2-4 bayou gremlins with any master, it's a small amount of stones that can cause a lot of small issues that eventually add up, they're good objective runners and boy are they cute! Also, don't take the big models unless they fit for the schemes, strat or your own tactics with two exceptions, I find that Gracie, Lenny and the golem can all make very good use of the obeys. I like to have burt, frank, Lenny and Raphael as my workmen and a slop hauler to back them up. The idea is that zoraida provides extra AP if they need it, better cards to get the job done and a roadblock that so much fun in the form of the doll, just make sure you aren't putting to much into it!

Best of luck! I'd love to hear a battle report of your Gremraida and I hope this helps!

Welcome! What masters/models of ours do you like the look of? My personal favs are somer, zipp, the whiskey golem and the voodoo doll

22 hours ago, Tokapondora said:

Shenlong is a support master with some combat. Big difference. He can make your big beaters fast or opponents slow, increase their threat range with 5-10", he hands out free focus to anyone near him, he heals both conditions and Wds, he's got some strong marker manipulation, gets two activations for 2 ss... He allows his crew to do just about anything well and because his toolkit is so varried he can react to just about anything that happens in the game. Take a crew that is decent at any field and he can make sure they're amazing at it when you need it. Also, compared to Mei, I feel like he is far less restricted in what he has to take. Really, he can take just about any crew and work with it.

A basic list with him would be...

Shenlong - 3/4ish SS cache
-Wandering River Style - 2 SS 
-Misdirection - 2 SS
-Peaceful Waters 0 SS*

Peasant - 2 SS (Summon a second one t1)

Yu/Emissary+Low River Monk* - 11/14 SS (sometimes both)

Katanaka Sniper - 7 SS

TTB - 5 SS

And then a mix between Izamu, Lone Swordsman, Kang, Graves, Ohaguro, maybe another sniper, etc. to fill it up. I tend to want two beaters, some maps suit two snipers, I might go scheme heavy, the Shadow Effigy is always a nice filler... That's his strength really, he can make anything work. Generally leaves you at 8 to 9 units to do whatever you want with. 

Make sure you take control of the center of the board and Shen'll output constant pressure, be it your snipers covering the entire board or the beaters being able to charge anything coming within 15"-18".

Thanks for the advice, I knew there must've been something I was missing. One more question, when am I taking shenlong as opposed to Mei?

Hello brothers (thunder brothers to be exact), I started faux about 3 months ago and have been playing purely Mei Feng. I recently picked up shenlong's box but don't really see why I would take him over Mei. I know I must be missing something  , I understand the styles and conditions and I know he can affect position greatly but he still seems to boil down to a combat master with some crew support just like Mei. 

I know I'm missing something so please let me know and if you could tell me your list for Shenlong that would also be helpful. 

Thanks guys!

9 hours ago, daniello_s said:

Nice trick but wait till you try it against models who ignore armor (Dastue Ba, Shikomes, ikiryo etc) 

Picking your targets is a big part of the game and sure it might not work against a whole crew or a few big beaters who ignores armour but if you see that across the table the golem can always change gear 

Hello friends and welcome to my second part of 'making the whiskey golem great again'. Through this I hope to get you to put the whiskey golem back on the table or on the table for the first time. In this post I'll be addressing the reasons I've heard why people don't take him and if you haven't already looked at it please give part one a read.

First off we'll start with why not take 'X'. One of the most common things I've heard people say as a reason they don't take the golem is because other models are better tanks, damage dealers, runners ect. While I will be going over common models associated with this line of argument I'd first like to say that the main reason I've taken this guy in nearly every game I've played this year is that he fits into all these jobs. While Francois deals more damage can be also move 18' a turn? He sure gets close at a cost but does he also match the resilience? Hell no, with a (1) heal on par with Fingers' and a trigger to do that heal on a ram or a tome on an attack frank can't stand up to him on that side but he still has min damage 3 or 4 on a trigger. What I'm trying to say is that while he may be outclassed as a damage dealer and arguably as a tank and scheme runner, he combines all these proficiencies into one model and most importantly, can change gear at a moments notice. I've had him do from holding the centre one turn after smashing the previous to getting me a point for leave your mark the next, he's truely amazing.

