In the pre-Adventure Time days, there was no easy way to describe James Kennedy’s The Order of Odd-Fish. After all, how does one simply describe a book that is equal parts the snap-quick grotesquerie of Roald Dahl, the cracked-out madness of every late-late-night cartoon, and even the bizarre randomness of a select band of comedy anime? There is no simple way to cover all that. Or at least there wasn’t. Not before Adventure Time. But now I can say this about The Order of Odd-Fish:
This book reads exactly like Adventure Time, and it is a glorious, glorious thing.
From the back cover: Jo Larouche has lived her thirteen years in the California desert with her aunt Lily, ever since she was dropped on Lily’s doorstep with this note: “This is Jo. Please take care of her. But beware. This is a DANGEROUS baby.” Soon worsening circumstances lead Jo and Lily out of California forever—and into the fantastical world of Eldritch City. There Jo learns the scandalous truth about who she really is, and she and Lily join the Order of Odd-Fish, a colorful collection of knights who research useless information. Glamorous cockroach butlers, pointless quests, obsolete weapons, and bizarre festivals fill Jo and Lily’s days, but two villains—one quite silly and one more demonic than you can possibly imagine—control their fate. Jo is inching closer and closer to the day when her destiny will be fulfilled, and no one in Eldritch City will ever be the same.
Odd-Fish is a book unlike any book that I’ve ever read. It shares similarities with the whimsical worlds of Roald Dahl and Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth, but takes the absurdity inherent in such worlds and turns it up to eleven, with hilarious results. It might actually be the most hilarious book I’ve ever read.
The amazing thing about Odd-Fish, though, is not that laugh-out-loud moments occur; it’s that they continue, and they keep continuing until you start wondering how much funny can possibly fit into a book and then realize that you’re still on the same scene, and there’s, blissfully, more to come. It’s not typical funny, though. I’ve read humor books that have literally kept me laughing from page to page, but these books all tackle rather normal topics—the humor and quirks of day-to-day activities, for example. Nothing in The Order of Odd-Fish is remotely normal. It is totally and utterly nonsensical and absurd and wonderful and I love it. It is a novel in which the main characters include a Russian colonel with digestion so sensitive it’s semi-conscious, a four-foot-tall talking cockroach who likes fancy purple suits, a Chinese millionaire who wants to be as evil as he can because he’s already done every good thing in the world that he can possibly do and is bored with it, a celebrity prankster terrorist (Just read the book), and a regular girl who is not as regular as she seems—a combination stranger and more eclectic than anything seen even in Eldritch City. It’s a setup so mad that, by all accounts, it shouldn’t work. But it does. Even when it’s using an idea that we’ve already seen (which is rare), it works, and it works brilliantly.
The book’s only significant shortcoming is, fittingly, as odd as the story itself. Odd-Fish is at its best for the first few hundred pages, when it’s simply a string of bizarre adventures involving Jo and her friends. Nearing its end, though, it decides that it needs to settle down and grow an actual plot. The conflict and climax that result are still entertaining, but they don’t have the spirit of the first chunk of the novel, which is disappointing.
Still, fans of the absurd are bound to find a favorite in this novel. The Order of Odd-Fish has a place of honor on my bookshelf, and I eagerly await James Kennedy’s next work, The Magnificent Moots, whenever it finally releases.
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Humanity Machine – 2nd Draft Complete!
Can a person manufactured for war still be human?
The second draft of Humanity Machine is now complete, and Adam Burn has finished the stellar cover art and graphic design. Oh yeah, it’s coming together!
So what is Humanity Machine?
Humanity Machine is a story of Manufactured People. Soldiers created on demand using an advanced form of 3D printing. More precisely, this is the story of one such soldier: Vance. This is her journey as she grows from just one more cog in the machine to an individual that can shape the destiny of her people.
Humanity Machine is a story of Intense Space Battles. Highly advanced, self-modifying warships slugging it out in the depths of space. Vance serves as one warship’s drone controller, commanding her squadrons of interceptors and bombers against a powerful and tenacious foe.
