Homebrew: Character Hunters for Kraye

[Ender101]

Hi there everyone, I had an idea for a pair of character jacks for Kraye awhile back, and being bored on the train this morning I came up with a what I felt was a much more elegant and simplified idea involving a pair of hunter light warjacks.

Kyon and Orthus (a two headed dog from Greek mythology which watched over a giant's herd of magical cattle.) are designed to be used as a pair and act as a roving killers and have a heavy presence on the field. The idea behind the Pack Hunters special rule is that each shares a special rule with the other, one offensive and the other defensive. While looking at Kraye as a warcaster, he does not seem to lack much, he supports light warjacks well, though he himself is a little underwhelming in terms of damage dealing and survivability. So looking at affinities, I thought it would be off beat and cool to reverse the trend of the warcaster granting something to their pet warjack, and instead have the pet warjack grant something back to them, which would add a lot to Kraye in the areas he lacks, and half the benefit is lost as soon as one dies, so it doesn't feel too ludicrous either.

I made the module more expensive because I feel that they would have to be to get away with the shenanigans they are capable of, and even with the high point cost they could potentially see play with several Cygnar casters without being auto-includes. Without Kraye they lose a lot of their mobility and survivability because they no longer count as fast cavalry, so I think most players would have to weigh those options.

This is just a fun little idea that I had and came up with, and I figured would share it and see what everyone thought, so feedback and critique is both accepted and encouraged.

Kyon and Orthus
Cygnar Character Light Warjacks
Points: 16

Kyon
Cygnar Character Light Warjack
-Same Stat-line, weapon and Rules as Hunter Light warjacks (Pathfinder, Parry, Advanced Deploy, Extended Control Range)
-Affinity [Jeremiah Kraye]: When included in Kraye's battle group, Kraye benefits from pack hunters.
-Special Issue [Jeremiah Kraye]: Kyon and Orthus may be included in Kraye's tier list and count as hunters.
-Pack Hunters: Prowl. Kyon shares its pack hunters special rule with other pack hunters in the battle group while within play.

Orthus
Cygnar Character Light Warjack
-Same Stat-line, weapons and Rules as Hunter Light warjacks (Pathfinder, Parry, Advanced Deploy, Extended Control Range)
Affinity [Jeremiah Kraye]: When included in Kraye's battle group, Kraye benefits from pack hunters.
Special Issue [Jeremiah Kraye]: Kyon and Orthus may be included in Kraye's tier list and count as hunters.
Pack Hunters: Prey. Orthus shares its pack hunters special rule with other pack hunters in the battle group while within play.

[Coinlord]

Interesting idea. Some thoughts:
-I dont know if i'd be comfortable with the name Orthus, since The Butcher's name is Orssus.
-I feel like there should be some range limit on Pack Hunters. Are they really a pack if they'er each 18" apart from the others?
-I might add one or two very small extra things. They just seem sparse to me. I'd probably also make them different things between the two to further distinguish them as individuals, not total replicas. Maybe Steady (cant be knocked down) on one and ... idk, Arcane Precision (with aiming bonus, ignore stealth) on the other?

[Ender101]

Hi there, thanks for the input.

I'm not sure the name would cause any confusion within the game, after all, names are shared on several models across the game, including the Cygnar Sentinel Light warjack, and the Retribution Sentinel unit, while the name might be a little close to the butcher's, I doubt anyone would look at a list including these models and wonder how a Khador caster snuck in there. Perhaps the greek mythos is a little janky, I'll have to consider revision.

-Very good point on the range with pack hunters, it was something I had flirted with as well, but the more I tried to think about how it would work, the more janky it felt to me. Definitely something to think about.

-I also felt that they were a little light on the rules, but I was trying to borrow from the latest round of character jacks from wrath, which all felt a little sparse for the points. I thought that with pack hunters they each were standard hunters with Prey and Prowl, which seemed like it would be useful. Hunters already have so many rules, and Special Issue and Affinity are rules unto themselves. So that was my thought process when writing them up.

[kaneblaise]

Pack Hunters is an ability already (see Kaya1). Interesting concept, but a different name for that would be good.

[Ender101]

Eegads you're right! Thanks for pointing that little mistake out to me kaneblaise.

What would be a suitably characterful name for such an ability? Big Game Hunters perhaps?

[Circlerocks]

@Ender101

try "Hunter's Synergy".

