I was just thinking about how much mage knight has progressed since the days of rebellion and lancers and one thing that came to mind were some old formations one in particular, does anyone rember this?

***Khamsin Fuser - 16
***Khamsin Fuser - 16
***Leech Medic - 14

A formation with to 10 in attackers with 9 offense, and a healer all for 46 points(But of course we already knew that). My question is this: Has this formation been left behind in the past never to be used again or is it still effective in todays armies. i would like to see what everyone thinks.



-MagusJoe

havent seen that in a along time.. no.. not many people use that.. if ever they do use it in tournament settings these days.. such a formation is vulnerable to so many thing.. like

FL
RAM
Venom
multiple targeting
long range targeting

and thus is not really viable nowadays..

The problem is not that the formation is outdated but instead that it just isn't a very good one.
Sure its cheap but it:

Has below average damage potential- 2 actions means 4 damage

Has below average attack potential - 9 attack with no hope of formation bonus

Has below average range- 10" can not compete with 12 or 14 or bounders

has low defense- 15 can be hit by just about anything.

has trouble breaking away and moving


I dont think that the pieces have outdated it but instead that player skill has moved past it. In the beginning Storm golems were unbeatable.

old skool formations for BPR for me are:

Steam Golem * (or any flavor)
Khamsin fuser *** x2
Leech medic ***

or

BP Boomers x2
Leech medic ***

with the EGM sprouted out of lancers... it became:

BP Boomers x3
EGM

downside is.. when ram came about, it carried it down to the ground. :(

or 3*** boomers
Amazon Queen

its the counterpart of the
3 troll arti
Elemental Priest

2 ** Troll Arties
*Elven Demi-Magus
* Corrupted Priest.

Same thing, with higher hit and damage potential, and toughness to shake off Ram. A healer with 10 to hit isn't bad, and the Magic Blaster/Enhancer helps, too. All within one faction.

Sinister made your same idea sooo much better. Replace the Artillerists with *Gunners for the same points and gain F/L, although you get a 10 to hit and more fragile figures.

My old school army that I still use today would be

1 Steak Golem *** "Love them"
5 BP Boomers***
2 Leach Medics***

It still works for me and I love it and I lone the Black Powder Rebels.

I play lots of ***Khamsin Fusers and leech medics in my conquest games. I have three general ways I use them. First I have my 'combat squads' which I find good for blocking/holding certain areas... especially in places with lots of blocking terrain. These are a steam golem (flavor of your choice) with two fusers on either side and a leech medic behind. Fielding 3-4 of these formations can cover your flanks very well if you use the terrain well.

Second, I have large combat lines designed for head-on combat with other large formations. These are either 1 steamer, 4 fusers and a medic (steamer in middle of 4 fusers, medic behind steamer) or 2 steamers, 4 fusers, and 2 medics (fuser, steam, fuser, fuser, steam, fuser, medics behind steamers). This is pretty vulnerable to F/L though.

Third, I have combat walls. This is 5+ fusers in a line in front of 5+ steamers with medics behind the steamers. I use the fusers as a combat unit that can actually hurt an enemy in addition to protecting the steamers from ranged attack. Go after the fusers and you'll get slammed by the steamers, go after the steamers and the fusers can hurt you as well (conquest formation attacks make fusers nasty).

Sure, there's plenty of stuff that can wipe the floor with these things, but they're fun if you like all BPR armies (like I do).

those formations were ok back in the day, but just too much speed and range, like send that formation against a striker or something. many of the old strategies have been pushed out due to the new innovations in each set, but still fun to play

When sham-rin gets released you are probably going to see a resurgance of boomers and fusers used taking advantage of her fast movement potential.

Back in "the day" my formation was 3 *** fusers and a *shaman. Since then I've traded out all my fusers for a striker and some money for MW and while I miss them, I never used them past lancers.

The Rebellion only strategies and formations that I remember seeing a lot of :

2x**Arty
1x**Priestess

2xGunner***
1x*Demi

Amazon Queen
2-3x**Boomers

Storm Golem and/or Magus
3x*Shamen or 3x*Demis

5x***U. Guards

3x***Nightstalkers

40x**zombies w/grave robber (honestly could do well, given enough time to capture everything)

Chaos Mage
2x*Shamen

most of these formations are still good today, though many of them have some new figures added to make them more viable.

And lastly, my KiBear army..

Elemental Priest
2x**KiDevil
2x***KiDevil
2x***WereBear

I suppose that I'll have to play it again with the EGM instead of the EP.