Ulix. What to use?

[thickgiraffe]

Hey guys. I realise that there are various posts giving people's views on ulix but as I am new to malifaux as a whole but really want to get ulix when he comes out over here I was wondering what people would use in a 50ss crew with him as master. Hopefully I will have a bit more experience with the game before he's released. I really like pigs in my lists so ulix just makes sense.

 

Thanks

[Dogmantra]

I tend to pick Ulix when I'm looking to play a summoner, so my crews always have a 50mm pig to start from, and that's normally Old Major because his abilities make him a useful addition to a crew even if he's not on thw front line. A Slop Hauler is a given for summoning, and Penelope brings a lot to the table for only 2ss. Then a bunch of piglets and maybe a war pig or the sow or gracie. Any spare stones go on models good for the scheme pool (e.g. Merris for plant explosives).

I always make sure to take Corn Husks, which lets piglets take (1) interacts as (0) actions, making them even better at distract and cursed object, as well as letting you drop three markers and summon a warpig turn 1.

[Ludvig]

There is a really short and obvious answer to this question... One word, it starts with a P- and ends with -igs!

(My heartfelt apoligies, I couldn't help myself!)

[thickgiraffe]

I had to laugh at that. Obviously I want to put pigs in. I also want to spawn them everywhere if I can. What I should perhaps have said was are there any other gremlins worth taking with him to help in this? I usually assume slop haulers and lenny based on what little I know so far.

[Omenbringer]

Hog Whisperers can be good for handing out Reactivate to those Piggies as well as providing some more movement shenanigans via Soeey!. Sammy Lacroix could be worthwhile to hold one of Ulix Upgrades and also provide some Stuffed Piglet summoning (suit dependent though the material component is enemy Scheme markers so that is a plus). A Gremlin Taxidermist might also be worth a look for providing Flight for the Piggies and also Stuffed Piglet summoning.

Other than those, Ulix seems pretty self sufficient without many or any other gremlin's.

[thickgiraffe]

Thanks that's a big help. I already have a hog whisperer and Sammy is on the way so that's good. Just need to wait for a taxidermist.

[szendroib]

Note that I havent played Ulix yet. But I never leave home without Burt Jebsen. And he has great synergy with pigs (granting thrm movement). Ride to battle on Pig than pull in 3 more with built in trigger.

 

[thickgiraffe]

I picked Burt up the other day and he seems useful but I just can't get past looking at him and thinking he is the mask with a mullet lol

[AverageGatsby]

Ulix is one of my favorite masters and I usually build him with some personal auto includes for most games. This being said, the great thing about malifaux is that schemes and starts will add variety to each game and when you do play him you will discover what you like and what you love to use  

I always start with corn husks on old major; he's height three which extends corn husks range so far and corn husks is AMAZING. I tend to summon more with Ulix so husbandry is a must. With corn husks out, getting 3 scheme markers within 4" is trivial and takes 1 and a half piglet activations to get a free 9 pt war pig, so I never hire one. (Merris Lacroix is great at placing markers for this, just don't call her a pig, she's only a bit pudgy)

I've never used Lenny as I don't have the model but I'd say go for it! The sow can be fun, at least one slop hauler is probably a must, penelope's great. Not a personal fan of the boars in the box( but nothing a little McTavish magic can't fix) 

Find a playstyle that works for you. Hunting bow is fun, but don't lose your head trying to make a crazy snowball happen. Have fun with it!

 

[Satan's Sodomy Baby]

I seem to always go back to a standard few models.  In addition to Huntin Bow, Husbandry on Ulix, Old Major w/Saddle & Corn, The Sow, Slop Hauler, Ol' Cranky, Lenny w/ Love and Pet 

This leaves you with 6 SS.  Merris may jump in there depending on who I'm facing, maybe Burt but you'd have to shift things around

 

[Ryin]

I like to use Old Cranky and Merris for my triangle of bacon-y doom since I also play Ulix as a summoner. Merris helps keeps those pesky blasts from obliterating the farm and I just prefer Old Cranky to Penolope as I get enough movement from other things (like Old Major) to get the war pigs into chargin range. Not to mention that once you're tired of calling forth the pork, Merris can go run schemes pretty much by herself. I think Merris is just great anyway though.

