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Big Hat Overview


Rufess

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I'm still trying to piece this crew together as a whole still, I think it's probably the most versatile keyword in the faction given how large Somers toolbox is. Great anti-scheme (lots of obeys makes opponent just undo their schemes). I could see some play with Wong and a Bokor too, since you can pressure their hand hard, plus obeys for more healing. 

Reckoning might be the only thing I would be hesitant in unless you accept giving up points on the strat. 

Somer was likely the most changed Bayou crew up until the very end of beta, and he had a rather tumultuous journey throughout. Criers used to be absolutely broken.

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I have no doubt that Big Hat has lots of toolbox models that can handle different scenarios, Obey and Lure had proved their value across the entire M2E period. While I am not sure if is Big Hat the most versatile keyword in the Faction. Being a bubble crew is really limiting the options of the crew. (my vote goes to Sooey&Pigs btw)

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I would also point out the often over looked ability of the Spit Hog - "Draw Their Attention" which (after this model does damage to an enemy with an attack action) allows a model in unlimited range and LoS of this model to take an interact action for the cost of a card. This is situational but can be surprisingly effective in a scheme heavy game.  

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I have not played the new Big Hats since i hate to play with proxies. That said i cant wait for georgy and olaf and the spith hog to arrive and get some games with big hat in. For me it is the most interesting looking keyword and i think it might also the one with the highest skill-cap. The options you have seem uncountable

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I have actually been on the fence with Ol' Cranky - he seems like a great pick up in Big Hat Crew especially for the plus flip on Initiative. But he is SUPER fragile with a df/wp of 4 and only 4 wounds. Even with Lenny nearby to bump the stats up to 5 each that is still far too easy to hit and even Hard To Kill only helps you not drop to a single hit - usually still dropping him in two. I see there are 3 things you are wanting from him (aside from the plus to initiative)

1. Shouting Orders - which allows friendly Big Hat models in his aura to discard a card to take the concentrate action as a bonus action. While it has a healthy 6" bubble to it and is front of card (so requires no action to activate it) I find this crew is super card hungry and while Georgy and Olaf's Who Runs Gremlin Town action has a smaller range and costs a 5+ to pull off it doesn't require a bunch of cards to be tossed (it does require careful timing to not take the 2 damage and can only affect minions though)

2. His Obey - while it is nice that it can be thrown at stat 7 it requires a Mask - and high Masks are very valuable to Som'er for summoning models.

3. His frantic search bonus action to try to get soulstones from corpse markers - my big worry about this is it has a tiny range of 2" and requires him to get into the thick of it (or at least be where the action just was) With a slow move of 4 and no movement tricks you will basically be spending one AP and his Bonus action just for the chance of a soulstone - and worst of all you don't get to keep the card. I suppose you could use BBB to try to set it up to guarantee the soulstone gain but thats way too many actions and soulstones to try to make it reliable.

 

He seems slightly over cost for a 4 wound model - and his actions seem to be similar to other model's we can take - or cost a valuable resource the leader needs. 

 

Again I said i'm on the fence - which means I haven't sent Ol' Cranky to Shady Pines Retirement Living or anything ... just curious to hear other people's experiences with him.

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  • 3 weeks later...

OK hi guys, time for me to get back onto the forums and tell you all about my new favorite crew! 

If you are into complex turns with a variety of options and no end to shenanigans that are bounce between busted and brilliant, this is the crew for you.

So quick things that make this crew work how its supposed to, or at least how i play it.

1. Bayou Gremlins. They are meant to die. I repeat, they are meant to die. I will almost always summon 3 on turn 1 with Somer because they are effectively cards in the bank for future turns. 

2. Pig Eating Grin. Nothing in the crew is more abusive than this ability. Summon 3 bayous into a beefy guy, use Make Me Proud to blow one up. It kills the other 2. Draw 3 cards, discard 3 cards. Georgy and Olaf Shoot that dude 3 times plus 2 damage from Make Me Proud. Very little lives through that, especially if you have Focus on G&O. 

3. Obey Saturation. You have criers, Cranky and usually Brin who can all force Obeys for relatively little resources, especially as you should be drawing cards pretty regularly to fill your hand back up. Criers can force Bayous to interact or if you have the mask, make Brin Calculate again. Brin doesn't care about markers for Pull the Strings cause Bayous are gonna blow up any damn way. Cranky is less reliable but its there. 

4. Mass focus. Sure G&O take 2 damage most of the time for this but you have a spit hog, you did summon a spit hog right? 

5. Flexibility. This crew can turn on a dime thanks to the variety of models that Somer can churn out. Need movement: Banjo. Need control: crier. Need a tank: Good Ol Boy. Need disposable road blocks: Bayous. 

Weaknesses:

1. Somer wants to play midfield.  You gotta play him cagey. Its ok though as usually there's so many bodies up the board they have to wade through the corpses of Bayous to get to him.

