M2E+McTavish


 * McTavish, Gremlin Henchman**

=__Overview__= McTavish is a rough and tumble swamp-dwelling Mercenary Henchman who lives far away from civilization and smells like it. He spends most of his time among the Gremlins, who seem to put up with his smell best.

McTavish provides great ranged attacks to a Crew, especially in factions that don't get a lot of in-faction snipers, like the Neverborn and the Resurrectionists. He also has a lot of abilities that benefit from the board and terrain, moving through severe terrain unimpeded and giving himself and friendly models extra bonuses while in cover. Even better, he can create his own cover as needed.toc

=__Mobility__= McTavish has a a **Wk 5**, **Cg 6**. He's also **Unimpeded**, so he isn't slowed down by severe terrain.

He can also get some extra mobility with **Gator Snack**. He can push up to 3" into base contact with a Corpse, Scrap, or Scheme Marker, which then discards the Marker. Then he makes a flip (which can be cheated) and can get a 4" push on a Mask. With proper Marker placement and a good flip (or a mask), he can push an extra 7", for a very fast 17" movement on a turn.

=__Offense__=

McTavish has a very strong sniper attack, but he's perfectly solid in melee as well. With a nearby Marker, a flipped or cheated Ram card, and a (0) action, he can also use **Gator Snack** to take an extra (1) action, which can give McTavish the combat boost he needs. (He can also flip or cheat a Tome to draw an extra card, which can give the card you need for an attack.)

His **Penetrating Stench** ability means that enemy models within 6" of McTavish can't take Focus or Defensive Stance actions. This helps cancel out possible enemy defenses, and can be great with Zoraida to stop models using Focus to get around her //Proper Manners// defence.

Ranged
McTavish is a decent sniper, with a 14" range. No, it isn't Hans, but it's high enough that be a pain in someone's caboose. But his **Hunting Rifle** ignores cover, doesn't randomize when shooting into melee, and does a whopping 2/4/6 damage. It's also a **Sh 6 masks**, and he has a built-in trigger that gives a **+1 Sh** for each friendly Swampfiend within 6" and LOS to the defender. This can raise his **Sh** final duel total to a very high level if you can get some Silurids, Bayou Gators, Bad Juju, or Wild Boars up close with the enemy. Since the attack doesn't randomize, it's safe to surround the enemy before you shoot. You can hit very difficult targets this way, including targets in terrain or blocked by a crowd.

=Melee=

Unlike many snipers, though, McTavish also has a very good melee attack. His **Git 'Em** attack has a long melee range of 3", a potent **Ml 6**, and a respectable 2/4/5 damage. On a Ram, you can get a positive twist for damage. On a Crow with Severe damage, you can get an insta-death unless the enemy discards two cards. The insta-death isn't likely to come up, but after doing 5 damage, the target is probably almost dead anyway so spending 2 cards to keep them alive is a hard choice.

=__Resilience__= McTavish has a **Df 6** and **Wp 5,** which is decent. He has **10 Wd**, and he can heal himself with a Scheme, Corpse, or Scrap Marker and a flipped or cheated Crow. He has a lot of special resilience buffs that affect both himself and his Crew.

McTavish has a lot of resilience that he can share with his Crew. He and other friendly Swampfiend models within 6" gain cover from non melee range attacks, which is incredibly useful. He can create his own cover with **(0) Hunting Screen**, which creates soft cover within 3" of the Hunting Screen Marker and lasts until he creates a new Hunting Screen.

McTavish doesn't have any hard defensive attributes such as **Hard to Wound** or **Hard to kill**, however his abilities when combined together can support him to survive longer than most people anticipated:


 * 1) Being a henchmen means he could use Soul Stones to prevent damage.
 * 2) His **Hunting Screen** tactical action when combined with his The Swamp Is Our Home ability means negative flips to enemy non-melee attacks.
 * 3) Additionally, enemies can't Focus within 6" of him, which helps him and other nearby models with some defenses.

=__Upgrades__= McTavish is a Mercenary and can be found in any Faction, so his Upgrades will vary wildly. If he's hired as an Arcanist (likely in a Marcus Crew because many Swampfiends are also Beasts), he might like **Imbued Energies**. If he's hired as a Ten Thunders model, he might like **Recalled Training**. But that's just because those Upgrades are really good.

Most often, though, he'll be found in a Gremlin Crew or a Neverborn Crew.

Mud Toss (Gremlins)
McTavish's own Upgrade, shared with Mancha Roja. Ends a Condition on a target. Requires a 6 or better of any suit, and is resisted by **Wp**. If you've got a friendly Gremlin within 3", you can do 1 damage to the Gremlin cast it a second time on a Tomes trigger. Very nice utility at 1ss, even if you don't hire any other Gremlins.

