First games with Damiano

I managed to find a counts-as-miniature for Damiano (God I hate that model...) last week and even got a couple of test games with it already. My first list was Highborn Covenant:


Captain Damiano (*6pts)
* Mangler (8pts)
Alexia Ciannor & the Risen (Alexia and 9 Risen Grunts) (5pts)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
* Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer (2pts)
* * Mariner (8pts)
Steelhead Halberdiers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Steelhead Riflemen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (9pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2pts)
Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile (2pts)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1pts)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2pts)
Sylys Wyshnalyrr (2pts) 

First game was against Scaverous' quite basic Cryx army (Deathjack, Banes, min unit of Biles, a couple of nodes, solos and stuff). My opponent managed to kill my Gun Mages on his second turn (Excarnated Bile Thralls have too big threat range) and then I had huge troubles killing his Banes (especially Tartarus) and at the same time they just multiplied (grrrr, Tartarus...). His DJ was hiding behind a forest at the beginning of the match, and finally I managed to throw my Mangler at him (with Warpath, on my feat turn). Mangler only managed to scratch the DJ and on the next turn my poor Mangler was turned into a Seether. I thought ARM22 was something, but against Cryx it wasn't... At this point I had only remnants left of my units and nothing was able to destroy to heavy warjack so we shook hands. What I learned from this game?

I hate Cryx.

Also, play better. The game definitely was not lost at the beginning, I should have kept Gun Mages more safe to kill Banes. Also, my list seems to be missing the thing to kill Tartarus, that might be worth some thinking...

For next game I swapped Halberdiers and Alexia to Boomhowler's gang and Ragman. I just got the Boomhowler's miniatures and was really eager to test them out. On paper they should work very well with Sure Foot. This time I was playing against Kromac's Circle army: Stalker, Pureblood, Gnarlhorn, Gorax, Wolves of Orboros and the like.

The game was fast and bloody. I casted Sure Foot on Mangler, surrounded him with Boomhowler and armies started to meet on the midfield. On my second turn I gave Boomhowler Deadeye and went after Wolves. My dice failed horribly, and didn't really hurt anyone. Next turn the Wolves charged Boomhowler&Co but B&Co lasted well, just as planned. At the same time he sent Stalker for an assassination run. It ended up quite luckily as Stalker stopped about 2,5" from Damiano after Warpath movement. Then I proceeded to kill about his entire his army which he had to leave quite vulnerable for him assassination to have a chance. I still almost managed to fail and left Damiano within 13" of Kromac. Luckily (again, for me) I had one last Boomhowler's buddy standing in front of Damiano and my opponent had nothing to kill it. First victory with Damiano, wohoo!

So, post-game thoughts then. Boomhowler&Co worked just like I had hoped, DEF15 and 4+ KD-immune tough seemed to cause some problems on my opponent. Deadeye is such an awesome spell on pretty much any unit, but especially on Gun Mages. SH Riflemen didn't convince me yet really well, but it might be just the opposing armies' fault, I didn't get a real chance in either game to use them properly.

That's all this time. Thanks for reading this far!

Wrathful review: Mercenaries part two

And so continue my ramblings about Mercenary content in Wrath:

Rover (Heavy Warjack)

I'm not totally convinced about this Warjack yet. It has a basic P+S17 main weapon, a shield (raising its ARM to a respectable 20) and a shield gun. With Point Blank it has three initial attacks which is naturally quite nice. The only special rule it really misses is Reach. Mercs can get a Warjack with reach for six points, paying eight points for a non-reach Warjack seems kinda pointless. Heck, even the Mule (being quite dedicated shooty jack) has reach! I might have to test Rover out before judging it too hard though.

Rocinante (Character Heavy Warjack)

Guard Dog for all my precious Mercenary warcasters? Yes please! At nine points Rocinante seems to be a solid Warjack, if you're planning only include one or two. Also, Defensive Strike is nothing to sneeze at. If Rocinante is chilling out near your caster, he might save you from a nasty melee assassination with it. With Damiano Rocinante gains Quick Work, giving him extra shooting attacks if killing stuff in melee.That seems also cool, so he can kill that odd guy standing in the way, but still keep on shooting normally. One thing worth noting could be Damiano giving Surefoot to Rocinante, and then keeping these two nearby each other. Both being immuny to KD and Damiano having almost insanely-high DEF can't go really wrong. Add Gallant to the mix to take the eEiryss' shot.

