Return to Cygnar

Light them up.

I didn't think this would ever happen, but it did.  It must be all the OT I've been doing for Reaper of Souls on console, but I've finally decided to get back into Warmachine.  Warmahordes has been the biggest thing in my area for the longest time and it's about time I get back into it.  I'm tired of seeing so many players show up and get games left and right, and I do miss the competitive aspect of the game in some regards.  Hell, if I want to play a competitive game, it  better be popular and well-supported.

Just like last time, I'm getting back into it because a friend's taking a stab at it.  I left the game as a pretty advanced player and I only really lost a handful of times the 2 years I played the game.  Guess what?  I'm going to do it all over again with Cygnar.  I promised myself I'll start small because I don't feel like blowing too much cash early, so 35 points is where I'm going to start.

Check it out, deja'vu much?

Points: 35/35
Captain Allister Caine (*5pts)
* Ol' Rowdy (9pts)
* Squire (2pts)
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team (4pts)
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt (4pts)
Rangers (5pts)
Tempest Blazers (Leader and 4 Grunts) (10pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1pts)
Taryn di la Rovissi (2pts)

The biggest thing that changed when I left the game is that I left shortly after Colossals got released.  When you think about it, that's not a very long time ago.  I wasn't really excited about the oversized jacks in terms of aesthetics, but I found that their introduction into the game was well-executed.  The main reason why I left the game was that I found certain lists to be very cookie-cutter (as you'll see below) and that I was seeing mostly the same things ever game.

No matter.  Now that I'm back and playing the boys in blue, I think I'm going to make smarter purchase decisions.  When I left the game, I practically had every single Cygnar unit in the game.  God knows that most of that shit blows and there's only a few things in Warmachine infantryhammer that's worth taking when you're playing Cygnar.  In terms of raw competitiveness, I would say there's a handful of models I plan on purchasing in the near future.  I will eventually build into a dual list SR2014 type of play, but for now I think I'll stick with this.  I've also decided to just focus on eCaine and eHaley as my primary casters:  Not only do I have the most experience with these  two, but most of the units are interchangeable with the exception of the Stormwall.  That's another story for another time though.

OK, so what do we have here?  Well, there's not much to say:  It's your standard Caine2 list with a few personal preferences.  One of the things I hated about Warmachine is how similar some lists look because the options are really that braindead.  For me, if I'm going to be playing with Caine2, I'm always going to have Rowdy, Squire, B13, Rangers, eEiryss, and Reindholt.  Oh, and I should probably include Taryn now because of her ridiculous 2013 FAQ changing how her Shadowfire works.  That's pretty much 21 points of auto-include for my list before I add anything else.  So what am I going to do for the next few points?  Add Tempest Blazers because they're god damn amazing and A&H because POW14 Spellstorms are godlike.  At 50 points, you're just adding Boomhowler + Co and 4 points of whatever the hell you want.

For those of you that might not be familiar with how this list works, I'll try to keep things brief.  I've literally ran this list a hundred times on the table and on Vassal, so this should be like riding a bike.

• Ol'Rowdy - One of the best jacks that Cygnar has.  MAT8, great Focus efficiency, above average armor and solid pricing.  The biggest boon that he offers Caine2 is that he doesn't need much focus to get the job done, and MAT8 AoE Knockdowns makes everything cry.
• Squire - Caine takes a bite and he's up one shot.  Also allows Caine2 to occasionally Arcane Bolt the pesky Eiyriss with the help of Squire re-roll.
• Black 13th - Utility and damage all over the place.  Ryan is the best with her POW12 cloud, but everyone else has their place due to their damage output.
• Aiyana and Holt - Extra 2x RAT8 Handcannon shots are nice, but the big one here is what Aiyana offers to the table.  Kiss allows you to do +2 damage to something, and for a faction like Cygnar which has piss-poor overall damage, this is absolutely huge.  All of a sudden POW10 guns start to matter and POW12 from Caine kicks like a horse hoof to the face.
• Rangers - The bravest of all Cygnar units.  Does nothing all game but run up one at a time like suicidal retards to give your shooty units +2 RAT.  Mark Target makes Caine one of the most accurate things in existence; allowing you to hit DEF16 all day on 5s.
• Tempest Blazers - I had to read these guys a couple of times when I first saw them.  They have amazing stats, prime Blur targets and fantastic mobility.  Add on the amazing runeshots and light cav movement and you've got yourself the best light cav in the game IMO.
• eEiryss - You need a way to be able to peel off buffs so you can further shoot things in the face the way you want to.  Stuff like Defender's Ward or whatever just negates Caine's killing potential and that's just no good.
• Reinholdt - His sole purpose in life is to give Caine an extra shot.
• Taryn di la Rovissi - In short, she's Caine's life partner from now until FAQ'd again.  The fact that her Shadowfire can figuratively remove a model from Caine's LoS is flat out godlike.  This means that no matter what, no one can hide behind another model while within 19" of Caine and feel good about their chances.

Like I said gents.. like riding a bike.  Now for the painful process of putting everything together again.