Kayazy Assassins FINALLY DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

well, 95% done. :D  Reached a milestone a few days ago when I finished painting my full unit of Kayazy Assassins including the Underboss.  I still have to model the furnace grill on most of their backpacks and work on finishing up the Underboss.  But for the tabletop they are ready to go!

And here are some pics of their cloaks.  After painting them I used MIG Water Effects mixed with some of their pigments.  You can either mix them to get a liquid that you brush on, or you can brush on the Water Effects first and then with dry pigment dab it all on.  I like the latter because it leaves a cake of dirt that you can see.  Cool!  You can also use the Water Effects to make grease;  I did that running out of a lot of the holes in their cloaks, and I used it on their armor in various places to add a sheen/greasy feel.

Also got started on my uber awesome Wardoggy!  He's been clutch in so many games.  It was finally time to paint him up.  He's a rottweiler.  Probably need another day to finish him up.

Also painted Scrappy that I finished up a few weeks ago.  Still gotta start on the Old Witch.

Next pics are of my 35pt Hardcore force that I'll be using @ SoCal Smackdown this weekend.  It's my "I'm going to get pounded for two rounds and hope Butcher makes it to your frontline" list.  Nothing else is painted so I'm going with this and see how it goes ^^ It's very similar to the first ever 35pt list I ran minus the Mechaniks and Kodiak in place of the Spriggan; so that is cool.

I'm a little burnt out from all the painting I've been doing getting ready for SoCal Smackdown so will probably take a little break, not too long though :)  So many things I wanna paint next.  What would you like to see painted?  I have Winterguard, Assault Kommandos, Widowmakers, Marksman, Gorman, eEiryss, Saxon, and many more.  I'm feeling like Assault Kommandos because I wanna see how that trench is going to turn out.  We'll see though.  'Till next time!

Warmachine Batrep: pButcher vs Kraye 35pts

Tonight I planned to teach one of my friends Warmachine.  He recently moved down to Irvine and is staying with Ben.  So I packed up my bag and figure I'll let him try pButcher out with maybe some Great Bears and a Jack or something like that.  Well, I get to Ben's and our friend is on the phone so Ben decides to sneak a game in!

We decide to play 35pts Jacks and only Solos.  He brings;

Kraye
Squire
Hammersmith
Defender
Stormglad
2x Hunters

I've got:

pButcher
Behemoth-- proxied by the Marauder :(  
Juggernaut
Spriggan
Kodiak
War Dog
Widowmaker Marskman

I don't know why I brought the Marksman but I like him a lot and I figure he could flank and possibly get to Kraye.

The board had two wheat fields in the center of the board as rough terrain and two walls on the sides.  This is going to be really tough for Butcher, like REALLY tough.  All I have is the Behemoth who can shoot a pair of bombards but Ben is sporting a Defender and two armor piercing Hunters, not to mention  I've got two fields of rough terrain to traverse.  This is going to be brutal.

Opening of the game had me advancing behind my wall of Jacks while Ben focused all his efforts into trying to bring down the Behemoth.  I've been in this fight before and it's just a matter of time before the Defender takes down the Behemoth's subcortex.  But now I also had to face two hunters...  The Behemoth was operational for at least two rounds and got some shots off on the Defender and one of the Hunters.

I feated fairly early when I noticed I would be able to catch both Hunters.  Butcher advanced to one of the Hunters and cast Obliteration which wrecked it.  Behemoth walked up and lobbed a shot at the other nearly crippling it's gun arm.

My plan was to try and take out his long range guns so we'd have to fight in melee-- something my army is better equipped for.  Well, one Hunter down.

Ben now runs his Hammersmith who has some kind of spell on him that doubles it's speed.  It blocks and protects the surviving Hunter.  He swings Kraye down the right flank and the Defender starts to head over to the left.  My force is in a tight formation in the center and I'm slowly being encircled.  More shots rain down on the Behemoth and he's wrecked between the fields.  If I stay out in the open I'm going to eventually fall to all this fire so there's only one thing I can do.  Run!

