General Ossrum

[Da-Rock]

I got my Colossal book today and ran a test run at 35pts against eStryker.

1. Minimum units with him are a no go in my opinion. Go Big or go home!
2. He needs a good Beatstick Jack like most Casters do.
3. I LOVE Fire for Effect hot swapped from Avalancher to either Hammerfalls or Assault Ogrun etc.
4. I dislike the limits of a 35pt list - bring on a 50 please!

He has good survival so far and can lay some wood on offense. I will need to test much much more!

[Robert Shepherd]

3. I LOVE Fire for Effect hot swapped from Avalancher to either Hammerfalls or Assault Ogrun etc.

Fire For Effect is Target Model, not Target Model/Unit. Or were you just using it on a single model leading a CRA?

[StJason]

He had me at 15/19 High Shields in their trench.

Okay, okay, FfE H&J too. Oh, and Sniped OAC or Avalancher. Unstoppable Force Bunny Warren... Oh, the things he will do...!

...dislike the limits of 35 points? You can do his Tier 4 at 16 points, if you really want.

Where I'm getting excited is multi-caster games (he's going to be excellent support!). Unstoppable Force and Landslide? Snipe on Madhammer? Oh, the evil possibilities!

[Domoto]

He is an awesome caster...has enough of the right stuff to make it worth it. I love that he has snipe, as snipe alone can make the OAC pretty great, played a game using my friends pstryker and some cygnar jacks and all merc everything else including the OAC (I love the unit despite the hate...and clear issues with them). I think that he does right by Searforge, not quite what 3mo did for cygnar..but pretty close. No matter what, taking 4* or highborn will always have the options benefit which is huge..but I can't really see him in Searforge as awful. I for one cannot wait until he is released.

[Da-Rock]

I really think his Tier 4 is a big deal. Using AD on Horgenhold Artillery and then a single run of a whopping 6" gets me right into the Trench template and ends up being a great fire point for both the Artillery and Ossrum. Fire for Effect on 11 Gun Corps or 5 Ogrun put down 4 Arm 21 and 4+ Tough Boomhowler & Co. which is damned hard, (Arcane shield and Deflection).

I will say his strength at 35 and 50 is worlds apart!!!

[Domoto]

I really think his Tier 4 is a big deal. Using AD on Horgenhold Artillery and then a single run of a whopping 6" gets me right into the Trench template and ends up being a great fire point for both the Artillery and Ossrum. Fire for Effect on 11 Gun Corps or 5 Ogrun put down 4 Arm 21 and 4+ Tough Boomhowler & Co. which is damned hard, (Arcane shield and Deflection).

I will say his strength at 35 and 50 is worlds apart!!!

I'm pretty sure Fire for Effect is target model and not unit, unless you are talking one model and then CRA after that

*edit* as Shepard said earlier

[Heavygear]

I'm pretty sure Fire for Effect is target model and not unit, unless you are talking one model and then CRA after that

*edit* as Shepard said earlier

My guess is they haven't actually played him in a game and are just theory machining or they have been playing him wrong.

[RevolverAdamska]

F4e is single target ... Mule + ATGm Snipe+ F4e = love

[Da-Rock]

Played him, but played wrong. The wording was different than I am used to for single model. Bummer, but great for other stuff.

[PG_ikildkenny]

Threadjacking^^

What about Brun and Lug ... I konw we had that one before ... but still ...

His Tier allows Rhulic Solos ... does that inclode the winter-bear-dream-team?

Brun is a solo - no doubt ... but Lug ... I'm uncertain ...

BUT under that assesment ... T4:

Ossrum
Driller
Gunner 2x
Highshields max + UA
H&J
Forgeguard min 2x
Bokur
B&L

43 Points ... sure, could be done otherwise ... but it's T4 with 2 Trenches...

[StJason]

What about Brun and Lug ... I konw we had that one before ... but still ...

I don't believe there has been a proper ruling, but:
1) Cragback is a Rhulic Solo
2) Cragback's card says that Lug is non-optional. They are a linked unit. (Think of it like Herne & Jonne).
Ergo: B&L is fine to take.

[MagnustheJust]

I don't believe there has been a proper ruling, but:
1) Cragback is a Rhulic Solo
2) Cragback's card says that Lug is non-optional. They are a linked unit. (Think of it like Herne & Jonne).
Ergo: B&L is fine to take.

