A Spin with Ravyn

I've opted to take a break from Legion for a bit; 8 months of league play with Legion (and not much else) means the Raptor's ready for a change of pace.

So, I went back to elves (...kind of a theme; I was an Eldar player in the 40k days) and decided I wanted anger and tricks, but less pathfinder and sprays. I stumbled across Masterhshake's Raven list, and have put a few games in with it. I like it. His 35 point list is

Ravyn

Discordia

10-man Mage Hunter Strike Force with UA

2x Stormfall Archer squads

Ayana & Holt

2x Mage Hunter Assassins

epic Eiryss

At 50, I saw the Mastershake suggest an Arcanist, Battle Engine, and Destor Thane

The Games

Round 1: Legion

The scenario was three points across the middle; take and hold them to score, first to seven. At 35, my opponent brought pLylyth, Typhon, Scythean, Carnivean, Shepherd, a Shredder or two and a pair of Strider Deathstalkers. We both ignored the scenario in favor of bloodshed because, hey, killing is fun, right? Right.

I attempted the snipe/feat/go assassination, though Lylyth had camped 3 fury and managed to weather it with a handful of health boxes left. He retaliated by popping feat while pulling Lylyth back; I lost most of my infantry in the ensuing carnage. He made the mistake of pulling Lylyth too far back, though, and instead of trashing Discordia, the Carnivean just beat it up. So, Ravyn loads two focus onto Discordia, drops Vortex of Destruction, and takes the carnivean from about 9 damage in to dead in a go. Discordia gets a 1" locomotion, then meanders over and sprays Lylyth to death.

Round 2: Cygnar

One of my long-time comrades/opponents drops eStryker, Ol' Rowdy, a STormclad, and some stormnoun infantry (backed up by Gun Mages) onto the table (35pts again) and opts to go first in the scenario that involves two 10' radius circles on either side. I set up behind a forest and try to use Veil of Mists to move through it with some success. My MHSF has a phenominal first round of shooting and drops fully half of the stormguard and stormblades; he passes the resulting morale checks. Ignoring Deflection to go against DEF12/ARM15 with RAT6/POW10 is bloody nasty, and very much the difference between a lotta dead guys and a lotta live ones. He adjusts his line to reach me, runs everything, and pops feat just to make contact with me, also worrying about the flanking assassins and Eiryss locking down the stormclad via being with 5" and Disruptor bolt. (she then bit it to a guy that wanted a 9 to hit her; ARM12 means damage boxes are a formality to anything other than unboosted blast damage).

My feat ends up decimating his army; he ends up with his jacks, his caster, and a couple gun mages. My problem? I left Ravyn 16" away from Stryker. This guy has run primarily eStryker, so he's gotten good at estimating Stryker's tremendous personal theat range. 6" of Velocity, 6" of movement, 3" of charge and 2" of reach later, Ravyn has suffered single-stroke long division. His dice finally came back to him; he popped +12STR and 2 damage off Stryker's GIVE ME POWAAAH! overcharging ability.

Game 3: Legion, 50pts

My Legion comrade from before switched it up a bit as we upped it to 50. I added the Shake's suggestions. My opponent brought epic Thagrosh, Typhon, Scythean, Carnivean, 2x Shredders 5x Warmongers, Warmonger Chieftain, 2x Shepherds, 2x Deathstalkers

The Scenario was Break the Line, and he had a LOT of stuff that's good for holding some prime real estate. I opened deployment with the Battle Engine in the middle. He set up centrally with eThags in the middle, Warmongers to my right, Scythean just outside of there, and Typhon/Carnie on the other flank. Shepherds to each side, and a shredder on each side. I opened by favoring the side away from Typhon and the Carnivean, because they're nasty.

My dice...well, they tended to be either very hot or very cold. Case in point on my first turn; Snipe goes on the MHSF, and they all volley at a Shredder...two hit, but they kill it almost twice over. The Stormfalls and Eiryess throw a heap of fire downrange and manage to KO both Deathstalkers, while the AFG meanders up the board; I can't bring myself to call an 8" run anything other than a power-walk in this army. The Destor immediately busts arse into the middle objective area, camping on the side way the hell away from the Scythean. MHAs jog up both flanks.

He advances; Typhon burns 9 boxes (!!?!?) off of the AFG with one shot. Thagrosh advances, grabs a hill in the middle. I end up losing 50% of both Stormfall units, but the MHSF focus-fires most of the Warmongers down in return along with a burst from the AFG. (I thought about Blasted Earth, then realized Aim + Rapid Fire means dead guys don't charge either; even with ARM18 from Dragon's Blood I can power through that...). Of course, the dice bite back when his terror-causing Warmongers hit the MHSF and they roll an 11 for their 'Don't Crap Yourself' roll. Good JOB, guys.