Well, not that yet.  Kraye is dangerously close to my Kodiak so I load up fury on him along with 3 focus.  My plan is to push the Kodiak with the Spriggan and then charge Kraye.  Little do I know that Ben has put Pursuit on the Kodiak which means that once he advances, Kraye will be able to move away and he has parry.  :(  We later checked and the Kodiak would have made the charge.  So the Kodiak vented steam and didn't move.  Spriggan advanced a little and took a shot at Kraye who had either one or no focus camped and was able to do a miracle 5 wounds on him.  Butcher was a little exposed sitting on no focus so Jugg pulled back to block LOS from the Defender.  One good thing came out of that round.  My Marskman, who had redeployed to the center, advanced in shooting range of the other Hunter, getting a shot off around the Hammersmith.  He crippled his shooting arm!  So only the Defender was left for long range.

Ben pulls the Defender back and it shoots the Spriggan for good damage.  He swings his battlegroup back to his back edge now heading for the other flank.  Not the right time for the alpha strike.  Kraye is sitting in the back with no focus so I think of something sneaky.

Butcher charges the Spriggan and I check control but I'm out of range for Obliteration.  I would have been at dice-2 with a fairly gutsy chance to win the game.  That was a real bummer and next turn I know I'm going to take the alpha strike and it's going to hurt.  So I run the Kodiak, who stilll had Pursuit on him (poor Kodiak) and Ben asks, "are you sure?" and advances the Defender down the left flank.  Not good.  As soon as I activate my next model Ben gasps.  Dog runs to the Defender and engages it in melee.  What Ben wanted to do was take a boosted shot and pButcher who was already damaged sitting on 10 life (I somehow forgot that).  But now the Dog posed a problem for him.  We'll get to that in a bit.  Spriggan tries his best to advance and block charge lanes in front of Butcher and the Jugg runs into the fields to defend what he can too.  Butcher has Iron Flesh and 2 focus.  In front of him is Spriggan and the Kodiak.  Marskman is engaged by the surviving Hunter in melee.

Here it comes.  Kraye feats and this gives his battegroup boosted attack rolls :(  Ben takes a long time to think about his moves and what to do with the Defender.  He decides to take a free strike and backs away from the Dog.  Dog hits and does 5 damage.  I need to roll a 1,2, or a 6 to cripple is gun arm.  I roll a 2!!!  Dog is amazing!  What's cool and even more irritating is that Ben moved the Defender out of melee range of the Dog so the Defender can't do anything!! haha.

But here come the heavy hitters.  Stormclad charges the Kodiak who is already a little damaged and wrecks him.  Next comes the Hammersmith who charges Spriggan and hits on his first two attacks which allow him to get off his combo but Ben elects not to do that because Butcher is close by.  He buys another attack and after all is said and done, Spriggan has one cortex box and a few on his right arm :D

Kraye advances along his back edge away from the melee that is taking place.

Butcher goes with Full Throttle and backs up behind the Spriggan.  Dog runs back towards the Butcher getting to within 3" of him.  <3 the Dog.  I think I may paint him next because of this game.  Spriggan on 2 focus attacks the Hammersmith and with 2 attacks nearly brings him down.  But Juggernaut just makes the charge and with his axe is able to wreck it.  That was huge as the Hammersmith was the main thing I was worried about.

Ben goes and advances the Hunter into the Dog and kills him, then Light Calvary moving it into the Juggernaut (Kraye makes all his 'Jacks calvary).  At this point I offer a draw to Ben as it's getting late.  He does want to play it out but after further thought accepts.

I had Butcher, an untouched Juggernaut, and an almost dead Spriggan going against Kraye, an untouched Stormclad and a crippled Defender.  I liked my chances because I could slow advance with the Spriggan and as soon as Ben wrecks him, I'll counter charge with either the Jugg or Butcher.  But without Scenario or even Killbox or a timer, this game would have dragged on and I could have easily been lame and move Butcher to a wall or something so I thought a draw was fair and sporting.