The above enlargened, underlined, & highlighted statement is the crux of this biscuit folks... It's the apostrophe some of you were searching for !!


... bonus points if you know the reference.

[lsuedd]

How can you already know what his stats are?

[MagnustheJust]

How can you already know what his stats are?

Book came out last week, but the ENTIRE thing was spoiled last month after people got early copies at Lock & Load.

There was a FULL WALK THROUGH SPOILER up on youtube... Not sure if it is still there.

[Da-Rock]

uh, Colossal book came out Wednesday.........Ossrum is in it...........?

[lastspartacus]

So this guy has a great list of spells. I haven't thought him even worth trying, until I see seasoned mercs saying he is good. Really fellows? Or is it simply happiness over another option?

I find the fellow to be very weak on paper to competative play without missing out on half his spell options. Upkeep dependant, with three of them and energizer leaving precious little to power your jacks without the feeling that you are missing out on your full potential. The cherry on top is a feat that would be a great feat if not for the caveat of 'hey lets force you into mostly searforge with this guy, they get no loving after all'.

I don't see how the General stacks up against top tier casters like durgen or gorten. But I'd be really happy to be proven wrong and work up enough excitement to test the guy out. If its just the typical good ole' merc optimism, then thats great, I just was curious if there was actual face-beating potential with this guy.

[PurchasedPig]

I have only don theory machining myself but I think he'l be worth it if just for the gun bunny zone clearance. He sounds hilarious.

-PurchasedPig-

[zack1bt]

I proxied Ossrum when his stats were spoiled after Lock & Load. He plays very differently than Gorten or Durgen, and that's a good thing. Yes he has a lot of upkeeps, but I found that I didn't use the Bulldoze one much. Most of my focus was spent on tossing FfE between H&J, Hghshields, and OAC. I took him with a Driller and an Avalancher (because you can shoot the enemy in their deployment zone first turn mwahahahaa). I think his Theme Force is great; Tier 4 is amazing with free upkeeps, trench, and extra speed. I think he is on par with Gorton in terms of utility. Yes, Gorten's feat is way better, but Gorten's feat is one of the best in the game. I think he will need to be played differently than either of the other two dwarves, which is exactly the point.

[StJason]

So this guy has a great list of spells. I haven't thought him even worth trying, until I see seasoned mercs saying he is good. Really fellows? Or is it simply happiness over another option?

Yes, he's really that good.
1) Statwise, he's almost as tough as Gorton. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "He's not dead yet?!?" from opponents when I play Gorton.
2) Martial Discipline. You know, that thing that makes the Steelheads so beefy? Also: he gives it to all friendlies, not just Rhulic or battlegroup or command. So he's friendly to 4* or Highborn, too.
3) What would you think of this feat: "All models in battlegroup gain +2 ARM, +2 SPD, and Pathfinder. In addition, friendly (Rhulic) models in CTRL also gain this. This feat lasts for one round."
4) Spell list. Oh. My. God. the spelllist! Bullet Dodger on a Rockram or Basher! F4E on H&J or on the OAC! Snipe on anything! Unstoppable Force on your whole battlegroup! It's all sex.
Compared to Madhammer's or Grundback's spell list, he has fewer 'dross' spells. We all know that Gorton is almost never going to cast Eruption. And how many times have you used Madhammer's Powder Keg, Inhospitable Ground, or Ground Zero? The only lunker in Ossrum's spell list is Stranglehold, and even that will get cast when incorporeal things get too close.
5) Tier list - Finally one that competes with the Searforge contract for benefits. You get a unit getting AD, trenches (+4 DEF and immune to most blasts), begin with upkeeps (and he's got three), and +2SPD for jacks on first turn.

So in short, he adds ranged effects and speed boosts for an army that has been strongly lacking in them. More, Grundback's and Madhammer's tiers are pretty ho-hum and usually have at least one deal-killer requirement (4+ warjacks? Heavies only? Three or more heavies?). There isn't one for Ossrum. He's a solid troop-support caster in an army that generally has tons of troops.

[maxxev]

@ StJason while I agree with almost everything you've said. I have cast erruption in a LOT of my games with Gorten, and in my last game against Cryx it was essential for the win (I cast it 3 times that game).

Combined with his feat the spell is exceedingly powerful, and if you don't really mind where it ends up (because of the un-likelyness of hitting) it can be extremely useful (e.g. when your opponent is coming from all fronts where ever it lands it's going to make his advance more difficult).