Humanity Machine is a story of Divided Humanity. Not by politics or ethnicities or faiths, but by technology. It’s a story about how technology molds a society, and how that technology can make its people seem very alien to an outsider. Imagine a society with no families, no children, and no gender roles. Imagine a two-tiered society of the created and the creators. What would that society be like? What would its people be like?
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UPDATE: Where is Humanity Machine?
I have good news and news (which is really neither good nor bad). The good news is that Humanity Machine will be released. Eventually. The novel is now a very polished 3rd draft, and it’s coming out one way or another.
I honestly wish we could publish the book now, but here comes the neither-good-nor-bad news.
How the novel will be published is a bit of an open question. Actually two open questions. I know that’s horribly vague, but to say anything more at this time would be premature. There are some potentially exciting opportunities here, and the delay comes from H.P. and I taking the time to explore them properly.
So, yes. Humanity Machine will be coming out. You can count on that.
Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Goreshade, Lord of Ruin
Warcasters are the stars of Warmachine, and Cryx has no shortage of powerful and fun-to-play warcasters. Today, I’m taking a look at Goreshade, Lord of Ruin.
IN SHORT: With two ways to inflict Stationary, some excellent buff spells, and a cheap way to bring back undead models, Goreshade is a force to be reckoned with. Did I mention he’s got a horse now too?
STRENGTHS: Where to begin with this guy?
How about, he’s a warcaster with Ghostly and cavalry rules. What does this mean? Well, for starters, no one’s getting free strikes against him, even if he misses impact attacks or performs a ride-by attack. That’s a chocolate and peanut butter combo if I ever saw one.
He’s also Tall in the Saddle, so he can ignore small and medium bases when making melee attacks. So forget about typical Shield Wall units preventing line of sight to a vulnerable warcaster when declaring a melee attack.
And while we’re on it, what a melee attack! His sword Voass is P+S 15 with Reach and Stationary. Even better, he’s effective MAT 9 when he charges (again because of those delicious cavalry rules). And after he’s hit once, every extra attack hits automatically.
So, a quick recap. No one gets free strikes against him. He can trample through enemy models. He hits like a truck, freezes enemies solid, and then is free to dish out hit after hit with impunity. That is an assassination vector opponents MUST respect!
But Goreshade is far from a one trick undead horse. He comes with a whole host of ways to support his army. Infernal Machine buffs one of his warjacks. +2 SPD and MAT on a Kraken anyone? Occultation gives out Stealth to units or models (potentially to himself for added safety). And Scything Touch enhances melee damage by +2, again to units or models.
For his feat, Winter’s Grasp, he can explode his own warrior models into 3” AOEs. And what do these AOEs do? Well, they inflict Stationary! He can literally freeze an enemy army dead in its tracks.
But the real gem in his spell list is Mockery of Life. For the cheap price of 2 Focus, Goreshade can bring back a friendly Faction Undead Grunt. Now, Cryx infantry does not lack for ways to increase its numbers. When combined with Goreshade’s new spell, this can get outright silly. Be sure to bring extra models!
He can even cast a spell for free once per turn if a living enemy model casts a spell in his control area. That gives him 4 potential Mockery of Life casts! I mean, seriously, even his basic magic attack spell is snazzy. With Siphon Bolt, he can strip 1 Focus or 1 Fury off models hit and add 1 Focus to his own pool, kind of making this a 1 Focus attack spell. Yikes!
Rounding out the package, Goreshade’s basic stats are solid. With DEF 14, ARM 17, Focus 7, and 17 hit boxes, so he can take a solid beating before going down.
Yeah, Goreshade comes fully loaded.
WEAKNESSES: Goreshade is sitting on a large base, which automatically makes him difficult to protect. He also has three upkeep spells and Mockery of Life vying for his Focus pool. Put those two together, and it’s easy to splurge and leave him vulnerable.
Ghostly and SPD 8 do help him use terrain to his advantage, and he can slap Stealth on himself for added protection, but the problem definitely exists.
