Horgenhold Forge Guard

[Iceman8352]

Greetings, all. What is the consensus on the Horgenhold Forge Guard? I play a lot of Major Haley, and I'm thinking that the Forge Guard may provide some much needed punch. I'm not a fan of Stormblades with her, and Boomhowlers just don't seem to offer enough power. I'm thinking a minimum unit of Boomhowlers to act as a screen to take a charge, and then following in with the Forge Guard to destroy whatever is engaging the Boomhowlers.

What do people think of them?

[Bloodsplatter artist]

They're a great second wave heavy hitter squad. If that's what you want them for they'll do it great.

[Hint of Insanity]

instead of the min Boomhowler, you could do a max steel-heads

[etherya]

Forgeguard are a must have with some caster imho, like both haleys.

They become paired with PKs 'cause feat turn make PK's weapon masters, and they have the same threat range. (But some diversity spotted like different ARM, different abilities.)

[John of Arc]

Forgeguard are sweet. They hit like a truck, and their slow speed doesn't matter if they're not your frontline infantry. Running 8 inches a turn puts them faster than most units advancing in Shield Wall anyway. ARM 18 means they're pretty safe from most anti-infantry shooting, and they benefit greatly from Deceleration. They're one of my favorite units when I play Cygnar and when I play mercs.

[Pydracor]

Same here, I'm another Forgeguard fan Especially with Cygnar, they can also reach ridiculous ARM stats (e.g. 23 against ranged with Deceleration / Deflection + Arcane Shield). I had a lot of fun with them + Murdoch in a pStyker list. They can have DEF17 ARM18 against ranged and magic the turn before your armies clash and after that, ARM26 on a smallbased single wound model certainly is funny Just pray, that there are no auto damaging units on the other side

[ThunderClad]

Ive also been thinking about these guys, mainly bc of weapon masters which is a great thing for cygnar. Ive seen them played once and they were alright. The only thing is their low def and spd... Otherwise i think theyre worth it in the right situations.

[Iceman8352]

I'm thinking that a full unit of 10 costs the same as a unit of Stormblades + UA. They are more survivable (Defensive Line = ARM 18), and they actually have a better charge distance than the 'Blades (SPD 4 + 3" + 2" Reach). Running the first turn or two shouldn't be a problem, especially if I plan on using them with eHaley. Her spells and feat will nearly always allow them to get the charge first, or at least get the first hit. MAT 7 and weapons masters are fantastic.

I've also been considering running them and a full unit of Sword Knights. With eHaley, I'm generally always running Thorn and either a Stormclad or a Stormwall. That is a lot of reach to pump them up to MAT8 pseudo weapon masters. Definitely going to test them out.

[Kej]

They basically shame all of our heavy hitting infantry.

The only downside is the lack of "faction" for certain feats. Other than that they were in almost all of my lists until I traded my Cygnar off for Menoth.

Don't underestimate a minimum sized Forgie unit as a retaliatory unit .

[bStyker]

I prefer Stormblades due to a few reasons (FF status, A feat that allows for ranged shenanigans, Dead-eye to make them very accurate, increased threat range, etc.) but Forgeguard are definitely an excellent unit. I don't think I could argue against them basically being equal or better to almost all of Cygnar's melee infantry.

Best,

[Pydracor]

Another thing I really like about them that hasn't been mentioned yet (and that has actually helped me a few times): Once they are in the thick of it, they block a huge area with their reach hammers and especially critical smite. It does happen, that the opponent has to decide wether to dedicate something to kill them or to ignore them to get to jucier targets. It has happened twice to me, that an enemy jack trampled over a few of my Forgeguard to get to a better target, but a stuntie outside of his trample path managed to roll a crit with his freestrike. So much for the plan of my opponent, that jack is totally out of the game for one round.

