Welcome to my new series of articles, Building On a Budget. The goal of this series is to help players wanting to start a new faction to quickly build different tournament viable lists for less than $101 while still giving you the option to play the master you desire. The pricing is based off the Wyrd store site pre-tax, so no special online discounts. Additionally, I do include some of the general upgrades in the crews which you’ll need to buy the generalist upgrade packs for the cards and those costs aren’t included in the pricing.

In these articles I’ll be breaking down my purchases into bundles with 4 tiers of recommendation. My tier 1 bundles are, in my opinion, the best place to start a new faction. The tier 2 bundles are fine places to start, but usually are limited in options. The tier 3 bundles are not the best place to start a crew, but if you really want to play a given master, it gives you a place to start. Finally the 4th tier is limited to the masters that you can’t make a decent crew while staying within my price point.

As an additional notes, I purposely avoid spending money on models that can be found in another master’s box, as I believe it to be wasteful spending if you are planning on eventually buying that other master’s box. Also big thanks to all the S&S facebook members who helped out with critiquing the lists for me.

So with that all cleared up, let’s get underway with the Gremlins.

Tier 1

Masters: Mah Tucket, Ophelia, Somer, Zipp

Bundle 1: Ophelia & Somer ($95)

The Ophelia and Somer boxes mix quite well together and allows you to make solid crews for both masters. The Kin box provides you the damage dealing models, while the Bayou Boss gives you the cheap interactors and Lenny for support.

The Kin (Ophelia Box) – $50

The Bayou Boss (Somer Box) – $45

(1) Ophelia LaCroix — 7ss

+Dirty Cheater – 1ss

(2) Young LaCroix – 2ss

(3) Young LaCroix – 2ss

(4) Bayou Gremlin – 3ss

(5) Bayou Gremlin – 3ss

(6) Bayou Gremlin – 3ss

(7) Francois LaCroix – 7ss

+Dirty Cheater – 1ss

+Stilts – 1ss

(8) Lenny – 9ss

(9) Rami LaCroix – 7ss

(10) Raphael LaCroix – 7ss

(1) Somer Teeth Jones — 7ss

+Can O’ Beans – 1ss

+Encouragement – 2ss

+Show Off – 1ss

(2) Skeeter – 2ss

(3) Skeeter – 2ss

(4) Bayou Gremlin – 3ss

(5) Bayou Gremlin – 3ss

(6) Francois LaCroix – 7ss

+Dirty Cheater – 1ss

+Stilts – 1ss

(7) Lenny – 9ss

(8) Rami LaCroix – 7ss

(9) Raphael LaCroix – 7ss

+Dirty Cheater – 1ss

The Ophelia crew is all about removing your opponent off the table with your heavy hitters (Ophelia, Francois, Rami and Raphael) while your bayou gremlins do your interacting. You do need to be careful with this crew though as you can wipe yourself off the table with dumb luck triggers since you don’t have many ways to heal. Lenny supports the crew by providing the rams your other models need to hit their dumb luck trigger when they need it (that doesn’t mean you should always use it). This means you’ll want him centrally located to maximize his ram giving aura. The young LaCroix help provide activation control and will be giving Ophelia upgrades (or using them as needed). Typically, Raphael and Francois will be playing closer to the enemy to deal their damage, but try to pick on things you can kill in one activation if possible (also make sure to burn your stilts on Francois if you deal severe damage with dumb luck). Rami and Ophelia will be providing mid to long range damage for the crew where its needed.

The Somer crew can output quite a bit of damage as well, but trades Ophelia’s more consistent damage for Somer’s utility. The Show Off upgrade can be used to kill off bayou gremlins to draw cards (if they die near Somer) and deal damage to models with high defensive stats. On the other hand, Encouragement allows your bayou gremlins a more consistent chance of hitting with the possibility of high damage when they hit with dumb luck (which they always can while near Lenny). Finally, the Can O’ Beans is primarily for the Skeeters to rush up the board and utilize on the enemies. Also remember you have The Biggest Hat which can be very powerful if used at the right time, like early in the turn after Somer burnt all your high cards (remember you still have bayou two card, the opponent does not). Otherwise the models will perform the same roles as mentioned in the previous list.

