Cygnar Battlebox question

[Cinter]

Hi there i'm very new to warmachine and am in the process of deciding what units/jacks to field. I want to run kraye so was wondering if getting the cygnar battlebox would be a good place to start?

[Joasht]

Welcome!

I'd imagine that it would be alright. You won't get much out of the Lancer since he doesn't often arc anything, so just be prepared to buy more stuff in the near future. However, the Ironclad and Charger are both rather nice jacks with him - the Ironclad is a good utility/beatstick with him while the Charger is good by virtue of it having a gun and counting as a "light cavalry" so you can do some moving and shooting shenanigans.

My problem with it however would be, again, the Lancer isn't that great for you, and frankly Kraye is something I'd never recommend a newer player. He isn't an easy caster to use properly, and the cavalry rules add another layer of complexity, both literally (more rules....and many rules) and in an "on the table" sense since you suddenly have an incredible amount of possibilities, that you'd never have with another caster. It might end up skewing your perception of the game somewhat since, well, under every other circumstance in the game, jacks are not cavalry haha.

The starter is still a good purchase for your future in Cygnar, and Kraye is certainly still a good caster. I'd still go for it.

[Sardonic Artery]

Welcome.

Kraye will use the Ironclad, but not much else from the battleboc. Still the battlebox is a great place to start. Personally, I think Kraye is a hard place to start, as he runs jacks different from anyone else. Plus, as much as I like the Centurion and the Hammersmith with him, those are jacks that don't make the grade a lot of times with others (especially the Hammersmith).

Copy and paste time:

Here's the general consensus on the Cygnar forum on how to expand from the battlebox (not just my opinion), pre-Colossals at least.

Easiest way: Buy the Black 13th—you’re at 15 points.

Harder way: Take it with a grain of salt:

-Our best four casters are widely considered eHaley, eCaine, Siege and eStryker. For heavy jack lists, people often reach for eNemo or Kraye.
-Most Cygnar peeps pick Storm blades as their go-to in-faction melee unit. Precursor Knights are the second choice due to their mini feat (with the UA) and spell ward (means they don't need/can't have a bunch of spells on them). Nyss hunters are the Merc choice these days due to their great base defense, weapon master melee weapon, combined ranged attack and hunter/pathfinder abilities. They're expensive point wise and a pain to put together, but many consider them one of Cygnar's best options, especially now that they can be made in-faction with Murdoch.
-Our most popular solos are the squire (failed magic rerolls and free focus), the journeyman warcaster (arcane shield [when you have a caster who doesn't have it] and a good jack marshal for the charger or hunter), the Merc Reinholdt (for shooty casters), the Merc Rhupert (access to pathfinder and tough for your troops, even those precursor knights), either Eiryss (though most go epic) and Arlan Strangewayes (for when you're running jack heavy).
-Gun mages are more popular than long gunners these days (due to magical weapons and shenanigans). Their UA is a great jack marshal for defenders, cyclones and hunters.
-The Black 13th is our most popular unit. If you also bought long gunners, you can hold off a while on the gun mages + UA.
-The most popular heavy jacks are the Stormclad (can do melee and ranged, has good synergy with the storm blades) and the defender (for shooty lists like Siege and Kara and any caster who likes shooting peeps from reeeeeeeeaaaaaaal far away [even longer with snipe]). Magnetizing a jack kit will let you switch between the Defender, Cyclone and the Ironclad. You can ask someone at your FLGS to help you do this.
-The most popular light jacks are the charger (one focus for most turns, fully load with three focus at the right time) and the hunter. Both are marshaled well.

[Cinter]

Hi thanks for your replies! i'm gonna end up getting the battlebox cause easing myself into the game with stryker seems like a good idea and ironclad would come in handy when i get kraye.

[6_Focus]

pStryker is THE caster imo to get into warmachine with because he's so straightforward and he really makes it an easier job to learn basic tactics with.
I agree with Joasht - just play a few games first with the battlebox, then when you get the hang of things... Kraye is really fun

[PG_Agamemnon]

Kray with an Ironclad gave me the fastest win in Speedmachine out at LNL. All the battle box jacks are great. I would say get it with a smile and expand from there.

[budget boards]

Get the Battlebox!

All of those jacks are great with almost any of our casters. While I agree with some of what is being said about Kraye I don't agree about the usefullness of the BB jacks to him. Kraye is very hard to start learning the game with. he gives his jacks abilities that no other caster does and plays differently from many.

About his jacks: Ironclad = Awesome cheap beatstick, full tilt, feat 15.5" inches of dead, and possibly on the ground.

Lancer: you will (or should ) use the lancer to arc pursuit as early as possible, yes beyond that he won't get a lot out of him, but with full tilt he can charge an enemy model with a 17" threat range poke em with the spear, or fry a cortex box or two with the sheild and then retreat 6" to be used as an arcnode for pursuit, which will help sheild him from a major strike the following turn if you played it right. Thorn is even better as he can get an extra 3" from reaction drive to keep him out of harms way even more.

Charger: Focus heavy, but the double tap move-shoot-move is great with kraye and his focus on mobility.

[PG_jackolas]

I started with the cygnar battle box and still use all of the warjacks years after. The ironclad is fantastic, you really can't go wrong with him. A lancer with certain casters is magic. I'm also a big fan of chargers, sure they need 3 focus to run at peak performance. But they are a great 4 point warjack