Les tactiques de la Résistance: Ashlynn d?Elyse

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Duelling saber, hand cannon, high heels and a poker face is all she needs to best the greatest military machine of these times.


I wanted to do this for my 1000th post but my blabbermouth nature got the best of me. Still, I think it’s better late than never, and here we go!


Ashlynn d’Elyse has enjoyed a surge of popularity and deserved recognition since her makeover in Warmachine Mk II transition. Already a fan favorite whose story and character transcended her flaws on the tabletop, she now boasts impressive personal abilities which, combined with general Mercenary upgrades - both faction at large and Highborn Covenant in particular - makes her a true contender in any game you play with her.

She’s not a one trick pony, being great at personal assassination, enabling large scale destruction and limited board control, and what’s more a properly built Highborn army can generally switch between these objectives on the fly. On the flip side, Ashlynn d’Elyse is relatively resistant to assassination herself (except for some particular methods, examined below) and her potent defensive abilities allow, nay, call for placing her directly in harm’s way for exciting, high-risk, high-reward playstyle.

As Lanz once put it, Ashlynn’s army and gameplay are elitist. It not only suits her culture and background to the T but ties directly into her Feat and Quicken. Defense is superior to Armor in Warmachine, and with ability to increase the effects of high Defense of her own troops, reduce those of her enemies and bolster potent critical effects of Highborn army choices she takes great models and makes them that much better. Don’t look for scrubs here, this is a cool kids’ army!

Don’t get complacent, though, because no one is untouchable, even DEF17 under Roulette! A Highborn army has weaknesses just like anybody else. Knockdown and fire effects, especially those that don’t require a roll to hit, will mess with both Ashlynn and her army. Multiple templates, high accuracy sprays and chain lightnings or even low POW autohit effects like pAsphyxious’ feat will wreak havoc with low ARM, high DEF units and solos. She also shares general Mercenary weaknesses to heavy armor and cloud spam.

We shall now examine all elements available for an army led by Ashlynn d’Elyse, whether Highborn Covenant proper or her theme list. Even though the latter is a lot more limited, it still shares most basic principles. I’ll mark the selections available for the theme army with a (T).

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Ashlynn d'Elyse
Units
Solos
Warjacks
Wrath

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La Pucelle d'Llael

Okay so she?s 30 years old by now so not really a maiden but the parallels are good enough for me.


Ashlynn d?Elyse boasts a pretty nice statline - normal SPD, impressive MAT, RAT and DEF and average ARM, CMD and FOC. Her lone subpar stat, STR, is compensated for by her Weaponmaster ability, actually putting her above the average on warcaster damage curve.

In addition to her saber, Nemesis, she also possesses a hand cannon with which she?s not only a crack shot, but can attack in melee which, combined with Reinholdt's Reload, gives her three initial attacks. Hanging back and shooting the handcannon is always an option as well, if you?re so inclined.

The rest of her abilities are a mix of offense and defense, as befits a duelist character. She ignores free strikes which makes her dashing back and forth in combat all the easier, Quick Draw gives a manner of defense from CRAs that would otherwise get around her high DEF, and Riposte will make infantry and even warcasters think twice about attacking her. Or not, which is all the better for you!

She has average Focus and will generally want to be rather greedy with it. Two amazing upkeeps, average ARM and a strong urge to either stab face in melee or double tap with the handcannon at range will leave just crumbs for the rest of her battlegroup and as a result you will rarely if ever see more than two jacks with her. Oh make no mistake her army may well have numerous warjacks, but the rest will need to be marshalled. No wonder some people don?t even use all her jack points, going with a single Vanguard instead.

Let us talk about magic for a bit.

Admonition (that was once and more fittingly called Feint) is one of my favorite spells in Warmachine period and will be a staple if you want to play her aggressively. That means keeping it on herself, of course, which will give the enemy fits when they try to pin her down. The issues regarding knockdowns apply doubly here as you will likely have her up front, safe in her invincibility, until some blasted chicken runs right up front, arcs a Scourge on her and it?s GG. This does protect her from slams but always be extra careful where exactly are you bouncing her away because that?s your only chance for the turn. Another use for Admonition that some people enjoy is casting it on a jack and then putting it aggressively forwards to force Kobayashi Maru scenarios on the enemy - because they can?t charge it easily and probably don?t want to be charged in return.

Distraction is one of those reasons why we don?t have arc nodes, and while situational, can be devastating in the right situation. Doesn?t require living units, funnily enough, proving that even Bane Knights and Shifting Stones are succeptible to a well timed plate armor pantyshot.

Flashing Blade is pretty much unlimited use *Thresher but better - since it?s a spell, you can cast it before movement, or after charging to clear things out of your melee range so you can unload with the handcannon into things standing further. It also costs as much as a basic attack. She?s unlikely to kill hordes of people because of lack of Reach and Beatback/Overtake but it is still is a pretty nice thing to have.

Gallows is another of those spells that people (like me) are prone to forget but can be used to great effect on the battlefield, pulling key models forward in reach for your models? charges. An extra devious trick is getting an enemy warcaster closer for Anastasia to do her stuff. It?s expensive for Ashlynn, especially considering that you need to boost the attack roll unless it?s a jack, so make it count.

Quicken may well be the best unit buff upkeep in the game and I can scarcely think of a single unit in Highborn that it doesn?t make better (or wouldn?t make better in case of Precursor Knights, russum fussum). Staple choice for it is Horgenhold Forge Guard, but really whether it?s turning Nyss Hunters into cavalry, helping Boomhowler run to and tie up things 16? away, making Gun Mages autowin firefights or, by cycling, performing devastating Steelhead Halberdier/Cavalry charges Quicken is one of the greatest tactical assets she has.