At this point, I CAN hold down the middle, but I figure it's time to go for the gusto. KILL IT WITH FIRE time. Thagrosh has high ground in the middle; he's got most of his beasts up, and still has a feat in reserve. I can try to reposition, get the AFG sprayed by multiple boostable POW14s, and lose my Stormfalls (and probably more MHSF in the bargain) or go for the assassination. Discordia gets a couple of focus. I used my feat to try to decimate his army (figured that snipe + feat + go on MHSF wouldn't cut it against ARM17 and 20 boxes; let's experiment). He takes fire from the AFG (connects with 2 out of 3 rapid-fire shots), and loses about 8 boxes. Of couse, eThags gets a free lesser beast once per game after eating 5 damage; the Shredder naturally goes where Discordia wanted to charge. I have to divert fire to killing it, including Ravyn's shot. Even the Thane gets in on the action, charging a Warmonger to death and then cracking Thagrosh with a POW12 and sad damage roll. Discordia takes advantage of Veil of Mists to Pathfinder through the rough terrain, and comences to try to punch the crap out of Thagrosh. It ALMOST succeeds, but Thags has about 3-4 boxes left after transfers.

Well, his turn sees him make two mistakes: 1) didn't camp enough fury, and 2) forgot about the scenario. The Scythean eats the Destor, but his Carnivean beats Discordia into a bloody pulp and he uses Typhon to kill off the AFG after the Shredder near it puts another 8 damage on it with spectacular rolls. However, Eiryss is alive and in the middle strip, so we get another turn.

And now? Now it's time for the long shot. I have about 7-8 MHSF left, Ravyn, and Eiryss. Thagrosh has 1-2 fury and Dragon's Blood on himself. Combined with the height, he's DEF15 ARM17+2, and it's not looking good for me. Well, hell, I'm dead next turn, he doesn't have a ton of fury...gotta try it. Eiryss fails to knock Dragon's blood off. One Stormfall actually makes the hit with Brutal Shot, and my dice finally get hot on the damage rolls. Friggin' transfers. Ravyn opens up, and her shot gets transferred. Ok, no fury, 6-7 boxes...the MHSF is left. The first four? WHIFF. Well, they moved. Snipe went on them, so some of them had the aiming bonus. One hits, rolls an 11 for damage. THREE BOXES LEFT, THAGS! Then the next one hits and box-cars the damage roll. Blammo. I win, barely, and frankly should've lost that.

Summary

These are the first games I've played with Ravyn. Honestly, I like Mastershake's setup. It's obviously well-thought-out and well-tested. It's a nice break from the Dawnguard-heavy lineups I've used with Vyros, and while I like Kaelyssa, Snipe on MHSF turns them into nasty troop/support hunters.

Ravyn

What can I say? Discordia's spray works well with her feat, and with only one jack to fuel, I've discovered she's got a nasty spell list. Veil of Mists is a fine way to refuse a flank if you've got a narrow forest or something else you can get through and then run your other troops through. The pathfinder only SOUNDS situational 'til you drop a 4" AoE of it in your control area. Locomotion is something I initially wrote off as silly, but now I see that sometimes those extra inches can make all the difference. Plus, it's out-of-phase movement for your jack, which can be useful in and of itself. Finally, Vortex of Destruction is what Ravyn pops when she's got to get her hands dirty, and she's perfectly capable of doing just that.

Discordia

Again, what to say? It's got a spray that's hard to beat ANYWHERE (SP10, POW14, Magical, no damage type, tied to a boostable RAT6? Seriously, find me better.) and a feat to match. In melee, you've got a solid PS16 (with access to Concentrated Power) and MAT7. It may be Rahn's jack, but Ravyn can get plenty of mileage out of it between feat, Veil of Mists, and Locomotion.

MHSF

I forgot how versatile they were. To sell them as purely snipe-feat-go fodder is to do them (and you) a disservice. That, and casters with lots of ARM/health don't fear snipe/feat/go nearly as much as ARM14/15 casters. In a pinch they can melee (double-teaming for MAT8 POW12s is respectable and sufficient to get through a lot of troopers, as long as they aren't shield wall) and of course they make support models like shepherds very, very sad. With Snipe up, they're good for softening up incoming troops early on, then can switch targets as they bear.

Stormfalls

My experience with WarmaHordes is that you tend not to double up. I think Stormfalls are candidates for an exception. They're just bloody versatile. Need to hunt bigger game? Boosted POW12s can get some work done. Hunt light infantry at long range, and/or stealth? Snipe shots do that. Shield wall? How's fire treating you jerks, eh? You'll probably want those 8 AoEs to make SURE you get enough blast damage on target, but then you can switch to big game hunting. I almost think of them as a 10pt unit that can activate 50%, then 50% of its models.

Mage Hunter Assassins

I think these guys are part fear-factor as much as anything. People blanch when they see you're a weaponmaster with decapitation and a 4" melee range, but then when your dice crap out and they've got stuff nearby that can boost, they tend not to be as worried. I do like that I can slice things, and then not be engaged after my activation.

Ayana & Holt

Who doesn't love +2 to damage rolls, seriously? Ayana just tends to be a priority target, but they're an affordable workhorse for 35pts. Stealth wasn't as important, given the matchups either lacked shooting or didn't actually care that much about it.

eEiryss

Solid. Seriously, what is there to say? Being able to knock buffs off the enemy is huge for everything that's not a Mage Hunter in your army. Hell, some animi/upkeeps are just plain obnoxious, like, oh, EXCESSIVE HEALING for example.

Destor Thane

Man, I love ride-by attacks on this guy. Even with a RNG10 gun, you can kite a bit, and hunt infantry. The POW12s just ping off harder targets, but that's why you brought A&H, right? I think that a single Destor as a fast flanking element has some serious potential with some builds.

