Every General needs troops who will undertake the most dangerous of missions and have a solid chance of succeeding. These elite, brawler units – the tip of the spear - can assault objectives under fire and clear the enemy from them. If supported by other units, they can go further and deliver victory, in the form of cleared Objectives, ready to be captured by your basic infantry. But even without support they can wreak havoc on enemy troops, especially if they can reach backline formations who are ill-prepared to repel such an attack. These units are likely to be an automatic inclusion in most army lists because of this versatility and power.
While
flying infantry can perform a similar function, their lower damage tolerance
and Aerial unit designation when Soaring, means they are more vulnerable to
counterattack, or taking losses en-route by anti-air fire from enemies who are
‘On Lookout’. Whereas most brawler units
are tough enough to take fire as they reach their targets and then still mount
a reasonable offence when they get there.
If you really want to get the jump on your enemy, these units are also a
prime candidate to receive the FOLORN HOPE boon, which is available to all
factions; costing 15 points and giving one unit a free VANGUARD move before the
game begins. This potentially puts the unit into range of an objective, or
attacking a fast-moving enemy, from the first turn.
These units are (mostly) deployed in sizes 4/8/12 (for basic/reinforced/full) and because of the dangerous nature of the mission you'll be assigning them, you will probably want to purchase these units at a minimum of Reinforced level if possible. This will allow them some resilience if they come under heavy fire and still mean that they can put some hurt on enemies, even when they've taken heavy casualties and been reduced to their basic-level damage output.
Black
Watch Assault Dragoons (Crown)
Both types
of Dragoons in the Crown list are solid options, but the Assault Dragoons are
especially well suited to lead the charge and close with the enemy. The Assault Dragoons are IRREGULAR, which
gives them some additional flexibility through Open formation and allows them
to target units outside the normal line of sight for ranged attacks (but if
doing this, they count only half the number models to in the unit for the
purposes of determining the dice pool).
With a Speed of 6" they can move at a fair clip, keeping pace with Crown armoured transport vehicles and with Defence 2 and Damage Limit 2 each Dragoon can take 4 hits before being destroyed. For additional protection as they advance, Assault Dragoons can use their PIONEEERS special ability to move through forests, or other difficult terrain, without being impeded.
Assault
Dragoon firepower has a respectable 7"/18" range against both Light
and Heavy targets, but they are much better targeting the former with 4(6)/8(10)/12(14)
against Light targets, and POINT BLANK meaning they use the parenthesis value
when at their short (up to 7") range.
Against Heavy targets their fire is a much less impressive 3/6/9. When they get close enough, their chainsaws also give them a really
impressive Melee option against any type of enemy with 6/8/14 and
DEVASTATING, meaning you round up any unallocated hits to an extra point of
damage.
Assault
Dragoons seem designed to pour fire into the enemy as they advance and then
back this up with a fearsome charge, to clear any survivors. If used in combination with basic infantry,
the Dragoons charge might coincide with the turn that infantry scramble from
their transports and form up. Then as the infantry advance, the Dragoons move
on to the next threat.
Although
their Discipline of 6 is average for a Crown unit, the combination of the
LIONHEARTED special ability and Break Limit 1, will keep them in the fight. For
this you'll pay 70/115/170, making them the cheapest of the Brawler units
profiled here and at Reinforced size, the best value-for-points; but this unit
does give up a hefty 3/4/5 when destroyed.
Tóngshi
Lion Automata (Empire)
The Empire
has several excellent automata options that can play an extremely valuable
role, screening the more vulnerable Empire infantry as they advance,
relentlessly ignoring losses and the impact of SUPPRESSIVE weapons before
tearing into the enemy at short range, or via Melee. The major drawback of the
Automata is that they can't claim objectives; an Empire general will want to
have other Light units nearby to fulfil this function and capitalise on their
attacks. Nor can automata they be issued Commands, removing any Flank
deployment options.
