Ulix Wibble

So as previously mentioned, I have been trying to use the Gremlin Master of Pigs recently, Ulix. Last night I played against local player Johnathan Smith. He doesn't go to tournaments and puts himself down for getting some of the rules wrong but does well in his games and is really enjoyable to play against. He did, however, put me down like some sort of rabid dog.

 His list contained the following:

Rail Golem
Ice Golem
Joss
Howard Langston
Ramos
Metal Gamin

I had:

Ulix
Old Major
Trixxiebelle
Gracie
Lenny
Slop Hauler

 He took breakthrough and Deliver a Message. I took Deliver a Message and Murder Protege (Langston). I won't go through all the details but he won 8(3 for breakthrough, 3 for deliver a message, 2 for strat)-4 (1 for strat, 3 for murder protege) but it highlighted several weaknesses I feel I have at the moment.

 I feel I can't catch people who just slink round the edges of the board. The whole crew spends it's time dancing around Ulix for a number of reasons and I don't have to the reach to catch those small models.

 I feel I am also very dependent on flips. I often can't afford for a few bad flips because I am reliant on a very few models. If Gracie dies, for example, I am on the backfoot for the rest of the game.

 One of the problems might be, however, that I am very focused on the charge. With Old Major giving positive flips to charge actions of pigs (only when they activate until the end of their activation), war pigs charging as 1 ap and Ulix being able to make a pig within 6" charge for 1 ap and then pulling them back with sooey for another go, it seems reasonable for charges to be something I try and make the most of. However the problem with that is that I am sacrificing alot. Models can easily become strung out and vulnerable, ingorning the fact that models not in range of Lenny lose their protection and I might be able to get loads of attacks of using triggers from Trixxie and Ulix. Should I be less stand-offish and try and get all my models in the mix or is my crew selection the problem? Admittedly I'd rather take a wild boar over the slop hauler but I'm just waiting for my proxies to turn up for those, but should I scratch my current list? One of the things I am worried about is that I am taking 2 large support models. Lenny and Old Major. Both do decent damage (Ml 6 min 3 damage) and are sort of hard to kill (10+Wounds +hard to wound) but their main role seems to be giving others buffs. Is there anything better to take? Do I just need more practice with it?

 That leads onto the next question. Should I use him at the tournament on the weekend, Toy Soldiers? It would be first game of the event if I do use him because that one is reckoning. I guess it's basically whether I want to treat the tournament as practice itself or try and be on top form for the event.

 There is of course another option, I could use him for every game! Personally I don't think his strength are in all of them but it would be an intense learning experience and would set me up better for later events.

 So I will summarize with a single question. What quantity of beard should I field at Toy Soldiers?