Warmachine Reckoning: First Thoughts
I’ve had my hands on Reckoning for a couple of days and man it has been one heck of a ride.
So yes, Reckoning Spoilers were unleashed on the world quite recently at Lock & Load and already they have been disseminated at the speed of internet. Then of course there’s the video Adam just posted. If you’re still hungry for more you can just google “reckoning Warmachine spoilers” to find them in a hurry. Oh and look I already did it for you, just click those words there in quotation marks. You be careful out there though the internet can be a crazy place.
So since some other souls have already done the kindness of putting the information out there, I’m going to go over it all and give my unsolicited opinions about these new releases.
Overall this book is amazing. There is so much fun stuff for everyone. Of course not everyone will be equally excited but if you don’t find at least something to be happy about in your favorite faction maybe you just aren’t a happy person. Like seriously, some wargamers just aren’t. We all join the hobby for different reasons. But I think some do it just so they can be completely outraged every release cycle. Fortunately there’s something here for you guys too, namely the comment section where you can shout your displeasure to the rooftops. Or not. Entirely up to you.
Cygnar
Many years ago I dabbled in Cygnar. I still have an almost entirely Prime Cygnar army plus a Centurion and a unit of Swordknights, but that’s as far as it got. I only bring this up to warn you that I may not be the best guy to judge the faction. That having been said, I think you swans should be a happy lot. It’s tough to judge exactly what sort of mischief Haley 3 will get up to right off the bat. She is easily the strangest model in the game as of now, and some of her might not be as good on the table as it is on paper. She still seems, and this isn’t a word I just throw around, ridonkulous.
Something that might not have been spoiled at L&L is that under tactical tips it lets you know that bringing Haley past and Future in on the same turn is A-OK. I don’t know about you guys but without that note I would have read the rules as meaning you can add only one per turn. Knowing you can have both starting on turn 2 is huge – even spending the four focus it costs to bring them in will still leave you with enough focus to cast both her upkeeps. Then you’ll have 8 spells to play with and 12 focus to make it happen. So many options. That might be her only downfall is that she is great at so many things while not particularly excelling in anything.
Other than that… Well, we already knew Dynamo was good. Next, a character Light Warjack for Caine, Ace helps reduce the odds that Caine2 fails his assassination run. Boy howdy he will set you back a lot of points doing it. For the cost of this light warjack you could field the Black 13th and a Journeyman. But if it wins you the game, what difference do a few points make? Then there’s an Ogrun solo who looks like he’ll end up being gorgeous but that no one will be fielding because he’s a Trencher. Seriously though he has a decent gun and he’s tough to kill so he might be worth a try. Finally there’s the Hurricane who has some huge (you might even say Colossal “snicker”) shoes to fill. Those Lightning Pods are going to be hard to say no to, but the Stormwind push back effect on its Storm Emitters is pretty amazing. That could be two heavies you push out of scoring and/or charge range. I really think people are going to start warming up to this guy once he’s been around for a bit.
Protectorate
Ah yes, Protectorate, now there’s a faction I know and love. For as long as I can remember it seems like the Protectorate has been grasping for a caster who can lay down the hurt like Butcher. First there was Feora 1. “Well with Engine of Destruction up she’s almost as good” we would say. Then there was Feora 2, then Reznik, Kreoss 3… None of them quite fit the bill. Well, Anson Durst is here, and finally he’s that guy. Alright his MAT, and P+S, and DEF and Damage boxes are all just a point shy of Butcher’s but just take him already he’s still awesome. He has some spells and abilities that Butcher would kill (an entire town) for.
The Protectorate also got a fun little light to hang out with the Dervish. The two jacks are very similar but for an extra point the Purifier has flame trail to automatically set models in base to base on fire, and chain weapon to give it situational benefits. Feora’s pet jack Hand of Judgement seems amazing. He can set lots and lots of things (so many things) on fire which makes me think he really goes with Feora 2 more than 1. He also has the melee weapon to make him a real beatstick when you need one. Then there’s Pyrrhus. We’ve been awaiting a Flameguard Solo since Feora 2’s first Theme Force five years ago. This guy is definitely an asset to the temple. His mat is a little low but his pseudo-incorporeal trick makes up for it.
That just leaves us with the new Revelator Colossal which I can’t help but see as a straight up improvement over a Judicator. The Protectorate’s previous Colossal was odd in that it had two inaccurate attacks that were decent at long range and two accurate attacks only useful in short range. The Revelator seems to be a much more powerful mid range gun beast that should really make all those sevvy 1 players happy. As someone who bought a second Judicator (I’m a little OCD about these things you see) I kinda wish I’d waited and gone double Revelator instead. Although it’s awfully early to be taking such a firm stance on this. I should probably bring the Revelator out at least a couple times before I make up my mind.
Khador
I feel like Khador also did pretty well this book. Zerkova2 looks to have the potential to be really strong with the ability to cast a four dice hoarfrost to almost guarantee that sweet sweet crit stationary. I love her tier list only… no Sylys. He seems pretty necessary for the free upkeep on Telgesh Mark plus the fifth die from Arcane Assist. Sadly she’ll always be starving for focus. Oh and man, given her WJ points, those Doom Reaver Guard are cheeeeeeeeap.
