what now?

[hulksmash1964]

yay :-) just got the magnus battlegroup set on ebay!!!

so . . . what do i do now? guessing some updated stat cards wouldn't be the worst idea in the world ;-)

[studderingdave]

get a second renegade as your immediate next purchase

[hulksmash1964]

yeah i just read that exact same thing on battle college. just out of curiosity, and as i don't yet have the merc faction book (will likely be picking it up tomorrow), what's the point value of the magnus battlebox under mkII rules?

[MagnustheJust]

It's 12 points -

Talon - 4
Renegade - 6
Mangler - 8



As for what to get after the second Renegade, do you own any other Warma/Hordes minis, or is this the start for you?

[hulksmash1964]

thanks for the points costs :-) i have a somewhat smallish cygnar army (maybe 25 points worth) but nothing that i could really use with magnus (i.e. no long gunners or trenchers).

[MagnustheJust]

Then you pretty much have carte blanche to put just about what ever you want with Mags so long as it is Four Star Syndicate or theme force legal...

Grabbing the Merc book would be a great idea at this point, because then you could see nearly everything available - the Rover, Rocinante, Ragman, and Mr.Hip-Saddle from Wrath being the exceptions.

[mikethefish]

get a second renegade as your immediate next purchase

It's not necessary actually. One Renegade is great, hands down. On the other hand, two Renegades are pretty good, but not the auto-buy they used to be. IMO the 2nd Renegade gives you much less returns than the 1st one.

Personally, my next buy would be a plastic Merc heavy kit. Magnus LOVES him a pair of heavy jacks! Gives him a great Temper Metal target.

[JohnOSpencer]

Well, it qualifies for tier 1 of his Theme force, which makes Renegades 1 point cheaper...so it can be 11 points.

[cfox5012]

I have to say that 2 renegades is awesome especially if you go for his Tier list. Other things that work great with him are stealhead units, whichever ones u like. Also Boomholwer and Co. are great. Mules are great targets for Sniple and Nomads are great for Iron Aggresion and low point cost. Just find what you like to play (poxy if you need to) and then wreck some face! Good luck.

[brotherscott]

I will second Boomhowler & Co. and the Steelheads for Magnus, and third (fourth?) the second Renegade. One is good, two is better. They are arc nodes after the shot, and walking chainsaw death as well. Most opponents forget they are arc nodes until you can pop something on a model that they didn't see coming. Having two doubles your threats and keeps your opponent on their toes.

If you make the step up to eMagnus, then a second Mangler can be a lot of fun as well...

Oh, yeah- updated cards would be good as well.

[hulksmash1964]

yay i got the faction book :-)

and the faction deck. and the template set. and the token set.

and now there is much reading to be done :-P

[PG_Devilsquid]

Steeelheads are always a suggestion from me, because not only are they good and thematic with Magnus, they'll work for any of our casters in Highborn and 4 Star.

[hulksmash1964]

yeah the steelhead stuff looks pretty decent at first glance. although to be honest what *really* caught my eye on my first flip thru the faction book was the risen unit. as i'm gonna be sitting on 12 points worth of an army from the magnus battlebox, a unit of risen will bump me up to 17. really wish i could squeeze a max unit of steelhead rifles into a 25 point list but @ 9 points, that'd put me @ 26 (one point over). so, min unit of SH rifles takes me to 22, and leaves me 3 points to find a decent solo to fill out the points. which looking at the book right now would appear to be eiryss (of either variety, although i'm kinda liking the non-epic version at the moment).

damn . . . easiest 25 point list i ever wrote ;-)

[MarneusBigFists]

I'd say take the Talon out and replace him with a Renegade. The old tactic of ramming two pow 16's in your enemies face never gets old.

[pattison]

This is what the Magnus battlebox inspired me to add:
http://privateerpressforums.com/show...gs-T4!-(35pts)

[Bingo the Fun Monkey]

Well, with the battlebox and an extra Renegade, you have a highly effective heavy hitter that can go against hard single targets or swaths of infantry with roughly equal efficacy. Your renegades provide you with range for arcing your spells as well as using pMagnus' real feat: the Obliterater Rockets.

There are now a couple of routes for you to take your collection. A Theme Force friendly purchase would be Greygore Boomhowler & Co., better known as the Troll Pit. Having this unit in your collection is (and I'm sure many will disagree) as significant as having Gun Mages if you're playing Highborn.

Getting your hands on a Nomad/Rover/Mule will be a solid call. They're the faction's bread and butter, in my opinion (unlike the Nyss Hunters, who are Cygnar's).

That's just my 2 cent. Doubtless, you'll probably have a more solid idea of how you want to expand your collection once you have the Mercenaries Force Book in your hands.

[hulksmash1964]

in general, i definitely like the idea of a theme force, but in pMagnus' case, his theme force seems a little too . . . ummm . . . restrictive, i guess would be the best way to put it. i dunno, maybe it's just 'cause i really really like alexia the risen unit, and that's not available to his theme force. other than that, the steelhead stuff all looks really good, eiryss looks interesting, and i definitely want to see if i can work in another heavy 'jack at some point.

[PG_Devilsquid]

Instead of a second renegade, you could add in a Nomad for a second beatstick/temper metal target. A unit of Halberdiers and Alexia/Risen is a good combo, as your unit would feed Alexia. That'd put you at 22pts, and then you can add a solo if you like.

[mikethefish]

i dunno, maybe it's just 'cause i really really like alexia the risen unit, and that's not available to his theme force.

Play a bit more - you will see that Alexia is great, but hardly a must-take. Personally I feel the loss of Rupert more than Alexia.

pMagnus actually has one of the more useful theme lists for a couple of reasons: It's very easy to hit Tier 4, and he has since he has such a HUGE amount of upkeeps and having the ability to start with all your spells in play increases his 1st turn mobility MASSIVELY. Quite frankly, I can make do with Gorman, Kell (with free terrain) some jacks and a buttload of steelheads as long as they all pretty much get to run on Turn one without suffering any loss of spells/defenses.

[pattison]

Personally I feel the loss of Rupert more than Alexia.

This.
And yep, with advance moving SHs and all your upkeeps out in turn0 you're pretty much behind your self made cover in turn1 at 20".