The Joy of Madhammer

I've been introducing another new player to the wonder of the hobby, and part of my aim towards levelling the playing field is running an army I'm not personally familiar with.  So, I grabbed Durgen Madhammer, and threw some stuff with him that looked like it would go: Ogrun Assault Corps, Reinhold,t Hernne & John, and Dougalle MacNaile.

The First Shot
I had not thought too much about what his feat would do to an infantry-heavy army.  The full 35pt list was:

Durgen Madhammer
-Wroughthammer Rockram
5-man Ogrun Assault Corps
6-man Steelhead Halberdiers
Herne & John
The Piper
The Epic Elf Lady That Everyone Loves
Dougall
Reinholdt
Thor Steinhammer
-Ghordson Basher

The very first time I tried this at 50, I wasn't fully aware of what I was doing, and my feat turn involved a ton of POW7 feat blasts on Invictors that resulted in about 17/20 rolls on 3d6 that were below 10.  Even so, I almost managed an assassination between arcing fire and boosted blast damage rolls.

Madhammer Himself
The Spell List
IF you want to blow stuff up, he'll enable you to do it.  CAn he do it with magic?  Kinda.  Technically he's got Powder Keg, but at 4 out of 6 focus, it's expensive and unless you crit, your gun is the same bloody thing, with an AoE 4 instead of the spell's AoE 5.

But, blowing stuff up...you can make your guy's guns do it with Explosivo.  This gets fun on the feat, since it lets you basically hand out boosted shots to ANYTHING with a bog-standard gun.

You can make your OWN guys do it with Primed.  Bring an infantry unit that's either cheap & expendable (Steelheads) or carries a solid DEF (Kayazay, Nyss) as you lose some ARM with this spell.  It's good for +2 to attack/damage rolls, AND if the enemy pops you, you turn into an AoE3 that hands out a POW14 to everything under it.  Note the enemy has to kill you.  Frankly, this will probably blow up some of your guys, but it's funny to watch the enemy wonder if they really DO want to lose a few dudes.

You can even make you battlegroup do it with Redline.  Seriously.  Don't put this out until you need it, as it does burn d3 boxes off the jack.  You do get +2STR and an important +2SPD on a jack, and you get free runs/charges/slams/tramples.  Suddenly, your heavies have a respectable 9" charge move, and they'll be beating the crap out of something.

Oh, and MAdhammer can kind of blow himself up, too.  Ground Zero centers a 5" AoE on him that hands everything else with a POW13 and shoves them back if it damages them.

The only thing on the spell list that doesn't blow something up is Inhospitable Ground, though it's probably Madhammer temporarily blowing up his control area to screw up the enemy's footing.  It's half his focus, but if you need more time to shoot against someone that doesn't have pathfinder (or screw with their ability to get to an important spot) then, hey, you've got a tool for that.

The Gun
This one's part of the fun, and part of why I view the spell list as neat utility.  On the face of it, you've got a lovely dual-purpose weapon.  Got a heavy target?  You can go with a POW7 Armor-piercing shot.  Got infantry? Crap out three 4" AoEs with POW7 blast damage.

It gets worse.  Add Reinholdt for a second shot.  You get a lovely four pie plates to hand out, or you can dump a boosted POW7 AP shot, and a POW14 with a boost.

Then, for more fun, add the Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile.  First, the army's gonna love the whole +2 RNG on feat turn.  More importantly, Artillerist is ludicrous on someone crapping out that many AoEs.  You can put them where you need them.  If you need to not deviate that far, well, on a 1-2 you'll still tag your target and you've got a re-roll on distance.  Basically, it's almost silly to NOT take this guy.

The Hammer
Ok, technically he's got a HAMMER that creates AoEs as well, but given the joy of the gun and the fact he should be running a heavy (quite possibly with Redline active) I think there are other uses.  Just bear in mind you can pump a focus into a successful hit to make a 3" AoE on the target that hands out a POW10 to anyone in it.

The Army
Battlegroup
Go ahead and grab a melee heavy (IE: Driller or Rockram).  I suppose you could always use an Avalancher as your sole heavy, since Redline kicks it up to PS16 in melee...but your other heavies go up to PS19-20 on that, which WILL maim up a target.  I favor a Rockram, as you DO have a gun in a pinch, and with a tune-up, you can hunt for some fun crits.

Gunbunnies?  I'd think about the gunner.  Frankly, both gun-bunny species are efficient, but this guy can use Explosivo and you can probably  handle infantry that aren't immune to blasts.

Units
I would think long and hard about a target for Primed.  Steelheads are cheap and expendable if you're going with a contract other than Seaforge.  If you're going to rock 4-Star, I'd probably grab Kayazay, just because.  They become hideously accurate, with a base MAT9 and Gang.  If you're going Highborn, Nyss are pretty much it for a high-DEF target, but they're just plain sick, so yeah.  Just make sure you can spread them out.

IF you're going pure Rhulic?  Primed goes to backup mode; you put it on when you engage because the ARM value is more important in getting you there. (OAC like their wounds; ARM18 Forge Guard are different than ARM16 forge guard that kill their defensive line buddies automatically, and otherwise they evaporate).

Herne & Jonne are cheap and easy to include for that feat turn, just to get more AoEs out.

Also, if you're going Highborn, you can always grab some gun mages for a marashalled Mule, because, hey.  It's cool, right?

Solos
As mentioned earlier, if you're not going pure Rhulic, then Dougal and Reinholdt are as close to auto-includes as you'll find.  Even better, they work for either contract option and are just 3 points to make Durgen stupidly effective.

As you have at least one Rhulic jack, Thor Steinhammer is a viable option.  At the least, you can hand him a gun-bunny for efficiency.  At higher point levels, a Basher's certainly an option as there's nothing like knocking the target down, or shoving harder targets back.

The Piper is of course a solid idea, as pathfinder is your friend, and you may want some Tough on the guys that, y'know, blow up.

On the Field
Your ideal matchup involves being able to use your feat to gut the other guy's army.  Ideally, they have enemy infantry you can decimate with a crap-ton of AoEs.  Alternatively, you can give your direct-fire weapons Explosivo on the feat for the to-hit boost.  I like the Ogrun Assault Corps for the versatility here; you can get a solid shot in on the enemy (up to a lovely POW17 with the full squad tagging one target) with a boosted RAT10.

I wouldn't go too crazy on including too many AoEs.

Otherwise, go balanced, and your bad matchups include high-ARM stealth (you have one feat turn to do some damage) and if the enemy can otherwise shrug off blast damage...you have some work cut out for you.  Still, Madhammer's capable of leading a balanced force, and he's a nasty personal threat with the gun.  The other caster is going to want to camp focus and/or not get near Madhammer, as Artillerist's re-rolls on scatter can make anyone with medium/low armor worry about boosted blast damage.

All in all, this guy's certainly worth a look and bound to involve some fun.

Moonlighting with Mercs: Merc 'Modules' and Units, the Cores You'll Build Around

This is, at the moment, the last article I plan on doing for mercs.  I've spent five posts explaining what mercs will work for which factions, and the compatibility of the respective warcasters.

This time out, I'm going to focus on the units (and their support) themselves, and discuss what you get from each of them.  I mean, you need to know who does what, right?

The Steelheads
Work For: Cryx, Cygnar, Menoth, Khador
The Steelheads have a little bit of everything: you want melee troops, you get Halberdiers.  You want guns?  Riflemen.  You want Cavalry?  You got Steelhead Cav, and a cav solo in Stannis Brocker.

The cheapest entry comes with the Halberdiers: They're a 4/6 cost unit for 6-10 guys.  They have low-to-average stats across the boad, with DEF/ARM13, and a piddly-looking MAT5.  Note that they do have Powerful Charge and Set Defense, so they can give and take some love to open an engagement.  Note also they have reach and are dirt cheap.  Combined Melee Attack lets you hit high-DEF targets, or tag-team larger stuff.  Importantly, they're cheap.  If you want just to hold another guy up, 1-2 units of Halberdiers flood the boad with bodies, and if you throw Alexia & the Risen behind it, you're basically dumping 11-17 points on a LOT of delaying tactics.

The Riflemen could use a range booster, but they're hideously accurate with Combined Ranged Attack and Combined Arms.  They are expensive at 6/9, but the accuracy is what saves them.  You are not likely to miss if you team up for your shots.  I would consider these guys behind a unit of Halberdiers, because these guys are pretty terrible in melee.

If you don't need in-faction buffs, the Cavalry can hit hard when combined with Halberdiers.  You get Reach and two swings out of each guy.  While the MAT5 and PS12 look piddly, factor in Flank with Halberdiers, and suddenly you've got MAT7 weaponmasters cranking out two attacks each.  Add in a sidearm and Assault, and you can do some serious damage on a charge to a number of targets.

Finally, there's Stannis Brocker.  IF you're going to take more than one Steelhead unit (and you're not just doubling up on Halberdiers as fodder) then consider him to help you with traffic issues.  He's no slouch in combat on his own, but Tactician (for ignoring each other for LOS and moving through each other) can be a big boon when it comes to getting your sell-swords into position.

Steelheads in Summary
These guys aren't what you're looking for if you MUST have access to faction buffs.  Why?  Either you're taking one unit of Halberdiers as fodder (and, well, come on.  At 6, they're cheap.  At 8, they're comparable to everyone else...) or you're looking at Halberiders + more expensive guys; Rifleman for a regular battle line or Cavalry for a nasty 1-2 hit.

An exception to the above is Reznik's tier in No Quarter, as you can get the Attendent Priests for free.

Also, these guys work for EVERYONE (other than Retribution).  From a money standpoint, these guys offer good bang for the buck.  You're looking at ~20ish points to take Halberdiers and either Rifleman or Cav + Stannis Brocker, which leaves you room for support/battlegroup in a 35pt list.  Not bad at all.

The Sea Dogs
Work For: Cryx, Cygnar, Menoth, Khador

Are pirates your thing, instead of organized mercs?  Then you can get some Sea Dogs.  While the Steelheads are pretty self-contained (self-contained accuracy via CMA/CRA, only Cav really wants other guys for suppot), the Sea Dogs just get nastier as you start adding in solos.

