Welcome to Thursday's little segment; Armchair Briefing.
This is where I'll be discussing tactics, different units and a bit of Theorymachine as I attempt to cover each unit in the game. Alot of this will be based upon personal experience and/or guesswork, so if there is stuff you disagree with or think I've missed then feel free to post in the comments.
First up; Magnus the Traitor
Backstory
Magnus was once a warcaster and commander in the Cygnaran Army serving King Vinter Raelthorne IV, he was known to have a knack for mechanika and for his ferocity in battle.Though the lives of his troops meant little to him, happily sacrificing them to achieve victory at any cost. He naturally found favour with King Vinter, a man that he would remain resolute in his loyalty to.
When King Leto came to power Magnus was offered a pardon and military commission. Viewing this mercy as a sign of weakness Magnus led remnants of troops still loyal to Vinter in a bloody guerilla war. Since going rogue he has worked tirelessly to see his former master King Vinter restored to the rightful ruler of Cygnar and will stop at nothing until that goal is achieved.
Abilities
A brief overview of Magnus' abilities;
*Backstab; Extra damage die on attacks against a model's back arc, though of limited use. Best way to get the most it is either clearly position an Arc Node to gain Backstab on a spell or charge a model in its back arc to get a 5d6 damage, but this is tricky to pull off.
*Feign Death; Immune to ranged and magic attacks whilst knocked down, whilst useful it's let down by the rarity that Magnus will be knocked down.
*Resourceful; Hands down this is Magnus' best ability, basically upkeep spells for free which makes Magnus super focus efficient.
Feat
Hit and Run is one of those feats that require careful thinking and timing for when you use it, it can be used offensively early on during the first turn to get your battlegroup across the board or later on defensively to pull your 'jacks back without suffering free strikes. Common rule of thumb is the latter option, though I suspect if used first turn you could possibly throw off an unwary opponent.
Weapons
Magnus has three weapons of note;
*Scattergun; Shotgun, plain and simple. POW 12 weapon with a spray template.
*Foecleaver; Magical Weapon and Powerful Attack that allows both attack and damage rolls to be boosted with just one focus point. Just gravy.
*Mechanikal Arm; Smack somebody in the face and knock them down, 'nuff said.
Spells
Like most warcasters Magnus has access to six spells, a mixture of utilities and offensive ones.
*Arcantrik Bolt; Bit of damage and causes a warjack to be stationary for one round, I've hardly ever used it and feel it isn't all that effective since Stationary can easily be removed. Its low focus cost is probably the only redeeming feature.
*Blur; Boost to DEF against ranged/magic attacks, combined with it being an upkeep and its low focus cost its a very useful spell that I always make a note of using.
*Iron Aggression; Very, VERY useful spell. I tend to get it up soon as I can since its another upkeep and makes a warjack focus efficient. Only draw back is that it costs 3 focus to cast, unless you've got focus to spare I recommend keeping it on a single warjack rather than cycle it.
*Obliteration; Straight up AOE spell with POW 15, nothing at all subtle about this spell and this is reflect in its focus cost.
*Temper Metal; Boost to ARM, on the right 'jack it can make it more tougher than a Khadoran heavy.
*Snipe; The only Merc 'caster to get this spell and makes running ranged units with Magnus that much nicer.
Tactics
Typically Magnus is ideal with his Tier List, all four Tiers can be done in a 25 point army and allows his upkeeps to be in play on his 'jacks from the get go. Iron Aggression is a good one to put on a heavy, perhaps Temper Metal on a second heavy if you're running two. Blur I'll put on an infantry unit to ensure that it can get across the board, or perhaps even on Magnus himself if you're playing him aggressively. Snipe should be cycling between your ranged units as and when needed, given how efficient Magnus is with his focus it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Magnus is the only warcaster with access to the Renegade light warjack, most people only run one but his Tier list requires two and so that is generally what I take. Taking two means you can have an arc node on either flank along with a one-shot AOE, this helps you stay flexible but I find that the AOE usually needs to be boosted on its attack roll to actually hit anything. But I'll be covering this 'jack in more detail later on.
With Magnus I've often found that you need to be keep him shielded at all times or otherwise it could cost you the game. When putting him into melee make sure to load him up with focus, use the Mechanikal Army to knock down a target first and then hack away with the sword. He can make short work of an enemy 'caster when in melee if the dice gods are with you.
Generally Magnus is a pretty good 'jack 'caster, though he still needs some good support options. Make sure to take some ranged units and have ways of boosting them.
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Another reminder, Mailbox is tomorrow and I'm still accepting questions.
Send them in to; stormwell55-at-hotmail-dot-com
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