Start with Gremlins

[hydrias]

Hello guys,

(At first, sorry for my bad english)

I have a question and I hope you can help me. I want to start with Malifaux and Im looking at the Gremlins (or guild) but I have no idea how to start. 8 diffrent 'startersets' are too much for the start, but I want a good 50ss crew to learn the game. So, here is my question.

I wanna start with Ophelia, which are must haves for her? What runs good with her? No gos? Or even better, has anyone a 50ss list for me?

 

Or is Ophelia not good for the beginning?

The same question is for perdita, if anyone can help me here so I only have one question topic.

Thanks a lot and again sorry for my bad english but I dont know a single Malifaux Forum in my own language

[Wolfpact]

Perdita is rather beginner-friendly, for what that's worth.

As for Ophelia, my regular opponent plays Gremlins but doesn't own her. But he swears by Burt Jebsen and Gracie, and one does not play Gremlins without having Slop Haulers available.

[Dogmantra]

Ophelia is a fine master to start with, and her box has some pretty useful models that you'll get use out of in any Gremlin crew. She's quite straightforward: she shoots things. Rami snipes, Pere Ravage blows himself up, Francois hits with his sword and Raphael survives pretty well.

Generally the best first buy beyond your first crew box is a box of Slop Haulers. They're great healers which helps to balance out the damage you deal to yourself, but they are also quite good fighters in both melee and at range. Once you have lots of models you will often only bring one, but you get two in a box and that can be really helpful to fill out a crew when you don't have that many models to choose from because they're so versatile.

Another great model to pick up is Merris LaCroix. She is a gremlin strapped to a rocket which is amazing already. But one thing that Ophelia's box is missing is a really good dedicated "scheme runner" (which is a model that focuses on completing objectives like dropping scheme markers rather than killing). Merris is arguably one of the best scheme runners in the game, she's super fast and can fly over terrain.

Those two will bring you to 48 Soulstones if you use every model you have with no upgrades, so you can drop one model for some upgrades if you want. Dirty Cheater is a fantastic upgrade and it works really well on any of Ophelia's box. Stilts is also really fantastic for Francois because it gives him an extra line of defense.

One thing you would be lacking with these purchases are a decent number of minions. All you'd have would be the two Slop Haulers and there are a few schemes that require you to have Minions. I'd recommend adding either Bayou Gremlins or Lightning Bugs to your collection because both are very strong useful minions. However, if you can afford to I'd suggest instead of buying them separately to get the Bayou Boss box (for Bayou Gremlins) or Explosive Solutions (for Lightning Bugs) because you also get a Master, their Totem and another model you can't get elsewhere in those boxes and they're all quite useful.

That would leave you with a pretty solid little collection that should be able to cover most schemes and strategies quite well. From there, Burt Jebsen is probably your next bet. He's normally an earlier purchase because he's so good, but Raphael and Francois can fill similar roles.

[Four_N_Six]

Ophelia and Perdita are (obviously) pretty similar.  So I wouldn't base your decision on them, but rather what else in the faction do you like?  If you like Sky Pirates, people getting hammered, and big hats, then go with Ophelia.  If you like super boring rules, laws, and cowboys, go with Guild.  Not my fault if you make the wrong call, but hey, to each their own.

The thing about Malifaux is that it's cheap to get in to.  The important words in that sentence are "get in to."  Eventually what's going to happen is you'll discover you really like the game, and you'll want another master.  And another.  And another.  Then before you know it your wife is complaining about all the little "toys" on the table that you're in the middle of painting and you're trying to convince her that you need to have a hobby.

Anybody?  Just me on that one?

Anyways, my overall point is that eventually you'll want to get further into a faction.  Having a starting master is a great idea, but when you're trying to decide between two starting masters from different factions, then what you should really be considering is what else in that faction you like.  If you end up getting Ophelia, but have 0% interest in any of our other masters, then she's definitely the wrong choice to go with.

That being said, Ophelia is a great starting box for Gremlins.  I'm not a particularly large fan of her, especially after the Lenny change, but her crew box has a lot of really solid models that work well in other crews.  Good supplements for her box are Burt Jebsen and Gracie, Slop Haulers, Merris LaCroix for scheme running.  I'm a very large fan of Sammy LaCroix, though she doesn't particularly run well with Ophelia (Sammy can use a master's upgrades, but Ophelia tends to actually need them herself).

Eventually you'll want other crew boxes for certain models even if you don't find much interest in the masters.  You CAN find individual models online, but I tend to prefer supporting Wyrd (whether they actually need the assist or not) and my local game stores by buying the full boxes.  Fingers is a great scheme runner from Brewmaster's box, and a lot of people like Trixiebelle (I like the model but hardly ever use her anymore).  I also really like my Sky Pirates in other crews, and the First Mate is almost always there somewhere.

 

I also feel like I should mention that I'm mostly kidding with the Guild thing.  Not my type of faction, but it's a personal choice.  If you prefer Guild then by all means go with Guild.

[Goopy]

Ophelia is a great starting master. Before the Lenny change (not giving rams to masters) I would suggest buying the Somm'er and Ophelia boxes together and just going from there. 

Now, if you get the Ophelia box, I would also get slop haulers, Merris, and Burt. That gives you enough play to switch things up but really learn Ophelia's style. Plus if you get any other masters, you won't have to re-buy any models. 

[Math Mathonwy]

I think that Lenny is still a solid choice for Ophelia but that's probably because I like Young LaCroix. Focus with them next to Lenny and the opponent will have real trouble with them simply due to their outrageous damage potential. Lenny also works nicely for Raphael and Rami. And Bayou Gremlins are always useful so getting the Ophelia box, the Somer box and Slop Haulers is still a very valid way to start with the Gremlins.