Just like
the Assault Dragoons, Tóngshi Lions have Speed of 6", are PIONEERS and
have Defence 2 and Damage Limit 2 meaning it will take 4 hits before a
single Lion is destroyed. In addition,
the Lions are Heavy targets, which is likely to somewhat reduce the volume (and
impact) of incoming fire.
Tóngshi
Lions have a much shorter range than the Dragoons, shooting to only 4"/8" against Light targets only, but because it's a flamethrower,
it's a pretty bad time for any infantry caught within range as the Lions deal 6/10/14
which is both a TORRENT (targets never count as concealed and get no bonus for
garrisoning a building) and SURPRESSIVE (which gives a -1 penalty to enemy
Suppression tests caused by this weapon). But what about Heavy targets you ask?
Well, the
bounding Lions have a mighty Melee of 5(7)/10(12)/15(17) with the
WRECKERS ability, meaning you use the parenthesis value against Heavy targets
making them lethal against vehicles.
With their higher speed and need to get into close range, the Lions are
likely to range ahead of your marching infantry line, and potentially clear
objectives before your Green Banner infantry arrive and get their shields
set. You'll pay a hefty price for all
this power at 90/155/235, with units yielding 2/4/6 Victory Points when
Annihilated.
UR-45E
Arc Mechs (Union)
The Union
have two excellent Mech options, but in my opinion the 'E' is most versatile of
them. As with the Lions, these are
automata and so never make Discipline tests, but also can't take objectives,
nor be issued with Commands. They are
also slower than the other brawlers featured so far, moving at 5", which
means they will lag behind fast-moving Union infantry transports. But a Union general who is playing with the
Heavy Rail Auxiliary Battlegroup has a neat option of deploying their Mechs (at
Basic level) on Rockridge Flatbed Carriage and then using the FORWARD ability
to have them start the game significantly advanced; exactly how far depends on
a dice roll. Or they can start with the
Rockridge joined to the Engine and then disembark straight into the fight using
ASSAULT RAMPS, as the Engine moves them up the board.
For all of
this you'll pay just 85/145/220 - less than the Lions and only slightly more
than the Dragoons. But you will need to consider the additional cost of getting
these Mechs into position, if you want them to lead the fight ahead of your
motorised infantry. In that case you’ll need to fork out an additional 15
points for Forlorn Hope, or 45 points for a Rockridge (which also boosts their
shooting if they stay within 3"with the AMMO SUPPLY special rule). When finally destroyed the UR-45E yields a
measly 2/3/4 Victory Points, making them a bargain investment compared to some
others.
Heavy
Construct Devastator Cohort (Enlightened)
Enlightened
scientists don't need to find the right person for the job, they just
bioengineer them instead (this one needs more gatling gun arms!) The
Devastators are IRREGULAR and also on the slow side at 5" which puts them
mid-pack, ahead of your slow moving infantry horde, but behind the speedy
Mono-Cav, Striders and Hellion.
While they are Light target (really?) Devastators have Defence 2 and Damage Limit 2 meaning it will take 4 hits to kill one, but they also have DURABLE meaning Heroic Strikes only inflict a single hit instead of two, which should help them stick around longer. Devastators are also CONSTRUCTS, meaning that if the unit becomes Suppressed (which is fairly likely given their Discipline of 5) then it also becomes Disordered ( -1 Discipline and can't be issued Commands) and stays Disordered until it gets within 6" of an Enlightened Commander.
However,
the scientists have anticipated this eventuality, and this unit also has
BESERK, which means that if a unit fails to rally, then it must Charge where it
fights as normal (not normally an option for a Disordered unit). This means a Disordered Devastator is really
only losing the option of shooting and can still happily engage foes in Melee.
And Devastators love Melee, inflicting a potent 6/12/18 with is both
DEVASTATING and SURPRESSIVE. Ouch! And
if they don't manage to get the job done initially, Devastators can then
OVERRUN, which is triggered after you fight an enemy and fail to annihilate
them, allowing you to discard a card from your hand and fight again.