Ogrun Assault Corps (Unit)

Already spoiled a while ago. For quite a reasonable price they bring lots of AOEs to the table, and for the first time ever the combination of CRA and AOE. With five-man CRA, even the blast damage raises to a respectable 11. CMA seems kinda pointless with medium bases and no reach, but pairing them up should work just fine. Overall I'm not really convinced, but there might be some insane synergies between them and Durgen's feat.

Ragman (Character Solo)

Ragman has two spells: Bone Shaker and Death Field. Death Field is "the thing" in Ragman (well, at least in my opinion), giving Dark Shroud (see Bane Thralls) to nearby models. The range of Death Field is really limited and it is a special action, so Ragman can't run and give Dark Shroud like Bane Thralls so often do. Still, when he manages to give his aura to a warjack charging another one, that -2ARM might mean the difference of life and death. Bone Shaker is a nice little magic missile, and it has its uses. Overall, very nicely balanced model. Not too easy to use, but effectively used can be a gamechanger. He works for Cryx, Khador and Cygnar. I'm guessing we'll never see him in a Cryx army, but the cygnarians should be cheering for him.

Sylys Wyshnalyrr (Character Solo)

A warcaster attachment that gives a free upkeep, some range for caster's spells and mini Signs&Portens for magic attacks. At two points he seems like a solid choice for pretty much every caster (who doesn't like an extra focus, eh?). He works for Cygnar, Khador and Retribution. In a Khador army he is a nice alternative for Wardog. Both of these options are really good, and the choice is more about personal preference and playstyle. In a Cygnar army, erm, why would you take it over the Squire... Retribution and Mercenary armies on the other hand get their first warcaster attachment. At least Rahn should enjoy him, giving S&P to magic attack gives more reliable assassination runs and he surely upkeeps at least one spell. On a Merc army at least MacBain should find a true friend from Wyshnalyrr, being able to upkeep one spell and still use his feat fully.

Constance Blaize, Gallant and Kayazy Eliminators are Allied models/units and thus can work for Mercenaries. I'll comment these later, when handling their respective factions.

Wrathful review: Mercenaries part one

Yay, here it is: the first real post about WM/H and specifically about the newest book for Warmachine: WRATH. What surprised me the most about this book is the number of Warjacks in it. I was waiting (and hoping too) every faction to get a unit, perhaps two. Now the only real unit is Ogrun Assault Corps and Khador got a two-woman unit Kayazy Eliminators. Anyhow, here's my thoughts about Mercenary content in Wrath:

Captain Amador Damiano

I like this guy a lot, he will probably become one of my favourite casters for Mercenaries. Sure foot, Deadeye, Death March and Warpath are all excellent spells, and Convection is pretty basic POW12 missile almost all the casters have. Death March with pretty much any unit (Kayazies, Boomhowler&Co, and even basic Steelhead Halberdiers) sounds good to me. I haven't yet thought throughly what is the best target for Sure foot, but at the moment a heavy jack surrounded by (Death Marched) Boomhowler&Co seems cool. Everyone has to like DEF14 Boomhowler's company with immunity to KD, eh? Another nice choice might be Damiano himself (though that means dropping Warpath) or giving it to Rocinante (his own character warjack, more of it later) who stands near Damiano. Deadeye is pretty straightforward spell, naturally, it just makes shooting easier. Best target for the spell seems to be Gun Mages, but other valid targets might be Nyss Hunters, Steelhead Riflemen (though this might be a bit overkill, see Moneyshot) or Steelhead Heavy Cavalry. Warpath gives nice little movement to Warjacks (I can move them out of the way and stuff), and it still gives the +3" to threat range of all Warjacks in Damiano's battlegroup.

Damiano has no other special rules besides Paymaster[Steelheads]. He can give either Reform or Moneyshot to gain +2 to ranged attack and damage rolls to a Steelhead unit once per turn. He has five coins, and after that the special rule is useless. Moneyshot should be really good with Riflemen, making two-man CRAs, giving RAT9 POW15 (rerolling misses). Nine point unit can make five of those per turn? Yes please! Or giving it to Cavalry's blunderbusses, resulting then in RAT7 POW14 shots. I can approve these too...

Damiano's feat was the point in which I was most disappointed when I first heard of it. But the more I've thought about it, the more I like it. +3 to STR and ARM is pretty straightforward, but after all, it is nice. I've had trouble cracking highly armored armies, this feat should resolve those problems.