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First things first, forget about the searforge contract immediately (unless you really have your heart set on it). It has some cute benefits but the restrictions it places on your army list is unbearable - it basically rules out using all of the mercs that make mercs playable. I tried Searforge contracts the first couple times I ran rhulic and it was awful. Switching to Highborn covenant basically removes all of the restrictions you get with searforge by allowing you access to all mercs that work with cygnar which is the vast majority of them. It also gives you the ability to take ATGM in your list which adds a fantastic and much needed dynamic to the low SPD/low DEF rhulic lists.
Lets break down Gorten's focus usage: He has two good upkeep spells plus one hell of a gun that you really really want to take advantage of since it is one of the hardest hitting ranged weapons in the game and it has good range. He has low RAT however, so you will want to be shooting at low def multi wound models which also means you will want to be boosting it alot. SO, that leaves him with 2 focus per turn at most which would be just barely enough to run the two blasters and have no focus left for camping. Once you get your driller into melee, you will have zero focus for those gunners/blasters let alone anything left to cast rockwall or camp. For this reason, I generally do not take any gunners/blasters until I get to 35+ points. Instead I take a basher early on since it can generally fulfill the blaster's infantry clearing roll pretty well. Plus, Gorten increases it's weak POW so that it can effectively kill other heavies.
Lets talk infantry: Hammerfall highshields - mediocre shooting infantry that are slow, easy to hit, but have really obnoxiously high ARM for a shooting unit making them basically immune to AOE attacks. If you run Highborn covenant then you can take ATGMs which are better at shooting, faster, and much more difficult to hit. Their big weakness is their low ARM stat but Gorten makes them immune to blast damage with his aura so it is not that big of a problem. Pair them with the Forgeguard and rockwalls to inhibit movement and they can be extremely difficult to deal with. Forgeguard are your bread and butter for just about every rhulic list (except for Durgen). They are just very solid infantry that dont really need any support. However! If you run Highborn, then you can get Rupert corvalo to support them, making them extremely solid infantry. Thor steinhammer is a must have in all rhulic lists, he runs a basher really well or a gunner just as well as if he was under your warcaster. Ogrun Bokurs are awesome solos as well. They appear to have low MAT for a 3pt solo, but, if they hit a target with a charge and are near their client, they have an MAT of 10 and a POW high enough to severely damage a light warjack or enemy warcaster. Other Mercs that I like to take with Gorten's highborn list are: Gorman di Wolfe for the blind grenades. Works great with a basher that can slam heavies together for multiple blinds. Harlan Versh: same deal as with ATGMs, provides awesome ranged support and deals with upkeeps on infantry for you. Rupert corvalo: for toughness and pathfinder on your forgeguard. Sylys: gives gorten a free upkeep each turn.
I have never used the arcanist corps. They seem to be a very close range/melee infantry killer. Sort of redundant if you have ATGMs, harlan versh, and a basher/blasters/gunners.
Some may disagree but I just think the searforge commission contract is not competitive because it is too restrictive on your options. Highborn allows all the same models, plus dozens more plus ATGMs which are one of the best ranged support/toolbox units in the game which is also something rhul severely lacks.
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