An Artifice on the Artificer - A House Shyeel Artificer Tactica.

[ucfan34]

Intro:
The House Shyeel Artificer Retribution’s most versatile solo. One that’s able to perform many different functions on the battlefield, each with their own niche. However, recognizing and optimizing the place and time to utilize each of these functions is the key to getting the most out of the Artificer.

Reminds me of a conversation from a movie.

Shrek: For your information, there's a lot more to the Artificer than people think.
Donkey: Example?
Shrek: Example... uh... Artificers are like onions! *holds up an onion to sniff*
Donkey: They stink?
Shrek: Yes... No!
Donkey: Oh, they make you cry?
Shrek: No!
Donkey: Oh, you leave 'em out in the sun, they get all brown, start sproutin' little white hairs...
Shrek: NO! Layers. Onions have layers. Artificers have layers. Onions have layers. You get it? They both have layers.
Donkey: Oh, they both have LAYERS. Oh, you know, not everybody like onions. What about cake? Everybody loves cake!

and the quotes below from our very own.

“The Dawnguard Scyir is currently perhaps one of the least loved (most misunderstood) models in the Retribution arsenal.” PG_hausdorff space (from the Scyir tactica)

“It has it's hands in a lot of cookie jars throughout the game…” Neojoe (on the AFG)

[ucfan34]

Stats:
The House Shyeel Artificer is a medium based 3pt, 8 wound solo for the Retribution of Scyrah army.

SPD: All that armor has him trundling along at the same speed as Rahn.
MAT: As proficient as a Sentinel in melee.
DEF: Agile as a Sentinel, or a MHSF unit member against ranged.
ARM: Same Arm as a Sentinel benifiting from defensive line.
CMD: Like most of the Retribution army his CMD is low.

Firstly, the Artificer is slow. Very slow. At only SPD 5 the Artificer has lots of trouble keeping up with many models in the Retribution Army. Especially models that you may want him protecting. Further compounding his slowness is the fact that he has three different abilities that cannot be used if he runs. His MAT is soild and with two melee attacks commiting him to melee when necessary is much less of a crapshoot. At DEF 14 against ranged attacks he?s pretty safe from anything that can?t boost to hit. If the Artificer is hit by an attack his ARM + wounds generally means he?ll survive for at least another turn. On average he wont die outright to anything less than a boosted POW 17.

Innate Abilities:
Pathfinder - As the model would indicate the Artificer hovers above the ground while he trundles around the battlefield, making rough terrain obsolete.

Glorious pathfinder! An always useful ability that isn?t too common across the Retribution Army, but is essential to the Artificer. This ability goes a long way to assist in overcoming the Artificer?s slow SPD, as well as allowing him to protect models that make use of terrain like the MHSF.

Force Barrier ? This is the same ability found on the Battle Mages, granting +2 DEF to ranged attacks and immunity to Blast Damage.

Blast damage isn?t going to scare the Artificer, but with a Medium base the +2 Def is greatly needed.

[ucfan34]

Weapons, Attacks, & Abilities:
Power Gauntlets - The Artificer has two melee attacks, one for each hand, with a P+S one higher than a Sentinel. The Power Gauntlets are magical weapons, and have the built in ability beat back.

Starting with the front of the Artificer’s card you’ll find his Power Gauntlets. They hit hard enough that you’ve got a good chance at killing five wound solos or putting a few points on a heavy. They’re also magical! The Artificer is great at dealing with incorpreal models that sneak into your lines. Two attacks at MAT 7 means even against DEF 15 you’ve got a not great, but still fair shot at taking them out, and if you don’t a free strike most assuredly will. Aside from actually killing something the beat back ability has great utility.

Magno Blast – This is a magic attack with the range being the Artificer’s SPD x2 and the same POW as the P+S on the Power Gauntlets. It also come with an added effect upon a direct hit against your enemy you can pust models within 2” of your target directly torward or directly away 1”.

