Brawlmachine: Crucible Guard & Major Bennet
- Posted on
- By Jay Larsen
Discount Games Inc. is going to feature a series of strategy guides for Brawlmachine! The first article is by Matt Rawson and is about Crucible Guard and Major Aline Bennet.
Well hello there! And welcome to the inaugural Discount Games Inc. Brawlmachine series articles. If you haven’t tried it yet, or are unfamiliar with the format, Brawlmachine is community-driven format for Warmachine based around 25-point games. It uses customized scenarios designed to work better for the smaller format. It also limits the Field Allowance of all models to 1 to prevent spamming and encourage diversity in list building. There is a ban list that prevents certain models, almost all of them are casters, and specifically huge-bases, IE colossal and battle engines. The format is meant to be easy to grasp and new player friendly, while retaining the spark that makes Warmachine-Hordes such a fun and engaging game. To check out the full rules, visit the Line of Sight podcast website for details.
With the Crucible Guard CID arriving this week. What better time to talk Crucible Guard? And what better caster to talk about in Crucible Guard? That’s right we’re talking Major Aline Benett. Crucible Guard’s newest and shiniest Rocketmen caster! Aline Benett is a great caster who is very fun to play and is competitive at both the low-point threshold and the 75 point threshold. She is a great stepping-stone into the faction. Or a great new toy for veterans (including those who have want to truly play their Rocketmen this whole time). I have been completely allured by this awesome do-gooder. So without any further fluff, lets go over a Brawlmachine list with her, and talk about her abilities and what the list does.
Theme: Magnum Opus
Major Aline Benett +28
Aurum Ominus Alyce Marc 0(5)
-Toro 13
-Suppressor 13
Rocketmen Ace 4
Trancer 3
Min Crucible Guard Rocketmen 9
-Crucible Guard Rocketmen Captain 4
Dragon’s Breath Rocket 5
Alright, so I’m going to start with going over Benett, her abilities, spells and feat. Benetts Base stats are Spd 8; Str 6; Mat 5; Rat 7; Def 17; Arm 14; Cmd 9; Focus 6. We can immediately ignore two of these, Str and Mat, she has zero melee weapons. But she does have 2 awesome Spray 8 Pow 12 guns with fire type damage, continuous fire and Both Barrels (single Pow 16)! And with a Rat 7 stat she can use this great gun a lot, and with gunfighter she can do it in melee too. With her Speed of 8 she is one of the fastest casters in the game and with flight she can get to where she needs basically unhindered. She also has Reposition 5, so she can fly up, do what she needs whether casting spells or melting a poor sucker with her flamethrowers (yes there is a hand in the flames on the sculpt that she is spraying down, it’s the little things).
Her defensive profile is built around her Defense. A stat of 17 is quite good for a Warcaster/Warlock. It takes some work to hit, and its not always a guarantee. But with an Armor stat of 14, anything that hits her is going to hurt a lot. She does have dodge built in, so if they miss, she can run away to safety. She also has Flying High, which grants -3 range against any ranged attacks that target her and a pseudo tactician bonus that lets non-flying models move through her. Realistically the way you are going to keep Benett safe is by Repositioning into a safe spot, preferably with line of sight blocking terrain. As another great note, she has Elite Cadre Rocketmen that gives Flying High to all Rocketmen models. This includes the unit, the Aces and the upcoming new solo.
Benett has a great spell list that is built around support. Since she only ever has two total attacks (while quite good), she needs to be buffing her army. And boy does she do that. The first spell on her card is Arcane Propulsion. This spell should be familiar if you’ve seen Aurora2. It grants a non-huge based warjack (Sorry Vulcan) in her battlegroup flight, +2” movement and +2 defense. It is a cost 2, range 6 upkeep spell. This is an amazing buff spell for a warjack, whether you want a farther threatening Toro with flying countercharge or just a high defense Vanguard or Liberator to get in the way with. Her next spell is her signature, Down Range. This awesome cost 2, range 6 upkeep spell grants a friendly faction model/unit +2 to ranged damage rolls. This is amazing in a faction that has such a powerful ranged presence. Next up is Occultation a cost 2, range 6 upkeep spell that grants stealth to a friendly faction model/unit. Then we have Raid, her other signature spell. Raid is a cost 2, range self control area spell that lasts a turn. It grants friendly faction warrior models with gunfighter (Rocketmen) that begin a charge +2” of movement and Pistoleer (boosted damage rolls against models in melee). This is a key spell of her kit and we will discuss the strategy in a bit. Her last spell is Wind Blast, a cost 2, range 10, AOE 4, Pow 12 nuke spell that removes cloud effects that the AOE overlaps. This last spell is not going to get used a lot. Its not a great spell for killing models, its usefulness comes in its ability to remove cloud effects, which can come up just not often.
Benett’s feat is amazing, especially in the Brawlmachine format. What it does is place a full Min unit of Rocketmen (6 models) and a Rocketmen Ace completely within 3” of Bennett. Adding 13 points of models to any army is great, and at 25, it is stellar. The power of this feat is the unexpected angles that you can get with it. It is nearly impossible to completely avoid all the possible angles that Benett can put this nuke from down range on the table. The models get to activate fully on the turn they are placed on the table. So the strength comes in a unit that can be feated into position and go off to eliminate a target. A typical feat turn goes like this. Benett chooses an enemy target(s) that she wants to remove. She flies into position to put the Rocketmen on the table such that they can get to said target unhindered. Maybe she sprays something for funsies. She then casts Down Range on the Min Feat unit and casts Raid. She then repositions to safety, keeping all the Rockemen in her control so Raid affects them. You can then put any other debuffs on the target, if you have the ability to, with either the Dragon’s Breath or Suppressor depending on the target. The feat Rocketmen then fly off and kill said target.
