Someone Get Frank!

[baronvonchaos]

The Mule. It needs no introduction.



"Get me a dozen shoeing nails, a pair of rivets, and a quart of pitch tar. The Mule's down, and we'll prolly be needin' her t'morrow" ~Grover Hollenbach, Devil Dog mechanik

NOTE: I posted this thread so that people can share their experiences. Please be more constructive in criticism if you indeed thing "this model sucks." Post something that helps the community.

This is another fantastic jack (along with my Mangler write up). I really like this jack. It performs very well in combat or at range. Its just a fun jack to have. Its critical devastation is a fantastic tool for upsetting formations and causing second wave damage by blowing the first wave into the second. AOE 4 means you get a decent sized pie plate.

Furthermore I love the fluff in that this jack is just a hodge-podge collection of old chassis and countless repairs. I refer to my Mules as "Frank" in honor of Frankenstein. He looks like he's seen better days. I've been working on battle damage painting tactics to just add to him. I like the pack mule aspect with crates tied to him.

Now, enough chatter.

Abilities:
Almost Cygnaran jack stats with lower DEF. This jack is easy to hit, but moves quickly for a heavy and has a decent MAT. The RAT is a little on the low side, but it's a jack. Boost the attack. As far as Attack power, this jack holds good melee options and the most prized possession, it's ranged attack.

The Mace is just a typical mace. Nothing special. It does great damage for having a high pow ranged attack option as well. It also has reach which I think some people forget. It's a great option given his decent speed for a heavy jack, +3" for charge, + 2" reach, and + any other movement shenanigans you can squeeze out of jack marshalls or spell/feat effects.

Steam Cannon. The bread and butter of this jack. This is a fantastic ranged weapon. Crit devastation is all too much fun and is great for punching those holes in the front lines to push through. It also has an ability to forfeit movement for not only the aiming bonus but for +4 RNG. This is great, especially coupled with out of turn movement shenanigans like Pronto or Godspeed. Moves out of turn allow you to garner range, distance, and the aiming bonus. Use the tactics they're what make the Mule great. Don't forget Arcing fire will allow you to pick off back field targets like the Choir, Arcanists, or Long range models like Long Gunners, Striders, or Stormfall Archers. Things behind the lines that are hacking your army to death without reprisal.


The full effect:
Magnus1: Magnus loves this jack. Snipe gives it a decent Range 16" with an aiming bonus or 17" if it has to move. And he can upkeep the spell for free. Not to mention Temper Metal to give it a little bit of staying power. My Mules tend to get targeted by heavy ranged models. So to keep it in line… I use TM.

Magnus2: I dont' own him, but I'll update this when I get him. I'm sure he loves giving mobility to this jack so it has a threat range of 15". Also calamity is gravy on anything. Movement shenanigans with Bullet Dodger could never be a bad thing.

Bart: Bart loves this Jack because of Broadside. Being able to lob 2 steam shells is awesome. However with the nerf to the steam pressure rule, he doesn't get 2 high range shots. This jack works on the Moderate level with Bart, but it's still good. I enjoy a Mariner or 2 with Bart over a Mule, but just because the Range is constant.

Shae: Godspeed will allow this jack to move up and park to fire a bit further getting that important aiming bonus. Coup de Main is always good for jack efficiency. Coup De Main gives a Mule a threat range of 12” on the charge.

Fiona, Macbain!, & Damiano I don't own and just haven't played enough with to know good strategies here. Read below for other forum help. I’ll update this too when I get these models and play with them.

[baronvonchaos]

(JM = Jack Marshall)
JM Sam Machorne: Pronto - If it hasn't been stated enough, it's always great to have out of turn movement with this jack. A threat range of 17" with repositioning available and the aiming bonus makes the Mule excellent with Sam. She also has Iron Wall so it's great to have a big jack she can sort of hide behind. She doesn't like to be in the front of the DD's so a ranged jack suits her well. Having an in built shield guard is quite nice for her as well with a big fat high(er) arm jack.