The Arcantrik Force Generator

Honestly, I think i'd start looking at these in 50pt games. It does give you a hell of a gun platform, between the slams and the rapid-fire POW14s. The Rough Terrain shot is somewhat situational (IE: not against legion), but if you can't kill something that lacks pathfinder, the next best thing is to slow it down. As it has a ranged attack, Ravyn digs it on feat turn, but I think most casters will have other places to put their support. I suppose Rahn might TK it so that TK+Aim = same range as moving, but at RAT9, but most of the other buffs you might have for it would probably go to other models. Still, it can be hideously accurate, and it has some solid firepower. I think it's a welcome addition to the army of the Retribution at higher point levels.

Closing Thoughts

Ravyn is great fun to play, and my hat's off to Mastershake for putting together a solid list for her. It's also a hell of an adjustment to go from playing an army with a few beasts and maybe one small infantry unit to playing one big thing and 20+ footsloggers. The term 'traffic jam' is not inappropriate.

Ode to the Totem Hunter

I apologize to the readers, as it's been a bit since I've managed to update this bloody thing. I blame that in part on the scattered apocalypse that hit northern AL the other week.

That aside, I offer up an analysis of one of my favorite minions: the Totem Hunter.

Basic

If you think of the Totem Hunter like a Predator that left his guns at home (to make it more sporting, you know...) you have a good start on what the Totem Hunter does.

If you need a fast harasser in your Hordes army and you have 3pts to spare, then the Totem Hunter is for you.

Stats

As you'd expect for a 3pt solo, he's fairly burly. DEF 14 is solidly above-average and may want a boost. ARM15 over 8 boxes mean he'll generally laugh off blast damage, and can probably survive a couple of boosted blast damage rolls. He's also got got Stealth, which makes the whole 'resistant to blast damage' thing important. Also, SPD7 with Pathfinder is about as fast as it gets.

As far as killin' goes, you have MAT8, a PS14 reach spear for stabbin' and a PS11 non-reach shield for punchin'.

Special Rules

These are where the Totem Hunter gets his teeth. You're looking at four happy little special rules:

Hunter - Ignore forests, concealement, and cover for LOS purposes. Totem Hunter Sees You.

Jump - If you make a full advance with your normal move, you can then place the Hunter completely within 5" of the current place; but you can't Jump if you can't charge.

Prey - after deployment but before the first turn, pick a unit/model. You get +2 to attack and damage rolls against it, and +2 movement if you start within 10". Pick new prey as you slag it.

Sprint - Chopped a head off this turn? Make a full advance when you're done.

The Fun Part

So, what do you do with this hideously fast, accurate death-machine? You go hunting units/solos. Against your prey, MAT10 and PS16/13 means you WILL put a dent into your target. That'll handle most solos, and easily KO single-wound troopers. You have the speed to get the first strike in, and then evade.

What To Prey? To answer this, you've got to keep two things in mind. Initially, can you kill the solo in one round? If it's a unit, can you get to them without a ton of trouble? Finally, can something else get to it? If the enemy sees you Prey something, they might just keep it way away from the totem hunter.

On the Approach Ideally, you want to hit the enemy from the side. Why? You want to make sure you can engage the enemy one chunk at a time. You want to make sure it's difficult for them to vector reinforcements in there, and leave yourself an exit.

Get the Drop You have a basic charge move of 10" in a straight line. You can move 7" and place up to 5" for a good 12" move. You can also do fun things with the Jump like get a line on the enemy officer, which is great fun when they have a wonderful 'granted' ability or an as-yet-unused minifeat. There is no such thing as a 'screening unit', there's just 'does he have space to land or not?' If 'yes', you killed something important, and hopefully got away.

The Old One-Two Remember that the Totem Hunter is NOT in fact immune to free strikes. When engaging an enemy infantry unit, you want to be careful in your placing. If you commit, you want to minimize the number of enemy infantry actually engaging the hunter. He prefers none-reach infantry. Why? Land within the 0.5" melee range, and try to deck your first target with the shield. If you miss, try to stab it in the face. If you KO the target with the shield, use your reach-stick to claim a second victim.

Play Keep Away Remember that question about 'can you kill the stuff in a hit or two?' You want to put in a kill each round to trigger sprint. Sprint is how you keep the Totem Hunter alive. He can survive for a little bit against infantry, between the DEF, ARM, and 8 boxes. He's NOT a tar pit, though. You want to kill something, and then sprint out of the enemy's melee threat range. Better yet, get out to the flank or behind him. Force him to either keep taking losses, or divert something to deal with the hunter.

Weaknesses

Ignoring Stealth Obviously, this guy kind of LIKES to not get shot at. Some casters and the like can ignore stealth, and DEF14 ARM15 on 8 boxes doesn't eat heavy direct firepower. Oh, and something like the Ravagore is a potential nightmare for the Totem Hunter, as it'll probably one-shot the guy with a 2-fury expenditure.

Multi-wound/Tough Infantry If the totem hunter can't make a kill, it can't get away with sprint. While the Totem Hunter isn't weak, it's not hefty enough to survive dedicated attention.

Lack of Infantry/Soft Targets The Totem Hunter exists to pick off solos and infantry. If there's not a lot of that out there, then the Totem Hunter isn't going to seem as useful. He'll be good for harassing the enemy, though; take out support and then try to threaten the caster.

Incorporeal Stuff That's a poking stick, not a MAGICAL poking stick. Worth remembering, since your strength is the first strike and without magical weapons, you cede first swing to the incorporeal guy.

