Complete Noob to the Game Running Gremlins

[Etna's Vassal]

As always seems to be the case, I bought into a new game based on which miniatures I like, and ended up with the "hardest faction to play". That being said, I have a few questions.

I've read up on how vital Giant Mosquitos seem to be to us. Are they really the be-all-end-all strategy?

I know I need to get a few more Bayou Gremlins, as all I have are the ones from the starter box, but how many piglets should I own? I've got the Hog Whisperer as well as a blister of Piglets (for a total of 4).

Finally, and somewhat related to my first question, I've looked through the book, the Errata, FAQ, and on its card, but the Warpig doesn't seem to be a rare model. Is this right?

If so, is it a bad idea to run two of them?

I was looking at a list like;

-Som'Er

-Warpig x2

-Bayou Gremlin x3

-Giant Mosquito

-Soulstone

Of course, I'd be using "Git Y'er Bro" to spam Gremlins, then converting them into Piglets and another Mosquito.

I know the list really should have a Hog Whisperer to be at full effect, but he, another Bayou Gremlin, and three more Soulstones will fill out my 35 point list.

Thanks for any advice and input you share!

[Joona]

The amount of models depends of course on your preferred play style and game size. The choice of miniatures is also quite limited so usually the shopping list is something along the lines of starter crew, 2-4 mosquitoes, pack of piglets, whisperer, then maybe a second pack of piglets, a second warpig and maybe a pack of gremlins when the games get bigger. The Mosquitoes are amazing models for the price of 2SS. They let you keep your pigs safe, steal the cards from your enemy and fart them to death. They also have the potential to be amazingly sturdy with six wounds and Df7.

Warpigs are a bit problematic. They do so much damage that they are first priority targets to pretty much any crew. They have a lot of wounds but they don't have armor or hard to wound and the low defence doesn't help that. Guild models chew through them rather quickly with all that Critical Strike they have. Having two most likely results in one getting killed, the other one eating stuff while in full health and then dying next round. I wouldn't use two in a game smaller than 35SS.

Warpigs also have low combat so usually having many piglets is beneficial as they generate more strikes meaning more hits or used cards for the enemy. Piglets also have a good defence so they aren't that easy to take out. And there's plenty of them. And you can make more during the game. In 25SS list I would definitely use just one Warpig, maybe not even that depending on the enemy. You don't have to use the Whisperer either. He can heal the pigs and give them reactivate but he's also slow.

Som'er likes soul stones to keep him alive in case your opponent gets close. Preferably a lot of them. Damage prevention is pretty much the best use for those. Mosquitoes are very good, start with at least two of them. Gremlins aren't that amazing and you'll survive with a maximum of two at the start of the game. There'll be plenty in a few rounds.

I think I used this list last time:

Som'er

2x Mosquito

Warpig

2x Piglet

1x Gremlin

5x Soulstone

A nice thing to do is use Git y'er bro, heal a gremlin and a mosquito. If the Mosquito is not in full health, attack a gremlin to get to six wounds, then fly forward. With the other Mosquito summon a third and with the third one, fly forward close to the first one. Run the pigs forward, keep a gremlin close so they don't go rampaging around too early. Find a good hidden position around middle field and wait for the enemy to draw near.

When they are close, use your activations with gremlins and Som'er until most of your opponents models have activated. Then fly forward with the Mosquito in full health and empty the enemys hand with Gremlin's luck. Then use the other Mosquito to fly forward and cast Sooey to call the pigs forward. Then let the pigs go mental on your enemy who can do nothing but watch and cry as the pigs chew through his troops.

Using the Mosquitoes to cast Pull my Finger is also effective as long as you have the cards to pull it off. That can easily finish a model that the pigs have chewed a bit first.

Edited March 8, 2010 by Joona

[mriverakc]

I duno but welcome to Wyrd.

[Wombats]

Re: Mosquitoes...

You need one to Sooey your pigs over ready for the charge.

And one to Gremlin's Luck your opponent's hand one off empty.

Never seen Somer operate well without doing that.

Your third Skeeter does Gremlin's Luck next turn.

All of a sudden your Cb 4 isn't looking so bad.

[Etna's Vassal]

Heh. It suddenly seems my Bayou Gremlin force will be rather devoid of... Bayou Gremlins. I'll see if I can get my hands on a couple of mosquitoes, despite their flakeyness when it comes to keeping minis in stock.

'Till I can get enough 'skeeters, it looks like Rasputina will be getting most of my love.

...Now to figure out a list for her...

[Justin]

Have you seen this thread?

http://www.wyrd-games.net/forum/showthread.php?t=10472

[Etna's Vassal]

Yep. I was just hoping to try a build other than the "normal accepted" build.

While the mosquitoes are nifty, I honestly bought into the game to play the Bayou Gremlins. That they're seemingly incapable of fighting proficiently outside of a "mosquito spam" build irks me.

If there were a "gremlin spam" list that worked, I'd be all for it. That they only really seem to be a means toward generating piglets and mosquitoes is kind of a letdown.

That's also why I was looking at a two Warpig list, as it's not really something I saw discussed in the thread. I'm hoping to make a list that doesn't rely on a model I don't particularly care for, or using a single universal tactic.

Any way, I'll tool around with the list, but if it turns into a repeat of my Night Goblin army (failure heaped upon ineptitude with not a win to their name), they'll be relegated to the same role- looking really good on a shelf.

If there turns out to be another way to win, I'll keep trying to find it ()

[Justin]

Two war pigs is good. I can't think of what to drop from the list, but I think you need a hog whisperer.

Just convince your opponents to kick it up to 30 soul stones and throw one in.

