Brush4Hire’s Warmachine Retribution List

My 2 cents Household riflemen suffer from having to compete against 2 other better units that can shoot, i.e. Invictors and the Mage Hunter Strike Force, the latter of which cost the same amount of points. Halberdiers for me, are one of the better units RoS has. Stats wise they’re not that impressive, but it’s all the extra rules they come up with that make the unit shine especially with the Officer. Move 9 inches in shield wall (1 more armour than the Invictors); on the mini-feat turn on the charge (which you should get), I think you’re looking at… Read more »

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180xp

The problem with Hydra is a focus problem. All the of the Retribution warcasters lack the focus to really pump up a Hydra. Often you’ll have upkeep spells and their own offensive spells that take priority. That’s why the new Heavy warjacks are so great. They don’t require as much focus from our casters. One more comment about the Phoenix, the Phoenix Field makes him the hardest of the old heavies to take down. Auto-heal without spending focus for his shields is gold. Get a bad roll or need more healing drop a focus and effectively get two chances to… Read more »

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960xp

The Hydra doesn’t really have a focus problem, what with its ability to retain it with Focus Battery. Give it 3 focus the first turn, and you should be fine. If your opponent is silly enough to hit it with little hits, then that’s a bonus. The Hydra you should be using to shoot with (with 3 focus, it’s gun is range 15, power 15), and it’s Vyros and Kael who help it out the most what with it being allowed to ignore LoS. But at 9 points, and not being all that great at melee in addition to the… Read more »

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180xp

Not so much a Hydra problem, but a warcaster problem finding focus to share. Agreed, most wise opponents know to take down the Phoenix as quickly as possible and in one turn if possible. That way the Phoenix Field doesn’t come into play. The big catch is it will take all of an opponents’ force to take one down, and if too many dice don’t roll their way the Phoenix can come back to life fairly quickly. I ran a game last week. The Phoenix was damaged, but the force generator made it and with an Arcanist next to him,… Read more »

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180xp

Yes, it is amazing more do not venture into the land of Ios. They’re one of the best armies, but they do require some finesse. The Phoenix is much like the Dawnguard Invictors that you love so much, Andy. It has a great toolset of powerful ranged attack, reach in combat (so you can still shoot a target after an attack or even use his arc node) AND is an arc node. This is huge with Kaelyssa as she can use her spells from a safe distance. She’s a physically weak warcaster and needs to keep her distance, but at… Read more »

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1268xp

dais

Lots of great input in the chat on this one. For my two cents I avoid bringing invictors for melee unless I have a plan to flank with them. If I have a jack that can easily provide them that flank bonus they are gold, but if not they are a little low on POW in melee. Their ranged game is always strong, but at 10 points they had better bring their whole hybrid package. The riflemen have their flaws, but they do have one big thing going for them most dedicated ranged units don’t; they can still be useful… Read more »

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157xp

redshane

Glad to see war machine videos coming out. Including the very critical analysis of the army list 🙂

1459xp

beerogre

I love playing those Iosian Elves, but as I’ve said I find I have a core set of choices that I keep falling back on.

Invictors are hands down, one of my favourite units in the game… As Darrell would say… “they just do it!”

Perhaps Darrell and I will do a video series on the Retribution book… Of you fancy that drop a comment below. 🙂

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180xp

Yes! Cover Retribution! You have been begged, warned, threatened, or encouraged…whatever gets the job done.
They’re the least know and least played Warmachine faction and it’s good to get more of the word out about them.

Is your “go to” list: Kael, Manticore, & Invictors? Anything else? What’s your favorite warcaster?

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121xp

spacefrisian

Hydras are great, just have one of those arcanist next to it to give it its first focuspoints, than smack it with the arcanist to generate its own focus, than you have 2 the next turn due to its battery.

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157xp

redshane

Yes, I’d love to see a few Retribution videos. I dont really know about them too much and would like to find out more

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410xp

These warmahordes critical army lists videos are the deal regardless of faction. Whether it be the video itself or the comments there after. You will always have something very useful in the realm of Privateer Press…

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dignity

thats the good thing about warmahordes, there is no unit in the game that is truly bad there are just better options to pick.

