Forging the FronTier

~Chris “Hashmal” Taylor Wolfe

One of the greatest treats with Mk4 Warmachine has been the continued re-release and revision of rules for older “Armies of Legend.” It’s wonderful to give new/returning players the chance to collect armies of old that they might have wanted to before, but never could. It’s equally wonderful because when these armies re-release, they get a modernization and balance pass, bringing them up to a competitive level in line with Mk4 new releases.

Let’s be real: there’s definitely gold to mine in Armies of Legend, but they weren’t all created equal. And some, even, got nerfed more and more as this edition has gone on. It’s always a treat to see what the devs have in store once an old army is made new once again.

Treats, it turns out, are the name of the game today.

SFG has released updated rules for all three armies being featured in the FronTier campaign launching next week, March 17. So, for you, we’ve got quick summaries, initial impressions, and hot takes galore. Not going too deep here: keeping with the recent article themes, this one’ll be easy breezy.

Our gracious thanks to their team for providing Boost to Hit an early look at the changes, making this content possible.

On to the show!

Infernals

I had to start with them. C’mon. The first army I wrote articles about (which I very much need to revisit and update, and will soon athankya), Infernals are one of two factions in the game nearest and dearest to my heart. The other… well… we stand vigil still, and wait.

Infernals are also first because there are a whopping two models being changed, so they’re pretty quick. They needed very little, being an already compelling and competitive Army of Legend, so don’t mistake me saying that for criticism.

The first change is nice. The Infernal Gate gets the ability to gain its own soul token if no eligible targets for soul collection are near it, similar to Dekathus. Does this make it playable? No idea yet (my gut says still probably not, could be wrong), but it’s a straight buff to a model that’s been riding the pine this entire edition.

The second change is the addition of a whole, brand-new Master: Vorgoroth, Conduit of the Abyss. The architect of the Harvester of Souls Colossal, Vorgoroth is unsurprisingly all about Horrors. Where Omodamos wants to murderball up the center of the board, stack Synergy, and bowl over the opponents’ lines, Vorgoroth is much more content to sit in the back and slingshot Horrors one at a time, leveraging Infernals’ distinct advantage in piece trading by getting alpha strikes with pretty much anything she wants—just not all at once. Her ability to turn a living non-soulless unit (it’s Cultists; we have two units that fit the bill here and you’re not using Dark Sentinels for this if you have a choice) into Marked Souls gives her a ton of flexibility in list design, since you no longer have to take 3 solos earmarked for the specific purpose of dying horribly to become a Horror.

There’s a lot of solid power on her card, with the only real meh spell being Psycho Surgery, a spell Horrors don’t benefit from near the same as Warbeasts due to the health rings they have and their tendency to die whenever something looks at them funny. I’m personally very excited to play her more in 2026. I also hope we get some more lore for her: I’m a junkie for Infernals lore and they’ve been suspiciously quiet the past 10 years. Why are we seeing her now?

Convergence of Cyriss

The other two are a bit longer, so let’s roll up changes by model type. Convergence of Cyriss enters this update in a not-great state. They tend to murderball owing to the short range for Induction, not great given their army isn’t especially fast. Their Warjacks are underwhelming in offense and defense, which feels bad for such a ‘jack-focused army. And their infantry game is ish, with mediocre options that once were bolstered by a solid recursion engine that’s now a shadow of its former self. How are they looking now?

Leaders

Almost everyone here got some love, and they all look great. Aurora2 got some juice with her Battle Plans all going to 10” range, her gun gaining Thunderbolt (spoiler alert for later there), and her gaining Admonition as a spell, which is great. Lucant didn’t change a ton rules-wise, mostly a couple tweaks and Sturdy—makes sense given that he’s now on an 80mm base (and looks amazing). Orion shifted modes distinctively to become an enemy Cohort murder machine and his personal stats balanced out to allow him to not feel like garbage when playing melee options. Directrix loses the awful Backlash for the less awful Feedback Loop, but also picks up Telekinesis, an amazing spell. And Syntherion. My man here. His big change is losing a meh Field Marshal for an absolutely bonkers one—he can bring back dead Warjacks once they’re destroyed. It’s less strong than it reads, but that is a damn fine Field Marshal.

Cohorts

So many changes. The Cipher becomes a proper ranged support platform that can actually do damage at range (hallelujah). The Inverter gets cheaper and harder hitting. The Modulator does too, and also gains the very dangerous Gunfighter advantage. Negators are now synergy pieces with Angels. Most of the rest were minor tweaks to DEF and/or health. The big notable: the Corollary increases Induction range by 3” board-wide just for existing, making him even more of an auto-include. Amazing.

Solos

Servitors got some huge changes. Basically now they’re all the same Servitor model that combines their old rules into one option. Which is awesome because I couldn’t tell them apart either. Hypatia gains Unstoppable, like all the other Angels. Steelsoul Protectors bring a source of Grievous Wounds, so maybe now you see them once in awhile? And the Frustum Locus got a bit cheaper.

Units

Finally, solid changes here too. Clockwork Angels got a huge change in their ranged attack gaining Thunderbolt. For such a cheap and fast unit, this is an incredible rule to have. Eradicators just straight up got beefier. Obstructors got beefier, faster, and harder hitting. Perforators got quite a bit harder hitting, especially in melee as Variable now works on all weapons. And Reductors got faster, more accurate, and slightly more durable.

