This is the week of the Rancher. We get to see what the Morgan Cattle Company has been up to after the events of Election Day Slaughter. Perhaps they are using their gadgets to gear up for some serious conflict?
The Lord Provides
The Lord Provides is now the second search card in the game. This one is a miracle that has to be used during a shootout and it requires a lot from you just to get the card. It costs 2, it boots your dude and discards the spell after use.
If you pay all that, you will be able to get an action card from your deck or discard and add it to your hand. You can use this to go get a Cheatin’ Resolution and have your opponent choose a legal hand to save themselves from the trouble. It could also go fetch cards that are useful during the noon phase after the shootout is over. Just grab a Pistol Whip and send the enemy home.
Cards like these allow players to play with some values that aren’t normally in their draw structure just to fish them out before they can become a problem. Since this spell discards itself after a success, it’ll be another 8 floating around in your deck. It will be a useful card and still provide you an option to keep your 8’s strong throughout the game.
Soothe
Soothe is another support miracle. It has a high difficulty of 10, but you will be able to boot the Blessed who cast it to unboot another dude at the same or adjacent location.
Soothe will fit better when used with only high value miracles, since you would still need to run 8’s an up when running a Blessed of 2, just to pass this miracle. The benefit will counteract a lot of the control that Fourth Ring and Morgan are able to muster. Combine with Rev. Perry Inbody and you’ll be able to unboot your dudes several times to increase their ability to move and call out other dudes.
Morgan Gadgetorium (from Team Covenant)
The final new outfit of the set is the Morgan Gadgetorium. This one is very different from its predecessor and will need some deep examination to learn what it can do.
The short version is that the Outfit will unboot in place of the mad scientist for one invention. The long part, is that it increases the difficulty of that item by 2 and you’ll also get a ghost rock if you build it successfully. This Outfit will work for other skill checks as well such as Huckster or Blessed. This might even work well for the Shamans one day, but right now, it makes the most sense with science.
You can still use any gadget that can “invent itself.” This is the idea that the value on the gadget will pass the difficulty check on the same gadget. This way, you won’t have to succumb to strict deckbuilding just so you can build your gadgets. You’ll need a mad scientist with a skill of two to offset the +2 from the outfit. Currently, the only gadgets that require a difficulty higher than their own value are the Telepathy Helmet, Quaterman, and Plasma-Drill. If you plan on using the Gadetorium, these items will have some risk associated. If you want guaranteed success, you will want to build mostly around the difficulty 5 or 7 gadgets to be consistent.
If you’re willing to cough up the Ghost Rock for a Doyle’s Hoyle, you could offset the chance of failure a bit. Right now, the gadgets are still across the board in terms of ranks and difficulties. When they start having several in the same window, this factory will be more valuable as decks can be built more easily around the gadgets.
Bio-Charged Neutralizer (from Strange Assembly)
The Neutralizer is a hefty gadget with a limitation on who can use it. Only the mad scientist that built the weapon can use it. He can never trade it away. As a reward for being the only dude smart enough to use it, he becomes a stud and gets a +2 bullet bonus. The Neutralizer can not be affected by other players effects. It can’t be Unprepared and it can’t be eaten by the Faithful Hound.
There are plenty of mad scientists already out there that would love to use one of these. Many of them will happily take the +2 and become a stud.
Lane Healey Exp (from Gomorra Gazette)
Run ‘Em Down has been a powerful card for any dude using a horse. Now we have a Lane Healey that gets the same ability built in, almost. Lane has to boot an attached horse to do the trick and it can’t be used on someone in town square or at their home. However, Lane can effectively protect three deeds in the late game with his ability by sitting in the middle and daring anyone to come face him.
He also loses the option to choose to call out the dude versus Run ‘Em Down. He must call out the target dude. Right now opinions are mixed, but given the right items and he could become a powerhouse. His rifle, perhaps?
Chuan “Jen” Qi
Jen is another cheap Mad Scientist for the Company, and she comes with some advantages. When she has a horse, she gets another point of influence. When she has a Gadget, she gets a +2 Bullet bonus. She can fit evenly into Morgan Mobility decks fixed on horses or a Mad Science deck using plenty of gadgets.
If you give her a Mechanical Horse, you’ll get both benefits! At the cost of 1 Ghost Rock for the horse, you’ll be able to have a 2-stud and 2 influence dude for a total investment of 4 Ghost Rock.
An even better investment would be the Holy Wheel Gun. For two Ghost Rock, Jen becomes a 4-stud! The great thing is, Jen gets a bullet bonus for having any gadget attached, it doesn’t even have to be a weapon. There are already plenty of gadgets to choose from based on the numbers you want to include in your deck. The Ballot Counter would an incredibly simple gadget you can use just to get Jen her +2 Bullet bonus, even if your deck isn’t built around Mad Science. She could also bring an Auto-Revolver into play for a surprise bullet increase mid-shootout.
One Week Left!
There is only one week left before Faith and Fear shows up in stores. Stay here to see the remaining spoilers and see what’s in the rest of the pack as soon as I can get my hands on it. Check out the previous spoilers for the Law, the Outlaw, and the Circus.
