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Tactics and Secrets “Come on… stop trying to hit me and HIT me!” - Morpheus, “The Matrix”
There’s no doubt that the Rasalhague Dominion is a unique faction on the battlefield. You need a different set of tactics, both offensively and defensively, to effectively use their inverted attack/damage values. Combine this dial paradigm with an assault ’Mech and you have quite a firecracker on your hands. Meet “Stormwind,” a Battlemaster from the Dominions’ arsenal.
Like many Rasalhague machines, this unit starts out modestly, with 3 damage on its’ primary energy weapons (0/10 range with 3 targets), 6 movement, 8 attack with Improved Targeting, and 21 defense. Three identical clicks at the top of the dial make this bear slow to anger. However, that’s equal to the damage output of a lot of light and medium ’Mechs, and Stormwind hasn’t even gotten rolling yet. Once you hit the fourth click, the secondary ballistic weapons come online (2/14 range, one target) with 3 damage, slowly rising to 5 toward the end of the dial. Likewise, your energy weapons gain the Pulse ability mid-dial before settling in at 4 damage (without Pulse) towards the end. You’ll enjoy a stable movement rating through Salvage, and your attack will top out at a fearsome 11! And with sixteen total clicks of life, this ’Mech is in the battle for the long-term.
What about your heat dial? A vent of 2 gives average heat dispersion. However, you won’t be making any rolls until your fourth heat click, where your energy and ballistic weapons show yellow. The fifth click is an ugly mess of black, red, and yellow (fortunately, no ammo explosions), so you’ll want to avoid this if you can.
Out of curiosity, I decided to see how this Battlemaster compared to others in the game. After all, at 248 points, Stormwind is a fairly significant investment. So, I dug out “Caber” (#122, Age of Destruction, 224 points) and “E.O.D.” (#135, Age of Destruction, 200 points). Their respective sweet spots are kind of hard to compare, given the different design paradigms, but suffice to say that Stormwind is on par with these two other assault ’Mechs in terms of combat values. So I tried a different test: starting from the first click, I gave each unit 11 points of damage. Hey, it’s not unrealistic to assume that could happen in one turn. At this point, both “Caber” and “E.O.D.” were down to 2 damage on their secondary weapons, 6 attack, 18 defense, and 4 movement. You’re pretty much heading for the dropzone at that point. Stormwind, however, boasted 4 damage on the energy weapons, 5 on the ballistics, 6 movement, 19 defense, and an 11 attack. Yikes! Inverted dial archetype or not, you don’t want to be on the business end of that.
For an additional 35 points, you can add preferred pilot Vanessa Gurdel. She’ll give Stormwind +2 on movement and +1 on both attack and defense. Best of all, her special ability gives her +1 on her close combat attack value for every unit basing her. She’ll only cost you 28 points in another assault ’Mech, which isn’t a bad price at all!
Stormwind and Vanessa Gurdel will be available as limited edition prizes at WizKids Mechwarrior events in your area. Enjoy!
Design Notes“Stormwind” joins the ranks of unique Battlemasters, and takes its place beside the ultra-rare Kodiak as an assault ’Mech for the Dominion. Only one of the three assault ’Mechs that the Dominion will receive in Wolf Strike, it’s a fearsome beast and might make players think twice about not attacking the units of a Dominion player, seeing as how 200+ points are a lot to leave on the battlefield for victory condition number 2. The Battlemaster was concepted and sculpted in 3D by Vic Bonilla.
G166 Agility, Class L (21pts)Agility is, of course, a must-have for any ’Mech designed for close-in scrapping. Even though the light weight class is not known for close combat resilience, for 21 points, you can make them a force to be reckoned with. Indeed, for around 150 points, there’s a number of ’Mech/Pilot/Gear configurations that will give you the deadly fusion of accuracy, Evade, AND Agility!
SA-026 Situational Alliance: Clan Jade Falcon-Clan Wolf (10/150)It’s never pretty when Kerensky’s children stop their squabbling long enough to form alliances. This situational alliance gives one of your units a ranged combat bonus for firing at something with a greater point value than the shooter. Go ahead. Take a shot at that big target. The Remembrance favors the bold and the brave.
SQ-008 Cyclops Company (-3 per element)
Individually, the Manteuffel Attack Tank, Monocycle, Morning Star Mobile HQ, and Shock Troopers are all solid support pieces that might find their way into your army regardless. Being an element of Cyclops Company, however, gives you the added bonus of being able to make close combat Repair rolls on your other squadron buddies. AND you can also give close combat orders to every member of the squadron, regardless of their type. Too cool!
Oh, and what, might you be asking, is a Manteuffel Attack Tank and a Monocycle? That, my friend, is a story for another day…
This batch of prize mechs and the Gale Force LEs really give me hope for the future of the game. People love big mechs, and they love certain sculpts especially. The Battlemaster is one of them, so it's great they're finally giving people what they want and being less stingy with big mechs and beloved sculpts. I gotta get this one for sure.
Now to nitpick: I sure hope the quote from the Matrix is not actually on the pilot card... as lame as some of the quotes are, a direct reference to 20th century pop culture would be worse. Also, the Battlemaster sculpt, while gorgeous, always struck me as smallish. I would love to see MW have 1 set that is at least correctly scaled relative to itself.