Ashlynn is so full of tricks that even her Magic Missile is tricked out - Twister does 2 points less damage than other bread and butter attack spells, but has a 3? AoE and leaves a cloud effect in play. It?s not very reliable in that regard, but if you just need some concealment why not trust lady luck once more and just throw it out at something way out of range. Throwing one or two Twisters out on an enemy unit about to be murdered is also an option.

Now we?ve finally come to the Feat. ROULETTE is just flat out, balls to the wall awesome in its broad applicability and raw power. It makes your troops hit more often and cause a lot more criticals, it makes the enemy miss most of the time and forget the critical rule for one round. If they?re smart they can just ignore doing direct damage to your stuff but they don?t always have that luxury, especially with time running out in Steamroller scenarios. Don?t get into a trap of thinking of it as a purely defensive thing either - just a single gun mage unit with a marshalled Mule will quickly dispel any such misconceptions.

Finally, Roulette?s versatility presents a bit of a dilemma - if you activate Ashlynn and use the feat early in the turn she won?t enjoy a lot of synergy bonuses herself (like say going for assassination on a Kiss of Lylis?d/Black Oiled warcaster) but without Roulette in play yet it will be a bit harder to get those synergy bonuses stick. This is important, considering how many ?offensive? buffs, i.e. the kind that requires you making attacks against enemy models, are available for Highborn. As always, practice makes perfect!

Ashlynn d?Elyse has some weaknesses too which we need to cover as well. I mentioned vulnerability to knockdowns and Continuous Fire - warjacks with Lash help with the former, and Admonition protects her from slams or overly cheeky arc node jacks eager to drop spell AoEs on her. She?s somewhat vulnerable to blast damage and arc lightnings, so when standing next to jacks be sure to leave her some overboosting focus points. Finally, upkeep removal abilities and Lamentation are bound to mess her already strained focus economy right the hell up. Hopefully they?ll be too eager and get the caster dangerously close in which case remind them the hard way that she can boost damage and buy additional Nemesis attacks just as well.

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Forces Llaeles Libres

When selecting units for Ashlynn d’Elyse, unleash your inner elitist.


Quicken, Roulette and other in-faction buffs can be spent making excellent units even more excellent or it can make scrubs mediocre, and for a properly minded Llaelese resistance fighter (shades of Hark a Vagrant’s Hipster Battalion here) that is no difficult choice. Granted, there is some nuance - making something DEF12 instead of DEF10 on Roulette turn makes a world of difference, and units can contribute in other ways than raw stats - but one should never take anything to pad out the bodycount. Even with Alexia in the roster.

Making a second use of an ex-trooper is fine though, as long as you continue to pay the resulting Risen. I think their salary fund is administered by Alexia, actually. Convenient, that.

Amethyst Rose Gun Mages[T], our equivalent of Cygnaran Arcane Tempest for newer players, just have to go first on this list because with the Officer there are few things they can’t do. They have amazing DEF for line troops, shred infantry, ignore Stealth and concealment, control the playing field with pushes and knockdowns, hit hard with Critical Brutal Damage and make Mule twice the warjack it is. Their only problem is you get just one unit in Highborn, but theme list does away with that restriction and even gives you a second free Officer to boot! Whether it’s background or rules, you just cannot go wrong with these guys. You can even marshal different warjacks with them but obviously want something with ranged attacks. Other good choices include Mariners and Vanguards.

Horgenhold Forge Guard is another one of those units that just fit with Ashlynn. A moderately cheap, hard hitting melee unit that has low SPD as the balancing factor. Well, guess what Ashlynn can improve with Quicken? Even the DEF buff against ranged and magical attacks makes it slightly less atrocious and the offensive power of their mechanikal hammers (strangely missing the magical weapon tag but there’s a limit of what you can expect from a 5/8 unit) is why I just look the other way when I should be discussing their Defense stat. Critical Smite is a big deal on Roulette turn as well - you do get extra dice for charge and Weaponmaster, just don’t slam things out of range of your other guys. Their armor with Defensive Line is at least above the damage curve hump for POW 10 weapons, but don’t expect it to save you. Some people prefer to run two minimum units instead of one big because these guys will die, but by God they’ll take enemies with them. This unit has been curiously passed over for the theme list spot in favor of Precursors, so have that in mind but it’s my go-to choice in pure Highborn.

Cylenna Raefyll and the Nyss Hunters give up Reach and two points of damage compared to Forge Guard, and in exchange gain... a lot of everything, pretty much. Sky high DEF and SPD become ridiculous with Quicken, and they can shoot stuff up really well when they’re not in melee yet. They navigate terrain really well where most of our other melee infantry struggles, to boot. The point cost is steep but well worth it, though it can be a struggle to get the models to stay in one piece. It’s also a girl-led unit, if you care about the Riot Grrrl sub-theme. They don’t have armor but that shouldn’t be anything new for you. Don’t clump them up!

Precursor Knights [T] is the theme list choice from the Highborn Face-Beating Trinity, and is something like a cross between the two mentioned above. Unlike Forge Guard they have a DEF stat, and an attachment padding unit size to 12 for 10 points which is nigh mandatory, providing a Weaponmaster minifeat turn and ranked attacks (but no Reach). Their Spell Ward is probably more of a curse than a blessing for Ashlynn, but they still enjoy advantages of the Piper or our offensive spell buffs so it’s not the end of the world and you never lack other targets for Quickening anyway. Another disadvantage is they’re a bit stuck up about the whole Morrowan thing and preclude you from taking Alexia Ciannor which may or may not be a big deal for you.

