Warmachine/Tactics/Cygnar

Note that this page is, for the most part, a placeholder, and will be added to over the coming months. Also note that, currently, it only contains units from Prime Mk. 2 and Forces of Warmachine: Cygnar, and needs more of the units from Wrath.

Why Play Cygnar?

Cygnar is the go-to faction for the color blue, guns, lightning, and lightning guns; it's rare to see a soldier of the Cygnus without some kind of ranged options, and the same goes to their warjacks. While they aren't the toughest kids on the block, they can certainly hit you fast and at range; with range buffs some of their models can hit your deployment zone from turn one. Their melee doesn't suffer, though, as they have some shockingly strong knights and cavalry (which, true to the boys in blue, can also shoot lightning as well as hit people with it), as well as tricky close-combat jacks that rely more on disrupting the enemy rather than outright destroying them (though they can do the latter just fine).

General Strategy

Shoot them, and make sure you don't get shot back. Cygnar's soldiers are more accurate and have a variety of tricks, but don't hit as hard as other factions. Cygnar is very good at shooting, but don't rely on it; if you have no way of mitigating the enemy from advancing up the field and getting into combat, you're hosed. Popular 'tarpit' units are the mercenary unit Boomhowler and Co and more rarely Sword Knights with armor buffs (the closest thing Cygnar has to a cheap "chaff" unit).

Cygnaran infantry are good at hitting their enemy and can hit very hard if set up right, but are relativly fragile compared to other factions like Khador and Skorne (Through high ARM and many damage boxes) and Cryx (Through numbers and revival), so you need to make sure they hit the enemy with as little resistance as possible. This, however, is next to impossible. As the big guns are set up and the heavy hitters of the enemies break your lines, people will die - so make sure your enemy has hell of a time doing so. Units like Trenchers can deny the enemy charges and shooting, and Sword Knights are so cheap you can throw them into the fray without loosing out too much, but those are your options for keeping the enemy at bay - Cygnar likes to get the first strike. If you are out of luck, though, you can just use the Arcane Shield, a very common spell in Cygnar, which you will like to use on your jacks and infantry to let them take those hits. Units like Storm Blades can stand up to blast damage and little else though, but can conversally kill almost anyone on a good charge, meaning you have to make sure they get to go first - Luckily, we have the stuff that can let us do just that, with many of our casters being very good at buffing infantry (eHaley and Siege) and a lot of movement shenigans (Kraye and Sloan). Another thing to mind with our infantry is that they are expensive - a maxed Trencher-unit is a full 9 points, and a full unit of Storm Knights with UA and WA is an eye-watering 11 points!

Their warjacks are on the fragile side, but conversely are more mobile, better and dodging shots and more accurate at hitting things. Like the troops they're loaded up with tricks and special effects, most commonly 'Disruption' which can prevent a warjack being allocated focus for one round; this is an effective way of shutting down focus-reliant warjacks - in particular Khador, who need to boost hits a lot. Unfortunately, Disruption is useless against Hordes.

Cygnar light jacks are masters of tricks - Minutemen jump into the enemy ranks, blow up someinfatry to make way for their slug guns, while the Hunter stalks big targets with its Long Arm - They are generally not for melee combat (or combat at all) and are better off supporting the rest of the army with arc nodes, triangulations, distraction or bolstering lines. THat is not to say that they aren't useful in combat - most can hold their own in one-on-one combat against other lights and their speed and DEF can make them annoying for the enemy to hit. Just be careful with them, know what they need to do when on the table and then let them do their thing - like all of Cygnar, placing a model on the table without a plan won't get you anything.

