Having played a few games, and with Wyrd having made images of all of the Master stat cards available, as well as excess spare time, I've decided to write up some Tacticas for the many Masters available to the Gremlin Faction. First up: Ulix, the Hogmaster!
Master: Ulix
Focus: Pigs, Summoning, StampedesTotems: Penelope, Old Cranky
Restricted Upgrades: Husbandry, Hunting Bow
Front of Card:
Abilities:
Hitch a Ride:
Pork Whisper'n:
This Ability is pretty mandatory for Ulix, as it allows some control of his Crew. It's easy to forget to check the 8" bubble, though, so be warned! It's also easy to bunch up too much, but with Penelope or a Hog Whisperer you can spread out a bit, and Pork Whisper'n is now available to other models as a cheap upgrade. With Old Major, your Pigs won't charge other Pigs, which means you can be more lax with your Whisper'n - although be careful not to let your Pigs be pulled away from crucial objectives!
Wall of Pork and Impossible to Wound:
Ulix's Df 6 is pretty good to start with, and this Defensive Trigger can take it all the way up to 8! As you'll always be near some Pigs anyway, this Trigger can be a lifesaver for Ulix, who is often on low health after summoning War Pigs and using (0) Proper Care, but be wary of Conditions that strip you of your built-in suits. Impossible to Wound adds to this survivability, preventing your opponent from cheating in a Severe or a Red Joker to take Ulix out and burst your Whisper'n bubble.
Back of Card:
Attack Actions:(1) Slop 'em Up:Ulix's only base Attack Action is a strange one, but it can be very useful. It's a moderate Ca 5, with low Weak and Moderate damage and a decent Severe. This isn't anything to write home about, but with his Rg 4, Ulix can trap models in melee with him - quite safely, too, if you have Pigs with him and hence are sitting at Df 7 or 8.This Attack's only trigger is Freeding Frenzy, which is great if you somehow have a model surrounded by Pigs, but you're usually better off using (1) Prod to make them attack with a positive flip.Tactical Actions:(1) Prod:With Prod, you can force your nearby Pigs to take Ml actions out-of-activation, and they get a positive twist to the attack flip to boot. Amazing with Wild Boars, who get positive flips when they attack out of activation, but also great with Old Major, with his horrifying damage track and minimum damage of 3.(1) "Sooey!":Use Sooey to reposition your Pigs if you need to, but make sure you can cheat in a 4 or higher if you need to. You really, really don't want to get charged by all your nearby pigs! This Action is useful against Crews who like to reposition your Pigs with Lure and the like, as well as for pulling Pigs back into your Whisper'n bubble.(0) Proper Care:With Proper Care, you can heal ALL friendly pigs within a pulse for 2. You'll be using this a lot. With one use, you can heal three summoned Piglets from Ulix's 3 AP to full health, as well as some damage on the Pig you summoned them from.Upgrades:Husbandry:This is Ulix's summoning upgrade, and you'll almost always want it. It's quite costly for an Upgrade, but as the soulstone cost is less than a single Piglet it more than makes up for it. Ulix gains two (1) Actions from this upgrade, one that lets him summon Piglets, and another that lets him summon a War Pig. Summoning Piglets is straightforward - a 9 or higher of any suit will get you one damaged Piglet, but you have to damage a 50mm-based Pig as well. Summoning a War Pig requires a 12 or higher, as well as three friendly Scheme Markers and a fair bit more damage, this time to Ulix himself as well as the summoned War Pig. Thankfully, Ulix can heal up the Pigs, and a Slop Hauler can heal up Ulix. Be careful not to get assassinated while on low health after a round or two of heavy summoning - consider taking Dirty Cheater to heal up some of the wounds he takes, especially as you'll often be cheating in cards to summon Pigs.Setting up a triangle of Scheme Markers to summon a War Pig might seem difficult, but it's easily doable on Turn 2. On Turn 1 you can summon up to three Piglets (use a Soulstone to draw and discard two cards if you don't get enough high cards in your draw. Remember to hold onto a 12 or higher to cheat the Ca flip to summon a War Pig!), which can drop Scheme Markers as a (0) Interact Action the turn after they are summoned if they have LoS to a model with Corn Husks, ideally on the Ht 3 Old Major. Alternatively, you can take Merris LaCroix, who can make a summoning triangle all on her own with Reckless and her (0) "Bombs Away!". Remember that your Slop Hauler can Reckless and drop a Scheme Marker before using his (2) Action to heal, useful in the late game when you want to get a summoning triangle together in a hurry.Sammy LaCroix can carry this Upgrade for Ulix, but this will limit you to two summons per turn. It's something to consider, but Sammy might be best with Ulix's other