When kicking people when they’re down just doesn’t cut it anymore, you need Sam MacHorne and the Devil Dogs [T] who have taken that concept to the level of science. Surprisingly cheap, these champions of modern warfare can both put already knocked down models in the world of hurt and knock them down themselves. Even though I can’t in good conscience call them a ranged unit they do have slug guns and CRA, and the unit officer boasts Jack Marshal ability with Drive: Pronto. Even though I personally put Rune Shot above Pronto when it comes to Mules, Sam is still one of the best people at Mule handling so if you’re one of those multiple Mule freaks you should try it. Another very obvious synergy choice for marshalling is Buccaneer or two - either Pronto forwards and boost hits on high DEF targets or activate the Buc before the unit, Pronto it out of the way and let the Dogs sort out knocked down models. With the picks.

Lady Aiyana and Master Holt is something I have trouble going without no matter the contract or warcaster, and Ashlynn’s Highborn is no exception. Even though the obvious mercenary need for magical weapons is lessened by having gun mages around, it’s still more than welcome when fighting Protectorate, and their other offensive ability, Kiss of Lyliss, is as necessary here as always. Lady Aiyana rarely has problems hitting the enemy with her Magic Ability of 8, and the additional damage adds up quickly. When there’s no need or opportunity for either of the above spells, don’t hesitate to cast the Veil for Stealth and have Holt in B2B shoot some poor bastards with the gunblade handcannons. There are varying interpretations for what is actually happening between the two at those moments; my personal take is something like the Monica Belucci scene (the Monica Belucci scene) in Shoot Em Up.

Greygore Boomhowler and Company had a change of heart in Mk2 and now offers his services for the Covenant. Or maybe the Covenant accepts his services - however it is, this Platonic ideal of a tarpit unit not only rocks at actual tarpitting, clogging the board and reining in the enemy, but can do quite a bit of damage in melee as well. Playing him with Ashlynn is also one of the few times when you might consider using the redheaded stepchild of Fell Howls - Rage Howler - for yet another defense buff, this time against jacks and beasts.

Alexia Ciannor and the Risen, the girl (and the rest of the guys) that started it all, is pretty hard to pass up if you’re not heavily into the whole Morrow thang. The simple fact is that Ashlynn army is going to include quite a bit of infantry and no matter what you do at least some of them will die. To help numb the pain this teenage talent - that is now somewhere in her mid-twenties but nevermind - can helpfully turn them into zombies and then burn those zombies in much the same way as a warcaster burns focus. Only she can have a lot of those zombies - or, to use the technical term, Risen, and her getting a charge with the full load of them is something to see. When she’s not making a million attacks she can also use Risen to prevent death or turn them into Thrall Warrior solos and whatever else is she doing, there’s a permanent Lamentation-esque thing going on in her CMD area. To quote absent, she makes opposing players cry.

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[continued from units]

Steelhead Halberdiers look and cost like a bodycount padding unit but enjoy some important hit curve bonuses - Furious Charge and Set Defense - that works rather well with Roulette. They also have CMA, something that sets them aside from most of your other melee units and with Reach can be put to great effect. Finally, they’re nigh mandatory with the Steelhead Heavy Cavalry and can also screen Steelhead Riflemen if you have Stannis Brocker in the party.

Steelhead Heavy Cavalry should never be taken without Steelhead Halberdier support, because that turns them from mediocre to amazing. Without it they can already deal with average infantry well enough with 4-5 initial attacks each, but with the Flank they can smash warjacks. Someone on this forum said that one of the most hilarious mistakes anyone ever does is underestimate the SHHC and that rings very true. Quicken makes them both more resistant to shooting attacks and gives them a longer threat range which, while obvious, is still worth having in mind.

Steelhead Riflemen are the new kids on the block and if RAT7 POW13 rerollable CRAs are your thing you will not be disappointed. Factor in Roulette for some crazy accuracy and something you could legitimately use to finish off warcasters. Full units of these aren’t generally worth it unless you secretly want Long Gunners - stick to minimum.

Long Guners may well be the least appreciated unit in Highborn, and while I think that Swans are spoiled and don’t give them nearly the credit they deserve, competing with Gun Mages for the exclusive bonus spot pretty much seals the deal. You can still use them reasonably well and marshal Mules with something other than Gun Mages, like say Devil Dogs - but take them only if you know what you’re doing and/or want more of a challenge.

Herne & Jonne is a dirt cheap AoE machine and - on the off chance that you don’t have enough anti massed infantry stuff - will do the job nicely.

Dannon Blythe & Bull [T] is another new unit that people seem to have had success with. Bull’s Demolisher has a combination of Rapid Fire and Critical Knockdown which gives you pretty good chances to put something on the ground during the feat turn, and Beat Back gives you some positional shenanigan opportunities.

Horgenhold Artillery Corps and Sea Dog Deck Gun are both artillery pieces that do not provide any particular synergy to Ashlynn. You can make them more accurate with Roulette or provide them knocked down models to hit easily, and the former gets points for being from Horgenhold, but otherwise these guys are for fans of artillery only.

Hammerfall High Shield Gun Corps has very high ARM for infantry with the shield wall, Ranked Attacks and CRA. The unit attachment whose rules I don’t remember at the moment makes them more aggressive but without it they’re a more defensive option slighly out of place with Ashlynn. Their Driveless Jack Marshal ability is more of a curiosity than a real thing, but it still lets them run a Gunner if you’re so inclined.