Magno Blast as a straight forward attack is okay when it’s needed, but it’s real value is the effect on hit. It’s great for helping to clear a charge lane, pulling models out of base to base, or out of cover. The movement effect has tons of applications. Magno Blast’s major drawback is that the Artificer is only magic ability 6. While average dice should have you hitting def 13 it can be a real kick in the junk to flub a roll against a Def 12 Jack when you really need it.

Force Wall – This allows you to grant Force Barrier to all friendly faction models within 3” of the Artificer.

Force wall is what I would consider the Artificer’s marquee ability. A large portion of the Retribution army is susceptible to blast damage. Negating blast damage in it’s entirety is a huge boon to keeping your army in tact. Also adding +2 DEF against ranged attacks to any model within proximity is fantastic. It makes Ret warcasters that much more difficult to hit, and pushes Myrmidon’s DEF to the zone where your opponent is probably going to have to boost to feel good about hitting with a ranged attack.

Polarity Field – Using this ability prevents the Artificer from being charged by anything in the Artificer’s front arc.

This ability is what keeps the Artificer from becoming dead when the enemy wants to get into melee. Negating the bonus movement will often mean that the enemy just isn’t getting to the Artificer. If they do have the distance to get there they often can’t finish the job without the extra dice from the charge. Polarity shield combined with the Artificer's medium base can go along way to stifle enemy movement / plans. The medium base will help keep enemy models from trampling to important models behind your lines.

[ucfan34]

Sample Tactics:
Now that we know what the Artificer is bringing to the table how do we get the most out of him? Well…it’s really going to depend on the game. The Artificer really has one really straight forward use, and then all kinds of corner case shenanigans.

+ The most straight forward (probably most obvious), and maybe best use of the Artificer is having him accompany anything that has ARM low enough to be afraid of blast damage and using Force Wall. I would say using Force Wall to give the +2 DEF bonus to your warcaster at a close 2^nd.

+ Just about everyone can benefit from +2 DEF, but optimal targets for Force Wall include Mage Hunter Strike Force, Stormfall Archers, Narn, MHAs, Arcanists, Sylys, Eyriss, Unit Attachments, & Warcasters. Three big things to keep in mind when using Force Wall.

1. Force Wall is friendly faction only. Aiyana & Holt, Dahlia, & the Nyss Hunters etc. CANNOT benefit from Force Wall. (Boooooo PP. Booooo.)
2. Force Wall does not prevent other effects such as fire or knockdown. I Once had the Artificer, Sylys, Vyros, and an Arcanist all set on fire from a single enemy AOE. Don’t move a model into a bad spot just for the Force Wall effect. Sylys & the Arcanist needed not suffer the agony of a fiery death that game. A bit of presumed security and blammo, roasted.
3. Force Wall on it’s own is good. Force Wall combined with linear obsticals, cover, & concealment is fantastic.

+ His medium base will completely block LOS to a smaller based model. Sometime hanging him out to dry to keep the model behind safe is his best course of action.

+ Keep an eye out for squirly places to use Magno Blast. Such as…

1. One unit of infantry has engaged another unit. Lots of times you’ll have models kill their target, but the model next to them survived. Magno Blasting the unengaged model is a good way to remove some of your troops from melee.
2. I’ve also found a surprising number of times an opponent will charge with a beast or jack and keep their model right on the edge of the 2” reach range, and then have another model close by that I peg with Magno Blast. Thus unengaging my model.
3. It’s also great for setting up enemy models to be caught under Discordia’s spray or an AOE. Also, moving enemy models into position to be affected by collateral damage from a slam.

+ Beat Back on the Power Gauntlets can remove a friendly model from melee by charging an enemy model, and then removing them either by death or by force.

+ With a charge and successful beat backs the Artificer can actually move as far as it can run. Charging in and then beating back into a unit of infantry is a great way to get the Artificer up field while still making a contribution that turn. Still, sometimes it is best to just run.

