Similar to when I reviewed the model entries in Hordes: Exigence, I'll be (very roughly) rating each entry on three factors:
Efficacy: How well the model does it's "job." If it's a melee model, is it worth throwing into the fray? If its a shooting model, will it hit the broad side of a barn? If its a warcaster/warlock, is it doing cool things to enable your army (or doing the heavy lifting itself)?
Meta Bending: Will this model inspire new list builds, or refine old list builds? Might this become a new list staple?
Coolness: Is the model idea cool? Does it try to do something interesting with it's design (regardless of if it succeeds or not)?
Also similar to last time, I have chosen a random, arbitrary thing that I find amusing to serve as the "star" proxy for each rating. This time around, each model will be rated on a scale of 1 to 5 crazy screaming zombie bird heads (courtesy of Deneghra's new battle engine mount).
I'll be going through the factions in "PP order" (i.e. as PP lists/prints them everywhere), so lets kick things off after the break with everyone's favorite electric swans!
Cygnar:
Major Prime Victoria Haley:
Efficacy: 4.5/5
Haley3 is one of the few new warcasters that I've heard detailed reports about (Jay from Chain Attack ran her in the Lock & Load Masters), and combined with my impressions of her rules, she seems to be a very strong, capable 'caster. She brings a very powerful defensive buff and debuff to the table, as well as in-faction offensive upkeep removal (a first for Cygnar) and straight up Cryx tactics via Revive and Ghost Walk. She seems to play a much more aggressive game than her previous incarnations, which should be very fun, but she also lacks the potent control she had in the past (hence "only" a 4.5).
Meta Bending: 4/5
I am torn. On one hand: Haley3 allows Cygnar to run really effective, faction heavy force, supported by the return of the Trencher rolling smoke wall from the Mk. 1 days (yay?), Revive, Ghost Walk, Temporal Distortion, Repudiate, and Force Hammer set ups. It is very scary to think about, and in Cygnar fashion it can be composed of potent shooting, potent melee, or a mix of both. On the other hand: all of that entering into the meta and making an impact is contingent on players switching to Haley3 over whatever they're playing now, and I'm not sure if or when that is going to happen (I think it mostly depends on how well she pairs with Haley2, because mechano-Haley isn't going anywhere). So I split the difference between "totally new approach for Cygnar" and "interesting but not commonly used".
Coolness: 5/5
It is a testament to how fantastic the design behind this 'caster is that even my cold, jaded Warmachine heart, which hates Haley reflexively at this point, can't help but fall in love with her rules and concept. It is a fantastic idea for a warcaster unit, it is deeply interesting mechanically, and the cherry on top is that PP managed to give all the models in Haley3's unit cool, interesting rules, while also not making something that is nearly as busted as it could have been (and probably was in earlier drafts). Haley3 is one of the best marriages of concept and execution I've seen ever in a miniatures wargame, and its a shining example of PP's dev team when its firing on all cylinders.
Hurricane:
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| Hurricane Artwork |
If there are two things we have all come to expect out of Cygnar colossals, they are: 1) potent guns, and 2) irritating rules. The Hurricane certainly fulfills #1 by bringing two POW 16 guns to the table, along with two POW 13, AOE 4 guns (a rarity in Cygnar). It trades out some of the long range of its counterpart for higher damage across the board, along with the ability to push back enemy models with it's Storm Emitter guns. That brings us to #2, the irritating rules, and while Hurricane definitely fulfills this criteria - d6 push back, Shock Fists, Arc Node - it doesn't do so to nearly the degree that the Stormwall does. Which is good for those of us that have to face it, but not so compelling for those choosing between it and the Stormwall. Still, there is no denying that the Hurricane brings some very potent tools to the table, and it has synergies with some lesser used 'casters (Nemo3 makes this thing very scary) while also being cheaper than the Stormwall (so at least you're not paying the same for "less").