Buffs with 'Faction' model in them Ok, this isn't so bad, since there's a good chance this guy is operating way out on the flank away from your support. He doesn't NEED the support much anyway, since he's hideously accurate and hits hard enough to kill most of his intended targets.

The Totem Hunter in a Game

Honestly, with the Totem Hunter (and any other model with Prey and no Advance Deploy) I can live with going second, as it lets me place him in response to his intended prey. If the enemy has an infantry unit of decent size that I need to whittle down prior to its arrival, I'll put that out there. If they've got some nasty flanking solo that he's got speed on, I'll shoot for that one. At that point, the Totem Hunter goes into pursue/harass/engage mode: hit the other guy, KO the target or whittle a couple troopers off, then sprint behind the other guy. Why? He's got to go after the hunter, or the hunter takes a bigger toll / hunts support solos.

If you DO run out of infantry/solos to KO and the game's still one, there are two ways to go for Prey: 1) find a wounded beast/jack, try to charge it and feed it a virtually auto-hitting POW16 hit, or 2) target the caster and make them sweat. MAT10 hits most casters, and they may not really want a POW16 and POW13 for breakfast.

Overall

If you want to bedevil your opponent and have 3pts for a spare minion solo, the Totem Hunter is your guy. He hits and fades with the best of them, and can get an absurd 21 inches of movement in a turn (9" advance to Prey, 5" jump, 7" sprint = LOL. Seriously.). He's pretty resistant to being gunned down at range, and everyone's going to have some support that this guy can turbo-shank. Give him a shot, if you play Hordes.

The Reznik's New Tier

The whole reason I own some Menoth figures is because I like Reznik. He's got a nice, simple, three-step approach to life:

1) Find a Heretic

2) Wrack or Burn Heretic

3) Profit! Return to step 1.

He's got a lovely new Tier list in NQ 35. I've given it a spin, and am reasonably impressed with it.

What's (new) in the box?!

Apparently, Reznik's on cleanup operations for the Protectorate as they wander through Llael and make sure they have a kind, loving, loyal populace that believes in the Creator of Man.

Or, the bogeyman (Reznik) comes along to pacify your village. And by 'pacify' I really mean BURN EVERYONE THAT DOES NOT AGREE WITH THE NICE MAN.

Tier components:

Much like his old tier, but you are allowed Steelheads, Kell Blailoch, Stannis Brocker, and Vessels of Judgement.

Tier 1: Deliverer Sunburst Crews gain advance deployment. Honestly, I like AD on my artillery for two reasons: 1) free move up, and 2) lets me react to where the enemy places their infantry.

Tier 2: field 1+ small-based steelheads; get free Attendant Priests. I think this goes a way towards shoring up Reznik's relative lack of support for infantry (outside of Ignite, I suppose). Hey, giving your guys Pathfinder, Magic Weapons, or Immunity To Spells. Get your guys where they need to be faster.

Tier 3: 2+ vassal solos; you get your upkeeps (Ignite and Iron Aggression) out on the first turn. There are a couple of perks for this: if Reznik has more than two warjacks, one's not running on turn one if you want Ignite out. You can get all your jacks upfield with a run, and get Reznik to run and camp some focus.

Tier 4: 3+ heavy warjacks in your battlegroup; you get +2" to your DZ. Hey, get all your happy stuff upfield faster, and AD your incendiary ballistae up further.

What To Do With The New Toys

The cheapest you'll get a tier four list at is 18 points, assuming a minimum Halberdier unit, two Vassal Mechaniks, and three Crusaders.

The biggest decision you'll want to make is how many Steelheads to bring. Your screening unit choice is a happy little Steelhead Halberider unit. From there, you can go with the 'steelhead module', a full Halberider unit, a full Rifleman unit, and Stannis Brocker. That means your Riflemen can fire through your Halberdiers like they aren't there.

Alternatively, you can crack out Flameguard Cleansers (still in the tier) and their sprays ignore the melee bonus. Even if you're engaged, the burnin' boys can take care of the problem. The difference: you're relying on your halberdiers to KO high-DEF targets with directed attacks and let the Cleansers BBQ heavy infantry; the Rifleman can reliably hit solid defense (with CRA and Combined Arms) but become pretty incapable against stuff the Halberdiers have engaged.

It's 19pts for the aforementedion Steelhead 'module' but you DO have a mobile support unit with Pathfinder capabilities. Alternatively, I'd look at Halberdiers + min cleansers + 2 Sunbursts for 18 points. Or, you can just go for the minimum and drop six points on some Halberdiers.

Frankly, I'd suggest a pair of Vassals, just because I dig these guys, and Reznik loves him some jacks.

Jack-wise, I'd probably open with a Reckoner (because it's just plain fun). I'd consider a Vanquisher for the ranged element, or maybe another Reckoner, just because of its combination of reach and SPD5. If you really want an Arc Node, I'd probably go with the Guardian just to keep another heavy in the mix. It's not TERRIBLE, but I admit that we have some solid choices.

Overall

While this list requires infantry just as his last one does, I believe it does a much better job of supporting your infantry and giving you options. Previously, you were going to dump at least ten points into a couple of flameguard cleansers, and your only real option for melee infantry is Cinerators, which are slow and expensive, but do screen reznik.

