Warmachine: Black Ogrun Smog Belchers Tactics
What’s that sound? It’s the Smog Belchers blasting their way onto the field! The Slaughter Fleet’s newest unit brings along guns that will leave enemies gasping for air.
The Black Ogrun Smog Belchers are a highly anticipated Cryx unit newly released for the Slaughter Fleet Theme force. They pack a nice punch and have some cool tricks waiting for unsuspecting foes. Let’s take a look!
Just what I like to see; simple rules with some hidden depth
The Smog Belcher
Right off the bat, we have some pretty good stats for a shooting unit. Rat 6 is respectable for non-Cygnar units and range 12, POW 13 is pretty great, especially for Cryx who isn’t typically known for their guns. The 3 inch AOE gives this unit a decent POW 7 blast which threatens high DEF, low ARM units. At POW 13 even multi wound units need to be wary and these guns might even dent up a light or low ARM heavy.
Jealous yet Incindiarii? Just wait.
However, we haven’t even gotten to the best part, Choking Ash. When this unit directly hits their target, living warrior models in the 3 inch AOE cannot run or charge for a round! If your opponent is playing models that want to stand next to each other for bonuses like Shield Wall or Defensive Line the Choking Ash will ruin their day. Keep on the lookout for tricky opportunities to kill a model and prevent a model next to it from charging or running. See some cavalry models standing a little too close to each other? Shoot one of them and prevent either of them from charging for a round!
No charging makes Uhlans sad.
Lastly, whenever these Ogrun shoot their guns they center a 3” cloud on themselves! So not only are you getting some nice shots; BOOM! Instant cloud wall!
Melee Potential
Obviously, the Smog Belchers aren’t your elite melee unit, but when it comes time to punch stuff these guys aren’t slouches. At MAT 6 and POW 13, this unit is a solid choice for combined arms. Any sort of debuff, which Cryx has plenty of, will easily push the charge damage on the Smog Belchers to awesome levels.
You can’t expect an Ogrun to not be good at hitting things, right?
Slaughter Fleet Synergies
Axiara Wraithblade combos very well with the Smog Belchers. With her ability to Sneak, she can give a unit Prowl. So every time the Smog Belchers fire their weapons they are now stealthed! I love the visual of these giant Ogrun firing cannons into the air and then instantly disappearing into the smoke from the shots.
Don’t set sail without her!
The other key ability Axiara brings is Tactician to living warrior models. If you are bringing one of the living Cryx warlocks(Denny1, Skarre, Aiakos or Witch Coven) you can easily set up awesome cloud walls by walking in front of your caster with Smog Belchers and shooting. Then next turn your caster can walk through the Smog Belchers and you can just repeat the process again!
The Slaughter Fleet theme also recently picked up Dirge Seers, who can give Eyeless Sight to up to 3 models per turn. This gives the Smog Belchers game into enemy cloud walls and the potential to shoot stealth models.
Wrap Up
Black Ogrun Smog Belchers bring a great gun and nice combined arms presence to your list. I can definitely see the potential for a Denny1 gunline list that might even bring 2 full units of these guys. I can also see the Black Fleet Admiral Skarre liking this unit; Deceleration is great for Smog Belchers and Dash lets them extend their threat range and keep shooting their guns all game.
Where do Smog Belchers fit in your list? What caster can make the best use of them?
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