Anyway, let's get to some of these aforementioned models:

Burt Jebson is one of the best arguments against the golem. He's 3 stones less, has the same damage track that can easily rise if supported and has some durability to him. First off I'd like to draw attention to 'if supported', I can say from my own experience that if Lenny isn't around Burt becomes much less effective. He looses a lot and I mean a LOT of durability. Not only does he lose the 'big target' bonus but he also loses getting his defensive trigger for free with makes people want to target him more and he loses a very good slippery target. Now I'm not saying it's not 17 stones well spent but I'd rather spend 10 on someone who is more durable and fast though some how lacking in damage with a 3/5/6 damage track.

Fancois is one of the dealiest models in malifaux with one of if not the most damaging attacks in the game. He's 3 stones less, a MONSTER of the field and doesn't need a third reason as to why he's good. Much of my reasoning has already been said for this guy already but he plays a different roll. Francois rushes in, kills something big, maybe 2 somethings then dies and that's ok but the golem is staying around. Again, a different job

Gracie is another model I've heard is a better pick and while I don't have much experience with this model I do have a friend who has but I still can't speak from experience. I'd like to give my opinion on this one but don't think it would be an educated one so I'll move on.

Fingers is another common argument and a very good one at that. He combines scheme runner and tank in one model and shares the same cost as the golem making them interchangeable. I will admit that fingers beats the whiskey golem in the scheme runner department as while he's not as fast he can drop markers while engaged and can turn enemy scheme markers into his own but I think that the golem is a much better tank and does far more damage than than Fingers. The damage is an easy argument but a better tank, that requires more discussion. We'll be comparing these guys in the scenario of holding a point as would be one of a tanks primary functions. Looking at the cards in front of me I see the same amount of wounds, similar defences (Fingers having 1 more Df and Wp) and the golem having armour +1. While we can argue that the higher Df is better than the armour when he flip over the cards and see them both with a 1/2/3 heal and the whiskey golem with a (1) action to gain +2 Df till he next activates. Now surely if they were  putting everything into staying alive the golem would come out on top with the armour, higher defence and a better built in defensive trigger that can cause enemy models to lose attacks and fish cards from the opponents hand? I think so but please tell me why not below.

Secondly, we'll talk about his base size. I have heard complaints that the 50 mill base is a reason not to take him and can I say that while this is a valid concern I haven't had it hamper me yet and have even managed to make to a good thing. In games these past few weeks I've been using the golem as a screen to protect high value models like a slop hauler or a Francois en route or recovering. Please give this one a go, I think it's an underused attic on an underused model that could suprise you. We'll also talk about the 1' melee range as it also fits in the the base size argument. Let's face it, it's the whiskey T-Rex! It's not hitting anything with those arms until you remeber that big base. While it doesn't solve the problem entirely it does improve the range to add an extra half inch.

Now we'll move onto one of the biggest criticism which is the (1) AP to bring him up to the great DF 7 from the average DF 5. To be honest, I don't really have answer to it, it's just a thing we have to live with. Part of getting good with the golem is learning when to spend that AP to bump it up or when to start smashing, dashing, drinking or scheming. It's important to remember that bumping the DF up isn't required and knowing when to bump it is, as I said, a big part of getting your stones worth and remeber, you can't get experience without getting him on the table!

Before ending this post I'd like to talk about his performance at Twatifaux, a tournament in Melbourne Australia with around 60 players. I took the golem in 4/5 rounds and he did wonderfully. First game was headhunter against a guild played and he was able to control the centre and was one of the only models left on the board at the end against a brutal assault from both Fransisco and Phiona. Second game was squatters rights and he was able to nimble drop marks on the opponents side and also get me full points for inspection. Third game was stake a claim and he held the point wonderfully till late in the second turn when he died to red joker damage. Last game was collect the bounty and he scored me full points for leave your mark and I can confidently say that he was worth his stones in almost all those games.