You start with an infantry unit, the Sea Dog Crew.  It's 5/8 for some guys with so-so stats.  They have SPD6 (nice), MAT5/RAT4 with a PS8 Melee weapon and PS10 pistol (laughable), DEF13 (average) and ARM12 (bad joke).  They can help each other out with Gang, for +2 to hit/damage, and they can use the pistol in melee.  Sound comical, right?

Well, you can get more guys with the Sea Dog Rifleman.  They're a point a piece, but instead of the pistol they have a RNG14 Rifle with CRA and Take Up.  You can get a few more bodies.  Not bad, right?  Still going 'So What?'

Now, let's go get Mr. Walls.  He's 2pts and attaches to a Sea Dog Crew unit.  He's got Gang, and slightly better survivability in melee due to Tough and an angry monkey. (No, really.)  He brings two wonderful things to the unit:
1) Tactics: Advance Deploy
2) No Quarter: mini-feat good fo Pathfinder, Terror, and Fearless.

So, Mr. Walls lets you start out further, and get there faster, AND respond to your enemy's deployment.  Now we're starting to see something...

Now let's go grab Lord Rockbottom.  He's got a neat Spray attack and Commander.  However, he also has a fun little ability called 'Paymaster' and he can use it to help a Sea Dog unit in his command range 5x per game.
1) Money Shot: +2 to ranged attack/damage rolls
2) Payday: BOOSTED MELEE ATTACK ROLLS and Overtake
3) Walk It Off: Tough for a round

For two points, Mr. Rockbottom is making our Sea Dogs a bit terrifying...he's solved their melee issue, and can even make them a little more frightening at range, OR he can make them stick around longer.  Too bad you can only use one Incentive per unit per turn.

Now, if you've decided to make your Sea Dogs Tough, you can pay 2pts for Bosun Grogspar, and make them immune to knockdown.  Also, you can take Doc Killingsworth for 4+ tough on your pirates.  First Mate Hawk is a guided-missile Solo that can give Sea Dogs fearless in her CMD9 range.  I suppose you could also take Bloody Bradigan for a weaponmaster with Fearless, Tough, and Critical Knockdown.

So, what's the module cost?
Sea Dog Crew [8]
-Doc Killingsworth [2]
Lord Rockbottom [2]

Minimally, 12pts.  I would probably add Hawk and as a minimum (14 points) and debate whether you wanted to add Grogspar and/or the Doc.  Alternatively, you can take a Press Gang which goes down to 4/6 and gets Tough in exchange for losing the pistols (but keeping AD by having it naturally) and being able to replace their losses.

Alternatively, you could grab the full suite of Solos (10), a full-up unit of Sea Dog Crew with Mr. Walls (10) and a full unit of Press Ganger (6), which is a fun 26pt chunk (though if you're going that far, I'd just consider playing Talion Charter or something...).  I think you're more likely to run about 16pts with a Sea Dog Crew and supporting solos.

Overall on Sea Dogs
These guys can pull off some sick layering of buffs.  This is really one of those situations where you can't evaluate the piddly Sea Dog Crew in a vacuum.  On the flip side, the instant you start losing your solos, you start watching capabilities go goodbye.  Still, it's a characterful module with some sick shenanigans when it all comes together AND you can use it with pretty much everyone.

As an added benefit, you can run a lone unit and make use of the Ranking Officers on the cheap, getting even more buffs out of the deal, unlike the Steelheads.  On the downside, you're looking at a lot of abilities to track, but they're all pretty sick.

The Nyss Hunters
Will Work For: Cryx, Cygnar, Khador, Retribution
If you're going to take just one unit as a core, these are by far some of the most versatile ones you can take.  They're expensive at 10pts for a full-up unit, but look at what you get: Pathfinder, Hunter, Combined Ranged Attack, Weaponmaster melee weapons, DEF15...bottom line?  You pay for what you get, and it's pretty nasty.

They can also use a variety of support, if you've got it.  If you can shield them from blasts (IE: Rahn's Force Field, Murdoch's Dig In) then you can make the enemy deal with DEF15, which isn't easy.  If you can extend their range, you'll get more mileage out of their bows.  The other big thing that comes to mind is a melee accuracy buff; MAT6 can miss at times and is more suited to hunting lumbering heavy warjacks than anything else.

As they're likely to be your main/only unit, you can also readily hand out that Ranking Officer attachment.

Overall
Nyss Hunters can do just about anything you ask them to out of the box.  They only get nastier with support, but real support is saving them from blast damage/auto-hitting stuff.

Ogrun Assault Corps
Work For: Cygnar, Menoth
Based on the 6/9 cost, these guys are competing for your 'only unit' slot.  On the bright side, they're pretty versatile: POW12 AoEs with CRA (so you can actually get some stupidly-nasty blast damage), and POW12 melee hits with CMA.  Add that on top of a DEF12 (average) and ARM15 (not bad) 8 wounds, and you've got a pretty middle-of-the-road multi-role trample roadblock.

Of course, this 'middle of the road' thing they've got makes them prime candidates for support.  On the bright side, they'll take almost anything.  An ARM buff is nice (and both employers can provide it).  Menoth can hit them with Ignite to drive them up to effective PS14 in melee, so you can do fire support and then do damage in hand-to-hand.  Cygnar can improve their ranged capability via Deadeye or Snipe.

Based on the cost, you can again hand them a ranking officer, as they're probably your main/only unit.  They may or may not need it, but the support from an Attendent Priest is pretty swell, and Murdoch's Assault and Dig In can give you more ranged fun AND keep you from blocking LOS.

Overall
These guys are versatile.  They'll make use of just about any buff you can hand them, though they honestly kind of want those buffs because they are VERY middle-of-the-road.

Boomhowler & Co
Works For: Cryx, Cygnar, Khador
Want a troll tarpit?  That's what these guys are.  They're famous for having a 4+ Tough roll, even though Boomhowler techincally has two other Fell Calls that most people forget. (Well, ok, Rage Howler probably gets the least love, but it still has a place if you can buff Boomie's ARM).

On the one hand, you can run these guys sans support just to clog up the enemy's lanes.  That's kind of the default use.  Cygnar can buff ARM (and DEF with Murdoch's Go To Ground), and Khador can buff DEF.

On the flip side, Cryx can readily help their damage output, as these guys top out at a POW12 hit unless you do Combined Melee Attacks.  Come on, it's the faction of Debuffs. 

Overall
These guys are a fine tarpit for their employer, though they'll pull double-duty if you can help their damage output.

Croe's Cutthroats
Work For: Cryx, Khador, Menoth
Like Poison?  That's what these guys do.  Their primary defense is Stealth and hitting first.  As their primary defense is Stealth, Ranking Officers are much easier to pick off (...since the Cutthroats don't block LOS unless you could shoot said Cutthroat) and are thus probably not desirable.

You could try to help their durability, but unless you're buffing DEF with something like Iron Flesh, it's probably not going to help.  It's a shame Defender's Ward requires a ranking officer, because they'd love DEF15, and ARM13 would be nice against blast damage.

The other issue the Cutthroat's have is accuracy.  They're already expensive at 7/10.  I can think of two gys that can help their accuracy issues without a ranking officer:
1) Harkevich has Fortune; re-rolls on RAT5 can threaten most infantry/heavies reasonably well.
2) Scaverous has Telekinesis.

Honestly, Scaverous is the big winner with Croe's.  Why?  Telekinesis can get you the rear arc bonus, which translates to +2 to hit AND +1d6 damage.  It's frankly disgusting.  I'm not saying that Scaverous is the ONLY guy I'd play Croe's with, but he can make them sick.

Of course, pKreoss' feat means that you're missing on snakeyes, so he could use these guys as an assassination vector.  It feels distinctly un-Menoth, but what the hell.

Overall
DEF buffs, blast damage mitigation, and accuracy are what Croe's want.  Of note are Harkevich, Scaverous, and pKreoss, as all of them can help Croe's hit, and the last two can make them serious assassination threats against living casters.

Sam McHorne & the Devil Dogs
Work For: Cygnar & Menoth
Like Jack Marshals that can gank the crap out of knocked-down models?  Hire Sam & Friends for 5/7.  Pronto is good for melee jacks and ranged jacks alike.  You can go cheap with just a Buccaneer (bring your own knockdown!) or you can get a Mule to move up AND get the all-important aiming bonus.

Sam & Friends have average stats, short range, and are just kinda sick if you can knock the target down.  That Slug Gun may only have RNG4, but it's POW14.  CRA is kind of a joke with RNG4, but you can always get an Assault off with Murdoch.

Frankly, these guys benefit most from Knockdown effects.  pKreoss and pStryker can deliver the goods here, and once the Avenger comes out you'll be able to get Knockdown for any Cygnar caster on-demand.

Overall
pKreoss is their buddy in Menoth, and if you really want to enjoy the Knockdown effect, you're probably adding a Buccaneer (KD on demand!) a Freebooter (KILL THE KD THING!) and a Priest (Pathfinder and Defender's Ward eligibility!)  In Cygnar, pStryker for Earthquake, or anyone with Avengers.  Or, you can add a Buccaneer to make them a self-contained 10pt trashin'-things module.  Note that they are a bit niche just because they love to kill stuff on the ground, and you can't always get that lovely Knockdown.

Horgenhold Forge Guard
Work For: Cygnar, Menoth
Want Reach Weaponmasters with solid ARM?  These are the guys.  Defensive Line means they'll laugh off most blast damage.  They need it, because they're a whopping SPD4 and DEF10.  MAT7 is pretty reasonable, and they're POW11 weaponmasters with Critical Smite, so their main concern is actually getting there.

Cygnar has ready access to Arcane Shield, and with that up (and Ranked Attacks and Murdoch) you have a nice front line that can beat the tar out of the enemy when they DO get there.  Cygnar and Menoth both have access to Crusader's Call, good for +2 movement on a charge.  Note you'd need a ranking officer, and you're stuck with either Blaze or the Harbinger for it.  Still, it's a solution their SPD4, right?

