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So i'm just getting into the game, and am not really interested in buying a whole lot (as in nothing, besides the main box), gotta love the college budget. What are some good tactics to use with just the models in the battle box for retribution of sycrah?

Well, there's not a whole lot of beginning advice that can be given other than just play a bunch of games till you are very comfortable with the rules.

After that you can start slowly expanding and getting into the real tactical depth of the game.

The Chimera is an Arc Node, so you can cast spells through it. Use it to flank the enemy and get angles for your spell casting, or just use the extra range to keep your warcaster safe.

The Griffon is very fast, and durable for a Retribution light. So it can get an alpha strike off.

The Manticore is your heavy hitter.


Things to keep in mind are that Retribution jacks are very fragile compared to other factions. Less armor and less boxes. Use your superior speed to avoid problems and don't get caught, because you won't walk away from it.

this is what i was figuring just from unit descriptions. By alpha strike, what do you mean? does it have shooting? is charging a good Idea? The fragility think bothers me, does it hit comparatively hard to make up for it?

Actually the idea that retribution jacks are fragile is a fallacy. Due to the force fields, they are more resilient than other alot of other jacks in the game ( cryx has slightly higher def, but less armor and boxes [slayer chassis], cygnar has the same def/ armor but less boxes overall [ ironclad chassis]). On top of that they have a pretty nice damage grid, wich means, that they are less likely to lose systems. On top of that the griffon is propably the toughest light in the game for its low cost

So while they are not as fragile as most people make them out to be, enemy heavies will still maul your jacks pretty good. But due to kaelyssas feat and your high speed, you will be able to charge most enemies yourself before they are able to get to you.
Always remember, that kaelyssa is able to strip the enemy of focus/ fury with her gun and is quite capable to just shoot enemy casters herself due to phantom hunter and true sight.

As a general tip, i would magnetice the manticor ( or just dont build it completly) if you want to safe money. The manticore is a fine jack in itself, but it doesnt see play often in more competitive enviroments ( that does in no way mean its bad!). You could just buy an discordia upgrade kit , which would be rather cheap and will get you a jack that might be more useful to you later on ( after you got comfortable with the game and the battle box)

You know, kinda off the topic of this thread, but it has to do with retribution so I suppose this is as good a place as any.

Do you think anybody has ever done model conversion to actually represent the retribution Myrmidon's force fields? I think that could have some real potential if you got creative with that static water stuff or something.

Also, good faction choice! Warmachine elves are the only elves I can stand (I actually think they're pretty awesome). Just want to throw out that high praise from an unashamed elf hater.

And best of all, the elves come in three distinct flavors! Skorne, Nyss and Iosian.

Skorne aren't elves.

Please, lets not go into that argument again.

Anyway, pointy ears and long lived = elves. And evil masochist sadist pointy ears = dark elves

 Laughing Man wrote:
Skorne aren't elves.

Yes they are. They left the Iosians long ago and went east.

Actually no.


The Iosans came from a larger empire in the east and the Skorne were a nomadic society living on the fringes. Then there was the catalycism and Lyoss was destroyed. the survivors fled west and built Ios.

The Skorne became stronger and picked apart the remains of Lyoss for artifacts.


It is never directly stated if the Skorne are indeed related to Elves, but they do have similar physical characteristics and geographic origins. Thus we can safely assume until evidence to the contrary pops up that they have a common origin. Perhaps the Skorne were a failed creation by the elven gods before they made what we know as Elves.

 Surtur wrote:

 Laughing Man wrote:
Skorne aren't elves.

Yes they are. They left the Iosians long ago and went east.

No, they're not. I'll try to find the quote, but Doug Seacat himself said they're NOT Elves.

Here we go:

http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?13235-Nyss-Fluff-and-souls&p=203836&viewfull=1#post203836

Doug Seacat wrote:Skorne and elves are distinct races, and there is no indication that they are related in any way.

Indeed, but all that really means is they aren't genetically elves.

However, they fit the "Dark Elf" archtype like a glove so it is proper to call them elves from a technical standpoint.

 Grey Templar wrote:
Indeed, but all that really means is they aren't genetically elves.

However, they fit the "Dark Elf" archtype like a glove so it is proper to call them elves from a technical standpoint.

In the same way that dwarves are elves, yes.

 Platuan4th wrote:

 Surtur wrote:

 Laughing Man wrote:
Skorne aren't elves.

Yes they are. They left the Iosians long ago and went east.

No, they're not. I'll try to find the quote, but Doug Seacat himself said they're NOT Elves.

Here we go:

http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?13235-Nyss-Fluff-and-souls&p=203836&viewfull=1#post203836

Doug Seacat wrote:Skorne and elves are distinct races, and there is no indication that they are related in any way.

Ah I see. I must have misread the passage because I remember them splitting from the elves in some fashion.