The Era of MkIII is Here!

   

     Painting models is always easier when I fall in love with them. That's been a huge reason for my Faction switches. While I'm not looking towards switching Faction any time soon, it's likely once Magnus2 is finished I'll merge into a more heavy Mercenary Protectorate blend, so I'll be painting up both at once. Luckily, what I love in Mercs works for the Protectorate.

     But how is MkIII going? Well, I managed to get a few games, and I'm in love. It's much more similar to playing Pathfinder after 3.5. It's still the same game, but with a lot of smaller changes that makes everything better. Rules are written somewhat modularly, which allows for an addendum to the core rules to not affect much on the special rules front. Privateer Press has really created a solid advancement to their game, which allows for easy changes and errata.

     While there has been quite a few issues getting tossed onto the official forums, a few are things that weren't caught, a lot are people projecting MkII onto the new rules, and most are just people not reading thoroughly. So I'd say, with only a few days to digest the new stuff, it's been very positive as far as I'm concerned. I can't wait to get more games in.

     So with Protectorate on hold until my Journeyman League starts up, let's theorycraft a Magnus2 list. Here's what I have so far as a foundation:

Magnus2
- Renegade
- Renegade
- Mangler
- Rover

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     The battlegroup. Quite an important feature, and especially with a warcaster that has Field Marshal Unyielding and the Escort spell. With each model receiving a free focus, most can do whatever work they need without supervision from Magnus' Focus stack. Which is good. He can load up a Mangler or Rover when real work needs to get done, but largely with have three models that can Ranged attack/utility (Shield Guard being a BIG one), and one Warjack, Mr. Mangler, that can utterly destroy whatever he can get his hands on.
     Between the Renegade shots and Magnus having access to Obliterate, we have some really solid boostable large AoEs. Lightly armored infantry beware. Calamity from Magnus is pretty huge, as it makes the army hit much easier, as well as stack the damage. So let's add some more to this...

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Idrians(max) /w UA
Rhupert, the Piperman

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     Here's my backbone unit. Def 13/Arm 12 isn't that great at staying alive, but AD and Pathfinder are really good. Rhupert can toss them Concealment if I have shooting woes, and that brings them up to a very modest Def 15 against shots. Since this list is a combined arms that really punishes melee armies, I'm not too worried about extreme shooting lists, because I'd have another Warcaster built towards that.
     Idrians will pull a ton of work. They can screen, have CRA, have Reposition 3", brutal charge, and Prey. Prey is the big one. We're talking Pow 15 with 2-man CRAs on Prey targets. We're talking Pow 17 on models with Calamity on them, or Pow 15 without CRAs, and effective Rat 9 on Prey targets. Yeah, that works well. I'd probably run two of these units, to be honest, but since I haven't painted up one, we'll just put one on now.
     Rhupert also offers his abilities to model/units now, so Concealment, Pathfinder, and Tough on a stick is super nice, and he can give it to Magnus, too. Let's repeat that he can give a Warjack Pathfinder. Now we're talking.

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     So to review, we have:

Magnus2
- Renegade
- Renegade
- Mangler
- Rover
Idrians(max) /w UA
Rhupert, the Piperman

     This brings us to a 46 point list, and we have 29 left to spend. The core of the list is finished, and the rest is ready for playtesting. I have some ideas, though, and some passion models to add, so let's see.....

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Lady Aiyana and Holt
Orin Midwinter
Brun Cragback
- Lug

     I'm not entirely sure what to add, so I'll add a model(s) I own, a model(s) I want, and I model I have painted. Orin feels important, since he plays the anti-magic game really well. It's different than before, but it's more reliable, I feel. It's crucial to keep the battlegroup doing what it does, and keep the bad spells off need to happen. He helps clear away models with his spell, so isn't doing nothing else, at least.
     Aiyana and Holt are obvious. You can use Aiyana for the +2 damage separately or combined with Calamity, and you can really spread the hurtin. Holt just helps clear the way to pain. Holt does enough on his own. Threatening a model/unit with an effective -4 arm is huge. This makes none CRA'ing Idrians POW 17 against their prey. Yeah, on average they'll take down a heavy and put a hurtin' on another heavy.
     Brun and Lug are my favorites. I'm anxious to paint them again now that I'm better at it, and I liked how they played in MkIII. Now that I can play them outside of Rhulic theme, I'm really looking forward to putting them on the table basically every game if I want to. They do quite well in this list, I believe. Magnus2 will be stretched enough when he needs to beat on Heavies with his Warjacks, so having a strong utility, counter charge, pathfinder Heavy that tags along with Lug ;) should work out fine. When I need to find points or feel I'm missing something, these are the guys that will probably need to go.

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     I'm really missing out on not having Reinholdt. Since shooting in this list is so strong, and Magnus' feat prevents advancing towards table edges I choose, making sure Stealth doesn't stop me from taking down a vital target is important. Games need to be played. The new Thorn Gun Mages are also top notch, so dropping Brun and Lug and Aiyana and Holt for two units of them and Reinholdt, with a few points leftover for a Goblin Tinker or something.
     This isn't a good all-comers list, though, but that's just not how Warmachine tournaments function. I need a good anti-shooting pair. But that's not something to worry about for today, especially since the list isn't done. I would be definitely willing to try out Croe's Cutthroats as a fast, mobile flanking unit that can put out some okay shooting when needed. Reposition 5" on an infantry unit with Stealth is... crazy.