Bundle 2: Ophelia & Mah Tucket ($95)

Once again these two box sets combine fairly well to give you a couple of decent crews. As stated before, The Kin box gives you some good damage options, but in this bundle the Bushwhackers’ box gives you some mid-costed minions and one of the best support models in the game, Trixiebelle.

The Kin (Ophelia Box) – $50

The Bushwhackers (Mah Tucket Box) – $45

(1) Ophelia LaCroix — 7ss

+Dirty Cheater – 1ss

(2) Young LaCroix – 2ss

(3) Bayou Bushwacker – 6ss

(4) Bayou Bushwacker – 6ss

(5) Francois LaCroix – 7ss

+Dirty Cheater – 1ss

+Stilts – 1ss

(6) Rami LaCroix – 7ss

(7) Raphael LaCroix – 7ss

(8) Trixiebelle – 8ss

(1) Mah Tucket — 6ss

+Know The Terrain – 1ss

(2) The Little Lass – 4ss

+Lead Lined Apron – 2ss* (free upgrade)

(3) Bayou Bushwacker – 6ss

(4) Francois LaCroix – 7ss

+Dirty Cheater – 1ss

+Stilts – 1ss

(5) Pere Ravage – 6ss

(6) Rami LaCroix – 7ss

(7) Raphael LaCroix – 7ss

(8) Trixiebelle – 8ss

The Ophelia box plays the same as described in the first bundle, but trades cheap bayou gremlins out for the higher-stated bushwhackers. The bushwhackers have long range to soften up your opponents before they change into combat with their better melee weapon. They can also serve as interactors if needed, but remember they lack reckless. This crew also includes Trixiebelle who can serve a number of functions. First off, she has the incredibly powerful Ill Omens which allows you to cheat initiative when you need it. As for her turns, she can either serve as a great board controller, allowing you to move your own models around or push the enemies away from you, or as a scheme runner using Reckless and Presents? For Me? to get scheme markers where you need them.

Mah Tucket tends to play a bit more aggressive while providing buffs to the rest of your crew. The Chores ability allows Mah to give other models in the crew buffs based on your initiative flip (don’t forget you can cheat this with Trixie) including the powerful +1 to Ml. Remember while, Mah can hit quite hard, she is also quite good at positioning her crew with Horrible Hollerin’. If you are going to charge her in, be careful who you target because she won’t survive a hard hitting counter attack without some luck or burning a lot of stones (and if you are in a bad spot make sure to save your 0 action to disguise yourself). The little lass doesn’t do much beyond damage and holding an upgrade for Mah. So feel free to throw her into the opponent early to try and tie up models (think of her as a 2-3ss tar pit that gives Mah an upgrade when she dies). Francois, Raphael, and Rami can focus on outputting damage, but since they will lack the automatic dumb luck triggers you need to hold those rams until you really need them for burst damage. Pere should probably be moved up the board quickly with Mah and Trixie so he can get into position to explode on as many enemies as possible. Trixiebelle and the bushwhacker operate in the same fashion as mentioned previously.

Bundle 3: Ophelia & Zipp ($100)

The two boxes sets compliment each other quite well allowing for some explosive alpha striking, strong damage, and high mobility. Zipp’s Iron Skeeters bring some additional mobility to Ophelia’s crew and Ophelia’s kin give Zipp’s crew a much need boost in damage.

The Kin (Ophelia Box) – $50

The Sky Pirates (Zipp Box) – $50

(1) Ophelia LaCroix — 7ss cache

(2) Young LaCroix – 2ss

(3) Young LaCroix – 2ss

(4) Francois – 7ss

+Stilts – 1ss

(5) Raphael – 7ss

(6) Rami – 7ss

(7) Pere – 6ss

(8) Iron Skeeter – 6ss

+Poorly Handled Explosives – 1ss

(9) Iron Skeeter – 6ss

+Hovering Airship – 1ss

(1) Zipp — 6ss cache

+Do Over – 1ss

+On Yer Tip Toes – 1ss

+The Gift of Gab – 1ss

(2) Earl Burns – 3ss

(3) The First Mate – 9ss

+Where The Captain Can’t See – 1ss

+Treasure Map – 1ss (0 cost due to Zipp’s upgrade)