2. Blasts and Shockwaves. You really need to take 3-5 man groups with this crew where Somer and Lenny sort of make up the middle of a much larger fire team. Clumping everyone together is a good way to die quickly vs Sonnia or Raspy. Play smart and make your opponent have to choose where to apply pressure.

3. Specific cards. You gotta make sure you get the cards you need in hand. 7 SS is my minimum, Brin helps alleviate that some with Calculate and Reservoir.

 

OoK models for this crew: Not many honestly, you really need to play a lot of Big Hat to get value. That being said, this is the only crew I auto take Brin. Calculate + Bayou Two card just gets absurd as you tear through your deck. 

Gluttony: You make so many corpses thanks to dead Bayous. Punish your opponent by pushing them into Corpses and taking damage.

Emissary: This monster is just the best honestly. If you put a Ghillie suit on Lenny you can toss him up the board. Then he pushes 12. and suddenly he's threatening your opponent's support models. 

Rami: Sometimes you need models dead from very far away. 

Sammy: Just getting on this train, and haven't tried her too much yet but you can use ricochet triggers to give her fast and glowy plus draw MORE CARDS. Ranged injured is sweet for those Out of Activation attacks and turning enemy scheme markers into stuffed piglets that Somer can blow up from nearly anywhere on the board is real good. 

 

That's my quick run down of Somer. There's more, so much more to it but the bottom line is that his strengths are much greater than his weaknesses and in the hands of a player who can assess the board state mid game and make quick decisions to turn things around Big Hat is absolutely absurd. 

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Lovin' the input, guys. 

Som'er with my lovechild, but I very much struggle with the crew. I keep focusing on the negative aspects, of which I think there are a lot.

I feel like the weaknesses of the crew seem too easy for my opponent to capitalize on. But I'm more than willing to admit that I am being biased ;) 

 

What does your starting crew & turn 1 look like?

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Generally I start with:

Somer

Skeeters

Georgy & Olaf

Lenny

Brin

Cranky

and then I fill in from there depending on scheme pool. Lenny and Georgy are flex points, I usually take them but they can be subbed in for Emissary or another fast beater like Whiskey Golem or Mancha. 

Turn 1: Its so hard to say, as I don't always do the same things. USUALLY I will summon 2 or 3 bayous on turn 1 and then try to get everyone in position to score turn 2. Positioning is hugely important with this crew. Make sure you have everyone you need in Somer and Lenny's auras. I do a lot of move once and focus if I don't need to get too far up the board. 

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On 9/3/2019 at 9:16 PM, Mrbedlam said:

Generally I start with:

Somer

Skeeters

Georgy & Olaf

Lenny

Brin

Cranky

and then I fill in from there depending on scheme pool. Lenny and Georgy are flex points, I usually take them but they can be subbed in for Emissary or another fast beater like Whiskey Golem or Mancha. 

This is basically my core list of Somer too. For me Lenny is staple to the crew while Georgy and Cranky can be switch out. BBB is not necessary too but I only not to include him for a good reason.

As for beater OOK, I like First Mate and Emissary. Depends on the S&S I might want some mid-to-low level models that can go flank independently from the main crew. Rooster and Silurid are always my first consideration.

On 9/3/2019 at 9:16 PM, Mrbedlam said:

Turn 1: Its so hard to say, as I don't always do the same things. USUALLY I will summon 2 or 3 bayous on turn 1 and then try to get everyone in position to score turn 2. Positioning is hugely important with this crew. Make sure you have everyone you need in Somer and Lenny's auras. I do a lot of move once and focus if I don't need to get too far up the board. 

Basically Somer summons one minion + several Bayou Gremlins every turn. I love to have Banjonisto summoned at the 1st turn. His value is mainly on the ability instead of the action so summon sickness has no effect on their value.

From the 2nd turn onward it depends on how things going, but I would not feel right if I have less then 2 Good Ol' Boys on the board.

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2 hours ago, Rufess said:

This is basically my core list of Somer too. For me Lenny is staple to the crew while Georgy and Cranky can be switch out. BBB is not necessary too but I only not to include him for a good reason.

As for beater OOK, I like First Mate and Emissary. Depends on the S&S I might want some mid-to-low level models that can go flank independently from the main crew. Rooster and Silurid are always my first consideration.

Basically Somer summons one minion + several Bayou Gremlins every turn. I love to have Banjonisto summoned at the 1st turn. His value is mainly on the ability instead of the action so summon sickness has no effect on their value.

From the 2nd turn onward it depends on how things going, but I would not feel right if I have less then 2 Good Ol' Boys on the board.

Georgy is pretty necessary for pig eating grin as bayous just don't feel worth spending the card.  I also have no problem sending GoB out on their own as they are gonna survive. .

As far as Good Ol Boys in general, they are good but they are by no means necessary especially as they are a pretty expensive summon on their own. I only drop them in when there's a good scrap to be had and their inherent tankiness can win the day. OR when I feel cheeky and wanna have Sparks put Bombs in their belly.

