Gremlin Tactics for the New and the Frustrated

[cryptfeller]

Good point about nigh-immediate re-stampeding. There's all sorts of details to consider with the pig, but I'm willing to put up with it all if I can just have something to eat a few Ortegas when I'm stuck with a Slaughter mission or whatever it's called.

It wasn't Rasputina who murdered my Silurids, but all of the exploding Garmins and the ice elemental guy. I Hexed away the elemental's armor, jumped it with my 3 Silurids, and killed it. But it blew up, hurting the Silurids pretty badly, and also killed a Garmin. Which then also blew up, and took out two Silurid. Juju had already been killed once right away, and was killed a turn later immediately after re-appearing. Which left Zoraida by herself against and untouched Raputina and two more Garmin. That was my first game though, so I know not to get too close to explode-on-death models now. Or at least to jump back with each Silurid after attacking, heh.

And thanks to last night's game, I also know not to choose Perdita for kidnapping schemes, or to choose the rubble special terrain if I ever want Juju to make it into close combat with a team of manaical pistoleros. :ranged

But this is a Gremlin thread, so enough of that. Thanks for all of the porcine insight.

[Gremlin Swarm]

Oink!

Another good reason to keep the Warpig 'behaving itself' (i.e.--Hex away Set 'Er Off right away) is to allow you to have it Eat Anything when you're facing Scavengers and Graverobbers. It's a great way to deny them all those annoyingly useful counters.

I lost a game to Samus and co. simply because he was able to bring back several minions.

[ispep]

Oink!

Another good reason to keep the Warpig 'behaving itself' (i.e.--Hex away Set 'Er Off right away) is to allow you to have it Eat Anything when you're facing Scavengers and Graverobbers. It's a great way to deny them all those annoyingly useful counters.

I lost a game to Samus and co. simply because he was able to bring back several minions.

Seamus' summoning shouldn't be too much of a concern, he can only summon one belle a turn, and needs a 10+ :crows to get it off.

[Gremlin Swarm]

It's not too bad in any given turn, but when he's able to keep it up for a multiple turns (especially later in the game), it can be a real pain. Even more so when it let's him bring back the Belles as quickly as you can put them down.

Then there's Nicodemus with his Arise. Granted, the zombies he makes are pretty weak by themselves, but he could bring up a whole load of them very quickly, if there are enough corpse counters around.

Either way, having something to deny an opponent opportunities like that (like having your Warpig Eat Anything to get rid of the tokens) is always good.

[Vidd]

Quick question from a newbie.

What's the best things to add to the Som'er Teeth Jones box?

I believe that the only new things that can be added are piglets and the Hog Whisperer?

I see the Errata changed the Mosquito from "Gremlin" to "Vermin" so Som'er Teeth Jones can't benefit from Survival of the Fittest but can damage it using Pull My Finger.

[Justin]

Quick question from a newbie.

What's the best things to add to the Som'er Teeth Jones box?

I believe that the only new things that can be added are piglets and the Hog Whisperer?

I see the Errata changed the Mosquito from "Gremlin" to "Vermin" so Som'er Teeth Jones can't benefit from Survival of the Fittest but can damage it using Pull My Finger.

Even with that change, they are still the most useful model in the gremlin list.

Once you have the box set I would add:

1 x hog whisperer

1 x blister of piglets

4 x mosquitoes

Once you have those things, you'll have a pretty complete list. If you want to play larger games/change up your playstyle, and once you get used to all that stuff above, you may want to add:

1 x warpig (two of these on the table is awesome)

1 x gremlin blister (for get yer bro shenanigans in larger games)

You could also add another blister of piglets if you want, but I haven't done that yet, personally.

[Gremlin Swarm]

I'd go with Lalo's advice for additions, but if you think you might want to go hog-wild (pun intended) with your regular Gremlins, you might want to get 2 extra Gremlin blisters, rather than one. (I do the swarm 'o Gremlins crew fairly often (as if you couldn't tell), and it works pretty well for me.)

If you're more likely to use the pigs more often, you probably won't need that many extra Gremlins, so one extra blister should do you.

The second piglet blister might be good if you think you'll be doing Som'er's Come and Get It a lot.

You might even want to get a third Warpig, if you think you'll be doing really big games (or you just want to go utterly bananas with them). If not, then 2 should be plenty, since they do cost 8ss to deploy.

Edited June 26, 2010 by Gremlin Swarm

[Omenbringer]

Agree and disagree with Lalo's recomendation above. I would pickup 2 skeeters vice the 4 he suggests and in place grab another blister of Gremlins to start. After that I would add another Hog Whisperer before another Warpig then the other 2 skeeters.

[chrisbatson]

so a few questions....I've got in 12 games with my crew and have only managed to win a single game.

Some of the strategies mention multiple healing flips with take a swig in a turn. How is this possible?