Overall
Honestly, I'm most at home using these guys with Ashlynn as she has Quicken, which really solves their SPD4 issue.  Murdoch lets you used their Ranked Attacks in a Cygnar shooting army to just sit back and hit the enemy when they come in, as you can probably convince the other guy to come to you.  Otherwise, you'll need to use judicious spacing of your troops to make sure anyone going after them can only get the first few.

Wrap-Up on Merc Units
The Steelheads and Sea Dogs are the most in-depth choices you've got for merc cores.  The Steelheads are relatively self-sufficient while being able to mesh well (largely with Stannis Brocker, but also the Halberdiers+Cav).  The Sea Dogs excel at layering a truly riduclous amount of buffs on the table.  Either way, these 'cores' are almost plug 'n' play into most faction armies.  I would say the tradeoff is the Sea Dogs require the most to remember, but since it focuses around making a unit into a sick receptable of buffs, it can readily benefit from Ranking Officers.

The Steelheads and Sea Dogs can also readily morph into a merc army, as they have access to all the contracts AND at least one specialist caster.  The Sea Dogs in particular have Phineas Shae's tier list, which is kinda sick.

Past that, there are a fair number of one-unit cores you could build around: the Nyss Hunters are expensive and have a bit of everything (outside of durability).  The Ogrun Assault Corps is sort of the inverse of the Nyss Hunters, as they've got durability in lieu of agility.  The rest of the merc choices get to be pretty niche.

Moonlighting with Mercs: Retribution of Scyrah

This will be the last article in the 'Moonlighting with Mercs' series.  It will also be the shortest, as elves with an urge to destroy all human mages are somewhat unlikely to employ a lot of humans.

In all honesty, you may be able to use mercs as the core of the army, but you'll be using more Retribution components in the army, just because of the paucity of the selections open to you.

A Note on 'Friendly Faction'
Currently, the Retribution has a handful of warcasters.  Most of them have some buffs, and these tend to be 'faction-specific' in nature.  Bottom line: Retribution isn't very merc-friendly.

Garryth, Blade of Retribution
Everyone loves a stealthy, psychotic assassin, right?  He's got a pretty light spell list.  He's got two major buffs: Death Sentence and Mirage. Both of them are faction-specific.  His feat is purely denial in nature, and probably involves him running up and flipping everyone the bird.

Kaelyssa, Night's Whisper
Everyone loves a crazy sniper, right?  She's one of the few Retribution models with the innate ability to ignore stealth, and her offensive spells mean you'll want arc nodes.  On the bright side, her Banishing Ward isn't picky about targets.  Arcane Reckoning is faction-specific, though, but it's also not one I see a lot of people using.

The biggest potential downside with Kaelyssa is her feat: it 's faction-specific, and denies the enemy the ability to charge you and hands out stealth.  That means your mercs are NOT protected, so they need their own innate ability to avoid getting singled out on the feat turn.

Adeptis Rahn
Honestly, this is about as merc-friendly as it gets for Retribution.  There are two buffs this guy brings for his troopers: Polarity Shield (no charging the affected unit) and Force Field (you dictate the direction of deviations in their blast area).  The only two things he wants past that are arc nodes and units with Magic Ability for his feat.

Ravyn, Eternal Light
On the bright side, Snipe and Vortex of Destruction help anyone.  On the down side, Veil of Mists and the Feat are faction-specific.  I honestly can't recommend her for merc-heavy play, because they lose out on the feat.

Dawnlord Vyros
Again, I can't really recommend him with mercs.  He's got battlegroup support, but his troop support and feat are all faction-specific.  Mercs miss out on the +2ARM, Hallowed Avenger's free counter-charge, and the feat.  I'm sure some folks will debate just how good his feat is, but the fact remains that mercs miss out on it.

Lord Arcanist Ossyan
The newest addition to the Retribution's roster is somewhat merc-friendly.  He's got two unit buffs, and at least Quicken isn't picky.  Shatterstorm is fairly sick, though, AND faction-picky.  The other big downside is that his feat's offensive perk only works for Faction models.  Honestly, I have a hard time recommending mercs with him, much as I would love to.

The Merc Roster
Like I said, there aren't a ton of options available.  I'm going to skip the Eiryss's and Wyshnyllar, as they're Retribution faction models and known quantities.

Cylena Raefyll & the Nyss Hunters
Hey, shock: elves will work for other elves.  These elves bring hard-hitting melee, and reasonably accurate ranged attacks.  They're competing with two Retribution units, in terms of cost: Mage Hunter Strike Teams (with UA) and Dawnguard Invictors. 

The MHSF has Stealth and slightly lower defense, making them harder to kill at range.  The MHSF loses out on ranged accuracy as they lack Combined Ranged Attacks, but they also ignore defensive buffs and concealement/cover.  Hunter from the Nyss Hunters means they're on par with everything but the defensive buffs, which they may or may not be able to overcome with CRAs.  The MHSF can be more accurate in melee with CMAs, but won't hit as hard unless engaging warjacks.

The Invictors have less range and mobility, but can probably ignore blasts between their DEF15 and Defensive Line.  They also have harder-hitting guns, and Combined Arms makes them hideously accurate when pairing off.  They have a one-turn minifeat with the UA that grants 'em 14" range.  in melee, they're more accurate due to higher MAT, but they need a warjack for Flank to make them hard hitters.  The invictors end up being more expensive, but can do some nasty things with that support.

I would say the best buddy for the Nyss Hunters would be Rahn.  He can let them play forward and avoid being charged with Polarity Field, and his Force Field can help mitigate blasts, which are arguably the main way of killing these guys outside of hideously accurate gunfire.

The runner-up would be Kaelyssa; her Banishing Ward can work on them, and their speed/mobility and Hunter can let them use forests as cover while the rest of the army is protected by her feat.

Lady Ayana & Master Holt
It's a damage buff that can deliver itself, via Ayana's Stealth spell.  Critically, it's about the only way Retribution has to boost damage output, outside of Ossyan's feat and Concentrated Power.

Madelyn Corbeau
She's in intel; she loves to hang out with anything that looks vaguely human.  If you're going to work with warrior models that love to move, or love clear lanes, then you'll find a use for her.  The downside of Intrigue is that the enemy has to help you trigger it by putting a model within 9" of her.  She'll probably be within command range of a friendly, because of that whole 'Sucker!' thing where she pawns off gunfire. 

Her other, less-publicized ability, Seduction, is fun as it lets you move an enemy living warrior model and even make an attack with it.  It's fun to use on people like Vilmon, but you have plenty of utility in there just by being able to move someone out of the way.

Garryth is the one most likely to use her, I think.  Mage Hunter Assassins are the obvious choices for Intrigue, but you have to keep 'em within Madelyn's command range to get the mileage out of it.

Dahlia & Skarath
Do you want a heavy hitter, but don't want to feed it focus?  This is your duo.  It's also one of the two large sprays available to the Retribution.  Dahlia's a mini-denial caster, as she can hand out pathfinder/prowl to herself and her big snake buddy.  Once they get close to the action, she can chuck out Haunting Melody to keep herself safe and keep the enemy from giving/taking orders within 8" of her.

Skarath is a glass cannon (which should be nothing new for the Retribution, right?).  He can't be knocked down, and if he crits against a small-based non'lock, it gets a case of Removed From Play.  As he's PS16, that might not come into play too often, but what the hell.  It's RFP in Retribution, which is rare.  The other selling point is the RAT5, SP10 POW12 Continuous Corrosion spray.  If this guy can get an Aim off, it's even sicke.  DEF14 is kinda light, as is ARM16.  The Animus compliments the DEF a bit, as anyone that misses him gets swung at in return.  This would be cooler if we had higher-DEF jacks, but anyone can benefit from his animus.

Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress.
First, she's proof that elves have vowels outside of 'y'.  She's got defensive stats on par with the Nyss Hunters, and picks up Prowl as a wondeful aside.  Her major money-maker is Hunter's Mark; if she can hit a target with her Magic Ability of 7, anyone going after it can charge without spending focus AND get another 2" on the charge move.

Considering that the Retribution doesn't have much to make jacks focus-efficient, and likes hitting first, this ability is pretty nice.  It's probably not reliable enough for doing much aside from extending jack threat ranges, but the jacks get the full benefit of the spell as well.

She has a token melee attack (MAT6, PS11 is hardly intimidating) and a nice critical on her Ice Bolt (MA:7 and POW12 Cold damage is nicer if she crits) but she's not an offensive powerhouse.  her Winter Storm can be some fun denial (as it shuts down Pathfinder, Flight, and Eyeless Sight), but the enemy has to start within 8" of her.  It's more like a 'be careful about your activation order' than a 'SCREW YOU!'

Overall
Sadly, merc-heavy with the Retribution is pretty limited.  You can fill 19 points with the Nyss Hunters and Dahlia/Skarath.  I would say that your best bet for this is Kaelyssa, as she can bring a Phoenix (for the node) and, say, an Arcanist.  At that point, you're looking at 24 points; room for expansion?  Yes please.

Second place for merc-heavy would go to Rahn.  He can support the Nyss Hunters just fine, and would be happy to Lanyssa in there as well, to give him even more focus efficiency.  Rahn, a unit of Battle Mages, Phoenix, Nyss Hunters, Arcanist and Lanyssa would run 22 points; not a bad start.

Past that, frankly, I think you're not going to get a lot of mileage out of merc-heavy.  Ayana & Holt are ALWAYS solid choices for support, and D&S are great if you're not looking into a second arc node (As you'll be spending your jack points on either a Phoenix or Chimera, frankly...).

Moonlight with Mercs: Cygnar

After a brief diversion, we're back to discussing merc builds with a side of faction.  Cygnar's one of the merc-friendlier factions, when you get down to it.  Note that there's some overlap between Cygnar and the Highborne Covenant, and it means you might own some Cygnarian units for an otherwise merc army.

