New guy with "silly" questions...

[Peukon]

Hi everyone,

I'm brand new to the game... though I have play Warhammer for several years, 14 actually... Crap, I'm old

Well I originally started out with some Cygnar models (the stater box and a unit of Arcane Tempest Gun Mages), but after reading a lot more and more about the game I think I'll also branch into Mercenaries.

I mostly look at the models first, and if I think they are cool I'll try to see if I can make them work in an army.

I know the ATGM will work with Highborn Covenant so that will be me start, and being a sucker for a cool female lead Ashlynn D'Elyse will be my warcaster. So far so good.

Now is where it gets complicated. I really REALLY love the trolls (so much I almost started them instead) so I would love to have Greygore Boomhowler & Co. in the army. Out of all the Warjacks I like the Vanguard the most, and the Mule also looks cool.

So the questions is can the following be used as a decent base for an army?

- Ashlynn D'Elyse
- Vanguard
- Mule
- Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (with upgrade)
- Greygore Boomhowler & Co.

I also really like the following:

- Captain Sam MacHorne & the Devil Dogs
- Dannon Blythe & Bull, The Bounty Hunters (more trolls)
- Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
- Rutger Shaw
- Taryn di la Rovissi

I was planning on doing a 15 point force first... and then upgrade it to a 25 point list later.

Any advice would be very welcome

[Rollis]

Welcome to Mercenaries! That looks like a great place to start, but I recommend putting the Mule with the ATGM so it can benefit from the Rune Shots. Ashlynn herself wants to keep focus. There is another thread on here about Sam and the Devil Dogs, so I recommend checking that out as well. Slylys Fishsaler (or whatever his ridiculous name is) is pretty nice with Ashlynn as well. Extra range on Gallows and free upkeep. A&H are nice to hand out magic weapons if they are needed. Shaw and Taryn are decent, but once you give them a 'jack of some kind become a rather expensive investment.

At 25pts, you'd be looking at something along the lines of this

Ashlynn
-Vanguard
ATGM
-Officer
--Mule
Greygore full

Expanding any further would push you into 35-50pt territory. IF you do decide to do that, Forge Guard are a great investment with Ashlynn. Rupert makes gives them Tough, another good investment. Rocinante is a great jack for any warcaster who can take him, and Ashlynn is no exception. Reinholdt can be nice on her as well, making her gun ROF2 and since she can use it in melee, she ends up with 3 base attacks before spending focus.

So at 50, maybe something along the lines of

Ashlynn
-Slylys Fishflailer
-Rocinante
-Vanguard
ATGM
-Officer
--Mule
Forge Guard max
Greygore max
Rhupert
Reinholdt
A&H

Mercs have a ton of great solos, so don't be afraid to test things out for yourself and see what you like best. One of the best things about Ashlynn is that more or less anything can work well with her.

[Peukon]

Thanks...

That's some great input.

I see a lot of love for the Forge Guards, but I really don't like the models... So I'll try to do without them.

Looking forward to getting some more games under my belt, and getting Ashlynn, a Vanguard, a Mule and Greygore Boomhowler & Co. so I can start out with the Mercenaries too

[pattison]

