2 for 1 - Som'er

Star Spangled Gremlin with a Plan – A Shopping List for Som’er Teeth Jones

If mentioning one Gremlin model in another article made Ben need a bucket, then son you might just need an entire factory of buckets by the time this is through. 

When it comes to looking at Som’er in Wave Two, the list might as well read what is good for the faction (yes, they are. Shut it.). The reasons for this are twofold. Firstly, most of Som’er’s bread and butter models (Piglets, Slop Haulers and of course, the Bayou Gremlin) are in Wave One. Also, the lion’s share of Gremlin models tend to be useful across all the Masters. Where the difference comes is how they interact with each of those Masters. For Som’er, this interaction can be broken down into one of his two play styles – either summoning or automating triggers. None of these models directly affect the former, so these five choices will play into the latter. 

With the triggers, you want to try and link as many models together with the same trigger suits. The big ones from Wave One are Rams (for Dumb Luck) and Masks (for Git Yer Bro). What this does is provide you with more value from your discarded cards. Why just set off one trigger when you can get loads of them?!

Two noteworthy models I have left off here is Rooster Riders and Sammy LaCroix. Roosters are pretty much interchangeable with Merris on this list, as they fill the same role. I believe that Merris offers a little more diversity for your points though. As for Sammy, well if you think investing that many points into a model to do what Som’er can do but worse, then you are deluded. It is worth pointing out that none of these are in any particular order.

Gremlins

Mancha Roja

The wrestler gets into the list due to the range of triggers he has on offer, all of which can be automated via the use of Som’er’s zero action Do It Like Dis (get ready to read a lot of that in rest of this article). He has one for each suit and without going into detail about what each one does (you have yes, you can read a card), three of them are intended to combo into one another with Mancha’s Melee Expert. However this is a pretty risky way of going about things. If one attack goes south, your entire combo goes down with it. The way I’d go about it would be to focus on the most useful triggers – the Ram trigger (netting you positive flips on damage, accessing the meatier parts of the model’s damage track) or Tomes for Arm Lock.

Mancha also gives you a chunky model (a choice pick for Reckoning crews) and a bit of control via his Whacked with a Gremlin attack. A word of caution: his Thousands Masks ability will be after the same low cards as Som’er for his own zero actions. When using those cards, think carefully and make sure you allocate the right cards for the right action.

Lightning Bug

Outside of triggers (which we’ll touch on in a sec), the Bugs give Som’er and pretty much any other Gremlin crew (save one Master) a boost against models with Incorporeal. This has been an area that Gremlins have struggled in since Version One. Having a model that can be hired en masse to deal with this hole and one that has a decent Ca (even if the damage is a bit lacking) is very handy.

Bugs also come cheap, which if you are thrifty with your stones like me, is comforting. Ignoring Armour is handy at the best of times but let’s think about it in relation to the Arcanists. Recon is Som’er’s strongest scenario due to the amount of bums he can put on seats. His counterpart for this game in Arcanists will be Ramos, who can pose problems for our heroic Gremlins with both numbers and the inane protection of said summoned models. These spiders will often be summoned in on very low wounds, with their Armour being their main protection. A trio of Lightning Bugs should go some way to clipping the wings of the Arcanists. 

The Lightning Bugs have three triggers. When they attack, they have to declare one. Som’er can help reign in these base urges and prevent things from going wrong (Yippee in the wrong situation will cause nothing but tears). Two points of note here. The Green Wrath does more damage and his triggered off Rams, the ‘damage’ suit for the whole rest of the faction if you will. A sneakier use of triggers would be chucking a Mask down with Som’er’s zero action. With the Bugs, you gain access to a trigger that heals all models within a small distance of the target. Masks also trigger Git Y’er Bro with our big hatted boss man. By combining the triggers of Som’er and the Lightning Bug in this situation, you can not only heal the newly summoned models (or anyone really) but bag yourself some cards through Som’er’s Survival of the Fittest too.

To quote Storage Hunters’ T Money, “MONEY!”

Burt Jebsen

Painted by @shiprib

Burt works like a second Francois LaCroix. Stick Dirty Cheater on him, go Reckless every turn and beat face. Where Burt gets interesting is, again, through chucking away Rams on Som’er’s Do It Like Dis. Burt gains this suit for triggers on his attacks and on his Defensive stat. The latter allows him to in a Lady Justice esque manner, hit suckers back that miss him.  On his Lucky Knife, we can see he has Crit Strike. Burt already has one Ram built in. We’re giving him another through Som’er. If you can get another Ram through the deck, Burt’s damage track jumps up to a scary 5/6/7. Nice. 

Models that can hit hard and most importantly, do so at an aggressive cost (like Burt or Fran) are essential in Som’er summoning lists if you can find the points. They can deal with big threats by dealing solid slabs of damage, which redshirt Gremlins just can’t manage as reliably. Naturally, Burt is also solid in Reckoning lists with Som’er for the same reasons. On a side note, Burt’s Hard to Kill could be manipulated with the amount of healing Som’er can bring with him. 

Gracie

Out of the three Masters I currently play (the fat one, the female one, the Harry Potter one) Som’er can run Gracie the best. This comes from (surprise surprise) controlling her triggers. Stop me if you've heard this one before.

Som’er gives Gracie a Ram. Not only is she now not falling asleep in after attacking, but she is hitting for at least four points of damage. Get her in combat and she is doing this at least four times a turn with Riled Up.

An upgrade I rarely touch with Som’er (Pig Feed) provides extra profit with Gracie. You can either push her along (negating her piss poor movement stat) or if she is already in fisticuffs, make her attack again. Since Gracie will be taking wounds via her own abilities and by being a massive target for the enemy, Som’er’s plentiful healing cannot be underestimated in this case either. 

Merris LaCroix

Merris is the only model on this list that doesn’t offer any major synergy with Som’er (aside from a one action that could net you the right cards for discarding). Rather, she is a fantastic solo piece that can accomplish objectives and lay markers with the best of them. Not that Som’er won’t have a crew comprised of models who excel in this or anything. Nope.

What I like about Merris is how she takes the traditional Gremlin speed and adds flexibility to it. Gremlins have always had legs across flat surfaces but we have never had the ability to take it to the skies and gain the benefits that brings (ignoring terrain, putting markers in daft places). Merris allows you to do that.

Merris effectively has four AP to use within a turn for placing markers, including Reckless and her zero action Bombs Away. Bombs Away does require a card to be discarded but you should have a few spare if a Gremlin or two have been squashed, thanks to Som’er’s built in card draw. Another point for Bombs Away is its flexibility. The action places a marker but it isn’t an interaction action. This allows you to place it when engaged (good for schemes) and closer to other markers (also good for schemes). Combine this with Flight, you have a model that can surprise the opponent by attacking from curious angles. 

A final point on Merris. She is just as useful sitting amongst a horde not doing much, thanks to her Smoke Trail ability. With most faction’s (If there are any others. Just thought I’d get one jibe at the others in, since people are always so quick to do it to Gremlins. One Love) answer for hordes of Gremlins being blasts, Smoke Trail stops those stone dead. It is also a worthwhile ability to consider for Turf War where you may not have loads of guys, but models will be getting pretty close. 

Like a (Bayou) Boss

That’s Som’er in Wave 2. Like I said at the start, a few models have been omitted. If you think I have made a gross error in my selections, do let me know on the Wyrd Boards (Dumb Luck) or Twitter.

-Dominic Westerland (@dumb_luck89).
Also, Big Hat.