Warmachine: Elara Does What!?

I need more FOCUS!  Well Retribution players, Elara is here to be your fix.  

Want to have that hydra max focus all game? Gareth can’t fuel Hyperion, have Elara do it.  Elara, Tyro of the Third Chamber is the junior warcaster that retribution received this year.  Compared to the other juniors she might not be as brutal as Aiakos but, she still can be quite the jack commander. 

Elara has some decent defensive stats , especially if she is going to stack her focus.  No gun for her unlike the rest of the juniors, but she gets some other bonuses that make up for it.  Her melee weapons are magical which is good for Cryx killing.  While nothing to write home about in melee, she can still buy and boost which is important to keep in mind.  She has an offensive spell , but with a low focus stat, she may have some trouble hitting.  Her signature spell in my opinion is what really makes her shine.  She gives her battlegroup countercharge.  With a faction that has a really great light jack in the Griffon, you can definitely cause some headaches with this ability. 

Elara can run most of the shooting jacks like the Banshee really well.   I think she runs 2 Griffons like a boss.  If you want to be a little risky, Hyperion w/ 3 focus ever turn and a warcaster with full focus can be quite daunting.  Being able to boost on everything while Issyria is still slinging spells is sometimes devastating.    She is not perfect though.  With a small control area she will have to take risks if she wants to keep fueling front line jacks.  She really has to be watching for things like electro leaps if she is giving out all her focus.  Backlash can also be a big deterrent of giving her a jack. 

How do I kill this girl?  If you have a really long range threat it will probably be able to do her in.  1 Cygnar Defender shot has a really good chance of 1 shotting her.  If you can set her on fire is another great way to watch her demise.  I think backlash is the funniest way to kill her.  With her limited control area try to bait any warjacks she has to move up.  Either she will be out of control range next turn or she puts herself in range of threats.