Warmachine: No Quarter 54

For our first monstrosity we have the Subduer. He’s tied for second most expensive Monstrosity at a whopping 7 points. And he’s the only one with a gun. This Net Launcher doesn’t do any damage but has the Catch ability. This is like Drag from the Reaper or Galleon, but doesn’t have to do any damage to reel em in. It just has to hit. The Net Launcher has an AoE of 3, which seems weird for a gun that does no damage, until you notice that it has the Quake ability. That Knockdown is going to be really helpful since the Subduer, like all the Monstrosities in this month’s No Quarter, only has a MAT of 5. He’s also quite the pillow fist with the low low P+S of 16 on his only melee weapon, the Impaling Blade. Still a useful guy. Pull effects like Catch are a little less useful with all the Huge Bases out there, but they still come in really handy.

The Warden packs less of a punch than our other two monstrosities, and is tied for the lowest P+S of any heavy in the game with the much maligned Freebooter. To make things worse, the poor Warden doesn’t even have trash – although he does have 3 initials. The good news is that he has Grand Slam and Follow Up. You might not use these two abilities every game, but when you do you can be sure it will be amazing. He also has Shield Guard, which seems a little odd when all the important models in this faction have Sacrificial Pawn of some kind or another. But sometimes you run out of Sac Pawn targets, or might prefer to have a Warden take a hit than a Grunt or Mercenary model. At only six points it shouldn’t be too hard to squeeze one of these guys in, even if its just to be Exulon’s Sac Pawn buddy.

The last Monstrosity is the faction’s current go-to beatstick, the aptly named wrecker. For just 7 points you get 2 P+S 17 Ball & Chains that have reach and of course, the Chain Weapon advantage. Not content to simply beat models to death, the Wrecker also has Beat Back, and Chain Attack Bloodbath. These two abilities actually combo fairly well together with Beat Back giving the potential for you to maneuver into an even better position for that Blood Bath attack. Every list will want one of these guys.

The Mind Bender and Drudges are the new unit for this faction. The Drudges in this unit are nearly identical to the drudges in the pre-existing Mind Slave Unit. That includes the horribly low CMD they’ll have to contend with if their unit leader dies. Their weapons just have one less Pow so they only swing at P+S 12. The Mind Bender himself is also a less effective fighter with a lower P+S and no anatomical precision. But his purpose is to cast spells. He can even choose to channel these spells through his drudges, and if he chooses to do so he can cast through up to three of them. The downside, unsurprisingly, is that afterwards they go all RFP.

The Mind Bender has three choices for spells. Concussion Pulse will center a POW 12 magical 4″ AoE on top of the caster or one of his hapless Grunts. Psychic Assault we’ve already seen on other Cephalyx. But the most interesting of his spells has to be Adrenal Pulse. This one will give a Drudge Grunt +4 MAT and STR and let it advance 4″ immediately. And you can throw this one on Drudge Grunts from other units if you like, as long as they’re within the spells 6″ RNG. Sigh… I’ve been waiting for years now for a mercenary contract that will let my Mind Slaver unit shine, and now that said contract is here I feel like this new Mind Bender unit is the better option. Oh first world problems…

Let’s check on the Cephalyx Ranking Officer next. I don’t even have to summarize this guy. His rules are right here on the Game Wire. So take a moment to read all that and then come back. I know right! Fearless and Tough for just a point. And don’t forget, to top it off, in the Cephalyx Merc Contract he’ll give the unit AD. But if he dies… Well, at least he has Sac Pawn. Make sure you keep him safe from blasts, spells, and melee attacks. Nyss are my first choice to put this guy with. Good ranged support is something Cephalyx are clearly lacking right now – although who knows, that could change. You also clearly want this guy as far from harm as possible. Putting him in a unit with pathfinder also means you can hide him in the woods without worrying about interfering with the mobility of the rest of the unit.

And finally we have a solo. The Cephalyx Agitator is FA 3 and you’ll want all of those. He can do the obligatory Psychic Assault with a Magic ability 7, or go with Influence if that’s what you prefer. But that’s not what makes him so handy. Remember how Pillow-fisted those Monstrosities were? Well this guy is kinda like a mini super Choir for this army. His Instigate ability gives a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls, much like the Choir of Menoth’s Battle Hymn. But this ability works for Drudges and Monstrosities alike.

The downside (of course you knew there would be a downside) is that it’s an aura style effect that only affects models within 5″. You can’t just cast it and send your models charging on ahead. This means you’ll need to plan turns carefully. Not only do you have to be careful about when you activate the Agitator, you’ll also have to think hard about where you activate him. You’ll have to activate him first obviously, so he may need to be sent up-field to where you’re anticipating having models later in your turn. You’ll have to make sure you don’t block any charge lanes with him. Keep him too far away from the front, and your guys might tear ahead of him and out of range. Put him too close and he’ll be even more likely to be killed. Fortunately he does have Sac Pawn Monstrosity, like Exulon, so that should help a little.