The Bayou's Most Wanted - Francois LaCroix

Welcome back to the Bayou y'all! Last time we stopped by, I gave a quick overview of Burt Jebson and his amazing mullet and at the end of that post I mentioned that he and Francois LaCroix often compete for the same role in Gremlin crews, that of a beatstick. Up until very recently I tended to take Francois over Burt 9 times out of 10 but this ratio has begun to shift as I've seen what Burt is fully capable of as well as realising some of the shortcomings of the tiny green Clint Eastwood look alike that is Francois.

The Gremlin With No Name.....wait.

When you take a look at Francois' card then the first shortcoming is pretty easily seen necause his Df stat is a very lowly 4. This is mitigated a bit by having the Squeel Defence Trigger on a Mask (this is very common on Gremlin models, making them hard to pin down with melee attacks) as well as the ability to use Soulstones, being a Henchman. His Wp is a very respectable 7 (the same as Burt Jebson) and he boasts a fairly healthy 10 wounds.

Francois definitely falls into the beatstick category for the Gremlins. Like Burt Jebson he has both a decent melee and ranged attack, although unlike Burt, his melee attack (a Dueling Sword) has a slightly better damage spread of 2/3/5 as opposed to 2/3/4 on his Rough Rider shooting attack. But his real damage dealing strength (and his built in self-destruct button) is the Dumb Luck trigger. This occurs on a Ram (which comes built in on his Duelling Sword melee attack) and essentially doubles the damage taken by the opponent. The down side of this is that Francois has to take damage equal to half the damage that the opposing model suffers. So what are a few ways to keep him alive to carry on poking things with the pointy end of the sword?

The Bayou's Most Wanted - Burt Jebson

 WARNING! THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS IMAGES OF 80s HAIRSTYLES THAT YOU MAY FIND DISTURBING. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Who in the world thinks that combining several guns together to create a weapon that's somewhere between a gun and pipe organ is a good idea? The same person that thinks that loading up your giant murder machine of a pig with scrap metal (and a teapot helmet) is a good idea I guess. And by that I mean Burt Jebson, once a lowly rag and bone man Gremlin and now a freedom fighter, waging a one-Gremlin war against the forces of the Ten Thunders. Never far away from his trusty steed Gracie, Burt Jebson trundles through the Bayou with his Lucky Knife, his Backwater Pepperbox and his trusty mullet. Rumours swirl that it's the mullet that is the source of all his power...

For those young people reading - this is a mullet. Pure sex no?

Burt is something of a rarity among Gremlins as he has very high WP, at a very decent 7. His Df is 5 which isn't awful but he does have a nifty Df trigger to supplement his Df stat. If Burt succeeds on a Df duel with a Ram, he hits his All in the Reflexes trigger which allows Burt to make a 2/3/4 damage flip which cannot be cheated. This is particularly hilarious when he gets this trigger against a Sh attack from a model that is otherwise out of his range - it gives him a much larger threat range than his attack would suggest. I find this quite potent when combined with Lenny for the free Rams, it makes people think twice about attack Burt, even from range!

Burt's other 2 defensive tricks are Hard to Kill, which is standard in a lot of models, but nice to see on him because being an Enforcer he can't use Soulstones to prevent any damage, so the Hard to Kill gives him that little bit more survivability. His last ability is a bit dependent on your crew selection and placing. It's called Slippery and it allows Burt, when targeted by an Attack action, to select a friendly model within 2 inches to become the target instead, as long as the chosen model is also a legal target of the Attack action. This is a great example of how well Burt and Gracie work as a team as Burt can pass the Attack onto Gracie who has the ability to heal herself up with her Attacks and Triggers.

Best. Gun. Ever.

The Bayou's Most Wanted - Rooster Riders

Pretty much the first thing I did when getting my copy of Crossroads was to head straight to the Gremlin section to see what new and broken toys we were going to get to play with. And the ones that made me scratch my head the most were the Rooster Riders. Simply from a thematic point of view they just didn't seem to fit. I mean roosters? In the Bayou? Wouldn't the gators just eat them?! Then I read what they could do.... In theme? Who gives a damn when they can do THAT? So let's take a closer look at these guys and see if Eless get through a whole blog post without making a joke about big cocks.....DAMMIT.