Sea Dog Crew is a unit that doesn’t have exceptional stats on its own (beyond two initial melee attacks) for the same cost as Horgenhold Forge Guard and relies on Privateer solos to buff them. A Privateer heavy Ashlynn army is an essay topic on its own, but reading the Talion thread applies just as well. Prepare to spend a good chunk of your points on everything Privateers or don’t bother.

Press Gangers share largely the same issues as the Sea Dog Crew, but they do have Tough natively, and with Doc Killingsworth around to scare them back to health at 4+, for that price, you can afford to be hypocritical for once and just send them out to clog things up, die and get mopped up by Alexia. Or you can use the full bouquet of Privateer solos and turn them into hell on wheels. The choice is yours.

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Amour, Gloire et Beauté

The previous section has already presented a completely unreasonable number of character units mixed in with the regulars, but Solos is where things become entirely ridiculous. With only one non-character (non-Thrall) solo out of almost two dozen choices you can allow your extravagant tastes go wild (and sometimes even Hog Wild - ha!). Solomachine is en vogue in Llael circa 607 AR, but remember that your solos typically make units or jacks better - so it’s prudent to take some of those, too.

Anastasia di Bray [T] is the name to start with when it comes to the Highborn Covenant army, and a theme list requirement for Ashlynn d’Elyse to boot. Espionage is a game winning power in its own right, though it’s not supposed to be easy - and the lengths to which the opponent will go to prevent it alone are worth the price of admission. It can be made slightly easier by Madelyn Corbeau or even Ashlynn herself pulling the caster in with Gallows - even though after activating her Espionage is slightly less devastating. Ambush is something that shouldn’t be used in every game, considering that Anastasia wants to be in the thick of her army. She possesses excellent SPD and DEF, is nigh unhittable during the feat turn and is even capable of offing an occasional solo.

Taryn di la Rovissi [T] is another theme list requirement and another Llaelese character, although one that puts money, Rutger Shaw and her own moral compass far above the Llaelese crown. However I did mention money and she can be found working with Ashlynn d’Elyse with some regularity, giving service oh her personal gun magic. Shadowfire is her signature ability for Highborn (unavailable for her other employers, being only useful to Faction models) making ranged assassinations far easier than otherwise. Iron Rot gives you a bit unorthodox but very real edge dealing with heavy armor and incidentally a good way to make life slightly more difficult for Iosan Myrmidons. Finally, Black Penny is mostly useful for bailing Rutger Shaw or other gun mages out of melee. Incidentally, Rutger Shaw gives her Partner bonuses of Tough and Dodge, as well as getting Flank off her so the two tend to stick together - but if I have to choose one I’ll go with Taryn any day.

Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator is a nigh mandatory support piece for Ashlynn, primarily with Reload whether she’s aiming (ha!) to doubletap at range or diving into melee with guns blazing. His other two abilities are far less useful here, though Lucky Charm is great when she just has to hit with Gallows or do gobs of damage with a single melee attack. To avoid getting Reinholdt sniped off too early, try to keep him around your Shield Guard models (which are going to hang close to Ashlynn anyway).

Rhupert Carvolo, the Piper of Ord [T] is among the best universal unit buffing solos and that’s good news because you’re going to have lots of good units around. Or at least a couple. Since it’s not magic, it even works on the Precursor Knights! All three tunes are about equally great and which one you’re going to use will depend a lot on the situation at hand. Making Sea Dog Crew Tough is a great way for Rockbottom to save a coin or two.

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios works in just about the same way as she does everywhere else though Shadowfire and Roulette do make things easier to a large extent. Still, she loses in versatility to her older, more experienced self even though the wide-eyed innocence of one’s early career can be charming in the way that mature but jaded professionalism is not.

Eiryss, Angel of Retribution is useful enough to have unanimously earned the “crutch” honors, and she gives a lot to Ashlynn’s Highborn army. As you so often want to nibble a warcaster to death with handcannon and magelock pistol shots, purging overboosting focus together with defensive upkeeps beforehand is a godsend, not to mention the utility of wiping upkeeps in other situations. Ability to just run her in somewhere close to knocked down enemy warjacks (multiple, ideally) is not to be underestimated either.

Madelyn Corbeau, Ordic Courtesan [T] is something like Anastasia but on the smaller scale, and the two share pretty good synergy with each other as well as with Ashlynn d’Elyse. A 3” headstart is great, whether it’s Ashlynn (or some other solo) setting up the charge or Anastasia aiming for Espionage, and don’t underestimate the +1 CMD thing either.

Gorman di Wulfe [T] is Llaelese as well and someone who can readily find work with the Resistance. Rust is very important when dealing with jacks and the only way to debuff high ARM in the theme list where you don’t have A&H. Black Oil is simply a classic, and don’t forget that you won’t miss with it if you’re standing close enough. Acid and smoke is something to pass time with until you get to use Rust and/or Black oil.

Rutger Shaw [T], the canonical boyfriend of Taryn di la Rovissi, is even more liberal about his employers but doesn’t scorn the Resistance gold either. A veritable beatstick with Flank and a magical weapon, he also possesses Jack Marshal with Drive: Reroll, even though both advantages are a bit hard to use at once (if the jack gets into combat first he doesn’t enjoy benefits of Drive and if Rutger activates and sets off the Drive, his jack is likely not in combat yet). Don’t get into the trap of just taking him for Partner - he can use just about any jack but likes melee or mixed better than primarily ranged, traditional choices seemingly being Buccaneer, Talon, Vanguard or Nomad.