Upgrade, Hunting Bow.Hunting Bow:This Upgrade gives Ulix a pretty good (1) Sh Attack Action, with a great Sh value, decent range and damage track. This means that Ulix has something to do when more than 4" away from an enemy and with no Pigs to summon, Sooey or Prod. It also has a trigger, Blood Trail, that causes Pigs to deal +1 damage to the target - good with any Pig, but great for Piglets and their low damage track, turning them into a threat.As well as an attack action, this Upgrade gives Ulix (1) Shot in the Rear, which is a Ca Action that causes a friendly Pig to go on a rampage, charging a legal target - of your choice, unlike Pigcharge - and continuing to Charge new targets if the Pig kills them. As a (1) Action, you can use this on a freshly summoned War Pig, to terrifying effect.Sammy LaCroix can also carry this Upgrade, allowing her to take shots at the enemy and make Ulix's Pigs go on rampant killing sprees. As mentioned, taking the summoning upgrade on Sammy means less summons per turn, so Hunting Bow is usually the better choice for Sammy.Summary, Strategies and Schemes:While Som'er like Pigs, and Wong is great with a Glowy Gracie, Ulix is the premier Gremlin master for running an army of Pigs. He can summon, heal, push, control, enrage and support his Pigs while being a hard-to-remove nuisance for the enemy to deal with, and has access to a good ranged Attack. When taking Husbandry, you want to start with a strong hand for summoning, so be sure to spend a Soulstone on the first draw if you don't get many high cards. Three 9s or higher and a 12 means you can add 21 Soulstones worth of Pigs by the end of Turn 2!Ulix and his Crew work well for most Strategies and Schemes, with Piglets usually able to do (1) Interact Actions as a (0) thanks to Corn Husks. This is excellent for Squatters Rights, Distract and Cursed Object. Piglets can even move, Pigcharge as a (1) Action, and then hand out a Cursed Object or Distract an enemy as a (0); however, Piglets need to watch out for unwanted mandatory charges. Corn Husks also lets your Pigs eat up enemy Scheme Markers, and even heal from it - fantastic against Schemes like Plant Explosives and A Line in the Sand, as well as being a nightmare for crews that rely on Scheme Markers, like Colette and the upcoming Fey Queen, Titania. As you are likely to out-activate your opponent, Ulix and his Pigs can also be good at Reconnoitre, Outflank and the like, securing table quarters or edges late in the turn. Reckoning is the one tricky Strategy for Ulix, as his summoned Piglets are easy to dispatch, although his Pigs can be pretty good at scoring VP in return.Take Ulix if you like synergy, herding Pigs, frustrating your opponent and dominating Strategies and Schemes. Despite being a complex Master to master, he's fairly newbie-friendly. Be aware, however, that his reliance on Pigs can make him almost a sub-faction of his own.Starter Box:
Hog Wild comes with Ulix, his totem Penelope, Old Major and three Wild Boars. On its own as a force, the box can be fun and effective - Ulix can tag along with the Wild Boars, making the most of his Prod Action, while messing with enemy Scheme Markers thanks to Corn Husks on Old Major. Taking the Hunting Bow on Ulix is pretty mandatory with three Wild Boars, as they get positive flips to attack flips made out of activation. Penelope is a fitting Totem for Ulix, handing out a buff to Wk to nearby Pigs, and pushing them about as a (0) action. As the Wild Boars and Penelope have From the Shadows, almost all of the Starter Box can begin right up in your opponent's face!
While Old Major and Penelope are great outside of the box, the Wild Boars struggle to compete with similarly priced models available to hire. That said, don't disregard them entirely when expanding your force - they can be great for some Strategies and Schemes, and have a lot of synergy with Ulix. If you are thinking of getting Zoraida or McTavish down the line, they also are excellent Obey and Wrangle Critter targets.
To build up to a 50ss crew with Ulix, the first boxes you should pick up are some Piglets and a War Pig. You might even want a second box of each down the line, but it isn't necessary to start with. Beyond that, another 50mm-based Pig is a good choice - either The Sow or Gracie. With The Sow, you'll want another box of Piglets thanks to Farrowing, and with Gracie you'll want Burt Jenkins as they are excellent together. Merris LaCroix is another excellent addition, as she can help set up War Pig summoning triangles and is unparalleled at Scheme running. Finally, if you want to pick up a second Master after Ulix, Som'er's box is a good choice, as he can run well with Pigs and nets you Lenny, and Wong's box works great with Gracie and Burt if you picked them up to get to 50ss.
Pictures and cards are from Wyrd Miniatures - www.wyrd-games.net/ulix/
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