Sunday, April 21, 2013

Rejigging Cygnar

I'm rejigging some of my Cygnar lists because of SR2013. In 2012 the gunline reigned supreme and Cygnar played it really well however in 2013 you need to have more presence moving forwards or you just lose on scenario so I'm rewriting my most static gunline lists. I've been playing mainly Mercs, Legion and for some reason pigs so far but Cygnar is one of my main competitive factions so I need to do this at some point.

Lists:
Old List:
Cygnar
Standard Army
PCs: 50 / 50
34 models

[00] Lieutenant Allister Caine (0 / 6 WJ remaining)
[02]  >> Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker
[19]  >> Stormwall
[03] Journeyman Warcaster
[06] Arcane Tempest Gun Mages
[02]  >> Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer
[04] Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team
[10] Long Gunner Infantry (9 grunts)
[10] Long Gunner Infantry (9 grunts)

I loved that list. It has to be the scariest gunline in the game. Deadeye, snipe, Caine's feat, double shots from all the long gunners at (40 shots with 18" range and RAT 7), Blur wherever you need it and you could CRA so they cracked ARM like beasts as well. and if the guns weren't enough you had to navigate around 3 templates of POW 12 damage rolls and deal with an arcane shielded stormwall. To top it all off Caine1 has one of the longest assassinations in the game. He could get arcane secrets from Wyshanlyr, charge a model use cast thundertrike with his range amplifier into one of his own models who had ran into position, slam that model into the opposing caster and then shoot him to death with a Stormwall and long gunners, either option also having snipe. If the caster was being screened you could often slam the screening model, especially after you shot anything else in the way with your long gunners.

New list:

Cygnar
Standard Army
PCs: 50 / 50
45 models

[00] Lieutenant Allister Caine (0 / 6 WJ remaining)
[02]  >> Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker
[09]  >> Centurion
[03] Journeyman Warcaster
[06] Arcane Tempest Gun Mages
[02]  >> Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer
[04] Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team
[10] Long Gunner Infantry (9 grunts)
[10] Long Gunner Infantry (9 grunts)
[01] Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator
[09] Greygore Boomhowler & Co. (9 grunts)

I wanted to keep as much of the gunline alive as possible. The Centurion is only SPD 4 but it will run every turn rather than shooting and dropping covering fire like the Stormwall. Boomhowler gives you the ability to get into a zone and stay there which buys you time for your guns to work. This one will need some testing. I may have to drop the 20 long gunners but I hope to be able to keep them. 

Cygnar
Standard Army
PCs: 35 / 35
10 models

[00] Captain Jeremiah Kraye (0 / 6 WJ remaining)
[02]  >> Squire
[19]  >> Stormwall
[06]  >> Hunter
[06]  >> Hunter
[02] Captain Arlan Strangewayes
[03] Journeyman Warcaster
[01] Stormsmith Stormcaller
[01] Stormsmith Stormcaller
[01] Stormsmith Stormcaller

Another of my favourite lists. The hunters used their light cav move to hide behind forests, buildings or just the Stormwall. 4 big guns a turn put the beat down on heavies (averaging 26 damage a turn against ARM 19), you had covering fire to slow down one unit and you could drop a pod over the other one and with the pod damage, 3 triangulations and Kraye boosting from guided fire you could wipe out a whole unit fairly easily. You had to play smart but I like lists that force you to play smart, especially when they have a great pay off. 

New list:
Cygnar
Standard Army
PCs: 35 / 35
9 models

[00] Captain Jeremiah Kraye (0 / 6 WJ remaining)
[02]  >> Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker
[09]  >> Ol' Rowdy
[09]  >> Centurion
[06]  >> Hunter
[06]  >> Hunter
[04]  >> Sentinel
[02] Captain Arlan Strangewayes
[03] Journeyman Warcaster

Really not confident about this list. The new Caine1 list is at least something I had tried before, this one... I'm even tempted to try him with Trenchers, he can hide behind the smoke and grenadiers are pretty good with guided fire and a light cav move (and two extra free shots). 

Old List:
Cygnar
Standard Army
PCs: 50 / 50
22 models

[00] Captain Jeremiah Kraye (0 / 6 WJ remaining)
[02]  >> Squire
[19]  >> Stormwall
[06]  >> Hunter
[06]  >> Hunter
[04]  >> Sentinel
[02] Captain Arlan Strangewayes
[03] Journeyman Warcaster
[01] Stormsmith Stormcaller
[01] Stormsmith Stormcaller
[01] Stormsmith Stormcaller
[04] Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team
[03] Field Mechaniks (5 grunts)
[04] Lady Aiyana & Master Holt

New List:


Cygnar
Standard Army
PCs: 50 / 50
13 models

[00] Captain Jeremiah Kraye (0 / 6 WJ remaining)
[02]  >> Squire
[19]  >> Stormwall
[19]  >> Stormwall
[04]  >> Sentinel
[02] Captain Arlan Strangewayes
[03] Journeyman Warcaster
[01] Stormsmith Stormcaller
[01] Stormsmith Stormcaller
[01] Stormsmith Stormcaller
[04] Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team


Got one I'm happy with. Full tilt a Stormwall first turn then put arcane shield on it (means I generally only want to move a maximum of 17" but that was true anyway, I don't think it will be going even that far). Gets you an arcane shielded stormwall up forward and contesting. Relying on the fact that there are still a lot of armies that struggle to deal with an arcane shielded Stormwall protected by covering fire templates (first turn these will come from the other stormwall). It's light on characters so it can be paired with my Caine2 list. 