Rooster Riders are 6 SS minions and hilariously they have no Rare limitations which has led to some incredibly bonkers theoryfaux lists. They're also Wp4 which means that not only can all the Gremlin Masters make use of them but so can Zoraida in her Nerverborn guise. But on a brief glance at their statline, you could be forgiven for thinking they were a bit weak. With a Df of 5 and only 6 wounds they seem like a stiff breeze would blow them over, particularly when you take into account they have no armour, no Hard to Kill/Hard to Wound and no way to heal themselves. So they seem like they'd be quite easy to knock wounds off. And they are. But you might not be glad you did......

The Bayou's Most Wanted - Trixiebelle

Some things in life are better left unseen. Like the Black Joker on a damage flip. Or me before I've had my morning tea. And the one thing that's definitely best left unseen is a Gremlin in Daisy Duke shorts and a crop top. At least it's not Lenny in that get up I guess.....

So take a bow Trixibelle who has the dubious honour in a game full of undead hookers, abominations made of metal & flesh and a bunch of other unspeakable horrors, has often been referred to as the most disturbing model in the game. I don't see the problem with green boobs personally.....

Hello boys.....

Trixiebelle is the Henchman for Mah Tucket's crew - The Bushwackers. She has fairly decent Df 6 and Wp 5 which is pretty good. She's reasonably speedy with a Wk of 5 and a Cg of 6 so nothing immediately seems to single her out as a key model in your crew. So then, what's the big deal about Trixiebelle? The main reason can be found on the front of her card with the ability Ill Omens. This is the same ability the the Doppleganger has in the Neverborn faction which allows you to cheat the initiative flip. This can be very useful in any crew but it works really well with Mah, allowing you to alter the suit to get the desired bonus from Chores.

Trixiebelle also has Reckless, which is very common across the Gremlin faction, allowing you to take a wound in exchange for another AP. The other ability on the front of her card is quite interesting and has some nice applications. "Don't Fight Over Me Boys" means that when this model is targeted by an Attack Action - a friendly Gremlin within 3" and LOS, as long as it is a legal target, may suffer 1 damage to become to target instead. This is particularly handy if you want to send Trixie off scheme running or if there's something in the scheme pool that rewards killing models.

The Bayou's Most Wanted - Mancha Roja

With the introduction of Malifaux 2E and the splitting out of Gremlins into their own faction (yes they're a Real Faction and yes that joke is getting old!) there has been an influx of new and interesting models, both from a fluff and a game perspective.

Over the next few blog entries I plan on looking at a few key models which might have slipped under your radar. Maybe you don't play Gremlins (what's wrong with you people?!) or maybe you've just not encountered them on the table yet. So I'm going to be taking a look at some models that I've had a lot of fun with while playing Malifaux.

First up! In the green corner, from The Bayous of Malifaux weighing in at far more than a Gremlin should, it's MANCHA ROJA!

The stat card for Mancha Roja can be found in the second book of the 2E series, Crossroads. He's the Henchman for Wong and is in stark contrast to the rest of that crew who rely on magic and ranged attacks. Mancha likes to get in there and smash your face in, possibly with another Gremlin. His Wk and Cg of 5 are average but being a wrestler he knows how to use the ropes. Thus when he is in contact with impassable terrain, his Cg increases to 12, thanks to the Rebound ability on the front of the card. This is quite handy, especially with models that can move him around to get him into the perfect position, like Trixie with Gremlin Lure, Mah with Horrible Hollerin' or even Gracie with the Saddle upgrade.

He has solid Df and Wp stats (and high Wp for a Gremlin to boot) of 6 and 5 respectively. Add on to that his Hard to Wound ability as well as being able to use Soulstones due to being a Henchman and he's not going to be the easiest guy to take down. Nor is he someone you necessarily want to send a model in to go toe to toe with. His offensive abilities are what make him a bit of an auto inculde at the moment, especially if there's killing that needs to be done!

My Mancha getting ready to lay the smack down!