Lets talk Robot Gremlins!

[Doctor Borris]

Well folks the new book is out, and Gremlins are dabbling in constructs now. We've got a critter who auto-drops scrap markers, a hard to wound cheap reckless construct gremlin, and our very own mad scientist gremlin! I've been thinking about them.

Gremlin Survivors are great. Hard to Wound + Slop Haulers + Armor + Decent Gun they are cheap and they can do work. If the Gremlins have two slop haulers they can cycle and be a real thorn in someone's side. With Lenny they are running around with 2 armor each as well.

Sparks + Lazarous or Whisky Golem seems neat. Lazerous with Fast and Armor 3 just carpet bombing the table seems pretty legit. He even self heals himself. Whisky Golems running around with Fast AND Nimble AND extra armor... gadzooks! With Zoraida he could even be commanded and get 2-3 movement actions before doing a Flurry. 

So why aren't folks more excited? All the new Robo Gremlin things seem pretty legit!

Edited September 25, 2015 by Doctor Borris

[Parker Barrows]

My only regret is Sparks isn't a Master.

[Doctor Borris]

I kind of feel, as far as Masters go, Som'er or Zoraida runs a Sparks Mek Package really well. Somner for being Somner, Zoraider for commanding her robot minions all over the place as well as card tricks.

[Tiny]

My initial thoughts on where to put sparks would be in an ophelia crew with turf war/guard the stash. Where the enemy will likely be grouping up. The dream is getting packed with explosives on something then accomplice to ophelia to blast huge dmg all over the top of them. 

 

Survivors i like with brewmaster, handing out poison so he doesnt have to and armour and htk combo well with his on the house aura. 

 

Mechanised porkchop im not sure about, i was thinking of taking with ulix so u have your 2x 50mm pig bases and it frees up a couple of point so u can mess around with the support stuff. Charges within the porkchop and old major aura would be double positive to attack and positive to dmg. Pretty tasty.

[Doctor Borris]

The Mech Porkchop seems to be a solid beastie and with Lenny around + Slop Haulers he seems to be really durable and LOS blocking for 7 SS.

A little Robot Gremlin brainstorming to get the gears spinning.

Sparks

Lazerous

Mechanical Porkchop

Each turn Sparks can armor up then fast Lazerous using the free scrap marker from the Porkchop. This puts Laz at Armor 3, fast, and the ability to Rapid Fire his cannon. These are Sh6 3/3+b/6+bb damage and can be fired 4 times a round with Fast/Rapid Fire. He can also fire the any friendly mechanical's weapon as well for a fifth shot using his (0) action.

Sparks can also heal Laz with his last action. Because Sparks has Companion, once he finishes tuning up Laz, Laz can immediately activate to lay down Suppression Fire so there is no chance for Laz to be shot down. Additionally, Spark's Armor Tuneup does not wear off until Sparks activates, so Laz should be pretty safe. 

Edited September 25, 2015 by Doctor Borris

[Math Mathonwy]

Survivors are Hard to Kill rather than Hard to Wound. They are also squishy, need suits for things (they seem like very inefficient poisoners for Brewie) and all in all very lackluster when compared to the other 5SS options available to Gremlins.

Sparks and Mech Pork seem awesome OTOH.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Math Mathonwy

[szendroib]

Obviously their usefulness will be decided on the game board, but I feel like the new gremlin models in wave 3 are way too fiddly for a minimal gain. Wave 1-2 models can do a lot of things better and with less effort. Also despite of armor and such things they seem to be squishier then the wave 1-2 models. I might be totally wrong as I haven't played these figures yet, it's just my 2 cents for now.

Edited September 25, 2015 by szendroib
language barrier :)

[rgarbonzo]

Mech pork are decent, Sparks works best in a Mei Fang crew, Survivors are not as good as some other 5 SS models. Out of the 3, I might run Mech Pork, the other 2 models, not so much. 

[wizuriel]

I've never had Sparks perform for me. Between needing the tome and scrap and mid-high cards I've rarely had the fast construct combo work :(. His aura seems interesting, but very situational. Also really wish Sparks was a female :(, the image of a Gadget engineer would have been great. 

 

Mech pig I find very decent. I use them as a more durable Rooster Rider (though really like running one Mech Pig and 1 Rooster Rider). 

