I love power attacks!

[Mustakrakish]

But I dont remember to use them often enough! There were plenty of times a simple trample would have gotten me in to position to win the game via caster kill and I just space on it.

Learning how to effectively use power attacks has elevated my game. I try to make it a point to use them as often as I can, heck I even remembered to shield lock that stupid cortex frying cygnar jack instead of mindlessly beating on it with my Ice Axe!

Power attacks are your friend, and should be practiced often.

[PG_Alviaran]

I forget them all the time except for trample. I'm so scared of my positioning when going after an enemy about him trampling past (and they never do it) and always looking for that time to trample past myself (I never get to).

Also, this is because every single time I slam, I either miss (seriously, tried to slam Megalith this weekend with my own Megalith. I need anything but snake eyes to hit. I REALLY need it to hit so I boost. What do I get? 3 aces!) or roll 1" less than how far I wanted him to go (and it isn't like I need 6" and rolled 1". I need 2" and roll 1" type situations)

I only remember my headbutts and two hand throws on chain attacks. Otherwise, what? Those exist? I don't need a chain attack to do those? Lies and slander!

[PG_Cloud-Gatherer]

It's so true. They're not something you always need, but sometimes a well-placed Weapon Lock or Headbutt can catch your opponent unaware. Power attacks are also great for shenanigans like slamming your own models over pesky high-DEF enemies, throwing warjacks into watery terrain features, or pushing stupid Shocktroopers out of Shield Wall so they're actually killable.

[Lachlan the Mad]

I use the two-handed throw aaaaaaall the time (Legion baby ) but I don't often remember the others. I think the slam in particular would have helped me at certain moments.

[Kuwanger23]

My friend uses them against me every game. It inspires me to start using more. I trample from time to time. Throwing is something I have to get used to because it is pretty awesome. Slam is another good one. My Mortenebra list does a lot of power attacking.

[Tyr852]

Probably should use them more won't lie , and by more I mean at all. They just more always seem for lolz then anything serious in the games that I play.I just never seem to be like "hey I should totally 2 handed throw this guy instead of wailing on him with Behemoth fists"

Wait I do trample power attack with my Gun Carriage a lot but that's because it's practically a given in.

[LordRavurion]

I would use them more if they had better benefits or I could do them on a charge without being so expensive.

For damage output I can use my initials and then buy attacks. If I charge that is a minimum of 3 heavy attacks without further boosting and oft a fist or something. I can also forego the initials and use a focus for a throw on a juggernaut. Probably not a lot of damage done to it with the throw but maybe knocked something usefull down. More often then not nothing like a caster is in a position to be hit. next turn it shakes the kn ockdown and charges my jack, werecking it...

Besides trample, slams and the special attacks I have not seen a lot of uses for things like headbutt and weaponlock.. Probably me...

[maddermax]

It's always sooo hard to find an opening to use a power attack I find. Generally I do best to just beat the carp out of opponents with high pow attacks. Because I play Protectorate, and my main opponents are Khador and Trollbloods, I almost never go for throws, just because with the higher STR of their heavies, it's a very dicey manoeuvre, and Slams are difficult because usually both screen well with infantry or have high enough threat ranges that they're getting the alpha strike off first anyway. Plus even trampling doesn't even work very well against Trolls thanks to the number of medium bases.

Keep thinking that perhaps I should get myself a Vigilant, if only just to practice some of those power attacks against various Medium Based annoyances I face. I just keep wishing I could get Thor Steinhammer and a Basher, because that would be a hell of a lot of fun

[katadder]

well after 3 attempted 2 handed throws with my wrastlers (including one against something str9) I can safely say I have given up on power attacks, they totally failed me and left me in bad position after giving up 3 initials to do them. admittedly it was bad day

[maddermax]

well after 3 attempted 2 handed throws with my wrastlers (including one against something str9) I can safely say I have given up on power attacks, they totally failed me and left me in bad position after giving up 3 initials to do them. admittedly it was bad day

Wow, did you roll double 1s and he rolled a 6? Only way it could happen... but to fail 3 double handed throws is just... well, wow mate. Keep trying, and perhaps buy some new dice!

[PG_Asa]

I always forget my opponent can do them

[MagnustheJust]

I use the slam more than anything. I love the look on my opponent's face when a 3-point Gun Bunny suddenly knocks their 10-point charcter jack into the water!! It really dampens their spirits...