Goreshade also lacks the conventional assortment of Cryx debuffs. While Scything Touch does aid damage output, Goreshade has very limited options when it comes to making Cryx models hit better. This mostly revolves around using his feat to inflict Stationary. Models that like DEF debuffs for more accurate attacks won’t find much support from this warcaster.
SYNERGIES: Goreshade loves undead infantry so he can bring them back with Mockery of Life, and that synergy is even better if those models can already add to their numbers. And if those models are self-sufficient, it gets even better.
For all of the above, Bane Thralls or Bane Knights with Tartarus provide an excellent option. For most of the above, Mechanithralls supported by Necrosurgeons do the trick.
Blackbane’s Raiders are also a potent choice. They’re undead and they can reanimate their enemies as long as Blackbane is around. But they’re also incorporeal with SPD 7, which allows them to race through the enemy lines and be detonated by Goreshade Stationary-inflicting AOEs. For this same reason, Machine Wraiths are an excellent vector for delivering Goreshade’s feat to enemy models.
Bane Riders are another choice with plenty of promise. They may lack a way to add more Riders, but they are highly self-sufficient when it comes to hitting their targets hard and accurately, plus each Rider that Goreshade revives packs considerable punch. Better than bringing Mechanithralls back for 2 Focus a model, right? Their large bases also provide a means to block line of sight to Goreshade.
JUST FOR FUN: It’s the Mechanithrall two-for-one sale! Enemy gun lines getting you down? Mechanithralls lying around in pieces? Well, have no fear!
With both Necrosurgeons and Goreshade on hand, each blown up Mechanithrall can come back not once, but TWICE! That’s because the Necrosurgeons and Goreshade both use a different resource to add models (a corpse token versus a destroyed status).
So yeah. Double-dip till your heart’s content. Even blow up some of your own Mechanithralls to get the process started.
Enjoy!
SUMMARY: Goreshade is back and comes loaded with cool tricks and abilities. He’s a powerful assassin all by himself, and he can play a downright demoralizing attrition game with Mockery of Life. Plus, it’s a steampunk undead dark elf on a steampunk undead horse! Do I really need to say anything else?
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Humanity Machine – Cover Work-in-Progress
The incredibly talented Adam Burn has begun working on the cover to Humanity Machine. This is merely the first element of the composition. Here you can see the SolFleet frigate Valor taking shape, which the main character Vance serves on as its drone controller. It’ll be under attack in the final version.
Pretty cool, huh? In Adam’s own words:
“Starting first with the massive capital ship, quite rough at the moment mostly throwing down shapes and basic lighting so the final will be more refined.”
Yes, ladies and gentlemen. What we have here right now is “quite rough.” I can’t wait to see the refined version. 🙂
So what is Humanity Machine? Well, I’m glad you asked!
Humanity Machine is a story of Manufactured People. Soldiers created on demand using an advanced form of 3D printing. More precisely, this is the story of one such soldier: Vance. This is her journey as she grows from just one more cog in the machine to an individual that can shape the destiny of her people.
Humanity Machine is a story of Intense Space Battles. Highly advanced, self-modifying warships slugging it out in the depths of space. Vance serves as one warship’s drone controller, commanding her squadrons of interceptors and bombers against a powerful and tenacious foe.
Humanity Machine is a story of Divided Humanity. Not by politics or ethnicities or faiths, but by technology. It’s a story about how technology molds a society, and how that technology can make its people seem very alien to an outsider. Imagine a society with no families, no children, and no gender roles. Imagine a two-tiered society of the created and the creators. What would that society be like? What would its people be like?
And if all goes to plan, it will be out this year!
Subscribe to the Holo Writing Newsletter to receive updates on our current and future books.
Time Reavers – Sequel
This is so exciting! People have started asking about the sequel to Time Reavers!
Please allow me to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has inquired about the next book. Your feedback is a precious, wonderful thing. So, on that note, I thought I’d take a moment to talk a little bit about the sequel.
Will there be a sequel to Time Reavers?
Oh, you’d better believe there’s going to be a sequel!
What’s it called?
The working title is Mind Reavers.
What will it be about?