Unit of Note: Arcane Tempest Gun Mages & UA
These guys get a special mention for two reasons: 1) They're available to the Highborne Covenant (albeit only one unit) and 2) they're nasty jack marshals for shooty jacks.  Frankly, someone like Ashlynn d'Elyse loves these guys, because they're good for hunting criticals with her feat, and they can run a Mule with Snipe and a pseudo-focus, which is really all the Mule seems to want/need.  RAT7 and a 16" range with Aim is pretty nasty.  As Cygnar has plenty of ranged jacks and some selfish casters, they'll pull fine double-duty in their parent faction.

Ranking Officer: Captain Jonas Murdoch
Drop two points, and one merc unit becomes a faction unit.  Honestly, being a Faction unit for Cygnar isn't always a huge buff; lots of casters aren't picky about who they buff.  On the flip side, you get a few fun things out of him: Assault and Go to Ground.  Assault is an orde that lets your guys take shots on the way in, and Go to Ground is a once-a-game "Look, Ma, a Trench!"  Your guys learn to hit the dirt, gain cover, and not block LOS.  Also, Murdoch's Tough, so if he's hanging with Boomhowler, you can get a lovely 4+ tough going.

The Casters
Major Markus 'Siege' Brisbane - This guy is 100% compatible with mercs.  His spells are either 'to whom it may concern' or battlegroup-only.  Explosivo lets anyone have some AoE fun, and magical weapon.  Force hammer...probably won't get a lot of use, since it's so bloody expensive.  Foxhole and Mage Sight are the real money-makers for most, along with his feat.  You really can't hide from this guy, since he can see stealth AND drop units out of LOS.  His feat, too, triggers when anyone damages something in his control area, so you're good.

Lietenant Allister Caine - Cain's army support and infantry removal.  His buffs aren't picky about faction, and favor a ranged game.  He has the standard-issue Snipe, and Deadeye is nasty on units.  Blur helps shelter you from direct fire, and Teleport is his 'get out of jail free' card.  Given a pair of upkeeps and his buffs (and guns), you can probably get away with one or two jacks in the battlegroup, provided they aren't too focus hungry.

Captain Allister Caine - Like his prime version, eCaine is fine with a minimal faction army.  The only thing that wants a faction model is his Magic Bullet spell, and frankly, bringing a long-ranged jack or two means you get all you want out of this spell: free POW12s on annoying solos sitting behind stuff.  He's also a one-man assassination run, so you really want self-sufficient stuff in his army.  The only buff he has for a faction unit is Elite Cadre[Gun mages] which is sick, since it lets them shoot in melee.

Captain E. Dominic Darius & Halfjacks - He's all about the battlegroup.  There's zero support for the army, and he wants heavy jacks to take advantage of his feat.  Honestly, this guy's not what you're looking for in the context of this post.

Captain Victoria Haley - While Haley's buffs suggest she's merc-friendly, the feat suggests otherwise.  She's a ranged game by and large, but the feat, Blitz, requires models to be Faction models in order to get the extra attack.  Basically, if you go merc-heavy you're losing out on her feat.

Major Victoria Haley - Apparently getting an arm hacked off makes you merc-friendly.  She is 100% merc compatible.  Her buffs are indiscriminate, and her feat is all about making the person across from you offer vocabulary lessons.

Captain Jeremiah Kraye - Remember Captain Darius?  The same more or less applies.  No support for infantry, lots for the battlegroup...the only difference is that Kraye plays a more mobile game.  Leave him at home for this exercise.

Commander Adept Nemo - This guy only has one Faction-specific spell, Deflection: sadly, that's a pretty nice spell, good for +2ARM versus ranged/magic attacks.  Also, Chain Lightning is best used at range, since electro leap + merc = smaller paychecks to hand out at the end.  On the bright side, this guy's fine with a smaller battlegroup.  Overall, a so-so choice for merc-heavy; maybe add Murdoch to Boomhowler's and call it a nice, nasty, ARM18/4+ Tough screen that doesn't get trampled through.

General Adept Nemo - This guy's also about warjacks, but he likes a couple or three heavies.  He wouldn't mind a merc unit as a screen, though, with Polarity Shield: nothing like denying the charge.  He can also help out with Force Field, and say 'screw you' to blasts.  Otherwise, its all about the jack-buffing upkeeps.  On the downside, he pretty much requires an investment in a battlegroup to be worth it.

Captain Kara Sloan - Everyone loves a RAT8, POW12 weaponmaster sniper rifle, right?  Sure.  She's a bit faction-picky, though.  Fire Group is nice, but battlegroup-only.  Refuge and Return Fire are nice for some ranged superiority, but again, they require Faction models.  The feat is sick, but AGAIN, it's faction-specific for shooters.  If you bring mercs, I'd consider Boomhowler's at best, and maybe Murdoch: you have a screen that's durable, and you can use Go To Ground to unblock your LOS for a nasty feat turn.  All in all, though, she's not that ideal for this exercise.

Commander Coleman Stryker - He's a buff-bot that doesn't care if you're a faction model for his spell list.  He's got armor, range, and DEF buffs.  However, the feat is good for +5ARM...IF you are a faction model.  If you're a merc, friggin' hide, because the feat turn is when someone else picks you out and tries to make you dead, because you're going to be the easy target.

Lord Commander Coleman Stryker - I want to run this guy, I really do.  I just don't want to own the army it requies.  eStryker loves him some melee infantry.  He's got widespread buffs for their ARM and accuracy/damage, and his feat lets them either get into melee half a board away, or hit, then hit again.  This is NOT the guy you're looking for if you want to run merc-heavy.

The Labor Pool
Steelheads - They're self-sufficient, and can cover all your bases.  They may not be optimal, but you can get a fair amount of bodies for cheap, and getting Tactician is always a bonus.

Alexia & the Risen - not bad if you're running infantry-heavy (IE: Steelheads).  "That which does not kill us, knocks us down.  That which kills us makes us work for Alexia."

Blythe & Bull - If you need RFP in melee, this is where you get it.  Cygnar doesn't really have access to much RFP, Kara Sloan's Dust To Dust notwithstanding.  Not worth adding Murdoch here, honestly.

Boomhowler & Co - Call of Defiance meshes nicely with Murdoch's tough.  Honestly, if you want a nasty screen that will hold off melee and tramples, but still let you shoot through it when you need to, look no further than these guys and Murdoch.  Hell, if you buff their accuracy, Assault, and add Deadeye in, things might even die on the run up and shoot part of their turn.

Sam MacHorne & the Devil Dogs - They love knockdown, but outside of the upcoming Avenger, you don't have a lot of knockdown.  They are a jack-marshall unit, and you can always add a Buccaneer to the mix.  Or, you can run them as your merc unit + Murdoch with pStryker, and have some fun with Earthquake, +5ARM, and the 'Trash' ability on your guys.

Cylena & the Nyss Hunters - There are only a couple of downsides to this unit: 1) Murdoch could slow them down without pathfinder, 2) they're allergic to blast damage, but Murdoch can fix that, and 3) they're expensive.  Otherwise, they're nasty and versatile, and Murdoch can up their price and fix their allergy to blast damage.  Snipe or Deadeye make them that much nastier at range, too.

Anastasia di Bray - She would probably be workable if you're trying to melee the other guy.  On the flip side, your battlegroup probably wants to shoot the enemy, so make sure you activate accordingly.  If nothing else, she might funnel the enemy warcaster a bit...though you have a 15" range with Espionage right off the bat.

Madelyn Corbeau - She would probably be more useful if you were going with more melee stuff.  As it is, most of the merc-friendly casters are ranged types, and you don't have as many 'OH GOD KEEP THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!' melee solos as others might.

Rhupert Carvolo - Ok, who doesn't love fearless/tough, pathfinder, or +1DEF/Terror?  Your opponent, that's who.  Rhupert is, of course, solid support for the army.

The Eyriss' - Since you probably won't have a huge battlegroup, their disadvantages aren't going to be as pronounced.  Also, hey.  they're solid support.  We all knew this already, and people can't afford to let her live.

Reinholdt - This guy gets honorable mention, because most of the merc-friendly casters have guns they wouldn't mind firing one more time for one more point.

Taryn di la Rovissi - Frankly, you have a unit of gun mages, and unless you brought merc shooters, she's not going to do much for you.  However, Steelhead Riflemen + Deadeye + Snipe + Shadow Fire could very well be a surprise assassination vector.

Rutger Shaw - Melee jack marshal.  If you really want a merc jack and you don't want to bring Sam and friends, maybe.  Maybe.  I'm still not fond of this guy as a marshal, and while he helps out Taryn a bit, I've not yet had the urge to acquire him.

Harlan Versh - He's a bit of upkeep hate in a faction that doesn't erally have much.  His form of 'hate' comes in a four-pack of fully boosted POW10s, though.

Gorman di Wulfe - Known quantity.  Solid support.

The Privateer Module - Potentially cheaper than the Steelhead one, it is a bit more focused on melee, whereas the steelheads can bring some ranged game (especially with Snipe).  If you have it, Cygnar can use it.

Ayana & Holt - It's pretty much the only damage buff Cygnar has access to.  Also, if you don't have gun mages, the 'magic weapon' spell could be useful in some situations.

Hammerfall High Shield Gun Corps - You'd lose Shield Wall with Murdoch, and that's kind of their standout quality.  Similarly, you'd lose double-time with the UA, so these guys really don't want Murdoch around.  They're also slow and short-ranged, but you can fix the range with Snipe.  Ranked attacks would be cooler if you had more shooting mercs behind them, but you probably don't.  Overall, they're so-so for anything other than a screen with Cygnar.

Horgenhold Forge Guard - Hey, you get a weaponmaster counter-charge!  You lose on ranked attacks, and Cygnar doesn't really have melee buffs.  On the other hand, Cygnar does have Arcane Shield, and ARM19 (21 in Defensive Line) shrugs off gunfire less than defender-sized.  The SPD4 might not be as much of an issue, given that you are hopefully bringing guns to this match.

Herne & Jonne - probably not worth buffing just two models.  However, Cygnar's a bit low on AoEs, so you might actually get some use out of these guys if you want to fill in that gap.