Old list:
Cygnar
Standard Army
PCs: 35 / 35
20 models

[00] Captain Victoria Haley (0 / 5 WJ remaining)
[02]  >> Squire
[19]  >> Stormwall
[03] Journeyman Warcaster
[01] Stormsmith Stormcaller
[01] Stormsmith Stormcaller
[01] Stormsmith Stormcaller
[06] Arcane Tempest Gun Mages
[02]  >> Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer
[05] Rangers

New List:
Cygnar
Standard Army
PCs: 35 / 35
23 models

[00] Captain Victoria Haley (0 / 5 WJ remaining)
[02]  >> Squire
[09]  >> Centurion
[02] Captain Arlan Strangewayes
[03] Journeyman Warcaster
[06] Arcane Tempest Gun Mages
[02]  >> Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer
[05] Rangers
[11] Storm Lances (4 grunts)

Got a tip to try Storm Lances with Haley because they become a true combined arms unit. They are also POW 15 on the charge so they add a little ARM cracking which I was short of. The list still doesn't handle ARM stacking but at least it can kill a few heavies or an unbuffed colossal. 

6 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    Replies
    1. Those kraye lists are very similiar to the Nemo2 lists ive been playing reently that are loads of fun.

      Will Kraye struggle to fuel that many jacks?

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    2. 35 point list - no. You can cast guided fire, give one to both hunters and both heavies with strangways and upkeep full tilt with Sylys. Or you can not cast guided fire and fuel both heavies. It's more a question of will Kraye live, the low model count and the balance between ARM cracking and removing multiple models.

      50 point list - yes. Just don't know what to do here. I might need to drop the Stormwall or trade the Hammersmith for Boomhowlers. I don't know. I'm not done on that list yet.

      Do you play Nemo2's theme force? If you don't give it a run it's amazing. I only go to tier one but that's plenty. I'm actually looking at running him in a tournament with Caine2 as an alternative to Haley2. Mainly so I don't have to buy a second Stormwall.

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    3. I need a few more things to run the tier... namely some more stormcallers and a firefly or two. Also, stormguard (which i just got but are unpainted)

      Running it outside of tier gave me some options people did not expect, namely the polarity shielded Trencher commandos as a screen unit to break up infantry formations (this worked remarkably well). Cant shoot em, cant charge em, and they are gonna be biffing grenades

      The tier is good, but everyone knows what it does. Having the odd spanner in there makes people think, which puts them off their plan

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    4. I've no experience with Kraye... hes on my "to get" list. One guy i play against a lot plays him and is always moaning about focus. He plays stormwall, stormclad, sentinal, jnr, rangers, hunter, mechanics, squire..... and i cant remember the rest.

      next tourney i go to will almost certainly be eCaine + Nemo2.

      I have really enjoyed those two as they are fun to play. Just loads of coolness. I find haley a bit boring.

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    5. I never bother with the fireflies, he was the one caster I took them with until the Stormwall came out. If you don't want to take a Stormwall then by all means take them but I play at tier 1, no units which I like because it really hurts armies that rely on living models (say if you are relying on Carnivore to heal your caster).

      Cygnar
      The Weathermen (General Adept Nemo)
      (Tier 1)
      PCs: 50 / 50
      13 models

      [00] General Adept Nemo (0 / 6 WJ remaining)
      [02] >> Squire
      [19] >> Stormwall
      [09] >> Centurion
      [10] >> Stormclad
      [04] >> Sentinel
      [04] >> Sentinel
      [03] Journeyman Warcaster
      [01] Stormsmith Stormcaller
      [01] Stormsmith Stormcaller
      [01] Stormsmith Stormcaller
      [01] Stormsmith Stormcaller
      [01] Stormsmith Stormcaller

      The damage output of 5 Stormcallers who hit on 9s or less and do POW 12s is incredible.

      Kraye - you definitely have to choose, do you need mage sight, or guided fire or are you going to load up for melee and feat. That said you generally only need to do one of those. That and I always take Strangeways and either Sylys (who I find is better if you are upkeeping full tilt since you don't care about control area) or the squire. I will say that he is definitely more fun if you play him crazy aggressive, full tilt all the things, get in your face but I think he's more competitive when you play him more defensively, use your ranged superiority, make your opponent move into threat range then feat and charge in.

      Funnily enough I just changed my Cygnar pairing to Nemo2 Caine2. I play Caine2 very differently to you though (and Nemo2 as well I guess). I'm writing up a thing on how I play Caine2.

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