With the release of Pyramids I feel that I will be updating my traditional army I have played about a billion times. The last version was:

3 Amotep gunner***
Anunub
Shamen*

Scorpem gunner***
Shade*
Mancatcher*

The army has undergone very little modification since its creation. Even with the changes added since Sinister (big bounders, OSTS, etc) The army still holds up well due to being flexible, forgiving of mistakes or bad dice rolls, and chocked full of raw power. The only thing I was unhappy with was its inability to deal with Limited Invisibility figs which were becoming more popular. Before I could easily over power the occassional Warrior sprite shield of Wind minion, but with the release of the Crystal sprite and shadows I began to worry. I wasnt afraid of the LI figs them selves but instead by their ability to protect the big bounders or Stonethrowers. I considered dropping the Scorpem for Wandering Mochooch and upgrading the shade, but would really miss having the bounder. Then Pyramids was released....


Pyramids is a terrible set. Its got bad figs, over priced figs, worthless figs, and tired reused sculpts. Their is very little to atract peoples interest which is a real shame. Dungeons was already rarely played and this entire set isn't going to change that. It does have 1 figure however that will make a lot of my worries go away when playing this army. That figure is the extra affordable Ram warrior.

The Ram Warrior is not an offensive fig. I think a lot of the people who are looking down on him are comparing him to the other offensive rammers. He is a defensive fig and a utility figs. He is a problem solver. My army has a few problem areas that needed to be fixed with out changing the armies over all design. The Ram warrior does that.

The new version is:

3 Amotep gunner***
Anunub
Shamen*

Scorpem gunner***
Ram Warrior*
Mancatcher*

It features:

6 potential attackers + a rammer
Double enhanced F/L
Long ranged formation attack of 14-16 dealing 5 damage
a decent yoyo for 200 pts
A decent enough healer (almost everything has low defense)
ML/ram
A quickness harrasser
A back up harrasser (flung ram warrior)
capturer to prevent opponent from pushing.
Ability to shield Healer/levitator from opposing rammer


Combining all this versatility makes for a deadly army. The traditional army was flexible and forgiving. The new version is all that and more.

I like that army, it looks like alot of fun to play.

I just need to get my hands on a nub...

i knew it! :D

looks awesome, if only i had those pieces!

Need a Nub?! At this point I'd settle for the 3 Amotep Gunner ***. By the way, what was the point of the Amotep Incinerator fig? Shouldn't it at least have BA?

Adam

The Nub is a vital part of the army. For 32 points he offers you magic levitation (here comes the ram warrior and manyother optinos during the game), a 12'' magic blaster able to hit small harassers or finish damaged pieces and a magic enhancer for the Amotep Gunners.

I also have one and I could see how it works in small games like 200 pointers. BTW I'm also a fan of Bshugg's Anunub army and play a very similar version of hir army.

You can play it with out Anunub by substituing a yellow Technomancer and using the 7 point difference to upgrade the shamen to *** or perhaps the ram warrior to ***, or even filling in with an Imp** or something. You lose out on the double enhancement and the very important 12" Magic Blast that is very useful for picking off wounded figs with out having to push gunners or the scorpem to do so. But I understand how hard it is to get Anunub. Even though I have one, I wish they would reprint him and make him readily available. Even if it made mine drop in value a ton. Its way too elitest to have a game with a very cool and powerful figure that almost no one can get a hold of.

A friend uses this version:

2 Amotep gunner***
Technomancer*
Shamen***

Scorpem gunner***
War hatchet krugg*
Mancatcher*

It works pretty good as well, but cant make a formation attack which is sometimes important.

sentinel007: The problem is not that Incinirator. He is relatively balanced compared to the rest of the rebellion set. The problem is the Amotep gunner***. It is horribly unbalanced when compared to the rest of the set.

Yeah, but I like the gunner... Now if only I had a couple *** gunners...
Oh well

Adam

Nice army, and good use of the new ram warrior.

Brad, I've probably asked you this before (or at least I should have), but what are your thoughts on Scholar-Magus Bessa (lvl 2) for those who simply cannot seem to obtain a 'Nub? (like me!)

