MkII Initial Reaction - Cygnar

Cpt Calvinus Mk II here. :)

Wow, where to begin! There really are so many changes. It's like it is a whole new game. I'll talk about some of my favorite spells and models under MkI and how they're different.

Snipe

Before, it was 1" of Snipe for 1 Foc spent. This was great, but I only typically cast Snipe once in the game and upkept it. Nothing like a GMCA or the Black 13th with 6" inches (7" with the Squire!). Now, Snipe is strictly 4", but it only costs 2 Foc. At first, I was bummed out. Now, I really love this! Sure, I'll miss the extra 3", but now I won't feel like I'm wasting Foc to recast this midgame. Before, I'd rarely get a chance to have 6 Foc to give someone the full 6". Now, I could technically upkeep Snipe on the GMCA, take his shot. activate Stryker and cast Snipe on the Longgunners and take their shot. All this for only 3 Foc. Then, the next turn, I could reverse it! I like this change.

The GMCA

He lost two of his Effects, but they are the two effects I mentioned in the last game report that I never used. His Long Shot is only 4" (like Snipe), so with the two together, he only has a max range of 20". I don't like that, but it's fair. He is no longer a Commander, but I never used him for that anyways. Two things are disappointing. Under Flash Fire in MkI, it stated that he also ignores obstructions. It doesn't say that anymore. Also, I would have liked his Magelock Pistol to get an upgrade to POW 11. That one point would have made him a lot more effective, IMO. Here's the best part though... He is now FA 2! Sweet! He's my favorite model, both aesthetically and playwise, and now I get two. I really hope they come out with an Alt pose.

nStryker

Finally MAT 7! Also, Blur guards against Magic attacks, Arcane Shield is RNG 6 (not 8) and it looks like Earthquake has to hit everything in its AOE for it to KD. That is unfortunate. Additionally, his Feat is an Aura now, instead of a Pulse. I would've liked him to get more abilities. I don't understand why the central character of the WM story still only has Disruption and a POW 10 Pistol. But the MAT increase outweighs all the negatives.

nHaley

The first thing that stood out to me was Scramble. This spell has been entirely revamped. Under MkI, the warjack activated during the controller's next Cont Phase, ran and then ended its activation. If it came in contact with an obstruction or a Jack (of any size), it was KD. Now, it activates immediately and walks. Since it activates during my turn, it doesn't forfeit its activation. At first I thought the spell was ruined, until I further analyzed the possibilities. Before, the jack would KD any small based warrior model it moved completely through. Now, it knocks down any smaller based model it contacts. Also, instead of being KD by any warjack it runs into, it is KD by any model with an equal or larger base. The problem before (problem? what problem?) was that Darius' halfjacks could "trip" a Heavy. That was great. Now, however, it either trips or is tripped by everything on the board. This will be great against armies of medium based warrior models, such as Trolls and Khador. Sure, a medium can't knock down a heavy, but something is getting knocked down. And - drumroll please - since it occurs in my own activation now, I can KD a whole unit and shoot the crap out of them! I love the new Scramble!

One other thing of significance on Haley is that both TB and her Feat are now Auras. TB got a little nerf (less 1 Foc, doesn't halve movement, and is only -2 Def), but at least I won't feel like I'm spamming a broken spell.

Thunderhead

The biggest thing on the THead is that he lost his Chain Attack - Scramble. This was a lot of fun to do. One game against Khador, I'd Scramble one jack, it'd run, and I'd charge after it and scramble it again. Fun for me, but probably not fair. In return, the THead received a +1 Mat and a +1 P+S on his fists. His energy pulse lost 2" of effectiveness, but I only have to roll 1 attack roll. That could be good and bad. If I roll a two, it works against everything, but so would a 12. But now, I only have to boost 1 roll. Also, as someone on the forums pointed out, the wording on its Sustained attack is such that the hit caused by Energy Pulse causes the 2 subsequent hits that can be made to auto-hit as well. I wish they would've made this an attack that could be done in melee as well, but that would probably be broken. The loss of 2" on this might get me to bring him into Melee faster in MkII. Oh yeah, he's still expensive. He costs 12 points now. With 4 Heavies at 9 pts, and 1 each at 7 and 8, it's really hard to justify now.

This is probably too much for now. I did a deeper study of nHaley and eHaley and came up with a full page of differences and possibilities. General thoughts: 1) I'm not too keen on the icons yet. I thought they were supposed to make the cards easier to read, but now I have to memorize tiny icons. 2) Phill pointed out that you only have a choice of taking a minimum unit or a maximum unit. I don't like this either. I didn't do it often, but I liked the possibility of taking 7 or 8 longgunners. 3) I don't like that Epic casters aren't restricted to larger games anymore. I don't think that is right, either fluff wise or for game play. As someone said on the Forums, if there isn't a point value for casters and I can take eIrusk at a 15 point game, why would I ever play nIrusk. I think the same could be said for me with eStryker. I hope we can get them to change these last two.