Please give the golem a shot, I think he's an underused model that has some great potential and please leave some comments, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

7 hours ago, daniello_s said:

I would be glad seeing Whiskey Golem trying to go deep in my half of the table to run schemes. There is nothing more beautiful than killing 10SS scheme runner denying VP points to my opponent. There is a tonne of models who ignore Armour and some of them can target Wp so his Fine Craftsmanship won't protect him.

IMO he should have 2/3'' MI range and Fine Craftsmaship as 0 action (at  the cost of card or some medium range simple duel). Also his Angry Drunk upgrade shouldn't cost 2SS but rather 1.

While I do agree with your buffing ideas but I can't agree with your first statement. I've had a perdita (who ignores armour) go HAM on him and him coming out the other end scoring me full vp for leave your mark. 

5 hours ago, EpicWaffle said:

Wish that too  I guess that Zipp and Mah are the one that can get the most fro the Golem, tho it's hard for me to figure how  and why I would want him instead of the models I sudgested! Glad to see brave player like you forcing the barrier of what is "meta"  unluckily (or not) tournaments in here are quite competitive so fun picks generally grants you last place  

just to address to points in your post:

1)why do you consider whiskey Golem tankier than Fingers? Sure he can get to Df 7 and has armor, but fingers is smaller (so harder to see, aim at), has constant 6df and higher wp (another 6), can reposition from a charge and can use soulstones. Can't really see how he's bigger, since he can heal the same amount the golem can. Maybe in your metà not many masters target wp? Cause we have a ton of resser, neverborn and Arcanists in my zone, so the golem would last 2 seconds on the board  

2) I avoided talking about francois cause imo he's not to be paired with Burt: Frank deals massive damages to a single target before needing to retreat and heal back, while Burt deals "less" but more consistent damages, and has a kit that allows him to take a punch or two (or to make something close take it of course  ). So the comparison between Frank and the golem might be too forced imo.

Ps: I don't wanna sound cocky, I'm genuinely curious about your ideas and theories on the whiskey golem, so my arguments and "oppositions" are driven by curiosity, I'm not trying to convince you to think it like me  

Thanks again for replying, it's always good to have a sceptic around. In terms of tournament s don't think he's not competitive. I've got a tournament this weekend and he's in 3 out of 5 rounds. Anyway, your concerns :

1 I believe the golem is a better tank than fingers because of his armour, option to heal after damaging while still having the same 1 action heal as fingers and in my opinion a better defensive trigger. It is important too to note that I'm not saying he's a better tank but a better all round model. Even if he's not as good a tank as fingers you must admit he's not far behind and the golem can do much more than throw around poison. Also you are correct in terms of willpower, I don't take him against willpower based crew but I have found that there are many more crews and models that target df.

2 yes I'm aware of this and fully agree with you it's just that people usually use frank as a comparison whenever I talk about damage in the gremlin faction.

Thanks as always

5 hours ago, SAYNE said:

I'm no expert on the Whiskey as I've never played him nor played against him, but I've pilfered the stat card enough to see his strengths and weaknesses. I'm not sure if by this thread you're asking for suggested buff s, or if you're trying to find a different play style that he suddenly fits magically into that nobody has thought to use before. It seems like the latter.

I honestly think he's undertuned stats and actions wise, although his front card abilities seem great. WP duels to end an activation, especially on a charge are nice, if you only may get it off once or twice per game. It's a good way to check someone's hand though. The poison is moot for most of the green masters. With my luck I'd always expect it on a second attack or one that'd already end their activation so, for me at least, the chance of getting it off is rare, the chance it DOES anything with that ability is rarer still. 

What he needs, if I am gonna flex my buff muscles, is at least a 2" melee range with 3" preferred (please, 1" doesn't even make sense xD). And a taunt/push. Not Challenge though as that would make him compete too much with Mancha, I'd love to see Whiskey to be able to run around the side and force someone to make a charge at him from a bad spot (assuming the Ca duel succeeds and what not). I'd word it like "Target model must push it's charge towards Whiskey Golem, if it ends in base contact (or some wording for melee range) it must make 2 Ml attacks with a cost of 1. If the target has Poison +1, any Attack flips generated by this action suffer Negative Twist."