Ogrun Assault Corps - They certainly won't mind Snipe or an ARM buff.  I'd suggest a melee buff, but you probably won't get that if you can get Snipe from a caster.

Ogrun Bokur - No one likes getting shot.  However, he's got competition: the Sentinel is one more point for something that's got a lot more boxes, and it's not that focus-hungry.  At best, it'll eat one focus for trying to keep up with Caine as he flits around the field.

Thor Steinhammer - If you want to bring Rhulic jacks, this is the guy.  Honestly, between his relative frailty and your access to Gun Mages as marshals, I'm not sure about him.  However, he's still an option, and a Basher with Pronto is a wonderful slam-bot.

The Ragman - This is pretty much the only damage buff Cygnar gets in melee.  Honestly, I could see this guy alongside the Ogrun Assault Corps; add Snipe for ranged shenanigans, and when the enemy closes, you're MAT6, effective PS14.  The OAC can hide the Ragman and/or absorb bullets for him.  What's not to love about this guy?

Overall
Cygnar has several shoe-ins for merc-heavy armies: Siege, eHaley, and both of the Caines.  pNemo and pStryker could make it work with Murdoch.  Sloan is highly situational; maybe Murdoch + OAC or Boomhowler's, but that's about it.  The others either lose a lot by going merc-heavy, or are battlegroup buddies.

All things considered, I think you can make merc-heavy work with Cygnar, and you've got a wealth of options.  Also, Reinholdt, for when you need one more bullet.

Moonlighting with Mercs: Menoth

Thus far, I've covered merc options for Cryx and Khador.  As the symbol to the left might indicate (along with the title) this time it's Menoth's term.

I would have to say out of all the factions, Menoth gets a rep for being the least merc-friendly, as I've heard some casters described as 'buff-bots' and this isn't wholly inaccurate.  However, it's not as simple as that.

Unit of Note: Choir of Menoth
Ok, so we're trying to play as merc-heavy as possible.  If you're taking more than one warjack, it's probably worth investing 2pts into the Choir.  +2MAT/+2 damage is pretty disgusting on things that already hit like trucks, and going up to MAT8 on most jacks is also disgusting.  Past that, there's great utility in denying the enemy chances to shoot or cast spells on the jacks.

The Attendent Priest
I have to say when this guy first came out, I think he got the most hate on forums as he was compared to Valachev and Murdoch.  There's a big difference: this guy is FA:2.  As such, you can bring TWO units to turn into token Menoth faction units.  For 2 points, he doesn't bring a ton of melee prowess, but you do get the ability to go Pathfinder at any time, which frees up the way you can approach the target.  Magical weapons are more of a bonus than a necessity, but are the kind of things you're glad you have when you need them (IE: Machine Wraiths going Ghost In The Shell on your jacks).  Denying the enemy the ability to hit you with spells is situational, but some things like Venom and Hellmouth are worth avoiding.

The Warcasters
High Allegiant Amon ad-Raza - Frankly, this guy is a battelgroup-friendly caster.  His spell list and feat mention 'infantry' only in terms of Convection, which kills an infantryman for a focus for a jack.  He also wants a large battlegroup.  Honestly, he's not really what we're looking for hee.

Feora, Priestess of the Flame - We could call her a super-solo and be reasonably accurate.  She has one buff, Ignite, which is +2 damage and critical fire for friendly models/units, so that works for mercs.  Past that, her spells and feat are about spell denial, movement denial (wall of fire) and setting things on fire.  She'd be happy to have self-supporting infantry, because frankly she's not going to help them herself unless you count setting stuff on fire.

Feora, Protector of the Flame - Like the prime version, her only buff is Ignite.  She'll be taking a jack or two to benefit from Escort, and be moving up the field.  She probably wants a Redeemer for the rocket volley, but past that she would be fine with self-supporting infantry.  You do miss out on Inspiration: Flameguard, though.

The Harbinger of Menoth - Parade Float Girl has one faction-specific buff in Crusader's Call (good for +2 movement on charges).  Combine that with a wonderful movement-denial feat (POW14 fire hits for getting closer to her with her mighty 20" control area) and if you're willing to take a couple of priests with your melee guys, you'll enjoy her.  She also buffs accuacy with guided hand, good for an additional dice on melee attack rolls.  The only thing you really miss out on with mercs is Martyrdom, but it's also something of a trap, since she's ALSO a large base with DEF14/ARM14.

The High Reclaimer - Honestly, this guy COULD run with attendant priests, but if the enemy ever KO'ed them, you're screwed.  Why?  Reclaim.  You need lots of friendly faction models, as when they die he gets souls which turn to focus.  I'm not sure I'd really want to risk this guy with merc infantry just to watch the enemy gun for/kill my Priests, and hose me up.  Why is this a worry?  He's FOCUS 5, and while he can deliver an army via Burning Ash clouds, you'll spend the game hoping your priests don't bite it too fast.

The Testament of Menoth - Revive and Reclaim both specify Faction, and like the Reclaimer, your feat is faction-specific.  You stand to lose a LOT if your priests get splattered, and you don't even have a good way to make clouds.

High Exemplar Kreoss - This guy's got a nice cross-section of spells/abilities going for him.  Want a buff?  Defender's Ward, for +2DEF/+2ARM, but you have the 'Faction' tag in there.  So, get a priest.  Past that, you've a pair of so-so offensive spells, and then the ability to shut down spellcasting and/or drop upkeeps.  Just remember that Purification kills your own upkeeps as well.  If/wehn your first Defender's Ward target dies, you can always make a jack more durable, or shore up Kreoss' own so-so DEF14/ARM15 stats.  And, of course, his feat is army-friendly.  This guy is definitely up for some merc work.

Grand Exemplar Kreoss - Unlike his prime version, this one's not so friendly with mercs.  Inviolable Resolve and Sacrosanct both require faction targets, and you get the most mileage out of them on units.  More so than that, his feat loves Faction models; they get an extra melee attack and hit automatically.  Frankly, this guy is like the Reclaimer/Testament in that you probably COULD roll an army with priests, but losing them before his feat is gonna cost you some serious offensive potential.

High Executioner Servath Reznik - This guy has a special place in the black void I call a heart: he knows exactly what he is, and rolls with it.  He's kind of like eFeora in that you've got Ignite and some battlegroup buffs.  If you like Steelheads, then Reznik's tier list in No Quarter 35 deserves a mention; he allows for small-based Steelheads (and Stannis Brocker) and gives them free attendant priests.  Let Steelheads deal with enemy infantry/lighter targets while Choir-backed, Iron-Aggression'ed jacks beat hard targets, and you've got a decent list.

Grand Scrutator Severius - Defender's Ward, Eye of Menoth, Vision and Death Sentence (re-rolls versus a target model/unit) all require friendly Faction models.  This guy's nasty, but his buffs suggest a Menoth-pure army is the way to go.  Like others, you can try this with Priests but be advised that if the enemy kills your priests, you're basically down to Ashes to Ashes, Immolation, and buffing the 1-2 melee jacks you brought.

Hierarch Severius - Amazingly, this guy's a bit more friendly towards mercs.  The only requirement for Faciton models is on his buff of Holy Ward (+2DEF, untouchable by spells), and the rest is a self-buff, enemy debuff, or battlegroup buff.  You're committing to an Arc Node, though, and should probably consider Blessing of Vengeance.  Still, he can work with one priest, and not lose too much if/when the priest bites it.

Vice Scrutator Vindictus - This guy is also fond of Faction models.  He can dump Pathfinder and Defender's Ward on friendly faction models, and his feat is a great way of saying 'Go Ahead.  Hit My Guys, I Dare You'.  The problem is that an enemy can defuse your feat by killing the priests quickly, and then you'e so-so after that.  That, and he likes Holy Zealots, so all in all Vindictus probably isn't the top choice for a merc-heavy list.

Thyra, Flame of Sorrow - Her money-making buff, Carnage, stipulates that you have to be a Faction model to get the +2 to melee attack rolls in her control area.  Her feat also requies friendly faction models for the 2" place, which is sick.  Silence of Death and Occultation are friendly-model spells, at least.  Sadly, killing your priests is a great way to screw you over, so expect canny enemies to try just that if you look to rock Thyra.

Menite Labor Pool

Steelheads - The small-based ones and Stannis deserve special mention with Reznik, as he keeps them in-tier and gives them free Priests for support.  Past that, the Steelheads are a workable self-sufficient set of bodies, and with Defender's Ward the Halberdiers get kinda disgusting at DEF15 ARM15; they're a pain to hit and probably won't care about blast damage.

Blythe 'n' Bull - Not sure I'd waste an attendant priest on them (as you're buffing two models) but if you want Remove From Play in your army, they'll do it for you in melee.

Croe's Cutthroats - Being Stealthy, they're kinda gonna leave the Priest unscreened outside of 5".  They get special mention in conjunction with High Exemplar Kreoss, as knockdown mitigates their RAT5 on poison weapons nicely.  Cutthroats + Kreoss + Living Models = Hilarity for you.

Sam MacHorne & the Devil Dogs - These guys are built to kill anything they can knock down. Note that while Pronto is a nice drive on melee jacks, merc jacks don't benefit from the choir.  However, the defensive stats on these guys are comparable to Steelheads, and Defender's Ward would make this unit annoying to deal with.  You could always use something like a Talon or Buccaneer as a setup for other hitters, though.  The Choir is the one thing that holds me back, though.

Kell Blailoch - he's a magical sniper rifle.  There's no way to get solos in-faction, so bear that in mind when you have buffs.  The magical weapon may not be 100% necessary, but it's there if your particular build could use it.

Anastasia di Bray - Get close to the warcaster and let everything move up/attack?  It'll make opponents think a bit about how they move their caster, and at least it works on all friendly models.

 Madelyn Corbeau - Movement shenanigans for hire, for a single warrior model.  Situational at best.

Rhupert Carvolo - Pathfinder, or Fearless/Tough, or +1DEF/Terror?  Bloody useful, he is, especially since you're probably rolling with some infantry.

