Warmachine: Perforators
Some people would have you believe the Perforators are the worst-performing models in Convergence. They’re flat out wrong.
Not only do these models look awesome (killer cyclops robots with stabby blades and shooty spears, what more could you ask for), they can really tear up hard targets.
The main reason for this is Assault, combined with armor-piercing ranged weapons. They can choose to be either range 10 / pow 6 AP, or range 6 / pow 8 AP. Add in charge distance and a diffuser’s Beacon (or speed buffs from Axis, Aurora, or Syntherion) and these guys can hit from downtown. And they hit HARD, especially with Iron Mother’s +2 damage. Straight dice on the shots against armor 20 means they’ve got a 50% chance of killing a Khador heavy with ranged attacks alone. If they get into melee as well, they can down a Colossal in one turn.
Ranged accuracy is not their strong suit. Being only rat 5, they benefit quite a bit from Flare, either from a Cipher or an Attunement servitor. But their mat is good. As long as you can deliver a couple of them into melee, the assault shots from the others will add enough to take down even high-defense heavies like Angelius or Warpwolves. On the plus side, Assault ignores the target in melee penalty, so they won’t be any worse off if your first wave of attacks has engaged the enemy.
And believe me, you want them to be a second wave, because their defensive stats are bunk. Even though they have 8 wounds, if you leave them out in the open in line of sight of reasonable shooting, they’re gonna get capped.
Luckily, Convergence has probably the best medium-base delivery system in the game in the form of Reciprocators (not to mention the Enigma Foundry, whenever it is released). Hide these guys behind a shield wall! While Reductors hiding behind a shield wall are great for clearing out chaff infantry that tries to jam you, the Perforators hiding behind a shield wall are great for killing heavies.
Because the faction doesn’t have weaponmaster infantry, if you want to run a medium-base infantry army but still have enough hitting power to crack armor, give them a try. I’ve found they work especially well with Aurora for that reason. At the same range band that a Monitor might injure a heavy, Perforators can straight up kill it.