The reason I suggest this is synergy.

Almost every gremlin master could want a model like that. He can be a runner turned protector to Somer, a Melee Beater for Mah, another lure for Brewie (with the potential added bonus of passing out poison to chargers), a powerful Obey target for Mama Z, not sure about Zipp but I've heard good strats about Earl and Constructs, Wong might care the least since his play style is so straightforward, although any model that can move things around he likes for blast purposes, and Ulix might not care much either other than protection but he has his bacon for that. 

In regards to fluff, I'd try to run Whiskey with Brewie just cuz I like themes and making it work, and it might plug up a hole (or spring a better leak ;D) in Brewie's lists by upping that engage range and being able to act as a charge bodyguard, while also getting models stuck in the contest. I'm sure there are other things, but I could justify a taunt thematically as well. "Look fellers! It's beautiful! Downright gorgeous! Les get it!" 

I appreciate you taking the time to post! I hope you can build the Whiskey of your dreams. 

 

Thanks a lot, I really do hope I can make people see him like I do and yes, your right I am trying to find a new play style for him and I think I've almost found it! In terms of buffs he really needs a base of df 6 and something to do with that poison he hands out. Might be as simple as more damage to poisoned enemies or having poisoned enemies be less likely to hit A larger melee range would be nice but with his large base size it can be ok. Thanks for replying and I hope to see your thoughts again in the next post!

7 hours ago, Macumazahn said:

But good ol' wishkey golem already needs an ap to give himself defense 7, or else he's done, and although he's nimble he also has a pretty big base and a baffling 1 inch reach melee attack (for whatever reason) so not a lot of actions left to do much of anything. Fingers not only gives you your schemes, he also destroys your opponent schemes in two different ways. Same with merris: she's not nimble but she's reckles, she can fly and and she can drop markers for 0 for much less of the cost of the golem.

Comparing both of them with the golem is a bad idea because they're not designed for the same purpose. the golem is a tank trough and trough.

But the problem is that Gracie cost the same and is more resilient, with more damage and, since she can reactivate, technicaly faster and with more opportunities to make schemes, as needed, in a pinch. Sure she hurts herself, but she can also heal without needing a specific suit.

Another model that can take a lot of punishment is Mancha Roja; he can get to defense 7 with a 0, has 10 wounds and hard to wound, and he's a henchman. He also deals more damage and has a variety of triggers that can be very useful for the entire crew.

I think as a tank Wishkey golem can be better because of his defense trigger, and Macha Roja is more geared to pure combat and, as such, less flexible, but that would be a problem depending on the rest of the crew.

Thanks for replying and I'll be sure to address some of these things in my next post but lemme tell you, I've been getting much more work out of the golem by switching jobs with him on the fly. I can use him for schemes one turn (he can do claim jump by himself!), tanking for the next turn and then beating someone's face in. I know that the ap fir df 7 is annoying but I'll be sure to talk about that in the next post where I address his issues. Thanks again for replying and I hope I can get you to put him on the table by the end of this.

1 hour ago, EpicWaffle said:

All great ideas, but I must say, I'm not sold yet. I gave whiskey golem his fair number of tests and he under-performed in all of them (with only one being with brewie, the rest with Somer and Mah). If you want something resistant and that can deal solid damages, Burt does the same (if supported he can last even more) for 3 ss less. If you want a fast scheme runner, for 10ss you have fingers, and for  have Merris. Than, at 10ss, if you want a tank I think both the emissary and Gracie works better.

But it's just my opinion, and I was probably using him wrong since you seem to find a good place for him  the thing that annoy me the most is that he's forced to waste 1ap to get to 7df, making him take a walk and a single attack/interact, if you don't want it to be in a dangerous spot. I'll keep an eye on the post tho, since I really like the model and I'm willing to change my mind onthe subject  

Thanks for replying EpicWaffle, I'll be sure to address everything you've said in my next post which I hope to put out next soon but I'll give you the short version. I'm afraid I can't agree with fingers, it's very important to factor in just how fast he is. My issue with fingers is that he doesn't do much besides schemes. Going back to his speed, the golem can very easily transition after he's done with the scheme to any other job that the crew needs done and further more he's just so much more durable. People point to fingers as being so good because of his in built healing but the whiskey golem and do that whenever he hits someone AND has plus 1 armour. On top of that he can put our way more damage and tie up way more models a which a good tank should be able to do. I really do feel like the golem strait outclassed fingers.