[PG_ForsakenPoptart]

"Coordinated Strike", maybe?

What about giving them something like "Hunting Call"- the Character Hunters gain +2 to attack and damage rolls against any target that Kraye has damaged this turn.
Makes these two Hunters a scary prospect (and worth their 8 point each cost!), but also makes Kraye be a bit more aggressive if he wants to get a target worth going after.

[Ender101]

I kind of like Coordinated Strike as a renaming of the ability, but seems like it would give the impression that they have to pick the same prey target. Perhaps less is more and Coordination would be the best name.

I'm thinking some slight modifications are in order, limit the power of the Coordination (name to be finalized) rule by restricting the range to simulate a pack like behavior, and change Orthus's from Prey to a debuff (Since Kraye now basically grants them a damage and accuracy buff), to simulate either hamstringing the opposing model or shooting it in the knee or what have you. Buffing the caster seems to be too complicated of a plan, so it could possibly be dropped for the hunter's call idea. I'm always a proponent of KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) so I'll try to simplify the pair.

Here's an update: Kyon and Orthus
Cygnar Character Light Warjacks
Points: 16

Kyon
Cygnar Character Light Warjack
-Same Stat-line, weapon and Rules as Hunter Light warjacks (Pathfinder, Parry, Advanced Deploy, Extended Control Range)
-Affinity [Jeremiah Kraye]: Kyon and Orthus gain +2 to ranged attack and damage rolls against targets Kraye has damaged that turn.
-Special Issue [Jeremiah Kraye]: Kyon and Orthus may be included in Kraye's theme force and count as hunters.
-Coordination: Prowl. While within 10? of Kyon, Orthus gains Prowl.

Orthus
Cygnar Character Light Warjack
-Same Stat-line, weapons and Rules as Hunter Light warjacks (Pathfinder, Parry, Advanced Deploy, Extended Control Range)
-Affinity [Jeremiah Kraye]: Kyon and Orthus gain +2 to ranged attack and damge rolls against targets Kraye has damaged that turn.
Special Issue [Jeremiah Kraye]: Kyon and Orthus may be included in Kraye's theme force and count as hunters.
Coordination: Snare. Enemy models damaged Orthus suffer -2 spd and def for one round. While within 10? of Orthus, Kyon gains snare.

[chromiumboy]

Love the idea of these jacks!

I'm not sure about the new affinity though. It's dicey whether Kraye's gunna damage a heavy 'jack, which are likely to be Kyon and Orthus' targets. Also, since it's only available if you take Kraye, I think it makes them a bit too pricey to consider running with other warcasters.

How about changing the affinity to a smaller perk, like giving Kyon and Orthus +2" to their ranged attacks (like a mini 'group fire') and exchanging Orthus' snare with something like precision strike? It wont wreck an enemy 'jack any faster but working together they can cripple one quickly, and fits the theme of these 'jacks being elite snipers.

[Lachlan the Mad]

The changes I would make;

1. If you want to differentiate the two 'jacks, play around with their weapons a bit. Maybe make one of them a Charger variant instead?

2. At the moment there's no real benefit to taking this pair in a list with someone other than Kraye. Perhaps that Affinity should apply to any 'caster who runs the pair.

3. The Affinity should trigger on a hit, not damage. That way, a warcaster can ping a target at range, then let Kyon & Orthus rip into it (see; Lylyth1's bow strategy).

4. Something to tie them together and make them a bit more twin-y. What if they can share focus within a certain range?

[guspm]

I like a lot of these ideas, the points however do seem a little high, especially in light of most of the ability coming from an affinity. I would drop it at least one point and maybe two. Having to take them together should cheapen the cost a little as it forces list composition

[Cyber-Leader-3]

-I might add one or two very small extra things. They just seem sparse to me. I'd probably also make them different things between the two to further distinguish them as individuals, not total replicas. Maybe Steady (cant be knocked down) on one and ... idk, Arcane Precision (with aiming bonus, ignore stealth) on the other?

For some individuality on the models themselves they could have different melee weapons. Same P+S, but maybe a shiny new axe (different from the current hunter's) and a small sword or something, almost like a dagger, 'cause it's always seemed to me like hunters are creeping around in forests before locking onto a target and raining down the fire.
For the new 'Pack Hunters' name, what about 'Brothers of the Hunt'? Too Circle-y?