If anything i'd say Gorten's spell list is also great, he just hasn't got the FoC to take advantage of it.

Durgen on the other hand, his list is Thematic, but basically Drell.... i've only ever used Redline in a searforge army.... lol

[Robert Shepherd]

Yes, he's really that good.
Bullet Dodger on a Rockram or Basher

Whut.

10chars.

[StJason]

If anything i'd say Gorten's spell list is also great, he just hasn't got the FoC to take advantage of it.

Yes. This is one of the reasons why I love Gorten so much. He's really a top-tier caster and were mercs in general (and Searforge especially) not looked down upon in Tournament circles, he'd be out there all the time.

Durgen on the other hand, his list is Thematic, but basically Drell.... i've only ever used Redline in a searforge army.... lol

You couldn't think of a reason to give, say, a Basher or Rockram or Driller a buff to Str and Spd??

Whut.

Hoo? Wen? Were? Hau?

[Robert Shepherd]

Hoo? Wen? Were? Hau?

You're going to have to run me through the logic of Bullet Dodger on a Rockram, because I am not seeing it right now.

[MagnustheJust]

You're going to have to run me through the logic of Bullet Dodger on a Rockram, because I am not seeing it right now.

Agreed!! I ALWAYS laugh at my opponents when they miss when shooting at my Stunty warjacks!!

[nicholas_342]

I've had some decent luck proxying Ossrum so far. He does play very differently than Gorten but he's still pretty good. Fire for Effect means that Herne and Jonne actually see table time now unlike before, and snipe on the Gun Corps brings their usage up quite a bit. Move up, cra into stuff that's quite a ways away and then double time it back. Give Thor the avalancher in Searforge, put snipe on it turn 1 and your opponent had better not leave los to his caster otherwise your hitting it on turn 1. With bullet dodger on Ossrum I've walked away from a couple assassination attempts.

With that said I do feel that unlike Gorten, Ossrum is focus starved. I've yet to use unstoppable force, and I've yet to have the focus to cast energizer for more than 2 focus. Even in the late game when you don't need snipe any more he still has two great upkeeps. As for his really good tier list, I personally haven't been able to get it to work well at 35 pts. At 50 pts I say go for it because then you have the points to bring all of his toys.

So yes, I would say that he is on par with both Gorten and Durgen and from a Searforge perspective I would say he is above Durgen simply because Durgen works better outside of Searforge.

[StJason]

Bullet Dodger works more because of psychology then real effect. It forces your opponent to consider shooting at your melee powerhouse (and risk it moving up closer) or ignore it and have it move on it's own time.

That said, any DEF is good. DEF 11 > 9. DEF 12 > 10. And hey, there is a chance that you'll get a bit more movement.

[maxxev]

You couldn't think of a reason to give, say, a Basher or Rockram or Driller a buff to Str and Spd??

Yes.... that's why it's the only spell i've used??

[Ricky Racoon]

Bullet Dodger works more because of psychology then real effect. It forces your opponent to consider shooting at your melee powerhouse (and risk it moving up closer) or ignore it and have it move on it's own time.

That said, any DEF is good. DEF 11 > 9. DEF 12 > 10. And hey, there is a chance that you'll get a bit more movement.

I'm sorry, but buffing a Rhulic heavy to DEF 11 or 12 just is a waste of focus. Much better to play outside of Searforge limitations and throw that spell on Harlen, Eiryss, Alexia, Anastasia, Hawk or anything else. So many good options out there that wil lgive you mileage out of that spell, rather than wasting a focus that could be better used for a charge, run, or boosted handcannon.

[John of Arc]

As an eMagnus player, I've found that Bullet Dodger is best used to protect important solos. I normally use it to protect eMagnus himself, since his feat asks that you place him pretty far forward where your opponent can shoot him easily. With Ossrum, you're more likely to hang back and place it on Thor, who has a big target over his head. The +2 DEF against shooting is nice, but Dodge is the real money. Your opponent simply can't afford to miss a single attack, otherwise you get off Scott free. It forces them to boost in situations where they'd rather just buy more attacks. Using Dodge to move further up the field is okay, but at DEF 12 your opponent is still unlikely to trigger it, and its usually to kill Thor instead of his Basher anyway.

[StJason]

The +2 DEF against shooting is nice, but Dodge is the real money. Your opponent simply can't afford to miss a single attack, otherwise you get off Scott free. It forces them to boost in situations where they'd rather just buy more attacks.

