by: Stephen W.
Welcome back. The goal today is to provide a brief overview of each of the warjacks (here after properly referred to as myrmidons) available to the Retribution of Scyrah. For each I will provide a short synopsis of some key abilities and how you might want to use the myrmidon on the field of battle. I will not be building any specific lists as there are far too many options to explore with warcaster/myrmidon combinations.
Across the board our myrmidons, with the exception of characters, have a MAT of 6 and RAT of 5. This works to the dual use capabilities of our myrmidons, but it also means that you are going to need to boost to reliably hit many targets. Defense 12 is seen across the board with only a few exceptions, so hitting our myrmidons back is not difficult. Since we have very few cheap myrmidons that can be easily thrown away, in general you will want to use your myrmidons to support your infantry and provide a counter punch to the enemy alpha strike, or use some other method to pull your opponent in or close the distance with your opponent’s heavy hitters and take them out before they can cripple your myrmidons.
All of our myrmidons fall under one of two sub-types, Vyre or Shyeel. The Vyre heavy myrmidons have higher strength, 11 vice 10, and higher armor, 19 vice 18. In addition, their ranged weapons are tied to the right side system and carry special rules that take effect on hit, making them potentially useful even if the system is crippled. The Shyeel myrmidons however all have force fields, an additional damage track that is filled prior to the normal damage grid, which limits the chance that the first big shot to the myrmidon will take out a system. They also have a generator system which allows for the field to be repaired by spending focus and powers the myrmidon’s ranged weapons and special abilities. Losing this system removes both the myrmidon’s ranged weapon and several of its special abilities.
Finally, almost all of the ranged weapons on our myrmidons and many of the melee weapons have the Damage Type: Magical quality. This gives our faction a wider access to magical typed damaged then is enjoyed by most other factions.
The Lights
Apsis (Shyeel Light):
Our one shield guard myrmidon, it suffers from only armor 16, but makes up for this with the Phoenix Field ability which allows it to remove D6 damage from its field as long as the generator is active. Do what you need to so that you do not forget to use this ability every Maintenance Phase. At 6 points it is a cheap and simple way to protect your important models.
Chimera (Shyeel Light):
At 8 points, this is an excellent arc node for warcasters that want to project spells up the board such as Rahn, Elara, or Helynna. With Phantasmal Field to boost ranged defense and Apparition to add threat range or disengage from melee, the Chimera has great potential to get where you need it. Finally, do not underestimate the ability to hit a key model or solo with a boosted to hit POW 16 thanks to Power Up and Combo Strike.
Gorgon (Shyeel Light):
You will primarily take this one for the control ability of its ranged Polarity Cannon which inflicts a -2 SPD on what it hits. However with a range of only 10 inches, it needs to put itself in a dangerous place to employ this gun. As a result it tends to work best with warcasters that allow it to shoot and then move out of danger such as Elara1 with Speed of Death, Issyria or Ossyan with Admonition, or Heylnna with Rhythm of War.
Griffon (Shyeel Light):
Most long time Retribution players will own at least 4 of these, if nothing else for building Synergy in a Vyros2 list. At 8 points it is a cheap little myrmidon that can be sacrificed to block a charge or start a piece trade. With both Pathfinder and the Fleet ability, it has the speed and mobility to get where you need it to be.
Moros (Shyeel Character Light):
Our character light and the bonded myrmidon for Garryth, this light myrmidon largely serves a support role. The combination of Stealth, Fleet, Pathfinder, and Bond: Acrobatics makes him highly mobile. With +1 MAT and RAT over the standard Shyeel chassis and Paralysis on all of his weapons, he can get to where he needs to be and make high Defense living models much easier to hit for by a follow up ranged or melee attack, or personally take out lightly armored models to free up others models in your army.
The Heavies
Banshee (Vyre Heavy):
The non-character premier hard hitting heavy myrmidon of the faction, this myrmidon’s 2 inch range heavy Void Blade comes in a P+S 18. Add on a gun that can slam or knock down models, and 5 inch aura that prevents orders and spell casting, this model is a bargain even at 18 points. It routinely makes it into my lists unless it is disallowed by a theme for both its support potential and hitting power.
Daemon (Vyre Heavy):
This is the most under used of our heavy myrmidons, not because it is bad, but because its suite of abilities do not have the apparent usefulness of the other heavy myrmidons. The gun can be useful at clearing tightly packed infantry, which is situationally useful, especially as the meta begins to swing back to more infantry heavy lists. A guaranteed POW 12 for everything under a 3 inch AOE is nothing to scoff at. Its melee weapons are 1 inch range and have low pow compared to the other heavy myrmidons, but are Damage Type: Magical and Blessed, making it useful against incorporeal or buffed models. It also has two Open Fists, giving it access to the full range of Power Attacks.
Hydra (Shyeel Heavy):
The Hydra is a myrmidon that you will take for its gun. Between Focus Battery, Focus Powered, and our faction’s ready access to the Empower Ability, it is easy to keep this myrmidon just behind your front line, full on focus, and blasting POW 15 RNG 15 shots into targets. Caster like Vyros1, Vyros2, or Kaeylssa that allow it to ignore terrain or models when picking targets makes it that much more potent of a gun platform. That said, it also has a pair of P+S 15 Open Fists and Chain Attack: Grab & Smash, which allows it to be an effective counter punch to finish off an opposing heavy. It is also a prime choice for a myrmidon to be Jack Marshalled due to its gun and focus storing ability.
