This might be a better thread than the other one to discuss Cygnar tactics. Welcome to Cygnar.
Courage and Honour!From the other thread:
I just started a Cygnar list knowing nearly nothing about Warmachine, so I'm looking for a little advise on how to put together a 35 point list. I'm thinking of taking some melee units to lead the way with ranged warjacks behind them, Like Sword knights with a Cyclone behind them or something of the sort. Any thoughts?
First thing to know about Warmachine is play, play and play. It's the only way to really know how any list works and unlike some *other* table top game, this one can't normally win based on list construction. Competency with the game mechanics and faction knowledge is pretty critical. Since the game is so complex, it's hard to know them all just reading about it. Now that we got that out of the way, let's talk Cygnar!
Sword knights are a great cheap unit. Well, the look pretty crappy since they are P+S 10 melee dudes without reach. Decent mat, are pretty fast and ok defensive stats. Sword knights love proper Cygnar buffs and reach warjacks.
They have flank faction warjack so if in combat they get +2 to hit and get another d6 on damage. So... if you line then up with say a Lancer, Stormclad or Centurion already in combat (I mention these ones because they have reach), on the charge, that crappy P+S 10 gets 4d6 on the charge. That will make even a Khadoran heavy flinch and will pretty much crack a beast without a buff up.
When thinking about Warmachine and effectiveness, you can't discount buffs and you need to think in averages. So on the normal 2d6, the average is somewhere between 6 and 7 for how you should be thinking. So that 4d6 we mentioned earlier is an average damage total of 22-24 with a really nice +2 to hit roll which means you will probably hit if it's not a warcaster.
You mentioned you wanted to use them as a screening unit. That can work but positioning is important and you will want them to be buffed properly. If they are in defensive line and have arcane shield (this is where I tell you to call up battleground to put aside a journeyman warcaster for you) on them, they become arm 19 which is great for shrugging off blast damage and Pow 10s and 12s. Remember, you have to meet def and beat arm.
As a screening unit, you will need to consider base sizes and your targets. A large base cannot see over a small base if they want to target a small base. You can always see up, you can't see down is how I remember this one. So you will need to properly position so you have some holes in your lines to shoot through if you are screening.
Cyclones are awesome and are one of the best jacks in the Cygnar arsenal. If you are just building up your list, know that they almost
never need focus so they are a prime jack to marshal to one of our awesome jack marshals. The best marshal for ranged jacks that we have is the Arcane Tempest Gunmage UA. All 2 x d3 shots get to shoot like they are gunmages each turn. It's dirty and oh so amazing. Also, covering fire doesn't require focus so you can block charge ranges to single wound models, pow 12s can kill most infantry.
Let me know if you have any other questions or if you want to get some games in to try some stuff out. Cygnar seems weak at first when facing an Arm 20+ Khadoran heavy warjack until we knock it down, disrupt it and then ignore it until we feel like dealing with it.