The Mad Dog is intriguing simply because of how cheap it is. This is the game’s first five point heavy is it not? Barring Tier list discounts I mean. The Rager is much more interesting though. Also dirt cheap, hard to kill with that shield, and shield guard. You can finally do Tier lists and not have to worry about a Bokur not being there to protect your ‘caster from Eiryss shots. As for Ruin, I think everyone was already pretty sold on him.
So that just leaves Victor… Like with the Judicator I can’t help but see this as an Improvement on it’s old Incarnation. Not only does its siege mortar have a ridiculous range, I’ll take an effect I can count on over one that only happens on a crit any day. While it’s Autocannons lack the range and AoE of the old Secondary Batteries, their Auto Fire ability is probably going to be better most times than the Battery’s old Linked Guns and Creeping Barrage rule. I don’t even understand why Victor is a point cheaper. Somebody wake up Harkevich, it’s time to run double Victors with him!
Cryx
I find it hard not to give Cryx coolest new model award. I guess I should clarify I’m talking about Deneghra 3’s actual physical model. The sculpt. Her rules… Well I can see a lot of potential. It seems like a lot of her game is based off the new Soul Trapper. Fill up on these guys and add a healthy bunch of Scavengers and Shrikes, then hand out Ghost Walk and Focus to them until your opponent’s caster is dead. And that’s just the first gimmicky trick I thought of with her. Unfortunately as cool as her sculpt is, someone forgot to put the giant freaking target (it was hard but I resisted the urge to put that in all caps) on her chest. Deneghra 3 is not the first Battle Engine Warcaster, but she is the first that lacks very specific abilities to minimize the threat of all the guns that will be able to target her giant base. I guess with all those soul shenanigans she will be able to camp a lot of focus.
I wasn’t expecting a character ‘jack for Terminus but hey why not. Barathrum, your art is really cool, but I just don’t see how I am expected to spend 10 points on you. The drag below trick lookss fun but doesn’t really seem to fit with Terminus’ established playstyle. Other casters may better appreciate its hit and run tactics but will anyone enjoy it enough to shell out enough points for Nightmare or full Bane Knights? The Shrike is a little more interesting since its so much cheaper. This makes it easy to squeeze in with casters who might want it. But outside of specific situations its hard to see myself taking a four point jack that specializes in killing infantry in the fation with Bile Thralls. But I guess Bile Thralls don’t really score control points or have any potential to assassinate casters. I think everyone will love the Soul Trapper. Who hasn’t always wanted to make it easier to get souls?
The Sepulcher feels a bit more Cryx-y with its Mechanithrall recursion tricks, but given how expensive the model is, three new thralls a turn isn’t exactly stellar. But it’s guns are nearly as powerful as the Kraken’s so… I think in the end this Cryx’s new Colossal will end up about like its old Colossal. Useful sometimes, but not a faction darling like the Stormwall or Galleon. I do like the fact that it has some appeal to casters that might not have been interested in the Kraken.
Retribution
So Retribution has a caster with Spellpiercer now. Do I need to say anything else?
We’ve known about Moros for awhile so… moving on… Who gave these crazy elves lightning weapons? The electromancers seem pretty great. With Electro Leap they have the potential to zap a lot of models. And they’re versatile with the ability to mess up warjack cortexes and since they can pump multiple shots into the same targets they can even threaten heavy infantry like warders and gatormen if they have to. The Soulless Voidtracker is better than the other Soulless. Single wound spellcasters will think twice before casting at anything near one of these. Even for multi-wounders its a calculated risk. But abilities that require an opponent to do something are never as popular as more active ones, especially when it’s something so situational. I just don’t know how popular this guy will be.
Congrats Ret you now have the cheapest Colossal. It probably has something to do with the fact that it’s ranged weapon has no pow. But the Tractor Beam can move stuff all over the board. Warmachine is a game of objectives, so the ability to move your opponent’s pieces is always powerful. Even though not every model can be pushed, this will still be a really helpful piece to have around. Some factions don’t care for their huge based models, and even the ones that do have some very competitive lists without them. Even without the Tractor Beam Helios has all those nasty abilities plus those big fists. It might be hard for Ret players to leave Hyperion behind at first, but once they see what Helios has to offer I think they’ll start trying to figure out where it belongs.
Mercenaries
Hope you sellswords knew that most of the merc entries in this book were Cephalyx you’d already seen. Look at it this way: you just got your spoilers way earlier than anyone else. For me the new Cepahlyx Warcaster was an unexpected surprise. With all the awesome spells and other abilities this guy has, it’s hard to pick one to obsess about but oh my god Onslaught! Any kind of Pathfinder for Cephalyx is amazing.
What else do we have? Devil’s Shadow Mutineers? Seen them. The Gobber River Raiders are intriguing to be sure. My first thought is to be excited for cheap bodies in Blindwater. Souls for the Vault and Shamblers for the Bokor. I mean yeah they do stuff but they’re about as likely to ever hit as you’d expect from such cheap models. This is probably why they can go in Cryx – a faction great at debuffing everything. Oh and they’re another new thing for Talion Charter since they’re Privateers, but those two points could be an important Character solo. On the other hand they get to be a part of the crazy privateer synergies so I will definitely be looking at them more later.
~Whew, that was a long one. I was going to go into the fluff too but maybe that would be best in another article. What new models are you most looking forward to?