The hidden war between the tau guards and the reavers is about to go loud in a big way. The barrier between our worlds is crumbling. The resolve of the tau guards is failing, and seventeen-year-old Nicole Taylor, with her unique ability to speak to the reavers, may be the only one who can save the Earth.
Also, expect to learn more about the true nature of the reavers in this book. A lot more. Many of the lingering questions from Time Reavers will have light shed on them.
What will happen in it?
Oh, come on. Like I’d answer that. 🙂
When are you going to finish it?
Well, I’ve got to start it first. It’s on the short list of upcoming projects along with the sequel to The Dragons of Jupiter. Right now, I’m focused on making Humanity Machine as awesome and exciting as possible.
FINISH IT FASTER!
I’m sorry. I wish I could write faster too. 🙁
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Holo Writing at SC Comicon 2014!
This past weekend, H.P. and I participated in the first ever South Carolina Comic Con, organized by the very hardworking Rob Young of Borderland Comics and Games. The event lasted two days and, according to one of the staff members, drew in over six thousand people! I can believe it too. The convention center was packed. The pictures we took do not do the crowd justice because, simply put, we were so busy when the crowds really hit!
H.P. and I had a blast interacting with people at the convention. We met I.R. Harris, author of the dark epic fantasy Bound Trilogy as well as plenty of talented artists. Tons of cool people, many in costume, stopped by our table.
Many of those who stopped by left with our books in hand. We almost blew through our entire stock. Bear in mind, we ordered extras after the success of Tangled Web’s Free Comic Day. Even with that, we still almost ran out. It was a great weekend for us!
To everyone who purchased our books, THANK YOU! Welcome to Holo Writing!
Holo Writing at SpartanCon!
This past Saturday, H.P. and I hosted a table at SpartanCon. We had a lot of fun doing it. A big, warm thank you to Spartanburg County Public Libraries for extending the invitation to us and letting us host a table at their event.
This picture was taken before things got crazy. And boy, did they get crazy! The head librarian mentioned to us that between eight hundred and a thousand people showed up. We had a wonderful day interacting with plenty of new readers. To everyone who bought our books, thank you! We hope you enjoy them!
The day was a resounding success for us. H.P. and I will definitely be participating in SpartanCon next year.
Of the people who attended SpartanCon, plenty came wearing some superb costumes. Not surprising, since the library hosted a cosplay contest with two 4-day tickets to DragonCon as the main prize. Here you can see me with the winner and her completely homemade Jawa costume.
Yes, there is a lovely young lady underneath all of that.
And there’s plenty more awesome cosplay where that came from. Early in the day, I had my picture taken with an Alucard cosplayer. The young gentleman stopped by our table afterwards and was so impressed with our books he brought his friends over to show them. They too left with our books in hand.
And here’s one more really cool cosplay. Why? Because it’s Dead Space. Does there need to be another reason? 🙂
Again, thank you to everyone who decided to give our books a try. You’re awesome!
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Holo Writing at Tangled Web Free Comic Day!
Daniel McAbee, owner of the Tangled Web, graciously invited us to host a table during his Free Comic Day special. Both H.P. and I stayed the entire day and had an absolute blast. So many awesome people stopped by our table to hear about our books. We really enjoyed getting to interact with our fellow sci-fi/fantasy fans, and a warm thank you to all of you who decided to give our books a try.
We also got very good at summarizing our books quickly. H.P. did a particularly awesome job.
Fan-in-the-Making: The Dragons of Jupiter? What’s that about?
H.P. Holo: Space ninjas versus space marines!
Jacob Holo: There’s more to it than that, but yeah.
Fan-in-the-Making: Cool. And Time Reavers?
H.P. Holo: Teens with super powers versus giant interdimensional cyborg insects!
Fan-in-the-Making: Sounds interesting.
We also had free buttons and bookmarks, which were a huge hit. We actually ran out of The Dragons of Jupiter buttons. People especially loved the “I’m a Dragon” buttons with a piece of the back cover art on the button. I thought a hundred was enough for the day, but the crowd cleaned us out!
