~Chris “Hashmal” Taylor

Jackal to the left of me, Hounds to the right…

We’re back with Boost to Hit’s biweekly column! And what a couple of weeks it’s been. Since we finished the Leveling Up series, full rules for the forthcoming Warmachine two player box set have dropped. My esteemed colleague Tony is married to Caine no really a big fan of Cygnar and has already covered the Hellslinger Cadre side of the box. It falls to me then to take on the red team and rep Khador’s SKS-6 Cadre.

And y’know what? I’m thrilled to do so and I don’t even play Winter Korps! This might get me to start, though. I think Steamforged Games has knocked it out of the park with both sides of this box. Each offers an engaging experience and a wonderful avenue for two players to build some models and play with the game’s full suite of rules.

In the next article we’ll take a look at both sides’ strengths and weaknesses as well as my opinions of how well balanced the box is against itself and how well these options slot into the existing Khador Winter Korps and Cygnar Storm Legion armies. For now, I have a plane to board tomorrow and little time to do much but pack. So let’s do some hot takes and power rankings!

Kapitan Zahara Vilkul

First up is our Leader model, Kapitan Zahara Vilkul. The legacy player in me was really hoping for Strakhov3 to complement Caine4, but that’s behind us. What’s before us is a solid beater of a Warcaster.

Some base stats first: SPD 7 (!), AAT 6, MAT and RAT of 7, DEF 16, ARM 15 with ARC 6 and CTRL 12. Not bad for a front line hitter.

Vilkul1 is all about the age old Khador adage: Axe to Face. She sports an absolute nutty melee threat range that starts at 18” of non-linear movement before you factor in any Spell Rack options. If you’re new to Warmachine and jumping in with this box, note that this is insanely far. If your Leader has a 14” melee threat that’s considered really good. Vilkul starts at excellent and only gets better.

When she gets in (because she will; you’re not staying out of this threat), she’s slapping face with a base MAT 7 POW 13 Weaponmaster that can either Remove from Play and create clouds or gain Blessed and just… not care about your opponent’s upkeeps. Speaking of clouds, that’s what her Feat does. She throws down D3+3 that block Line of Sight, buff your models (give them Pathfinder and pseudo-Ghostly for stuff within the clouds), and debuff all living models with a -2 to DEF and Attack rolls, as well as stripping Tough. Unless, of course, you can ignore gas effects. Which all SKS-6 living models can.

Vilkul1 has a pretty straightforward spell and ability base loadout. She natively denies Tough, is Tough herself, has Unstoppable, Pathfinder, and Dual Attack. She is Resistant to Corrosion and Fire, which can shut down some threat vectors she faces on the approach. Her big ability is Prowl alongside Field Marshal: Prowl. With Fog of War on the rack, this means she can front a totally Stealth battlegroup. Since Winter Korps can field some pretty rugged and hard-hitting Warjacks, this can allow you to get your Cohort up the field while suffering little damage. Her spells are totally selfish: Cyclone is the major threat extender (or massive Reposition spell) that gives her a 7” move before or after she’s already moved. Cold Front lets her debuff enemy DEF down 2, making her a pseudo MAT 9 against most models (Resistance: Cold shuts it down but is pretty rare). Her Rack Slots of 3 however opens up options for what she can take.

Hot Take: Melee assassins are always a mixed bag. When they work, they feel inevitable. When they don’t work, your game goes up in smoke. Vilkul’s Rack of 3 lets her play a support role most of the game until model counts get lower and her personal threat becomes more relevant and less punishable. She’s not the hardest hitting or most accurate of melee assassins but she is damned hard to stop with her native threat range. As a former Protectorate player, she reminds me of how I always wanted Thyra to play, except she can actually stick the kill when she lands. Time will tell how relevant she is into the larger game, but she offers Winter Korps something they do not have currently: a missile that can shoot out and win the game for you.

Ranking: A

Razor

Next up is the Cohort model, Razor. He’s a complete toolbox of a Warjack. He has the standard suite of Warjack abilities (Trample, Slam, Headbutt, Dual Attack, Construct). Notably, he’s a native Pathfinder. Nice! He’s also a SPD 5, MAT 7, RAT 6, DEF 11 and ARM 19 with 30 boxes. He additionally sports Resistance: Corrosion and Fire, which can help him be more durable against some ranged threats. Razor costs 18 points.

For abilities, he has Anchor, which prevents Knockdown on friendly warrior models; Swift Hunter, so he can move 2” whenever he kills something via range; and Reposition 3” for even more movement.

Moving on to weapons, he’s got quite a few! First up are his guns. To start, two Grenade Launchers, RNG 10 POW 10/5 AOE 2 guns with Arcing Fire to ignore intervening models and Targeting Flare, where instead of making an attack he can place a 3” template completely within 10” and a centerpoint within line of sight that can strip stealth and let models ignore cloud effects. Next we have a Slug Cannon, a RNG 8 POW 16 with Pistol that sports Momentum (yay ranged slams!), Siege Weapons (yay huge based targets!), and Reload 1 (yay more shots!).