[Domoto]

I am trying to remember to use them more often, still new to the game so learning everything else on top of it. I did however get to finally use my gladiators grand slam/follow up effect last night though which went amazingly. Abuse/Enrage/Rush and sent a Crusader 9'' through and over a Cinerator, Vassal, and pKreoss killing the two and followed up to Kreoss and finished him off

[x3tsniper]

I had a friend who was recently complaining about tramples. Was saying we never used them against him so he never suspected. This was after another friend and I trampled his lines to kill his caster twice in a week.

I myself occasionally forget about slams due to playing against so much covenant, that I ignore it often.

[bouncymischa]

Besides trample, slams and the special attacks I have not seen a lot of uses for things like headbutt and weaponlock.. Probably me...

I think the most frequent use I've seen for headbutts is against DEF 13 or 14 targets. Admittedly, it usually soaks up a couple of focus (one to do the power attack, and one to boost to make sure I hit) but it can certainly help guarantee at least a couple of hits and help the rest of my army. I think the best headbutt I did was a game where Naaresh had boosted his DEF pretty high, but Skarath was close enough to get in there, do a boosted headbutt that hit, and then chowed down with impunity. If he hadn't finished Naaresh off, my Stormfalls would've had easy shots to finish the job. :3

[AluminumFalcon]

Scroll of Grimmr+Rage+Wild Aggression+Trample = A 0 fury Mulg the Ancient in your caster's/lock's face. Unless the dice gods intervene, that means game over. Of course, that is about the only time I remember to do it.

[PG_Alviaran]

Probably should use them more won't lie , and by more I mean at all. They just more always seem for lolz then anything serious in the games that I play.I just never seem to be like "hey I should totally 2 handed throw this guy instead of wailing on him with Behemoth fists"

Wait I do trample power attack with my Gun Carriage a lot but that's because it's practically a given in.

I can tell you when remembering a power attack won me a game. And is still one of my favourite wins ever.

Deathjack with Spectral Steel gets charged by a Stormclad. Loses his movement. No charging.

Next turn, I Overrun out of combat (no free strikes thanks to Spectral Steel), but I can't get close enough to Siege. I need to charge and there is no one to repair it.

Slayer walks up to a Stormblade and two hand throws him under Terminal Velocity into the Deathjack. He goes splat, DJ uses the soul to heal and charges Siege.


Headbutt is the one I need to use more, but it's honestly more useful against certain targets. Protip: headbutt Circle wolves. We hate it. Our DEF is our biggest asset to staying alive often by making one or two of those attacks miss. Our ARM isn't great generally. In fact, this is the weakness of the tanky Ghetorix under some casters. When he is hitting ARM21 with DEF14, GREAT! Take that DEF away and he is less survivable than a Khador jack. At least against the Khador jack you might roll badly to hit him. And the jack has more boxes.

Another fun one is to headbutt Enliven'd Menoth jacks when they don't have the book. Yeah, you lose initials, but it's better to get to do so much more with your entire army than it is see it take one good hit and walk away.

My problem with headbutt is often that even if I want to, I'm charging or what not so I just don't have the range. In which case, wailing on them is the best bet.

[Breadsmith]

The first game I ever won was done with a slam to open up an assassination run with pSkarre. And yet, in aprox. 2 years from then, I have slammed a total of that one time.

[katadder]

Wow, did you roll double 1s and he rolled a 6? Only way it could happen... but to fail 3 double handed throws is just... well, wow mate. Keep trying, and perhaps buy some new dice!

yeah pretty much every time.
game 1 against skorne, went to DH throw one of my own wrastlers at makeda who had no fury at the time, double 1 versus 6.
game 2 against khador went to throw barnabus, double 1 versus 6, then went to throw behemoth, double 1 versus 5. my dice really didnt want me throwing anything, was a definite bad dice day

[quindraco]

I find it really difficult to use the power attacks that can't be done at charge range, since as a Khador player I typically really need the extra inches to reach my target. That means in my entire warmachine career I have never attempted a headbutt (nor have I ever seen an opponent attempt to headbutt me, since DEF 10 is so hittable). I *have* used throws when beta striking, if I've managed to survive being charged by the enemy (rare with a fragile Khadoran jack, but it's happened), as well as with my Kodiak. My most common power attacks are easily slam and trample. I've never even seen a push, but I have seen locks - never by a heavy, but definitely by a tricky light.

[Trygle]

I wanna trample but my opponents won't let me.