I still don't understand how skeeters are any good at all. Help me to understand how they are worth it.

[Justin]

so a few questions....I've got in 12 games with my crew and have only managed to win a single game.

Some of the strategies mention multiple healing flips with take a swig in a turn. How is this possible?

I still don't understand how skeeters are any good at all. Help me to understand how they are worth it.

Well, take a swig is a 1 action, and sommer has 3 AP, so he could potentially make three take a swig actions in one turn. (although he has to take a wound to use all 3 AP instead of just 2)

As for skeeters, alright.

They are defense 7, will power 6 so they can be very hard to kill. They start with three wounds but with take a swig you can get them up to 6, so they are even harder to kill. They walk 10 inches (potentially 20 inches in a turn with their 2 AP) and fly over terrain, making them virtually the most fast and most maneuverable models in the game.

You can have four of them and they all can be linked to Sommer as his totem, meaning they can cast any of his spells. So, with a 10 they can use pull my finger and do 2 damage to all models within 3 inches. This is an incredibly effective attack since it can not be resisted and may affect multiple enemy models. And on an 8 they can use gremlins luck and drain your opponent's control hand, which should be done as early in the turn as possible. They can also souey and reposition your pigs.

Finally, they are all companioned to sommer so you can potentially activate all four at once, fly up to an enemy who is up to 13" away, pull my finger with all four of them, and do 8 wounds which can not be avoided in any way. This tactic is less likely to pull off, and I wouldn't always recommend it because to summon another mosquito with larvae, you need a mosquito, so you risk losing all of them which means you would also lose your ability to make them. But the potential is there.

[chrisbatson]

I guess I need to read my card better. I thought for sure take a swig was a 0 action so it could only be taken 1x per turn. Doing it multiple times will make a BIG difference as it will help me to help up the skeeters.

That was the part I was missing. I couldn't even come close to keeping up with the healing.

[Omenbringer]

Finally, they are all companioned to sommer so you can potentially activate all four at once, fly up to an enemy who is up to 13" away, pull my finger with all four of them, and do 8 wounds which can not be avoided in any way. This tactic is less likely to pull off, and I wouldn't always recommend it because to summon another mosquito with larvae, you need a mosquito, so you risk losing all of them which means you would also lose your ability to make them. But the potential is there.

One word of warning on this, Skeeters are not immune to the Damage from "Pull my Finger" like they were in the book before the errata (the reason is they no longer have the gremlin characteristic) so positioning is very important with the stank attack.

Lalo loves the Skeeters and uses them a lot more offensively then I do, I prefer the Pig swarm and Gremlin gun line myself and mainly use Skeeters for the pig boomerang. What would really help though is if you post your crew composition so we can offer a few tweaks.

Please post if your Som'er card has "Take a Swig" as a 0 Action and also when you purchased him. I am really hoping you misread it and that it wasn't a fix from the new errata that hasn't been released yet.

[Justin]

One word of warning on this, Skeeters are not immune to the Damage from "Pull my Finger" like they were in the book before the errata (the reason is they no longer have the gremlin characteristic) so positioning is very important with the stank attack.

Lalo loves the Skeeters and uses them a lot more offensively then I do, I prefer the Pig swarm and Gremlin gun line myself and mainly use Skeeters for the pig boomerang. What would really help though is if you post your crew composition so we can offer a few tweaks.

Please post if your Som'er card has "Take a Swig" as a 0 Action and also when you purchased him. I am really hoping you misread it and that it wasn't a fix from the new errata that hasn't been released yet.

Yeah, skeeters hitting themselves is definitely something to watch out for.

I seriously doubt they errata-ed take a swig. I don't think I've ever heard anyone complain about gremlins being broken. But, you know, fingers crossed.

[Omenbringer]

Som'er and the Gremlins are a lot more powerful then most give them credit for and the summoning-healing shenanigans are a very large part of that. If they did limit it I would hope we would get something back (Normal Control Hand at the least).

[chrisbatson]

What about this: Jones casts get yer bother, and then heals up the gremlin. 4 skeeters attack your pig and all heal up hopefully to just -1Wd. Pig eats summoned gremlin, draw 2 cards and heal back up pig to full with eat your fill.

[Gremlin Swarm]

The big flaw I can see with the skeeter/pig/Gremlin frenzy maneuver is that it would occupy a big chunk of your crew for at least one turn, and there are only a few turns to achieve objectives.

That said, it's an interesting idea....

[Justin]

What about this: Jones casts get yer bother, and then heals up the gremlin. 4 skeeters attack your pig and all heal up hopefully to just -1Wd. Pig eats summoned gremlin, draw 2 cards and heal back up pig to full with eat your fill.

That could work.

You'll just need cards to cheat to actually do damage to the pig with the mosquitoes.

[tetrisphreak]

A.) Why waste an action w/ jones healing the gremlin? A 2-wound gremlin will be easier for the pig to kill and eat.