 

Surviviors I like. My experience is they are very durable speed bumps when paired with a slop hauler. While they don't poison much (mainly cuase they need the suit), it's not like Gremlins have a lot of ways of giving out poison so they are useful with Brewmaster. I also like them with Ophelia for the anti charge ability and Mah can get some good use out of them 

Edited September 25, 2015 by wizuriel

[Doctor Borris]

Here is an odd thought.  I do not think mechanics gremlins are that great with Sparks, or at least, not particularly synergistic. 

But what they are is a pretty good shooting statlines with armor 2 (lenny) and hard to kill in a faction with ludicrous access to AOE healing. Discounting their trigger (which could be sumer ed in) a couple in the front of a crew would be real troublesome.

[Vidd]

Those of you who do like Sparks, for which strategy and schemes would you take him and what would you hire with him?

I'm not sure when taking Sparks to give Fast is better than just hiring another 7ss model like Raphael, Burt etc. What really benefits from Fast?

In terms of crews, I could actually see taking the Lucky Effigy now since it can be wound up without scrap. I also think Lazarus could be quite scary since he could walk then Autofire. Maybe there are some interesting Mercs, Swampfiends or Enthralled models that we can bring in?

 

With Zoraida he could even be commanded and get 2-3 movement actions before doing a Flurry. 

Speaking of Zoraida, am I right in thinking that if Sparks is affecting enemies with Hostile Work Environment, they can't be Obeyed to attack friendly models? 

 

 

Each turn Sparks can armor up then fast Lazerous using the free scrap marker from the Porkchop.

I'd say that scrap's probably better put towards making other models Constructs in case you want to wind them up. Potentially, 3 armor split among 2 models is better than one model with Armor +3. I could be wrong though, Lazarus would be quite hard to take down even with Df 4...

Edited September 27, 2015 by Vidd

[Vorschlag]

Looking forward to running him with piggapult, whisky golem and mechanical porkchop, probably not all at once.

Will probably try running him with Zoraida, Somer and Brew master, maybe eventually Ulix.

I don't run the Lacroix with Somer and have never felt the need to run them with Zoraida so for me his main competition will be taxidermist, hog whisperer, silurid, waldgiest, McTavish etc.

[Doctor Borris]

Survivor vs regular gremlin. Big downside is same wounds 2 moRe SS. 

Upsides:

Def 5 vs 4, hard to kill, armor 2 vs 1.

They need a 5 to activate their gun, but when they do the damage is about that of a reckless gremlin without the self hurt. 2-4-5 and sh 5 vs 4. They have a decent trigger, no Lenny boost but that only brings the bayou about on par. Hard to kill, armor 1+Lenny, Old Cranky aura and slop haulers seems to make a durable ball with some solid shooting.

[Vidd]

For an extra two soulstones, you get something which is slower, needs to flip just to shoot, has no Bayou Two card, no method of producing blasts, no Ram triggers (Lenny) and no Squeel.

You do get armor, hard to kill (limited usefulness on a Wd4 model), 5 Ml, 2 . 1 Wp, and noticeably better damage spread. You also get their aura and a source of scrap markers when they die.

The problem I see is that they're supposed to be more survivable yet they're going to lose duels more often due to lack of B2C and beyond hitting things, they don't really have any utility the same way Slop Haulers can heal, Lightning Bugs can use Tinkerin' etc. Perhaps their value comes from being able to lock things down a bit better and being Wind 'Em Up targets without scrap (while producing some).

 

What do people think of their aura? Their original 6" range would have been incredible but probably a bit much and iirc, they gained 2 in exchange. At least know they don't need a moderate card, although it's still masks.

Edited September 28, 2015 by Vidd

[Dogmantra]

I don't own shifting loyalties, but I played 'em during the beta and I wasn't too impressed, though that's likely due in part to my really really bad deployment of them.

I wouldn't call hard to kill limited usefulness, I'd imagine it's one of their bigger strengths, given how many cheap gremlin models are killable in one hit, I can see a use for Survivors in maybe Reconnoiter against big hitters, particularly ones who can pop up anywhere, so you don't have to worry as much about spreading out making you easier to kill. They're still gonna die, but they'll drain a lot of AP in doing so. Otherwise, hard to kill + a slop hauler is very nice.

Their aura seems amazing, combined with a 2" range I can see some use for that, cheaper area denial than Mancha Roja or Sammy or Brewmaster. Although Lightning Bugs also have that 2" melee range, or you can spring the extra ss to get a Moon Shinobi who in my experience are incredible and I love them.

