Warmachine: Retribution Mage Hunter Infiltrators

Its no secret that the units available to Retribution are regularly cited as being top tier, if not hands down the best in the game, and the Infiltrators definitely stay in that category….even before talking about their future UA (more on that later). At 5/8pts for min/max unit, they are comparable to the other mage hunter unit in Retribution but shift their specialty to close combat. Still totting the standard mage hunter abilities of Arcane Assassin, ignoring warcasters Power Fields and spell effects adding to DEF and ARM, Pathfinder and Stealth. To emphasis their close combat role they come sporting two blades, Mage Killer and Gang. 

Gang allows Infiltrators to get a +2 bonus to both hit and damage rolls when attacking an enemy model being engaged by a fellow Infiltrators…essentially these guys are dirty fighters that like to jump magic users in groups of two or more and in a faction that doesn’t have many accuracy bonus’, this is more than welcome to add to their efficiency. Mage Killer takes this hatred further and gives them an additional damage die against said spell casters or magic users. So on a successful charge against a mage of some sort, their base P+S 9 blades go up to 11, they are rolling 4 die on damage and they are ignoring any spell buffs and camped Focus their soon to be dead opponent has on them…not shabby at all. There are the base stats and abilities, lets look at some of the combos Retributions casters can offer them. 

Garryth’s pairing is cool right off the bat because he’s the only caster that can run a complete Arcane Assassin army (minus the jacks) with tier benefits, a fact that provoke’s some really bad match-ups for an opponent using a upkeep, buffing support caster obviously. Due to their speed and innate mage hunting abilities, they can keep up with Garryth, acting as an escort, and provide an equally game winning threat if positioned correctly…paired you can create those “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” scenarios. His Death Sentence spell helps these guys out as much as any other model in his army due to the re-rolls to hit but with Gang it’s not absolutely necessary. Gallows and Mirage increases their threat range, although Gallows is to random for me:). While it wont hurt to have Mirage on them, its probably going to find its upkeep target on other, slower, models in the army or those needing a more efficient and valuable aiming bonus on top of an extra 2inches of placement…like the Mage Hunter Strike Force. All in all, a fluffy and competitive list worth giving a go.

Kaelyssa’s strengths with the Infiltrators aren’t as straight forward and comprehensive as Garryth’s. Like many of her list builds and good match-ups, its success is just as dependent on your opponents list makeup. Kaelyssa’s Vanishing feat will protect these guys from an early alpha strike just like the rest of her army or help with board control later in the game, just be mindful of someone charging their own model or trampling into your line before opening a can on you:) Her Arcane Reckoning spell on top of their higher DEF and Stealth will usually see your opponent on the receiving end of their own offensive spell at least once in a game but this trick will loose its luster as you progress up a tournament ladder…or your local gaming buddies crack wise to it. In the former case, swapping out Arcane Reckoning for her Banishing Ward becomes the answer. Flat out preventing them from being the targets of enemy spells is useful against chain lighting, large AOE spells etc. 

With the number of Pathfinder buffs or support solos that can dish it out in each faction rift wont come up much but when it does a good placement between the Infiltrators and a non-Pathfinder model/unit on the other side can quickly return the Focus expenditure. Last in Kaelyssa’s synergies with the Infiltrators is their potential with her Backlash spell. Backlash deals a point to the controlling ‘caster of an enemy jack that is damaged once they are tagged with this upkeep from Kaelyssa..that sounds like a lot huh?…ok…Kaelyssa tags an enemy ‘jack with Backlash, from that point on when the jack is damaged, its caster takes one point of damage as well. The Infiltrators gang P+S, two attacks a piece and Speed yield a potential 20 attacks when you need them. Stack this with Mage Hunter Strike Force and the increasing prevalence of Colossal’s on the table these days and you have a solid matchup that hurts your opponent on multiple fronts, leading to that satisfying “W”.

Rumor Mill…3Eiryss
Since last year its been known that the ever popular mercenary elfess would be getting her “Legendary” status in Warmachine: Vengeance. That news was cool enough by itself but then it was spoiled that she would be a Unit Attachment for both the Mage Hunter Strike Force and, unknown at the time of release, the Mage Hunter Infiltrators. A single model being a UA for multiple units is a first in the game and with the already high status the Mage Hunter Strike Force has, rumor CHAOS as-sued with how this interaction would work in the first place and what goodies 3Eiryss would bring to the units. Again, the Retributions units, especially their Unit Attachments, are considered top notch in the game, with MHSF being at the top of that pile…so how to balance her epic fluff, the factions synergies and cross unit aid? The most popular, not necessarily the most balanced, are Acrobatics, Ambush, Advance Deployment, Beast Hunter, Shadow Dance….and the list goes on lol. In fact, all the threads I’ve seen on this subject are comical and good ol’fashion fun to read. With that…..