Santiago+Ortega

//"Point-Man" and the Hottest-head of the Ortega's, Santiago's skill with his brace of Peacebringers is matched only by his strength and short fuse. He has survived wounds that would kill lesser men, wading into the line of fire as his siblings take cover. Anything short of a fatal wound only fuels his anger - driving him to superhuman feats of strength and prowess.//
 * Santiago Ortega, Guild Minion** toc

=__Overview__= Santiago is a mean Minion to face. He is //Hard to Kill// and can even making a healing flip to further increase his survivability. He becomes more accurate and more mobile when he has lost half his wounds (is on 4 wounds or less). Even more terrifying is the speed at which he can fire his dual pistols. He can literally fill the air with bullets, which encourages him to keep his victims at range of his sidearms while keeping himself outside of melee (so he can use them).

=__Mobility__= When calm, Santiago isn't that impressive. He has an average Wk of 4", and can charge 6" (though it is very rare for Santiago to charge anything as his //Rapid Fire// has so much more potential in hitting and damage dealing). Though those scores do not change when he is at 4 wounds or less, he does gain //Wade In,// giving him a free Walk each round. This can be useful to help Santiago back off from Melee, or move into LoS and still use //Rapid Fire//.

=__Offense__= //**NOTE**: Santiago's Mk.1 card had a few errors on it. His Critical Strike and Trigger Happy should have both had their Rams requirement made opaque (meaning the cost has already been covered - so that Critical Strike is always active, and Trigger Happy only needs a Mask to be flipped). This has been corrected in Mk.2 and is considered in the following text.//

Melee
Santiago has a pair of blades (one on each //"Peacebringer"//). While he does prefer dealing with his foes at bullets-length, and will typically attempt to pull out of Melee should he find himself there, he can at least employ these to do some damage if in a scuffle and feels trying to make distance will only be a waste of effort (should his foes have a decent chance of hitting him with their disengaging strikes).

Ranged
With a pair of Peacebringers, Santiago delivers pain at range. With a normal Cb of 5 (rising to 7 when Santiago is hurt and alive) he will often hit what he shoots. This is helped by the Peacebringers he uses being Paired, allowing him to flip an additional card when making an Attack duel.

Santiago isn't just brute force either. Should he start his activation not in Melee and with a victim (or victims) in the range of his pistols, he will activate //(2) Rapid Fire// which will give him an extra, free shot (to a total of three shots). If he can take the shot, he'll take it.

Like his brother and sister, Santiago knows how to deliver the hurt. His pistols automatically trigger //"Critical Strike"//- meaning they deal 3/4/6 damage, and can even cause 4/5/7 damage if a Ram is flipped or cheated.

Alternatively, should Santiago flip or cheat a Mask card he can choose to not use //Critical Strike// but to instead employ //Trigger Happy//. Should the attack hit and damage the target, Santiago automatically makes another attack on the same victim (should that attack flip/cheat a Mask, //Trigger Happy// activates again and again until an attack does no damage to the target and/or no Mask is flipped). This gives up free 'raw power' damage in exchange for a barrage of bullets that can cause more damage in the long run.

And it STILL doesn't end there! Should Santiago be reduced to half his health (4 wounds or less), he becomes even deadlier at range - gaining +2 Cb (a total of 7 Cb) with his Peacebringers, and he gets a positive twist to his damage flips. Combined with his higher Cb (meaning more likelihood of a positive twist based on duel totals), he has a phenomenal damage output. The message here - a hurt Santiago is a DEADLY Santiago. If you shoot him, be sure he won't shoot you back!

=__Resilience__= Santiago's Df 4 and 8 Wds do not reflect his incredible durability. //Bulletproof 1// reduces all damage received from ranged attacks by 1, which will encourage opponents to race their forces into Santiago's face and deal with him in Melee (to bypass the //Bulletproof// and get inside Santiago's firing range).

Even in Melee, Santiago is //Hard to Kill//. Provided Santiago has 2+ or more Wounds, he cannot be reduced below 1 wound (to 0 and killed) by any single attack - even if that attack dealt him 10 damage. To remove Santiago, you need first reduce him to 1 wound before dealing a coup-de-grace attack to end him.

And even that isn't easy to do as Santiago finds most attacks to be //(1) Just a Flesh Wound// (insert Monty Python sketch here) which allows him to make a Healing Flip. Even a Weak card will push Santiago up from 1 wound to 2 wounds, which will prevent him being killed outright by any one attack (he is at 2+ wounds). It cost 1 AP to pull off, which can prevent Santiago using //Rapid Fire//, moving, or even making a basic attack (with his guns or his blades). However, buying Santiago time to stay alive and keep shooting can be well worth the loss of one action in a turn. It will certainly frustrate your opponents knowing they need to put him back down to 1 wound before hitting him again.

=__Tips and Tricks__= Santiago is pretty straightforward. He is pretty deadly at range, even at 5+ wounds. Unfortunately, it all disappears at close quarters. As good opponents will try to rush in to neuter Santiago, aim to always keep Santiago out of Melee to maximize his firepower.

When possible, and the targets are in range, use //Rapid Fire//. These 3 shots need to be on a single target, but will probably be more than enough to get the model out of the game; should any shot flip a Mask and do damage to the target, Santiago will get ANOTHER free shot. Maximizing these free shots is key to the aggressive strategy of Santiago.

