Initial Wrath Reaction

So Wrath happened and pretty much everybody is quite happy with it. For Mercs it brings a bunch of great toys to play around with and ultimately making the faction as a whole a lot stronger. Let us have a look at the releases for Mercs:



Warcaster(s) (Yes, we got two):

Constance Blaize (Cygnar Ally Morrowan): She looks like a lot of fun. Crusader's Call is great and otherwise her spell list looks solid. Precursors are a must with her and I would not leave without Gallant, her character 'Jack. She'll also get Flank from Harlan Versh, which could make for interesting combinations. I am not sure about her feat yet, though. It could be really good, but it relies on your opponent killing your stuff and failing to do so it becomes useless. I suppose we'll have to get them into a do-or-die situation and then pop it forcing them to kill our troops. Luckily, Precursors are great to exert pressure on the opponent.

Captain Damiano: Spoiled previously in NQ magazine. I played him only now though and boy is he good. There is nothing he doesn't improve in your army. He is not a one-trick pony, nor is he very one sided. He just overall makes the army brutal to deal with. His spell list is arguably the best in the game with each and every spell being amazing. Combined with Wishnailer (Wyshnalyr or w/e) and Rocinante he becomes very hard to kill (Def 19 vs. melee and 17 against the rest with no KD while within 3" of Rocinante). Combined with Paymaster for Steelheads and his feat he just relentlessly moves up the board with his army. So far he is my favourite caster because I like all-comers play style and he just simply embodies this more than any other caster.

Warjacks:

Rover: Rover could be interesting. With three initial attacks and decent ARM he could put some hurt on. I see him working well with Montador potentially, but sadly do not feel the love for it too much. I just prefer Jacks with Reach unless they provide some other utility while Rover just seems like an armored 'beat stick'. He'll be quite nice to hold a flank though and exert pressure.

Rocinante: Instantly fell in love with Damiano's noble steed, err 'Jack. Rocinante brings a lot to the table. For 9 points we get a Nomad with a gun and improved stat-line. In addition he has Guard Dog and Defensive Strike keeping Damiano safe until it is time to strike. With Damiano he also gets Quick Work, which when combined with Warpath opens up interesting damaging potential. Charge something, kill it, Quick Work shot, kill that, move from Warpath into something else, buy an attack, kill it, Quick Work shot again. Alternatively you can just move him back to protect Damiano again. Super solid 'Jack and I cannot wait for the model to be released. Rocinante also helps other Warcasters a lot, Ashlynn being DEF 19 vs. everything while she has Quicken up on herself will cause headaches to a lot of opponents, combined with Admonition vs. non-shooty things it makes her extremely survivable.

Gallant: Very solid 'Jack with Constance Blaize and quite self-sufficient especially versus Upkeeps due to Purgation. Getting Focus off Precursors is also very good helping Constance out quite a bit so she can use her great spells. In addition, the model looks fantastic (if you remove a few ribbons).

Units:

Ogrun Assault Commando: The only unit we are getting with Wrath and in my eyes a bit of a disappointment. They are quite pricey and just do not fill a niche that is not already filled. They could be decent in a pure Searforge list, but outside of that I do not see much benefit to them. Even with Durgen they do not quite shine as there is enough blasts flying around already and a 6/9 unit does not provide much benefit. As RobertShepherd put it on the boards: "They're good with Madhammer in the same way that tomato sauce goes well with a bowl already full of tomato sauce."

Solos:

Sylys Wyshnalyr (aka Wishnailer): Well, he does nail wishes. When I first heard the spoilers I assumed that he can use one of his three abilities per turn and for two points I was quite content with that, it seemed decent. However, it turns out two of his abilities (Upkeeping and +2 RNG on spells) are passive while in his CMD while the S'nP equivalent is a *Action RNG 3, so he can essentially provide all three to the Warcaster each turn, which makes him super bonkers good. Damiano just loves him and I don't see why a caster wouldn't for two points. He is just so freaking amazing. Totally in love what he brings to the table

Ragman: A little tricky to use properly I think, but with proper placement and Steelheads he can help Damiano and company to put on a lot of hurt if stacked properly (Hello there, Mat 9 Pow17 4d6 charges on the cav). Boneshaker also is a nice spell that can help peeling off Banes in all forms, which is always welcome.

I will need to test a bit more to give more refined answers, but so far I am loving it. I am also very curious how the other factions' things will stack up. The Khadoran Decimator looks very scary, it being a Devastator with two 4" AoE guns and Bulldoze. If you have other opinions let me know in the comments, or if you found some other shenanigans that make for a fun experience on one side of the table.

Over and out,
Malarowski