Warmachine List: Vive la Résistance!
As a long-time Searforge Commission enthusiast, I’d avoided expanding into other Warmachine Mercenary Contracts for ages – until now.
With the release of MkII, some fantastic updates to some old Mercenary models, and some great new ones, I got the strong itch to expand outward, embracing the other available Contracts like the Highborn Covenant and Four Star Syndicate. When exploring my options for first lists to play with, I settled early on Ashlynn. Of the myriad reasons why I choose Ashlynn, I think the most important was that her nature is almost completely the opposite of the available Rhulic warcasters. She’s fast, has some great movement tricks up her sleeve, can push SPD and DEF values to crushing heights, and she’s the tragic heroine. Here’s the list I went with, built under the Highborn Covenant:
Ashlynn d’Elyse (+6)
> Nomad (6)
> Ogrun Bokur (3)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages [Leader +5] (6)
> Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer (2)
>> Mule (8)
Horgenhold Forge Guard [Leader +9] (8)
Lady Aiyanna and Master Holt (4)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2)
– 35 Points
 |
| Get ’em, Pumpkinhead! |
I started the list with a Nomad for a few reasons. First, it has fantastic threat range. With SPD 5 and Reach, it can charge and hit models that are up to 10″ away, which is pretty darned good for an unbuffed heavy. Admonition gives it some great survivability, effectively allowing the Nomad to sidestep a closing enemy model. It’s only real weakness is that it doesn’t hit particularly hard and Ashlynn is lacking for STR/damage buffs. To make up for this I looked to Aiyanna and Holt and Gorman. Their combined debuffs can effectively increase the Nomad’s P+S up to 21 against warjacks and 19 against anything else. Aiyanna and Gorman also have a few other really strong support abilities and Holt brings some much appreciated extra firepower to the table.
My next addition was a full unit of Forge Guard. They benefit great from Quicken (ramping them up SPD 6 and giving them some kind of DEF value) and Roulette. Also, as a chronic dwarfophile, I had them built and painted already. They hit like a truck, are rather inexpensive, can shrug off most weak attacks, and fit the theme. To give the Guard some welcome terrain mitigation (if necessary), extra DEF and Terror, or Tough, I threw in Rhupert to support them.
The other unit I’ve taking is Gun Mages. I started out as a Cygnar player, and loved the fluff and feel of Gun Mages, but in MkI they didn’t really earn their keep on the table. MkII makes them much better, giving them better threat range by swapping Shocker for Snipe, increasing their RAT to an impressive 7, adding Magical Weapon on Magelocks, and making them available to Mercenary players through the Highborn Covenent, consequently letting you marshal a Mule, which I have done. With Ashlynn specifically, Quicken makes them an absurd DEF 17 against ranged attacks, while the feat turn gives you a pretty hot chance of triggering Critical Brutal Damage. With access to Snipe, Thunderbolt, and Critical Brutal Damage, the Mule is a welcomed addition. Like the Gun Mages themselves, the Mule gets a killer turn when Ashlynn pops her feat, particularly if you can pair both the Critical effects from Brutal Damage on Devastation.
With three points left, I settled on an Ogrun Bokur. Despite increases in her ARM stat, Ashlynn can still die easily if left unattended. The Bokur helps to mitigate this by absorbing a shot while also providing some more melee punch to the list. I had originally wanted a Vanguard simply for fluff reasons, but finding the extra two points proved difficult. Perhaps when I up this list to 50 points, I’ll swap it out, but at this point level, I was having trouble parting with anything else in my list.
Experience with the list so far has taught me something very important; do not let Ashlynn get knocked down. If she does, it’s lights out. Be extremely aware of her placement in regards to other models. If you’re going to screen her, make sure you do it in such a way as to avoid the hazard of having one of the screening models slammed over her. Awareness of slam vectors, particularly against warcasters and warlocks with spells that cause a slam (Siege, Caine, Rahn), can mean the difference between victory and defeat. Provided that the slam is not coming from a magic or ranged attack, Admonition can save your butt big time. While some might think to put Admonition on the Nomad to keep it safe, it’s often better placed on Ashlynn for safe-keeping, especially if she is overextending herself.
I’ve run this list against a variety of opponents running Cygnar, Legion of Everblight, Protectorate of Menoth, and Khador. As far as tweaks to the list are concerned, I haven’t found a ton of success with Gorman, and the Bokur hasn’t really pulled its weight much either. In fact, there was a game when I completely forgot to put the Bokur on the table and didn’t even realize it until late-game. I’m toying around with the idea of switching Gorman to either Harlan Versh for extra ranged and anti-upkeep threat or Dougal MacNaile for ranged buffs, helping get increased mileage out of all my ranged models. Considering the Bokur, I’m liking the idea of adding in Epic Eiryss. She brings much appreciated upkeep and focus stripping.