Meta Bending: 3/5
Absolutely nothing could be as meta bending as the Stormwall was, and as a non-Cygnar player I'm happy that the Hurricane does not reach those lofty heights (or even try to). However, the Hurricane still brings some very potent things to the table. The Storm Emitters on it hit hard and push the target back, making it potentially hard to get heavies onto this thing (especially if you layer any other Cygnar denial on top of that). The Shock Fists add a little extra damage in the colossal v. colossal battle, and if you somehow hit an enemy warjack three times and don't just kill it outright (possible with some of the ARM buffing feats out there) you can at least melt their robot brains. And its an Arc Node, which can be of great use to many Cygnar 'casters. I don't think the Hurricane is going to supplant the Stormwall, but it does have synergies with some Cygnar 'casters (Stryker1, the Nemos, Haley1/2) and it makes for a potentially better second colossal than another Stormwall due to the Arc Node.
Coolness: 3.5/5
I kinda love colossals in general (though I don't especially love fighting against most of them), so all of them are pretty cool to me. The Hurricane is decidedly average in terms of its weapons (a couple of heavy hitter guns, a couple of supplemental guns, and punchy fists) and an Arc Node isn't particularly exciting, even if it is practical. But! The Hurricane has the Turbulence rule, and that is exactly the kind of dumb, niche rule that I adore. The one time out of a hundred that it comes up and screws your opponent something royal is going to make the Hurricane worthwhile, and it'll be one of the best wargaming anecdotes you'll have for awhile.
Ace:
Efficacy: 3.5/5 (with Caine) / 2/5 (general)
Coolness: 3.5/5
I kinda love colossals in general (though I don't especially love fighting against most of them), so all of them are pretty cool to me. The Hurricane is decidedly average in terms of its weapons (a couple of heavy hitter guns, a couple of supplemental guns, and punchy fists) and an Arc Node isn't particularly exciting, even if it is practical. But! The Hurricane has the Turbulence rule, and that is exactly the kind of dumb, niche rule that I adore. The one time out of a hundred that it comes up and screws your opponent something royal is going to make the Hurricane worthwhile, and it'll be one of the best wargaming anecdotes you'll have for awhile.
Ace:
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| Ace Artwork |
Ace's main virtue is its Affinity with Caine. Having a RAT 7, RNG 14, POW 12 gun with True Sight is great, but its also 7 points for that package, and I don't see a lot of 'casters really reaching for that. The two that jump to mind are: Kraye, for a potent solo removal tool in his warjack cavalry gunline along with a turn of Stealth, and Stryker3, mostly for the Stealth on the feat turn to mitigate death. Ace gets a lot more interesting with either Caine, as the Rune Shots make its gun much scarier and, just as important, fun. I'm not sure how much room modern Caine lists have for a 7 point light shooting warjack, but I can see Ace making the cut and doing some quality work with Trick Shot (especially when combo'd with Magic Bullet).
Meta Bending: 2/5
For as much fun as Ace will probably be to use, I don't see it greatly altering the gaming landscape. The most profound effect I think it is likely to have is if/when someone finds a particularly good spot to slot it in with another 'caster, as a once-per-game Stealth could be a big deal with some 'casters. But Ace isn't exactly cheap enough to just slide into any 'ol list, so it is going to be a juggling act between taking it and keeping the list's general efficacy up (since Ace isn't that good at much past solo removal/'caster pot shots with anyone other than Caine). Ace is commensurately better with Caine, but it is also "just" another boostable POW 12 gun.
Coolness: 3/5
As with colossals, I think there is something inherently cool about character warnouns. There is a lot of room to botch that (see: most of the Warmachine: Wrath character warjacks), but at base character warjacks are a cool idea. Ace is on the conservative side of character warjack design (we'll see the other side in this very same book), but it is saved by the awesome and cool set of Rune Shots it ended up with. Which at least makes it cool and probably quite fun with either Caine.
Dynamo:
Efficacy: 4/5 (with Nemo) / 3.5/5 (general)
With Dynamo, we see an example of a much more balanced character warjack: the core abilities that make Dynamo interesting are universal (Chain Reaction, Insulated Frame, its weapons) which allows it to work well with a variety of 'casters, and then it gets a nice bonus (that isn't "make or break" defining) with Nemo. Everything I've heard about Dynamo has been positive, and its not hard to see why. Self buffing damage against a single target helps to offset its so-so hitting power, and it brings a multi-shot gun to the table, along with solid warjack combat stats. Dynamo really starts humming with the Nemos, and it seems like an absolute terror under Nemo3.
