The Crown are, in a word, reliable. By default, they field a range of heavily armoured units with good long-range firepower supported by a mix of less durable, highly specialised, infantry and cavalry. These are high-quality troops, with good Discipline across the board and a points cost to match. As traditionalists, slow to evolve to new technologies (like aircraft), the Crown currently have a significant blind-spot in terms of the breadth of their anti-aerial options, but the few they do offer are good at what they do. Crown Faction Battlegroup Special Abilities are also key to Crown success, giving their units significant benefits in terms of claiming and holding onto Objectives, if supported by your card-play.
You
should play the Crown if… you like the rumble of heavy tanks, including plenty of heavy armour to
shrug off hits, and high-velocity guns with armour piercing rounds to dish out
punishment in return. The Crown are also
highly mobile, with many armoured personnel carrier options allowing for rapid
the deployment of the ubiquitous, stalwart Crown Rifles or specialised Engineer
Sappers. They also have one of the best
flanking units in the game, in the form of Horse Gard cavalry who can reliably
appear in the enemy backline and inflict considerable mayhem.
The Crown
also offer a lot of support for their troops, through a range of heavy
artillery, field artillery, and fortifications.
These emplaced guns can inflict a lot of damage, but like all forces who
boast an immobile backline, Crown Generals who want to deploy significant
artillery support, will also need to consider assigning protection for these
big guns, lest they become easy prey for flanking enemies, or aerial
sorties. Crown players are also likely
to have clear priorities for both their low and high value cards to support
faction and unit special abilities, which will likely trump the specified
effect of a given card, making this phase of the game fairly straightforward.
In terms of
modelling and painting, the Crown sculpts include a glorious mix of overstated
ornamental filagree and thick plates of riveted armour, reinforcing the idea
that the very presence of Crown armour projects colonial might in many parts of
the Dystopian World. Their infantry,
clad in something like the ‘1879 Pattern Infantry uniform’ complete with pith
helmets are wonderful, and you can also choose to fill you infantry ranks with
the turban-wearing rifles from the Indian Raj.
For additional flavour you can take the Sharp Rifles, complete with
slouch hats, or Scots with Glengarry caps.
The Dragoon
models are also both a joy (in terms of their look and design) and a potential
frustration (in terms of being extremely fiddly models to assemble). Each Dragoon has 8 individual pieces (10 for
the Engineer Dragoons) not counting the base and getting them to fit together
properly can be a test of patience. One
tip is to paint the pilot and their ‘cage’ before assembly, as it’s tricky to
get paint to all the different angles once they are built into the Dragoon
walker. Also pay close attention to the
legs, as you will need a correctly paired set if you want the model to be
walking forward. Similarly, the
Mordered Heavy artillery may require a little manipulation as they are
assembled (before the glue dries) to fit properly into place.
Each Crown unit has a function worth considering, depending on what you may face in terms of your opponent’s force and Clash scenario, but when building your army, don’t leave home without:
- Dragoons - these are the workhorses of the Crown
faction, able to take some hits and still deliver on the mission and as such,
are likely to be pivotal to claiming, or defending, Objectives. There are 3 flavours (Engineer, Heavy and
Assault) and each can have an important role to perform in your force,
depending on what you’re up against and what you’re taking.
- Defiance Fighters - in addition to being great all-rounders that
are equally good against Light and Heavy targets, these aircraft also offer the
Crown a much-needed interceptor with a strong Anit-Aerial attack, to protect
from enemy air strikes. Their
versatility makes them a great inclusion in almost any list.
- Tanks – especially the Galahad Medium Tank and
Challenger Superheavy Tank. These tough
customers are top performers in their respective weight categories, especially
when used in conjunction with the LINEBREAKERS Special Command to capture an
Objective. Their presence forces your
opponent either to target them with a very considerable amount of firepower to
get their Victory points, or largely ignore them, allowing them relative freedom
to blast-away at will.
- Rifle Platoons - because so many of the Crown troops are
elite, and therefore comparatively few in number, you need some troops who can
grab and hold Objectives under fire. The
humble Rifle Platoon, especially when deployed at Reinforced size or larger is
better placed to take the hits for their points cost than other Crown infantry
and are solid when shooting at Light targets.
Once you factor in the LIONHEARTED Special Command, these troops are
likely to perform admirably under fire, so long as you have low-value cards to
help them hold their nerve.
While these units should be used with care:
- Fortifications. The Crown currently has two options for
fortifications (the Corfe and Roxburgh) which offer the option of a static,
armoured, position with solid firepower - but also yield significant Victory
points when Annihilated. These can be
deployed aggressively, including potentially next to Objectives, using the
FORWARD special rule. The risk here is that these units have no Melee value, no
SPONSONS, and the STATIC special rule – which combines to make them extremely vulnerable to close combat (a Full-Size unit will be Annihilated if one model is destroyed),
making them a priority target for your opponent!