Lanyssa Ryssyl is another one from the proud Highborn tradition of kickass ladies. Her most powerful ability is the Hunter’s Mark special attack, not only letting your guys charge enemy with +2” movement, but getting jacks to charge for free which is a great boon for both Ashlynn’s battlegroup and marshalled jacks. When not doing that she has a passable magical attack and the Winter Storm that messes with not only Legion but anything Pathfinder dependent, and makes it fun to pair her up with Nyss Hunters in woods.

Ogrun Bokurs are our lone non-character solos and slightly redundant to boot, serving a similar role to vanguards but slightly worse and for cheaper. Still, they do hit hard with the client bonus (which Ashlynn is the prime target for) and Shield Guards are useful however many you have got.

Lord Rockbottom, the filthy rich seafaring dwarf with the pimpingest hat ever, is good in a lot more than a pirate army. CMD11 with full purse (12 with Madelyn!) and getting your numerous jack marshals to autopass failed Drive checks is amazing already, but he also has the Continuous Fire spray pistol, and if you take any sea dog units he can make them pretty disgusting to boot.

[to be continued]

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Thor Steinhammer is another one of those nice folks people have in mind when they say Highborn is spoiled for jack marshals. This fellow is distinguished from the rest by being Rhulic, and currently the only Rhulic jack marshal worth talking about. And how! With his Drive: Pronto and Tune Up special ability he can make those dwarven fighting machines perform at double time, and Rhulic jack notes in the Warjack section of this tactica will typically assume marshalling by Thor. His Repair ability is largely gravy, considering that he will tend to die faster than run out of Tune Up targets, as is his blowtorch spray (but still nice to have).

Dirty Meg is a yet another jack marshal solo, and a slightly unorthodox one at that as her Drive:Off Road is purely melee oriented. While marshalled melee jacks typically underperfom, Off Road does give you an opportunity for a charge (or slam) and an extra attack and Ashlynn is stingy enough with focus for that to sound tempting. On the other hand free charges can be gained in other ways - namely, Lanyssa’s Hunter’s Mark ability - so if you’re going to have her in support (and not run off minding other business), Rutger Shaw can be a better choice. I feel that overall the two are about evenly matched. Meg also has Repair and a Stall causing pistol, but her CMD is a somewhat unimpressive 8 (Rockbottom helps).

First Mate Hawk is a cool looking pirate lady that can cut people pretty hard but kind of lacks a defined niche in this army. She is a Commander which is nice and could make finishing assassination runs with Acrobatics under Roulette but I lack the practical experience as to the viability of such endeavours. She can also make Sea Dogs butcher multiwound infantry, if you have any (Sea Dogs that is) .

Doc Killingsworth makes Tough Privateer models tougher, which does include solos but doesn’t include most models you’re likely to actually have. His Surgery ability is of similarly limited use unless you’re going to play Ashlynn somewhat in the backfield. He’s probably not going to hit a lot with those Poisoned knives but they’re there.

Bosun Grogspar is somewhat interesting but again not overly useful on his own, odd Throwing related assassination plans nonwithstanding. Has an adequate range, low powered AoE on the gun but in Highborn you’ve already got lots of ways to kill infantry at range, most of them with better RAT than 5.

Dougal McNaille is, unlike a few other Privateer solos, a pretty welcome addition. The minifeat is awesome enough and to it he adds a very accurate Quad Iron. Artillerist is actually a bit less useful than elsewhere considering that you’ll be wanting to hit with those AoEs you will have, but it’s still bettter than nothing and if you’re shooitng a Mule at a warcaster, every bit helps.

Bloody Bradigan. Another troop/solo killing beatstick solo and a less stylish one than Hawk at that.

Harlan Versh [T] is awesome and I’m amazed I haven’t mentioned him before. He can straight up kill warcasters with upkeep spells on them, do a number on units (especially those with - you guessed it - upkeep spells on them) and wreck any spellcasting-focused battle plans of the enemy. Magical weapons are at a slightly lesser premium in Highborn than elsewhere but it’s still nothing to laugh at. His main (and only) drawback is his ever so slightly fanatical worldview preventing him from working with Alexia Ciannor. Theme list, of course, eliminates the choice entirely.

Stannis Brocker is a very expensive solo and, while quite a beatstick on his own, becomes extremely useful with multiple units of Steelheads in the army. Steelhead Tactician allows your Steelhead Heavy Cavalry charge from behind the Halberdiers, Steelhead Riflemen shoot at small targets through the Halberdiers and Halberdiers to simply shuffle through one another. He also has a pretty accurate hand cannon and is a Commander with CMD9. Whether for generic Commander purposes or the Steelhead Tactician shenanigans, this can be further expanded with Madelyn Corbeau - and he's tough enough to Sucker! the shots coming her way in this nice symbiotic relationship.

Alten Ashley is a monster hunter and exactly what it says on the tin... the card... okay somewhere around the middle of it, buried among other rules. Not nearly as disgustingly good as he was previously in the field test. Now his d6 damage to a random branch is nice but not really overwhelming considering otherwise mediocre POW of his gun, and he's just straight up not very impressive against Warmachine, feeling like a lamer version of Master Holt. Still, a nice character from the fiction and a good fit if you're more into the ragtag style instead of the Llaelese Nobility Hipster Battalion.

