Character Name: Tequila Joe
Inspired by: Tequila Joe, played by Anthony Ghidra, in the film Tequila Joe
Life Points: 4
Ability Type: Defensive
Ability: "Each time he plays a Beer, he regains 2 life points instead of 1."
Activation: Whenever he plays a Beer card when there are more than 2 players left in the game
Cards enhanced by Tequila Joe's ability: Beer
Cards more effective when played against Tequila Joe: Panic, Cat Balou, Can Can, Conestoga, Rag Time, and Brawl (when played against his hand)
Ideal Role for Tequila Joe: Sheriff
Good Role for Tequila Joe: Renegade (since Tequila Joe as a Renegade always has to go down to 2-player to win, and thus loses his ability in 2-player, the role is less optimal than sheriff)
Characters who counter Tequila Joe well: El Gringo, Jesse Jones
2-player value: Terrible. Tequila Joe has no ability at this point in the game.
General Strategy as Tequila Joe: Tequila Joe's defensive ability is very easy to understand: it's all about gaining and effectively using the Beer cards. However, since Tequila Joe's ability depends on having such cards in his hand, and there are not many of them, he is a much slower defensive character. Tequila Joe is also more liable to suffer from cards and abilities that steal or discard cards from his hand. As a result, Tequila Joe must play very carefully. This involves first, of course, trying to procure Beer from either drawing it or grabbing it during a General Store. A friendly neighboring ally might help with this, like Kit Carlson, who might stack up a Beer for your next drawing phase. Then the Beer needs to be kept in Tequila Joe's hand for a useful time (i. e., to replenish lost health, be used for a last second beer, etc.). He should generally try to only play cards from his hand when either they are very useful defensive cards (blue cards like Barrel for instance) or he is over his card limit. Why? If Tequila Joe has many green cards and lays them down all at once (or if he simply plays a lot of cards that deplete his hand) it could make it very easy for an opponent to steal or discard a Beer from Tequila Joe's hand. Also, Tequila Joe should be careful when playing against the likes of El Gringo: if he hits him (and El Gringo may choose to take the hit when playing against Tequila Joe), he may lose a Beer out of his hand.
Besides this, in 5+ player it is especially important for Tequila Joe to try to keep his Deputies alive if he is a Sheriff. If they are eliminated, then Tequila Joe must eventually face off an opponent in 2-player where he is significantly weaker, as his ability will no longer work. The Renegade Tequila Joe will always have to deal with this. Chances are Tequila Joe's opponent will have the upper hand against him in the face off. If the Deputy(ies) are eliminated as a Sheriff, or if Tequila Joe is the Renegade, then Tequila Joe should try to play it extra safe when there are only 3 players left. Tequila Joe should use this time to try to play more green cards in front of him. That way Tequila Joe will have some defensives and ammunition when it reduces down to 2 player (if he survives!). The Outlaw Tequila Joe will not have the luxury of playing this way or worrying about this.
Playing against Tequila Joe: Tequila Joe's defensive ability is very stong, but it is also difficult for him to activate. There are not many Beer in the deck, and that is the only card affected by his ability (Whiskey, Tequila, Saloon, Canteen are not made more powerful by it). Also, the Beer is only useful when it is in his hand. Since you can target those cards in Tequila Joe's hand directly with Cat Balou, Panic, Conestoga, Can Can, Brawl, and Rag Time, it is not as hard to get those cards out of his hand as it might appear. When trying to remove a Beer from Tequila Joe's hand, remember to think of the sequence in which you play cards to up your chances of getting one of the Beers at random. If you play a combination of BANG!, Duel, Indians!, Gatling/Howitzer, and offensive green cards, before playing the discard/steal cards, then you can significantly up your chances of drawing a Beer from his hand. Tequila Joe was likely to have at least 1 BANG! and a Missed! family card, and now that those are gone, you might get a Beer easier. The lower Tequila Joe's life points/card limit, the higher your chances will of grabbing his Beer. Lastly, Be careful when General Stores are played; if a Beer is flipped over, do your best to make sure Tequila Joe doesn't get it. This may reveal your role, and you will have to weigh the disadvantage from doing so, but it could also be quite worth it.
Does Tequila Joe takes 2 gold nuggets with his beer????
ReplyDeleteThanks again Martin :-)
I think this is pretty late time to give you an answer, but if someone else is thinking the same thing:
ReplyDeleteHe only receives 1 gold nugget. However, since Joe may not be one of the most strongest characters (his ability is totally useless in 2-player faceoff and his ability is only activated by a card that has 8 copies in the whole deck), I could see house rule which would allow him to receive two nuggets instead of one.
I think this would make him a very powerful character, so I would think twice and do some playtesting before adding a rule like that.
When talking about Gold Rush, did you know that you CANNOT use Bottle and choose "beer" to gain two life points when playing as Tequila Joe? The same case is with Slab the Killer and Bottle's "bang" : only one missed! is needed to avoid the attack. The rules say, that those "beers" or "bang" or similiar are entirely differend thing ( in the case of Bottle and Complice) than actual "bang!" and "beer" cards.