If they do
get the option, Devastators can shoot Light targets to a range of
4"/16" inflicting 3/5/7 which is again both DEVASTATING and
SURPRESSIVE, but really most of the time they'll likely be charging enemies and
hitting them in the face with their gatling guns, rather than shooting at them.
Devastators
really want to be loping forward, ready to smash the enemy with shocking force
and violence, using the full power of 'science' with Brutes, or other infantry
in support, to mop up anything left over and hold Objectives. Devastators are a
good candidate for FORLORN HOPE, but then many of the Enlightened units really
excel at close range and so an Enlightened overseer must make some difficult
decisions about what to push forward into different waves of their assault. The Devastators are very reasonably priced,
considering their destructive power at 80/130/190. And with a Break Limit of just 1, your
opponent will need to work hard to get their 3/4/5 Victory Points.
Teutonic
Armiger Castellans (Imperium)
Nothing
says Imperium more than an electric knight, in power armour, supported by robot
retainers and mixing it up with the enemy at close range. Indeed the Castellans are an essential part
of the Imperium list and as such, they are deployed in bulk, with a larger
6/12/18 unit size. The first thing to
note is that they are incredibly slow, moving just 3" due to all of that
armour. So, you'll need to factor the
cost of their ride to the front into their price - for which the only serious
option to cancel out their BULKY rule is the luxurious and SPACIOUS
Panzerwagen, which is designed for the role, including the obligatory ASSAULT
RAMP, and some anti-light and anti-aerial support to boot. But means you have a
heck of a lot of eggs in one very armoured basket - more on that later.
Speaking of armour, the Castellans have Defence 2 and Damage Limit 2 meaning it will take 4 hits to kill a stand, but that's not the full story as they also have DURABLE and SHROUDED which means they always count as Obscured when being shot by ranged weapons and will only ever take a maximum of one hit per dice. You can also forget about sniping them, because those robot retainers give them BODYGUARD, meaning that PRECISION attacks have no extra effect.
On the
attack, the Castellans can attack both Heavy and Light targets with a 12"
range. Against Light targets this is 5/10/15 and against Heavy 3/6/9 both attacks have the ARC Special Quality,
making them potentially extra damaging.
If you are brave (or foolish) enough to get into Melee with them, the
Castellans strike with 4/8/12 which is also ARC. And should you decide to charge them, you
will find that their STOIC DEFENCE allows them to strike first in Melee, which
is a lot scarier on an armoured electric knight, than on a Crown private with a
bayonet!
The
Castellans have an impressive Discipline of 8, but they have a relatively high
break limit at 3, meaning at basic size, the unit will potentially retire from
the battlefield when they reach half strength to return to their hunting
lodges, get drunk and swap stories. This is a pretty big drawback and suggests
you really want to deploy them at a Reinforced size, or larger, if
possible. But that's another problem -
the price for these armoured nobles will make even an Imperium player blush at
110/200/295 and giving up a whopping 4/5/6 Victory Points.
As
mentioned earlier, you are definitely going to need to purchase those
Panzerwagens at an additional 65/110/165 points to get your Castellans into the
fight. For most games that will mean
your reinforced Castellans and their transports are something like 20% of your
total points, while a full-size unit with transports will cost you
significantly more than an Imperium Colossus!
At that level, they’ll need to inflict some heavy losses on your
opponent to justify their cost (no pressure).
But, as I imagine the Castellans themselves might argue, can you really
put a price on quality?
Azhdaya
Berserker Gang (Commonwealth)
From
monsters in combat, to literal combat monsters. These former prisoners-turned-abominations
will need to range ahead of your infantry line moving at 5" with a
Vanguard of "5 and there’s a good reason for them to keep their distance
as we will see later. The Berserker Gang
are PIONEERS and have Defence 2 and Damage Limit 2, meaning it will take 4
hits to put one down and being IRREPRESSIBLE they won't care when that
happens ,as they automatically pass all Discipline tests and fight until they
are all dead.