The draw did feel like a victory though because of all the hammering I took in the beginning rounds.  It always happens against Cygnar gun lists with a heavy Jack list with pButcher.   There's no getting around it.  You'll feel awful, you'll take a beating, but more often than not, Butcher will make it to the End Game and then anything is possible with him once the heavy guns are off the table.  Perhaps that's why Ben took the draw.

He probably remembers this game pictured above where a fully camped Butcher with Iron Flesh ran through his entire army to bring down pNemo :P

Jack heavy is very hard to play with pButcher.  Against a shooty list, you have to run and be aggressive because you absolutely have to get into melee.  Take care of his anti armor weapons and eEiryss or things that have upkeep hate and Butcher should be good in the later rounds, if he survives until then.

I haven't played him with the Winterguard surprisingly but I'd like to run a list with Winterguard, Assassins, and Widowmakers.  Fury is good for both infantry and Jacks and he has Iron Flesh for DEF.  Feat turn will be killer too.

Our friend ended up watching the game and he's very interested.  He said it was actually fun to watch the game and is looking into either Trolls or Skorne.  All in all, a fun night.

Warmachine Batrep: Old Witch vs Harbringer 50pts

Was supposed to demo a game to a friend but couldn't reach him so ended up going to my gaming club and got a game in with Patrick at 50pts.

Patrick was looking for some revenge as I've beaten him the last 4 or 5 times but I have to say he helps me a lot in my games when I forget things.  He brought Harbringer and had something like this:

Harbringer
Avatar
Reckoner
2 Vassals
Choir
Piper
Errants
Daughters
Aiyanna & Holt
Gorman
eEiryss
Anastasia

I brought the Old Witch and had:

Old Witch
Scrapjack
Beast-09
Spriggan
Full Winterguard + UA + Joe + 1 Rocket
Full Kayazy Assassins
Aiyanna & Holt
Gorman
eEiryss
Widowmaker Marksman

I can't remember the specifics of what happened each turn so thought I would give a summary and talk about how each of my units did in the game and what I learned.

The Game

Scenario had two vertical control zones in the center and you earned a point for controlling one.  First to two points and more than your opponent wins.  We each had a wall and forest on our sides of the board at the outside corners of the zones.

I deployed with Witch and Scrapjack favoring the right where the forest was.  Jacks in the center with Winterguard on the left and Assassins on the right.  Gorman and Aiyanna & Holt were near the Old Witch behind the Jacks.  eEiryss advanced deployed on the outer left and Marksman on the outer right; thought that was pretty cool :P

Patrick had Harbringer opposite corner from the Old Witch, his Jacks in the center with supports.  Errants opposed the Winterguard on my left and the Daughters facing off against the Assassins on the right.  Piper was with the Errants and eEiryss was with the Daughters and Aiyanna & Holt nearby.

To summarize the game.  We both advanced towards the center and Patrick feated first holding most of my infantry at bay with a few of the Winterguard in the left zone.  I sent the Assassins forward and counter-feated with Witch.  It protected the Assassins from the Daughters which was good and forced the Errants to swing left to attack the Winterguard.

I pulled Eiryss from the flank towards the center fearing Anastasia and she spent most the game disrupting my own Jacks.

Winterguard tarpitted a little but Patrick cleared the ones in front of my Jacks and the Reckonner charged Beast-09 doing a considerable amount of damage.  I countered with Beast but it wasn't enough to bring down the Reckoner.  Spriggan walked up to the Reckoner and with his Lance rolled a 3...  Out of range for his shield arm so Reckoner lived.  He scrapped Beast and the Avatar charged Spriggan nearly killing him.  I could have attacked with Spriggan and done an awful lot of damage but my own Eiryss distruputed him TT.

Forgot to activate Joe before the Winterguard on a key turn when most of the Winterguard were spraying the Errants.  It was bad.  Errants ended up clearing most of the Winterguard and scored a point in the left zone.

Assassins were doing okay against the Daughters but on a crucial turn I ran out of time as they charged the whole flank; getting into melee with Aiyanna and Hold and Eiryss as well.  Not only was I not able to attack but the Underboss was so far back that half the unit was out of formation.

The disruption on my Jacks (even Scrapjack was disrupted) took the wind out of me and with no real way to win I conceded the game with the Avatar just steps away from the Old Witch.

