Warmachine: Unleash the Steelhead Artillery
The Steelheads have developed 3 new artillery pieces and have deployed them to the battlefield. Let’s take a look at these new Mercenary units.
The Steelhead Cannon, Mortar, and Volley Gun crews function similarly as 3 man units, but differ greatly in what they bring to your list. Originally I though these might be one box and I would choose which artillery to make(or possibly magnetize to get all 3). However each of these is it’s own blister.
Here’s what you get in each.
Cannon Crew
Mortar Crew
Volley Gun Crew
Check out the rules for these artillery crews. *Note: These cards aren’t yet available at cards.privateerpress.com, so these screenshots are from War Room which cuts off some of the rules. The most relevant rules are still shown.
Steelhead Cannon Crew
The Cannon boasts a pretty great gun. Rng 14, POW 14, with Brutal Damage and a 3 inch knockdown! With RAT 5 you’ll want to be on the lookout for low DEF targets standing next to high DEF models in the 3″ knockdown. Casters next to Objectives are juicy targets.
Shifting Stones tend to have higher DEF models standing nearby and any Circle player can tell you a knocked down Warpwolf is not long for this world.
Steelhead Mortar Crew
At effective RAT 1, this model isn’t going to be directly hitting without some outside help. However at RNG 18 with Arcing Fire and High Explosive you’ll be able to launch AOE’s into the squishy support staff behind enemy lines.
In the early game launching AOEs to leave rough terrain scattered in front of the enemy might slow them up a bit, especially if the table terrain has created any natural funnels you know the opponent will need to run though.
Steelhead Volley Gun Crew
Covering Fire at POW 12 is nice for restricting the movement of single wound enemy models, but don’t expect it to do much into high ARM medium base troops. If covering fire isn’t a good plan the Volley Gun gets d3+1 shot with Volume Fire, allowing it to get POW 14 shots into large base models.
Supporting Tools
Here are a few Merc options to help get the most out of these artillery.
Theme: Soldiers of Fortune – This is where you will see these units the most as they can be taken as your free options. This theme also grants solos the Mark Target ability which is effectively +2 RAT.
Steelhead Gunner – Another new Steelhead model, this solos gives these weapon crews Siege Tactics, which grants an additional die of damage against huge bases. In addition the Gunner also has Veteran Leader for +1 RAT, and Desperate Pace for +2 SPD.
Damiano – An obvious Warcaster choice in the Steelhead theme, Damiano has the Paymaster ability, Moneyshot, which grants a Steelhead unit +2 RAT and +2 damage on ranged attacks. In addition he has the Deadeye spell which gives an additional die to hit. Damiano and the Gunner combined will make for some very accurate and high POW weapon crews.
Durgen Madhammer – Durgen loves his AOE’s and wouldn’t mind having the Cannon or Mortar crew in his list. On feat turn he grants all AOE attacks boosted hit and damage rolls.
Wrap Up
Ranking these 3 new weapon crews I would say the Cannon Crew is the one I am most excited for. Brutal Damage and Quake on the 3″ AOE are great abilities. With a Steelhead Gunner and Damiano using all their abilities on the Cannon you can get a RAT 8(10 with Mark Target), 3 dice to hit, POW 16 boosted damage(4 dice on a huge base) shot.
The Volley Gun crew comes in second for me. Being able to switch between crowd controlling single wound troops or getting d3+1 shots with Volume Fire means that there is a good use for this gun every game.
Lastly comes the Mortar crew. I don’t dislike this unit, but of the 3 it seems the hardest to get reliable value out of. Relying on scatters for damage and rough terrain can easily go wrong. Using Damiano and the Gunner to boost it’s RAT to try and directly hit might work, but in that case the Cannon Crew does the job better.
How would you rank these 3 new Artillery pieces? What Caster will you be taking them with?