At 35, I've had fun with the list, but only went up to tier 3. It included:

Reznik

-Vanquisher

-Reckoner

Full Halberdiers + UA

Full Rifleman + UA

Min Choir

Stannis Brocker

2 Vassals of Menoth

Not bad, I think, but I think some of thei nfantry would have to give in order to fit everyone, but I like having some accurate ranged support.

Collected Thoughts on Mercs

Because, hey, there are some things worth doing for money, right?

First, obligatory apology: I got sick for a solid two weeks and change. Yeah, antibiotics with "DO NOT DRINK OR YOU SHALL SURELY DIE!" warnings during St. Patty's day are what we call 'deal-killers.' And it's the second year in a row, and I love me some Irish Car Bombs.

Sick Raptor on Saint Patty's day = Sad Freaking Panda Raptor.

Anyway, we've got an escalation league going on locally, so I've opted for a break from the Legion of Everblight (or, as my opponents call it, Legion of 'Where The Hell Did That Spray Of Death Come From?!!'). I figured, hey, time for mercenaries, right? I like mercs, and they're modular, so I can justify being choosy with caster/battlegroup and get a taste of other factions.

What follows is some reflections based on a handful of games with various merc models.

Warcasters

Ashlynn d'Elyse

First, let me say that popping her feat alone feels like winning. The amount of invective my opponent generated after realizing I'd caught most of his army with it was totally worth it, and kind of HAD to be my consolation after the face-crushing beatdown that ensued (hint: my face got crushed; I didn't bring a heavy-enough hitter to kill buffed Trollkin Champs).

Honestly, she's got a pretty solid suite of spells. Quicken can get a tarpit up there, or increase the speed of your heavier infantry (IE: the Forge Guard; reach weaponmasters with Crit Smite, but SPD4? Just Add Quicken for sweet weaponmasters with SPD6 and reach, AND good synergy with the feat!). Admonition is fun for either her (when she wants to get into the fray) or when you're going to try to take out a hard target, and may want/need to risk a jack.

She's no slouch in melee, with MAT8 and a PS11 weaponmaster turbo-shank, combined with basically 'thresher' for a 1-focus spell. Balance factor: she's not got reach. She does have a lovely DEF17 and a decent ARM15, but she's sitting on 14 health, so there. Basically, if you're committing her to the front, you're going to think about Admonition against melee, or using Quicken on her and/or having something nearby that can block the shot (IE: Vanguard, Bokur).

All in all, I see a few downsides:

1) Not Really a Jack Caster

This is an issue mostly because you may want a heavy-hitter. The only real support she has for something like a Nomad or Mangler is giving it focus. She CAN try to debuff the target's DEF with Distraction, but that's more or less 3 focus to get it done, leaving 3 for the melee jack only if you have none of your upkeeps up, though you probably want one of them up as defense if you're within 8 inches to fire off distraction.

Without a heavy jack, you're kind of limited on your choices for heavy-hitters, which may relegate you to playing for assassination.

2) Squishy

Beware boosted blast damage. 14 health is not a lot. Also, beware knockdown. Unless you're hugging a marine warjack with lash (...and with your feat and being able to marshal it to gunmages, you probably have a Mule instead), the enemy has an easy way to deal with DEF17: slam a warjack over you. Then you are DEF5 vs ranged.

3) Semi-reliant on the feat

I see her feat as having two major uses: either you can overextend yourself, or go hunting for crits or just go for being hideously accurate on the feat turn without fearing a lotta reprisal. I mean, it's a nasty feat, but you're still relying on dice, and that doesn't always work out. Also, if you're going crit-hunting on things like Gun Mage Critical Brutal Damage, higher-DEF enemies are going to give you more trouble than lower-DEF ones, simply because there'll be fewer doubles that hit.

Overall, I like Ashylnn. I expect to start most games with taking a Nomad, Bokor, and a Mule marshalled to a Gun Mage UA and going from there, or maybe experimenting with Forge Guard.

Magnus

Ah, Magnus. He's kinda simple, but still plenty brutal. The one thing I'm not 100% sold on is taking double renegades at lower point values. At 35, I can see it. At 15, it felt like a hell of a risk. At 25, I feel that I did better by dropping a Renegade and going for a Mule instead.

I mean, Magnus is not the most complex of spell lists. He does a few things:

1) Make a melee jack more killy with Iron Aggress (Read: Mangler or Nomad, and the Mule in a pinch as backup)

2) Make one of your ranged warjacks nastier with Snipe (read: cycle on Renegades for the win, or the Mule for great profit)

3) Make one tougher, assuming you find time/focus to cast Temper Metal

4) Make himself harder to kill at range with Blur, or help a unit out. Just remember hte latter costs focus.

Then you kind of have to bring self-supporting infantry, since all Magnus has for them is Blur.

Honestly, I've yet to really use the Arc Node aspect of the Renegade(s) for two reasons

1) I'd use it for Arcantrik Bolt, BUT I've been playing against hordes lately (and it's 3 focus to go off, either because you're boosting the shot or boosting the damage)

2) I'm usually handing most of my focus off to my warjacks; 3 focus for attacks, one focus for a boosted mule shot, or 4 for obliteration?

I mean, frankly, he's nasty. In a pinch, he can take care of himself with Foecleaver, the Powerfist Of Knockdown, and the 12-gauge (which makes Reinholdt fun, for double-barrel happiness and/or measuring range on crucial Obliterator shots).