I also like to bring the pigapult but I use it more for shipping my summoned piglets off to run interference. There's nothing like watching your opponent trying to spend 6ap worth of fast gunsmiths to try and kill a half dead paralyzed piglet because it's squatting a scheme marker.

Trixiebell also isn't a bad choice to help keep order. She can push friendly pigs around to where they need to be or turn an angry Misaki into a glorified scheme runner by showing her the goods! And that is not even mentioning Ill Omens

[Uruk]

Sorry but no one mentioned  Wild Boars, why?

[Dogmantra]

Wild Boars aren't bad at all, they just occupy this weird space between Piglets and War Pigs/Gracie/Old Major where you often want one of the larger pigs or piglet instead.

Their biggest issue is the lack of Pigcharge - immediately it makes them less threatening and personally I tend to go for pig lists when Cursed Object or Distract are in the pool, because you can charge as a (1) and hand off the condition as your next action, and obviously without Pigcharge, Wild Boars can't do that.

They also don't have a couple of the more powerful triggers that Piglets get (specifically Grab On - a 4 stone minion handing out slow is very nice)

Ml5 on a 6 stone minion isn't amazing (Moon Shinobis have the same, but they get the advantage of targeting Df or Wp, and can churn out ridiculous s thanks to being super drunk), and they suffer a lot from comparison to Rooster Riders who have two wounds less but a whole lot more utility and a lot more damage potential (Ml6, reckless, roostercharge, bayou two card and a Sh attack with dumb luck)

 

A rather nice use for Wild Boars though is with McTavish. They're Swampfiends with From the Shadows, so he can get some nice bonuses to his Sh very early from them, and the to attacks made off activation works nicely with Wrangle Critters.

[Uruk]

Brilliant explanation thanks mate

[Tiny]

If they were on a 50mm base they'd be a valid option as a cheap summoning node for piglets but 40mm base + whats explained above means they get passed over in ulix.

[Ryin]

yeah... They have like, all the WRONG kinds of things Ulix wants.

If you want them to benefit from their out of activation then you bring them in the ball, where they won't benefit from from the shadows as much. if they USE from the shadows, then they don't have anything around them to really herd them properly and they aren't big enough to summon off of.

I guess the idea is you could set them up like a chain or an advanced force, slightly ahead of your crew and use them to move Ulix up the table, but that's at the expense of leaving the rest of the ball behind. I'm sure there are ways to get creative with them, but in the usual two kinds of Ulix lists, they don't really have a good place. 

Though... now I kinda wanna try some things >.>

 

 

[Omenbringer]

On 12/26/2015 at 4:07 PM, Ryin said:

...if they USE from the shadows, then they don't have anything around them to really herd them properly...

This is probably their biggest downfall for me, they are sort of a confused model that is at odds with their options.

[daniello_s]

If only Ulix's box had regular Piglets instead of Wild Boars I would call it one of the best box sets in Malifaux

[Hateful Darkblack]

I played Ulix in a tournament this weekend and found a combination that I liked a lot.

I took Sammy and gave HER the Husbandry Upgrade, so she could do the Summoning, while Ulix acted as a frontline combat unit or scheme-runner as needed. If Assassinate isn't in the pool, I can kind of let Ulix live or die and not mind -- he ends up mostly providing archery and card support, and maybe one Shot-in-the-Rear a game to soften up my enemy's backline.

Then I take Aionus to speed up Sammy, drop off Scheme Markers for Call Forth The Pork, and rush up to act as a second line. Aionus is plenty scary and it's been working really well.

Then I take Old Major with Corn Husks, and another big pig to pull Ulix and generally make things go. And a Slop Hauler to heal up the summoning engine. (Incidentally, Aionus giving Slop Hauler Fast means the Hauler can make two Feed the Piggies in a turn, which is some amazing healing.)

[Math Mathonwy]

On ‎26‎.‎12‎.‎2015 at 11:07 PM, Ryin said:

if they USE from the shadows, then they don't have anything around them to really herd them properly and they aren't big enough to summon off of.

I don't really disagree with the main point (that Wild Boars are a bit lacking for Ulix) but do note that Penelope has Pork Whisper'n and From the Shadows.

[Frankiehats]

I believe the point of including the wild boars with Ulix is their out of activation positive twists sync perfectly with shot in the rear, Lenny can insure that ulix always has the ram to do it even.

 

I'm not saying its the best but there is built in synergy between them