JM Sword Knights (eMagnus Bad Seeds). Pronto - Again this is the same info as with Sam Machorne, only with the flank ability they want a reach jack. This jack is spd 5, has reach and a ranged weapon. Since the SK's get flank with a friendly warjack, you can use this jack to fire on prior turns, then charge it in to take advantage of flank. This branches into tactics for the Sword Knights and charging 2 targets (since the sk's can only pile about 3-4 models in combat with a small-medium base and maybe 4-5 with a large base). Split your SK's between charge targets. Attack the model already engaged by the jack last turn or activate the jack first to engage a target, and use the jack’s activation. Activate SK’s and pronto the jack to the other target after your first split of SK’s have attacked and it'll satisfy the flank rules for the 2nd group that charged. Yeah. If only they could ambush with a jack... (as i recall you can't ambush with a unit of sk's that have a jack marshalled). The only problems you can encounter is maneuvering the large base so that it can engage the target for flank. Consequently medium bases (light jacks) with reach are marginally better for this.

JM Rutger Shaw: Reroll - The one thing the Mule suffers from is low RAT. Hitting def 12 isn't bad, but anything more and you're trying to shoot the moon (no pun intended). Being able to reroll is nice. Also you can boost the roll under jack marshall rules and reroll it to try for the critical. Shaw also has flank so that would be the same as the Sword Knights for tactics on getting the most out of Shaw’s attacks.

JM Dirty Meg: Off Road - Pathfinder is always nice. Her drive more helps for charging purposes, but being able to have pathfinder can help in some areas. I like Meg with a Nomad better because the free charge/slam from her drive is cooler for that. The Mule is just fine though. I would take a mule as her 2^nd jack. A melee beat stick as the first.

JM Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Highborne) Rune Shot - This unit I think is first and followed by the Devil Dogs in 2nd place for the Jack Marshall that use this jack best. Rune shot gives this jack some HILARIOUS multiple things happening. I wouldn't think twice about marshalling 2 Mules to the Dude for this. I have only had the chance to use this combo once, but it's amazing. You now have access to snipe which gives you a threat range of 17" or standing still for the aiming bonus, 16". That's pretty self explanatory. You also have access to Critical Brutal Damage. Critical Brutal damage is an extra damage die on the model directly hit. It's excellent when it gets thrown into something (another equal or larger base or an obstacle) since it's an "additional Die" it'll give you 3d6 initial. +1 for collateral on whatever it gets thrown into, and +1 more if you want to boost that roll. pow 16 +5d6 potential. Never something to scoff at. Also Thunderbolt AOE is gravy. It pushes everyone in the AOE back d3" and knocks them down on a critical. However if you critical, you throw them with Devastation and they get knocked down anyways. The resolution based on the rules forum is that they would be pushed d3 first (on the hit) and then thrown d6 (with the damage).

Some Contrast: (other 8pt jacks):
Mule vs. Rover: The Mule and Rover both have decently ranged Ranged weapons. The rover gets the shield and +1 to melee pow, but the Mule has the better ranged attack (which is the mule’s forte anyhow).

Mule vs. Mangler: The contrast here is almost what the Mule does for ranged attacks the Mangler does for melee attacks. Both are good jacks. Mule just works great with range as opposed to the Mangler and melee.

Mule vs. Mariner: This one is a little tougher. The Mariner has almost twice the base range of the Mule, but not as much of an AOE and -1 pow. When you absolutely need to reach out and touch that model, the Mariner is your go to. When you’re playing a long range game, it’s the Mariner you want (or the Mule with a caster who has Snipe). When you’re playing a more aggressive packed game, Take the Mule. It has a larger AOE and a hair more damage with a self buffing Range to mitigate the nearly half range of the Mariner. Both of these jacks work best at clearing infantry. The Mariner has a small AOE and thresher on its weapon. The Mule has a larger AOE but no thresher. They’re twins so to speak. Similar but still different.


What I’ve found:

1. Boosting to hit makes a great bit of difference in getting that critical, but don’t count on getting that critical. It won’t happen every time.
2. Spells like Hot Shot to boost blast damage rolls are devastating. They also tend to make your opponent’s eyebrows climb. “Really?!” Yeah so all these guys are dead… .
3. Crit: Devastation-ing front line models into the next line is a perfectly awesome tactic. Punching holes through front line is only easier with the Basher doing the bashy bash and flak fielding.

