New player starting Gremlins

[Vader2097]

Hi there,

I am a longtime wargamer from Germany but absolutely new to Malifaux. I fell in love with the crazy gremlins. I especially like alle the pigs. The pigapult is my personal favourite

I got the awesome Pigapult, some Piglets and Gracie for christmas and now I am looking to expand my Gremlin forces. I know that I need a master but I am not sure which one(s) to get first. Since I love pigs, Ulix seems to be the number one choice but I have read that Som'er and Ophelia seem to be the masters that are most recommended for starters. Are my christmas presents also useful with them? I am also a big fan of the Brewmaster, since I like his lifestyle*g* Mah Tucket and Wong also look awesome. Since I can´t afford all of them, which ones do you recommend and what non master boxes do you suggest as good add ons to a Gremlin force? Slop Haulers are mentioned very often and Burt Jebsen is often mentioned in the same breath as Gracie. There are other models that I do like very much (Hog Whisperer, Merris LaCroix, Warpig, Whiskey Golem, Rooster Riders, Sammy LaCroix, Goblin Taxidermists and Stuffed Piglets) but I am not able to decide which ones are the most useful in the beginning.

 

Greetings Vader

 

[tmod]

Som'er, Ophelia and Wong are very solid starter boxes, leaving you with several models useful across masters. Mah contains Trixiebelle, but the rest of the box is less universally useful. Old Major from Ulix is also solid, but wild boars are more niche. Somer is a good hog-master, so I'd get him and the one you prefer the aesthetically of Ophelia/Wong. Otherwise, Slop Haulers are great, so is Merris and Sammy (and rooster riders when they get released!). Not having too much choice (analysis parslysis) can be a good thing in the beginning, so I wouldn't advise getting more than a few masters and some extras from the outset...

Oh, and the Pigapult has its uses with all masters, piglets are useful with Lenny (from the Bayou Boss box set), and Gracie is all round good as well (and combos well with Lenny as well)...

[daniello_s]

When you get Mah's box you can always use Bushwackers as regular Gremlins

[Dogmantra]

If you love pigs and want to play Ulix, get Ulix as your first master. While Som'er and Ophelia get you some nice models that you can use everywhere in Gremlins, Ulix relies a bit less on them and you don't see them as often in Ulix crews. And the fact he's a little less straightforward than Ophelia shouldn't matter for you since you have a lot of experience playing wargames.

If you'd like a more versatile starting box, then Som'er and Ophelia are probably the way to go, but honestly I'd go straight for what you love and it's not like you can't use pigs with other Gremlin masters (particularly Som'er who can control them to a lesser extent, and Mah who can buff their melee stats). If you really want to get into Gremlins you will end up grabbing their boxes at some point, even if you never want to play the Master (I never play Ophelia, but the rest of her box gets a lot of mileage).

As a second buy, Slop Haulers all the way. Particularly if you'll be playing Ulix as a summoner - your models take quite a bit of damage to summon, and a Slop Hauler can counteract that pretty well with their absurd amounts of healing. They're also fairly solid combat models with decent melee and ranged attacks, so they're just all round useful.

Burt is a good choice as well, for any Gremlin crew and is great for a starter too because he just comes on his own, you don't need an expensive crew box just for one model. He's a hard hitter who excels at melee and has decent ranged attacks too. Plus some synergy with pigs.

For the other models, Merris, Sammy and a War Pig would be my first choices to add, but the great thing about Gremlins is that nearly all of the faction works just fine with any master and with any other models, so feel free to pick based on what you think is cool and then once you're more familiar with the game, to specifically target weaknesses in your collection.

[D6Damager]

Ulix is great for all things pigs. He can summon, heal, and position them all by himself. All pigs can do work under him. If he brings the Pigapult, its probably more for positioning rather than a damage dealer.

Somer + Lenny + Slop Hauler runs the Pigapult the best as a damage dealer in a summoning style crew. You don't necessarily want/need/have room for Lenny in a Ulix crew.

Wong loves Gracie & Burt.

The Sow and her 'smell fear' ability can combo well off of Brewmaster and Zoraida. The model is releasing soon.

Mah can be OK with pigs, but doesn't really do anything for them other than what Chores will bring to the table so you will need additional support like a Hog Whisperer or maybe using a Taxidermist or Sammy to bring stuffed piglets into play. Gracie and Sow would be good beaters in a Mah list although Francois or Mancha Rojoa is probably more effective.