Pros:
You still have the ML and ME

Infinitely easier to obtain

Cons:
2 points more

Doesn't move in formation, thus costing an extra action

You lose the MB in favor of a double-target FL that probably won't ever get used (but could be very nice in the right situations ... *shrug*)

I'd like to hear everyone's input on this figure, if you would all be so kind.

Hitman

You can not downgrade the gunners or the scorpum. The mancather is already at * and so is the rammer. That leaves you with the shaman to downgrade. I think you could do it and it be as effective as a techno. One would have to tinker with it a bit

I would rather downgrade to a techno if I lacked Anunub, and use the points elsewhere than use Scholor-Magus. As barrel said, there is no easy place to "borrow" two points, and her not being able to move in formation really really hurts this army.

One of the huge advantages of this army (and one I dont mention often) is that its great for going on the attack against an opponent. All the offense/support in the army can move into threat range in a single turn. This may not seem like much, but often when an army that can't bring all its guns to bear in a single turn tries to engage(or go on offense), it has to spend actions it should be using fighting instead on moving things up the second turn. My gunner builds are usually designed this way to take advantage of this. A common tactic I use is to engage when only half their army is moved up. I have all my army in range, while they have to choose to attack with whats in range, or move up the rest. It's a no win situation in most cases for them. Since gunner armies have so much concentrated offense, You can often just roll over your opponent when you engage full force in 1 turn.

With Bessa you wouldnt be able to do this as much as well as having to expose your healer when moving to a ML/ram army. One reason I never need chargers in this style of army is because they can move protected. I never expose anything to ML/ram except for my offensive figs and harrassers. Since ML/ram is mostly bruising damage (a point here and there) you keep your healers protected and can easily ignore it, and once its taken care of you heal up 2-3 actions worth of ram damage with a single roll.

One thing I dont own is a Mondravalis. I think he would be a great fig in this style of army, but since I dont own one, I haven't taken the time to work out how to fit him in.

Thanks for the questions! I enjoy talking about my baby.

This sort of army is the ultimate MK army imo. Almost every other army uses too few attackers. While I regard merging 2 weaker figures into a more xpensive figure as a newbie-mistake, it is regarded as MK expertise by other players. I am NOT propagating swarm here, by the way.

It boils down to this: To make use of your higher skill, you need a versatile army. A swarm is quite the contrary to a versatile army.

This here (Bshuggs army) is a versatile army. You can actually PLAY with it.

By the way, I agree that seemlessly merging Mondravalis into such a sort of army would enhance it. I have Mondravalis, but no Gunners. So I aint working on it either. :)

I think its a pretty cool army too ;)

It has enough offense to really hit hard, and difficult for the opponent to counter, yet still very flexible and forgiving. Not many armies have that. I dont think its the best army ever, but it works for me and I enjoy playing it.

Its right at the level where it almost has a bunch of attackers like swarm, yet still has guys with strong enough abilities to match up against the more expensive figs and take them down. If you want to play with something like this, I suggest practicing with it against the various army types you will face. You will often find that match ups that should be tough for this style of army (like a corpheus based army) actually arent if you use a different tactic against them. If you practice it you can be sure not to use the wrong approach when facing them in a tournament.

here's my question: how do you move this army? i'd assume, AG formation, shaman, mancatcher, then gunner and ram warrior.

if the ram warrior is lagging behind a turn, then how do you use him to threaten any figs? if he is ahead a turn, then what keeps him from being picked off quick? if you moved him at the same time you moved 'nub, then you've lost your double enhancement or, cost yourself a possible attack to move the shaman back into position.

the easiest way to throw in mondravilis is to drop the shaman and the mancatcher. 37 points right there. this also solves my above mentioned problem.

i don't like it. that mancatcher's pretty handy.

next option. drop a gunner and the shaman, throw in mondravilis and a *** imp.

also, i think, not great.

next, drop gunner, ram warrior, and downgrade to a ** scorpem.

take a wild guess.

the best way i can think of to put her in, is to take the AG formation and mondravilis (141) and redo the rest form scratch. other than that, i guess it wasn't meant to be.

porbably with good reason. jeez! that'd be nasty. =)