Warmachine: To Colossal or not to Colossal
5 Minute Read
Dec 10 2014
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That is the question! Today I’m going to delve into a few of the pros and cons of Warmachine’s mighty Colossals… and whether one is good for your army!
What’s up folks!? It’s Trevy the Great here again from Way of the Swan to talk about my very favorite miniature game and some of its most impressive centerpieces; the Colossal Warjack. One of the most common questions I get from newer players or folks looking to get into the game is; ‘do I need to get a Colossal?’ The short answer is no; Warmachine is a game of questions and answers, and fortunately there are plenty of answers for Colossals that don’t involve a Colossal of your own. So when should you field one? Let’s get into the benefits and downsides of fielding one of these gargantuan war machines so you can decide for yourself whether bringing one is right for your army.
Speaking of gargantuan… it should be noted that the inherent differences between how Warbeasts and Warjacks function makes Huge Based ‘beasts a different subject than their metal counterparts, so while some of the points in this article extend to Colossals and Gargantuans, not everything will be applicable to both. Right now I’m focusing mainly on Colossals.
First of all; let’s look at what Colossals bring with them to the table:
The Big Guns
Bar none, all Colossals bring a strong ranged presence to the game. While the strength of each individual Colossal’s ranged component may be in question, every Colossal’s ability to act as a fire-base and mobile artillery platform is not. Having ranged attacks in a list that might not necessarily rely on them is always a good idea because it forces your opponent to expend resources protecting their important pieces whether it be with defensive terrain, defensive spells or simply forcing them to pay more attention to the positions of their models. Ranged attacks, especially the long-ranged firepower of many Colossals, also force opponents to engage rather than hang back. The threat of a big hit from a Conquest’s Main Battery or a Judicator’s Rocket Pod is enough to keep any heavy Warjack or Warbeast honest.
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| Stormwall; the literal embodiment of big guns. |
The Renaissance Robot
We’ve covered big guns, but no informed immense-steam-powered-robot owner would be satisfied with ranged firepower alone; so Colossals bring enormous fists with which to box with their opponents as well! Aside from the Kraken (who can increase his damage output pretty significantly), no Colossals leave home without melee weapons of P+S 20 or higher. Combined with the long ranged guns they bring, this makes them excellent in all venues of combat. They can peck away at their enemies at range before closing in for the kill in melee. This also makes them effective, if a little lacking in finesse, answers to high armor if your list has an issue with that sort of problem.
The Rock of Ages
Let’s face it, Colossals can be pretty hard to kill. With 56+ boxes and ARM stats around the 19-20 range, these models will undoubtedly be the hardiest on any given gaming table. At around the cost of two Heavy Warjacks, they bring around the same staying power, but all gathered up into one place. This means that a Colossal will keep kicking long after it has suffered enough damage to cripple important systems on one or even two Heavy Warjacks. This also means that any ARM buffs your army can leverage, such as Death Ward, Arcane Shield, Inviolable Resolve or Fail Safe, go way farther on Colossals because they work against a greater number of attacks. If you bring a list that has a strong infantry presence, a Colossal sitting at the back of your force, holding down the fort and taking ranged attacks until it’s credible threats have been attritioned down and it survives on the virtue of it’s sheer invincibility all by itself!
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| Literally exactly like this. |
Colossals can add a great deal of variety of lists by virtue of their strong melee and ranged presence, as well as their survivability and hitting power, but it’s not all good with these enormous machines. Let’s talk a little about the downsides of fielding these enormous automatons.
Empty Treasuries
Colossals are expensive! At around 18-19 points depending on your Faction, these puppies will take up a significant percentage of your list! This means that a Colossal needs to pull its weight pretty hard in order to make up for the lack of versatility that your list is going to have in other areas. Sometimes two Heavy Warjacks that can perform two separate roles at the same time, or a unit that can move quickly and spread out will be a stronger choice than one of these behemoths.
One Basket of Eggs
Piggybacking on the subject of their expense; Colossals are going to represent such a large portion of your list that losing them can be disastrous, especially if you brought extra points in support models such as mechanics. Not only that, but if your opponent can leverage a lot of damage output or control effects onto your one Colossal, suddenly those ~60 boxes that I talked about earlier become a detriment! No one wants that large a part of their force shut down by a debuff like Crippling Grasp (giving it -2 to virtually all its stats), Gorman’s Black Oil (causing it to go Blind!) or an Agonizer’s Spiritual Affliction (stopping it from receiving Focus) or even taken off the board by fast, hard hitting models that can get up the board unscathed through trickery or anti-shooting effects like Stealth. Things like Circle Warpwolves or Legion Angelii can move quickly and not suffer too much from shooting before they get there, and hit really hard once they do!
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| Hyperion looks like it could carry a basket of eggs. |
Slow and Steady
Apart from a few specific examples, Colossals are extremely slow and Huge Bases, while impressive, tend to be a pretty significant drawback when it comes to positioning. Despite their built-in pathfinder, terrain such as Obstructions and Linear Obstacles can significantly slow down Colossals and combined with models impeding its movement or areas in which its base can fit, a canny opponent can severely limit where a Colossal is able to move. Combined with Colossal’s relatively low SPD values, this can make them very predictable and easy to avoid.
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| Suck it, Hare! |
As some of the most impressive and dominating models on the table, Colossals bring a lot of power to a Warmachine list, but come with some pretty significant drawbacks. While they are pretty prevalent in a lot of tournament lists, and cut a pretty dramatic figure on the table, Colossals may not always be the correct choice for a list.
What do you think, folks? How often do you take Colossals in your list? Remember to check out Way of the Swan for more sweet Warmachine stuff!
Author: Trevy the Great
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