Meta Bending: 2.5/5
Dynamo is unfortunately a heavy warjack in a faction that has one of the most stunningly good colossals in the game, and just got a second solid colossal in this book. As a result, Dynamo is probably not going to see as much table time as if it had come out in, say, Warmachine: Legends. But I do see and hear about it doing well when it shows up, and its very presence will probably prompt more people to play the Nemos, which is always a good thing (Nemo is the greatest).
Coolness: 3.5/5
See above about character warjacks in general. Then add onto that how much I love Nemo, and how much fun I'd have with this guy if I still had my Cygnar. The worst thing about Dynamo is that its model is kinda dumpy, but even that can be fixed with some inspired modeling. Plus, Dynamo is firmly in my favorite category of character warjack - good in general, better with their buddy 'caster, but not all consumingly good - and that counts for a lot.
Trench Buster:
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| Its in there somewhere, busting 'em up. |
Efficacy: 3/5
Solos can be a hard sell, especially when they're more skewed towards combat than support. The Trench Buster seems like it will be well equipped to shoot and smash things on the tabletop, and it will do that much more for you if you happen to have another trencher or 20 for it to Flank with. The Trench Buster also brings a really tough solo element to Cygnar, which may or may not be especially necessary in a faction known for ARM 22 colossals, but it should combo well with any CTRL area defensive effects to make the Trench Buster surprisingly hard to remove. Add in Flank for conditional hitting power and the ability to drop clouds in irritating spots, and the Trench Buster may be well worth its 3 points.
Meta Bending: 2.5/5
I was initially unimpressed with the Trench Buster. After listening to some discussions about it, I've come around to how it may be decently problematic to deal with on the table top. The Trench Buster is probably not going to be particularly easy to pick off at range, it can fire off smoke templates in front of models you want to have charging, and it can cause a surprising amount of damage if you can get a Flank bonus with it. Moreover, the existence of the Trench Buster may cause another resurgence of Trencher experimentation (especially with Haley3 enabling that unit like no other), which could shake up lists a bit.
Coolness: 3.5/5
I've never been a big fan of the Trencher theme, but even I can't deny the high awesome factor of a Ogrun with a combat shield, cinder bomb gun, and trench knife running amok. This release also has the bonus of being a "wait, what the hell?" kind of release; no one saw this thing coming.
Cygnar Overall Release Rating: 3.5/5 (taking the highest ratings for each character warjack)
Full disclosure: I actually expect every faction to hover right around this score. Reckoning was a very balanced book, in that each faction got some "highs" and some "lows", so the aggregate is probably going to be a lot of average...averages.
That said, I think Cygnar got a fantastic set of releases overall. The only release that is "so-so" is Ace, and even that should at least be fun with the Caines. Dynamo is a solid character heavy that has solid synergy with a lesser used iteration of 'caster, the Trench Buster seems like a solid combat solo with some utility (that adds an interesting dimension to the Trencher theme), and the Hurricane is a solid colossal (that may facilitate a lot more dual colossal builds for Cygnar).
And then there is Haley3. For my money, Haley3 is the best 'caster out of the book on all counts: rules, concept, design, execution, and tabletop potential. The only category I can't give her is "best model", but that may be bias on my part. Haley3 is a remarkable achievement for PP's developers: she has all the depth you'd expect from the next iteration of Haley2, but without the same all encompassing, game warping power, and with (seemingly) none of the flat out obnoxious control elements that make Haley2 such a low rated play experience.
I'd expect all of the Cygnar's releases to show up in various lists from now on (especially once the Hurricane comes out), and the only thing keeping Haley3 from becoming an instant staple of Cygnar competitive play is that she doesn't necessarily cover Haley2 as well as some others (Siege, Caine2) and Haley2 is, unfortunately, not likely to go away anytime soon.
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One down, five to go. Join me next time for a review of the new Protectorate models!
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