I've never use Merris or Gracie so I may be wrong but I've played against Merris and she didn't impress me. Never had anything to do with Gracie but I'm aware she's amazing.

Ill be talking about Burt and Frank in the next post as they are used to compare the whiskey golem with a lot and I'd like like to go into more  detail.

As a last note you are SO RIGHT about spending the AP the defence. A big learning curve for me was when to use it and when the kick something teeth in but it is still really annoying that you have to do it but I'll address it in the next post and hopefully convince you that he's worth it

Hello all and welcome to a new series of posts I'm starting called making the whiskey golem great again. For the last two months I've been using the whiskey golem in almost every game I play in an effort to make you lovely bayou denizens what to put him on the table! To kick it off, this week we'll be looking at crews and masters he plays nice with, upgrades and when to take him. Feedback is greatly appreciate and I'd really like to get some good conversation going on.

The first thing I wanna talk about is what masters he synergies well with. In my games I have found that zipp and his crew have a place for the golem and good construct support is a major part of it as one of his main issues is that he isnt a gremlin or a pig so he doesn't synergies well. Earl burns provides easy healing and in all my games he's only died once (and that was due to an Insta kill trigger). I'm also looking into sparks at the moment as I'm sure he would help greatly but unfortunately I'm a student with no job. Somer goes well with everyone and this is true for the golem as well. I have found that using the golem as a screen for the slop hauler has made a huge difference in my games as he usually dies turn 1/2. Having the slop hauler survive till turn 3 means an extra 3-9 wounds from his healing and as we know our bayou boyz like to hurt themselves. I'm very aware that he was designed for brewy but he's one of the masters I don't have yet and again, I have no money. I've also used him extensively with ophelia and zoraida. There are ZERO synergies with ophelia or her crew and is easily outclassed so he should really only be taken in the scenarios listed later. Mamma Z has a few things she can do for him, the first of which is boosting him to df 7 by making him used "fine craftsmanship" or giving him heals through smokey finish. Other than that should only be used in the scenarios that come a little later.

An interesting thing is that him being an enforcer means that he has an upgrade slot. The three upgrades I've been testing are Angery drunk, a two stone upgrade that gives him flurry, barrel up, a 0 cost upgrade that gives him a trigger on a Rams and tomes to heal after damaging, and hide in the mud which is a 1 stone upgrade that gives him soft cover all the time. We'll talk about angry drunk first and what's there to say, it's not worth the cost. While the golem does have nimble meaning he can walk then flurry, he really does want to be boosting his df to 7 every turn. I have had some memorable moments like killing a him killing a teddy on his own and murdering a frank but it's not worth making him a 12 stone model because you don't get it off that often. Next we'll talk about hide in the mud. This is one of the better upgrades I've looked into and has been very effective. Df 7 with negatives to hit makes him impossible to shoot. If you anticipate a shooty crew take it, it's well worth the stone. Last is barrel up which is the one I've used the least. It seems to be the best choice numbers wise and it's a zero stone cost so why wouldn't you. It's the upgrade I'm using at the moment just because of the heals which is a 50% chance on every attack by the way. Also, a few of you might mention dirty cheater but he really doesn't need it and others will get much better use out of it.

Finally, when do I take him? Unless he synergies well with the leader or crew I'm only taking this guy for a few scenarios. Stake a claim, guard the stash, squatters rights and headhunter are the strategies I'll take him in. The first couple are because if he's fantastic at holding points. I once had a mei Feng wail on him with all of her AP and extra attach triggers and have the golem almost at full at the start of the next turn. He is very durable with a LOT of healing options and let's not forget his defensive trigger which I think is extremely underrated. For those of you who don't know on a built in mask after he is damaged by a melee attach the target must pass a WP duel or end their activation immediately and get +2 poison. You'd be surprised how much it comes up and people will throw a card if it's their first AP. On to stake a claim his nimble makes him a good marker dropper and he can move 6 then drop each turn and as stated above his hard to put down, finally his durability and nimble also helps out in headhunter for keeping alive and snatching those heads. Finally if inspection comes up he is a strong consideration for me and I bet you can guess why.