Usually either Stupid High Def or smart positioning is what stops my jacks. I've yet to have an AWESOME BLOOD SHOED TRAMPLE on a savvy opponent.

Headbutts are inferior to slams on everything except heavy jacks. Then again the situation could call for headbutt...

Power attacks are nice to have 90% of the time. The other 10% of the time they are awesome.

[jandrese]

Headbutts are for enemy casters when you can't get a Slam lane or your movement is down.

The big problem is that the models you want to headbutt are the ones that are hard to hit in the first place.

Besides, as a Khador player you have never used the headbutt option on the Kodak's chain attack?!? I thought that was common enough since it makes all of the bought attacks afterward auto-hit.

I've never made an armlock with a heavy Warjack either. When you are having to decide between making the Armlock and making a two or three P+S 20 and a P+S 16 attacks against the target, the latter pretty much always wins. With light jacks it is a different matter. All the Vigilant is giving up is three or four wimpy P+S 13 attacks in order to neuter the enemy heavy. That's totally worth it. Plus, the Vigilant is SPD 5, which matters a lot when you can only make a full advance. The Woldwatcher can do the same thing, only better because it can be teleported instead of walking, increasing its threat range and greatly increasing the chances of getting those sweet sweet rear armlocks.

[Trygle]

I usually opt for throws because of the following:

i. Seeing a model flying threw the air is awesome.
ii. You can affect more than one model.
iii. Versatility due to quirks in throw design mean that you can target things that you could normally not target.

[jandrese]

IMHO, in order of value power attacks can be ranked like so:

1. 2-H throws: Most versatile, most dangerous, but also the most restricted. This is the one case where the STR check isn't a huge negative. Only major downside is that you don't get the 3 extra inches of movement when you do them. A minor downside is that medium base guys can't throw large base guys.
2. Slams: So powerful and so tricky, especially since you can slam your own model. Also, available to most jacks and beasts. I've won more games (indirectly) with slams than anything else. Where there is a warjack there is a way. The fact that slams work against larger bases is also a huge advantage, especially since large base guys tend to have lower DEF so the penalty isn't a big problem. The biggest advantage is that you get the extra 3" of movement. The biggest disadvantages are that you have to move at least 3" and the slam distance is so variable.
3. Headbutts: Slam-lite. When you can't make the slam, try for this instead. Doesn't work against larger bases though, but it doesn't require a STR check. Also works against targets that you start within 3" of.
4. Trample: Powerful, but caveat laden. Since you require room for your base at the end of the trample, many of the most tempting targets (like a McThrall swarm) are actually impossible to trample without some serious surgical shooting. Trampling up to an enemy warcaster can be lights out for them, but the fact that you usually only have 2 focus left and have to buy attacks usually lets them survive. Ironically, the most common use for it is to give Heavy jacks some extra movement that still lets them make an action afterward, like the Behemoth that wants to shoot its guns after "running".
5. Armlocks: The armlock rules are surprisingly powerful. They can really neuter a jack for a turn pretty easily. That said, the more points disparity you can ring up between armlocker and target the better, especially if your armlock guy will just be beat up on the next turn.
6. 1-H throws: I've never seen one that isn't either free or a desperation move. The STR check is really dicey, and the automatic deviation makes them extremely random. Generally used to toss single models out of scoring zones, or Warjacks/warbeasts out of their controller's control area instead of going for specific knockdowns.
7. Push: Theoretically useful for knocking guys out of scoring zones, the STR check makes them dicey. I've never actually made one, although I probably should have tried a few times. The fact that you don't have to roll to hit allows you to push models with stupid high DEF however, which could be useful.

[quindraco]

Headbutts are for enemy casters when you can't get a Slam lane or your movement is down.

The big problem is that the models you want to headbutt are the ones that are hard to hit in the first place.

Besides, as a Khador player you have never used the headbutt option on the Kodak's chain attack?!? I thought that was common enough since it makes all of the bought attacks afterward auto-hit.

I've never made an armlock with a heavy Warjack either. When you are having to decide between making the Armlock and making a two or three P+S 20 and a P+S 16 attacks against the target, the latter pretty much always wins. With light jacks it is a different matter. All the Vigilant is giving up is three or four wimpy P+S 13 attacks in order to neuter the enemy heavy. That's totally worth it. Plus, the Vigilant is SPD 5, which matters a lot when you can only make a full advance. The Woldwatcher can do the same thing, only better because it can be teleported instead of walking, increasing its threat range and greatly increasing the chances of getting those sweet sweet rear armlocks.

