Dais takes a look at Cygnar and how to craft a list using the Colossal rules. Check it out!

Captain E. Dominic Darius (*5pts)
* Centurion (9pts)
* Ol' Rowdy (9pts)
* Stormclad (10pts)

Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
* Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer (2pts)
Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters (Cylena and 9 Grunts) (10pts)
* Captain Jonas Murdoch (2pts)
Storm Tower (2pts)
Storm Tower (2pts)
Journeyman Warcaster (3pts)

Captain Jeremiah Kraye (*6pts)
* Minuteman (5pts)
* Minuteman (5pts)
* Stormwall (19pts)
* Squire (2pts)

Rangers (5pts)
Rangers (5pts)
Journeyman Warcaster (3pts)
Stormguard (Leader and 9 Grunts) (9pts)
Captain Arlan Strangewayes (2pts)
Stormsmith Stormcaller (1pt)

Captain Bartolo Montador (*5pts)
* Galleon(18pts)
* Rocinante (9pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)

Horgenhold Forge Guard (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2pts)
Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile (2pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Thor Steinhammer (2pts)
* Ghordson Avalancher (9pts)

= 150pts

Tactics

I wanted to showcase the fact that Mercenary warcasters finally have a chance to work for other factions in this list, as well as trying to make the most of the Stormwall. The whole list is built on the concept that almost everything is going to die, so you will want robust models to help ward off the alpha strikes and win by attrition.

Kraye was chosen as the warcaster to control the Stormwall this game because of the great interaction of his guided fire spell with the Stormwall’s many guns. His feat also gets him into melee very quickly; shockingly quick if full tilt is cast first. Kraye is also controlling a pair of his beloved Minutemen, whose shenanigans could fill an entire page. I would keep Kraye behind the Stormwall most of the game so he finally has Line of Sight blocking sanctuary for his large base.  I would consider the squire as an almost mandatory model with Kraye if for no other reason than the control area extension.

Darius is a rather maligned warcaster, but in this format he is very strong, and his feat is downright silly when used on a Colossal fully repairing it! Yes, that is just errata waiting to happen. I took tough melee jacks with him to play to his strengths. For his actions he can either repair the Colossal or crane something else around. His gun also fires an Area of Effect that is sure to have more value on a saturated battlefield. Bonus points if you find a reason to crane Kraye’s horse around. The Stormclad can badly damage a Colossal nearly twice its points, and with a little help, can even totally destroy one. The centurion has come into its own recently in scenario play with its polarity field and it can be a terrific fighter under Darius’ full throttle spell too. Ol’Rowdy should be well known to many players as a powerful and tough son-of-a-gun. He brings very high MAT, rather high ARM, and Counter Charge to the table. What’s not to love?

Bart was taken just because he is ecstatic to show off his new toy, Galleon. Broadside does not trigger rapid fire on the cannons, but it does trigger drag on any model foolish enough to end up within 10” of the colossal. You can trigger a drag before Galleon’s activation and pull in a model for Darius’s crew to clean up. Rocianante was borrowed from Damiano to help increase Bart’s chances to survive -and because he has a big gun. Hot shot on a Galleon can be as ferocious as some feats. Sylys can help him upkeep hotshot so he can cast both broadside and batten down the hatches in the same turn if desired.

The gun mages are intended to be evasive targets and help control the tempo while also going after scary stealthy enemies. I expect them to die faster than normal since there are likely going to be more Area of Effects about, so it may pay off to hold the unit back until they are needed. As strange as it may sound, the safest place for gun mages against some unbound armies may be in melee tying up infantry.

Rangers are an obvious choice with so much in-faction shooting. They don’t help the Mercenaries but there is plenty of Cygnar to go around. Never underestimate the value of six bodies for five points. I went with two units as an insurance policy helping them stick around.

The Nyss hunters are a standout unit in MK2 and it is no secret Murdoch helps them a lot. They won’t get much for being in a faction with these casters, but go to ground was appealing enough by itself in this type of game. I imagine they will handle any annoying pathfinder pests with their hunter and combined ranged attacks. Assault can be a big help if an infantry swarm is closing in on you. They are also pathfinders without needing to drain Kraye’s focus.

The Storm Towers were interesting choices for me. Many people don’t care for artillery, but on a saturated battlefield those lightning generator effects can be very handy for mowing down infantry. I’ve had good success with them before shooting my own electrically immune models in the back to zap evasive targets and I can even see them shooting the electrically immune Stormwall in the back to free him from being tied up in melee with some peons not worth his attention.

Stormguard provide that anchor I need for the Storm Towers while being surprisingly evasive versus charges with set defence. I normally prefer Stormblades, but ranked attacks has more value in the light of a crowded table. Their medium armour can also handle some lesser blast damage without too much trouble.

Forgeguard are much like tougher, slower Stormguard, but they are better suited to attacking heavy armour where Stormguard should target infantry if the targets present themselves. These guys can handle normal enemy jacks well enough, and make a great counter-threat to anything that wants to take a swing at your heavy hitters.

Strangewayes is a great jack support model and this is certainly a jack-heavy list. Other than the obvious repair and power booster, he can grant freestrike immunity to a single jack. This is a big deal when you need to wiggle out of combat for that clear line of sight to shoot an exposed enemy. Even without it, Kraye will need the extra focus power booster allows for his jacks.

The Journeymen are there to cast arcane shield on valuable or tough models and hang far back. Just cast your spell, sit in the back, and let Eiryss do the dangerous stuff.

The Stormsmith is a terrific one point solo with his ability to ignore defence entirely and pick off evasive targets. Taking it as a counter-solo generally gets you a point ahead.

Dougal MacNaille is probably all but an auto-include in a list with a galleon. Bringing 2d3 shots up from Rat 5 to 7 is amazing, but double-powder ration can extend the range of a LOT of firepower for a turn as well. If Murdoch is dead this will also make the nyss bows shoot farther. This guy is truly an unsung hero of Mercenary solos.

Thor Steinhammer could be good enough to take with just the tune up action and jack marshal but he has so much more. A fun fact many people seem to overlook is that Thor can repair any faction warjack, not only Rhulic ones, Galleons like that. He has an Avalancher for that high armor attrition I’m aiming for and because both tune up and pronto are very strong on it. It also seems more thematic that Bart would bring Thor along after seeing the gun on his jack.

Gorman Di Wulfe is one of my favourite solos in the game. He can do so much by sitting back most of the game doing seemingly nothing more than placing clouds then exploding out of nowhere and hitting something with Black Oil or Rust, neither of which Colossals are immune to (I think, haven’t had a chance to read the book yet). His range is also extended by double-powder ration from Dugal. His bombs can be a game-changer either lowering that high colossal Arm or making it waste a turn blinded. Let’s get dangerous!

Eiryss is a notorious character and for good reason; her ability to disrupt mundane jacks just for being there is good, but removing upkeeps is why she is in this list. Hold her back and keep her poised to strip upkeep from a colossal or scary jack/unit. Oh yeah, keep her away from friendly jacks while you’re at it! The Colossals’ immunity to disruption gives Epic Eiryss a unique new hiding place behind them. You really cannot risk taking a solo on the offense with so many attacks at the opponent’s disposal; at least not until sending them on a suicide mission will be worth it.

- Dais