Analysis of My Units

Assassins
Always fun to use and in my battles with Patrick he always advance deploys the Daughters against them because he doesn't want them going against the Winterguard.  Usually they battle it out for most of the game and my Assassins do pretty good because of their sick DEF in melee and with Gang they are able to take out the Daughters.  But, the Daughters usually do stall my Assassins because I chose to get bogged down and fight.

In this game, there was a lot for my Assassins to attack; besides the Daughters Patrick sent eEiryss and A&H after them.  Still, I feel I should be running my Assassins to the back rank of Patrick's line, where stuff like the choir and Vassal are.  I'm thinking I need to run at the Daughters and then continue running through them by mini feating or just parrying off.  If I engage in two waves, the first wave can hit then move on and then the second wave can hit.  Goal might be to keep pressing forward and pressure his support units.  Well, if Patrick is reading this he knows what I'm going to do next game :P  Ya, my general feeling is they need to pressure more not just fight with the Daughters and keep moving.  Really like the unit.

Winterguard
The most basic lesson to learn; activate Joe first.  Even if he's going to give them Tough, just activate him first for good practice.  It's easy to forget this when you're mind is focused on all the sprays your Winterguard are going to do but guess what; The sprays won't be as effective without boosted attacks.  Happened to me on a vital turn in our game when I had the Piper, Gorman, and a handful of Errants in spray range.  A simple mistake like that can cost you the game for sure.  So gotta remember-- Joe first, Winterguard second.

Winterguard fought the Errants and man the Errants are hard to bring down.  I believe when one takes a fatal wound, Patrick can decide which of the Errants dies.  So this leaves his front line intact while he removes the backside ones.  It really felt like I was fighting 20 Errants.

One thing I have to learn is when is it best to spray vs. CRA vs. normal shot.  Topic for another post.

Beast-09
I allowed him to get charged by the Reckoner which nearly killed him.  No one EVER shoots Beast for fear of the free advance he gets and I haven't used his Imprint yet...  He does kill whatever he attacks but then I could have had a Juggernaut do that for 4 points less.  Beast does get to run for free though which is really nice.

Spriggan
Didn't really get to do much this game but wow he missed a vital attack when he needed a 4 and rolled a 3.  That would have wrecked the Reckoner.  Did get to fire some grenades.  I do like having that extra armor and he is brutal on the charge.  Haven't gotten the opportunity to use his flares yet but I like Spriggan.  Bulldoze is very handy too.  I may prefer him over Beast but they do make a good pair-- Beast can bring anything down and with his Imprint can decimate infantry.  Spriggan has great utility and he hits about as hard as Beast.  Both lack range.

Scrapjack
I have a lot to learn with this guy.  Upkept Avatar of Slaughter the whole game but really didn't get to attack infantry which is what Scrappy does best.  I didn't use him at all this game.  He sorta just hung around the woods.  At the very least he could have charged some Daughters to free up my Assassins then get teleported back to Old Witch.  Definitely have to think more about his use and tactics.

eEiryss
So... big lesson; don't run her near your Jacks or they'll be disrupted!  That can really screw you when you either need to charge or load up a 'Jack before a big attack.  Keep her wide or in front of the Jacks.  She did okay this game working with the Marksman against some Errants.  She's another one that I have to learn to use.  Did get to knock of Fear of God from my Winterguard.

Widowmaker Marskman
I really like this guy and every time I've used him I've been happy with his performance.  He's just very reliable.  RAT 8, POW 12, Stealth and Hunter.  All of these things set him apart from Widowmakers (even though he gives Widowmakers Hunter)  He took up house in the woods and shot at Errants all game.  Had him shoot at Aiyanna but she had Stealth ><  Would like to bring him in more lists especially with Widowmakers.

Aiyanna & Holt
May have used her Kiss but forgotten to count it on my roll.  Need to get Holt in the action more as he is a B@D A$$.  He's accurate like the Marskman and boasts DEF 15.  So good.  Aiyanna can protect them with Stealth so I should be a little more aggressive with them.