So far, the staples with him have been:

Mule (because Snipe is fun, and in a pinch he can get Iron Aggression)

Heavy Melee Jack (Mangler if I can afford it, otherwise Nomad)

1-2 Renegades, depending on points

Master Gunner Dougal McNaile (because I have 2-3 warjacks with AoEs)

Reinholdt (good for filler, either two shotgun blasts, or measure range for Mule/Renegade)

And honestly, I find his feat to be plenty useful. It's not an obvious I KEEL YOU!! feat like, say, pSorcha or pKreoss, but it lets me basically refuse a flank at will, or potentially overextend myself. The other day, it let me overextend the Mangler to KO a heavy warbeast (albeit, with the help of some AWESOME dice rolls) and then pull back out of range of retaliation by anything more significant than some Kriel Warriors.

Overall, I like Magnus. I can think of only a couple downsides

1) reasonably straightforward; the other guy kind of knows what you'll do

2) HATES those with Upkeep Hate

3 ) Nil infantry support

Gorten Grundback

Well, now I see why everyone groans whenever this dude comes out in a hold-the-ground scenario. This is basically a little stomping brick shithouse that's making its way to you, and it will then ruin you. He can rock a shooty army in the lead, and then transition to face-crushing melee when the time comes.

I think that the big moneymaker so far is Rock Wall. I mean, it's a SPD4 caster with a SPD4 battlegroup, SPD5 on the more spry stuff. Being able to deny the other guy the charge is huge, and it also boosts your Rhulic jack defense into the 'might miss' category at DEF13 for heavies and DEF16 for the gun-bunnies. I can see a use for the rest of his spells; especially Strength of Granite when the time comes for melee. The rest of it's more situational; Solid Ground is nice against guys that like AoEs and Molten Metal is fun against jacks (hey, auto-6 damage? Not bad, and pretty economical against heavies that you can probably actually hit with your FOCUS of 5, little guy).

And, of course, the feat is just sick. Deny the enemy crucial ground. Drag them to you and make them very hittable before you make them dead. Or, shove them away, slow them down, and get MORE time to shoot at them.

On the downside?

1) SLOW. SPD4. I mean, you'll be cranking out spells to begin with, then maybe CHARGING to get reasonable movement out of the guy.

2) Reliant on upkeeps.

3) FOCUS 5. Thank god most Rhulic jacks are focus-efficient, but you'll still want a melee heavy in the battlegroup to use Strength of Granite.

Warjacks

Nomad

Not much to say: it's simple and effective, like a lever-action rifle. It's cheap, reasonably durable, reasonably hard-hitting, reasonably swift...I mean, that's kind of the word for the Nomad: 'reasonable.' Good price, simple, and it exists to hit things with a big friggin' sword. It's where you go when you want a melee beater.

Mangler

It's the flashier upgrade to the Nomad. It hits harder, between Thresher on the reach weapon and one better P+S on the off-hand. It's slightly tougher, as it's naturally ARM19 versus ARM18 plus buckler. Really, though, you're paying two points for Thresher. I don't count DEF10 vs DEF11 to be that much of a difference, since it's still crap (but, hey, better than a Rhulic heavy, right?).

Bottom line? If you need Thresher (and it can be sick, especially if you can tag multiple hard targets with it) then this is the guy. I think it gets a special note with pMagnus, as Iron Aggression + Thresher = Lots of Dead Infantry, potentially even the multi-wound kind. That's honestly where I think it shines: breaching a heavy line.

Vanguard

Honestly, it's not a bad jack, but it's more of a support piece. If you want to keep someone from getting shot the hell up for more than a couple of turns, Shield Guard on an ARM17+2 (thanks to the shield) is one way to do it. On the downside, it's not much of a heavy hitter, given a PS13 poking stick and a PS10 shield.

I see the Vanguard's duties thusly:

1) Eat bullets for important target (like thing you don't want dead/disrupted)

2) Delay/kill infantry (PS13 + Reach = enough to handle most infantry, and ARM19 = laughing at said infantry while you methodically butcher them)

3) delay larger targets (you're friggin ARM19)

Buccaneer

Ok, I'm only a little sour on this guy because he managed to Net a pMadrak with Surefoot up. The Buccaneer did the happy dance, and Madrak was like "There is a net on me. Hmm." My opponent then calmly informed me that Madrak was immune to Knockdown, so there you go. Whoops.

That aside, it's 3pt jack that does two things:

1) take two focus, assault and boost the ranged attack to knock something important down

2) tie up infantry. Briefly, anyway.

Take it if you need those things done.

Wroughthammer Rockram

Frankly, I took it with Gorten because it had a gun, even if it's just an 8" range. However, this guy can hit like a hoss, and his criticals are frankly disturbing: Hey, I Hammered You So Hard You Forgot To Make Initial Attacks, and I Shot You So Hard Your Column Fell Off. It's slow, and it's focus-hungry, but I can see it being sick with Tune-Up and/or Strength of Granite/Redline.

Grundback Gunner

Frankly, these little guys are sweet. They're focus-efficient with Powerful Attack, and boosted POW12s from up to 17" away make them legitimate threats to most casters as well. They're a bit light-weight on the damage grid side (though ARM18 helps them out), and they require help to get out of melee without a free strike (as MAT5 and POW6 does NOT cut it...) but they are very simple, elegant, and cheap.