If Santiago is in Melee and already below half health, use //Wade In// to back off. This will leave him with 2 AP left to use //Rapid Fire// at the foe who was just laying a smack down on him. Should the disengaging strike succeed and prevent him walking back, you will still at least have 2 AP left to either reattempt disengaging and following up with a single shot - or to attempt 2 Melee Strikes with his blades.

//Wade In// comes for free (provided you've lost at least four wounds). Use it when able. If you are in range of targets at the start of Santiago's activation, use //Rapid Fire// first and then use //"Wade In"// to either back off (to make more ground for your foe to run if they are going to charge you) or move into cover so they can't hit you. If Santiago activates when not in range or LoS of targets, use //Wade In// to move to a better location before opening fire. This ability has merit offensively and defensively. Learn how to employ both.

Managing Santiago's health can be a challenge. You want him to stay between 2-4 wounds at all times so he can have all his abilities, while keeping him off 1 Wound which will lose him his //Hard to Kill// defense. Try to use //Just a Flesh Wound// when Santiago is at 1 Wound and not any earlier as any flip except for the Red Joker will restore Santiago to 2-4 wounds which will let him stay angry while being able to take a few more hits.

Never forget Santiago is part of the Ortega family. If paired with a family member, have him activate with them - especially after Santiago has just taken damage (ESPECIALLY if he is at only 1 Wound). This will let Santiago use //Just a Flesh Wound// to survive, before opening fire with his family on whoever it was that put Santiago's life at risk.

=__Master-Specific Tips__= Santiago works very well with his family and there is some obvious synergy with him and them.

Perdita Ortega - giving Santiago a free AP with //Obey// is fantastic. He can use it to move into position to get a good LoS on a target. and then be able to use //Rapid Fire// on them in his own activation.

=__Minion-Specific Tips__= //**Abuela**// - like Perdita, //Obey// offering a free AP on Santiago comes in handy. She can also use //Matriach Care// on him (if nearby) to heal Santiago if he needs it, to avoid him healing himself and keeping his AP for firing off more bullets.

Francisco Ortega - the yin to the other's yan; this duo can cover each other's back quite nicely when walking together. If the enemies back off to shoot Francisco, they will leave themselves available to the range of Santiago's guns. Should the enemy charge to Melee to avoid Santiago's bullet storm, Francisco will eagerly put his dueling blade to use. Either option has risks and many opponents will hesitate or look for a weaker "pairing" to bother with than try to tackle the "San-Fran" brothers.

Nino Ortega - Santiago's cousin and also very shooty. Activated together they can deliver INCREDIBLE amounts of damage in a ranged alpha strike (though best Santiago activates first, as his //Rapid Fire// can share shots to up to 3 targets within 10", leaving Nino to then deliver focused fire on surviving victims within 16"). They also both have //Trigger Happy// which can require some resource management to be utilized to their best effect. It does encourage you to store more Masks - which is a good thing for both of them (should one fall, the other will be locked-and-loaded to go //Trigger Happy// crazy). Choosing which shooter uses //Trigger Happy// can make a difference. Santiago has a (slightly) lower range and lower accuracy, but delivers notably more damage and is great for removing a trio of foes or demolishing a single durable target. Nino has longer range and better accuracy, but delivers less punch-per-shot - making him great for removing an evasive foe who is at distance. Consider and use both as the right tool will always get the job done better.

Papa Loco - Santiago doesn't have a lot of synergy with 'pops', but they still can be useful to each other. Should Santiago be in Melee with some enemies and his father is nearby, Papa Loco can jump into the fray and blow himself up. This will take the enemies with him and will ALWAYS drop Santiago's health below half (though it could fall as far as a 1 so be careful). The resulting effect is quite impressive - a father running into a scuffle, an explosion happens, and from the crater and dust cloud comes Santiago growling "You made Pa blow up! You will pay!" (talk about flare for the dramatics!).

The Guardian - With the ability to Protect Santiago, you can use the Guardian to keep Santiago at that sweet spot of just 4 wounds, as well as supporting him when he's weakest- in melee.

=__Playing Against Santiago__= Tough but not indestructible. Santiago will often act first to either get into harm's way (to reduce his health to half), or to heal (to raise his health from 1 Wound). This means your best chance to take him is after he activates as you will need to deliver a "one-two" strike on him to get a knockout. Use your heavy hitting attack first to throw Santiago's health down to 1, then use a follow up attack to finish him off the following turn. If able, try and do this in one activation so he doesn't have a chance to recover or be healed up from 1 Wound.

If going after Santiago, go for Melee over Ranged. //Bulletproof// will make him harder to hurt with ranged attacks, and he is terrible in Melee. He will almost always move out of it when able (his bullets are far deadlier than his blades) and, in doing so, will heal a few wounds to restore his //Hard to Kill// ability.

Santiago is quite hardy when working with Francisco (who steps up to cover for his brother's poor Melee ability), and Abuela (who can heal her son with her //Matriarch's Care//). Be mindful of what they can offer their family member and recognize if it will hamper your abilities to deal with Santiago. If necessary, you may need kill either of his support first but just recognize that if you are shooting them - you are leaving Santiago alive to attack you the next activation he gets.

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