The Eiryss's - Curiously, some folks (IE: Harbinger, Kreoss) would probably take the Prime over the Epic, since the Epic's big selling point is being able to drop animi/upkeeps.  The original does have more versatile ammo.

Orin Midwinter - More denial if you can hide him, and a bit of lightning on the side.  Just be sure not to shut down your own spellcasting as well.

Taryn di la Rovissi - You lose out on her ability to screw with screens via Shadow Fire, and I find that to be her major selling point.  Otherwise, she's a pair of magical ranged attacks that can melt jacks (auto d3 to hull boxes isn't terrible, though the POW10 shot is unlikely to do much otherwise).  However, Menite jacks tend to, y'know, hit like trucks.

Rutger Shaw - He really wants to run a melee jack, and I can't help but think Choirs make menite jacks do it better.

Gorman di Wulf - Who doesn't love this guy's utility?  Seriously.  Walking debuffs 'r' me is his name, and as an added bonus he's immune to fire, which Menoth loves.

Privateers - Again, the whole package is ~16 or so points for Sea Dogs and supporting solos, or you can roll with Press Gangers.  The downside is that you can't bring solos into Faction status, so that limits some of the buffs.  Still, these guys can work as a decent melee core, and DEF15 from Defender's Ward and the like is obnoxious.

Aiyana & Holt - You won't need to bring them to faction status, honestly.  Their damage buff is never a bad thing, but their ability to grant magical weapons does overlap with the Attendent Priest.

Dirty Meg - She wants a melee jack.  You have access to choirs.

Horgenhold Forge Guard - They get a mention with the Harbinger due to Crusader's Call, and with Ranked Attacks, you can even put guns behind them.  When it has to hit like a truck, call Horgenhold.

Herne & Jonne - Want AoEs?  Menoth has sources too, but these are mercs, if that's what you're looking for.

Ogrun Assault Corps - They're generalists, with nice AoE guns and a decent POW12 axe.  Casters with Ignite might look at these guys for their infantry, since POW14's respectable enough and they can take some abuse with 8 wounds apiece.  Also, being medium bases, they can hide the priest a bit better.

Overall
All things considered, Menoth DOES have some neat suppot pieces that stipulate faction-only, like the Covenant.  You're going to miss out on some support if you go merc-heavy, but frankly that goes for ANY faction that goes merc-heavy. 

That being said, the Feoras and Reznik are top for merc compatibility, as they do not require attendant priests.  Reznik even has a Steelhead-friendly tier, for that matter. 

The Harbinger, High Exemplar Kreoss, and Hierarch Severius can work with the addition of Priests. 

Amon ad-Raza is a battlegroup-only guy, and the remainder of the casters are really, really hoping the enemy doesn't wise up and kill the Attendant Priests, as that costs you a lot of capabilities.

Moonlighting with Mercs: Khador

One way to rationalize buying mercs: "Oh, Hey, I can roll them with a faction, or use them as a core and add a faction battelgroup, and it's cheap!" All you have to worry about seems to be 'friendly' versus 'friendly faction', right?

Khador's got the hard hitting covered with their jacks, but unlike Cryx, they actually tend to buff their own guys some. Also unlike Cryx, a few more folks will work for Khador.  EDIT: I've added Harkevich from Wrath, since I laid hands on the book now.

Koldun Kapitan Valachev

Valachev may not be a bad purchase if you're going to roll with mercs. For 2pts, you make a merc unit a friendly Faction unit. The question of whether his unit +2pts is superior to a similar Khador unit is valid, but I am not going to address it in this article. Honestly, he favors shooty mercs more than melee. Why? Well, first, you've got a spiffy spray you can't fire in melee. Second, there's this thing called Zephyr: as a special action, you get a 3" move with immunity to free strikes, which can either be +3" range (which you can get with an aim action) or use to back out of melee. Disbinding is also nice, as if you're eating a debuff, you can disbind and still shoot.

Kayazay Assassins

If you're playing the Four Star Syndicate, you may very well have a set of these guys. A full set and UA runs you 10 points, which is plenty sizeable for a game. Working them in pulls double duty for you: you have a merc unit, but you're also friendly faction, which helps for buffs. Between Kayazy and Valachev, you might be able to field an army that is full-up 'faction' in terms of its units.

Availability of Jack Marshals

I'm going to have to go on record and suggest that if you're evaluating jacks for marshalling with Khador, I would stick with ranged jacks. Having one pseudo-focus from the marshal is much more convenient for a shooty jack than a ranged jack. Would you rather pay 6 points for a Nomad that can swing twice with a PS16 sword, or a Juggernaut that can swing a big axe four times? You just get more bang for your buck with melee heavies on a caster, is all I'm saying.

The Warcasters

With these preliminaries out of the way, let's talk about the actual casters in Khador.

Kommandant Irusk - Battle Lust and the feat, Undying Loyalty, are big on Faction models. If you want to rock pIrusk from the merc perspective, you'll probably want Kayazay and Valachev in there to maximize your returns. Past that, you've got a solid DEF buff in Iron Flesh, a jack buff in Superiority, and even a way to KO stealth via Airburst. This guy's solid, though from the merc perspective he's somewhat limited.

Supreme Kommandant Irusk - Hey, he can hand out Pathfinder on a large scale! Aritifice of Deviation is NICE, and mercs can benefit from it. Battle lust is still there and it applies, but Tactical Supremacy is actualy merc-friendly, so you can grab a 3" move from anyway. However, the Feat (a giant 'I own mobility on you here, now) Martial Discipline (I have no traffic issues with infantry) and Total Obedience (those wtihin 10" of me are Tough) are all Faction only abilities. Oh, and Fire For Effect is faction-only. Sadly, running merc-heavy with Irusk is difficult; anything less than Kayazay and Valachev is missing out on some serious benefits.

Karchev the Terrible - Unless the word 'battlegroup' is in Karchev's spell, it's an offensive thing. Frankly, if you're going to run infantry with Karchev, he's not going to mind some self-sufficient footsloggers. The only downside is that you're going to be bringing some expensive jacks, so thee you go.

Old Witch & Scrapjack - Oh, we got a winner here. Her buffs are either related to her battlegroup, or friendly-model: +3DEF from Iron Flesh, or camo+Pathfinder from Weald Secrets. Add a battlegroup that ignores forests and clouds, and a feat that is a giant screw-you to mobility? The Old Witch is ripe for merc-based operations.

Kommander Sorscha - Fittingly enough, the battle box caster is a solid shoe-in for working with mercs. Boundless Charge is pure jack support. Freezing Grip and Tempest are all about immobilizing the enemy (and are also expensive & short-ranged), and her one support spell is Concealement for everyone around. Her feat is a nice accuracy buff, which means if if you have inaccurate troops, you can do a hell of a lot of damage during feat turn. Add a couple jacks, and then any mercs you want, and you can skip Valachev.

Forward Commander Sorscha Kratikoff - You might want Valachev with the epic version of Sorscha. Why? Shatter Storm. Kill an enemy, and they turn into a 3" AoE good for POW8 blast damage. You either want this on ranged stuff, or well-armored melee unit. Past that, her feat helps you do damage and doesn't care about faction. The downside is you lose out on Desperate Pace and Elite Cadre for the Winterguard, but you can make her work for mercs.

Kommander Strakhov - This guy's a bit harder to play with a merc focus. Why? his one unit/model buff, Occultation, is 'friendly model/unit'. The problem is in using this guy's feat: you want melee units for that happy +4" movement and Pathfinder, but Valachev prefers shooters. I'd go with Kayazay, but honestly I think you can do better with pure-faction as opposed to mercs when it comes to Strakhov.

Vlad the Dark Prince - Vlad's kind of a Faction guy, when he's not being selfish. Blood of Kings is all about Vlad, and Boundless Charge is all about the battlegroup (kinda like the feat...). Razor Wind is the obligator OH CRAP NEED MAGICAL WEAPON AT RANGE! spell. Signs and Portents is Vlad's favorite support, and it's for attacks. However, it's for ANY attacks, so you can get some use out of Valachev. Wind Wall is great for shooting denial, but Valachev likes the shooty. Honestly, you might have some fun with shooty troops and Kayazay, but unless you have Kayazay don't bother with Vlad. Ironically, I'm pretty sure the kayazay and Vlad don't get along in the fluff.

Vlad the Dark Champion - Don't bother. eVlad's spells that help troops are all about helping friendly faction melee models, as is the feat. I have to say this guy's sub-optimal for our purposes. You could work it, but it's not going to give you nearly as much mileage.

Koldun Kommander Aleksandra Zerkova - Amusingly, Zerkova is plenty suited to leading a merc army. She has one spell that impacts friendlies, and Banishing Ward is useful AND not concerned with the faction thing. She's a toolbox, and would be happy for you to bring self-sufficient troopers.

The Butcher - His two buffs aren't concerned with Faction status; Fury gets you +3 damage and -1DEF while Iron Flesh is good for +3DEF and -1SPD. Frankly, these two spells suggest you play Kayazay so you can first deliver them, then turn them into axe murderers. The only reason I suggest the assassins is because Butcher's feat IS faction-specific, and loves the volume of attacks for extra dice. Hey, Kayazay + ranged troopers would be quite fun. He's not uber-ideal, but if you have Kayazay and a ranged unit, you can have some fun.

eButcher - eButcher could theoretically dig some merc support, as he's mostly likely to wander around with a jack trailing him while ignoring his army. Well, he ignores the army 'til he's in melee, then everything within 2" of him is busy getting some Lola to the vitals. The only downside is that you'll miss out on the feat if you take mercs, but you could make him work with self-sufficient mercs and an early feat to use what faction models you brought.

Kommander Harkevich, The Iron Wolf - Honestly, this guy is pretty focused on his battlegroup: he gives them Pathfinder for free, lets them shoot more often with Broadside, makes them faster with Escort, and has Jump Start in case the lot of them gets put on their back.  His feat is purely for his battlegroup.  The only non-jack buff he has is Fortune, and while re-rolls on missed attacks are sweet, it DOES require faction-status.  Either bring Valachev, or just slap it on a jack with enough attacks to make it worthwhile.  Harkevich can make mercs work just fine.