+ With Discordia and an Artificer you can create an approximately 14” wide zone of no blast damage. It goes up to about 22” with two Artificers.

More to come!

[ucfan34]

Personal Thoughts:
I tried to keep the above as factual as possible. That being said what follows would be opinion. Opinions can be wrong. If you disagree do so constructively so this can still be of use.
Sometimes something just clicks and it all makes sense. That happened to me one sunny day when the thought popped into my mind….

The Artificer is to your army as the Arcanist is to Myrmidons.

I’m aware of the holes in this analogy, but stay with me here. The overall gist should be pretty clear. When paying your 1 point for an Arcanist, you know exactly what you’re paying for. More than likely you don’t know exactly what the Arcanist is going to do after turn 1. You’ve probably got an idea of what you would like him to do, but depending on the particular battle you’re going to have to alter his actions. Changed plans aside, he’s got a dedicated role that he does very well, and is worth his 1 point every game.

So we can apply the logic “The Arcanist is a 1pt toolbox for your jacks.” which is a statement that most would agree with. Now just replace a few key words and you’ve got “The Artificer is a 3pt toolbox for your Army.” Three points for an army wide tool box isn’t that bad. Also, I’ll through out this doesn’t mean that the Artificer should be included in every army like an Arcanist (or 2) probably should.

The Artificer is a pretty easy model to assign to a set role, and then disappoint yourself with when the enemy fubars that plan and you don’t know what else to do with him. Changing perspective on why I included the Artificer, as well as making it a point to get the best use possible each turn, really helped me quite a bit.

MISC:
I don't consider this finished, but wanted to get up what I had as I didn't want this to get away from me. I'll continue working on it as I'm able. The major thing I'll be adding is synergy with specific ret models.

If anyone finds anything that is incorrect or this just sucks please let me know. I'll do what I can to fix it.

If anyone has anything to add please do so.

[ucfan34]

Reserved one more.

[hausdorff space]

Added to the council.

If I was still playing Ret I would be all over this guy. Couple of comments:

• One shouldn't get too confident with Force Wall - crowding fragile models around a single unhidden medium based model is asking for a couple of Chain Lightnings or a boosted Bombard ... followed by more. Or just a big flame template (as mentioned) i.e. keep your opponents attacks in mind.
• Force Wall is friendly faction only, so you can use it to protect your models from Stormfall (or other) AoEs and clear out low ARM enemy models that are engaging yours.
• Force Wall stacks with pretty much everything ... which means a Veil of Mists Template can see a unit/jacks with +4 DEF, and provides a cloud effect to hide the Artificer. Similarly with Quicken and a linear obstacle you're models are at +8 DEF vs ranged.
• I think these guys have some really strong in jack heavy lists, a standard +2 DEF (vs RNG) on multiple jacks is annoying and Magno Blast gives some great positioning options.
  - don't forget you don't need to target models at the front of the enemy lines, and it can be used to push models away as much as towards you.

[Lord Sessadore]

Pretty solid overview, nice.

The one thing I noticed: Polarity Field won't prevent tramples, since tramples don't target like charges - you just pick a direction and distance. Effects that prevent a model from performing a charge will prevent tramples, but effects that prevent being charged have no effect on them. Small but important distinction.

It will still prevent slams targeting the Artificer, though.

[Kalki]

Good overview. Gave me some new angles to look upon his abilities an how to use them.

The model is just awesome so I'll be getting him eventually regardless of how he will fare on the table.

[Gho5t]

Like the write up. Still haven't gotten this model, but this article makes me want to!

[Lord Sessadore]

I notice now that what I pointed out as an error regarding tramples wasn't an error - you were suggesting using him as a medium base model to block tramples, which is entirely correct. My bad.

[NEoJoe]

I think this is perfectly sweet. I had a lot of fun reading it.