Units

Herne & Jonne

I own these guys for a couple of reasons:

1) blasts are fun; more blasts are more fun (and I will evetually have Madhammer painted up)

2) they're Seaforge fodder, which is always good to have

Frankly, if the enemy pots the little guy, then the big dude is kind of 'eh.' On the other hand, they can cover a fairly substantial amount of real estate with shrapnel. I'm not saying they're an auto-include, but it's an option for Seaforge, and a cheap way to get some AoEs in there for dealing with high-DEF infantry.

Arcane Tempest Gun Mages

Hey, they're a merc unit for Highborn. Frankly, these guys have some awesome utility. It's pretty much the only way a merc is gonna get movement shenanigans outside of Gallows, which implies being close enough to the action to get hit. They are a bit reliant on Critical Brutal Damage to do much more than shove large targets around and peg infantry.

Oh. And for 2 more points, they can give a Mule snipe, and give it the boost for Critical Brutal Damage, which is always good.

Solos

epic Eiryss

So far, I don't see a lot of ways for mercs to boost the accuracy of their troopers outside of combined attacks. (I know the popular answer to this is Ayana & Holt, but I'm still painting them and playing smaller-point games). Being able to drop defense buffs is handy. Hell, being able to drop ANY buffs is a great way to demoralize the other guy.

The only downside? Watch that 5' radius of Technological Interference, as it means your friendlies can't get focus. Note, though, that it does NOT hamper enemy myrmidons.

I mean, she's pure utility. If you've got the points, I think she's excellent. She can handle troubling animi/upkeeps, and disrupt warjacks. These are nice things to have for 3 points. Also, it's not on her card, but her other ability is "SHOOOT MEEEE!" because no one seems to like her for some strange reason.

Reinholdt

This guy holds a special place in my heart because he ran in front of a Dire Troll Mauler, holding him in place long enough for a Renegade to threaten him with free strikes, and it turned out to be important.

That aside, this guy's a fine 1pt filler. I mean, there's a good chance he'll be useful for any caster. If you've got ranged attacks, he can gauge range for you. If you've got a gun, he's got another shot for you. And, if your caster is going for the gusto personally, he's got a reroll for them.

Downside? He only works for Cygnar or Khador, but this means he'll work for both Four-Star Syndicate AND Highborn, which is good enough for me.

Taryn di la Rovissi

Honestly, she's a bit situational. Note, though, that it IS a source of magical attacks that does not require your warcaster OR Ayana & Holt. However, she's only available to Highborn, who have access to regular Gun Mages.

She's got three things going for her with her ammo types:

1) pick lighter infantry off of a target that you want to do something other than crush light infantry or eat free strikes

2) do 2d3 damage to a warjack's hull boxes

3) only for Highborn, but can make 1-2 models not count for screening LOS purposes.

Frankly, it's #3 that's her money-maker for me. If you want to do something fun, like fire a bunch of gun mages or combined ranged attacks from Steelhead Rifleman into another dude's caster, she's got a way to help you with that.

Otherwise, honestly? She's kind of situational. Not bad, but she's a piece you take to compliment a plan.

Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile

Here's another guy we take because we have a plan for him. Our plan here is 'make AoEs better.' I'm not sure I'd take him just because I'm taking one mule. He's got two things that help him out with the AoEs:

1) Artillerist; one friendly faction model gets +2 to AOE ranged attack rolls, and you can re-roll distance and/or deviation. Not bad when you need a shot to land.

2) Double Powder Ration: +2 RNG for everyone in his command range, once per turn.

So far, I've taken him pretty exclusively with Magnus, as Magnus is likely to roll with 1-2 renegades and a Mule.

However, the other thing to remember with this guy: Quad Iron and RAT7. If you need to thin out some infantry, he's a pretty bloody accurate shot. You can string together up to four hits with his trusty sidearm if enemy infantry is getting to danger-close.

Ogrun Bokur

He's not an auto-include, but he's another source of slams and he can shield more important stuff. Importantly, he's also Rhulic, which lets you put 'em in Seaforge and still try to get that +4" to your DZ. The only downside is that you can't slam heavies with him that far, but he DOES hit surprisingly hard on a charge and/or near the client. Hell, if you charge in client range, you're looking at a MAT10, PS17 charge, which WILL leave a mark. Or a greasy smear.

Thor Steinhammer

Ok, guys. Are you playing Rhulic? He should be in your army. He should maybe hav a Bokur near him, too. Tune Up is just too damn useful for the Rhulic folks; the ability to boost all of your attack or damage rolls is just disgusting. That's a HEAP of focus efficiency there, and flexible.

I've not played him with enough poitns to make marshalling a benefit, but again there's Tune Up, and with Pronto you can make your slow guys reasonable. You can also use it to get nice angles for shots/charges; something like a Basher can pronto into a fun slam angle, and then throw a boosted slam attack into the other dude's nice target (THEN fart out shrapnel, but I digress).

Factions and Indecision: Problem or Opportunity?

I'll admit it: I play more than one army in WarmaHordes. It starts simple: "Well, I've got a couple armies up and running. Hey, a battle box won't break the bank.."

Then, it's "Well, I'd like to play 15, so I'll just get a solo or two."