Hm hm...save that it's a Rasalhague unit, which means its offense sucks when its defense is good and its defense sucks when its offense is good. Admittedly, on big assault 'Mechs that can cause pain even dealing with the Rasalhague inversion it works, but still. And I must admit, any 'Mech that's sitting on 8/12/20 with four and five damage weapons after eleven damage is intimidating. I just wish Rasalhague pilots didn't need to get slapped around to figure out where their fire controls were -_-
Honestly though, I'm more excited about the new light Agility. Like the WK people said, that card could make for some brutal combinations in the light prizefighter category. 'Course, the big schtick for me would be Scott Graves and Agility in a Bannson's Raiders Mongoose. 22 Evade, Agility, and an 11-attack Rapid Strike. Fully repairable. At range, untouchable, in close, unhurtable, and if you do manage to hurt it, it just runs back to the nearest MFB and boots back up to full viability. All for 158 points. I'll take two and pass the Stormwind, thanks. Seriously folks, think of some of the light 'Mechs this new Evade capability turns scary. Mjolnirs come to kind, as do Eyries. Anything that may find itself based, as a matter of fact. Fun!
The problem's simple. Unlike a 'Mech in which all its best stats are in its first slot, like the majority of pieces, or a 'Mech with an easily and quickly reached sweet spot such as Seka's Pride, the player is almost never able to control damage well enough to make use of his BattleMech's best stats. When your weapons require a specific amount of damage in order to fully prime, what happens when the enemy attacks over/undershoot that amount? Someone with the proper army and enough knowledge of Rasalhague pieces could easily pile on a few light hits to lay the way, and then hit the Rasalhague 'Mech hard enough to blow it right past its prime, and you never even saw those phenomenal stats.
Not my thing. I pull one of these Stormwinds, it's tradebait.
The problem's simple. Unlike a 'Mech in which all its best stats are in its first slot, like the majority of pieces, or a 'Mech with an easily and quickly reached sweet spot such as Seka's Pride, the player is almost never able to control damage well enough to make use of his BattleMech's best stats. When your weapons require a specific amount of damage in order to fully prime, what happens when the enemy attacks over/undershoot that amount? Someone with the proper army and enough knowledge of Rasalhague pieces could easily pile on a few light hits to lay the way, and then hit the Rasalhague 'Mech hard enough to blow it right past its prime, and you never even saw those phenomenal stats.
Not my thing. I pull one of these Stormwinds, it's tradebait.
FYI .."Stormwind" is a new prize support mech that thier bringing back,but hey if you get one I'll gladly take it off your hands.:p
Hm hm...save that it's a Rasalhague unit, which means its offense sucks when its defense is good and its defense sucks when its offense is good. Admittedly, on big assault 'Mechs that can cause pain even dealing with the Rasalhague inversion it works, but still. And I must admit, any 'Mech that's sitting on 8/12/20 with four and five damage weapons after eleven damage is intimidating. I just wish Rasalhague pilots didn't need to get slapped around to figure out where their fire controls were -_-
Honestly though, I'm more excited about the new light Agility. Like the WK people said, that card could make for some brutal combinations in the light prizefighter category. 'Course, the big schtick for me would be Scott Graves and Agility in a Bannson's Raiders Mongoose. 22 Evade, Agility, and an 11-attack Rapid Strike. Fully repairable. At range, untouchable, in close, unhurtable, and if you do manage to hurt it, it just runs back to the nearest MFB and boots back up to full viability. All for 158 points. I'll take two and pass the Stormwind, thanks. Seriously folks, think of some of the light 'Mechs this new Evade capability turns scary. Mjolnirs come to kind, as do Eyries. Anything that may find itself based, as a matter of fact. Fun!
Unlike NC units that not prefer to get close and personal
but hide and snipe with unreal ranges, RD units like to look in the eyes of the poor sap that chose to pick a fight with them. Picture this: NC, NC fires at the RD BM from 18", the BM turns and stars advancing. The NC fires again at 12" for another 4 damage. thats 8 on the BM now so the BM pulses for 6 on the NC. Next both Mechs vent. Then the NC hits the BM for 2 more. The BM disembowels the NC on his next shot and leaves the scraps for the Revengers BA:)
The problem's simple. Unlike a 'Mech in which all its best stats are in its first slot, like the majority of pieces, or a 'Mech with an easily and quickly reached sweet spot such as Seka's Pride, the player is almost never able to control damage well enough to make use of his BattleMech's best stats. When your weapons require a specific amount of damage in order to fully prime, what happens when the enemy attacks over/undershoot that amount? Someone with the proper army and enough knowledge of Rasalhague pieces could easily pile on a few light hits to lay the way, and then hit the Rasalhague 'Mech hard enough to blow it right past its prime, and you never even saw those phenomenal stats.
Not my thing. I pull one of these Stormwinds, it's tradebait.
Unlike NC units that not prefer to get close and personal
but hide and snipe with unreal ranges, RD units like to look in the eyes of the poor sap that chose to pick a fight with them. Picture this: NC, NC fires at the RD BM from 18", the BM turns and stars advancing. The NC fires again at 12" for another 4 damage. thats 8 on the BM now so the BM pulses for 6 on the NC. Next both Mechs vent. Then the NC hits the BM for 2 more. The BM disembowels the NC on his next shot and leaves the scraps for the Revengers BA:)
If a CNC, or any faction trys to take out RD units one on one with out focus firing on them, then they are not quite right in the head.