Thanks dude

[Indy]

Another thing you can add is that his Force Wall is one of only two DEF buffs we can give the Hyperion. And, while it only bumps the colossal up to the standard DEF of our jacks, that isn't all that bad considering that there's still plenty of RAT4 shooting out there.

[Thamarite Merc]

He is quite good with Halberdiers, too. Shieldwall can be circumvented by placing AoE's behind models, which off course forcewall can deny.
Plus, now they got the same defense against ranged attacks and charges. And, off course, now the Stormfall archers, that are probably hiding behind them anyways, can help to cleanse their ranks without hurting them.
Halberdiers can't run in shieldwall, so they won't be bogged down a lot by a model, who also can't run while providing forcewall, but they will lose almost all benefits from reform, leaving "only" the mini-feat from their UA.
The Artificer could be thought of as replacement UA with a much more defensive bent. Magnoblast isn't a bad replacement for Team effort either, helping out a lot in lining up your opponent the way you want them for your CMA's.

[ucfan34]

Hey, glad this didn't suck. I've edited some spelling / grammer issues for now. As mentioned I'll add to it as time goes by.

I notice now that what I pointed out as an error regarding tramples wasn't an error - you were suggesting using him as a medium base model to block tramples, which is entirely correct. My bad.

No worries. I reread that part, and it did sound like that's what I was saying. I reworded to make it clearer.

[Voloch]

Just getting into the game so please bear with me on my lack of experience.

Wouldn't this model fit perfectly in a Rahn tier list? I was looking at the FAQ and didn't see it incorporated into allowed units.

[Kallas]

Just getting into the game so please bear with me on my lack of experience.

Wouldn't this model fit perfectly in a Rahn tier list? I was looking at the FAQ and didn't see it incorporated into allowed units.

It is, inexplicably, not allowed in Rahn's theme force. This is an artifact of Retribution getting the first batch of theme forces, which are ungainly and very crap, mostly.

[Ralphus]

I feel like the Retribution development team keep forgetting to set our new stuff into the theme forces. Example: Discordia was built by Rahn, yet I don't think it's allowed in his theme force nor does it have any bonus for being fielded with him aside from fluff.

[SilentSeph]

I feel like the Retribution development team keep forgetting to set our new stuff into the theme forces. Example: Discordia was built by Rahn, yet I don't think it's allowed in his theme force nor does it have any bonus for being fielded with him aside from fluff.

Discordia has special issue Rahn so he can be included in his theme lists

[Ralphus]

Ah, I'm at work and don't have the book in front of me. But don't Character Jacks usually synergize with their casters in a small way? It just seems Discordia just overlaps on the abilities of the army.

[Kallas]

Ah, I'm at work and don't have the book in front of me. But don't Character Jacks usually synergize with their casters in a small way? It just seems Discordia just overlaps on the abilities of the army.

In general, yes, though the batch of Special Issue jacks in Wrath appear to have much more overlap with their caster than normal.

Discordia mimics Rahn's/HSBM blast immunity.
Torch has Strakhov's immunities and has similar abilities to the Assault Kommando unit.
Triumph copies Siege's Explosivo with Blaster and has anti-Stealth in Arcane Precision (which is similar to Ground Pounder all told.)

[bouncymischa]

In general, yes, though the batch of Special Issue jacks in Wrath appear to have much more overlap with their caster than normal.

Discordia mimics Rahn's/HSBM blast immunity.
Torch has Strakhov's immunities and has similar abilities to the Assault Kommando unit.
Triumph copies Siege's Explosivo with Blaster and has anti-Stealth in Arcane Precision (which is similar to Ground Pounder all told.)

I always figured Arcane Precision mimicked Seige's Mage Sight, myself.

I do wonder if it's a bit of a shift in their design philosophy -- the newer character warjacks seem to be designed to more imitate their corresponding warcasters, more than complement them. It does make a certain amount of sense from a fluffy point of view, in that a warjack would learn to imitate its controller after a while...