The heavy warjacks are, like their smaller cousins, lighter and nimbler compared to other heavy jacks, but are still though enough to stand up to most attacks. While they don't have the raw power of Khador jacks or the speed of a Cryxian jack, they have more tricks up their sleeve and hit better than most warjacks - the Ironclad, a main of Cygnar, has a MAT of 7, which is elite level for warjacks. Therefor, when choosing your heavy jack(s), be sure to look into their tricks as well - The Centurion is hard as nails and can take many attacks before going down, but also have the Polarity Field, which allows to to negate charges against it, while the hard-hitting Hammersmith can deal awesome amounts of damage while also throwing the enemy backwards. In general, Cygnar Heavies are like the rest of the faction - Play them with skill and planning, and they will smash some serious face - otherwise, they will seem very subpar

Cygnar is not the most challenging army to play in Warmahordes, but are certainly not simple. We have a lot of tricks up our sleeves and we need to remember them to stay in the game. We don't do attrition as well as Khador and are not as mobile as the Circle Oroboros, but that is no problem - we might not own the skills or the raw power, but we answer that weakness with abilities and technology that can outsmart any enemy. A soldier of the Cygnus is not meant to fight with strength or with resillience, but with their knowledge and wisdom. Do that, and the enemy won't be able to hold you back.

We strike like lightning - Never missing our target, impossible to block and leaving the enemy blinded.

Unit Analysis

Warcasters

• Major Markus "Siege" Brisbane: The obligatory veteran of Cygnar, an officer of great reknown and even bigger abs, "Siege" is well known for being able to break open any fortress and defend any position with the same enthusiasm. One of the 'Big Three' of Cygnar, along with eCaine and eHaley. Very effective at controlling the flow of battle, he's great at cracking hard targets with his feat "Breach", which halves the base ARM value of the first hit on any enemy model that turn. His spells are very expensive, though, and he's easy to overextend with - You will often want to use spells like Mage Sight to hit enemies behind smoke walls, Foxhole to protect weak units (Long Gunners love this one) and Rift to disrupt the enemy's advance, so don't just cast spells without thinking with Siege. This is also what gives him the label of "Infantry Caster" - Though he can support warjacks just fine (Defender + Breach = Essentially a POW 15 Armour Piercing gun), his buffs usually work better with infantry. Thats not to say that he can't deliver pain himself: His hammer Havoc is pretty powerful for a warcaster and can kill even tough infantry-models without boosts. That is not what you should use, though - his Rocket Cannon is absolutely nasty. High range and good POW, and with an awesome Special Attack called Ground Pounder, which does massive damage in a large area, which also ingores Stealth, Concealment and elevation. Siege is also pretty tough, but not enough to have him wade into combat - keep him behind the front line, avoid overextending on your feat turn, and you should do well enough.

• Lieutenant Allister Caine (pCaine): A drunk loner who everybody hates for his reckless behavior and disregard for order, Caine is only staying in the military because he gets results. He shoots things and buff things, and does both well, teleporting back to safety once all your important solos and units are so much swiss cheese. More of a support caster, though he occasionally supports his troops by shooting up the other guy's. A good starter warcaster, but is still a 'caster you need to watch out with - Though he has a very high DEF, most enemies will find a way around it to deal him some pain. Caine is also known for being pretty bad at supporting warjacks - It is better for him to have one 'jack of either flavour than a whole bunch of them - he wants his FOC for himself and his buffing spells.
  • Captain Allister Caine (eCaine): Now an agent of the Cyngarian Crown, but still as much of a prick as he was back then, Caine is basically the same guy we know and love - only now he is tracking down Magnus, an ex-general of Cygnar, who is plotting to launch a coup. Best assassin caster in the game. Can fire up to ten shots a round with the right support, and on his feat turn they do more damage each time while blowing up the enemy when boxing them, potentially killing more guys - a feat named "Overkill" has never tasted this sweet. He can also give himself True Sight so fuck your defensive measures. Caine is a really nimble, really shooty caster who should never be fighting at the front lines, never have too many 'jacks to take his focus and always be using his guns. Watch out for enemy assassinations, though - Caine is nimble, but not unhittable. Boosted attacks or DEF-ignoring weaponry will be Caine's bane. Trying to line up your assassination run every round is probably going to get him killed, so instead play the attrition game. Caine actually has some good support mixed in with all the gun-fu, and dictating the engagement so the enemy force can be taken apart piece by piece is always useful.