Yes. Exactly.

Using Dodge to move further up the field is okay, but at DEF 12 your opponent is still unlikely to trigger it, and its usually to kill Thor instead of his Basher anyway.

I didn't mention Thor. But hey, that's something else entirely.

Mostly, it's there to force your opponent to rethink things. Occasionally, it pays off.

[Ricky Racoon]

Yes. Exactly.


I didn't mention Thor. But hey, that's something else entirely.

Mostly, it's there to force your opponent to rethink things. Occasionally, it pays off.

I can't justify spending a point of Focus on the off chance that someone will miss a DEF 11 or 12 target. That just not high enough to justify the expenditure of Focus: I don't see that spell having a measurable impact, unless used on a Bokur(who benefits nicely by going to DEF 15, which is certainly less reliable to hit than DEF 11-12). Thor could be a target, but I find that he can easily hide in the backfield because he doesn't actually have to be close to his Gunbunnies to get them working. So, it's rare for him to use the ability granted by the spell. If you were going to keep it on a target and upkeep it, much better to use Ossrum as the target to ensure he isn't sniped at range.

This is Ok, it's not unusualy for Rhulic casters to have a spell that just doesn't mesh well with the searforge limitations. Infact, every single caster has one: Gorten has Solid Ground(how useful is this spell in a contract without tough, and with high ARM models that arn't easily intimidated by Blast damage?), while Durgen has Primed(you can make a Bokur or Horgenholds hit harder and be more fragile, which just kind of normalizes them. Outside of searforge you also have access to new models that can help out a lot: I've had great success in running an 80% Rhulic army headed by a non-Rhulic Caster. It works.

Hawk: Why? She's DEF 15 and has Sucker!, so she is resilent, while acrobatics and SPD 7 mean she goes where she wants. Dodge with her can allow her to bounce through friendly models, while Sucker! can be used to pawn off hits. So she just don't die from ranged attacks, and the additional movement can send her hurtling up the field.

Master Holt: He's got two RAT 8 handcannons, and he can be up to 9" away from Aiyana. To get maximum use out of him, you want him to be operating on the front lines, shooting at anything he wants with those handcannons, allowing you to keep Aiyana safely behind the lines. He's got Quickdraw, but it doesn't always save him. Giving him DEF 17 vs. shooting and magic, on the other hand? Well, you just made him laugh at spells and bullets, while he delivers shot after shot of devestation. It's good, is what I'm saying.

Ossrum looks like he will be a Fun guy to use outside of Searforge. Fire for effect looks particularly amusing on a number of solos(especially gorman), as well as the always popular Mule(Boost pow 8 blast? YES!), snipe is always useful and Bullet Dodger is great. His feat will demand a good amount of Rulic Models, but fortunately, I can think of plenty of solos to fill in the blanks. At larger points values, he will improve once you can work in the Mule/Gunmage module(boosted everything on a a RNG 16 mule is a thing of beauty) and Snipe means your gun mages can thunderbolt at 14". Martial discipline will allohem to hang out behind your Highshields or Horgenhold and shoot through. That's going to be amazing. Heck, you could get the Mule Module as cheap as 10pts if you took Rutger Shaw + Mule(and who doesn't like a boosted re-roll?), and I can't think of much that compares to a 4" AOE doing 18-19 damage on blast, if it doesn't knock models flying!

Yeah, I like general Ossrum.

[StJason]

I can't justify spending a point of Focus on the off chance that someone will miss a DEF 11 or 12 target.

That is exactly why you are NOT spending a point of focus.

You are spending a point of focus to force your opponent to change his plans. Do they shoot and risk having your Deathbot come closer? Or do they ignore it? Doesn't matter. Point is, by spending a focus, you are putting a big, bright spotlight on a model, and making your opponent think about it, and not about something like your Forge Guard.

And hey, once in a great while, it pays off, and you get an extra 2" move. Ye-haw.

[PG_LunarSol]

I've been staring at Ossrum's entry in the book and I do have that vibe similar to Strakov where he's got a ton of awesome abilities, but they all cost far too much to really use them. He doesn't have Strakov's most significant problems, but I can see him having a lot of problems managing focus, particularly out of tier. In SR, he's also got the general issue of Thor making dwarf casters a little more of a cutthroat decision than most.