Cute Critters (Gremlins)
McTavish's own Upgrade, not shared with anyone. A Pig or Swampfiend within 8" takes a (1) action under your control, and what's more, gets a positive twist on any duels. This requires a 6 of any suit. It's resisted by Wp, and can be used against friendly or enemy models, but models resist with **Wp**. This also costs only 1ss, so it's a great choice if you're facing Gremlins or Neverborn (who are more likely to have Pigs or Swampfiends), but it's a solid choice even if you only use it on your own Crew, but this will compete for AP with shooting actions.

Hexed Among You (Neverborn/Gremlins)
A Dual Faction Neverborn/Gremlin upgrade for Swampfiends. Up to three friendly Swampfiend Minions can deploy upfield. This is similar to **From the Shadows**, but it's named **Eyes in the Woods** instead, and it's only for Swampfiends. It can be useful for getting Swampfiends out early so McTavish can benefit from his **My Loyal Scouts** trigger. This Upgrade is also great for putting Silurid into place for Turn Two objective-grabbing. This also synergizes well with Wild Boars and Bayou Gators. If you start them within 6" of McTavish they can get cover from every non-close attack until you are ready to unleash them. Though be careful with Wild Boars due to their Bayou Rampage ability.

=__Tactics and Tips__= McTavish can do a lot of things, so there's often some tough choices to make. Set up a **Hunting Screen** or take the extra actions and buffs from **Gator Snack**? Shoot or move or command with **Wrangle Critters**? There isn't a simple answer to this, as all his options are good. What matters is how his actions fit into your plans. It's tempting to camp out and just pick off targets each turn with his hunting rifle, but check if you have another better choice that will earn your VP.

Remember that McTavish uses Scrap and Corpse, so keep them on the table. Also remember that **Gator Snack** can gobble up enemy Scheme Markers. Gator Snack is probably the most complex and versatile ability on the card, and is generally worth using any time there's a Marker resource in place (especially if you already have a Hunting Screen), unless it's your own Scheme Marker or you're in a Crew that has other uses for the Marker. If you've got a low Ram, it's often worth cheating in for **Gator Snack** to get an extra attack.

=__Leading a Crew__= McTavish is usually not found leading a Crew, but in a Henchman game, he can bring a lot to the table. He can't hire as many Swampfiends when he's leading a Gremlins Crew, but there are still good options.

Strategies and Schemes
McTavish //loves// when enemy Schemes require Scheme Markers, because then he can gobble them up as resources, killing enemy VP and powering **Gator Snack**. An enemy with Line in the Sand, Outflank, Breakthrough, or Protect Territory will make McTavish very happy. If you suspect your opponent may be taking Plant Explosives or Spring the Trip, leave McTavish to activate late in the turn, so he can consume enemy Scheme Markers before they can hit your people.

McTavish shines in a Colette crew for a variety of reasons:
 * 1) Colotte loves models with heavy hitting attack options, His 14" shot range is better than most of Arcanist's; and doesn't randomize into melee thus tanking enemies up front with some defensive models such as Joss could make McTavish hitting without much fear of being charged.
 * 2) McTavish's melee attack is as good as his deadly sniping shots from afar. What's more in this attack option is its Swallow Whole trigger. Unlike that of Howard Langston's // Decapitate //which could be cancelled by either discarding two cards or two stones; McTavish only cares about enemy number of cards in hand. Normally McTavish would start later in the tern when enemy hand is a bit dry. Colette could easily abuse this trigger by prompting him multiple times and, as a henceman himself, McTavish could spend Soul Stones to trade for this much needed crows suit in every hit. On average 2-3 hits would pretty much kills any model.
 * 3) McTavish could setup his invaluable Hunting Screen and choose to enter defensive stance on his activation; then on Colette's activation she could prompt him for the attacks. This doesn't discard the positive flips for McTavish defense therefore even when focused most enemy none-melee attacks would still suffer a negative flip. Prompt could adjust McTavish position up tp 3 inches therefore it is not too hard to get rid of enemy melee threat range.
 * 4) With Practiced Production and "free" interactions around Colette, McTavish could feed his gator pet almost every turn.

Building a Crew
When leading a Gremlin Crew, McTavish likes hiring Pigs, and really likes hiring Swampfiends.

Bayou Gator: A very solid melee model with Swampfiend, thematically tied to McTavish. McTavish can command them with Cute Critters, and they can move up on an enemy model and McTavish can still support them by shooting into melee.

Wild Boar: Another tough mid-cost Swampfiend for McTavish. You'll want a Hog Whisperer to keep it from going out of control, but it can contribute to McTavish's Crew.

=__Playing Against McTavish__= Pay attention to Markers. McTavish is likely to push up and use Corpse, Scrap, and Scheme Markers.

If you can pull him out of position, you can deny him advantages from cover and buffs to other models.

McTavish can be killed with some resources spent, which may be worth it if he's denying you VP.

Unless otherwise stated, all names and images on this site are property of Wyrd Miniatures, LLC. ([|Link])
 * __Ownership__ **