• Captain E. Dominic Darius: What do you do when there is nothing you can't make and your usual brown uniform is boring? Why, you make a light-jack-sized set of powered armour. The Man in the Can, Darius has a big ol' toolbox of tricks and is the biggest blue target in the lineup. Rides around in an Ironclad armour of his own making, and best supports a big brick of heavy 'jacks. Was probably the weakest caster in the line up until the Stormwall pumped him up to a horrible extent. His feat, "Pit Stop", heals one 'jack in base contact with him or his Halfjacks completely, making the Colossal in particular a damnable chore to kill. Darius don't really like infantry too much, so pick something self-sufficient if you bring anything outside of warjack support. While he has some fearsome weapons (The same Quake Hammer as the fucking Ironclad, though his Strength is lower), he should never be in battle if he can avoid it - he is a mechanic, after all.
  • Halfjacks: You know those Minions from Despicable Me? Yeah. Mostly there to bodge up Darius's jacks, support his feat, and occasionally turn themselves into living mines. Nice to have, so you won't need Field Mechanics for all your 'jacks, though prime targets for that one ranged attack the enemy would otherwise have forgotten about. At least they're free.

• Captain Victoria Haley (pHaley): One of the only Cygnaran casters who doesn't buck the system on a regular basis, Haley leads the Third Army in a bitter war against Cryx, hoping to get revenge for her murdered sister. (Ah, irony.) An excellent spell-focused warcaster. Temporal Barrier is the spell she's best known for, but her other support abilities and feat are equally good. Hard-counters a large number of asshole feats and casters like eAsphyxious. Beware, though, she's pretty squishy, and she can't really run touchdowns on her own all that well and needs her army to win games. Mark I gave her a reputation as a "defensive" warcaster, but the changes from the new ruleset have done away with that.
  • Major Victoria Haley (eHaley): Promoted to major for killing her own sister, who had turned to Cryx, Haley is now the most powerful battle wizard in the Cyngarian military. A Big Three warcaster, and considered one of the best in the game. The Mistress of Time is also an alchemist; she turns her units into gold, and her enemies into shit. Super powerful abilities and spells, the best focus score in the faction, and one of the best feats in the game. Take care though: like her Prime counterpart she's very vulnerable to attrition, and, unlike many casters, she needs her army and cannot win a game by herself. And that eight focus won't go as far as you think it will since none of her spells are upkeepable. Take the character Light 'Jack Thorn with her - it gets so ridiculously annoying with her bond and her spells that your enemy might try and dedicate his entire force to killing it. It has an Arc Node which is just brilliant with Haleys 16 control range and can get extremely mobile with her spells.

• Captain Jeremiah Kraye: Kraye is a man of such high principles that he left the military for a while once Vinter had his family arrested. He works with the CRS like Caine, but as more of a ranger than an assassin. Cavalry warcaster, gives his warjacks cavalry rules and makes them ridiculously fast, accurate, and mobile with his spells and feat. Makes Minutemen hilariously powerful. Has a number of bad matchups, but still incredibly fun when he works. He generally likes fast and accurate ranged strikes, and can be as "hit and run" as Cryx, though not as though due to their sheer numbers. Kraye is another 'caster who doesn't really like infantry too much, so be sure to bring self-sufficient units that play to his strengths, like Tempest Blazers or Rangers. He's also a ranger warcaster, so using terrain well is important too.

• Commander Adept Nemo (pNemo): Like a crazy mixture of Tesla and Einstein, Nemo's a one-man industrial revolution and the reason Cygnar is the most advanced nation in the Iron Kingdoms that isn't in the Space Age. He's a 'jack runner and spellslinger, loves spellcasters hanging around him since they give him extra focus, and throws lightning around like it's going to dry up. Tends to pump a single 'jack into super mode rather than running with a whole pack of them like most 'jack casters. Not as good against armies that are immune to disruption, which is now more than half the factions in the game, but a "'jack bullet" is good for anyone when it works.
  • General Adept Nemo (eNemo): No real story developments here, just playstyle mix-up. Oddball, sort of an anti-jack caster, very good at making jack heavy casters cry. His other abilities make him sort of an odd mage/'jack buff warcaster. Becomes more efficient with more 'jacks on the field, but he can still be overloaded with too many bodies to power if you're not careful. An extremely FUN build involves himself, fifty-six points of Chargers and nothing else. The rest of the game, you're in trouble, but dat feat turn...
    • Artificer General Nemo & Storm Chaser Adept Caitlin Finch (3Nemo, N3mo and lNemo): Well, aside from getting a new sidekick... Specialist in electrical damage armed with a potent mixture of his previous incarnations' best spells and abilities. His spells mostly involve doing electrical damage or helping jacks (or both in the case of his Lightning Shroud), his control radius prevents electro-leaps from hitting things immune to electricity so they land where the damage is done. His feat gives an extra die to all friendly electrical damage rolls in his radius, and, armed with a weapon with Range:CTRL and an extendable control radius, can make him a deadly and unexpected assassin. It's funny how lightning bounces ignore lots of defensive tricks. Note that he comes with Caitlin Finch as an attachment, so he can't use a squire, but Caitlin is a powerful attachment in her own right.