Dahlia Hallyr and Skarath still don't work for Highborn which is bloody injustice I tell you

Gudrun the Wanderer doesn't seem to be anything special for its cost. Berserk with Reach (and Feat) can clear some infantry but really, if you've read this far that alone is unlikely to impress the heck out of you.

Rorsh and Brine, the dynamic and highly criminal Farrow duo, can be an interesting addition to an Ashlynn led army (I swear there's a joke somewhere relating to feminocentric nature of the Resistance force and the fact that men are pigs but I just can't quite put a finger on it). They run on their own without using focus which is kind of a big deal and while P+S on Brine isn't terrific it can afford to boost damage on the initials (or make more). Fury 3 isn't amazing for a minion warlock and Brine actually has higher Fury than Rorsh which is bound to result in wacky hijinks if you push your luck, or more sensibly, leave some room for transfers while still running rather hot. Pig Farm gives a bit of an edge against warbeasts or multiwound infantry. Finally, the guys just have a way of getting around the battlefield in a hurry, and that's before considering their aptitude at hijacking trains.

Victor Pendrake is the final Hordes solo and again one that is cool but not really necessary for anything. Beast Lore could be vaguely useful for Gun Mages dealing with beasts, increasing odds for Critical Brutal Damage or knockdowns on Thunderbolts. His Chain Bola produces knockdown which isn't exactly a rare commodity. Finally, the magical sword and Lucky bow do give a bit of solo hunting potential. And, really, how often do you have a professor in your army? That has to count for something!

Last but not the least, Amethyst Rose Gun Mage Captain Adept [T] is our latest, theme force only addition and needs to be used to determine his full effectiveness - but we can already tell that he'll fit here better than in Cygnar. Stealth ignoring ability and either Phantom Hunter or Brutal Damage should make him quite a solo killer, corporeal or not (because the gun is magical obviously).

Warjacks discussed downthread (huzzah for exceeded expectations)

[baronvonchaos]

Nice write-up. I acquired Ashlynn in a consignment deal and I've like the idea of her. I'll have to pick up some highborn models. The ATGM's seem like a gimme, and I'll have to check into some Horgenhold...

Eager to see the rest of it!

[studderingdave]

i used her sparringly until i moved on from mercs and i like the forgeguard with her. quicken makes them even more killy. her feat begs for mules.

[raincaller]

Reserved for witty remark

[mikethefish]

Meh - nevermind

[Lanz]

d'awwe I got quoted :3

Great write-up so far. Says most of the stuff that I'd have said too.

[JohnnyHawkwind]

Thanks for a really good write up so far. Ashylynn/Highborn was my choice after the Magnus box and it's one I have never regretted. Macbain and an attempt at Legion may pull me away for a while but I know i'll come back to her eventually.

[devoncodain]

Ashlynn is the only caster I have ever used. Will be hard to move away from her I do not always win but the looks on my opponets face when I flashing blade his unit he moved to keep me from advancing on his caster then casting gallows to pull said caster to b2b with her and killing him is great fun though.

[isawatsuke]

loving ashylnn currently. Tho i run her with a nomad instead of the vanguard. I find that ashlynn tends to win more on ranged assasination runs more than anything. She feats something gets harmed and disrupted then a whole lot of crit brutal pow 10's come thier way with a mule just to make sure.

Alternativley ive found it worth it to blow her feat if I can get LOS with peiryss to the enemy caster. Other stuff still benefit of course and the enemy basically loses a turn.

auto-includes for me are - peiryss, aiyana and holt, gunmages ua and mule, and the obligatory nomad for the 6 wj

[raincaller]

Taryn is amazing and a great help in ranged assassinations, along with crit thunderbolt shots on feat turn both help you clear out a line to the enemy warcaster.

[PG_Devilsquid]

SteelheadAshlynnFront.jpg

Ashlynn approves of your post. I just played her Theme list last night, with two units of gun mages.

[Bingas]

loving the write up.

[Bloodcrusher.x3m]

I have already ordered Ash and Co yesterday inspired with how vytzka loves Ashlynn.
<3 write up.Keep it going vytzka!

[PG_vytzka]

Thank you for the kind words people, that's the best motivation I could ever get. Solos up next, any good ideas for a broken French title?

The character limit here is stingy, I was hoping to fit all the units in one page I'm almost scared now, what if solos and jacks don't fit?

[Pat Thompson]

I have really enjoyed reading this so far....looking forward to the next instalments! Thanks!

[PG_Izza]

Sam and the DDogs are in the tier? awesome!
I was hoping so since I already have them (and gun mages)

great write up, keep up the good work!

[Chaerae81B]

Very helpful series of posts! Thanks!

[CryxXx FixXx]

the looks on my opponets face when I flashing blade his unit he moved to keep me from advancing on his caster then casting gallows to pull said caster to b2b with her and killing him is great fun though.

i suppose it would be fun but to me it depends on which end of the gallows you swing from....lol.....

[The Beast of Caer Banogh]

I am so very tempted by her tier list to take units of Gun Mages. Even without crits, pushing around models when it comes to dudes like Amon or Troll bricks so you can then open up with your other units or Ash herself is priceless.

[Lanz]

It actually took me a few battles before the tunnel-vision glee of getting gunmages(almost started WM with Cygnar because of gunmages) wore off and I started thinking about them tactically enough to realize they have two awesome crits for the feat turn, and a good combo outside of the feat turn. 3d6+POW 10 will bring some very impressive damage given that each model can do it from 10" away ignoring stealth, and crit knockdown is very powerful too.