Good decision mate.
Seems like that you're kind of determined for a proper Ashlynn force, as nearly all the models you've listed are great with her.
The Ash-Vanguard-ARGM+Mule-Boomies is a good start at 25 points as Rollis suggests. Don't be afraid of 25, it's a suitable game size for learning the basics, you won't have to concentrate on so much more compared to 15 pts but the game mechanics and your tactical possibilities will be more visible.
Dannon & Bull are overcosted by default, the only place where I see them worth taking is in MacBain's tier, where they join for 3 points.
You can defo take a look at Sam & the Dogs. There's an ongoing discussion right now here on the merc forums, check the thread.
You can even go crazy on Mules and give one to Sam too besides the ARGM UA! With Pronto you have an even larger threat range than with Snipe. A Buccaneer is a no brainer on Sam due to Assault+Pronto being a great combo and the knockdown ability of the Buccaneer can provide the juicy targets for the dogs.
Aiyanna & Holt: to be honest I've never regretted putting them in any army and in some they're simply a must, so you can't really go wrong with that purchase.
There are some nice shenanigans that Taryn & Rutger can bring to the table but I'd say leave them to the end of your shopping list (right before Blight & Bull, hehe).
A full unit of Forge Guard is just too good with Ashlynn to leave out so if you happen to enjoy your first games with her, definitely invest in a 10 man unit of the stunties. They'll work just great behind the trolls as a 2nd wave wrecknig crew. A little tip: you'll almost always be better off running them in triangles and not just lines. That way you can have up to 18" between the two farthest models, benefit from defensive line (+ARM) and threaten a lot of stuff. As you have ranked attack on them you can always run them in triangle formations where the point of the triangle is pointing towards yourself. That's normally the 'defensive triangle' (enemy has LOS to the 2 front ones but not the 3rd one), but as you have ranked attack you can charge with the 3rd model in the triangle too. So if you take Forge Guard, use the 3-4-3 formation with the unit leader leading the middle group. With Quicken they'll be a major threat that your trolls can effectively protect from being killed before they can wreck face.
At 35 you can include a Vanguard, the ARGM+Mule module, Boomie (full), FG (full) and a solo of your choice. Should be pretty decent.
Good luck!

[pattison]

Oh now I see your reply that you don't like the FG models. That's a pity as they're so cool in my opinion.
The bigger problem is that you badly need some hitting power with Ashlynn as she normally takes some shooty stuff but often being smashed into the ground without some proper melee solution. The trolls are your tarpit, not your heavy hitters, so you need something else for that.
A unit of Precursor Knights with UA might do (even if I -for some reason- am disgusted by them), but you can't use Quicken on them.
Also the Ddogs with a Buccaneer gives you the heavy hitter solution, but they're a tad trickier to use well compared to FG.
Or you can take Nyss Hunters and try to buff their damage output by say Aiyanna, Ragman, or Gorman.
You can also take a melee heavy in her battlegroup but then you'll most probably need something that can spare you some focus.
That's where Sylys and Lanyssa comes into the picture. The former will reliably spare you 1 each turn from your 2nd due to a free upkeep, the latter might just spare you one during the game (giving a free charge for your Mangler/Nomad against a target she hits with her spell), but she also gives you a +2" charge range which (combined with Quicken) lets your Mangler f. ex. to go in from 12" and hit things as far as 14" with Reach.

[Peukon]

Thanks man, that's really a lot of great input. I know not liking the FG models isn't gonna be great for me, but I would rather play with models I like. (Call me crazy)
The Devil Dogs seems pretty cool, I might run with them, though I don't really like the "sea" warjacks, so I might marshel a Rocinante or a Nomad on them instead (to make them even meaner). Good advice on the solos, I'll try them out and see how I feel.

I also looked into the eMagnus theme list, seems I can use a lot more of my Cygnar models than I though. So I might do all of the mercenaries with bluish colours so they all match each other nicely.

So many options with Mercenaries, I really love it

[jwai]

You can't marshal character jacks ie. Rocinante.

[Peukon]

Allright then Nomad it is then

[pattison]

Your Devil Dogs will be at full potential (and can be considered heavy hitters) if you have something that can provide a knocked down target to them, and the Buccaneer is perfect for that. You also have the Mule's critical, but that's situational. Take a look at Pendrake in the minions book, he's also a mercenary, working for Cygnar so you can also use him in your Highborn force. He can bring a cheap KD solution for you. A slam from the Bokur is also an option, but that might just put the target out of charge range of the Dogs.
Regular heavy melee jacks like the Nomad need focus to be effective, so I wouldn't recommend putting one on Sam.
Buccaneer, a Mule, a Freebooter or even a pair of Talons would synergize better with Sam & the Dogs.