[baronvonchaos]

(Reserved if need be)

[MagnustheJust]

Great write up!!

The one piece of advice I have concerning the Mule -

Go for the target with the steam cannon, but do not expect to get the crit!! I'm not saying don't hope for it, but if you expect to make flying monkeys out of the bad guys every time, you will suffer - not them!!

That being said, I have had two Mules for quite a long time, and I love those clunky, jerry-rigged, rust buckets to death!!

[pattison]

I really like the atmosphere of the Mule. It's so merc, so characterful.
Besides that its cannon can be a great tool... if you manage to get crits.
And that's where we arrive to my sad story: I managed to purchase a cursed one for the 1st time, and I didn't manage to see how its crit looks like. Ever.
Played 6 matches with it in a row, attached to the Dude all the time. Zero crits.
I sold the whole bunch alltogether afterwards...
My plastic merc kit is on the way to me, not because I like it but because it provides me with an omni-jack.
Hopefully better luck with the new one!

[MagnustheJust]

Silly Pattison, your Mule was talking to you & you did not listen....

It was telling you it wanted some warcaster loving, not the cold unfriendly touch of a jack marshal!!

[baronvonchaos]

I really like the atmosphere of the Mule. It's so merc, so characterful.
Besides that its cannon can be a great tool... if you manage to get crits.
And that's where we arrive to my sad story: I managed to purchase a cursed one for the 1st time, and I didn't manage to see how its crit looks like. Ever.
Played 6 matches with it in a row, attached to the Dude all the time. Zero crits.
[...]

The Mule is DEFINITELY Merc-esque. It has TONS of character (at least the metal sculpt did). The cannon does decent damage, but the first 4 games I used him in, I got none. Even with boosting to hit. It's sure spotty, but it's great when it happens.

[The Buoyancy of Water]

Personally, I'm a member of the "Not Getting a Crit with the Mule on Ashlynns' Feat Turn" club Managed to roll 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 in two games now...

Good write up though!

[nicholas_342]

Bring Durgen with the ATGM JM a mule. That is a fun feat turn. In bigger games I will take a mariner and a mule just so I can really reach out and touch someone with snipe on the mariner, and then as they get closer the mule starts kicking in it's shots. Not sure that I would do that outside of Durgen though.

[Almightyfoon]

You should mention that this guy is Ashlynn's ABSOLUTE favorite 'Jack to bring along on a marshall. It really only needs the marshall boost to function effectively and on her feat turn its absolutely insane. Hes a fantastic artillery piece and makes big holes for everyone's favorite duelist to slip through.

[pattison]

Bring Durgen with the ATGM JM a mule. That is a fun feat turn.

Don't forget that as soon as it crits it's not blast damage, so no additional damage die. Still makes it much easier to hit & to crit.

[nicholas_342]

Don't forget that as soon as it crits it's not blast damage, so no additional damage die. Still makes it much easier to hit & to crit.

The crit is what I like the most. I'll pass on a few extra points of damage if I can knock something out of the way. Oops, sorry. You're screen of MoW is suddenly knocked down so my gunners have a clear los to your warcaster

[Kenlen]

The crit is what I like the most. I'll pass on a few extra points of damage if I can knock something out of the way. Oops, sorry. You're screen of MoW is suddenly knocked down so my gunners have a clear los to your warcaster

There's a good chance that warcaster will be knocked down as well, as a MoW probably just fell on him

[pattison]

Also a little addition: when you crit with the steam cannon models in the AOE never suffer collateral damage.
This has been infernal'd in the rules forum, and I think it's important to mention it here too. So no matter the throw distance, they never get collateral damage from each other, you just place them according to the least disturbance rule. A model outside the AOE will get the collateral though if another model from the AOE lands on top of it.

[baronvonchaos]

Also a little addition: when you crit with the steam cannon models in the AOE never suffer collateral damage.
This has been infernal'd in the rules forum, and I think it's important to mention it here too. So no matter the throw distance, they never get collateral damage from each other, you just place them according to the least disturbance rule. A model outside the AOE will get the collateral though if another model from the AOE lands on top of it.

Just to be clear, I was thinking if you threw the models into an obstacle or into a larger base for collateral damage. Not collateral damage from each other.
I'll modify my post to not be misleading.