"I'd like to play 25. I think I can get a unit. Maybe I'll get some mercs! Then I can use them with multiple factions. It's economical!"

"Hmm. I have all these merc solos and units, if I get a merc battle box I've got ANOTHER diversion..." And before you know it, BLAM! Multiple armies.

Is this good or bad? You decide. I think it's a little bit of both.

The Good

The bright side of collecting multiple factions is that you get variety, pure and simple. There's one flavor of variety in switching out your warcasters. Most of the time, it involves tweaking the army, and occasionally it's a radical redesign (I mean, try swapping Terminus for Denegrha, and adjusting for the difference in warjack points. Probably not gonna work so well...).

Gameplay

The bright side of picking up a new faction (or maintaining an alt faction or seven) is that it forces you to learn a new way to play. Epic Butcher and Epic Asphyxious have very different ideas about how to win a fight (hint: one is 'AXE TO FACE!' and one is 'I'll be hiding over here now, lettming my army do the work'. Hint 2: Butcher has an axe.) AND access to different options.

How's this a benefit? Well, honestly, I think that any intellectual exercise is good exercise. You apply some problem-solving and study skills* in order to grasp a faction's pros/cons.

It also helps you figure out how these armies play, obviously. If you've played Terminus a dozen or so times, and Terminus plops down across the table from you, then you've got a pretty decent idea on what to expect. Same goes if you see the Harbinger, or even the less-flashy casters. You'll also be able to look at his units and have a pretty solid idea of what you can get out of them, because you've tried to get the most out of them yourself.

Hobby

Plain and simple: variety in what you can paint and model. Tired of painting up a bunch of faceless stormknights and doing electricity effects, and want to paint fur and flesh? Look into Circle Orboros. Sick of the undead, and want to move to the draconic? Ditch Cryx, get Everblight. Want a wide palette of stuff that doesn't necessarily have to be uniform? Mercs have an opening for you.

Basically, you want an army to have a unified look on the field (even if it's just having the same bases) and that imposes some limitations on how you paint. A different army can give you a complete 180 in what you're painting, so if you're sick of doing armor, you can drop the Storm Knights and pick up some Tharn Ravagers.

Community

You can inject some variety into your community. How important that is, is up to you. We had one guy who was a good sport and, literally, out of the goodness of his heart, picked up Menoth for our local group's map campaign.

Additionally, if you're going to do demos, it probably helps to show off more than one army, even if it's something like a battle box and solo(s).

The Bad

Money

Let's start with the obvious low-hanging fruit. Picking up a new warcaster means you'll want new things for your army. That's an expense. However, you can probably use a lot of the support, and they may still be able to use some of your existing stock of jacks/units. Picking up a new army, on the other hand, means investing in new support as well, and a new book, and possibly more paint/flock to flesh it out.

The bottom line? You pay for the variety.

Time

Part of the joy of having a variety of factions is being able to switch. Well, time's a switching cost as well. It takes time to get good with your chosen faction, and if you take a radical shift (IE: Khador is your prime, and you pick up Circle Orboros) you're going to have a bit of a learning curve on top of the usual. This also means more time studying/practicing in order to get as good. It also takes time to, y'know, assemble and paint stuff.

Gameplay

This deserves a mention outside of time. It takes work to learn your faction. It's a form of specialization; you become accustomed to how your units perform, what your jacks can do, and your support options. You get used to fitting those into a warcaster's capabilities, and then you learn how all of those interact with the scenarios and other people's armies.

And then, well, you change your tools and that can change EVERYTHING. It's like spending every day for a month at the range learning to fire a .22 pistol, and then deciding you'll go to a target match with that brand-new high-caliber rifle you bought. Sure, there's some commonality between the two, but your muscle memory and well-practiced habits don't quite fit with what you're holding.

Basically, you have to be willing to take the hit in your gameplay. Learning to lose gracefully should be a prerequisite for this hobby, and making drastic switches is a good way to get more practice in it.

Wrapup

Honestly, I'm a fan of collecting multiple factions. I'll freely admit it's a bit of a reaction to my years as a Warhammer 40k player; there were some serious switching costs (expensive models, the requirement for lots of models, the lack of bargain-priced starting packs, and the game's inability to scale well at all to lower point values are factors). WarmaHordes is significantly more affordable in that regard.

That aside, there are really only two questions that dictate whether or not multiple factions are for you:

1) Do you want to branch out and play other factions? Honestly, if the answer's 'No', it's fine. It's not necessarily for everyone.

2) Do you have the time/money to put towards it? It's not cheap, and it wants a little more of your time than just one faction will in order to get your mileage out of it.

If you answered 'yes' to both of the above, then you'll get to reap the rewards. Me? I've got no family and am currently flying solo**, and I enjoy multiple factions. It's strictly a personal preference thing.

And if that picture made you nostaligic for some Christopher Watkin dancing, here's the obligatory link to it.

*Yes. Yes, I did just go there. Seriously, tell me you can win against rouger opponents without having an idea of what everything does, and how it fits together. Game really DOES require some problem-solving skills, logic, and analytical thinking.

**Brief soap box moment: it's a statement of fact in my case. I'll wax poetic on life for long enough to tell you that there are two things in life: 1) What happens, and 2) how you react to #1. If you can't change #1, change #2, and you're probably going to be at least semi-content. Also, not all gamers are single; some are married, and some have families. That would tend to cut into your spare time...