Warmachine – Stormknights
Today’s martial house focus is on Cygnar’s Stormknights, which consists of the Stormblades, Stormguard, and Storm Lances.
Stormblades – This is Cygnar’s unit of heavy-hitters. While many lament the faction’s lack of Weapon Master infantry, Stormblades fill the roll just as well thanks to their effective P+S 15 attacks while benefiting from the in-unit buff of Electrical Arc. The unit also sports short-ranged, effective POW 14 ranged attack, which usually isn’t terribly effective or useful until the Officer and Standard Bearer are added to the unit. Stat-wise, you’re looking at a somewhat slow, low DEF, decent ARM unit. Without Reach and SPD 5, Stormblades can often have trouble hitting first without help, be it in the form of a cheap unit that soaks up a charge, spells like Temporal Barrier/Acceleration, or a feat like Rolling Thunder to mitigate their mediocre SPD values. Buff-wise, Cygnar has a few that can benefit the unit; Snipe and Deadeye to improve their ranged viability, Arcane Shield to increase survivability, or Positive Charge or Breach to turn them into incredible wrecking machines.
Stormblade Officer and Standard Bearer – This unit attachment gives you a couple of very important things for the Stormblade unit. The most obvious is that it provides two extra bodies that are both capable of normal attacks. The other benefits include the Assault order [which gives them an even higher damage output], Storm’s Eye [which makes the unit’s ranged attacks AOE 3 on direct hits], and the Unit Standard rule for command check safety. Storm’s Eye, in particular, is a nice addition for granting the Stormblades the capability to tear through unit formations. When stacked with Electrical Arc, those AOE attacks strike an effective POW 8, allowing you cut through a horde of light- to medium-ARM infantry with ease.
Stormblade Stormgunner – Back during the initial MkII field test, Stormblades were expandable 6-/10-man units. When the final rules for Stormblades were released, they went back – to the ire of many – to the MkI non-expandable format that limited them to a 6-man unit (8-man with the ubiquitous unit attachment). The Stormgunner fixed this problem in a big way by allowing you to effectively add another Stormblade model to a unit that came with a few extra goodies for one point a piece. For that reason alone, Stormgunners make solid additions to any Stormblade unit. One-point filler is always a good thing to have access to, and the Stormgunner is no exception. In addition to the normal Stormblade repertoire, it provides a longer-ranged shooting attack and the added bonus of making other Stormblade ranged attacks automatically hit the same target. When placed in a unit with the unit attackment, this can really help to increase overall damage output by negating some of those bad attack rolls against hardened targets that are being assaulted by the unit.
Stormguard – What the Stormblades boast in the ability to tear through armor, the Stormguard excel at ripping through infantry formations. Thanks to Reach for longer threat range and Electro Leap, Stormguard are a great armored choice for taking on hordes of low-to-medium-ARM models. The tricky part about the unit is that placement is often important to consider; if you keep too many of your own Stormguard close to your targets, your Electro Leaps could be wasted by hitting other Stormguard in the unit instead of enemy models. One trick that I’ve used in the past is to run up a high-ARM model next to a model that is immune to melee attacks, like Saeryn during her feat turn. Then I have the Stormguard walk and hit your low-DEF, high-ARM model ten times and giggle as the warlock dies to a flurry of POW 10 damage rolls. While they aren’t exactly wrecking balls against heavy armor, with CMA, Reach, and a decent base P+S, Stormguard can provide backup to your other anti-armor choices as well.
Storm Lances – These are an interesting choice for Cygnar players. They provide both anti-ARM and anti-infantry support thanks to Electro Leap, Impact Attacks, Assault, and Brutal Charge. Their high SPD value makes them invaluable for rapid redeployment and high threat range, while their decent ARM stat, particularly with Arcane Shield, makes them a great mid-to-late-game tar pit. This versatility combined with speed and staying power gives the player a good jack-of-all-trades. But beware of their hefty price tag; at 7/10, they will take a chunk out of your overall army makeup, so use them wisely. Don’t give them up to take out a minimum unit of Mechanithralls.
Katherine Laddermore – Cygnar’s dragoon solo fills many of the normal rolls of Storm Lances, albeit more effectively; appropriate for a model that costs you 5 points. She’s a commander for your troops, is a little more accurate, has more wounds, high DEF, and a more powerful ranged weapon. In addition to this, she provides nearby Storm Lances with both higher accuracy and hitting power with their own ranged weapons, thereby increasing their effectiveness as a ranged threat. She’ll be hard to fit in at 35-points or lower, but in bigger games of 50+ points, it might not be a bad idea to add her to support your Storm Lances.
Stormclad – It’s hard to talk about the Stormknights without mentioning their very own warjack, the Stormclad. This ‘jack is a fantastic buy. It is one of the hardest-hitting models in the game, has great threat range thanks to Reach, gets a free focus point if there are friendly Stormblades within 3″. The addition of Electro Leap makes the Stormclad another tool able to wipe out infantry as well. An enemy heavy surrounded by enemy infantry will not only go down hard and fast, but many of those infantry models will be killed as well. It’s also worth noting the Stormclad’s Buckler and Open Fist, granting it a solid ARM 19 and access to Power Attack: Throw. Like the Lances, it is fairly expensive at 10 points, so you might not always be able to cram it into your list.
I’ve always considered the Storm Knights to be one of the iconic images of the Iron Kingdoms, bridging high fantasy with steampunk in all the best ways. What are you thoughts on them?