So if he doesn't want to take a risk, he HAS to commit some resources to the Forgeguard before doing anything else.
I would take a freestrike from a Stormblade in most cases, it has the potential to hurt a lot, but at least it won't slam me during my own activation

[Sardonic Artery]

I prefer Stormblades due to a few reasons (FF status, A feat that allows for ranged shenanigans, Dead-eye to make them very accurate, increased threat range, etc.) but Forgeguard are definitely an excellent unit. I don't think I could argue against them basically being equal or better to almost all of Cygnar's melee infantry.

Best,

Love FG. Critical smite makes me giddy.

Speaking of Stormblades, FG actually have a 1/2" greater threat range thanks to reach.

[Juggernautie]

I'll have to give them a try. I've been stuck in love with Stealhead Halberdiers and Alexia & Risen for 11 points. 20 models that just will not Die. Well, dead, some alive, then Die, come back Dead, change to other dead weaponmasters, that sort of thing. Stealhead with powerful Charge, Set Defence, reach and combined attack, can hit really hard.

[bStyker]

@Sardonic Artery - Sorry, I was counting ranged threat as part of their threat range. (It's hard for the Stunties to rival some 20" Threat worth of POW 14s from the WAs, and 14" Threat from the normal Blades ) I really should give the Forgies a try though. Everyone loves them so much, I just gotta find out what makes them so great!

Best,

[Hoffburger]

@Sardonic Artery - Sorry, I was counting ranged threat as part of their threat range. (It's hard for the Stunties to rival some 20" Threat worth of POW 14s from the WAs, and 14" Threat from the normal Blades ) I really should give the Forgies a try though. Everyone loves them so much, I just gotta find out what makes them so great!

Best,

pStryker, eStryker, and eHaley all for the same reason. They let them actually make it there and possibly get 2 attacks. Strykers feat either makes them nigh invincible or lets them move and make an attack (with Murdoch) and Haley's feat lets them beat on things some more (engage non reach models). Jr. is a must with them IMO, rhupert helps a lot too with tough since armor still works while knocked down after tough.

[Kej]

won't knock Stormblades. They put in some serious work on the table top amd have done some trmendous things for me. However, they HAVE TO HAVE their assault from their UA to do enough dmg to mean anything against thier main prey, jacks and you still aren't guaranteed a kill.


The bonus of Forgies is that the don't need a gimmick to deliver their death blow. So, you lose your assault threat but gain more assurance of death.

As Cygnar we have enough ranged threat from many other models. If you are relying on the ranged attack from your blades you are probably hurting already . So, i am more than willing to give up the ranged portion and pay less points for better survivability, better melee, and better melee threat range.

[thebill77718]

I love Forgeguard with Jonas and eStryker. What's better than P+S 11 weaponmasters? Attacking twice with them in a turn.

[ShockwaveIIC]

What about Forgeguard as your only melee unit in a 35pt list?

I'm trying to build a list and I'm struggling on the Melee unit betweeen
Swordknights
Stormblades
Precursors
Forgeguard

I have a Melee jack and other solid range options.

[etherya]

It will different by the caster choise.

[ShockwaveIIC]

It will different by the caster choise.

Opps, Looking at pHaley.

Edit: maybe pStryker......

[Iceman8352]

I don't think that the Forge Guard would be bad in a pHaley list. Temporal Barrier will help slow your opponent down, making it possible for you to get the charge on them. Haley has Arcane Shield to bump their armor up to scary levels, and her feat will really let you do some damage against heavy targets. Just remember that you'll have to take Murdoch to make able to use her feat, as Blitz is friendly-faction only. It would definitely be worth trying out.

[ShockwaveIIC]

I don't think that the Forge Guard would be bad in a pHaley list. Temporal Barrier will help slow your opponent down, making it possible for you to get the charge on them. Haley has Arcane Shield to bump their armor up to scary levels, and her feat will really let you do some damage against heavy targets. Just remember that you'll have to take Murdoch to make able to use her feat, as Blitz is friendly-faction only. It would definitely be worth trying out.

I was aware, but I wasn't certain if 2 pts was worth it that being that he adds nothing else to the unit.

[Hoffburger]

He grants cover and gives them friendly faction ranked attacks. That's pretty good for 2 points on top of letting feats and other things work for them.