- Royal Engineer Sappers. This is an extremely versatile
unit, which can act as a Spotter, improving your Bors Heavy Artillery or
Monarch Landship attacks, storm and occupy buildings, or effectively demolish
heavy targets through the use of improvised explosives. A reinforced unit of Sappers fits perfectly
into a basic-size unit of Tristan Assault Transports and will likely make
excellent use of the built-in ASSAULT RAMPS. But, Sappers are not cheap, are
few in number and not protected in any way making them extremely vulnerable,
especially if they are going toe-to-toe with Heavy shock troops like Automata.
- Royal Engineer Artificers. Even more expensive than the Sappers, these specialist Engineers have a few additional tricks in their sporrans. This includes the CONSTRUCTION TEAM special rule, which seems to have most value for your Rifles and Drake Field Guns, allowing them to be Emplaced and treated as heavy targets as well as providing a Melee boost if they are charged. The Artificers also have the ability to Repair Artillery and Fortifications. While undoubtedly useful in a force built around artillery, fortifications and field guns or for a Cataclysm level game, the Artificers may be a difficult inclusion to justify under other circumstances.
On the
battlefield, the Crown have some neat options and tactics that play to their
strengths:
- Rolling Barrage – The Drake is a great unit that can punch
well above its weight, especially at close range. If you have a mind to really lean-into this,
then the Support Auxiliary Battle Group allows you to take Drakes as a Mainstay
unit and also offer the Gun Luggers Special Command – which if successfully
issued allows your Drakes to use the STALKERS Special Rule to close to optimal
range and then immediately go ‘On Lookout’ ready to blast enemies that move
into their pre-sighted field-of-fire. To
fully capitalise on this strategy, pair Drakes with a Rifle Platoon and support
both these units with the Royal Engineer Artificers, enabling them to dig-in on
(or near) and Objective via Emplacement.
Once in-place, your opponent will likely need to commit significant
resources to shift them.
- Tank Escorts. The
LINEBREAKER Special Rule makes pushing your armoured units forward a viable way
of grabbing an Objective. But if you’re expecting your opponent to aggressively
come after them with Heavy units in Melee (for example a relentless automata
assault, or being trampled and tossed by an enormous robotic crab), you may
want to consider an additional level of protection. An escort may be the solution. The Royal Engineer Dragoons can provide some
invaluable support (or deterrence) with their devastating WRECKERS melee
attack. As an added bonus, they can also
repair your tanks from their battle damage and link-up their activation using
the SUPPORT Special Rule so long as they stay close.
- Queen of the Castle. The
Sovereign Landship is an iconic Crown unit and can prove a very tough nut to
crack. If you have a mind to lean into
this, you can use its STRONGPOINT Special Rule, paired with a Crown Rifle
Platoon to definitively claim an Objective.
To fortify your castle further, upgrade the battlement defenders to a
full unit of Sharp Rifles to add a 32” shooting attack, with the PRECISION
Special Rule. Further upgrades might
include a unit of Royal Engineer Dragoons to keep automata out of your moat and
repair any battle-damage. Thus reinforced, an opponent will need to expend
significant resources to lay-siege to your castle!
- Heavyweight brawlers. The Crown offer several options for units that can rain destruction down on Heavy targets at range, putting them in a strong option to smash enemy behemoths. First and foremost, the Merlin Railgun is optimised for this task, potentially inflicting multiple points of damage on an enemy Behemoth with each activation, or knocking out an enemy tank. Mordred Heavy Artillery is also good in this role, albeit slightly less optimised for a killer punch. If you have the points available and want something tougher, then the Roxburgh Firebase can both dish-out and take a lot of punishment, but it is extremely vulnerable to flankers. The ultimate option, to wrap your big guns in an armoured shell, complete with SPONSONS and willingness to run-over anything that gets in its way, is the Conqueror Superheavy Tank – or if you can afford the premium points option, a Monarch Landship can really immolate any target, but the weight of its enormous shells mean this will only fire half of the time.
Overall,
you can choose to deploy the Crown as a relatively compact force (especially if
you lean into Superheavy tanks) with less painting needed than some other
factions. The Crown mix of speed, and relatively elite units, means they're competitive in virtually any Clash
scenario, but they must also carefully manage their staying-power in games
where their enemies are more numerous, or which add a lot of Objective victory
points in later turns, as their comparatively expensive and smaller-size units
may struggle to go full-distance.
Because the Crown units also tend to be more specialised in the enemies
they are designed to engage, Crown generals must choose and deploy their units
thoughtfully to have the greatest impact in the fight.