Old Witch
So after playing a handful of games with her, I still have a lot to learn.  She has a lot of ways to help her army; not necessarily by enhancing their attacks but by supporting them through denial/board control and helping her army with terrain.

She can block LOS with Murder of Crows which pervents range shots and charges.  Could use this in front of infantry or on my Battlegroup Jacks to prevent attacks.

Weald Secrets I haven't used a lot and I think I should.  Gives not only Pathfinder but Camouflage.  This is huge.  Park a 'Jack behind cover and hello DEF 16 Khadoran 'Jack.  Allows 'Jacks to charge through forests to sweat.  Wow I really gotta make use of that.  Gorman can put a cloud on a Welded Secretive 'Jack which will make them DEF 14 to range.  Oh Witch you... I'm starting see some things.  Gonna need another post for Old Witch specifically to theorymachine all this stuff.        
    

Kodiak Conversion WIP

Beginning the major conversion work on my Kodiak.  The chassis is from the Heavy Jack kit.  My idea is to shave off his top armor shell and add in a Heavy Boiler-- so I guess it's sort of a Hot Rod/Open Top look.  Still have to dremel more of the plastic away but had to stop because battery died.  So I'll move on to other things.

While I wait, I'll work on his other hand.  I'm taking the closed fist that used to be holding the axe and making a true open first with claws open.  I finished his left hand earlier.  So I just have to sand down some of the plastic and then pin the fingers in place.

The hard part will be adding in his Kodiak armor plates to his arm.  I have some plasticard for that and I heard that you can boil it to make it soft then shape it.  Hope it works.  Once I get the shape I can add some putty to it and create the other details.

So to do list:

-sculpt Kodiak head from Juggernaut head
-make arm plates with spikes
-add spike panel to shoulders
-add rivets to shoulderpad
-add rivets and spikes to knees
-create heavy boiler
-make tow cable

That's the major things that I have to do and I'll update this post as I progress.

7:11

Finished his right open fist and the Heavy Boiler.

  I looked around the apartment for something cylindrical and decided on using an empty Krazy Glue container, the one that holds the little tube.  Used my pliers to shape it so it fits on the Kodiak and then took a bit from a model train smoke stack (recently took a trip to Arnie's Trains in Westminster = awesome).  The smoke stack part is the dark grey piece.  Cool part is it has a hole in it so I put a small watch part through it and it fit!!  Heavy Boiler!

I really like how it's shaping up.  I had envisioned this months ago when I first started the conversion.  Next I'm going to add some thin brass panels around the boiler and then add rivets.  Then around the edge of the boiler on the armor I might play with the idea of having some kind of border-- hard to explain but I need to give the feeling like the Heavy Boiler is coming out of the main chassis; so the border piece will hide it's connection to give off that illusion.  Then guitar string tubes, etc for detail.

I also finished his right arm and it got mangled in the process of opening the fist but painted I'm sure it will look cool rusted :P

1:00 a.m.

 

 

 

My Lists for SoCal Smackdown

In two weeks is SoCal Smackdown and I'm planning on attending for most of the events and looking forward to meeting new people and getting a lot of games in.  I've never entered a tournament before so we'll see how it goes.  Here are some of the lists I've been making for the various events.

Friday

Mangled Metal 25pts

pButcher
Devastator
Juggernaut
Kodiak
Marauder

Take as many jacks as I can and have some fun.  No real thought into this list lol.


Tier Tournament 35pts

pButcher
Spriggan
Kodiak
Marauader
Full Winterguard + UA
Dog
Widowmakers
Widowmaker Marskman


Thought I would run pButcher since I have the models for it and I'm the most comfortable with him.  Again, taking a lot of Jacks because they're fun.  Spriggan can hit hard, bulldoze, and use flares to Widowmakers.  I rarely use the Marauder so I thought it would be fun to have him in the list.  Both he and the Kodiak can get to P+S 19 with Fury on them.  Devastator will most likely spearhead as I have to close as quickly as possible.  I really like having the Widowmaker group to harass, free up charge lanes, and flank if necessary.  Dog is there to be awesome as usual.  Lastly, Winterguard without Joe is strange but they will still be DEF 17 under Iron Flesh and Bob & Weave.  I'll rely on CRAs to hit.  Winterguard can tarpit for the Jacks or the Jacks can lead and soak up the damage for the Winterguard to approach and spray. 