Despite hosting the table for eight hours, the day went by in a flash. It’s a good thing we brought plenty of books, because people were in the mood to buy some action-packed sci-fi/fantasy! You can’t see them in the top picture, but there are boxes of books underneath our table. We emptied them. The books you see in the next picture are the only survivors from a fantastic day at Tangled Web (actually minus one, because we sold another shortly before we packed up).
Again, both H.P. and I had a really great time at Tangled Web. Thank you to Daniel McAbee for being a truly stellar host, and thank you to all of our new readers! Welcome to Holo Writing!
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Holo Writing – Fan Art
Here’s the first piece of fan art I’ve received! Please enjoy! 🙂
Warmachine Vengeance Review: Cryx
IN SHORT: Warmachine Vengeance has arrived. Let’s dig in. As with previous releases, every Warmachine army gets a healthy heaping of awesome, this time with an emphasis on speed with exciting cavalry units and mobile warcasters. It also ushers in an interesting cast of journeymen warcasters. The book is printed in stellar full color with plenty of gorgeous new artwork.
Let’s take a look at the new Cryx models.
GORESHADE, LORD OF RUIN: Goreshade’s back and he’s on a horse! Of course, that puts him on a large base, but he’s well equipped to handle that. DEF 14, ARM 17, Focus 7, 17 hit boxes. Plenty of raw defensive power there. He also has access to Occultation to give a model or unit Stealth, including himself. Ghostly lets him ignore terrain and free strikes. And, of course, Cryx has no shortage of arc nodes at its disposal if he wants to hang back a bit.
Goreshade doesn’t have any debuffs, but that’s okay. He comes with two excellent buffs in the way of Scything Touch (+2 melee damage for a model or unit) and Infernal Machine (+2 MAT, +2 SPD, and Terror for a battlegroup warjack). Both are excellent spells. Still, he’s going to favor units that are self-sufficient when it comes to hitting their targets, since he lacks a DEF debuff.
For getting into melee, he has an impressive linear threat range. SPD 8 plus Reach lets him stab targets 13” away. And when he is stabbing, it’s with a P+S 15 sword that inflicts Stationary. He also can cause Stationary with his feat, Winter’s Grasp. Friendly warriors in his control area can be made to explode into 3” AOEs that freeze enemy models not immune to cold. And after he’s spent models in this manner, he can bring them back with Mockery of Life.
Goreshade also comes with two abilities that help with Focus efficiency. Spell Vortex lets him cast a spell for free if a living enemy model casts a spell in his control area last turn. His attack spell, Siphon Bolt, can strip Focus or Fury off the target one point per hit and give Goreshade a point of Focus in return.
All in all, a very exciting and flexible new caster. Can’t wait to try him out.
INFLICTOR: Do my eyes deceive me? A Cryxian heavy with Shield Guard and ARM 19 thanks to its shield? Wow! At 8 points, the Inflictor is an excellent option for many Cryx warcasters. On average, our warcasters can be quite greedy with their Focus. But, they also have these warjack points we need to spend. Well, have no fear! Put those points towards an Inflictor, and let it tank hits meant for the warcaster or squishy solos.
Its stinger may only be P+S 16, but that’s plenty of punch for Cryx since we have so many options for stripping ARM off our targets. And it even comes with a Soul Drive to give it one point of Focus for free every turn. Awesome. Just awesome.
BANE RIDERS: ARM 18 heavy cavalry? Yes, please!
Don’t let the lack of Weapon Master deceive you. These banes hit hard! With base P+S 13 and Brutal Charge, they slam home with 15+3d6 on the charge. Their mounts are also a hefty POW 12, great for impact attacks. They may not be as fast as some of the other cavalry in this rulebook. But when you combine SPD 7, Ghostly for ignoring terrain, Curse for an extra 2”, and Reach on their melee attacks, their natural threat range is nothing to ignore.
They’re also very self-sufficient. Per cavalry rules, they automatically get +2 to their attack rolls on the charge. Toss in Curse, and suddenly they’re at effective MAT 10! Yikes! Bane Riders definitely operate at their peak when charging.