Rounding out his weapons is his Ripper Shield, a RNG 1 melee weapon that’s POW 18, provides the +2 Shield advantage, and has Critical Shred and Beat Back. Because you wanted more janky movement options.

Hot Take: Honestly? …he’s not that good. Razor has a ton of rules on him but none of them really “move the needle” for me. His guns are good, but short ranged. His melee threat is decent but not noteworthy compared to other options in Winter Korps. DEF 11 ARM 21 base isn’t bad, but the Shield plus 30 boxes means this guy will die faster than you expect. This means that trying to take advantage of his ranged output puts him at risk. And he’s 18 points. This one’s going to need some table time to figure out how he slots into an army. I’m concerned he’s trying to do too much, isn’t doing any of it very well, and is paying a premium for it.

Ranking: C-

Sergeant Goran Lazarenko, the Jackal

Back in Camp Positivity, the Jackal is Khador’s solo option. Frankly, he rules. 4 points gets you a SPD 6, MAT 6, RAT 7 DEF and ARM 14 fireplug that’s got 8 boxes, Tough, Resistance Corrosion and Fire (like all SKS-6 models), Pathfinder, and Advance Deployment. For special abilities, he’s sporting an Alchemical Mask (somewhere), Prowl (Fog of War stonks), Reposition 3”, and Marksman—he can pick the column or branch damaged on a Warjack or Warbeast.

That big stonker of a rocket launcher on his back, aptly named ‘Jack Buster, is a RNG 12 ROF 1 POW 14/7 AOE 2 with Brutal Damage for Weaponmaster direct hits and Critical Stagger to rarely strip initial attacks and deny power/special attacks from all models hit.

Oh yeah. He has a melee weapon. You’re not using it, but don’t forget about it. He can engage enemies, I guess. Find something else to do that, though, and keep that rocket firing.

Hot Take: I’m hot for the Jackal. RNG 12 isn’t great in this range reduction meta game we’re playing but Reposition 3” helps take the sting out of that. A POW 14 from range with three dice on a direct hit is solid. He’s durable for his points. And, even though Khador doesn’t have much in the way of crit juicing (Baranova1 is kind of it), one in every ten activations or so he hits that Crit Stagger and you scream for joy. He’s worth 4 points without that rule, so take it as the cherry on top it’s meant to be. I’d take him in almost every list.

Also, Steamforged has confirmed that the missile and smoke trail are separate pieces, so you don’t have to attach them. I’ve heard this question asked a ton, so there’s your answer.

Ranking: S

The Hounds

We wrap up this micro review by looking at The Hounds. They all do different things, so let’s cover what’s the same. The unit itself costs 8 points and for that you get three 8-box models with SPD 6, MAT and RAT of 6, DEF 14, ARM 15, Tough, Pathfinder, Resistance Corrosion and Fire, Dual Attack, and Advance Deployment. Each also has an Alchemical Mask (I can see them this time!), Girded to resist Blasts, and Shield Wall. Each is sporting the same melee weapon: a RNG 1 POW 12. Not amazing, but again don’t forget Dual Attack.

Let’s get specific. Teterya (mask up) provides Granted: Inspiration, taking that MAT and RAT for the unit up one while she’s alive. She’s also got a RNG 8 ROF 1 POW 6 Pistol with Armor Piercing. A decent hitter. Next up, Fedyniak (mask down, stubby grenade launcher) provides Granted: Prowl (Fog stonks let’s go) and himself has a RNG 12 ROF 1 POW 12/8 AOE 2 with Pistol and Arcing Fire. Finally, Skrobala (mask down, huge-ass chain gun) provides Granted: Reposition 3” and a slapper of a ranged option at RNG 12 ROF D3+1, POW 12 with Pistol (okay, a minigun Pistol, sure why not), Volume Fire, and Critical Knockdown.

Hot Take: What an absolute unit of a unit. Their output is a little scattershot, as Teterya’s gun is better on paper than in practice, but the other two have RNG 12 options that are good (Fedyniak) and great (Skrobala). Repo 3” works on them just like the Jackal, so they can nicely shoot and scoot. The most important thing, in my opinion, is just how durable these jerks are. Base-to-base, which they should be, they start at DEF 14 ARM 17 with 8 boxes each. Immune to Knockdown. Corrosion and Fire resistant. Blast resistant because of Girded. And with Fog of War or some enabling terrain, they’re also Stealth. And a Winter Korps Officer can give them Set Defense.

Prior to this, Winter Korp’s sturdy unit options were the Man o’ Wars. They are quite a bit slower and only somewhat more durable. Their output is higher, situationally, but their DEF is much worse than the Hounds. And the Hounds are cheaper. 8 points is borderline robbery for what you’re getting here. I can see these guys in every list. Once you’ve taken the Jackal, that is.

Ranking: S

Conclusion

That wraps up this column! What do you think of the releases? Excited to play them? I sure am. I love how this box plays and can’t wait to get my hands on the Khador half. Table time with these options is sure to be rewarding. And hey, maybe I’ll change my mind on Razor.

Until next time!