Cygnar
Major Prime Victoria Haley
This might be the best, most interestingly designed caster that has ever been made. The depth that you can go through playing her is almost infinite. I'm not even sure where I would begin here. Every single model in this unit, and every single spell on her cards is relevant and knowing what to decide at the right time is going to be amazing. Its really between her and Anson for the best caster in the book, and I think that she's going to be something Cygnar sees for the foreseeable future.
Ace
This release is really cool primarily because this jack was first introduced in the Skull Island novella about Caine, and now his character jack has arrived! Basically looking at a Hunter, but he's lost the Armor Piercing round for a POW 12. In return he's gained a mini-feat for Stealth for itself and his controlling Warcaster that is in B2B and Rune Shots with Caine. I think that the first thing with this release is not to think of it as being an upgraded Hunter, because they do very different things. He has Trick Shot, so you have a Magic Bullet in any Caine list, Shadow Fire will be good often, and Thunderbolt is always fantastic! Also brings a big, boostable magic gun to the fight, which can be useful for sure. At 7 points I'm not always sure he's going to be brought to the foray, but he's certainly a contender.
Dynamo
Dynamo was the first release for this book-cycle, so it does seem like its a bit late to be reviewing the model. Starting with an extremely solid Cygnaran warjack statline and then adding in what is one of the most potentially brutal offensive ranged attacks they have in the army, this guy is very solid in the right list. He's definitely going to be a great choice for a force piloted by any of the Nemo's and often will be fantastic with Jakes too in many lists.
With the Affinity the re-rolls on the ranged attacks are very solid, in other lists you're likely going to want to make sure you give him some help to make sure those attacks hit.
Hurricane
This is a release that people weren't sure of because topping the Stormwall was going to be hard to do. I think in many cases, the Stormwall is the superior choice because it can deal with infantry a little better. I think the place you start looking at this guy for is if you have some way to enhance the lightning damage, if AOEs help your list and/or if your list would like to have an arcnode. With those POW 16 lightning guns though, I'm very interested in his play with Nemo3 certainly, and maybe some of the Haley's as well.
Trench Buster
The best thing that I can say about this release is that he's certainly flavorful. I don't know if there is a lot of design-space for Cygnar in the 3-point solo arena where they are likely to get something they need unfortunately. He's definitely an interesting inclusion though, and at minimum seems like the model would make an interesting IK RPG character/NPC.Protectorate of Menoth
Anson Durst, Rock of the Faith
There are three reasons that I think that Protectorate has won this book, and this guy is the biggest of those reasons. Boundless Charge in Protectorate solves the biggest problem that they've had. He also brings an amazingly resilient force to the table, and definitely wants to play warjacks which are a huge strength of the faction. Finding ways to get focus efficiency with him aren't too tough, and Protectorate can bring a lot of control and denial even without a caster leaving this guy free to wreck the opponent.
Purifier
A new light warjack on the Dervish chassis is definitely intriguing to me, mostly because a 13/16 light with the number of boxes that Protectorate jacks have is always something to note. Overtake is always handy, but a little bit at odds with the Chain Attack: Combustion rule most of the time. That last one is going to be tough to apply unfortunately. Flametrail seems intriguing with some of the options that can improve his SPD, but probably hard to apply. Solid melee light, not sure its going to get a lot of table time, but it may have a good niche.
Hand of Judgement
If you like fire, you like this guy. Feora's character jack is definitely worth his 10 points anytime you're basically all-in on the fire plan. Hits hard in melee, does a lot of damage with the spray. I'd definitely be looking hard to throw this guy in to any Feora plan I think.
Revelator
The only colossal to go up in points, and I think that its totally worth it here. Can ignore Stealth, does a POW 12 to a bunch of stuff under a template and can help the rest of the army also see through Stealth. Still packs a punch at dealing damage directly too, and of
Pyrrhus, Flameguard Hero
I've heard a lot of people who are mopey over this guy costing three points. He's an amazing character solo to come out. He has a laundry list of rules that are going to keep him fighting, and hitting hard. He'll definitely help bring those lists that are strong with Flameguard already to 11. I suspect that the model will also be gorgeous!
Khador
Obavnik Zerkova and Reaver Guard
This is a FANTASTIC addition to the faction! She's going to be able to get Greylord sprays to all sorts of places. This might be one of the best assassination threats AND infantry blenders that are in the faction. There is some overlap with a few other casters, but I think she's still bringing a unique threat and is also going to allow Khador to play a few models we don't see a lot of
Mad Dog
This guy IS a heavy for only 5 points. Has a lot of hit points, and has a decent amount of ARM. After that though, I'm not sure that there is enough here to make them worth fielding in a Khador army where Focus is a very limited staple. Additionally there are some rules at work here that aren't exactly thrilling with the likelihood of the jack exploding.
Rager
This guy on the other hand I'm thinking could be a pretty big deal. 6 points is a great price for an ARM 20 Shield Guard that can run for free. Having a gun is nice too. I think that we'll be seeing a decent amount of this guy on the table. Good addition for Khador if you ask me.