Ophelia does nothing for pigs and you're probably better off taking Kin models + Lenny + Slop Hauler. Although there are some movement shenanigans to be had with Gracie + Saddle to increase Ophelia or Francois' threat range.

 

 

 

[Vader2097]

Thanks for all the advice My conclussion would be that Ulix and Som'er are the best masters to use with pigs, especially the Pigapult. I generally have the problem that I like the whole Gremlin product line. At some point, I definetly will own all of them Therefore I need a little guidance to get stuff first that is better for beginners. Som'er, Ophelia and Wong seem to be the beginner masters. That leaves me with four masters to choose from. Do you think that I should buy more than two masters in the beginning?

If I only choose two masters, muy purchase list would look like this:

Som'er, Ulix, Slop Haulers, Burt Jebsen, War Pig, Merris and Sammy LaCroix

Does this look like a solid starting force?

Edited March 2, 2016 by Vader2097
Had Slop Haulers in one sentence two times.

[D6Damager]

18 hours ago, Vader2097 said:

Thanks for all the advice My conclussion would be that Ulix and Som'er are the best masters to use with pigs, especially the Pigapult. I generally have the problem that I like the whole Gremlin product line. At some point, I definetly will own all of them Therefore I need a little guidance to get stuff first that is better for beginners. Som'er, Ophelia and Wong seem to be the beginner masters. That leaves me with four masters to choose from. Do you think that I should buy more than two masters in the beginning?

If I only choose two masters, muy purchase list would look like this:

Som'er, Ulix, Slop Haulers, Burt Jebsen, Slop Haulers, War Pig, Merris and Sammy LaCroix

Does this look like a solid starting force?

For Ulix, also pick up 2 boxes of piglets.

For Somer, pick up at least one extra box of bayou gremlins.

[Math Mathonwy]

23 minutes ago, D6Damager said:

For Ulix, also pick up 2 boxes of piglets.

For Somer, pick up at least one extra box of bayou gremlins.

Note that he already had a box of Piglets and Gracie. Also, if playing Pigs with Somer, you don't necessarily need the extra Bayou Gremlins straight away.

I would consider a Hog Whisperer. He comes with an extra Piglet, controls and boosts Pigs nicely and can hit like a truck in melee (try Focusing with him near Lenny).

[Dogmantra]

I actually don't think you need the extra bayou gremlins at all - four is generally enough unless you're summoning or doing weird spam crews.

[Vader2097]

On 1.3.2016 at 3:03 PM, Math Mathonwy said:

Note that he already had a box of Piglets and Gracie. Also, if playing Pigs with Somer, you don't necessarily need the extra Bayou Gremlins straight away.

I would consider a Hog Whisperer. He comes with an extra Piglet, controls and boosts Pigs nicely and can hit like a truck in melee (try Focusing with him near Lenny).

Hog Whisperer sounds good. I also like the miniature very much Maybe I can fit him into my budget.

I think I will not buy more Piglets and Bayou Gremlins at the beginning. They will have to wait until I feel the need of having more of them

[Math Mathonwy]

Old Major from the Ulix box can utilize the Saddle and Sammy can take Encouragement. Somer can ride in the Saddle, in style, while throwing out Bigger Hat and thus discarding both players' hands. Then he can use Encouragement to get positives to his attack flips and annihilate everyone. Oh, and Old Major gets Reactivate since the opponent has no cards in hand.

[Math Mathonwy]

Got interrupted. To continue - just the mental image is awesome. Imagine, Somer, riding on top of this giant hog, shouting at Nicodem "Who has the biggest hat? I have! Your hat is puny! Let's see you try and raise something from the dead will we! Here's some corpses for you!" *BOOM* *BOOM* With a diminutive Gremlin Voodoo witch cackling in the background.

And a confused looking Nico who is out of cards and can't do anything reliably anymore.

[Vader2097]

The Som'er-Old Mayor-Combo sounds awesome. I will definetly try it in the future

Today I placed my order. It included Som'er, Ulix, Hog Whisperer, Slop Haulers, Burt Jebsen, War Pig, Merris and Sammy LaCroix. I am absolutey excited to play

[daniello_s]

1 hour ago, Vader2097 said:

The Som'er-Old Mayor-Combo sounds awesome. I will definetly try it in the future

 

Unless you face Levi who will 'disappear' before oyu hit him with Bigger Hat...