Morgan Cattle Company has two sub-themes currently in their faction. One uses Mad Science to create weird gadgets powered on Ghost Rock and the other focuses on using horses and movement to maneuver their way around town. This article will focus on the dudes who create the gadgets.
Elander Boldman
Elander is the current cheap Mad Scientist. He has no upkeep and only costs 6 Ghost Rock to start. He has zero bullets and one influence. Elander is more valuable for his Mad Scientist skill of 2 and his Shootout ability. Elander can quickly become a force to be reckoned with if he has a Flame-thrower attached and he makes his pull.
The only real risk to the pull is how many clubs you have in your deck. It may be tough to give up the actions, but you could feasibly have Elander or another dude with a Flame-Thrower up to 7 extra bullets. Elander can also make the weak Auto-Revolver into an effective weapon. The revolver can be worth 4 bullets and come into a Shootout with little warning. If you want to run your deck with several clubs anyway, consider having a Doyles Hoyle around for security’s sake.
Harold Aimslee
Harold has three influence, allowing him to be an effective use of the Morgan Outfit ability and still be an effective Mad Scientist with a skill of 2. Harold is the most expensive Scientist available right now but has the ability to go get gadgets from your discard pile. In most card games, the ability to dip into your discard is only as valuable as your ability to create that discard pile. In Doomtown, there are plenty of cards you will see in Lowball and Shootout hands that you would rather see in your play hand. Harold can let you grab a few of those back.
Pay attention to the card you discard, Harold provides an opportunity to manage the numbers that will show up in future Shootout hands by removing the gadget and adding a number you want to draw into your discard pile. Right now, the only gadgets Harold can fetch from the discard pile right now is the Mechanical Horse,Auto Cattle Feeder and the Force Field. The first expansion, New Town, New Rules has the Plasma Drill and Telepathy Helmet for Aimslee to pull out of the discard pile.
James Ghetty
James isn’t a strong Mad Scientist with a skill rating of zero, but his trait can help pay off the difference. When James enters a posse, he gets 4 Ghost Rock for the purpose of shootout actions. This Ghost Rock can be applied to a Flame-Thrower, Remy LaPointe, or even Hired Help coming in the first expansion. As long as the card says Shootout: and costs money, James can pay for it. If you played Concealed Weapons earlier in the turn, James could invent a Flame-Thrower and pay to have it up to +3 bullets by only playing one card.
James has the added bonus, if he is kicked out of a shootout, you still have the Ghost Rock to pay for shootout actions. If you can return him to the shootout using a horse or The Stakes Just Rose, he gets another 4 Ghost Rock to spend!
Concealed Weapons also allows James Ghetty to equip any goods card in the middle of a Shootout. Beware of a last-minute Shotgun or Legendary Holster. Since this text is a trait, James can gain 4 Ghost Rock during each Shootout he is part of in the same turn.
Professor Eustace True
The Professor is another one of the cheaper Mad Scientists available to the Cattle Company. He has better stats than Elander and his ability bridges the Morgan themes of movement and gadgets. Eustace can discard a gadget on him to move to another location. This may not seem like much, but it means that Eustace can discard a Auto-Revolver, Flame-Thrower, or even a Mechanical Horse, just for a free move.
The cost may seem pricey since creating the gadget requires a Mad Scientist to boot, but if you combine Eustace with Harold Aimslee, you can easily get back the gadget you just threw away. Think of the Professor’s ability as a way to boot now and move later.
Remy LaPointe
Remy isn’t part of the Mad Science in Morgan, but his ability can work wonders with the gadgets. The first thing to remember about Remy is that he can’t raise his own bullets above 5 using the ability on his card. Bullet bonuses he has before using this ability are figured into his limit of 5.
This means that paying the Ghost Rock should be one of the first things you do in a Shootout. Once Remy has bumped his own bullets up to five, other bullet enhancing effects can bring the number above 5. Adding weapons through Concealed Weapons would be a way to jump Remy’s bullets even higher than just a 5 Stud. If Remy and James Ghetty are in the same Shootout, James can pay to boost Remy’s bullets. Shootout actions last as long as the fight keeps going and Remy gets to keep his bonus until the fight is over. He is one of the many great shooters that Morgan Cattle Company can bring to a fight.
Next Time
In the second part of the Dudes of Morgan Cattle Company, I will address the characters that benefit from the horses. Between the likes of Lane Healey and Jarrett Blake, there isn’t much that Morgan can’t solve with a few men with guns and horses.