B.) Not the rules forum, but since we're all gremlin players i figure this question will work here. If you have a herd of stampeding pigs/piglets, and activate pork whisper'n & sooey with the hog whisperer or somer teeth, when they come back do they end the stampede at the end of their push, or after they activate and pigcharge once? I don't have my rulebook/cards with me here at work and I just had the idea when i read someone's post referencing the pig boomerang.

[Justin]

A.) Why waste an action w/ jones healing the gremlin? A 2-wound gremlin will be easier for the pig to kill and eat.

B.) Not the rules forum, but since we're all gremlin players i figure this question will work here. If you have a herd of stampeding pigs/piglets, and activate pork whisper'n & sooey with the hog whisperer or somer teeth, when they come back do they end the stampede at the end of their push, or after they activate and pigcharge once? I don't have my rulebook/cards with me here at work and I just had the idea when i read someone's post referencing the pig boomerang.

The pig would get one pig charge off before calming down, as the pig is not taking an action during souey.

[chrisbatson]

A.) Why waste an action w/ jones healing the gremlin? A 2-wound gremlin will be easier for the pig to kill and eat.

B.) Not the rules forum, but since we're all gremlin players i figure this question will work here. If you have a herd of stampeding pigs/piglets, and activate pork whisper'n & sooey with the hog whisperer or somer teeth, when they come back do they end the stampede at the end of their push, or after they activate and pigcharge once? I don't have my rulebook/cards with me here at work and I just had the idea when i read someone's post referencing the pig boomerang.

I now have two wounded gremlins, why not walk up and heal one? Sure I take a wound too, but I like to have all my boys at full health. That gives me original back to full health and new one is food.

[Vidd]

I played my third game this week just with the Som'er Teeth Jones starter box and it was my third loss in a row. :bigok:

Just by coincidence, they've all been against Seamus. One problem, apart from his handgun, is that he's free to use nearly all of the corpse counters lying around since only the Warpig can get them. That will probably only get worse in larger games.

Anyway, I've just got a blister of Pigs, a Hog Whisperer and two Mosquitoes based on a mixture of the suggestions earlier in the thread.

Is there anything decent I can do with these to turn my luck around?

Also, could anyone explain how A Gremlin's Luck works and how it should be used?

Edited July 22, 2010 by Vidd

[Justin]

I played my third game this week just with the Som'er Teeth Jones starter box and it was my third loss in a row. :bigok:

Just by coincidence, they've all been against Seamus. One problem, apart from his handgun, is that he's free to use nearly all of the corpse counters lying around since only the Warpig can get them. That will probably only get worse in larger games.

Anyway, I've just got a blister of Pigs, a Hog Whisperer and two Mosquitoes based on a mixture of the suggestions earlier in the thread.

Is there anything decent I can do with these to turn my luck around?

Also, could anyone explain how A Gremlin's Luck works and how it should be used?

Well, how it works is easy.

Target an enemy model within 12", make the CC check (mosquitoes will need an 8, Sommer a 5) and choose a number of wounds for the model casting the spell to suffer. Your opponent discards a number of cards equal to the number of wounds you just suffered. (he chooses which cards)

This spell should probably be used by the mosquitoes (as opposed to sommer) as they will have better range, are more easily healed, and can be replaced. It should be cast as early in the turn as possible to maximize your hand advantage. Once your opponent has no hand, use that advantage to cheat where he can't.

As for what to do with the models you got...

Use the hog whisperer to reactivate and heal the warpig wherever possible.

Use sommer's trigger on his melee to kill your own gremlins, draw some cards, and summon the piglets.

Start the mosquitoes and use them to souey your pigs into position. Use them second turn for a gremlins luck and maybe some pull my finger. I would also suggest two more of these as your next purchase, they are most effective when you have all four and you can get a bit of a mosquito production line going.

[Omenbringer]

Seamus is a difficult match-up for Gremlins (along with Lilith), play to your strategy and schemes and insist on plenty of terrain. Most games I have seen with newish players dont have nearly enough terrain on the board.

Aside from that the biggest threat from Seamus is usually his belles messing up your movements with Lure which is pretty much auto-success on our little buggers. The skeeter stank is a good option for attacking Seamus especially if done in combination with the Pig Boomerang.

[Vidd]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

Is it really worth sacrificing the Gremlins and an action point to summon a Piglet and draw cards?

Also, I'll have to have a good read through this thread since I'm not sure what the pig boomerang tactic is.

Thanks again.

[Justin]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

Is it really worth sacrificing the Gremlins and an action point to summon a Piglet and draw cards?

Also, I'll have to have a good read through this thread since I'm not sure what the pig boomerang tactic is.

Thanks again.

Depends on the situation, but particularly so if the gremlin is wounded anyway, you need some higher cards, and you have a crow anyway.