Merris, Sammy LaCroix (she can order Ophelia to shoot using My Threatening Gun as her positive twist cancels out the negative and getting a Master AP for a (0)Action on a Henchman is nice to say the least), and Gracie are all good choices. I find Burt a bit superfluous as Ophelia box has enough of that sort of model (yeah yeah, Burt is the bestest there is but still, Raphael and Francois are very nice).

[codingCaptor]

Personally, my "introduction to gremlins" purchase list is Ophelia's Box, Somer's Box, and a pack of Slop Haulers.    It gives you the flexibility to run either Somer or Ophelia in a variety of differing playstyles and you'll be able to play at a fairly competitive level.     The total price point will come in at just under $100, which is pretty good for the variety of different crews you'll be able to put on the table (at least, compared to other wargames)

From there, almost any gremlins model you can purchase will be perfectly fieldable in either one of those crews.   Somer has a plethora of pig related abilities, and Ophelia plays quite well with most of the elite models in our faction.     Heck, if you want to get into other masters, most of the models in those boxes play really well with Mah Tucket, Wong, or Zipp.   So you'll be looking good no matter where you decide to go in the faction.

I would, however, recommend staying away from Zoraida, Brewmaster, and Ulix for the time being, as those masters require a variety of models that don't necessarily synergize as well with the rest of the gremlins faction.   They're good, don't get me wrong, it's just that the cost of entry to field an effective crew with them is higher from the raw $$$ standpoint.

[hydrias]

Thank you guys! These helps me a lot!

[-Loki-]

7 hours ago, codingCaptor said:

Personally, my "introduction to gremlins" purchase list is Ophelia's Box, Somer's Box, and a pack of Slop Haulers.

Honestly if anyone asks me how to start Gremlins this is what I'd recommend. Bayou Boss gives you the 'versatile' master and his totems, a great henchman, and 4 Bayou Gremlins which are pretty much staples. The Kin gets you the 'shooty' master and her totems (which can double as more Bayou Gremlins in a pinch for So'mer), a fantastic henchman, and three good enforcers. Add Slop Haulers and you've got a bunch of models you'll be using regularly.

[daniello_s]

1 hour ago, -Loki- said:

Honestly if anyone asks me how to start Gremlins this is what I'd recommend. Bayou Boss gives you the 'versatile' master and his totems, a great henchman, and 4 Bayou Gremlins which are pretty much staples. The Kin gets you the 'shooty' master and her totems (which can double as more Bayou Gremlins in a pinch for So'mer), a fantastic henchman, and three good enforcers. Add Slop Haulers and you've got a bunch of models you'll be using regularly.

Who is this fantastic henchman in that box???

[Math Mathonwy]

2 minutes ago, daniello_s said:

Who is this fantastic henchman in that box???

Francois? ...this seems like a trick question somehow?

[the tick]

I got into Gremlins (and Malifaux in general) with Ulix. I haven't expanded to other masters yet but I'll echo what one comment said about Ulix. He does require quite a few models (mostly pigs) to play effectively: at least 2 boxes of piglets, war pig, maybe Gracie or The Sow. You might end up using a lot of these pigs with other Gremlin masters, but his niche is pretty specific. Having said that he is a TON of fun. My local meta has quite a few people that regularly kick my teeth in with WP duels (which pigs are NOT going to win......EVER!!) but a board full of pigs is just a beautiful, hilarious sight to behold. Fun is usually had by all.

[Four_N_Six]

Ulix is the Collodi of Gremlins.  He's with us and fits in theme, but really he's his own faction.  He doesn't typically want the same things our other masters want in a crew.

[daniello_s]

8 hours ago, Math Mathonwy said:

Francois? ...this seems like a trick question somehow?

Isn't he in The Kin box? -Loki- was talking about The Bayou Boss box.

[Math Mathonwy]

2 minutes ago, daniello_s said:

Isn't he in The Kin box? -Loki- was talking about The Bayou Boss box.

Read the part you quote again.

Edit: Oh, wait, you bolded the wrong occurrence of Henchman in that quote of yours. "Fantastic Henchman" is Francois but "great Henchman" should be "great Enforcer", yes referring to Lenny in Somer's box quite obviously.

[Dogmantra]

1 minute ago, daniello_s said:

Isn't he in The Kin box? -Loki- was talking about The Bayou Boss box.

The bit you quoted talks about both of em. You ended up bolding the word "henchman" from the bit talking about the Kin. But you are totally right to point out Lenny is an Enforcer, not a Henchman.

[Math Mathonwy]

Great minds!

[Dogmantra]

2 hours ago, the tick said:

 My local meta has quite a few people that regularly kick my teeth in with WP duels (which pigs are NOT going to win......EVER!!) but a board full of pigs is just a beautiful, hilarious sight to behold.

Oh, I actually sometimes find that I can do ok with piggies vs Wp duels if I'm expecting it. Most big pigs have pretty good Wp (Gracie in particular) and if you bring Liquid Bravery you can bring piglets up to a respectable 5Wp which isn't amazing but it's pretty average and has been the difference between getting trounced and having a chance for me.

[-Loki-]

Yeah sorry. I keep thinking Lenny is a henchman.

[daniello_s]

4 hours ago, Dogmantra said:

The bit you quoted talks about both of em. You ended up bolding the word "henchman" from the bit talking about the Kin. But you are totally right to point out Lenny is an Enforcer, not a Henchman.

Yeah I was totally confused but everything is sorted out now