Welcome to another article in the Brotherhood Character Deep Dive series. A series where we take a deep dive into the affiliated Brotherhood characters. This week we're taking a look at one of the more dubious affiliated characters - Gambit.
Remy LeBeau is Gambit, a dashing scoundrel with the mutant power to accelerate the molecular energy of an object, transforming mundane items into kinetically-charged explosives. Raised by a gang of New Orleans street thieves, Gambit is a master thief and former member of the Thieves’ Guild. Forced into the employ of the Marauders, Gambit had an unwitting hand in the destruction of the Morlocks. Wracked by guilt, his life of wandering ended when he met Storm and him finding a new family as one of the X-Men. Now fighting to protect others, he dishes out punishment with his bo staff and trademark playing cards. With a little kinetic enhancement, Gambit always has the winning hand.
Character Card
Just like the other articles in this series, we'll start by taking a look at his card which does not change between his healthy and injured sides. In terms of his base line stats, Gambit is very much your generic 3 threat character. He has a health pool of 5, is a medium move and has 3/3/3 defences across the board.
The first attack listed on Gambit's card is Bo Staff - which is a range 2, 4 dice physical attack with a size 3 wild push. Note unlike Kinetic Ace this only gives 1 power regardless of the damage dealt.
Kinetic Ace is a range 3, 5 dice physical attack. On a wild before damage is dealt to the target character other enemy characters with 2 of it suffer 1 damage.
52 Card Pickup is a Beam 4, 5 dice energy attack and costs 4 power to use. Each wild rolled in the attack counts as two successes. This is such a fantastic attack with the wilds counting as two successes and it's made better by the fact that this is a beam and can be used on multiple targets - Gambit also has a couple of superpowers which combine well with this attack to make it even more potent which we'll get on to now.
The first of these superpowers is Accelerate Charge which costs 3 power to use. This allows Gambit to add two extra dice to his next attack roll. This combines well with all of his attacks giving him more chance of triggering the various effects on each attack (a 7 dice 52 card pickup is really tasty).
His second superpower is A Little Something Extra which costs 1 power to use. After this character rolls attack dice it may change a hit into a wild. This is another superpower that synergises extremely well with the rest of his attacks, as he can change a hit into a wild to guarantee the triggers on each attack. A note to make on this one though - you cant change multiple hits on a single attack, it can only be used once per attack to change a single hit to a wild.
His final superpower is Enhanced Agility, for 2 power after an attack targeting Gambit is resolved he can advance away from the attacking character short and deal 1 damage. A note to make here is that this superpower is not once per turn, so this can be done as many times as he is attacked per turn as long as he has the power.
Tactics Cards
As with some of the other articles, we'll only be discussing the cards included in his box that can actually be used by Gambit.
The first of his cards, is Dark Past. During the Power Phase if your squad is not X Men affiliated Gambit can play this card. Any character within 3 of Gambit gains stealth until the end of the round. This CAN be a great card but I feel like this is match up dependant. It certainly has it's uses if your playing against an affiliation that naturally has a lot of long range attacks, but should probably be left at home otherwise.
Charming Thief is the final card for Gambit. During the power phase Gambit can play this card. That round, an enemy character that uses either an active or reactive superpower within 4 of Gambit, he gains 1 power after the effect is resolved. This is a card I really like especially if your using Gambit in a more attrition focused role. Any additional power that he can gain gets his beam online quicker and spare power for Accelerate Charge or A Little Something Extra is always welcomed.
Where Does He Fit In Affiliation?
Gambit has a wide variety of tools at his disposal so he can be fairly flexible on the board. Gambit can be an amazing attrition piece for a 3 threat character, Kinetic Ace with an Accelerated Charge turns into a 7 dice range 3 attack and then triggers explosive on a wild. In turn this then generates power equal to the damage dealt so this can also be a good way of generating power onto himself. A 52 Card Pickup with an Accelerated Charge is where Gambit really pumps out some damage though, this turns into a 7 dice beam with wilds counting as two successes and you have the added safety net of potentially turning one hit into a wild through A Little Something Extra if you still have power remaining. Do note though, it is extremely expensive to combo all of those together, a 52 Card Pickup with an Accelerated Charge is a 7 power spend in itself, without even factoring in any of his dice manipulation on the beam attacks.
Not only is Gambit a good attrition piece he can also be used fairly reliably used as a control piece. The size 3 wild push on his Bo Staff is excellent when you consider for 1 power you can turn a hit into a wild to guarantee yourself that push.
The downside to Gambit is that he is extremely squishy, he only has 3/3/3 defences with a 5 health pool on both sides and without any defensive tech to help him negate damage, you really have to pick your fights carefully.
All things considered, Gambit is a fantastic 3 threat and is becoming a real staple in Brotherhood rosters. Whether your playing a more Mystique or Magneto focused Brotherhood, Gambit has something to offer for both leaders.
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