Mercs That'll Work For Khador

Steelheads - You can get cav, halberdiers, and shooters. For those that don't care about merc support, you can always dump 19 points on full halberdiers, full riflemen, and Stannis Brocker for a self-contained trooper core. For those that want shooters, you could always go with Riflemen, but they're a chunkin' 9+2 points.

Alexia & the Risen - If you want to recycle and love meat shields, you could always add Alexia behind a couple units of Halberdiers, or some Kayazay. I'd keep that in there for a larger game, at best.

Blythe & Bull - The main reason to take these guys is if you want an RFP effect. If you'e going to take them, you'd probably rolling with a caster that has zero need for Faction models, since they're four points and benefit most from being in melee for their Takedown.

Boomhowler and Company - Frankly, they're a tarpit. If you can help with their damage output (IE: Fury? POW15s from these guys?) or durability, they'll be happy. As they are chiefly melee, you might be leaning towards these more with a caster that cares nil about a faction-heavy army.

Croe's Cutthroats - If you can help their accuracy, they'll love you. They can shoot, or they can melee. These guys can work, but they're a bit expensive, and REALLY want to aim or get an accuracy buff. Fortunately, someone named Valachev can get them a 3" move and keep the aiming bonus. They might be worth a look.

Cylena & the Nyss Hunters - They can shoot, and they can melee. If you want both in a unit, pay for these guys (and have fun assembling them...). They are disgustingly mobile, and capable of killing infantry at range and hard targets up close. They'll be fine with or without Valachev.

Kell Bailoch - It's a long-range magic weapon that's accurate. This is a fine addition to a Khador army even if you're not going to go merc-heavy.

Madelyn Corbeau - She can help move models around; you may or may not need this.

Eiryss, either version - Solid utility. You would probably consider the epic version even if you weren't going merc-heavy, just for the utility.

Orin Midwinter - If you want some anti-infantry in a solo, here's a guy. He's fine operating on his own, and capable of locking down the enemy nicely if you can screen him from the other guy.

Reinholdt - Got a gun, or need a magic attack to hit? he's solid utility for a lot of folks for a point, no more and no less.

Rutger Shaw - Hey, it's a jack marshal! He can grant a re-roll with his drive, but on the downside? He's a solo, and he's not THAT had to remove.

Harlan Versh - Did someone buff a unit? Cool. Have four fully boosted POW10s from this stealthy jerk. Oh, and don't cast spells near him, because he will shoot you in the face.

Gorman - If you've read his grenade list, you'll probably think about taking him.

Sea Dogs - The basic units and their buff solos will work for Khador. You'll want to bring all their support just because it's a solid package. Compared to the 'Steelhead Package' it's not really got a ranged component (Not fond of artillery, and pistols aren't really that ranged), and it's a bit more solo-heavy to get the full effect. If you take the unit-supporting solos and a full-up Sea Dog Crew, you're looking at 16 points, which is a fair chunk of a 35pt list. They're more durable than the Steelhead block, but lose capabilities as you lose solos. But, hey, pirates, right?

Ayana & Holt - it's the kind of damage buff output you'd think about taking if you could hire it and spare the points, right?

Dirty Meg - She would probably be more impressive if several casters didn't have Boundless Charge. As is, she wants to have a melee jack. However, if you want ranged knockdown, Pathfinder on a Buccaneer could be amusing.

Hammerfall Gun Corps - You can get ARM19 guns with combined ranged attack, and the UA can give you more dakka, or more movement. You can also get a jack marshal off of them, albeit without any drives. Not bad, but they ARE bloody slow. You don't really get to maximize Ranked Attacks in the army, either.

Herne & Jonne - If you want AoEs from mercs, take them. If not, don't. Valachev can technically give them another 3" of range, but I'm not sure I'd dump a 2pt UA into a 3pt unit.

Ogrun Bokur - He slams things and eats bullets. As ever, he's a solid 3pt utility solo, but it's a question of whether or not you have the space for it.

Thor Steinhammer - Do you want to run light jacks? Then this is how you can get light Khador jacks, outside of the Old Witch. I would think about giving him a Blaster or two for antipersonnel duty, and then probably a Bokur or something else for a screen. With Pronto and Tune-Up, you can end up with a RAT7, boosted-damage POW10 spray for heftier infantry, or a boosted ranged attack roll. I wouldn't trust a heavy melee to his care, though, just because you're painting a HUGE target on his head. The only exception would be a Basher, because of its versatility (due to Flak Field) and the joy of Pronto for setting up slams from fun angles.

Altern Ashley - Exceedingly situational, as he's gunning only for beasts, and only so-so at that.

Gudrun the Wanderer - If you want to draw fire from a guy with low-DEF units, take this guy. Alternatively, he's a fine objective-sitter, because he can take two rounds of gunfire (kill him once, he falls down and you can't shoot thim. He can then fall down himself and not get shot again...) He wouldn't mind an accuracy boost, though.

Saxon Orrick - PATHFINDER! Technically he has some extras about messing with beasts and RFP, but pathfinder is his selling point.

Rorsh & Brine - If you have a damage buff like Fury you can slap on Brine, you can get a hard-hitting, independent heavy. Otherwise, well...you can take it, but it's not a hell of a hard-hitter.

Overall

If you want to go merc-pure, the Old Witch and pSorscha have no problems giving them all the support a full Khador army would normally get from them. Karchev has nil support for infantry altogether, so if you have points left you've no problems with support. If you have Kayazay, you have a few more options because you can take a faction melee unit, and grab another 'faction' unit via Valachev. pButcher and pVlad can technically make it work, but I'd stick with pButcher for that. The Irusks are kind of workable with Valachev. Strakhov and eVlad are pretty much out.

I personally would probably go with Old Witch, pSorscha, and maybe pButcher with some Kayazay (because DEF19 melee troops might get you sock-jacked, which is probably a good sign for their utility, right?).  Harkevich could work too, but you might want Valachev.  Then again, you could probably do fine without him.

Moonlighting with Mercs: Cryx

One reason I've convinced myself to by mercs is that it theoretically lets me experiment with a variety of factions without having to commit too many resources. It's the magic of 'friendly' versus 'friendly faction', which can narrow down your choices.

EDIT: I've added a note on the Withershadow Combine, and added Lord Exhumator Scaverous, which I missed as I did not have Wrath when I wrote this.

A Note on the Withershadow Combine
Generally, the idea with this series is to focus on the mercs the factions can take.  Most other factions have ways of stripping upkeeps, either from themselves or others.  Cryx's character unit is the only in-house way Cryx has of removing enemy upkeeps, and they help your caster by providing one free upkeep.  It's worth a mention, as you don't have access to this via mercs, and at 5 points they're reasonable enough in a 35pt list.

The Casters

Cryx, as they tend to specialize in harming the enemy versus helping themselves, sounds good at first glance. However, Cryx has a somewhat more restricted selection of mercs at their disposal. I will start first by determining which Cryxian casters I would want to try with mercs, then worry about which merc units I'd take.

Iron Lich Asphyxious - His unit buff, scything touch, is good for +2 damage for any friendly units/models. Parasite, of course, matters only in terms of getting the hit off. His feat is purely selfish. As such, this guy is a solid start for mercs; as long as you can hit with them, you can do some damage either in range or melee. Just bring arc nodes and perhaps a helljack.

Lich Lord Asphyxious - He's not nearly as friendly as his prime version. Excarnate is undead-only, and the feat is faction-specific. Frankly, I would skip him for this exercise. At best, mercs would be supplimental, which is not quite the point of this exercise.

Warwitch Deneghra - Let's see. Her one buff is friendly model/unit. She can boost accuracy (via crippling grasp and the feat) or debuff armor (via parasite, crippling graps, or the feat). Bring her a battlegroup, and you can even do pop 'n' drop with some ranged units and Scourge (IE: Steelhead Riflemen, perhaps?) She's a solid candidate for a mostly-merc army. I guess she can buy some plausible deniability, right?

Wraith Witch Deneghra - She keeps Ghost Walk, and still has an ARM debuff and DEF debuff. Still solid, after you pack in some arc nodes.

Goreshade the Bastard - The one spell he's got that worries about troopers specifies friendly only, so you can still Soul Gate something back home. Past that, Goreshade offers nil suppot to troops, and can Stealth his battlegroup. Bring mercs that are self-supporting.

Goreshade the Cursed - You miss out on Sudden Death and the feat, as well as the Elite Cadre. Honestly, I feel like you're missing out on some of the epic 'Shade's abilities if you want to run a merc core.

Master Necrotech Mortenebra - Frankly, she's all about her battlegroup with her spells/abilities/feat. You could probably get mileage out of Boomhowler's or Steelhead Halberdiers as a screen, but I'm really not sure she's suited for the merc-heavy theme.

Pirate Queen Skarre - Between Dark Guidance and Blood Magic specifying Faction models, the pirate queen isn't too big on hired guns. She offers plenty of support to infantry, just not merc infantry.

Skarre, Queen of the Broken Coast - eSkarre is more about the battlegroup, though Black Spot works on mercs...partially. Mercs won't get the extra attack, but -2DEF still helps you with a hit. I'd have to say that eSkarre is in a similar boat as Morty: maybe a little as a screen, and I'd probably skip on merc shooting as I'd want faction models to take full advantage of Black Spot.

Lich Lord Terminus - Between Abomination and Sacrificial Pawn [Undead] I think it's safe to say Terminus is kind of a Cryx-only guy. Just sayin'.

Lich Lord Venethrax - He wants a friendly faction model/unit for Soul Harvester, but past that he's self-centered and offensive. Considering a psychotic Gerlak Slaughterborn could serve as a fine soul harvester, I think Venethrax is a fine candidate for self-supporting mercs.

Witch Coven of Garlghast - Ghost Walk and Occultation are perfectly fine with mercs, though Veil of Mists will only screen them. Add in an armor debuff, and as long as the mercs can hit on their own, you should have some options.

