While collecting your Cygnar army, you will see use out of certain models again and again. Starting with the Cygnar Battlebox, the following models are also solid additions to any Warmachine army.
What to Order
Apprentice
Journeyman Warcaster
The Journeyman comes in two models. The original male model and a later alternate female model.
A Journeyman Warcaster can handle at least one of your warjacks for the duration of a battle, spending one focus point each turn to upkeep the Arcane Shield Spell and assigning two focus to its warjack. Arcane shield brings a nice buff that not all the warcasters are able to cast. In a pinch, the Journeyman can fire its gun, boosting both the attack and damage rolls with two focus.
The best jacks to use with the Jr. Warcaster tend to be our longer range shooty jacks like the Defender or Hunter. The long range of the guns allows Jr. to stay away from alot of enemy threats. As a warcaster the warjack they control goes inert if she dies unlike jack marshalled warjacks. Becasue of this a common tactic to use against Jr. is to snipe them from afar or send in a fast melee solo to kill them off.
Warcaster Support
Squire
The Squire extends your warcaster's control area, gives it a re-roll when it casts magical spell attacks, AND it provides extra focus over the course of a game.
Swiss Army Knife of Cygnar
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages
There are two sculpts for the Arcane Tempest Gun Mages. Pictured below is the original box.
2011 will see the release of a box featuring re-sculpts.
Gun Mages are highly accurate, difficult to hit and low armor models that have several tools that will take a while to get the hang of. They can provide close range fire support, combine fire for an effective template attack, or even move enemy models around with their pistols.
The Gun Mage Officer UA is a must have. Truesight really makes these guys shine and they are able deal with the majority of those pesky stealth models. Most stealth models are fragile so they have plenty of firepower and range (with snipe bullets) to deal with them.
The added bonus of including the officer is that it makes the unit able to Jack marshal warjacks. Defenders and hunters both shine with the ammo choices they gain access to. Cyclone can also benefit, but it does not effect covering fire. The defender and cyclone also both add some melee ability to the unit.
Use them with the various ranged enhancements that Cygnar has to offer and your opponents will be crying foul from the acrid smell of arcane gunpowder.
Hunting High Armor
Hunter
The Hunter is a light warjack with a long range gun that has the Armor Piercing Ability. Give it one or two focus each turn, tear some damage into a heavy from 14" away, and never worry about being engaged and unable to fire its gun thanks to the Parry Ability.
The warjack even works well marshaled or assigned to a journeyman warcaster.
Advanced deployment, pathfinder and snipe allow the hunter to start shooting very early in the game.
The major drawback of the hunter is that is doesn't do much against small bases. You definately will need to boost the damage. And against small based warcasters it usually will not be effective.
Gun Mages of the 13th
Black 13th
A powerful toolbox unit that comes in cheap money-wise and points-wise making it very popular. Goes really well with the battlebox to make a 15 point force.
The B-13 are useful for all the things they can do for the few points they cost. They can deal with stealth, masses of infantry, solos, etc. They have some problems dealing with very high armor but a nice brutal dmg roll can hurt all but the most heavily armored units.
Ryan is usually considered the most powerful of the three becasue of her AOE. It is a strong aoe to begin with and then it sticks around as a cloud effect. This is often used to deny the enemy access to parts of the table. Most enemies will focus on taking out Ryan first because of all the things she can do with her AOE.
In the Trenches
Trencher Infantry Unit
PIP 31073 (10 models)
6 or 10 points will provide you 6 or 10 models that will act as a speedbump against enemy advances. in addition, your speedbump starts on the table 6" close thanks to the Advanced Deployment Ability. In addition, they can throw cloud effects to block LOS to support elements in your army.
Other options for infantry units are Stormblades and Precursors. Both of these units are popular and have multiple benefits.
Conclusion
Familiarize yourself with these Cygnaran tools, and you'll find a place for at least some of these models in many of your Cygnar armies.