It is nice that he's a dwarf caster that actually synergizes well with Rhulic models. He's the best Searforge option in all likelihood, though with the Forge Guard he does plenty to make him an enticing Highborn choice as well. He seems versatile and there are a lot of ideas that seem like a good idea with him, but his focus restrictions make it hard to know how to build for him. Gun Bunnies with Energizer for a pseudo Zephyr is super cute, but if you're doing that you're not doing anything else. Both Energizer and Bulldoze seem like things he just has to save for a rainy day with a backfield Driller though the Basher has some super cute options with it as well.

There's probably a right way to use him. I suspect something like Boomhowlers followed by Forge Guard followed by Long Gunners followed by a battlegroup or something like that. I'm just not sure his versatility is better than the more focused warcaster options out there.

[Ricky Racoon]

That is exactly why you are NOT spending a point of focus.

You are spending a point of focus to force your opponent to change his plans. Do they shoot and risk having your Deathbot come closer? Or do they ignore it? Doesn't matter. Point is, by spending a focus, you are putting a big, bright spotlight on a model, and making your opponent think about it, and not about something like your Forge Guard.

And hey, once in a great while, it pays off, and you get an extra 2" move. Ye-haw.

It's not really that big of a Risk, expecially if your opponent can boost(either through direct focus/fury, spells or other effects). And CRAs don't really care. Just not a good synergy or efficient use of focus. I, again, would rather have that focus for a hadcannon or jack boost. Spending a focus to force a spending of focus just doesn't seem that efficient when you could either not spend the focus(playoutside searforge and use Wishnailer), or spend that focus on a model that will get more mileage from the spell(again, outside searforge).

I've played with bullet doge in Mercs and in Trolls, and it's best effects come when you make a hard to hit model harder to hit, rather than making an easy to hit model, slightly harder to hit. Like I said: DEF 15/17 Holt will bounce under Gunfighter a lot more than a DEF 9/11 Jack.

[TheNoob]

It's not really that big of a Risk, expecially if your opponent can boost(either through direct focus/fury, spells or other effects). And CRAs don't really care. Just not a good synergy or efficient use of focus. I, again, would rather have that focus for a hadcannon or jack boost. Spending a focus to force a spending of focus just doesn't seem that efficient when you could either not spend the focus(playoutside searforge and use Wishnailer), or spend that focus on a model that will get more mileage from the spell(again, outside searforge).

I've played with bullet doge in Mercs and in Trolls, and it's best effects come when you make a hard to hit model harder to hit, rather than making an easy to hit model, slightly harder to hit. Like I said: DEF 15/17 Holt will bounce under Gunfighter a lot more than a DEF 9/11 Jack.

Okay, we get it, you dont think its worth it, St Jason does. This isnt a right or wrong answer (like 1 + 1 = 2), if he wants to spend the focus on it, he can, if you dont, then dont.

Personally, i think out of all his abilities and spells, Bullet Dodger is not the thing we should all be talking about. He is a super solid caster, but i think people are right i think he is gonna go either Tier or out of searforge. He just offers so much support to so many things of the great things available to Mercs in general, i dont see him liking being confined to just rhulic models, (though i do like the little benefit they get from his feat without neglecting non-rhulic mercs). I really hope this kind of thing (the feat having a benefit from everyone, while giving a little extra to the more fluffy aspect of the caster) is something PP continues to do with Mercs, it really fits their style and gives people benefits from playing more fluffy.

[StJason]

***WARNING***WARNING***WARNING*** Threadjack in progress!

Q: Do you think anyone would mind if I modified the trench templates?
I know that there are the ones in the back of Prime, and the ones that came out with this. And they are generic, 3"x5" card-shaped.
More realistically would be something that was parallelogramic. I've been using the template, but cutting off the end and taping it to the other (so instead of a line of trenches, they make zig-zags.) It's the same template, same area. Just slightly different shape. Do you think anyone would have a problem with it?

[maxxev]

Do you think anyone would have a problem with it?

Certainly with tourney players, yes

[MagnustheJust]

I agree with Maxxev - some tourney players would have an issue.

In a casual game, probably not...

[John of Arc]

As long as I didn't think you were doing it for power gaming reasons, I wouldn't have a problem with it in friendly games. The area of it is still the same.

[PG_vytzka]

Certainly with tourney players, yes

Please don't misrepresent tourney players as unanimously some sort of jerks. If you don't like the scene that's fine but tourney players are pretty much your regular Warmachine/Hordes players at heart.

StJason, check it with the event organizer before any official event and you should be fine.