But then defence isn't really their strong suit. They have no ranged attack, but in Melee deal a potent 5/10/15, and then things get really wild! When they Charge, they gain a combat bonus via ONSLAUGHT and their attacks are also both DEVASTATING and SUPPRESSIVE. The Commonwealth General can also choose to OVERCHARGE, an ability otherwise only seen in the Enlightened, which allows them to draw a card and get additional combat dice equal to the card value (2-12) with the catch being that every blank side they roll counts as one damage inflicted on them. So, the Berserker Gang have the ability to unleash truly massive destruction.
The
Berserker Gang also RUN AMOK, meaning that they must Charge each turn if
possible, and if they can't, then the closest Light or Heavy unit within 6
inches each turn automatically suffers one damage and loses one model - friend
or foe. This means that in all
likelihood, the Berserker Gang will hit like a sledgehammer, but it's not
likely to last too long after that. The
threat this unit poses will make them a priority target for your opponent and
the Berserker Gang are fairly vulnerable when advancing if they are left to
walk, which is why they are deployed in units of 5/10/15 size. The RUN AMOK rule means that any screening
unit will have to keep its distance or suffer the consequences.
By far the
best way to use the Berserker Gang is to have them burst free from a transport
fitted with chambers built to restrain them, like some kind of awful party
surprise. You have two choices here; for
a conventional, but slightly riskier overland trip, you can load them into the
fantastic Omsk Cryo Transports, for an additional 55/90 points. Or, if you really want to have one truly
spectacular turn in the game and can afford the points, you can utilise the gigantic Mamont
Subterranean Cryo Transport for a whopping 440 points to ensure your precious
cargo reaches its intended destination ready to rampage (while also unleashing
considerable devastation on other units in the vicinity at the same time). In either case, once their chosen transport
reaches its destination, it emits a cloud of freezing cold (HOARFROST AURA)
that will protect the Berserkers if they stay close, giving them the SHROUDED
ability and creating a zone of Difficult Terrain (remember the Berserkers are
PIONEERS!)
Because the
Berserkers are likely to expire fairly soon after they emerge from their
transports, one option to try and keep them fighting longer using their
OVERCHARGE ability, is employing THE DELUGE bonus, which is part of the
Bardiche Auxiliary Battlegroup. This
enables the Commonwealth General to discard a card to re-roll all blank dice
following an initial Close Combat Attack against a Suppressed unit, which makes
it likely that your Berserkers will hit like a freight train. While the Mamont has Suppressive weapons
aplenty, and can even suppress units that it tunnels beneath, several other
units like the Commonwealth Seismic Mortars and the Berserker Gang themselves
can inflict this status as well.
The Azhdaya
Berserker Gang will cost you 90/145/215, which makes them a pricy investment,
especially when you factor the additional transportation cost, but they give
out an outrageously low 0/2/4 Victory Points because, I guess, the Commonwealth
doesn't really want them back anyway.
While their destructive power is undeniable, the key to using these
shock troops will be to have your Ryadovoy Rifles close (but not too close) and
ready to capture the bloodstained objectives when the dust finally settles.
Destreza
Bladestriders (Alliance)
Despite
looking like something from your nightmares (perhaps inspired by the Wheelers
from the movie Return to Oz), there is something awesome about the idea of a
school of duellists who have responded to the prevalence of firearms by
building customised power-harnesses complete with snap out swords. The Destreza have Move 6" and Defence 2
and Damage Limit 2 meaning it will take 4 hits to kill a stand. They are further protected by being SHROUDED
as they lope toward the enemy.
And they need to get close, because the Destreza only kill things with swords; in Melee they attack with 6/8/14 which has the PRECISION special rule, likely leaving their surviving enemies Disordered and more than a little traumatized to boot. They also have ONSLAUGHT giving a bonus to their Melee roll and as MELEE MASTERS meaning that anyone attacking them in Melee suffers a penalty.