• Captain Kara Sloan: A new addition to the roster, Kara has actually been a sort of focus character since Mk. II started and Stryker stopped doing much of import. She's had many adventures, including pumping Irusk full of sniper bullets, falling in forbidden love with a Trencher Commando, and having to deal with the struggle between being a fundamentally decent person and making the harsh decisions of wartime that characterizes her faction in a nutshell. Sniping specialist warcaster, very much wants a small and shooty battlegroup but a mixed arms army. Usually you can play her as a classic shoot from afar, but taking a bunch of minutemen and playing up close is an unorthodox but terribly fun and effective playstyle. Anything with Assault is gold on her feat turn, and, just as the fluff would have you believe, Trencher Commandos are a nice choice.

• Commander Coleman Stryker (pStryker): The previous story-central character, and the faction's "golden boy." This guy comes in the starter box for Cygnar, and it's easy to see why. He's easy to learn, being a primarily support caster with decent fighting skills and one piss-poor ranged attack that nonetheless deals Disruption to help him out of tight spots. Because he synergizes well with everything, no other caster in the game that will teach you how to use your army more effectively than him. People usually drop him for advanced play, because he doesn't specialize in anything, but that's not quite fair. He may lack outstanding strengths, but he also lacks real weaknesses. If nothing else, he's got Earthquake and Snipe on the same spell list, and no caster with that spell combo in a ranged-heavy army is ever truly uncompetitive.
  • Lord Commander Stryker (eStryker): Stryker going Anakin from the pressure. He learned to focus on something though: balls-out melee power. Unlike other Cygnar casters, he's graduated from the school of hard knocks with a major in brutal melee assassination and a minor in buffing melee units. This incarnation is a much stronger fighter armed with a much stronger weapon that has Reach. Be careful with that Overload power, he can and will blow himself right the fuck up if you get greedy. Take tons of melee troops and 'jacks, throw your entire army at the enemy, then charge across half the board with your super-speed and cut their caster in half in a single blow once there's a hole in their line. Simple, powerful, effective. Note that, he can potentially deal the highest possible damage roll of any model in the entire game! (Potentially, mind, because you are NEVER going to roll all sixes on Overload and then roll all sixes again on a boosted damage roll while under the effects of Positive Charge. It's just not going to happen.)

Warjacks

Light Warjacks

• Charger: The Humvee of the Cygnar armory, the Charger is a cheap, incredibly versatile platform; with its Powerful Attack and Dual Cannon it's focus hungry but shreds medium armor targets reliably. A good 'jack whose cheap price belies its lack of spammability outside of really niche lists. If you take one, it'll never steer you wrong.
• Firefly: A Stormsmith's best friend, the Firefly can become the stormfront for triangulations, zapping Cygnar's foes with its Storm Blaster and spear. Without Stormsmiths, it's rather mediocre.
• Grenadier: It's basically a metal Trencher with a grenade launcher. Gets free shots when it has Trenchers to manually load shells for it, and can dig in with the rest of the gravediggers. Use trenchers to 'jack marshal it and park it in your gunline.
• Hunter: Able to range out far ahead of many other warjacks, the Hunter is a mobile armor-cracker that ignores half the base armor of a medium/large based target with its armor-piercing long gun. It's also hard to pin down, since it has Advanced Deploy, Pathfinder and Parry, and it counts as being in your caster's control area at double the usual range. Hunters work best in pairs and are a popular pick for assigning to Gun Mage Officers.
• Lancer: Considered one of the best Arc Nodes in the game, the Lancer chassis can also hold its own against heavier warjacks, in particular by bopping it with the shock shield it carries, damaging a 'jack's cortex with each hit. It isn't a front liner, but makes for a vicious second-line/bait warjack when supporting something more nasty, since it has the armor of a heavy. Keep in mind, though, that it's rather expensive, and that pinning it in melee is perfectly possible.
• Sentinel: Shreds infantry with its gatling gun, the Sentinel can also throw itself in front of ranged attacks to take a hit for someone more important than it is. Otherwise an unremarkable 'jack, but at least it's cheap.
• Minuteman: Oh this guy is hilarious, he can fire off a jetpack to give himself ridiculous mobility, clear infantry with its flakfield ability and then shoot both guns at the squishy caster that the infantry were screening. Has great synergy with Kraye and Sloan as it now has ridiculous movement or shooting power. Some people complain it's not worth the hype because it's hard to use well, but the knack is to treat its guns like melee weapons and get up close to targets, or jump behind a line to deny charges.