If I was taking them now, I'd probably bring them when I take Som'er and two Skeeters, so I can give them all the suits they want, and also contribute to the area control via farting bugs.

[Math Mathonwy]

I think that Survivors shouldn't be compared to Bayou Gremlins. Survivors are 66% more expensive which means that it is a bit like comparing a Bayou Bushwhacker to McTavish. It's just not very useful.

I agree with Dogmantra that their Aura seems like the big draw but it requires Masks - a suit highly usable for Gremlins. Even low cards can be very nice for Squeeling. Somer is naturally one possible answer but I feel like Somer would have a lot of difficulty finding a place for Survivors in his crew composition.

[Dogmantra]

well, the masks thing is both a blessing and a curse with Som'er. Masks are so useful, especially if you're running Summon'er/Summon LaCroix, so you're gonna Do It Like Dis for a mask anyway, just be clever with positioning I guess.

Edited September 29, 2015 by Dogmantra

[Omenbringer]

I honestly think their biggest draw is the incredible AP spread they can generate for a 5 SS model. Reckless and Fast from Sparks can net 4 AP. I definitely think Som'er is the best place for Sparks and the Survivors. I also think that Sparks' Packed with Explosives action has potential for high defense models or crews that tend to cluster. Honestly looking forward to these, and perhaps an upgrade for Som'er that is tailored toward them in the future.

[Doctor Borris]

I found an ugly combo with Sparks and Lazerus. 

Laz has a great gun and can use a constructs ability as a 0 action.

Sparks can give him fast. 

Somner can let him borrow his gun if Sparks makes him a robot. Sparks can make ANYTHING a robot for easy Laz copying. Lightning dance from Wong!

Trixi can push him around.  

He could get a move before firing his grenades 4 times, Somers gun once, and possibly having the equivalent of 3 armor from Lenny to weather counter attacks. 

 

Edited September 30, 2015 by Doctor Borris

[szendroib]

Haha just wanted to post Lazarus combo as well. just found it yesterday.

I have played Wong. Gave Lazarus the magical effect with ooh glowy. This gave him +1 damage for 4,4B,7B, a regen and armor + HTK ignore. Pushed him in place with Trixie for turf war. Added old Cranky for +1 WP, soulstone getting and positive Def flip. Sparks gave him fast, and debuffed enemy with the condition that causes +1blast on moderate and severe. than accomplice to Lazarus. Now he can shoot his gun 4 times for 4, 4BB, 7BB ignoring armor and HTK. He can also heal 2-4 damage every activation and has a + flip for df. He decimated almost a whole ramos team in 2,5 turns (killed Ramos, Langston, Spider horde and Joss only had some hp remained before the enemy gave up).

I didn't think too much of Sparks at first but I might add him to test more from now on. Relly like the lazarus + copy idea for other master than Wong. Also its quite expensive but might try a magical lazarus copying McTavish next time for 4 sniper shots with +1 damage and ignoring cover.

[Doctor Borris]

All this talk is making me want to do a whiskey golem Laz conversion, like he's been in the swamp a little too long.....

[zFiend]

Gremlins: now making out of faction models just as bad.

[Doctor Borris]

So if I got some barrels, I could replace Laz's torso with a big barrel and both of his legs with barrels, like flair pants. For his gun I could make a big barrel ammo hopper and replace the end with a blunderbuss barrel, and put a pair of big ugly smokestacks on his back to represent the gremlin engine improvements. Also he needs a top hat.

Glowy Laz is just scary, and with his abilities he could copy a Robo-Wong's Lightning Dance and fire that off in addition to everything else. Thats gremlin brilliance right there, and some filthy filthy amounts of damage!

[Vidd]

I was hoping to keep the Sparks+Lazarus thing under my hat until I had surprised someone with it but this faction's too crafty!  

Unfortunately, I haven't really thought of any great synergy beyond the original, very neat interaction; it seems most useful for an extra attack (mitigated by the fact there's no triggers, so things like Somer's Boomer aren't great). I'm wary of Metal Plating a master as well since they're not valid Wind 'Em Up targets for the next turn.

 

Anyway, am I correct in thinking Lazarus is the only out-of-faction construct available to Gremlins?

[Doctor Borris]

I don't have my books right now but I believe Freikorps Suit and Hanna have construct? Freikorps Suits with Glowy and Fast and a Trixi push.... my god.

I don't know as much about Hannah and what Cas she can synergies/steal with in gremlins. Trixi and Baby Zoraida I guess?