The
Destreza also love to fight, as they have Discipline 8 and no Break Limit,
meaning they will keep slicing and dicing their enemies until they're wiped
out. This unsettling package of blades
and bravado costs just 80/130/195 and yield 3/4/5 Victory Points, which puts
them on par with the Crown's Black Watch Assault Dragoons. However, unlike those armoured suits that
also pack guns, the Destreza rely on getting into close combat. Because of their modest speed and lack of
VANGUARD, Alliance Generals will need to give serious consideration to either
picking them to receive the FORLORN HOPE Boon, or deploying them from a Flank,
so they can get down to their bloody work just as soon as possible
Cor
Caroli Luminant (Sultanate)
If you want
to take your shock troops to the next level, it doesn’t get more shocking than
the massive, muscular and entirely alien Cor Caroli Luminant, complete with
glowing eyes, chiseled armour and enormous swords, suddenly appearing out of thin
air! The Luminant are a heavy unit;
slow, with a Move of just 3”. But they
are able to negate this weakness using PORTAL STRIKE which allows them to
Charge straight into Melee via a Portal, potentially laying waste to any enemy
unit unfortunate enough to be targeted in this way.
Described as ‘nigh indestructible’ the Cor Caroli are the toughest infantry in the game (tougher even than some vehicles) with Defence 3 and Damage Limit 2, meaning you’ll need 6 hits to defeat this alien’s physical form. In Melee the Luminant inflict a massive 5(8)/11(14)/17(20) with SHOCK, DEVASTATING and PRECISION. If watching your officer chopped into pieces with PRECISION wasn’t depressing enough the Luminant are also TERRIFYING, meaning non-Order troops have a -1 to Discipline checks while within 6” of this unit. Only the very brave or very lucky will be able to stand up to this awful alien assault. And counter charging them probably won’t end well either, as they have STOIC DEFENCE, allowing them the first strike.
The
Luminant also can shoot Light units – although this is more of an afterthought,
with a 4”/8” range they shoot a weak 2/4/6. (Sultanate Generals wanting to
field the Cor Caroli with big guns should take a unit of the Nyx instead of
Luminant).
The Cor
Caroli are fairly immovable and largely uncaring about the physical wellbeing
of their host, with Discipline 11; but as some small concession they do have a
Break Limit of 3, giving the Sultanate General lots of chances to prove whether
they are extremely unlucky. As you’d
expect, the shocking-est of shock troops costs a whopping 130/210/320 and gives
up a massive 4/6/8 Victory Points when (if) Annihilated.
In the
final analysis…
with their combination of offensive power and durability, shock troops are
likely to be an essential inclusion in most lists. These are the troops to deploy where the
fighting is thickest and put some decisive hurt on your opponent’s forces. However, because they are so good at what
they do, they are not likely to see out
the battle. The combination of
attracting enemy fire as they advance, followed by mixing-it-up at close range
with enemies, means that they are likely to suffer heavy losses and probably
give up their victory points before the final turn of the game.
Some units, such as those offered by the Imperium, Commonwealth or Sultanate can more-or-less ensure they hit their initial targets at full strength, for a devastating hammer-blow by using portals and transports respectively, allowing these factions to decisively wrest control of an Objective. But once this shot has been taken, these units may need additional backup if you expect them to hold it. Others must do their best to navigate incoming fire as they traverse the battlefield, trusting to the protection of their armour, technology, or terrain.
Because
they are so potent, it’s fairly likely that the shock troops of each faction
will wind up fighting each other at key moments in battle. When this occurs,
factors like luck with the dice and the unit’s respective strength against
different opposing Light, or Heavy, troop types are likely to be decisive. But these troops are so dangerous, that even
Annihilating the enemy unit may prove a pyrrhic victory, given the damage
sustained in the effort.