Lord Exhumator Scaverous - He's the new guy on the block, fresh from Wrath (and hence being added in via edit...).  He's reasonably friendly towards mercs, with a couple of debuffs (-2ARM from Feast of Worms, and -2 DEF and hamstringing from Icy Grip) and Ghost Walk.  Telekinesis is hideously versatile; you can drag something a little closer and give everyone a backstrike bonus, or move your own hitters up.  Death Ward would be wonderful on a unit, but you can always use it to help your own battlegroup, either by buffing a melee jack (Erebus reaches a stupid-nasty DEF14 ARM20 with it, which is sick for Cryx) or maing sure an arc node keeps its node functional after some damage.  Excarnate suggests you bring undead, and in fairness you are losing out on it.  The feat would be more of a loss if Cryx had any units with Magic Ability, but a Warwitch Siren or two and/or the Withershadow Combine would be a sufficient addition to help, plus the jerk can throw out a crap-ton of TK on feat turn.
I like him for mercs, even if you lose out a little.

The Mercs

As I mentioned, our favorite undead nation does not actually attract a lot of potential employees. I guess no one likes the retirement plan, but money's money, right? It's worth noting Cryx does not have access to any merc jack marshals, which is probably just as well, considering what a Mule could do on a target suffering from Parasite.

Steelheads - You can get cheap melee bodies, you can get some decent cav that goes with the cheap melee bodies, and you can get some actual ranged attacks for your Nightmare Empire. With combined attacks (or flank on the cav), these guys can be reasonably accurate, especially with some of the defensive debuffs open to Cryx. I started this exercise thinking about running a full unit of Halberdiers, a full unit of Riflemen, and Stannis Brocker.

Cryxian armor debuffs help Steelheads hit harder, which is one of the complaints I tend to hear about mercs. A Halberdier double-team is suddenly MAT7, PS16 under Parasite, and goes up to a silly MAT9, PS15 under Crippling Grasp. The Riflemen are similarly disgusting, with the added bonus of Combined Arms.

Boomhowler & Co also appreciate the debuffs. While they have combined melee attack, the base size makes it difficult to get more than two guys into any given attack, and they don't hit particularly hard. Still, I suppose you can get a tarpit and some lethality, as well as a trample shield, out of these guys.

Croe's Cutthroats LOVE a DEF debuff. With a base MAT6 and RAT5, the poison weapons might actually do some serious damage. Even parasite won't mitigate the otherwise-low POW, but in a larger game I can see them benefitting from a DEF debuff as long as you've got some heavy hitters in your list.

Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters - They'll be happy with Cryx, I think. If you're only looking to invest in one hefty unit, you can get both ranged and melee out of them. Get a DEF debuff to make sure that MAT6 can work in melee, and a DEF debuff will help them nail high-DEF infantry at range without having to do an excessive amount of teamwork. With Pathfinder, they're not as reliant on something like Ghost Walk for mobility.

Orin Midwinter - It's not like Cryx is low on magical attacks. Null Magic can work for you, but it poses an order-of-activation issue for you. I guess if you want to challenge yourself, or run a flanker with some anti-infantry capability, there's always this guy.

Gorman - He's good. Cryx can help him hit better, and/or just make a warjack CRY as it eats -5ARM in a turn.

Sea Dogs - The basic units and their buff solos will work for Cryx. You'll want to bring all their support just because it's a solid package. Compared to the 'Steelhead Package' it's not really got a ranged component (Not fond of artillery, and pistols aren't really that ranged), and it's a bit more solo-heavy to get the full effect. However, I don't believe Cryx has access to a psychotic acrobatic model like First Mate Hawk. If you take the unit-supporting solos and a full-up Sea Dog Crew, you're looking at 16 points, which is a fair chunk of a 35pt list.

Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile - Sadly, artillerist won't help Cryx, so this guy's mostly a wash unless you want to bring Sea Dog Deck Gun Crews.

Ogrun Bokur - Solid utility, and has the distinction of being one of two Rhulic solos that will actually work for the Nightmare Empire. As ever, you'd bring him to backstop bullets that would otherwise be addressed to more valuable targets. He's also got the distinction of being the only Shield Guard available to Cryx.

Overall

Frankly, I like the Deneghras and Iron Lich Asphyxious for merc-centric forces. Sadly, you're limited to merc units/solos, but given how focus-efficient you can get with Cryxian helljacks, I don't find that a major downside. Crippling Grasp is the standout, as you can get effectively +2 to hit and +2 damage against a target. Hell, even lowly Halberdiers going solo can rack up effective MAT9 PS15 swings on feat turn against CG'ed targets. It's just plain wrong.

I currently favor Steelheads for these two, as they're inherently self-supporting, and you can pick between volume of attacks or quality of attacks for the issue.

Just be aware that mercs tend not to be fearless, so the lovely Deathjack and its abomination might not be high on the list.

Ashlynn at 35

I have taken a break from the Everblight to sample the joy that is Mercenaries. As of late, I've been rocking Ashlynn d'Elise at the 35pt level of our map league, and have been enjoying her.

The List

Ashlynn d'Elyse

-Mangler

Arcane Tempest Gun Mages with UA

Mule

10 Horgenhold Forge Guard

Ayana & Holt

The Piper

epic Eiryss

The Breakdown

I've been keeping an eye towards the feat with Ashlynn, and if I can get a neat critical effect into the build, then why not? More tools, the merrier, right?

The Mangler is there to give Ashlynn a melee beat-stick that uses her jack points. It is a bit expensive, but it's got a solid threat range and can either beat up hard targets, or tear up some infantry without a lot of work. Plus, Admonition can help me keep the big lug safe.

The Gun Mages are ranged anti-infantry support. With the UA, they can work around Stealth. Thunderbolt is useful even without the crit, though Critical Brutal Damage is nice for the feat. Plus, hey, they can give me Snipe on the Mule without burning focus. It's a good source of anti-personnel and control.

The Mule? It has a devastating critical, and the ATGM UA lets me Snipe the thing. I mean, what's not to love? Solid AoE damage, enough power and RAT (especially with an aim action) to threaten heftier targets...it's solid all around.

The Forge Guard have a few solid offerings. First, Ashlynn's Quicken puts them up to a respectable SPD6, turning a slow unit into one with a very respectable threat range. The DEF bonus is largely wasted, but Defensive Line lets them pull together to shrug off low-POW hits. Ranked Attacks is another major consideration, as I can keep shooters behind them without caring about LOS as much. Finally, Critical Smite is some nice potential utility on Feat turn, though it costs that guy damage output. The most common use I can think of is making large targets fall over and get auto-hit, as any of the more nuanced uses of slams might be a bit harder to pull off, given that there's no boosting and angles matter.

Ayana and Holt do what they do: Mercs are a bit short on magical attacks, and the utility of Kiss of Lylyss only grows as you up the volume of attacks. And, well, Holt shoots things.

The Piper is there to assist the Forge Guard, or in a pinch up the DEF of the gun mages to 'hope you have blast template' levels.

Epic Eiryss is there for utility, pure and simple. With only one battlegroup jack, it's harder for me to hurt myself with Arcane Interference.

Possible Changes

Admittedly, the list has 9 points sunk into support solos, and I could always trim the Mangler down into something else. I think the Forge Guard and Piper are definitely going to stay, as reach weaponmasters with SPD6 and pathfinder or tough are hard to argue with. The Gun Mages and Mule mesh nicely with the ranked attacks on the Forge Guard, and they give me anti-personnel to go along with the Forge Guard's hammers.

Epic Eiryss is just too useful to lose, between the chance of knocking out terrifying buffs on the enemy and/or the odd crippling debuff on something of mine (moreso the former than the latter).

That leaves the Mangler and A&H as room for alterations. As it stands, the Mangler costs me 2 points after Ashlynn's jack points, so I'd be looking at 6 points of wiggle room at best. I kind of want to keep a heavy warjack in her battlegroup, just tgo give me some crushing power. A Nomad loses the Thresher, but can still beat the tar out of hard targets. I can probably lose the thresher, given the volume of attacks I have available elsewhere.

So, what to do with that last 6 points, assuming I drop A&H? I could add a full unit of Steelhead Halberdiers, or a min unit with another support solo. It's more bodies and potentially more utility, but I'd be dedicating those guys to a flank as they'd be in the way of Ranked Attacks from the ATGMs. I could grab a min unit of Boomhowler's. I could take an Ogrun Bokur, a 2pt solo and Reinholdt...the list goes on. My problem with taking another unit is that they're either gonna have guns, or need Ranked Attacks.

On Ashlynn Herself

Most of the time, turn one has been handing out Admonition on the Mangler, Quicken on the Forge Guard, and allocating one so the Mangler can run. That leaves Ashlynn with ~4 focus, enough to fuel the jack or kick off an offensive spell. I don't think she needs another melee jack, just from a focus standpoint. I suppose I could forgo the melee heavy and use Ashlynn herself, but that's a) risky and b) she doesn't hit THAT hard.

The rest of her spells are fairly situational. I've yet to find a good use for Twister; I would love to block LOS with it but placing it accurately requires a target. At best, I could sacrifice a pair of Forge Guard to dump some clouds into place (and they might even survive, if in Defensive Line; I'd need 9+ to kill the direct hit guy...).

Gallows would be nicer with an Arc Node, though it's a good tool to have. I'm using most of her focus to get it off, likely with a boost to reel a target in. On the downside, I'm probably dragging the target into striking range of Ashlynn, so this one's a no-go unless Admonition is on her, or I can otherwise keep her safe.

Flashing Blade is, of course, fun when the enemy tries to close with you and doesn't kill you, or if you've an opportunity to take a chunk out of the enemy. Frankly, I think that Admonition is almost a must on Ashlynn if you want to get use out of her to kill anything, but there are still ways around DEF17.

Overall

I've enjoyed Ashlynn; even if I lose, the feat turn feels like a victory because of its ability to frustrate the other guy's plans. So far, I've preferred to keep her in the back as support, though it's nice to know I can plop admonition on her and go forth to destroy things.