Strahkov
Devastator
Spriggan
Reinholt
Min Asssault Kommandos!
Full Kayazy Assassins + UA
Widowmakers
Widowmaker Marksman

I've never played Strahkov before >< but think this list might be fun to try.  Occulation will go on the AKs to keep them safe as they run (before shield wall) and later it can go on the Widowmakers to make them and the Marksman one helluva sniper group.  Devastator and Spriggan for bulldozing goodness and the Spriggan the ideal assassination threat with Reach.  Reinholt I'm thinking to give Strahkov one more shot and also measure assassination ranges.  Don't have that model yet.  Will definitely need to practice this list this coming week.

Saturday

Warmachine Weekend Qualifier 50pts Steamroller

eSorscha
Beast-09
Devastator
Great Bears
Full Kayazy Assassins + UA 
Full Winterguard + UA + Joe
eEiryss
Aiyanna & Holt
Gorman
Saxon

I've been playing this list a lot and eSorscha is one of my favorite casters.  This list on feat turn is designed to do A LOT of damage to heavies and multi-wound models.  Beast and Bears mainly for anti armor duties and Kayazy can chip damage if need be.  Two great tarpitting units in the Assassins and the Winterguard.  A&H and Gorman help the army to do more damage with Harm and Rust Bomb.  Saxon was brought in to help the infantry with rough terrain and linear obstacles.  I normally had the Spriggan in and he was tough to lose because of his P+S 18 lance but Devastator brings in some insane armor and his Rain of Death and P+S 16s aren't too shabby on Sorscha's feat.  With two full units of infantry, thought it was best to have Saxon.  Many thanks to Patrick for helping me flesh out this list.

pButcher
Spriggan
Kodiak
Dog
Great Bears
Full Winterguard + UA + Joe
Full Kayazy + UA
Widowmakers
Widowmaker Marksman
eEiryss
Saxon

Another damage dealing list via the Butcher.  Fury is good with the Kodiak, Bears, Assassins, and if need be it can be given to Bear Strengthened Winterguard.  I like Butchers feat with this army as it should do a lot of damage.

So that leaves these models to paint until SoCal Smackdown:

Beast-09
Devastator
4 Kayazy Assassins + UA
10 Winterguard + Officer and Standard + Joe
eEiryss
Aiyanna & Holt
Gorman
Saxon
Strahkov
Wardog
Min Assault Kommandos
Widowmakers
Widowmaker Marksman

Realistically though, I'm aiming to only paint the models in my Hardcore list to meet the requirements.  That leaves the Winterguard, Kayazy, eEiryss, Gorman, and Saxon.  I can probably paint Gorman and Saxon in a day.  Kayazy will probably take three days with the Underboss.  Winterguard need finishing conversions which will probably take a day.  So the rest of the time will be for painting them.  I should make it :P.  What time I have left will go into my 50 point lists doing the Jacks next-- Beast-09 and the Devastator.  If I finish those I'll paint the Widowmakers and the Marskman for the pButcher 50pt list.   

3 More Kayazy Conversions Painted

Got some work done on my Kayazy Assassins tonight bringing them up to a Min unit of 6.  The level of detail I'm taking them to right now is about 90%, just enough for the tabletop.  I feel it's good to get them in a game like that so you feel a sense of reward with your painted minis.  Later on you can go back and finish up that last 10% of the details. 

Soon I'll add in the grass for the last three that I did and once probably do another set of four to finish off the full unit before doing the Underboss.  Or I might do the Underboss next, I'm not sure. 

Also thinking of running a Kodiak in my lists so I might try to get that massive conversion done.  My idea for that is to dremel off his top plate in his armor and add in a custom heavy boiler.  I also want to do stripes on him for camo since he's a "pathfinder".  Pretty excited about finishing that one but oh man, it's going to take a lot of work.  Hardest part will be adding in the plasticard for his little shields with the spikes.  Perhaps I'll do a variation that has scrap metal armor on him like the Spriggan. 