When I do that with the Kodiak I spend all 3 focus boosting to hit, so I don't have any bought attacks to swing with.

[Unknown_Lifeform]

I would use them more if they had better benefits or I could do them on a charge without being so expensive.

If you just want to cause maximum damage to a target power attacks are rarely a useful option, with the possible exception of headbutting a high def target. However pretty much every assassination I've attempted has involved at least one power attack. The reason for this is that my opponents are pretty competent and don't leave their casters open to obvious assassination attempts - so my only option is to try a non obvious method Power attacks are basically ways of manipulating table position - by moving enemy models, moving your own or moving through models. You use them when damaging the opponents army is irrelevant, only killing the enemy caster matters.

Double handed throw can remove enemy models from your assassination corridor. Or hurl a ballistic assassin over defending models to get at the enemy warcaster! If your feeling particularly insane you can use it to give your big guys a ranged attack by throwing friendly infantry.
Just out of charge range? Push the charging model into range!
Infantry screen in the way? Trample through it.
Slam can remove annoying models from your path. Or fire your own models into high def enemies
Headbut can be used to knock over a high def model. Double handed throw can not only do the same but place said enemy model in the perfect position for the rest of your army to put the boot in!

No caster is 100% safe from someone with a good grasp of power attacks and a creative imagination

[jandrese]

Sounds like excessive boosting to me, unless you've really got something planned for that guy who is going to be right next to your heavy jack. You don't ever just knockdown other heavy jacks because you've got three focus left and want to keep beating on it?

[PG_Alviaran]

Headbutts are also nice for stopping a model from free striking. Especially if they have charged your heavy warjack with their own Avatar, Stormclad, etc. and leave you with a box in the cortex and nothing else, headbutt it. Let the other models now stream past its reach range freely.

[quindraco]

Sounds like excessive boosting to me, unless you've really got something planned for that guy who is going to be right next to your heavy jack. You don't ever just knockdown other heavy jacks because you've got three focus left and want to keep beating on it?

With a Kodiak? It's mat 6 and non-Khador heavies are often something like 12/18 or 12/19, which is really outside of my comfort zone for trying to pull off a kill with a Kodiak - heck, even if every blow lands, on average the low pow of his fists means I just won't kill the thing. OTOH, since normally a throw is 2 focus - buy it and boost to hit - I will happily pay one focus more for the nickel and dime damage from the Kodiak's initials, especially if I have a way to charge for free, since that means I'm getting the +3" on my move despite throwing later, which is tremendous.

[aaziz]

I use the slam more than anything. I love the look on my opponent's face when a 3-point Gun Bunny suddenly knocks their 10-point charcter jack into the water!! It really dampens their spirits...

I sea what you did there.

[Raktra]

I have so much Grab and Smash my mother should beat me. I love a good Headbutt chain.

[Alzer]

Can't sleep, Judo-goat will 2H-throw me...

Been starting to get into them more myself. Won a Vindi v. Abby game with a headbutt and liberal application of Fire bombs recently. Also using a Crusader to armlock something and beat it mercilessly with a big fiery mace is pretty fun, since I usually don't get to charge with the thing anyway. (And Pow 20 when they DON"T have a shield is better than when they DO).

Somehow whenever I think to slam it's against a target that is immune to movement/knockdown... Always makes me sad.

[Octavius_Maximus]

My favorite Power attack use (and one of my only ones) was using a juggernaut to make a 1 handed throw to throw a Scrap Thrall at another one (I imagined him biting its head off and throwing it like a grenade) so i didnt have to endure them attacking my Man o wars.

[Admiral_Arzar]

I use power attacks rather often considering I play against Menoth all the time. My favorite usage was a game where my opponent walked his Reckoner up to shoot my Carnivean, and then Enlivened the Reckoner. I advanced with the Carnivean, arm-locked the Reckoner so it couldn't Enliven away, and then proceeded to buy more attacks. A charging Angelius finished it off later that turn. The two beasts proceeded to back up a full advance due to Epic Thagrosh's feat, thus avoiding being owned by the Avatar the next turn. I've also killed the Avatar using the Deathjack by running a Bane Thrall next to it and then arm-locking its shield arm (prevents Enliven and drops armor by 2 due to disabled shield). Dice +1 on the Avatar is HILARIOUS.