Manticore (Shyeel Heavy):
A good low cost multi-purpose myrmidon, the Manticore brings a Rate of Fire D3 gun that can also lay down a 4 inch wall of magical covering fire. While alone this wall will not do much to deter your opponent, when operating in groups of two or more, they become effective control pieces to hold back the opposing army. On the melee side, they can easily hit with several P+S 20 attacks through the use of Force Generator and Concentrated Power from an Arcanist Mechanik.
Phoenix (Shyeel Heavy):
The Phoenix brings a lot of things in an 18 point package. First are a range 2 P+S 17 melee attack and RNG 10, POW 14, 3 inch AOE gun. Second is an arc node, giving you another means to project spells up the board like the Chimera. Third is an ability to clear a swath of high defense infantry with the Combustion ability. Finally, the Phoenix field makes it more resilient than the other Shyeel heavy myrmidons. With all that said, it suffers from a jack of all trades syndrome, where it can to a lot of things, but if you need to focus on one of things that it can do, there are better choices.
Sphinx (Vyre Heavy):
The Sphinx is the cheapest of our heavy myrmidons, and it still brings a 2 inch range P+S 17 weapon and two Open Fists. On a hit from its ranged weapon, all friendly spells cast at the model hit gain +3 RNG. This functions as a good threat extender for House Shyeel Battle Mages, and also a poor man’s arc node giving a warcaster and additional 3 inches of threat on their spells.
Discordia (Shyeel Character Heavy):
Discordia has the standard character upgrade of +1 to MAT and RAT. Her dual P+S 16 blades with Chain Attack: Smite allow her to mix it up in melee, but her key offensive weapon is a 10 inch POW 14 spray attack which prevents anything hit from casting spells for one round. Discordia’s other significant ability is the Imprint: Kinetic Field which gives +2 armor against ranged attacks and immunity to blast damage to any friendly faction models within 3 inches. While 3 inches does not seem like much, remember that you only have to have an edge of the model in that bubble to get the benefit. This affords great protection against ranged attacks especially with in can be stacked with other benefits such as the spell Deceleration.
Hemera (Shyeel Character Heavy):
A remarkably cheap character heavy at only 16 points, Hemera embodies the concept of a support model. Her host of abilities including Mark Target, Empowered Arc Node, Reposition, and 4 inch AOE gun with Critical Dispel give this model plenty of options to enable the ranged attacks of other models in your army while staying clearing of other advancing models and in the position that you need her. While critical effects on weapons are difficult to rely on, Hemera’s bonded warcaster Issyria can significantly skew the rolls in the favor of the critical effect with her feat.
Hypnos (Vyre Character Heavy):
Much like Hemera, Hypnos is designed to largely fill a support role through its arc note and a 4 inch AOE gun which carries the Ghost Shot ability (ignores LOS, concealment, and cover). When taken with Ossyan, this gun also gains Shadow Bind. Hypnos also has a potent melee threat, with a P+S 17 weapon and P+S 15 weapon that both causes Shadow Bind.
Imperatus (Shyeel Character Heavy):
Despite being the most expensive heavy myrmidon in our inventory (22 points), I am not aware of a situation where taking Imperatus has ever been considered a mistake by a Retribution player. In addition to +1 MAT and RAT, Imperatus has a DEF of 13, putting him just into the difficult to hit range. A premier melee combatant, he carries two P+S 17 2 inch range weapons, in addition to Side Step and free charges when paired with Vyros1 or Vyros2. Which means that after covering 9 inches on his charge movement, Imperatus can carve another 4 inches into the enemy lines and still have 3 focus to buy attacks on any target of choice. Finally there is Phoenix Protocol. After an opponent cuts through 34 boxes of force field and damage grid, this ability triggers and Imperatus regains 5 damage boxes and all 12 boxes of his force field. This effectively gives Imperatus 51 damage boxes, which is almost as many as some colossals. Be wary of any affects that prevent removing damage, such as Grievous Weapons, as these can stop Phoenix Protocol from taking place.
The Colossals
Helios (Shyeel Colossal):
Of our two colossal myrmidons, the Helios provides board control and survivability, and at 34 points is the cheapest colossal in the game. While the offensive output is limited to its two melee fists, its gun gives a variety of options for savvy players. For example, with Dual Attack, a Helios can trample 8 inches then fire the Tractor Beam to pull an opposing heavy or two into the charge range of a friendly heavy, and/or push other opposing models out of range to retaliate. If you are concerned with it taking attacks, it can use its Force Gate abilities to become DEF 14 against ranged attacks, to push away anything that hits it, or both. In the current meta, the Helios is a go to choice for many lists, especially those built in the Forges of War Theme. One point of note is that the Tractor Beam on the Helios is one of the few myrmidon ranged weapons that is not magical, so any abilities that stop non-magical ranged attacks will stop this gun.
Hyperion (Shyeel Colossal):
Where the Helios fills a largely support role, the Hyperion is a massive mobile gun platform to rain fire on your opponent with two Rate of Fire D3 guns and a massive POW 18, 5 inch AOE main gun, the Starburst. The Starburst also has Critical Consume as a special ability, so on a critical hit, every small based non-warcaster or non-warlock model under the AOE is Removed from Play. No tough checks, no soul/corpse collection, and no returning to the table later. This can be devastating on small based models, especially if you can get them to cluster. However, critical hits are notorious unreliable. To help this, you will always want to boost the Starburst attacks, and Issyria’s feat makes the Hyperion a favorite with her. In addition, all of the guns suffer slightly from shorter range, 12 inches for the small guns and 10 inches for the big gun, but this can be mitigated by screening your colossal with infantry or other myrmidons to give it several turns of shooting.
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