My favorite warcasters

Recently I've been playing with 3 main casters:  eHaley, Siege and eCaine.  I won't cover eCaine because I already did an article about him so I'll just focus on Haley and Siege.  The point range that the guys around here play is relatively low.  A lot of them play at 15 and 25 because they prefer faster games, but I think once they get more familiar with the unit rules and behaviors, 35 points will come rather naturally.  I mean after all, everyone on Vassal and on the forums say that 35 is the norm.  Not that I'm super pro at it already, but aside from all the different matchups and special abilities, the game mechanics is pretty easy to understand and get a hang of.

So let's analyze eHaley really quick.  The reason why I love her is because she's very mage-like in the way she plays.  She has amazing abilities and a amazing feat, but she has paper thin armor and very low armor.  Basically that means if she gets touched or shot at by anything worthwhile, she's going to die.  Here's what my current 35pt eHaley looks like:

Points: 35
Major Victoria Haley (*5pts)
* Thorn (8pts)
* Defender (9pts)
* Stormclad (10pts)
* Squire (2pts)
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team (4pts)
Stormblade Infantry (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Captain Arlan Strangewayes (2pts)

Let's break down Haley's spell list and why she works really well with this army.  Temporal Acceleration gives me a free attack regardless of ROF ontop of 2" additional movement.  When cast on a Stormclad that's bound to Haley, I can get +2" movement because of Haley's special bond, +2" movement because of TA, +2" from casting Telekinesis on my SC, I can bring my SC's charge threat range up to a whopping 16" (thanks to 2" reach) on command.  Top that off with Stormblades giving him 1 free focus and Haley's ability to allocate 4 by herself if she wanted to due to the bonded rules, he can be used to kill anything in the game.  Just recently, I had him charge across the map and rape a Avatar and 4 Knights Exmplar because of the arc lightning.  Very cool.

Another use for TA (Temporal Acceleration) is for boosting my sole Defender's damage output.  For example, I can put 2 focus on my Defender at the start of the turn and cast TA on him later.  Now the Defender has 2 boosted POW15 shots at 16".  With TK (Telekinesis) to move enemy units out of the way, not even enemy warcasters are safe.  By giving the Defender 3 focus and casting Deadeye, I can have have 2 fully boosted shots going into the warcaster's face.  That would seriously wreck any caster whose not a focus camping Butcher.

The rest of the list is pretty standard.  I got my B13, Squire and Arlan in there because they're pretty much staples to all Cygnar lists, and the Stormblades to add focus to my Stormclad and give my army some more melee.  Thorn is a special arc node who works perfectly with Haley and can be used to hurl spells close to the enemy and remain relatively safe due to Reaction Drive (free 3" move after a spell is cast through Thorn).  With Arlan's Evasive action and RD, I can move out of combat before my own move is which is pretty damn good.  When given some Focus and assisted by some of Haley's spells, Thorn can easily walk up and disable an enemy warjack's cortex and walk away intact.  Very cool.

When you combine these factors with Haley's ability to shut down an opponent's turn with Temporal Shift (her feat), eHaley becomes one of the more dominant warcasters.  Oh, and she has Domination, which is a spell can take control of an opponents' warjack and have him make a full advance + free attack.  You can use your opponents' 'jacks to beat down his own caster or free up one of your jacks with a free strike when you turn his jack around forcefully leave combat.  The things you can do with Haley is truly amazing.

Next, on the list is Siege:

Points: 35
Major Markus 'Siege' Brisbane (*5pts)
* Defender (9pts)
* Defender (9pts)
* Stormclad (10pts)
* Squire (2pts)
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team (4pts)
Captain Arlan Strangewayes (2pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1pts)

Siege is all about damage and utility.  First, let's look at his weapons.  With Reinholdt at his side, he has 2 shots at POW14 from RNG14.  His Ground Pounder ability allows me to hit anything within 14" with a 4" template at POW12 without need of LoS.  When you factor in his feat Breach, he can threaten any warcaster within his control range all by himself.

The reason why you play Siege is to access his impressive spell list and feat.  Explosivo makes your Defender's POW15 shots AOE3 and Magical for 1 point.  Protectorate thinks Safe Passage will save them from Siege?  Not a chance.  Foxhole gives you 5" of upkeepable cover which can drastically boost the longevity of your units and Mage Sight allows you to see through Clouds, Forests and Stealth in a 5" AOE anywhere in your control zone.  In short, nothing is safe from Siege's army while he keeps his army relatively well protected.

The Stormclad is in there because I need a melee beatstick in my army and the rest of the stuff is self-explanatory.  Eiryss helps out in the Breach turn assassination run while providing disruption on key 'jacks otherwise.  The great thing about Siege is that he can use his Breach turn to do serious damage to the enemy army or completely wreck the enemy caster.  Breach effects his entire control zone and causes armor piercing (half armor) on the first damage dealt on the model.  A gunemage is shooting for raw damage die on Khadorian 'jacks.  When you have boosted Defenders and a Stormclad in your army ontop of Siege's 2x shots at POW14, things get really really real when this guy pops his feat.

Next week I'll try some games out with Kara Sloan.  She's not as top tier as Haley or Siege, but she brings a unique way of playing that's only really do-able by Cygnar:  Gunline.  I already got a bunch of games in with her through Vassal, but I'll let you know how many real life death threats and rage quits I get by the end of next week.

Oh! And I'm also going to play my first Blood Angels game in a 1750 brawl vs. the fish goat xenos Tau.  This is a game for the Vogen campaign that I'm currently in.. so hopefully I will bring blood!