Heavy Warjacks

• Avenger: The first 'jack on the Centurion chassis to have a gun, and it's time to feel the pain Khador players have always felt at having that stat-line with one. Still, it's a brutally effective gun that deals good damage in a huge AoE that knocks down everything under the pie plate on a direct hit, so giving it a boost or two isn't a bad idea. Also has a really nasty melee weapon that hits like an Ironclad hammer and automatically Stalls a target, which means that one blow instantly solves your accuracy issues... against Warmachine. In a phenomenon Cygnar players are uncomfortably familiar with, it's useless against Hordes. A decent combined-arms 'jack, but at the same price as a Defender or Cyclone you really need to make sure you use all its parts to get your money's worth out of it.
• Centurion: Some units are called speedbumps, but the Centurion is a full blown barricade; massive shield, piston-powered spear, hard to move once it decides it wants to stay. It can also make itself immune to charges at will. Keep in mind, though, it's got the stat-line of a Khador 'jack (read: a crappy one) but doesn't have the extra boxes of one.
• Cyclone: The Sentinel's big brother, an infantry shredder that can two-handed throw anything that it can't rip apart with its dual Gatling guns. Can lay down covering fire templates that shred infantry and hand out board control, but not as great against harder targets that it can't throw. Makes a surprisingly good assassin for any caster with a feat or spell that auto-boosts ranged attacks, since it makes so many. About as expensive as a Defender while fulfilling the opposite role in an army, never take both and use whichever one you didn't to shore up weaknesses in the rest of your list.
• Defender: An excellent heavy hitting 'jack, its got a big gun to snipe hard armor with (this is what you'll be using this for most part due to its long range, the best in the game for something that can fire and move at the same time) and a cortex-shredding hammer of pain. Versatile, but on the fragile side for a heavy warjack, and rather expensive. As with the Cyclone, use it to shore up holes in your list.
• Hammersmith: It's basically a Khadoran 'jack painted blue; the Hammersmith marches up to something then starts hitting it with a pair of hammers until it stops twitching. Simple. Brutal. Effective. Its hammer special abilities and chain attack give it a truly hilarious amount of movement shenanigans too, especially when loaded up with focus for extra attacks. Keep in mind, though, it also has those crappy Khador stats like its chassis-brother the Centurion, and can't quite reliably hit without support. The Centurion's slow speed and low MAT is much more of an issue on a 'jack whose primary purpose is to be a melee powerhouse rather than to tank, and without movement buffs it will need "bait" to get off a charge.
• Ironclad: One of the first 'jacks to come out, and considered the 'standard' warjack of Warmachine. Mediocre defensive stats and boxes on an otherwise brutal statline, plus a Quake hammer with a beefy P+S rating and some nifty special abilities to hand out knockdown. It's a bargain at its cost, and a welcome beatstick/support heavy for almost any caster. You can get better if you really want to pay for it, but at its points you really can't complain.
• Stormclad: Cygnar's most powerful melee-jack and one of the best non-character warjacks in its arsenal. It allocates itself focus when hanging out with its Stormbros and a loaded Stormclad is a dangerous thing to have within eleven inches of your anything you care about. For the most part, if want something to die in melee, this thing can do the job, packing a high powered sword, with reach, and high MAT to us it with, which also electo-leap. It even has a nasty mid-range shooting attack that also has electro-leap, which you will rarely use because the reach on the sword coupled with its speed means it has a charging distance greater than the weapon's range. Fielded with Nemo3 and under his feat, anything not immune to electricity damage with charge range of this beast is dead. It has a buckler as well, so it's a bit more durable than other jacks with the Ironclad chassis. Best beatstick in the faction, but also goddamn expensive, costing almost a third again as much as an Ironclad, so make sure you get your points worth out of it.