Also, the nature of gunmages puts them well above most other 'spellcaster' units, because they are not really spellcasters. Lots of ranged attack denial(wind wall, hymn of passage, etc) doesn't apply to Magical Weapons, but the Gunmages don't have the penalty of counting as actual 'spells', for which there is tons of denial as well. They sit in that sweet spot of nothing-you-can-do-to-stop-me. They can also aim. Actual spellcasters can't 'aim' their spells

[devoncodain]

Lanz how is it you get the 3d6+10 I would really love to know I must be missing something with em.

[Pat Thompson]

Lanz how is it you get the 3d6+10 I would really love to know I must be missing something with em.

I'm guessing crit brutal damage being most likely on "Roulette's" turn.

[Rahu]

Here's something I thought of. Ashlynn can take a unit of Sea Dog's with Mr Walls. The Dogs get AD, and then she puts Quicken and Walls uses his mini-feat. The Dogs become Pathfinders that can run 20", or charge 13". That's a first turn charge that can be up to 29" inches from your table edge, or a full unit with attatchments that can get on an objective up to 3 feet from your starting table edge. There has got to be something broken you can do with that. I don't know what. But there just has to be.

[Lanz]

Yeah, crit brutal damage. Even off the feat turn, you can improve the odds a bit by throwing thunderbolts to knock down the target. If I can get all the shots on something like a warjack, usually it gets knocked down by thunderbolts, and 1-2 crit brutal damage will go off. On average arm of like 19ish, they can do almost 2 collumns of damage on their own if you land some crits here and there. On the feat turn, naturally, its far more likely, and you can just use the first 1-2 models to thunderbolt and knock down, and the rest are almost always going to crit with brutal damage on a knocked down target.

It's handy because it's self-contained, they can do the damage and the knocking down by themselves. Only really a good strategy on warjacks though. Anything worth throwing a whole squad at, but with def higher than like 13, you'll probably just want to CRA them.

And that's on heavies, too. This kind of maneuver turns lights into swiss cheese.

Here's something I thought of. Ashlynn can take a unit of Sea Dog's with Mr Walls. The Dogs get AD, and then she puts Quicken and Walls uses his mini-feat. The Dogs become Pathfinders that can run 20", or charge 13". That's a first turn charge that can be up to 29" inches from your table edge, or a full unit with attatchments that can get on an objective up to 3 feet from your starting table edge. There has got to be something broken you can do with that. I don't know what. But there just has to be.

I've considered sea dogs myself. Most notably because they are sword+pistol with point blank, which makes them thematically similar. Before the Gunmages came out, I was considering using more Llaelese-esque minis to represent them as a 'Llaelese duelist' squad with Hawk to make them scary in close-combat.

[PG_vytzka]

Since I'm getting a load of Sea Dogs for Shae I will be trying them with the Highborn Covenant as well, make no mistake.

Though the issue is that they're a bit like Steelheads, you don't take just "a bit" of Steelheads or sea dogs, you want to take a halbs and cav and Stannis and maybe Riflemen as well (and you already have the piper in ) and with dogs you also want to take a bunch of solos at the least. So it's not really a filler kind of thing but a secondary focus at the least.

[absent]

Seadogs with ashlynn gives you real trouble dealing with jacks and beasts, because they eat up so many points and ashlynn isn't really running jacks to detroy heavy's. So you've got a massive contingent in your army that isn't suited to take on heavy's. That's been my experience anyway.

[Klebert L. Hall]

Shouldn't this be Stickied?
-Kle.

[PG_vytzka]

Maybe wait for me to finish it first Perhaps I'm keeping the suckiest part for the end.

[jinro]

There is nothing left to ask for of this write-up, save for the hope that someday every warcaster will have something this comprehensive written about them :P Just wanted to say thanks for writing this and I'm looking forward to the remaining parts!

[DaughterOfFrankenstein]

Bloody thorough. It's inspiring... makes me want to write something up for my patron saint.

[baronvonchaos]

Says Pendrake is just a Minion. The fact that he's a "Cygnar Ally Unit" makes him viable for the Highborne?

[Rahu]

That is correct sir!

[PG_vytzka]

Cœurs de Fer

Holy cow, what kind of letter is that?


The name of the game is WARMACHINE, and this article would be very unfinished indeed if I didn't dwell on the titular warmachines, otherwise known as warjacks. Rest assured, that is not the case.

Ashlynn is in a bit of an interesting spot when it comes to warjacks. It's not true that her army must be primarily infantry - you can run a very balanced force with quite a few jacks, as long as most of them are marshalled. Ashlynn herself tops out at around two - any more and they simply won't be doing anything much but roadblocking, so plan before the battle and arrange your resources wisely. If you take two beatstick jacks on Ashlynn (typically Nomads, sometimes one of them a Mangler) and/or Shaw with a melee jack, strongly consider also taking Lanyssa Ryssyl for Hunter's Mark and focus economy that provides. Finally, try to avoid marshalling more than one heavy on the same model, especially solo, because autonomous jacks aren't all that hot (Thor a possible exception, out of necessity and scarcity of Rhulic marshals).

Vanguard is THE Resistance jack, the Ashlynn jack and, well, a pretty amazing piece of work. Shield Guard, DEF 13/15 against charges, Reach and three initial attacks when charging, amazing armor on a light... what doesn't it have? P+S is not of heavy jack busting caliber so don't try, but it can kill units, solos and even warcasters so who cares. Primary problem is, ironically enough, that it's cheap enough to leave a jack point left over if you only take a lone Vanguard in a battlegroup. Some people learn to deal with it, some take something else (maybe even another Vanguard) or marshal all Vanguards in the army opting for a single more expensive jack (like a Nomad... or two). It's marshallable rather well by anybody, Shaw likes Reach for Flank, Meg likes great threat range with Off Road and number of attacks, The Dude can buff the gun and everybody likes Shield Guard. Theme list requires two of them in the battlegroup however which is far from the end of the world.

