We've been playtesting a version of Goons called Dregs for the Swashbuckling supplement to Horse & Musket. Thought they'd make a good addition to these rules as poorly motivated or trained troops, or the faceless minion type. Goons come in groups of 3 are dealt 1 card for the whole group. However, they operate as individuals, so they can run around separate doing their own thing. They only have one wound, so anything other than a pin takes them out. It's interesting to see how people use them. Keep them together or spread them out? And yes, they only use a d8 and get no traits. Not allowed special weapons either. Thinking might allow an upgrade to Veteran Goons, but we'll see.
If a Special Card is used to activate them, they all benefit from its power. But it might be the case where not everyone can use it. If I have a Queen of spades and 2 pinned goons, it helps them, but obviously not the third who's not. In this game, the 2 goons went down fast while the other tried to unlock the cell. Using a d8 was not helpful and failed the unlock roll. He made good cover for the other troops. Next time I'm using them as fodder to make the other side use up their actions.