Character Warjacks

• Thorn: Coming soon.
• Ol' Rowdy: A beefed-up Ironclad with improved MAT and ARM on top of a Buckler. Also has Counter Charge, so anything that ends its activation too close to it, it can charge, and has Aggressive, letting it run and charge for free. In all, though much more expensive the base model, it give even nastier melee, better survivability, and an amazing degree of focus efficiency. Pretty good special abilities when taken with Stryker too. Still, it's the price of a solo for an upgrade that essentially just removes the weaknesses from a cheap beatstick, so it's not necessarily an automatic upgrade.
• Thunderhead: Cygnar's most expensive warjack next to the Stormwall. DJ Thunder has an above average armor and damage boxes for a Cygnar jack and its fists are stronger than the average fists (both also have Sustained Attack, but it doesn't stack between them), but the main reason you'll field this thing is his Lightening Coil, on its own is a decent ranged weapon, and it has the ability to automatically hit everything within 6 inches of it even if it the Thunderhead can't target them, and it has Sustained Attack, so any hard targets you hit with it, you can follow up against with its more damaging normal shots. Has a number of weaknesses, especially given it's premium price, so make sure you know what you're doing when you field it.
• Triumph: Siege's personal gun man. This thing is a Defender with extra RAT, can sacrifice movement to ignore stealth, and his cannon that if you spend one focus on, will leave behind a 3 inch AOE. Is weaker in melee than a normal Defender, however, because it trades in the shock hammer for a shield, but that does give some extra armor. Despite what the fluff implies, don't field with Siege, it doesn't synergize well with him. Best use it in a caster assassination list if you use him at all, as most players regard Triumph with scorn as overcosted rubbish.

Colossal

Stormwall: OH GOD YES! This thing is expensive, but worth every point if you build a list to properly support it. It's two big guns give firepower akin to two defenders, plus it packs a Cyclone's guns while not needing to lay down covering fire to use them. This while providing the usual Colossal benefits of insane survivability, melee hitting power (being a Cygnar jack it's pretty accurate), reach and thresher attacks, though if you chose to hammer with normal attacks, they have electro leap. As an interesting ability, it can throw down up to three of these things called a lighting pods that hits everything in a line between it and the pod with a fair POW electric attack that's boostable, and causes disruption on jacks. They also count as Stormsmith of one of them makes a call lightening attack. This is widely regarded as the best colossal thanks to the various ranged support Cygnar loves.

