Monday Mercenary Mutterings: All This and Magnus2

So in the great headlong stampede of undomesticated equines that is Mark III, it looks like Magnus2 (or Magnus the Warlord, technically) is coming out at the head of the pack for Mercenaries. As is turning out to be the norm with this edition, that's putting a lot of preconceptions from the previous edition a bit on their heads.

Magnus2 hasn't changed a lot from his mkII incarnation, yet the changes he does have are significant - he dropped his warjack bond in favor of Field Marshal: Unyielding (as well as gaining Unyielding himself), and swapped Mobility for Escort, which doesn't grant pathfinder, but DOES give him additional ARM and is an upkeep rather than an expensive drain on focus each turn.

His feat is unchanged and still arguably one of the most powerful in the game, and can flat out deny an entire half or more of the board to an enemy, which I think lets you be more cavalier with choosing models you like and that work with your play style over the generic "best in show".

The important result of the changes, taken with rules like Power Up, is that Magnus 2 can now do what it seemed he always really wanted to do - run a block of warjacks very, very well.

The first and obvious choice to run with him is the Renegade - the restricted, one-shot, crazy assassination light 'jacks of mkII. However, given that a few high-POW shots aren't going to do in most warcasters now thanks to the changes to Power Field, I'm seeing their usefulness more in terms of an Arc Node and a decent later-game melee weapon, backed up by the threat of an inconvenient knock-down or backfield-destroying Obliterator shot, for which taking a single one doesn't seem like a bad idea.

The next choice (for me) is Gallant - ARM 19 for Unyielding, DEF 13 for Bullet Dodger, Sacred Ward to (mostly) keep it there, Purgation to take out Colossals or Gargantuans with an upkeep or animus up, and good MAT to make up for Magnus2 not doing a lot to help in that category. There are way too many synergies here, to the point that I'd say Magnus2 runs Gallant arguably almost as well as Blaize. He even half powers himself if you include other Morrowan models, which lets you use more focus on other jacks.

Since Gallant works so well with him, it's worth looking at Precursor Knights. Since this list is skewing towards high ARM anyway, DEF 13/ARM 18 shield wall models aren't a bad choice, and with the UA giving Practiced Manuevers, they can be very forgiving to rapid re-deployments (especially following a feat turn). 

The UA makes them even more self sufficient, which is just fine since Magnus2 isn't giving them the time of day support-wise save for some incidental control thanks to the feat and Obliteration - which is also fine because they wouldn't take any help from him anyway because freaking Spell Ward, jerk. Given Magnus2's fluffy not-so-amicable relationship with the Church of Morrow (Blood of Kings is a great read, by the way...), having Morrowans in his army at all is sort of a "lets not tell our superiors about this one" situation, and I like that.

Anyway, on to the lists!

List 1: Mercenary 75pt

Magnus2 (Magnus the Warlord)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker

* Gallant
* Nomad
* Nomad
* Renegade
Ogrun Bokur
Harlan Versh, Illuminated One
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord
Gobber Tinker
Brun Cragback
* Lug
Precursor Knights (Leader and 9)
* Precursor Knight Officer & Standard

This list is a slightly modified variant of one I noticed on the forums (courtesy of Erpman), with a few specific changes - one, I wanted a Renegade in there, and secondly, I am not altogether sold on Talons at this point. I also lack Freebooters, so instead of going out and buying some, I'm going to try the list with 2 Nomads first, which I think is a good swap since having 2 more points of ARM stacks better with Unyielding. I have Brun and Lug as well as Precursor Knights, neither of whom get a lot of use, so using them together appeals to me in a lot of ways. 

I don't think it would be a bad call to drop a Nomad for a Freebooter, which lets you upgrade the Tinker to a generally-more-useful 4pt solo - or drop Versh as well and take Aiyana and Holt, which seems like a useful double-down with Calamity. As a matter of fact, that looks like such a good combination that it might warrant it's own entry here:

List 2: Mercenary 75pt

Magnus2 (Magnus the Warlord)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker

* Gallant
* Nomad 

* Renegade
* Freebooter
Ogrun Bokur
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord
Brun Cragback
* Lug

Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Precursor Knights (Leader and 9)
* Precursor Knight Officer & Standard

Between Magnus2, the Renegade, the Bokur, and Brun/Lug, there's enough knockdown in this list to keep the Freebooter happy, and enough Throw potential to clear out objectives if needed (I've noticed most objective-contesting models these days are heavy jacks). I think this list will have some problems against gunline lists, but that's to be expected in mk3 with anything that doesn't outright ignore shooting or happens to be a better gunline. 

The Bokur and Escort should help keep Magnus2 alive, and that feat outright covers up a multitude of list holes.

List 3: Mercenary 75pt
Magnus2 (Magnus the Warlord)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker

* Gallant
* Nomad
* Renegade
* Freebooter

* Talon
Harlan Versh, Illuminated One
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord
Gastone Crosse
* Buccaneer
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters (Leader and 9)

The third entry here is going a little off the rails from the previous lists, using models that I think would be good with Magnus2 without caring much for personal choice or what models I own. The Nyss Hunters are another self-contained unit that I think work well with Magnus, and can benefit greatly from the damage buffs from Aiyana and Calamity.

Versh is there almost purely as a focus-buddy for Gallant, who I maintain is still one of the best targets for Bullet Dodger out there, and downright vicious with Magnus2. The other decent target is (oddly) Gastone, who might actually do pretty well in melee (probably after the jack is dead) with DEF 16, Dodge, Moving Shadows, and Backstab. That's preferably a late game thing, but early game he is a pretty decent shooter, and can take out a lot of mid-range stuff when backed up by Aiyana and Holt. This list isn't quite a gunline, but more so than the first 2 lists. 

Overall, the first list I'm going to run is probably going to be List 2 - Brun and Lug don't get enough table time, and I do like Precursors, not to mention 9pt Weapon Master Heavy Warjacks with a 13" threat range.