Jack-less Retribution?

[Writer@Large]

I have just traded for a Retribution army. And here's the thing: the guy didn't have any warjacks. Apparently he was playing all infantry. I thought, in MKII< this was an .... unwise choice. But, the units in Ret seem so solid, so useful, and so flexible, that I'm beginning to wonder. COuld I run a good jackless Ret army in MKII? Or, what jacks should I pick up first to flesh out my forces? Here's what I'm getting in the deal ...

Dawnlord Vyros, Garryth, Kaelyssa, Scyir, Narn, Nayl, Arcanist, full Mage Hunter Strike Force plus UA, 2x Ghost Snipers, Full Sentinels plus UA, full Invictors pus UA.

--W@L

[Yoshi]

For a start, I would go this way:
- Chimera is our light arc node with Apparition and for 6 point, you cannot go wrong.
- Phoenix is our heavy arc node, good range, good melee, auto-field force regen and Combustion to take care of infantry.

Then:
- Griffon, cheap (4) fast pathfinder melee light jack, perfect for surprise attack.
- Manticore, cheap(8) heavy with good damage output and ROF 3 gun.

Finally, you should probably buy some Mage Hunter Assassin. Even, if you really want go Jack-less take Chimera it is for free.

[FranzGrenstein]

At 35 point I run Garryth with 1 chimera, works for me.

[CrimsonGuard]

Garryth and the Chimera are a great combination. Use the arcnode to spam Death Sentence without putting Garryth in direct danger, and for moving enemy models in to Garryth's charge range with gallows.

[Haight]

Dawnlord Vyros, Garryth, Kaelyssa, Scyir, Narn, Nayl, Arcanist, full Mage Hunter Strike Force plus UA, 2x Ghost Snipers, Full Sentinels plus UA, full Invictors pus UA.

--W@L


While i think many casters can do jack light, and maybe even 1-2 can go without jacks, it usually isn't a good idea. Particularly for Vyros.

Vyros without jacks means that you can't take advantage of flank or of Avenger, and most of the benefit of mobility and Bird's eye are lost as well, and his feat might as well not even be on the card.

Garryth probably does the best with jack light, though frankly, I still always take an arc node with him for dropping death sentence on targets, and gallows as required. I typically take a phoenix with him for the added durability, and the malleability of role assignment from anti-armor (with an arcanist, usually), and anti infantry. In larger games (50+) i'll usually take a manticore and a phoenix, and sometimes even a gorgon.

Rahn i can't imagine not having at least a couple jacks, and ditto with vyros and kaelyssa. With Ravyn, locomotion is a corner-case spell (though useful), and a lot of her other spells are more useful for infantry than for jacks... even still, a Manticore or hydra can get great benefit out of snipe for a turn before cycling it off, and the feat.


In short, i can see a couple casters that can do "jack light". Maybe, maybe, maybe Garryth can do zero jacks, but i personally don't like the idea. In my opinion, i don't see how you play rahn, or vyros without jacks, and it seems an odd choice to take kaelyssa without at least 1-2.


In terms of what jacks to pick up, here are my personal favorites per caster:

Vyros: My favorite loadout is Phoenix, Manticore, Griffon. Sometimes Ph / Ph / Griffon

Rahn: I like Phoenix, Chimera, Manticore, or Phoenix, Phoenix, Griffon (for pathfinder + power booster from arcanist running to pull off force blast)

Ravyn: Varies. I like mixes of hydras, phoenixes, and manticores, with some emphasis on manticores.

Garryth: At least a phoenix, always. At larger games a manticore, sometimes a gorgon or chimera.

Kael: Hydras - i like 2. Adding a chimera can help. Occasionally i'll do Hydra + Phoenix if i'm going particularly troop or solo heavy.



-- Haight

[Pinegulf]

Well since casters give jack points then it's kind of waste not to take any? Essentially you'd be giving 16-22% advantage in points to the enemy.

[isawatsuke]

yep definetly cant go jackless. But for some of our casters id go with the free arcnode route which is essentially jackless in mk1.

my loadouts

garryth- one chimera for the arcnode. Pheonix if you prefer but i opt for defined roles.
kayleesa- one manticore sometimes a chimera or hydra
ravvyn- manticore and sometimes hydra
vyros-manticore and sometimes hydra
rahn- manticore, chimera.

Yep im in love with the manticore. Used ravvyns viel to deliver one pow 25 shotto the caster last game. I find that with the awesome units and the solos its kinda hard to fit jacks into retribution so i end up going jack light. Actually when we do get a jack caster other than vyros wed end up seeing a jack heavy ret army. Yup i believe vyros by design was a jack caster. Design team just screwed up.