Units

• Arcane Tempest Gun Mages: A toolbox unit, but not good at head-on fighting. Despite this, they are very common in tournament play - to the tune of appearing in more than twice as many tournament-winning lists than any other Cygnar unit - because they bring options to the table. Lots of trick shots that give their already solid ranged firepower a nice boost, and suddenly turn super-nasty when given...
  • Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer: Tactics: True Sight on the best ranged 'jack marshal in the game, in the faction with the best ranged 'jacks in the game? Groovy. The Dude is the reason Gun Mages are so ubiquitous. Take the hell out of him if you bring Gun Mages, whatever you were planning to take instead probably isn't worth as much as he is. Literally every tournament list that runs Gun Mages runs this guy.
• Long Gunner Infantry: Pretty much just stand and shoot, combining your attacks and firing twice. That's about it. The sledgehammer of your ranged firepower, these lads can double up to gun down even some heavy infantry with lots of Pow 12 shots or focus-fire down priority targets with two Pow 20 ranged attacks at a RAT of "Hope I roll snake-eyes, bitch." On the other hand, they have some weaknesses: crap melee abilities mean that they need to be far away from anything that could engage them, crap defensive abilities mean that templates will obliterate the poor bastards, needing line of sight to their targets can mean awkward formations, and Stealth fucks up their shit. Pair them with a caster that accentuates their strengths, like Siege's Foxhole or anyone who can plop Snipe onto them.
  • Long Gunner Infantry Officer & Standard: Coming soon.
• Precursor Knights: Coming soon.
  • Precursor Knight Officer & Standard: Coming soon.
• Rangers: Yes. Rangers buff the hell out of your army, and they're excellent light-to-medium infantry killers in their own right with their own ranged attacks and ability to benefit from their own Mark Targets. And letting them take turns to run up into an enemy's grill out of cohesion to make suicidal marks works better than it has any right to. If you have the points free, a unit will never steer you wrong, unless you're playing some kind of super melee-heavy list.
• Storm Lances: Coming soon.
• Stormblade Infantry: Powerful, but fragile. Their armor will protect them from blast damage and little else, while their crap DEF and mediocre speed leaves them very vulnerable to shooting. Their MAT is excellent, but their RAT is rather low, the range on their lightning shots is absolute pants, and they cost a surprising amount for all their weaknesses. Why take them then? Well...
  • Stormblade Infantry Officer & Standard: If you've already taken Stormblades, make sure to bring these guys along. They are an auto-include for the whole unit. Assault turns them from a meh combined-arms unit into a an absolute rape train on the charge, especially if they're under the effects of Deadeye, the most common spell in the faction. And the AoEs let them deal double-duty against some forms of infantry, while the banner-bearer can still fight. They'll still be fragile and in need of support from spells and the rest of the army to get there, but if even a few survive to get off that Assault charge your Stormblades will rock the house.
  • Stormblade Infantry Storm Gunner: So, you've got the Stormblades and their UA. What if I told you that you can get a Weapon Attachment that lets the unit hit automatically with their blasts? That is what this dude does. If you really, really need to kill something dead with a Stormblade unit, get the UA and at least on of these guys. Very expensive all in all, but wait till you get your first charge off.
• Stormguard: Coming soon.
• Sword Knights: Before the Stormknights there were the Sword Knights, an extremely old order of knights sworn to the crown of Cygnar. These armored dudes have seen centuries of battle and have adapted to the warjack - both on offense and defense. Though not all that resilient, they are cheap and can do massive damage with the help of Flank (Faction Warjack). They work well as a speedbumb, though they will need some buffs to really make the tick.
  • Sword Knight Officer & Standard: Coming soon.
• Trencher Cannon Crew: A cannon, used by Trenchers - who knew? A decent choice, though outmatched by most ranged warjacks in the faction.
• Trencher Chain Gun Crew: Shreds infantry right up and can crank out up to 6 shots when in proper formation - If you need something to kill infantry on a budget, this is a good choice. If you can't afford a Cyclone, this piece will fulfill most of its functions for a fraction of the price, though at a severe downgrade.
• Trencher Commandos: Expensive, but excellent at tearing up lightly-armored units and difficult to kill on the way. Deadeye is great on 'em, they can blow up casters with sheer volume of Pow 12 grenades. Their Anatomical Precission allow them to destroy light infantry right quick in melee and if they are not somehow killing, they will still annoy the enemy by their mere presence on the battlefield.
  • Trencher Commando Scattergunner: If you're investing in Commandos, take a couple. They're excellent WA and can boost the units killing power to absolutely fucktastic levels. Did I mention that the Scattergun hits at the same Pow as a grenade?
• Trencher Infantry: The Threnchies are a somewhat maligned unit in the Cygnar community. The guys in brown are a great distraction and a speedbumb unlike most others, but their killing power is pretty weak and if something targets the properly, they will crumble, which is why many Cygnar-players go for mercs when they need something to hold up the enemy. I would say, though that the Trenchers are misunderstood for what role they have on the table - Their job is not to kill or be assailable, but to hold the enemy back and annoy them until your won killers get in position. With their Dig In action, they bump up their DEF with 4, gain immunity to blast damage and don't count as intervening models for LoS - this is really important, as they might be a bitch to move, but if the enemy got some shooting, they can safely ignore the digged in Trenchers and shoot something else. The Trenchers have something for that, though - They all have Smoke Bombs, which allow you to make a screen of smoking pieplates that bump the DEF of the Trenchers even more and make it impossible to charge the unit without something like Eyeless Sight to ignore it. Overall an expensive unit, who you really have to have a plan for before you put them on the table.
  • Trencher Infantry Officer & Sniper: Other UAs usually consist of a champion of sorts and a flagbearer who tends to be useless. The Trenchers have a guy who have survived a few battles and a sniper. The officer is both Officer and Jack Marshal, but what you really need to look at is his Order: Cautious Advance. It allows you to make a full advance, dig in and make a combat action, which is just wonderful if you need to realign you to annoy your enemy a little while still being able to kill stuff. The Sniper has higher RAT than the other dudes in the unit and can choose what branch of opposing warjacks and beasts, making him the best guy to use when making Combined Ranged Attacks.
  • Trencher Infantry Rifle Grenadier: They got themselves some explosives. Basically the usual grunts but deal some increased damage with their newfound grenades, which means that they can't be a part of Combined Ranged Attacks when using the grenades. They are otherwise just ekstra guys to put into your unit - with these guys and the UA, you can have a unit of 15 hardy trenchfighters to annoy your opponent with.
• Field Mechaniks: The mechaniks of the faction, these guys are just as good when repairing one machine as when repairing several. The officer is better at his art than his gobbers, so when repairing stuff you'll usually need to wager what machine needs repairing the most, so the gobbers can help out the leader. None of these guys will stand up to a stiff wind though, so don't expect them to do any sort of actual combat. If you, by any chance, win a battle with a gobber, take a picture and put here on this page.
• Captain Jonas Murdoch: Probably the best Ranking Officer in the entire game. Why? Because there are unreal numbers of mercs that can rock the house under the effects of Assault and the benefits of Faction status. The Nyss Hunters and Boomhowler and Co. are standouts, not least because Jonas also benefits from them. He's also Tough, and has a good defensive mini-feat, so he's hard to kill too.