Ruin
Ten points for this jack is a damned steal in Khador. The only thing about this which makes me sad is just the fact that I don't think that we're going to really see Beast 09 too much anymore. MAT 8. Amazing. Cull Soul. Amazing. Orgoth Seal hindering magic attacks is quite nice. Oh yea, almost forgot, free charges at +2" with any of the Butchers. Given that most Khador pairs these days include at least one Butcher ... I'd expect to see plenty of this guy in the future no matter what side of Khador you're on.
Victor
Is it better than Conquest, at minimum for costing 18 points. I do think that the big cannon on the top of the guy is going to be solid. Its sounding like a lot of folks are disappointed in the guy, and I think that they just don't understand how Khador jacks work. Brute force but not high technology is the flavor of the mother lands. I do wish that the small guns were a little better, but I think when this gets out that we'll see its pretty solid.
Cryx
Deneghra, the Soul Weaver
I've not felt like I've heard a lot of strong feelings out of Cryx on her, but that doesn't shock me as they already have so much that is amazing in their faction that nothing is ever going to look better on paper in this category. She does something VERY important for the faction though, which is that she lets them load up warjacks every turn and do amazing things. Regardless of what people think, her spell list is great, and she doesn't need to really use focus to get any of that out there. She can also camp to the point of being very difficult to stop.
Shrike
Its a non-arcnode light warjack in Cryx that isn't Cankerworm or a Stalker, so people think that its bad. There are a lot of little things that it does that other things don't, so I think it'll be worth some investigations in the faction, but its not the most amazing release by any means either.
Barathrum
Another jack that people are mopey on that I think has some promise. AD and Dig In helps him get there as well as be safe from ranged attacks. Drag Below means that he can keep doing that through out the game. Obviously people wish that you could Counter Charge and Dig In, but its not always how things work. POW 17 is pretty hard hitting in Cryx for a jack, it gets a focus for free. Feedback is the icing here. I don't think Terminus is where I'd see this model, but its going to have a place if people explore this.
Sepulcher
Strictly an upgrade from the Kraken? Not quite, but its damned close. It also lets you play with a 3rd and/or 4th Necrosurgeon in a list and still have a lot of ranged firepower. Amazing addition to this faction, definitely going to see table time, and might make a lot of lists even better. Probably going to see it most of the time with Mechanithralls in the list, but yea.
Soul Trapper
Two models for a point, and they do one simple job ... collect souls for the rest of Cryx to abuse. Obviously they are a good necessity for Deneghra3, but for their low cost there are a LOT of things in Cryx that will be stronger with these guys. Sometimes it can be amazing how a small point solo can have on a faction.
Retribution of Scyrah
Thyron, Sword of the Truth
With all of the excitement that we've heard from Anson and Haley3, this guy has barely been the talk of anyone. However, he's going to bring an entirely different style to the faction, which is amazing! Pathfinder has been a problem for their melee forces. Some hard hitting melee is just the sort of thing that the faction needs to help mix it up certainly. I'm not sure just now how I'd build his force, but I think that its going to start to shake things up and get Retribution evermore close to the pinnacle of the game!
Moros
I like this guy, I know he's been out for a bit. I don't know if he's enough to prop up Garryth at the moment, but a Stealth light that has Grievous Wounds on its weapons and a VERY relevant gun for the decent price of 6 points. Yes please.
Helios
This guy is going to be fantastic just because of how hard it'll be to deal with him. Can make himself DEF 12 for a focus, can push heavies away for a focus. Being able to dole out a focus for a bunch of jacks will have some situational brilliance. The lack of a gun is going to be rough, but I do think 3 potential 3" moves is going to be good at the right time. The kickers here are two different things, one being that its 17 points. The other one that's pretty important is that its immune to fire, which is going to make it pretty rough on Legion and Protectorate.
House Vyre Electromancers
Very interesting unit, I think that being able to get that many electroleaps is going to make them strong. That said they don't have the strongest of defensive stats, which might be a deal. They also have the problem of their points and models putting them close to the Stormfall Archers, which are already quite strong.
Soulless Voidtracer
Cute solo, not sure how often I see people reach for it, but it is always good to have another 1 point option that might be able to get a few things done.
Mercenaries
Cognifex Cyphon
Another solid option for Cephalyx which I think will help them begin to round out their subfaction. Dialing the faction's hitting power from the Monstrosities up to 11 is fantastic, and helping with their problem with Pathfinder is great. I do think Exulon is in general the better warcaster, but I think this guy will be a good 2nd list for the Cephalyx.
Devil's Shadow Mutineers
These so far have been an amazing addition to Cryx, but I'm not sure how they are with Mercs and that's who they play for. I do think they're very solid though and should be experimented more in Mercs and possibly in Cryx as well.
Sergeant Nicolas Verendrye
Very interesting addition. He helps make the Steelheads a lot stronger, and his Tough bubble is actually really good. He definitely makes the Steelhead cav a LOT stronger and I think that they're a good option with him and he's making them fantastic.
Swamp Gobber River Raiders
These guys are cute certainly, might be able to make them annoying in some lists and they don't cost that many points. I'm not overly impressed with them though and I don't know that they'll often make the cut.
Hammerfall Siege Crawler
Another battle engine, but I'm still not sure where the design space is for this. I think if you want to play it at 9 points that you'll be able to get 9 points of work out of it much of the time. However, I also don't think it'll be a "must have" either.