So lets talk Rocketmen and how they interact with Benett. This is the key mechanic that her army uses and how you’re going to do work. Down Range boosts the damage of their weapons, all of which are ranged, by 2. So in a regular unit the range 10 Carbines go to Pow 12, the range 4 bombs go to Pow 14. Second, Raid grants them extra movement when they charge bringing their total threat up to 12.5”. It also grants them pistoleer, boosted damage rolls against target that they are in melee with after they complete a successful charge. So onto that successful charge. To get the pistoleer bonus (you want it) you need to complete a charge by ending your movement within 0.5” of your intended target, you do not have to move 3” to get it. So if you are already in melee, you just need to be within 0.5” and you got it. Then the damage rolls that model makes against models it is in melee with, not only the one it is within 0.5” of are boosted. This includes enemy models that have melee ranges of 1”, 2”, 3” or 4”. This is important because you’re going to be dropping bombs, and the blast damage is boosted alongside the direct hit. It’s also important if you need to redirect your charge target for any reason. This boosted blast is also how we get the unit to work in the first place.
Rocketmen are not accurate. Let’s just get that out of the way. With a Rat stat of 6, they are going to struggle to effectively hit their target. Historically this unit has been used as a high defense (the captain’s defensive order bringing it to 16 with blast immunity) harassment and jam unit. They are still good at that, and you do want to use them that way during the initial turns. But on the turn that you need them to kill stuff, Raid gives you a dramatic boost to their offensive output. When you charge in with your Rocketmen, you are going to be dropping bombs on whatever they are attacking. You are not going to use the Carbine (maybe on the Captain UA since he has 2 of them and Rat 7, maybe). The bombs not only hit harder, they are AOE 3s. (Note: the bombs blast damage does not affect models with flight so you cant blow yourself up)This is important. At 0.5” of your target, the bombs can never drift off their target because of the maximum distance rule. In fact, they can’t measurably move (unless you are taking the AOEs placement a lot more seriously than anyone I know of). Because of that rule, whether you hit your target or not, you get to make a damage roll versus them. The difference is the Pow of the hit, if direct its Pow 12, blast its Pow 6. The goal then becomes to boost the damage of that blast damage by as much as you can. Down Range will get the blast up to Pow 8, add in a debuff from the Suppressor or the Dragon’s Breath Rocket and you’re sitting at Pow 10. And all those damage rolls are boosted. With the boost, even without those debuffs, you are likely to crack most armor, except into really hard targets. With the debuffs, your damage reiliability goes up This is the critical setup to get the most out of the Rocketmen.
On to the Rocketmen Aces. These guys are fantastic. They were before Benett, even more so after Benett. With two initials (they do not have cumbersome), a better RAT stat and brutal damage on their bomb, they can put the hurt out. They also have dogfighter that makes them quite good into Archons. And Benett can have two of them. They have flying high natively, immunity to blast damage, Defense 16 base and reposition 5 to keep them safe. They’re just good quality solos. A trancer is included because they are just plain amazing. Whether that is hitting something hard, or camping a flag, these guys (or dancing gals) are terrific. Alyce is in the list because she needs to be. Benett will be running hot on her focus camp, either casting raid or swapping Down Range (you not only want to do this, you need to). Alyce is absolutely critical to make this happen efficiently. Also, guidance is very essential for a list that has only one magic weapon in the trancer. Alyce will almost assuredly be your Occultation target.We bring a Dragon’s Breath to enable that damage buff engine we talked about in the Rocketmen section. Its an ok piece. It has a decent gun, that is situationally better. All of these solos and the Dragon’s Breath have reposition 3 from the theme benefit so don’t forget to use it!
As for Benett’s battlegroup, its simple but good. Benett is focus starved. Quite frankly, she will struggle every single turn to fuel these guys. It might be best to think and use your jacks for more late game work after the Rocketmen are being widdled down. Arcane Propulsion will likely always be on the Toro, the flying countercharge is quite good and the 2” of movement is better. A suppressor is a good down range target, and it helps with the Rocketmen engine. It’s a decent support and semi offensive piece.
Bennett does have her weaknesses. Any blast immunity is bad, as we are trying not to rely wholly on hitting directly. And Krueger2 and Old Witch2/3 have a spell called Windstorm, that reduces the range on their ranged weapons by 5”, meaning they can not use the bomb weapon. Thankfully both Krueger2 and Old Witch2/3 are not allowed in the Brawlmachine format. So be aware of your opponent’s list, what is it trying to accomplish, what super strong anti-range tech is available and how can I get around it. Generally, Benett will be ok to great into most matchups except those 2 casters mentioned before.
That’s the basic jist of how Benett operates on a basic level. She is very strong in Brawlmachine. The ability to increase your army by nearly 50% is really good. And her Rocketmen will catch the unsuspecting off guard. It’s a fantastic and fun way to get into Crucible Guard. And with the CID’s arrival, this list will only get stronger. Before we go, I’d like to leave you with my 75-point list for Benett, which can be a guide to expanding beyond Brawlmachine if you choose to. She’s every bit as terrific at this level, and gets some really potent options. (A Vulcan with Down Range is a hell of a drug in the drugs are bad faction).
Theme: Magnum Opus
Major Aline Benett +28
Aurum Ominus Alyce Marc 0(5)
-Vanguard 10
-Vanguard 10
-Vanguard 10
Prospero 0(5)
-Vulcan 35
Hermit of Hengehold 5
Rocketmen Ace 4
Rocketmen Ace 4
Max Crucible Guard Rocketmen 15
-Crucible Guard Rocketmen Captain 4
-Rocketmen Gunner 2
-Rocketmen Gunner 2
-Rocketmen Gunner 2
Dragon’s Breath Rocket 0(5)
Until next time, happy wargaming!!!!!