Buccaneer is wonderfully cheap and produces ranged knockdowns. That's pretty much it, and it's enough. It can use up leftover point from the Vanguard with little over the freebies when in the battlegroup and all marshals love it. Shaw gets cheapass Reach and rerollable knockdowns, Meg can do Assault very well, Devil Dogs love the knocked down models and Gun Mages have Snipe.

Talon is slightly lackluster compared to our other lights - more expensive than the Buccaneer and cheaper but seriously weaker than the Vanguard. Stall is a bit tricky to get maximum use out of too, considering that the enemy doesn't need to charge to get to the Talon itself. However it can be used relatively well with Shaw, and probably the best shot at using the model. With Powerful Charge it doesn't rely on rerolls too much on the initial attacks and then Stalls the target, setting it up for Shaw's Flanked beatdown.

Nomad is the bread and butter beatstick jack and works just about as well under Ashlynn as with anyone else since all it needs is a load of focus and a target to charge. You might even conceivably take two of them on her, or run one on Shaw and/or Meg.

Mangler is a Nomad on steroids. I'm not sure it's an optimal choice because the infantry handling capabilities are largely redundant and making use of the chain is a gamble. Maybe if you have all the two point solos you want, otherwise take one of those and a Nomad instead.

Freebooter is a subject contentious enough to cause flamewars wherever he goes. DEF 12 is NOT a neggligible advantage under Roulette, as are his Grab&Smashing talents, but it probably shouldn't be the first choice unless you're bored with your Nomad.

Mariner is an interesting choice with more synergy than it looks like at a first glance. Loader requires a living model in B2B and Lash prevents that model from being knocked down which is actually really cool for Ashlynn as long as you have a way to prevent the worst of blast damage (i.e. camp a bit of focus). Such a duo can make quite a bit of damage downrange, especially if Reinhold is around to reload Ashlynn's handcannon. If push comes to shove, the Mariner can also wade in and unload a can of whoopass with the anchor.

Mule is just amazing. All that needs to be said about it. While it should stay away from the battlegroup unless you're playing Mangled Metal (in which case I salute you) you have the best Mule marshals there are - Gun Mages with Snipe and even Devil Dogs with Drive:Pronto (there's also the second unit of Gun Mages with UA in the theme list if you're really cra^H^H^Hdedicated). Remember that criticals will sometimes inexplicably fail to show up even during the Roulette turn, in which case you're likely in trouble, but that's half the fun in gambling.


Finally, a few words on stout iron friends of the Rhulic persuasion. Generally, the only way these folks should ever find themselves in a Resistance army is being marshalled by Thor Steinhammer. Highshield Gun Corps is an option on paper but basic jack marshal bonus is extra lame and the wisdom of taking those folks themselves is somewhat questionable to begin with.

Grundback Gunner is not a bad piece for ranged assassinations, with Pronto up ahead, aiming, boosted hit and Tune Up'd damage (or the other way around really).

Grundback Blaster is not as efficient as when controlled by a warcaster, but infantry generally has either high DEF or ARM, making it a generally effective choice to Tune Up either hit or damage. Pronto movement can also let you maneuver into good spraying positions. Nevertheless, infantry disposal is one thing you shouldn't struggle with already.

Ghordson Driller - now we're cooking with gas! His drill will probably not pierce the heavens (Driller is too short) but this thing has two great initial attacks and costs a pittance. Tune Up the damage and buy an extra attack for the marshal bonus and it will do over 20 damage to a Khador heavy with no additional buffs. Charge is largely redundant with autoboosted damage and Pronto, but if you want extra distance movement buffs are available (such as Lanyssa Ryssyl).

Ghordson Basher - something I have almost no first hand experience with but it's still in the "cheap" territory. Doesn't need Tune Up really, so can be a second jack to the Driller if you really want to paint a bullseye on Thor. Slam things into similarly sized things or walls for extra damage and then run eEiryss next so they're useless for the next turn - while your marshalled jack doesn't give a toss. Pronto useful for setting up optimal slam angles, of course.

Wroughthammer Rockram - quite a mouthful, that name just has a delicious taste to it. With this one you pretty much need a way to get a free charge somehow, meaning Lanyssa - if you don't already have her in, maybe get something else. While Tune Up is best used on damage normally, on Roulette turn consider using it on attack and laugh at the criticals. However if you're putting it against something you're unlikely to cripple this turn and have epic Eiryss around, it could be worth it to fish for Critical Staggers with boosted hits anyway.

Ghordson Avalancher. Cool looking dude but things he's good at are redundant in Highborn and things he does that aren't redundant aren't good. I'm not even sure what the latter category would even consist of (beating people up with the shield? having ARM21?) but it was a cool sentence don't you think? People reportedly use him with Thor for Tune Upping damage rolls but I still don't see the attraction. I'd rather have another Mule.

[PG_vytzka]

Reserved, so as not to make it too fragmented if something doesn't fit/I get more ideas.

[Chaerae81B]

Once again, great work!
Being French, the special headers you have chosen for each troop category is great, although "Amour, Gloire et Beaute" is the equivalent of calling a faction 90210...Nevertheless hilarious.
A vibrant and rich community such as this has only strengthened my desire to play Warmachine.

...

My wallet hates you already by the way.