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Recently had a game vs Yan Lo, and god I hate Manos. I struggled to tie him down due to the Leap action, and his range 2 melee. In return, he ties a lot of my own models down. This, and his Lantern of Souls to anti-demise me. Doesn't help that my opponent is a really good player :D 

Hell, even if I manage to kill him, Yan Lo will be able to bring him back.

Figured I'd try to pick up Twelve Cups of Coffee, and prevent him from leaping away. Not sure if it is enough, though. Got any tips?

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5 hours ago, GrumpyGrandpa said:

Recently had a game vs Yan Lo, and god I hate Manos. I struggled to tie him down due to the Leap action, and his range 2 melee. In return, he ties a lot of my own models down. This, and his Lantern of Souls to anti-demise me. Doesn't help that my opponent is a really good player :D 

Hell, even if I manage to kill him, Yan Lo will be able to bring him back.

Figured I'd try to pick up Twelve Cups of Coffee, and prevent him from leaping away. Not sure if it is enough, though. Got any tips?

Yan Lo is a really hard match up in general.  GoB with 12 cups might tie him down pretty well. Or a Crier. Either can be somewhat tanky. Overall vs Yan you gotta disrupt their plan as fast as possible, something Somer isn't the best at just because in general the keyword isn't fast. Another thought would be to surprise him, and go out of keyword. Have somer summon Bayou just to give him some bayou bash support and bring roosters and Emissary to get to his crew early

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  • 4 months later...

I've played 2 games in the past days. I haven't touched Big Hat since the launch of M3E (I've played them a lot in the beta, both closed and open). Some impressions I've had so far:

  • The crew is probably the most card hungry in the whole game, and by far. A lot of abilities that need to discard cards, so Big Brain Brin is almost mandatory for the Arcane Reservoir.
  • Even if BBB is a really must pick, calculate the possibilities is not as good as in other crews, since with Big Hat you'll be going through your whole deck almost every turn from turn 2, due to all the activations and the ability to cheat from the top of the deck. So take advantage of his Sharp Wit and Sober Up in enemy models, specially if they're close to Gremlin Crier (you'll put them in a :-flip to Wp).
  • Reckoning is a really no-go for Big Hat, unless you're willing to give your enemy 4 points. The crew doesn't have enough firepower to be really efficient in Reckoning.
  • There are schemes that are going to be almost impossible (Outflank) due to the bubble playstyle, so pick wisely.
  • There are some models that have almost nothing to do during their activations, some examples could be the Banjonistas or Old Cranky.
  • Out beater is Lenny, but you don't want to send it to fight other beaters, since he's the key to keep everyone alive. The other models that can put some damage are Georgy&Olaf, Som'er and the Good Ol' Boys, but they really need some support for Bayou Bash, so make sure you keep them all at least with a +1 before attacking.
  • Sometimes I feel like I don't want to even activate the Bayou Gremlins, so they won't get the high cards in their flips that could be used for the models that actually need them.
  • Old Cranky is overcosted with his current profile. That :ToS-Fast: action you'll be using it 3 turns only, due to lack of corpses in range in turn 1 and 2 (since he's slow and you don't wan't to bring him to the front). Equality of Fate would be way better on him. He's also too squishy, and his Obey is really situational since it requires the :mask. It would be better if he had something like "Command the Bayou" (Listen to Granpa!) and become something like the "Command the Elements" of Sandeep. If he gained Arcane Reservoir, it will reduce the need of having BBB.
  • Your opponent can really control you activation just by killing the small models that provide you the +1 bonus for Bayou Bash. For example, if you were planning on activating a Good Ol' Boy that is close to other 2 Big Hat models, your opponent could kill 1 or 2, or just move your Good Ol' Boy to make him not a viable activation (you don't want to attack with Stat 4), so a good opponent would try to deny you like that.
  • Don't send you beater after the enemy beaters, the Big Hat ones are worse. Just try to keep the enemy beaters busy killing your smaller models, while you eliminate their support models and go for the points.
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I do agree and share same feeling to most of your point, but I would like to add on some thought:

On 2/8/2020 at 3:37 AM, ShinChan said:

Even if BBB is a really must pick, calculate the possibilities is not as good as in other crews, since with Big Hat you'll be going through your whole deck almost every turn from turn 2, due to all the activations and the ability to cheat from the top of the deck. So take advantage of his Sharp Wit and Sober Up in enemy models, specially if they're close to Gremlin Crier (you'll put them in a :-flip to Wp).

Don't forget we have good amount of obey. Crier can always obey BBB with a :mask7+ to calculate the possibilities outside his activation if needed. This and the following point are the reasons I found that Big Hat is the best keyword to make use (or abuse of) BBB.

On 2/8/2020 at 3:37 AM, ShinChan said:

Sometimes I feel like I don't want to even activate the Bayou Gremlins, so they won't get the high cards in their flips that could be used for the models that actually need them.

I believe cycling the deck is a hidden trick of the game. With BBB, the number of Bayou Gremlins and Bayou 2 Cards you can easily go through the whole deck, and maybe even twice. Thus your flip should be closer to the average than the opponent. Which means you can worry less about the luck and more smoothly to execute your plan.

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