Theorymachining the Khador Marauder

For some unexplained reason I like the Marauder but I find that I don't field him as often as I do my other 'Jacks.  Why is that?

When you first look at him, take away his Combo Smite and he is very average across the board.  He's basically just a chassis with two Ram Pistons that can hit as hard as the Kodiak's fists.  So his stats are somewhat uninspiring. 

Add to that fact that for 7 points, you can buy A LOT of other things; Min unit Kayazy, Doom Reavers, Widowmakers and the Marksman.  Most people would take those choices because they are great at what they do and are definitely worth their points. 

So now we have the Marauder. 

His Offensive Abilities

The one thing that makes the Marauder a Marauder is his Combo Smite.  It allows him to do a slam from standing still and gives you a P+S 20 hit.  You don't need to charge in over 3" away for this like regular slams.  With this attack, you can do severe damage by charging first, slamming the target into something else, and with pButcher's feat you get P+S 20 plus 5D6 damage.  That's roughly 37 points of damage on average rolls.  I've taken out Thunderhead this way.  It is massive amounts of damage.

Staying with pButcher, the Marauder can also get Fury which grands him +3 to melee damage rolls bringing his pair of pistons to a nice P+S 19 each.  So he has some offensive punch.

His Defensive Abilities

Being a Khadoran 'Jack, the Marauder enjoys the benefits of ARM 20 and is another thing your opponent has to deal with as it lumbers across the battlefield.  Starting at the Kodiak, the higher tier Jacks have ways to protect them-- insane armor of the Devastator, pathfinder and steam cloud for the Kodiak, Shield of the Spriggan... etc.  But even lacking these, the Marauder is still sitting at ARM 20.

His Utility

What really separates the Marauder from the Beserker and the Juggernaut is his utility.  The Combo Smite is good not only for doing massive damage but it also clears lanes, knocks things down which forces the opponent to spend focus getting Jacks up and the knocked down models allow other units to hit in melee with ease. 

Having access to the Combo Smite also should allow the Marauder to shine in Scenario play by knocking opposing Heavies out of the control zones.

His Best Casters

As mentioned before pButcher really helps the Marauder to shine on the battlefield.  Full throttle helps him hit his first attack in melee which grants the Combo Smite.  He can also give Fury for added damage like we talked about earlier and Butcher's feat allows us to roll the 5D6 of damage that we love and our opponents cringe at.

Another caster I would consider is eSorscha.  Not considered a 'Jack caster but she does have Boundless Charge giving the Marauder an increased threat range to charge and get off his Combo Smite.  On her feat, any damage above armor would be doubled.  So best case scenario, a Marauder charges and Combo Smites the target into something else.  That would be P+S 20 plus 4D6 of damage.  The Heaviest of heavies would usually be around ARM 21 or 22 so that's dice minus 2.  And all that damage you roll is doubled.  Wow, that sounds good to me!

At lower point levels when you are looking for that added punch at a cheaper cost, I would consider 2 Marauders and wait for eSorscha's feat turn.  I might have to try that.

At higher point games, the Marauder might be a real bargain for the utility that he brings.  Definitely not your Main 'Jack but could definitely play backup to the likes of Beast-09 or a Spriggan, helping them by opening charge lanes or knocking down Heavies for them to hit.

Worth Taking?

That remains to be seen but I'd like to find out as Theorymachining has produced some good ideas.  

What do you think?  Have you seen the Marauder or faced him often?  If so, how did he do?          

3rd Kayazy Done

Short break to show you the 3rd Kayazy Assassin I finished.  For this one I tried using MIG Water Effects to create mud.  I used their Dark Mud pigment and mixed it with the Water Effects and put it on the base.  Here's the result.

And here's some photos of my third Kayazy.

I'm also using the Water Effect on the minis.  It sorta looks like grime or grease up close which I like.  The minis are about 90-95% done but I will do the rest to get a Min unit then go back and finish up the details.  But tonight I'll add in some grass.