Cyclone ... a 5 ton toolbox - a how to guide

[Garath]

This is a "how to " guide for newer player who wonder why Cyclone is a jack which makes a lot of list better beyond it's stats .

Here we go:


Cyclone...or how I stopped worrying and loved the templates


Stats: Nothing to write home about , it's on an Ironclad chasis so no wonder all the stats are the same. Rat of 6 should be taken into account.

Weapons: Now we're talking

Metal storm(x2): rng 10 pow 12 with d3 initial attacks makes it perfect for killing infantry,solos or even non buffed cavalry models (we'll get to that later)

Open fist(x2): Again P+S equal to Ironclad...but you get 2 open fists(which is more then meets the eye as we'll discover later)

Metal storm does dual covering fire(* action) you get to place 2 small templates within weapons range and any model passing through or ending it's activation in them takes a pow 12 damage.

Rapid fire: d3 initial attacks per gun...between 2 and 6 , usually around 4


Now you guys must be thinking ,why the hell should I use this thing? What is it that makes Cyclone so good , or better then say a Defender or Hammersmith or even Rowdy?

The mentioned jacks have more "obvious" synergies then Cyclone with most of our casters,true...but Cyclone plays a whole different kinda of a ball game.


What is cyclone for?

Three things: daisy cutter, 3 point jump shots and "Warmachine"

Daisy cutter: Yup, it's Rat 6 won't hit most infantry by itself,but in a force with rangers ,this goes up to 7 which will be enough to hit and kill half a unit in one activation . This requires zero focus,which is nice.
Possible synergies(that require no focus from caster to work) include Rangers,gun mages and UA, Aiyana and Hold(turning his weapons into magic attacks or de-buffing enemy the enemy),Gorman (+2 damage works wonders) ,Siege's feat, pHaley feat.

3 point jump shot (TM) : This is a 2 hand throw which costs a single FOC to pull of- you're either boosting the initial attack to hit a hard to hit target or boosting the throw itself which uses it's MAT 7 - and when boosted will hit def 17 with average rolls.
You can pull of caster kills this way- pick up a heavy,light or in fact any model and target key parts of the opposition which they considered safe. You can throw stuff to be nearer of further away .

Possible combos :
Stormsmith disdrupts enemy jack, Cyclone for 3 ....score!!
In a Darius list- upkeep Fortify on a heavy with reach,throw it with Cyclone onto enmy caster- activate Darius and jackhammer target to death(might require a lancer to arc the spell due to short range)

"Warmachine"

This is a term I like to remind people off ,you know that kinda people who tend to play lists with a single heavy in 50 pts and infantry spam with lots of solos etc. That used to have a name back in the day- Infantrymachine, Solomachine
Well, this baby resets the game back to basics- take jacks and smash the opposing jacks and have some infantry to support them. That's the way the game used to be like before infantrymychine stepped in (in a lot of Cryx lists).
Cyclone makes them play warmachine again!!!

Using Covering fire templates- that's the main reason you take Cyclone. Every caster in Cygnar benefits from it(except pCaine ...maybe) .
In steamrioller scenarios where you need to claim objectives,contest etc... Cyclone will win you games- placing those templates in front of enemy infantry,in front you YOUR infantry or jacks will cause frustration to no end. Cyclone makes your infantry immune to cc infantry attacks that lack reach -just place the template over your models and smile.

Remember, a small based model's base is roughly 1.5" wide...so two templates can be placed with a gap smaller then that for a no-go zone of 7.4" inches
It feels GOOD,YES IT DOES!

How to with different casters:

pCaine: snipe cyclone,move up PTS(place template-smile)-range..move 5",snipeed range 14"- total of 19"...factor in deployment and first turn run: 39"
PStryker: same as Caine
eStryker: default range, useful to maximise feat targets- goes well with Rebuke- cast it on one unit,cyclone will stop another..you can hold them off for a long time- and then you alpha strike them
PHaley: Temperal barrier will stop people charging or running in her ctrl, but sometimes she needs to stay back (vs MHSF for example) ...then have gun mages marshall Cyclone
eHaley: ohh boy...fat chance you're gonna bond Cyclone but it's an option ...anyway you could move it up,PTS and telekinesis it back - just to be safe from enemy heavies charging it

Siege: sieges feat is the moment you have been waiting for,and Cyclone stops enemy infantry running into your lines before that nice...moment

Kraye: This thing works under Full tilt since it's a * action and not an attack....move, PTS from 20" away anyone??