Next time we will be adressing common issues with the golem and work around for them. Well also be talking about bad scenarios and bad match ups. Thanks for reading, I've wanted to put this up for a long but but didn't feel like if played him enough till now. Please comment anything you'd like me to address in future and most importantly what you think about what I've said.

Hi all, I'm putting together a thematic McMorning crew with grimwell and friends. Naturally to fit the medial/sience-y theme I want to take Sebastian but is he still worth taking without access to his Rezzer upgrades? What good upgrades can he take and what replacement would you suggest that fits the theme?

Thanks!

Hi all, I'm a fairly new gremlin player who is getting a whiskey golem very soon. After reading over him card and some upgrades (sorry papa wyrd) I've come to the conclusion that he appears a very good model with fantastic movement, a cost appropriate attack and great defensive capabilities. He also has three upgrades that each help him in a different way, hide in the mud keeps him safe en route to his target, angry drunk makes him pack even more punch and his 0 cost upgrade gives him a 50% chance to heal on EVERY melee attack. Speaking of healing can we talk about his built in healing as well as being great with earl burns? I don't have the brewmaster but the upgrade drinking problem lets him heal double. Then I started thinking, I've never seen anyone play with the golem or even talk about him in my community and podcasts I listen to. So I ask the larger community, why don't you take the whiskey golem? 

Hey man, so sorry to here about your local club but I have a few pointers. For round 1 in close deployment it's important to remember that you don't have to deploy at 12" inches. You have the whole 12" to deploy into so if your playing a really offensive crew it might be a good idea to stay back a bit and set up the graves. If you do decided to play defensively it's also important to remember that you can pick up ANY head so leaving a few bayou gremlins out of cover can have its merits.

For scheme selection I find dig their graves to be one of the harder schemes to pull off as it required so much setup. Recover evidence is a great scheme for zipp and I would suggest taking it and recover evidence. I usually always take claim jump but in such an aggressive strat it could be rough.

For round 2 your plan looks solid but what I'd be doing is sending 2 gremlins on each flank to score inspection AND claim jump simultaneously. I also like to do this because it makes the enemy divert forces from the strat. Keep in mind that this won't be effective against most crews and also to make your gremlins defensive if you have some crappy cards. 

Round three I'd definitely be taking fingers and plonking him on one of the markers. He makes the enemy unable to flip them with chatty, can interact while engage and can heal himself. Only take eliminate the leadership if you know you can take the leader down, if you can't take claim jump and covert breakthrough. As a final not make sure to use zips noxious fumes to block opposing models from the squatters rights markers.

Best of luck out there and I'd love for you to post a little report of the tournament. With slow play just call them out and they usually pick up the pace

Good luck with that victorybod, the best tip I can give you is to learn how to also play him defensively and using him and the iron skeeters exhaust to a great effect

I've played a couple games with Zipp already this month with the following list:
Zipp (6ss cache)
+the gift of gab
+rambling diatribe
Earl Burns
The First Mate
+where the captain can't see
+treasure map
Iron Skeeter
+hovering airship 
Burt Jebson
+dirty cheater
Mechanised Porkchop 
X4 Bayou Gremlins

I've played both games against one of my friends who only plays perdita. I've found that it's hard for him to charge because you loose the place he does after damage. A way around this is to stone or cheat the masks. Stoning for it is fine because if the enemy is using scheme markers the first mate can make them back. Both times we used the schemes and strats you asked us to and I've taken claim jump and recover evidence both times. I send the gremlins up the flanks to score claim jump and to hopefully get people to divert forces (which they do) and I pop recover evidence turn 3 when everyone's in the think of it. I always use Zipp late in the turn to misplace models out of the 6" turf bubble and/or away from evidence markets then use the smoke as my last action to slow people down