Verdict

Well, this is a straight buff across the board. Leaders and Cohorts saw the biggest overall changes, with solid improvements to units and solos too. CoC is in my opinion unquestionably better than they were before and feel like they have the makings of a viable and solid army choice in 2026. This army has long lived and died on its Cohort options being good, and with so many improvements now I foresee good things for them to come.

Grymkin

Grymkin, similar to Convergence, enter this update hurting. This army has taken lumps the past couple of years. Losing Desperate Pace in 2025 and then losing just so many model options in 2026 remains a bitter pill to swallow. The army has a bunch of static threat ranges and few defenses against guns, leaving them somewhat at the mercy of their opponent to enact their will on them. The Arcana, once tailored to specific matchups, now aren’t enough of a trap card to foil your opponent’s plans. Like so many similar “gotcha” rules, they only get the unwary (read: new/inexperienced players). Seasoned players know them, anticipate them, and play around them, to your detriment.

Help is on the way.

Arcana

Arcana get the biggest change with this update. They aren’t trap cards any more. Now, Grymkin can pick from their bespoke Command Cards (still being able to take more than normal) and play them on their Warlock as you would a normal Command Card. Warlocks all gain Arcana Infused, letting them have two Command Cards played on them per turn. No more opponent triggering your Arcana or circumventing them: now they have to deal with them when you decide. The obvious downside is that these are still Command Cards and you can still only play two per turn, so you will have to weigh your choices. The upside? These are powerful abilities and when played right, it can feel like the Grymkin Warlocks get multiple Feats spread across several turns.

Leaders

The Leaders saw numerous changes (read: buffs). The King of Nothing importantly gains “The” in his name, obviously the best change. He also gains better spellcasting potential, Breath Stealer (yay!), the ability to not use Master of Ruin so he isn’t an always-on self-army debuff, and more flexible usage of Kingdom of Silence. The Child gains Awakened Spirit for some Cohort efficiency and loses the very bad Discord for the much-better Discordance (not upkeep version of the same spell that affects all Cohorts). Dreamer gets a bonkers upgrade to Wraith Walker, changing it to Dream State and granting that benefit to her entire battlegroup instead of just herself. The Heretic gains a super big CTRL area (yipe) and better flexibility on using Godlike Power, as it’s now free to cast. And the Wanderer and Old Witch3 didn’t change at all, which is fine given that they were the only two Warlocks ever really played this edition.

Cohorts

Cohorts saw quite a few changes, all for the better. Cage Rager lost ARM but gained Impervious Flesh and got a bit faster. Clockatrice is no longer a wet noodle in melee. Frightmare gets a good bump to RAT and RNG, with Crit Corrosion going to just Continuous Effect Corrosion and its animus becoming castable on other models (and granting Eyeless Sight). The Rattler gains Slaughterhouse as an animus, much better than Ornery. The Gorehound loses Drag on its Bite for Bone Keeper and becomes cheap as chips. And the Slaughterhouse gets the most buffs of all, with a melee RNG bump and Drag on the Porch Light being replaced with Into The Light, which is Drag but also Ghostly for the model affected. Better have your Shield Guards ready.

Solos

The biggest change is the Death Knell becoming an 80mm solo and also dropping to 6 points. For such a vital army enablement piece, this feels much better. Isaiah loses his Dismount form but gains his Pumpkin Head range weapon on his horse, a health bump, and a new Leadership granting Ghostly to Dread Rots (sweeeeeet). The Witchwood loses Bewitch for the universally better Drag. Lord Longfellow gets more expensive but gets a host of improvements, becoming longer ranged, slightly higher ARM, gaining more health, and obtaining Snap Fire. Characters beware. The Malady Man gets Reveille instead of Dirge of Mists, giving some synergy to the Tough Dread Rots. And the Four Horseymans drop to four points. Seems right.

Units

Bad news first: the Murder Crows are being removed. This sucks, as Grymkin players have already lost so many units to Legacy. They are, however, gaining a bonkers good Murder Crow character unit: the Bloody Parliament, which brings with it a host of good rules (including Dark Seduction that can benefit from both Prey and rerolls to Hit via Wages of Death). Hollow Men get a bit better, going to DEF 13, their rifles gaining +1 POW, and gaining Blood Bound. Hollow Holden becomes their CA, giving them Snap Fire. Their old CAs, the Lantern Men, become a three-man unit in their own right, providing on-demand Condition to the army. The Neigh Slayers CA lost most of its rules, which is annoying because Leap Frog and Tag! were solid after you’d engaged, but it did get a little cheaper. The Twilight Sisters saw several buffs, becoming sturdier and harder hitting at the cost of going up a point. And the Dread Rots are now FA: 4, which is honestly good because you’ll be taking a lot of them, always. They remain a great value proposition for this army.

Verdict

Mixed. Grymkin’s unit roster feels real thin right now. Significant concern exists that this army struggles into appreciable ranged firepower, as it still has few ways to mitigate that. And it still doesn’t have a ton of threat range increases itself, making it tough to weather firepower long enough to engage. However, many things did see solid buffs and I think the mission of opening the Leader stable up a bit has been accomplished. Grymkin are definitely feeling better now than they did at the beginning of this year, though time will tell if it’s enough.

Conclusion

That’s it for this article! How are you feeling on the FronTier armies? Me, I could see myself printing and playing either CoC or Grymkin. Both call to me for different reasons.

Let’s be real, though. I’m going to print Vorgoroth and probably play her for the rest of the year.

See you next article!