(4) Francois – 7ss

+Stilts – 1ss

(5) Iron Skeeter – 6ss

+Hovering Airship – 1ss (0 cost due to Zipp’s upgrade)

(6) Iron Skeeter – 6ss

+Poorly Handled Explosives – 1ss (0 cost due to Zipp’s upgrade)

(7) Iron Skeeter – 6ss

(8) Pere – 6ss

The Ophelia box plays the same as described in the first bundle, but trades cheap bayou gremlins for a pair of Iron Skeeters which add a lot of mobility to the crew. This mobility comes from the Skeeters (0) Hop Aboard action which allows them to move around other Ht 1 models in their crew and can give them fast if they hit the trigger. When not moving around other models (like Francois, Ophelia, and Pere) they have decent on card attacks or in the case of the Skeeter with Hovering Airship, a great attack. The Hovering Airship upgrade allows him to drop pianos on the enemy which is a ranged attack that ignores LOS and has a great damage track. You most likely will want to be focusing first though since the attack doesn’t ignore cover. The other Skeeter with Poorly Handled Explosives will often be running Pere up to board and using the “Catch” action on him so he can run into the enemy crew and deal some massive undeniable pulse damage. Lets not forget the ability to run Francois/Ophelia up the board as well and drop them off with fast so they can get in an early attacks.

The Zipp version of the crew can do all the above tricks with the Iron Skeeters, Pere, and Francois, but Zipp himself is quite a different style master. Zipp is an “annoyance” master whose job is to disrupt the enemy crew and prevent them from doing what they want to be doing in their turn. He does this in several ways such as: making them discard cards to take interacts, making them discard cards to use soulstones, preventing them from charging, debuffing their Wk stat, moving enemies in bad locations, and blocking off sections of the board with his smoke markers. Zipp can also be used effective with Earl Burns as a scheme running pair. What I mean, is that Zipp (who can’t do interacts) can drag around Earl when he moves and Earl (who is a significant totem) can do the marker dropping for Zipp.

Bundle 3: Solo Somer ($96)

Somer is the gremlins all takers master and this bundle isn’t far off ones used to win major events.

The Bayou Boss (Somer Box) – $45

Bayou Gremlins – $24

Slop Haulers – $16

Burt Jebsen – $11

(1) Somer Teeth Jones — 7ss

+Can O’ Beans – 1ss

+Show Off – 1ss

+Family Tree – 2ss

(2) Skeeter – 2ss

(3) Skeeter – 2ss

(4) Bayou Gremlin – 3ss

(5) Bayou Gremlin – 3ss

(6) Bayou Gremlin – 3ss

(7) Bayou Gremlin – 3ss

(8) Burt Jebsen – 7ss

+Dirty Cheater – 1ss

(9) Lenny – 9ss

(10) Slop Hauler – 5ss

(11) Slop Hauler – 5ss

This version of Somer focuses on summoning bayou gremlin with Family Tree and exploding many of them with Show Off for pulse damage and card drawing. This combination can be brutal as the pulse damage gets around high defenses, can hit multiple models at once, and keeps your hand full. Don’t forget that Somer can do more the just summon though and typically you want to go aggressive with him after a single round of summoning. The Skeeters once again are there to harass the opponent and tie them up. Lenny once again provides his buffs to those around him (giving rams on duels and his damage prevention aura). Burt Jebsen is your primary damage dealer and can really crank out damage with critical strike while in Lenny’s aura (min 4 or higher if you flip/cheat a ram). The Slop Hauler’s keep the rest of your crew healed up (since summoning hurts the gremlins) and can lower high Df stats if needed. Finally, the bayou gremlins are doing whatever else you need them to do such as rushing in to explode, shooting with dumb luck, or interacting.

Tier 2

Masters: Mah Tucket, Wong

Bundle 1: Solo Mah ($91)

As a solo master Mah tends to work best with an aggressive and hard hitting crew. While this bundle does fill that role, it could still use some different peaces to run at maximum efficiency (higher tier).