BoW Justin

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I totally agree, However with this being the case I find myself wanting to own atleast battlebox armies of each faction. Just to get the feel of how they work in combat. Which is not as pricey with me still being a solid cryx and trollbloods player. So it is hard to resist owning a little of each, as opposed to buying and creating one broken army after another, then watching them get nerfed with FAQ’s As we see other “cough” game makers do 🙂 I don’t buy into its a total slip or mistake in the original codex gig.… Read more »

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180xp

Dawn, Sadly, Retribution has no slick, resin-plastic battlebox like every other major faction. This is something Privateer Press really should address, because if they don’t, it will seriously limit the amount of Retribution players. Who wants to start Warmachine as a new player without a battlebox? Who wants to pay more for Kael and her battlebox group? Who wants a crew without a card deck? Ret is finally beginning to flesh out and have a few more choices and be more evenly matched with other Warmachine armies. The new heavies go a long way. Sadly, the battle engine Tick isn’t… Read more »

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410xp

@vonjunk

Right on my brother in arms, so to satisfy my interest what would be the perfect battlebox for this faction if I was to take this one to task.

Based on your knowledge of them…

You are correct on them not being used much atleast not where I game at. To think of it I have never even played a retribution player.

…and I have 2 yrs invested in playing this game.

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960xp

The Ret. battlebox set (it’ll only ever be sold as a battlebox once Ret. Light jacks are made plastic) is generally considered to be Kael Griffon Chimera Manticore As said in the video, Kael is rather general in that she has a little something for everything (although depending on which other starter set you’re up against, she can be a bit dull). The Manticore I like; out of all the Ret. Jacks, he has the potential to do the most damage in close combat, in addition to being fairly flexible with his shooting (tip, most of the time, you’re better… Read more »

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180xp

Nice list, Fleetey. Kaelyssa is a good warcaster, but much like Deneghra, she’s not always the best choice for a beginner. I played a charity warmachine tourney consisting of five rounds, each round, receiving a different battlebox. The two I found the most difficult to run were Skorne and Retribution (in fact, I was run over in both). Three quick points: The good news about Kael is after some games to practice with her, you’ll see she can be very good. Sticking with her is fine, but you might also like Dawnlord Vyros. He’s not as fragile and less likely… Read more »

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Well it depends a bit on what you want from a battlebox. Most Battleboxes are 11 points and are just Jacks and casters in addition to being more about giving a feel of what the faction is actually about, as opposed to being the best combination. Kael is probably the best introductory caster (with the above conditions), because again, she represents Ret’s fondness for having things that can do more than one thing. Also she’s probably got the best feat when you’re dealing with those point levels / restrictions (i.e. just Jacks). If you follow the PP suggestion of using… Read more »

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Edit, I will add (it may seem I am being very critical) that the Banshee is a very good Jack, while the other things in your list, such as the Arcanist (all Ret armies should try to fit this solo in) and the Mage Hunter Assassin (MHA) are very good recommendations..

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Thanks for the critique, Fleetey. Always good to have someone looking over my shoulder. Apologies, I should have clearly stated, my list was for a 15 point starter army, not a proper battlebox. Vyros is easier for beginners not because of his feat, but because he’s more durable and his spells are easy to master/understand. I often run Kaelyssa before Vyros, but for a beginner I think he offers an easier introduction into Retribution. Usually, I decide a caster first. To be honest, I like them all and run whichever sort of army fits my mood. **Have been running a… Read more »

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Nice input guys,

Its a shame you guys are not local and hanging at the same game store. Sure would like to do a 35pt. list of cryx against Retribution. Just to see how I would weather the match up 🙂

I hope somebody here locally jumps on that faction

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If I knew I was facing a Cryx force, Ret can do very well. They have many ways to deal with ghosts and even some units who do not grant soul tokens.
Where do you play? If you get anyone interested let Fleetey and I know, we can help give them some advice to get them started. (Hope you don’t mind me volunteering you Fleetey.)

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410xp

Milford, ohio place called eastside games and cards

Store owner is a war gamer as well and has like 7 tables and probably the most terain I have ever seen at any game store. He is living the dream 🙂

I also have 2 game boards in my garage one for 40k 6×4 then a 5×4 for malifaux and warmahordes. both are always under construction…

I have found you are never done building on them .

Its a hard sell for retribution without the battle box though for the newbie

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