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I'm starting a merc army, Highborn Covenent. I love the idea of a Laellese resistance.
I have so far,
Ashlynn
Fionna
Mule
Buccaneer
Alexia and risen.

My plan is to get a unit of halberdiers to go in front of the zombie horde and feed Alexia's undead army.
Also, I plan to get the arcane tempest gun mages and officer and attach the Mule to them.
Also, possibly Gastone to run another jack.

Does anyone have experience with merc armies and can offer advice on units, tactics and strategy?
I'll be sticking with these two casters for a while and I don't care about the Dwarven stuff.

If you're running Steelheads, you'll want to get the new Steelhead solo when he comes out.

Halberdiers are a blank canvass. They're there to get buffs, because without them they die horribly.

Riflemen are a good ranged unit. The idea is just to use them to do 2 man CRAs.

Steelhead Cavalry are one of the better cav units in the game, hard hitting and durable. Especially when benefitting from Flank with Halberdiers.

 Grey Templar wrote:
If you're running Steelheads, you'll want to get the new Steelhead solo when he comes out.

Halberdiers are a blank canvass. They're there to get buffs, because without them they die horribly.

Riflemen are a good ranged unit. The idea is just to use them to do 2 man CRAs.

Steelhead Cavalry are one of the better cav units in the game, hard hitting and durable. Especially when benefitting from Flank with Halberdiers.

I was thinking of using the Ordic piper guy to give the Steel Head guys 'tough.'

He's definitely a good choice. Although that new Steelhead solo also gives models in a very short distance tough as well. Taking both isn't a bad idea though.

 Grey Templar wrote:
He's definitely a good choice. Although that new Steelhead solo also gives models in a very short distance tough as well. Taking both isn't a bad idea though.

The Ord piper can tough the steelheads and after they turn to zombies, he can tough them too.

I'm also thinking of running multiple net throwing Buccaneers and a freebooter just for kicks.

My Nomad will get the bonus effects from the arcane gun mages, but the freebooter will (hopefully) have lots of knocked down targets to choose from. Not really super optimal, but it does seem like fun, especially with 20 zombies blocking charge lanes.

But this is all theory. Anyone have practical advice on any of these units?

If you want to go with the bucaneers you may want to consider a unit of Devil dogs. They have a very nice jack marshall ability and they also take advantage of knocked down models or can knock them down themselves.

Leo_the_Rat wrote:
If you want to go with the bucaneers you may want to consider a unit of Devil dogs. They have a very nice jack marshall ability and they also take advantage of knocked down models or can knock them down themselves.

Good advice! I didn't think about them.

The knockdown on a stick is cute, but you really have to weigh if its worth the investment. I think it can be worth it if you go with a couple Marshalled buccaneers, but have anything meant to take advantage of it on your caster. Maybe a Freebooter. With 3 Focus it can tear up a heavy, however that is a lot of points banking on your buccaneers being successful. There are a fair number of matchups with immunity to knockdown. At that point you're talking 8-9 points for the unit, 6 points for the Buccaneers, and another 6 for the Freebooter. The Freebooter also really suffers if he isn't attacking a knocked down target. Pow14 on a heavy is really bad, and Trash only takes it to average(17.5 equivalent)

Any PoM list with the Covenant, pMadrak lists, Wolds, etc...

Don't forget that this would only be 1 list in a tournament. He would still be able to have a second list to deal with the casters you're talking about.
He already has 2 casters so why not let him experiment with a list or 2?

Leo_the_Rat wrote:
Don't forget that this would only be 1 list in a tournament. He would still be able to have a second list to deal with the casters you're talking about.
He already has 2 casters so why not let him experiment with a list or 2?

That does bring up a good point. My alternate list.
I need armor cracking.
Besides a colossal, what's the best way to go about armor cracking?

Aiyana and Holt are general purpose enablers. -2 arm helps kill just about anything.

Nomads are a little bare bones, but they are cheap and hit reasonably hard. Plus they have a 10" charge threat and reach so they have good threat projection.

If you need armor cracking without a colossal you're going to want Damiano. Ironically, in the fluff he's hired by Llael to assist Ashlynn's army against menoth "assistance". On a side note I wouldn't run the mule if you're not running multiple ranged threats. I really like double vanguard on Gastonne with Ashlynn because the shield guard allows her to safely move up the field

The Mule is very good when Marshalled by Gunmages. It loves having access to Runeshots. And getting a Crit Devastation on a Thunderbolt shot is hilarious.

Don't forget trying it under Ashlynn's feat as well. Knockdowns become a real possibility at that point.