[Joona]

My earlier opinions on the Warpigs might be a bit biased as all my games with Gremlins have been against the Ortegas who tend to be quite nasty on big models with low defence. It might be a completely different when your opponent can't make an Alpha Strike with every model he has and kill your big hitters before they get to do something. Still I think that having pigs equals taking skeeters too to guide them to position. Mosquitoes are probably the best Totems in the game.

A lot of Gremlins can (probably) be good too if you're not going to be facing Resurrectionists (too much hard to wound and corpses) or something with a very high defence. Most people probably don't talk about taking too many Gremlins because painting so many Gremlins might bring up bad memories from painting up huge units for certain games...

Take maybe seven or eight in a 25SS, throw in a whisperer to keep the cards coming when the Gremlins die further out in the field. Then summon one or two every round and use Flip for it (it sort of changes your combat to either 2 or 6), Dumb Luck, Ya'll watch this, and focused shots (the last two cannot be combined) to kill of your enemy if need be. You'll probably need four packs of gremlins to be sure to have enough. Of course the skeeters help with this kind of list too by stealing cards but if you don't like them, they might not be necessary. Just swarm any kind of opposition.

If an enemy doesn't have a long melee range run within the 2" range but still further away than 1" and use Ya'll watch this, if you hit him, good, if you can trigger dumb luck, even better, if there are more enemies to hit with the blasts it's very nice. The Gremlin will explode after the shot and do two damage to everything within 2". Even Perdita can be killed with this because she only has the 2" melee range while doing melee attacks. Not much luck with Lilith though, she's faster than you and you'll have a hard time hitting her. And her little babies will grow up fast when there are so many squishy little Gremlins around.

Luckily it's a scenario based game. In a mission like Reconnoiter or Treasure Hunt the fast trusty Gremlins will win you games, maybe in Claim Jump too, Slaughter might be a bit too hard but possible depending on the enemy, Assasinate depends on the opposing master. Schemes like Bodyguard, Thwart and anything related to running around a lot are good and will most likely earn you points.

Edited March 9, 2010 by Joona

[Etna's Vassal]

People have been tending to buy one or two more models beyond their box sets, and since I'm making a board for the game (instead of a mat), the least anybody can do is allow me a 5 Soul Stone increase! ()

After that, I'll be working on expanding my Gremlin collection. Having painted 40+ strong regiments in a single sitting, 8 to 12 Gremlins will be no problem at all.

[Ropetus]

My earlier opinions on the Warpigs might be a bit biased as all my games with Gremlins have been against the Ortegas who tend to be quite nasty on big models with low defence.

Doesn't the Warpig have a Df score of 5? I don't think that's really low. In fact, it's quite good for a large model with 12 Wounds. Add in the fact that the Pig can easily heal itself by using Eat Your Fill. I don't think there are other large models in the game with such a high Df score.

It's only squishy if it somehow fails to kill anything (doubt it) and leaves itself out in the open to get Rapid Fired to death.

-Ropetus

[ispep]

Df 5 is not that amazing. And 12 Wd looks like a lot, but when you consider Reckless, its nothing at all. Warpigs go down like a cheap floozy. Eat Your Fill is only useful if you kill your target. With their terrible Cb4 and nothing to soften the target up before you get there, you aren't going to kill anything.

[Justin]

Like everything, it's situational.

It can work, and if it's the model he wants to use, I say go for it. But that pig needs a whisperer.

I think the pig's greatest defense is souey, getting it out of enemy range. But he has a skeeter in there, so he's good.

[shekbo]

I'm kinda in the same boat.

I've been playing Confontation, Dogs of War with my local crew. Good game but poorly written rules. My Local Game store recommended Malifauax so I picked up what I thought were the coolest figs, The Gremlins.

I was a little dissapointed to see that they seem to be under powered. Why does Som'er Teeth need so many debuffs? He's not all that string in the first place.

I just ordered some Skeeters and some little pigs. we'll see how it work out.

Tom in VT

[paperbag4]

I've had success running with lots of gremlins, and it's something I do often for reconnoiter.

For reconnoiter I usually run:

Warpig

Mosquito

Hog Whisperer

5 Bayou Gremlins

Having lots of models that aren't insignificat is key there. I've also found the Gremlins effective at shooting if you use Focus to flip two cards for attack and damage.

For treasure hunt, there's nothing better than a reactivating piglet to grab the token, but I usually balance the force with Gremlins to use the threat of their range to keep the opponent away.

For assassination and slaughter though, I do tend to run pig heavy.

[Etna's Vassal]

I may try this build as well.

Anybody quoting Counting Crows can't be wrong!

[Omenbringer]

Like Paperbag4 said So'mer isn't quite as weak as most lament. I have had great success using him, all I can say is he is not push button like most masters he requires a fair bit of finesse.

[Etna's Vassal]

Well that's fine then.

I was just worried they were on the Very Bad end of the power curve.

Coming off playing Cryx in Warmachine, swarm + finesse is pretty familiar to me. Now to actually paint the little blighters.

[Justin]

Well that's fine then.

I was just worried they were on the Very Bad end of the power curve.

Coming off playing Cryx in Warmachine, swarm + finesse is pretty familiar to me. Now to actually paint the little blighters.

They are less powerful than other factions.

They really, truly are.

I still like them, I still play with them, I can still win with them.

But you will be at a disadvantage.

[Wombats]

I've done some horrible things to people with Somer...

...and I've fluffed as many games, main thing is, its usually my fault.

High Defense like Lilith and Perdita can really give them problems, other crews they are pretty solid.

You are very much at the mercy of the cards although Gremlin's Luck will make your opponent equally at the mercy of the cards.

They are a tough crew to start out playing and you will need to bring your A game to take on players who aren't completely switched on.

Having said that they are very satisfying to pull off a win with.