Guild McMourning and Squatter's Rights

Rather than going and building a general template crew, breaking down what its strengths are and what Schemes it can accomplish; in this post I'm going to tell you how you can use Guild McMourning and 9 SS worth of models/upgrades to lock down Squatter's Rights, and how you can add some other models to make it an outright domination. Check this out:

Guild McMourning

-On the Clock (1)

4 Clockwork Traps (2ss/Trap x 4 traps = 8ss)

Total: 9 SS

That's it. That's all you need. I'm not the first Guild player to figure out that Clockwork Traps are great for Squatter's Rights, but here's why they're even more awesome when running with McMourning.

Because Clockwork Traps deploy From The Shadows, you can use them to lock down 4 out of the 5 Squat Markers. Make sure when you deploy them that you deploy them in base contact with a Squat Marker, and definitely make sure to keep them on your side of the centerline. This way the entire Squat Marker is covered by the Trap's 2 inch melee range. If you put them on the opponent's side of the table or on top of the Marker they'll either get engaged or removed too quickly. Starting on Turn 2 forwards, McMourning can use the (1) action "On Order of the Governor's Secretary...I Love SayingThat" off of his On the Clock Upgrade to make a friendly model within 10 inches (in this case the Clockwork Trap) take an immediate (1) Interact Action (there's no point in trying this on Turn 1 because models that deploy From The Shadows can't take Interact Actions on the first turn). And since the Traps aren't Insignificant, as long as they're unengaged you can use this to immediately start claiming Squat Markers. If you're clever with your placement of McMourning at the end of the first turn and make sure he's within 10 inches of 2 or more Traps you can activate him early in the turn to secure your point from the Strategy; while simultaneously hampering your opponent's ability to get theirs. You can also use this combo to pass out things like Cursed Objects or Distract if they're in the scheme pool.

Since your opponent has to kill at least 1 Clockwork Trap to start getting points for the strategy, this can delay them getting points for a while as long as you can keep the Traps alive. Try bringing a pair of Guild Lawyers and using their (0) action "Impassioned Defense" to give your Traps Hard to Wound +1 early in the turn. If you can hit the Tome trigger on both Lawyers you can potentially make all 4 Traps Hard To Wound, which should give your opponent a mild headache. You could also bring Nino Ortega and a pair of Pistolero de Latigos and make use of his Spotter ability, which prevents enemy models in Nino's line of sight from taking Interact Actions if the enemy model is within 8 inches of a friendly Family model. Pistoleros work great with Spotter because they're dirt cheap Family models (you can get 2 of them for roughly the same cost as Francisco with Wade In), and because their "Look Out!" ability can give friendly models within a 3 inch aura Plus Flips to defense as long as the Pistolero hasn't activated. 2 Pistoleros increase the coverage you can get with Nino's Spotter ability, and can also increase the number of models (aka Clockwork Traps) you can give Plus Flips to defense. Because having a Clockwork Trap that has Hard to Wound +1 and Plus Flips to Defense duels covering and claiming a Squat Marker is a beautiful and filthy thing.

So there you have it, Thanks for Reading!