Willie,+the+Demolitionist

// "If it calls for twenty, I use fifty, and if it calls for fifty, I use two-hundred." -- Willie, the Demolitionist // toc
 * Willie, the Demolitionist, Arcanist Minion [[image:Malifaux17.jpg width="320" height="448" align="right"]]**

=__Overview__= An excitable, bomb-happy M&SU member, Willie unleashes explosives wherever he goes.

=__Mobility__= Willie has a brisk **Wk/Cg 5/7**, but almost no special movement tricks.

The only special mobility that Willie has is a combat trigger, **Fire in the Hole**. If he gets a Mask on his attack (and he can get a Mask automatically if he is engaged with the enemy and uses **Short Fuse**), he can trigger Fire in the Hole, which gives friendly models within 2" of the target, which can include Willie, a Push up to their Wk directly away from the target. He can use this to speed up friendly models, but using this properly may require a little care and finesse. If Willie is engaged, he can use **(1) Short Fuse** to attack and push away at the same time, which avoids disengaging strikes and does damage to anyone crowding him at the same time.

=__Offense__= Not all of Willie's attacks involve laying down explosions willie-nillie. Sometimes he hits you with a crowbar instead.

Melee
Willie has a **Crowbar**, with a mediocre **Cb**, mediocre damage, and no triggers.

Ranged
Willie's **Demo Charge** is a powerful, flexible attack. It only has **Rg 8**, but has a strong **Cb 6**, decent damage, and lays down a lot of Blast Counters -- one on Moderate damage, two on Severe. And it ignores **Armor** and **Object** damage reduction.

Willie has a lot of options with this **Demo Charge**:
 * Willie can ignore LoS with the attack using **Bombadier**, but this reduces **Cb** by 2. This can be very handy to target low Df models hidden behind terrain.
 * Willie can also use it against terrain or markers within Hardness for +4 damage, which is likely to destroy most terrain.
 * Willie doesn't generally have **Gunfighter**, but he can use **(1) Short Fuse** to make an attack with Gunfighter and an extra mask to his Combat. This helps get the Fire in the Hole trigger, but you can't combine **(1) Short Fuse** with a **(2) Focus** or **(2) Charge** attack.
 * With a Book trigger **Slow Burn**, it gives everyone hurt a Burning Token.
 * With a Mask trigger **Fire in the Hole**, it pushes friendly models away from the target.

Other Assorted Demolitions

 * Wheelbarrow of Doom:** If Willie takes more than one Walk during an activation, he can lay down two blast counters along the way. Models touching the blasts must make a Df -> 12 Duel or suffer 3 damage. Normally, he only gets this on his second Walk, but if he can get a third Walk (for instance, from the Student of Conflict), he can lay down another set of blast tokens. This is a handy way to do some likely damage without slowing down.


 * Set Charge:** Here's another way for Willie to do some likely damage without slowing down. He places a charge marker and anything that comes within 2" of it has to make a flip or it blows up. It usually does 3 damage, but on a Joker it does 5. There's a chance you could hurt your own models with this. Willie can trigger this too, but he can Cheat the flip, either to avoid triggering it, or to trigger it on purpose. Since Willie is Blast Resistant, it can sometimes be advantageous to trigger the charge on purpose. if you Cheat in a Joker, you can cause 5 Damage in a wide area and only cause 2 Dg to Willie. You can also use Set Charge to slow down an enemy by blocking an objective point or terrain chokepoint with it; it's not likely to go off, but enemies may hesitate every time they go through, or may be killed when they choose to ignore it. Since this is his only (0) action, you can use this every turn if you have enough targets.


 * Dropped Load:** Willie says goodbye with a fireworks show. When he's killed, he drops a variable number of Blast Tokens (based on an increasing-target Cheatable flip) and does **3 Dg** to everyone under the flip. This can cause damage to a lot of enemies who aren't even that close to him, so it can serve as a potent deterrent or at least retribution when Willie finally goes to the Big Wheelbarrow in the Sky.

=__Resilience__= Willie has a mediocre **Df 4**, but a decent **Wd 7**. Thanks to Blast Resistant, he gets Armor +3 against blasts, pulses, and auras, which can help tremendously.

But the big thing that adds to Willie's Resilience is the threat of getting too close to him. He lays down a lot of blast counters, and even more when he dies, so anyone attacking him is at risk of suffering potent damage when they do.

=__Tips and Tricks__= While Willie is mostly about blowing stuff up, it's worth noting the mask trigger on his demo charge attack. If you have a low mask in your hand, it may be worth shooting a friendly model with this and cheat in the mask to hit (if you don't flip one). All friendly models within 2" of the target may then move their walk distance away from it (before doing the damage flip). This is handy at the start of the game, if you target a model such as Kang (who will heal up the damage at the start of the next turn anyway), as you essentially get a free walk action for all of your models within 2" (though remember it has to be directly away from Kang, in the example).
 * Bonus movement**

Willie's **(0)** action allow him to throw out dynamite, which may then explode when enemies come near (and doesn't even disappear when Willie dies!). If you place these dynamite markers on a counter which the opponent wishes to interact with (such as an evidence marker in destroy the evidence), they run the risk of setting of the dynamite, and suffering 3 damage (or 5 if they flip a joker!) when they move in to interact. This can be enough to discourage models with 3 or less wounds remaining from trying to interact, as they might just die for their troubles.
 * Marker/Token defense**

=__Master-Specific Tips__= Willie is an M&SU member and an Arcanist. He's most likely to be found with Ramos, Kaeris, and presumably Mei Feng.

Ramos Ramos can benefit from the mobility that Willie offers, as well as the direct damage. Because he can move around while still sending off blast tokens and setting charges, Willie can make an excellent objective-grabber for Ramos.

Kaeris Willie's Slow Burn provides another source of Burning Tokens for Kaeris to use, and she can hire him because he's an M&SU member. She can blow up nearby Constructs without worrying too much about hurting Willie, too.

Mei Feng This part will have to wait until the model actually comes out.

=__Minion-Specific Tips__= Your other minions should probably give Willie a little bit of space, since he going to be making a lot of explosions.

=__Playing Against Willie__= If you're going to kill Willie, expect to take 3 damage while you do. Don't crowd him with a lot of models, because he'll just drop a bomb and push away.

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