And let me just say we finally have a unit worthy of putting Death Ward on. ARM 20 banes on horses anyone?
SKARLOCK COMMANDER: Here’s a unit attachment for Mechanithralls or Bile Thralls. For only one point, this guy is not bad at all. It’s always annoying when my Mechanithralls get hit with a nasty debuff. It doesn’t happen super often (I’m normally the one doing the debuffing, not my foe), but spending one point on an attachment that can clear those debuffs is handy. The extra bit of CMD is also a nice boon, though the model doesn’t have any rules to help keep him safe.
Still, The Skarlock Commander has a decent set of offensive abilities with Dark Fire, Battle Wizard, and Soul Taker. These can combine for a surprisingly powerful offense. First soak up some souls with kills from the attached unit. Then stab something in melee (boosting with souls if needed), then cast Dark Fire for free thanks to Battle Wizard (again, boosting with souls).
For only one point? Yeah. Not too bad.
AIAKOS, SCOURGE OF THE MEREDIUS: The Cryx journeyman warcasters comes loaded down with awesome sauce. First, he’s going to be hard to pin down with Stealth, DEF 14, and ARM 19 if he’s camping with Escort active. Second, he’s fast with SPD 6 and Jump for an additional 5” placement. Escort also gives +2” to his warjack, which is just lovely when added to the already speedy Cryxian warjacks.
And he also comes with the Deathbringers spell, which allows Aiakos and his battlegroup to ignore Tough and damage transfers. Against Hordes, that’s brutal!
But wait! There’s more! He also comes with Drag to reel in enemies. His harpoon may only have RAT 5, 6” RNG, and POW 10, but he’s got the Focus to boost those rolls when needed. There are plenty of exciting combos with this guy. Too many to count.
Aiakos, ladies and gentlemen. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a few more warjacks in Cryxian lists thanks to this guy. Finally!
Time to dust off my Leviathan.
SUMMARY: Privateer Press continues to release new and exciting models for each of its factions, ensuring that whichever army you play, you keep getting new options to bring to the tabletop. All in all, Vengeance is great release for a game that keeps getting better.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Warmachine Vengeance Review: Cygnar
IN SHORT: Warmachine Vengeance has arrived. Let’s dig in. As with previous releases, every Warmachine army gets a healthy heaping of awesome, this time with an emphasis on speed with exciting cavalry units and mobile warcasters. It also ushers in an interesting cast of journeymen warcasters. The book is printed in stellar full color with plenty of gorgeous new artwork.
Let’s take a look at the new Cygnar models.
LORD GENERAL COLEMAN STRYKER: Stryker got himself a horse, and now he’s all about the alpha strike. He gives Storm Lances Reform (a 3” move after their actions), and his feat, Lightning Charge, basically begs for some horses in his army. When activated, all charge attacks and mount attacks automatically hit and gain an additional die for damage rolls. Ouch! Stryker’s horse also comes with Thunderous Impact, which zaps d3 nearby models when an impact attack lands. Nasty!
Warjacks can tag along too. With Escort, he gives them +2” movement to help them keep up. Throw in Field Marshal [Assault], and those warjacks are still shooting when they charge in. And when all of these models come crashing into the enemy’s lines, Fury gives a select model or unit +3 to their melee damage rolls.
Now do note that Stryker is a large base. This makes him a large target, but he won’t go down easily. With Escort up and a warjack nearby, he can camp at ARM 25. Add in DEF 15 and 18 hit points, and he’s no pushover. He also zaps anyone who hits him in melee.
With Stryker, hit first and hit hard. He certainly has the rules and stats to get the job done.
RELIANT: Here’s another electricity themed heavy warjack. It can fire an electrical 3” AOE that stays in play for a round, allowing it to help out with area denial tactics. It comes with a P+S 17 melee attack with Critical Thunderclap. On a critical hit, place a 4” AOE over the target. Models hit, friend or foe without Immunity: Electricity, become Stationary. And yes, bear in mind that is both friend and foe. Fortunately, Cygnar has a wide selection of models with the necessary immunity.