Character Units

• The Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team: Yes. With brutal ranged powers, brutal stat lines, and great special abilities that support both one another and the rest of your army, the A Team are an absolute bargain for their price and they will never let you down. If you bought the starter group, buying the Black 13th as your first new purchase will bring you up to fifteen points and serve as a perfect complement to your new force.

Solos

• Gun Mage Captain Adept: Meh. Standard solo points for a watered-down version of True Sight and a couple decent-but-not-overwhelming ranged powers. Usually better spent elsewhere, though he's more outclassed than outright terrible.
• Journeyman Warcaster: Give him a long-ranged 'jack if you give him one at all, with a 6" control area and mediocre defenses Jr. is very vulnerable to being gunned the fuck down. Otherwise, three points for a free Arcane Shield and a double-boosted hand-cannon shot each turn's not a bad deal either.
• Stormsmith Stormcaller: One point for an automatic defensive-measure-ignoring Pow 10 damage roll that deals disruption? Not bad before you factor in synergy with other Stormsmiths and the Firefly. Especially consider them with Nemo2, the damage and skill buffs are amazing. Just remember that any attempt to kill a stormcaller will succeed even if it's a futile waste of resources.
• Squire: Support attachment for the warcaster that extends their control radius, re-roll a single failed magic attack each round, and you can mark off a box on it three times a game to give your caster an extra focus for the round. (And games don't usually last more than six rounds at most!) You really have no reason NOT to use this on any caster you can.
• Trencher Master Gunner: Coming soon.

Characters

• Captain Maxwell Finn: Overcosted, and kind of gimmicky, but still awesome. Taking him with Trencher Commandos is your best bet, he's closer to them than to regular Trenchers already, and the buff he can give them before he dies are decent.
• Major Katherine Laddermore: Coming soon.
• Captain Arlan Strangeways: Best repair skill in the game + free focus each turn = great support solo for any caster. Ironically, while he and Nemo can't stand each other in the fluff, he synergizes perfectly with every version of the old man. However, he's about as fragile as a Stormblade and his combat skills are mediocre at best, so keep him in the back glued to a gunner 'jack.