The Bushwhackers (Mah Tucket Box) – $91

Rooster Riders – $35

Burt Jebsen – $11

(1) Mah Tucket — 7ss

+Know The Terrain – 1ss

(2) The Little Lass – 4ss

+Lead Lined Apron – 2ss* (free upgrade)

(3) Bayou Bushwacker – 6ss

(4) Burt Jebsen – 7ss

+Dirty Cheater – 1ss

(5) Rooster Rider – 6ss

(6) Rooster Rider – 6ss

(7) Rooster Rider – 6ss

(8) Trixiebelle – 8ss

+A Gun For A Lady – 1ss

This crew operates very much like the previously listed Ophelia & Mah tier 1 bundle, so read over that for Mah, Trixie, bushwacker, and the lass. As for Burt Jebsen, his gun looks intimidating, but the real power lies in his melee attack with critical strike. Also, make sure to keep him near friends so he can utilize his Slippery ability. The Rooster Riders are designed to be launched up the board and into the opponents face. Once there, they can wreak havoc on the enemy crew with their (1) charges (sometimes on plus flips). As a disclaimer, make sure that they avoid ranged attacks (keep them in cover) if the enemy has long range guns because the last thing you want is a rampaging rooster in your own backfield.

Bundle 3: Solo Wong ($101)

Solo Wong is tier 2 because while the list is solid, it could use a couple more alternate models to make it really explosive.

Explosive Solutions (Wong Box) – $45

McTavish – $18

Merris LaCroix – $16

Burt Jebsen – $11

Sammy LaCroix – $11

(1) Wong — 5ss

+A Gremlin’s Luck – 1ss

(2) Lovely Assistant – 3ss

(3) Burt Jebsen – 7ss

+Dirty Cheater – 1ss

(4) Lightning Bug – 5ss

(5) Lightning Bug – 5ss

(6) McTavish – 10ss

+Dirty Cheater – 1ss

+On Yer Tip Toes – 1ss

(7) Merris LaCroix – 6ss

(8)Sammy LaCroix

+Ooo Glowy – 1ss

Wong performs two different jobs during the game. The more obvious job is dealing out ranged blast damage to the enemies, which he does quite well. His secondary role is moving around scheme markers to key locations with What goes up… to score schemes like detonate the charges. The lovely assistant will be spending her turns either stacking your deck before a key model activates (and accomplicing into it) or trying to setup blasts for Wong with Crackerjack Timing. Your Ooo Glowy target will be McTavish because a 14″ gun with 3/5/7 that ignores randomizing in combat, armor, hard to kill, and incorporeal is brutal. Burt can either soften models up for McTavish to finish, can clump models up for Wong to blast with Crackerjack Timing, or he can just kill things independently. The Lightning Bugs can help assist with damage or be interactors as needed for the situation. Merris is your main scheme runner due to her high speed and Bombs Away! (0) action and Sammy will be jinxing problematic models on the opponents side of the board.

Tier 3

Masters: Brewmaster, Ulix, Zoraida

Bundle 1: Solo Brewmaster ($90)

The Brewmaster bundle is stuck in tier 3 because it relies on a gimmick (but a good one if it works) that kills your budget. This leaves you with less then ideal choices for the crew, but does let you still utilize the Drinking Contest. As an alternative, you could drop the Mah Tucket Box and put in rooster riders instead and play him more as an obey/debuff master.

Closing Time (Brewmaster Box) – $45

The Bushwhackers (Mah Tucket Box) – $45

(1) The Brewmaster — 7ss

(2) Apprentice Wesley – 3ss

(3) Bayou Bushwacker – 6ss

(4) Bayou Bushwacker – 6ss

(5) Fingers – 10ss

+Dirty Cheater – 1ss

(6) Moon Shinobi – 6ss

(7) Moon Shinobi – 6ss

(8) Trixiebelle – 8ss

So the basic concept of the list is to try and get as many enemies into your Drinking Contest aura as possible and keep them all there by winning initiatives with Trixiebelle’s Ill Omens. This obviously is ideal for strategies like Turf War and Extraction as your opponent is forced to come to you instead of avoiding your aura. Once in the aura, models will constantly have to pass wp tests or do nothing but drink and gain poison (which further lowers their wp). As for Brewmaster, he typically will spend his turn obeying enemies into his drinking aura or putting the brutal Swill condition on problematic enemies. Wesley simply keeps near Brewmaster while staying safe because this allows him to “transform” into the Brewmaster if the original is killed. Finger is a harassment model that is fast, prevents enemies from doing interactions, and is tough to finish off (thanks to squeal and healing). The Bushwhackers and moon shinobi (moon shine….obi, get it?) are general purpose models in this crew that will likely deal with models outside of the drinking bubble. Also remember that the shinobi can do decent damage against things with hard to wound or by tying defense flips because negatives flips turn into positive flips for them. Finally, Trixiebelle will help push models in the the drinking bubble, position your own models as needed, or run schemes for you.

