Points worth of Solos

[TheNoob]

Hello all,

How many points of Solos do you feel is too little, too much or just right in a list? As a merc player, building lists I am often overwhelmed with the choice of solos we have. So many amazing, potentially game changing solos (Piper, Eiryss, Harlan, Thor, any pirate solo etc) that i feel like i want to get them all in my list. But 2-3 points a model can quickly add up, and I feel like I am missing out on bodies.

My current debate, specifically, is trying to balance out a Gorten/Ashlynn 35 point list. But it got me thinking, so i thought i would make the question more general.

So, fellow Merc, how many points of Solos do you take? Do you follow a general rule (20%, 30% etc), do you go with particular ones for particular lists/match ups only, or do you have a few you just always take, and who cares the point level?

[PG_vytzka]

I don't start with solos when building a list, unless it's something the caster needs (like Reinholdt & Dougal for Madhammer or the sea dog buff foursome for Shae). I have some heavy hitter jack or unit, some tarpit, maybe ranged capability, then I start deciding if I want more things that do things or should I add support already.

But as a very rough guildeline I think as long as it's under 20% it's all good.

[MagnustheJust]

I agree with Vytzka's point fully. I think of our amazing pool of solos like the frosting and decorative edible candy bits that go on a cake - yes, they are pretty much the best part, you quickly realize how bad it is for you to have nothing but those.

I don't personally use a set percentage of solos. some lists I have run have had 10 solos, others just one... I also believe this is a huge advantage for us as Mercenary players. Some of the mamby-pamby cake eaters must include certain solos in order to have a consistent chance of doing well, which mind you is a subjective level. If I lose a game, but my faction-loving opponent looks haggard and is dripping with sweat at the end of the match, I call that mission accomplished - especially if more than half of their army is off to the side on the Dead Cart !!

[Ricky Racoon]

Depends. Like the two above said: I pretty much never start with Solos(Other than Wishnailer...). First it's units and the free jack, or the cheap jack from Jack Points. Once you have your core units and battlegroup, that's when you start adding solos that will synergize with the caster, and the units. Solos I alays consider taking if possible:

Rhupert. If I have multiple units and he's available, then I will take him. There's very few units that can't benefit from him in some way, and he will be useful the entire game.

Thor. Thor with a gun Bunny or two is a very powerful shooting asset tha requires no focus.

not solos, but Aiyana and Holt, or Gorman.

[Themainmenoth]

OK I'm guilty of this, I Love solo, I can't say I'm with everyone else here (despite how right they are) I once was "> <" this close to buying a fiona the black highborn list with nothing but all the solo's I could afford because they all got AD, ULTIMATELY I didn't go with that and got Shea instead, which I don't regret too much (other then his personal problems with Menoth, but the rest of his crew I can still use, so that's a plus).

[JohnOSpencer]

I think as long as you're under 100% you should be fine.

Seriously, I often take a lot of solos with mercs. If you feel like you can play them well enough to make up their points (or equivalent usage) then use as many as you like. In fact, I think everyone should play an all (or almost all) solo army at least once, just to see what it can and can't do.

[MinaFangirlOfEverblight]

ashlynn and fiona can really make solo-heavy lists shine, so can drake... i've played some pretty horrendously stupid solo-heavy lists, that put opponents with more experience than me on the fritz... you just have to learn what you want to make your list run the way you want it. mercs are all about finding the proper synergies for your strategies... and we can pretty much do any strategy we want. some factions can do a specific one better, but we can do them all. every last one. in fact, with most lists, we can change gears on the fly a lot better than most factions. so i know i don't worry that much about the percentage of solos, unless i really need a lot of bodies on the field or something... same for jacks. i've successfully run 3 jacks on a caster like ashlynn or fiona. you have to know what you're doing, but you can devistate an opponent with any type of list setup...

[moddball]

I am a one for solo heavy lists but I always look to units then jacks then solos. MacBain is the only caster I go over the top with solos.