All this for only 8 points? Not too bad. Critical abilities are always a bit of a gamble, but area effect Stationary is nothing to scoff at.
TEMPEST BLAZERS: A lot of Warmachine involves using the right tool or trick in the right place. The Tempest Blazers (basically gun mages on horseback) bring three attack types to the table, Brutal Damage to hitting harder, Blessed for bypassing defensive buffs, and Electro Leap for taking out fodder.
With SPD 9 and light cavalry rules, they are highly mobile gun platforms, and their DEF 15 is no joke. Solid ranged support cavalry.
STORMBLADE CAPTAIN: What’s better than Storm Knights? Storm Knights with Relentless Charge, that’s what! The Stormblade Captain is worth 2 points for that ability alone. Stormblades in particular are only SPD 5 and don’t have Reach on their weapons. Getting stuck in a rough terrain quagmire or traipsing around it can be a real pain. He also comes with a P+S 13 Weapon Master melee attack with Reach, and thanks to Quick Work, can fire off a shot if he kills anything.
Oh, and he’s a ‘Jack Marshal too, and gives Storm Knights Tactician so they can ignore each other for LOS purposes. This solo is definitely worth the cost when supporting Storm Knight units.
LIEUTENANT ALLISON JAKES: And now let’s take a look at Cygnar’s new journeyman warcaster. 3 points gets you a 4 Focus mini-warcaster. That alone is a very exciting deal.
With only 5 hit boxes and ARM 13, Jakes can’t take much of a beating. And you should expect some hurt to come her way, especially if she has a warjack her battlegroup. Fortunately, she comes with some rules to help keep her safe. DEF 15 can be increased to DEF 17 with Sidekick and a nearby battlegroup warjack. This also grants her immunity to knock down, among other effects. Power Field let’s her camp Focus for ARM 17. Parry gives her immunity to free strikes, and Sprint lets her dash away from the front lines if she destroys something in melee.
Jakes can also give her battlegroup (including herself) a bit of extra speed with Energizer. All of this leads me to view her as a harassing model that nips at the enemy’s flanks, moving in and out to take out high value targets. Squishy, but mobile and hard to pin down.
SUMMARY: Privateer Press continues to release new and exciting models for each of its factions, ensuring that whichever army you play, you keep getting new options to bring to the tabletop. All in all, Vengeance is great release for a game that keeps getting better.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Warmachine Vengeance Review: Retribution
IN SHORT: Warmachine Vengeance has arrived. Let’s dig in. As with previous releases, every Warmachine army gets a healthy heaping of awesome, this time with an emphasis on speed with exciting cavalry units and mobile warcasters. It also ushers in an interesting cast of journeymen warcasters. The book is printed in stellar full color with plenty of gorgeous new artwork.
Let’s take a look at the new Retribution models.
ISSYRIA, SIBYL OF DAWN: This warcaster has no offensive abilities of any kind, be they weapons or spells. She depends entirely on her army to get the job done. Fortunately, she brings a whole host of support to said army along with 8 Focus to play with.
Offensively, Issyria can grant +2” charges in her control area and give a warjack a free attack each round. Her feat can be used by just about any model in Retribution. It lets them ignore concealment, Camouflage, and Stealth while granting them an additional die on attack and damage rolls. Very potent for a powerful alpha strike, be it melee or ranged or a combined approach.
Defensively, she also has an impressive toolkit. She comes with a +2 ARM buff, can negate enemy spells with Arcane Vortex, and can keep a key model safe with Admonition. Her only offensive spell, Blinding Light, serves a dual purpose. It strips enemy warrior models or units of 2 DEF and prevents them from making ranged or magic attacks. This can potentially shut down your opponent’s alpha strike before it gets off the ground, so she’ll want an arc node or two for that.
With so many support options and a powerful feat, Issyria can lead a wide variety of builds. First impressions are a tricky but potentially rewarding warcaster to play. If the key models in her army get wrecked, she’s done. Fortunately with an ARM buff, Admonition, and Arcane Vortex, she has the tools to keep those models safe until it’s time to strike.