Bundle 2: Solo Ulix ($95)

Much like the previous bundle, Ulix is stuck in tier 3 because the budget prevents him from having all the tools (like the sow and war pigs) he wants to have at his disposal.

Hog Wild (Ulix Box) – $45

Piglets – $18

Slop Hauler – $16

Gracie – $16

(1) Ulix — 7ss

+Huntin’ Bow – 2ss

+Husbandry – 3ss

+Dirty Cheater – 1ss

(2) Penelope – 2ss

(3) Gracie – 10ss

+Dirty Cheater – 1ss

(4) Old Major – 9ss

+Corn Husks – 2ss

+Saddle – 1ss

(5) Slop Hauler – 5ss

(6) Slop Hauler – 5ss

(7) Wild Boar – 6ss

Since you lack the model, you won’t be able to summon a war pig with husbandry and instead you’ll want to focus on piglets. Generally, you only want to summon early in the game with Ulix because you’ll want his AP to use his Shot in the Rear action during the mid-game. Once Ulix is moved forward (by his bigger pigs typically) he’ll be using the shot in the rear action on (most likely) Gracie while she is next to Old Major. This gives her effectively a 1 ap charge with focused attacks. Then Ulix can use Sooey to pull her back (assuming she didn’t go off charging more models) and do it again. The Slop Haulers are there to provide healing from all the damaged pigs (due to summoning). Penelope will be pushing around your pigs as needed with her (0) action, speeding pigs up, and keeping them from making forced charges when you don’t want them too. The Wild Boar is a bit more general purpose models, but you need to be careful that it’s Bayou Rampage doesn’t go off at an inopportune time (or you could just use From The Shadows to place it in the opponents face to slow them down at the start of the game). The summoned piglets are great models to tie up your opponents models or to harass scheme runners (especially with their 1 ap charge). Finally, don’t forget the corn husk upgrade which is amazing at allowing you to remove scheme markers.

Bundle 3: Solo Zoraida ($96)

The Zoraida bundle is stuck in tier 3 because her box is Neverborn focused and its not a very well rounded box. Combine that with your budget and you are a bit limited in options. The crew I give you is good at interacting and can deal damage, but it can not take a punch.

The Swamp Hag (Zoraida Box) – $50

Rooster Riders – $35

Sammy LaCroix – $11

(1) Zoraida — 6ss

+Animal Shape – 2ss

+Tarot Reading – 2ss

(2) Voodoo Doll – 3ss

(3) Rooster Rider – 6ss

(4) Rooster Rider – 6ss

(5) Rooster Rider – 6ss

(6) Sammy LaCroix – 7ss

+Crystal Ball – 2ss

(7) Silurid – 7ss

(8) Silurid – 7ss

In this bundle Zoraid will often spend the game by obeying the rooster riders (1 AP obey charges are amazing), bewitching enemies for cards, and then later one she can scheme run with her raven form. The voodoo doll will try and lock down whatever problematic models your opponent throws at you while Sammy jinxes the doll and the connected victim. The rooster riders are your damage dealers and enemy harassment. Finally, your silurids are you full time interactors who can easily get into the opponents backfield.

Closing Thoughts

The Gremlins suffer a bit of the same problem the Outcasts do in that their box sets while fine aren’t (for the most part) great by themselves. That said, once you have a couple key crew boxes (Somer & Mah) and some of the common independent boxes (like rooster riders) , you can build great lists with any other masters (minus Ulix who does his own thing).

So think you have some better lists then the ones I presented? Then post them here and give me the breakdown on why they are better. If I like them then I’ll update the article.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the article. Also if you really enjoy my work, check out the S&S podcast here and my new Patreon site here.