Sloan: Her battlegroup will include hunter and defender for sure so it's probably best to keep Cyclone marshalled by GMUA

pNemo: can speed the jack up,and therefore PTS happens before the enemy can react...game wining in scenarios

eNemo: can make the jack un-chargable....think of it a single 9pt jack holding back a whole ton of stuff... if you go first in caster kill scenario this means they cannot win- just stay out of walking distance and each turn...move back PTS

lNemo(maybe we'll call him that): hasn't been released yet so I'm guessing default mode

Darius: makes them play Warmachine and Darius is better at it


And we are near the end of this Cyclone write up...but before you unleash PTS , have a look at non warcaster models that buff cyclone:

-Gun mages can marshall it ,so it can push/knock down stuff with it's gun,or do crit brutal damge ,or have rng 14" (not for PTS,only normal shots)

- Gorman tosses a bomb onto a heavy/light ,and Cyclone shoots it's 2d3 shots into it- not a whole lot of damage,unless it's got basic ARM 17-18..then we're talking damage

- Aiyana turning it's weapons into magical let's it shoot models immune to normal shooting...like Vilmon(in his case you might wanna boost the to hit roll...unless)

-Rangers- that's right they buff it up to RAT 8...

-Arlan Strangeways- provides a Focus point ,or makes it immune to free strikes- usefull to get of of combat and PTS,or do 3 point jump shots

-B13...Ryan uses Mages storm to blast away some dudes,and that big template remains in play...then use Cyclone to PTS next to it -denying a really big area

-Centurion- Cyclone does his thing,Cent in front of it uses polarity shield ...no charges possible...

-eEyriss- she removes upkeeps-Cyclone blasts away

-Cyclone- good things come in pairs...2 cyclones PTS 4 times next to each other?- yeah baby... you can easily pull it off in 50 pts games with say Darius,Kraye,Nemo(s),Sloan

-Stormwall- see above

-Thunderhead- run Cyclone forward on turn one, 2 hand throw it forward with T-head...second turn shake effects to stand up. This is highly situational thou

-any heavy jack- same as above except you slam CYC forward



So, that's it- there's a lot of things about Cyclone and Warcaster I haven't mentioned since those tricks you can find in other write-ups and there's little point in stating the obvious. Hope you guys liked it and will give the model a try. Your opponents will hate you for it, for it makes them play Warmachine instead of infantrymachine.

That in itself is a Synergy. Cyclone combines with the opposing army- if they have lots of infantry Cyclone will have a major impact on the game with zero FOC spent. It can have a MAJOR impact and force the opposition to commit it's resources to destroy it - and you being aware of this is an advantage.

Have fun, and PTS

[bStyker]

... makes me want to include one in my next game... They'd see the table more, but my meta is somewhat beast/jack heavy already, so I only field them occasionally. Thanks for the write-up.

Best,

[Garath]

You're welcome

Depends on what caster you play- 2 hand throwing one heavy onto another is soo much fun,especially if you play vs WM and disdrupt both of them with SS or pStryker's gun

[John Q.]

I think the real gold of the Cyclone is when it's marshalled to Gun Mages. With thunderbolt shots it can keep enemy heavies at bay really effectively, Especially when you match it with thunderbolt shots from the gun mages themselves, you can effectively keep an enemy heavy or two out of the game. And through sheer weight of fire can chalk up some decent damage on all but the hardest targets.

[Joasht]

While I've always loved the Cyclone's abilities, at, say, 35 points where "both the Stormwall and Cyclone" is not a feasible option, I find it a fairly tough call between the two....I guess it depends on the nature of your army.
That said, Cyclone is great at 50 points in general, but seems like a tight squeeze in anything lower.

[Garath]

It depends on what the rest of your army is doing. This text should help people see what the jack does in a game- that's why I didn't list any stats since the impact of this jack is huge if you create situations to apply his abilities.
I've seen it hold up a whole infantry list....and 2 of them in a jack heavy list work wonders

[Garath]

It depends on what the rest of your army is doing. This text should help people see what the jack does in a game- that's why I didn't list any stats since the impact of this jack is huge if you create situations to apply his abilities.
I've seen it hold up a whole infantry list....and 2 of them in a jack heavy list work wonders

[Poignantswine]

Let me get this straight: If I were to activate Rhupert, and then end his activation, I could activate the Cyclone and drop covering fire OVER Rhupert,safely, because he neither entered the covering fire nor ended his activation in it. Did I get that right?

[Margrave]

Correct, once the unit has activated dropping a covering fire template on it is completely safe as they can neither end their turn in the template (since they have already ended it) nor enter the template.