IMPERATUS: Retribution gets a high level character warjack. Based on the Phoenix, the Imperatus comes with a shocking suite of rules and an equally shocking price tag of 12 points. First, this warjack is tough to kill. With DEF 13, ARM 18, and a 12-point field that regenerates d6 points in the maintenance phase, it’s sticking around. Even better, if it does get totaled, it just gets right back up with a full power field and one box repaired in each system.
It also hits hard with two P+S 17 thermal blades that set enemies on fire. Its POW 14 gun makes enemies explode into flames, setting their neighbors on fire. Yes, I think Privateer Press took the whole Phoenix thing quite literally with this one.
And it’s fast too. With SPD 6, Side Step, and Reach on its blades, it can potentially get to targets 15” away. Fast, hard-hitting, and tough to kill. It’s what a really expensive character warjack should be.
HOUSEGUARD THANE: This model brings a number of bonuses to Houseguard units. With Desperate Pace, a select Houseguard unit gains +2” movement. That’s a basic useful bonus to those units. But the most exciting rule is Firing Solution [Houseguard]. With this, the target unit ignores Camouflage and Stealth.
Retribution tends to struggle against Stealth. Well, guess what? Houseguard Thane plus Houseguard Riflemen can chew models relying on Stealth to keep them safe. A very nice addition to the Retribution arsenal.
MAGE HUNTER INFILTRATORS: What can I say? These guys live up to their name. Well, the Mage Hunter part, at least.
Gang brings their two attacks up to effective MAT 8 and P+S 11. Mage Killer makes them de facto Weapon Masters against spellcasters. Arcane Assassin allows them to ignore Power Fields and defensive buffs. Stealth, DEF 14, SPD 7, and Pathfinder help to get them there. They’re good at what they’re designed to do, and can definitely put the hurt on most warcaster/warlock models if they get close.
What more is there to say? Well, they can have the next model tag along …
EIRYSS, MAGE HUNTER COMMANDER: Eiryss is a unit attachment in her third edition, and she’s just as impressive as ever. This time she brings the pain to both Warmachine and Hordes, but especially to Hordes. All of her attacks (one ranged and two melee) come with Arcane Hemorrhage. Hit a model, strip it of Focus or Fury, and switch off its upkeep spells. This is nasty against Warmachine players, but can really mess with Hordes players’ fury management.
She can join either flavor of Mage Hunters, and both can benefit from her rules. She grants Fearless, Reform, and Advance Deployment. My personal favorite combo? Try Eiryss, the Strike Force, and a Strike Force Commander. Now Eiryss’s crossbow ignores LOS, concealment, and cover. Just try hiding from her now!
ELARA, TYRO OF THE THIRD CHAMBER: Here’s a journeyman warcaster that looks like she wants to be in the thick of it, but I don’t know about that.
When she kills a living enemy model, she can allocate a point of Focus to a battlegroup warjack. She also comes with Side Step for those extra 2” moves to help her nail two models and charge up whichever warjack she’s controlling. Theoretically, she could kill six models and fill up two warjacks. Not too bad, though this does come with a disclaimer. Her melee attacks are only MAT 6 P+S 10 and don’t have Reach. Not exactly the stuff of legends.
When camping, she reaches a solid DEF 15 ARM 18. Since she has no defensive abilities, she relies on her raw stats much more so than other journeymen warcasters. But her fairly unimpressive melee skills limit valid targets for Extraction.
Her Battle Charged spell does brings some more options to the table. This gives her battlegroup (including her) Counter Charge, allowing them to hang back a bit and then get free charges on models hitting the front lines. And she can always just stay out of the way and keep a warjack flush with focus. For 3 points, that’s still a good deal. But she doesn’t impress me the way some other journeymen warcasters do.
SUMMARY: Privateer Press continues to release new and exciting models for each of its factions, ensuring that whichever army you play, you keep getting new options to bring to the tabletop. All in all, Vengeance is great release for a game that keeps getting better.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.