Versatile Models in the Bayou

Versatility

So along with the keyword mechanic Wyrd has given us versatile models to play with and help

augment our themed crews, giving us some places to shore up weaknesses and still be able to

field a crew that fits together like Gremlins and whiskey.  Today I’m going to go through a few of

our best Versatile options and offer some suggestions on when to bring them in to the hootenanny. 

Emissary/Effigy

You can’t start the Versatile conversation off without talking about this pair. I put them together

because of the ability to bring the effigy with an upgrade for a surprise Turn 3 growth into the Effigy.

So why take either of these models?

Well the effigy is cheap, coming in at 4 SS and with Armor 1 and Hard to Kill, surprisingly resilient

for the points. He hands out slow at 6 inches and has a bonus action that allows models nearby to

cheat from the top of the deck. He is also free to take if your Leader is a Henchman instead of a

Master. (We can cover that in a later article). 

Emissary is beefier at 10ss but still carrying Armor 1 and Hard to Kill. He’s also Unimpeded and has

Trample. His melee goes up to min 3 with an Armor Piercing trigger and he still hands out slow and

has a bonus to cheat from the top of the deck. His other action gives him an astonishing 12” push that

triggers his Make Way ability AND removes all markers he pushes over. This makes Emissary one of the

fastest models, able to cover 24 inches of the board in a single activation or 36 if you have Sparks around.

The Effigy is a great take if you just need a 4 ss model to run and take a flank or waste enemy AP on

killing him so he doesn’t slow them down. The Emissary is a great beater model with some of the

best mobility you can ask for. Taking the Emissary to roll through Pyre markers or Underbrush vs

Titania seems pretty smart, also if you come up on an enemy Zipp or Mah crew, plus Bayou struggles

vs Armor so his trigger is a solid investment if you have that high tome. Is it worth it to take the upgrade

and grow the Effigy? That’s undecided but there could be situations where that extra 4SS could give you

an advantage. Feel free to let me know if you have found it useful!

Mecha Porkchop

Do you like Melee? Do you like all of your models getting positives on their flips in melee? Are you ok

with your models taking damage for this, especially if it triggers Glowy and gives them fast? Do you

like reckless on a 2/4/5 damage track enforcer?  If none of these answers are yes, you are playing the

wrong faction. Porkchop is tanky and mobile if constructs abound, PS he drops his own markers

.Pairing him up with a couple Swine cursed can make a murder trio that will put the fear of metal bacon

into your opponent. Just be careful if your opponent is running Mei Feng as the Chop leaves her a scrap

bread trail to follow right into your backfield. Porkchop feels at home in a Tricksy crew with Survivors

and Sparks or in a Ulix crew where he is putting warpigs on positive damage flips to hit those scary high

end numbers. 

Gluttony

Forget banjos, if you hear drums in the Bayou, run very far away. Though he’s more at home with the

other band members, Gluttony can really draw out some heavy beats thanks to his maddening drums

ability that pushes a model into a marker, removes all markers in contact with the model and deals up

to 4 damage. Keep in mind that in 3rd edition this isn’t just scheme markers, but corpse, scrap and

destructible terrain markers as well. Gluttony could be bad news for that Rasputina player. He is a fun

model to run in a Zipp or Mah crew where you are creating markers to send people smashing into. He

can take advantage of the corpse markers that spring up around a Som'er crew as well or using the

extra marker from Wong's Launch into space. If your opponent has a model they want in a particular

place, Gluttony's drums can send them running off.

Burt and Gracie

Another infamous pair in the Bayou, Burt and Gracie are a duo that can provide some extra mobility and

fire power to your crew. Burt has Showboating and Magical Influence keyword abilities  and can walk out

of engagement at any point with Agile. He’s got a solid blasting gun that can send Gracie towards

whoever he shoots with a trigger and you can choose between tossing a grenade or taking another

action as his bonus.  All these things together make Burt a solid anti scheme runner who can hunt down

your opponents weaker models without relying on the rest of your crew to support him. 

Gracie is the tankiest pig in the Bayou with Armor, Hard to Kill and Eat Your Fill she isn’t going down

witout a fight.  She has a reliable damage track and either Ride With me or Reckless every turn. Ride

with me is a very strong ability allowing you to give extra movement to your slower pieces and making

Gracie at sz3 a meatshield to keep your precious support models safe. 

They aren’t exclusive to each other but they do work well in tandem and can provide some decent

damage and a bit of mobility to your crew. 

Pigapult

Have you ever looked at the board and thought, man I wish this model was on the other side of the board?

Slaps Pigapult This baby has got what you need. It can take any sz1 model and fling it 18” with its Full

Load ability. Said model is then the center of a shockwave. Your ammo can be anything from stuffed pigs

, bayous or even a master. Most of the faction is sz 1 outside of a few outliers like Mancha and Alphonse.

Stuffed Piglets are the go to things to fling but while pigapult is Versatile they are not.  When you add in

models like Sparks to load your ammo with bombs even Bayou Gremlins can be scary. Alternatively

tossing a Good Ol’ Boy up into the enemy means they can be tied up for quite a while dealing with him

and his hard 2 wound and +to df duels. Important note, the errata from January points out that models

flung by the pult do not get to take the shockwave duel. So no extra fast after you get slow.

Bayou Smuggler

These guys have gotten a recent boost and its a big one. They got the amazing Appraise ability, to make

the most out of extra markers. The smuggler can also drag markers up the field with it in order to put the

m in the proper spot. At only 6 SS this model is in a prime spot to take advantage of marker heavy pools

. If you want to make things interesting, bring one with Wong and use Launch into Space to make extra

markers for appraisal. Som'er crews tend to have tons of corpse markers from dead Bayous lying around a

nd Ulix can make some scheme markers off dead pigs as well.

These are my top Versatile picks for the Bayou, there are a few others and as the edition matures some

other models might show hidden strength. Let me know what versatile choices you are making in your

crews and next time I’ll talk about one of our best Out of Keyword choices. 

*all pictures are copyright Wyrd Games