Theme - Hammer Strike
Template:Mercenary Theme Force
This mk3 Theme Force is somewhat similar to the mk4 Legacy Army "Rhul Guard". If you're planning on starting a mk4 Rhul Guard army you may get some use out of this article, espcially the In a Nutshell, the Theme Weaknesses, and maybe even the List-Building Tips sections. |
Fighting in the wars of the Iron Kingdoms has allowed the mercenaries of Rhul to stay apprised of the ongoing struggles abroad. These sell-swords fatten the coffers of mercenary clans and receive valuable combat experience against a variety of opponents. Numerous such clans offer the might of Rhulic ’jacks and veteran warriors to those who can afford their asking price. Together they crush enemy armies to dust beneath the tread of their machines and an unceasing rain of hammer blows.
Theme Rules
- For the core rules on how Theme Forces work, see this article.
Theme Restrictions
An army made use the Hammer Strike theme force can include only the following Mercenary models:
- Template:Rhulic warcasters
- Rhulic non-character warjacks
- Rhulic models/units
- Gudrun solos
Full Model List
Requisition Points
You can spend each Requisition Point on either:
- One Rhulic weapon crew unit
- One Tactical Arcanist Corps unit
- One Mercenary command attachment
- One other Small- or medium-based Mercenary solo with a point cost of 5 or less
Theme Bonuses
- Heavy warjacks and weapon crew units in this army gain Reposition [3"].
- Warrior models in this army gain Tough.
- Your deployment is extended 2" forward.
Thoughts on Hammer Strike
Hammer Strike in a Nutshell
Hammer Strike represents the armies of Rhul on the tabletop. Every warrior model in this theme is either a dwarf or an ogrun. It favors a combined arms approach with good guns making up for lack of speed. It plays very similarly to Cygnar.
Only dwarf enthusiasts should buy into Hammer Strike because most of the troops cannot be used in any other Merc themes.
Sporting a colossal, battle engine, 4 heavies, 2 lights, and a bevy of solos and units, it has roughly as many models as Crucible Guard
Extended deployment zone, and heavies with Reposition are good things. Repositioning Horgenhold Artillery Corps is better. Tough on high ARM models is alright.
Rhulic armies can field a lot of ARM and boxes, they're all tough and they are adept at both ranged and melee combat. Hammer Strike rewards taking small-based units and Crawlers, so 20 Forge Guard and 2 Crawlers is a common sight.
Theme weaknesses
Aside from the lack of model crossover with other themes (most of the troops cannot be used in any other Merc themes), Hammer Strike has four major in-game weaknesses. And yes, they are major.
Low SPD & no Pathfinder
The first is that it's the slowest army in the game without factoring anything else in. Only a few models go faster than SPD 5 and most are SPD 4. There is also no Pathfinder to be found. Only Ossrum can really do anything about this. You may struggle in certain scenarios.
Low MAT
The second is melee accuracy. There is no rhulic Veteran Leader, so your Forge Guard are stuck at a fairly average MAT 7, and your Drillers will be boosting to hit DEF 13 before Sustained Attack can be used. A DEF 14 Warpwolf Stalker is the Forge Guard's worst nightmare. The Basher and Avalancher help with this problem.
Low POW
The third problem is damage boosts other than those on your caster. The Steelhead Gunner's Siege Tactics ability is the only boost. No Hermit, no Ragman, no Aiyana. This leads to most players focussing their list building on Forge Guard, who are weapon masters.
Few Magic weapons
Finally, the list has few options for Magic Weapon. Harlow Holdemhigh can remove Incorporeal and so will be in every Hammer Strike list. Tactical Arcanist Corps provide 3 cheap Fireballs, and that's pretty much it besides your caster. Incorporeal models could present a problem if you lose Harlow, but no matter what, you will be unable to shoot Protectorate Warjacks under Passage.
List Building Tips
- The staples of "classic" Hammer Strike lists are Gunbunnies (the light warjacks) and the Horgenhold Forge Guard with Gondor.
- Siege Crawlers are good with Ossrum and Durgen.
- Holdemhigh is mandatory as a counter to Incorporeal models.
- The most expensive requisition point is the Horgenhold Artillery Corps, and Gudrun2.
Caster thoughts
Ossrum is the strongest pick having speed boosts, an excellent feat and good ranged support. There are few Hammer Strike models he does not improve. Ossrum will either be taken in Hammer Strike or Soldiers of Fortune. If you want to run more infantry, play Hammer Strike. If you want to run mostly jacks, the Steelhead Ironhead and Arcanist make Soldiers a better pick.
The case for putting Durgen in Hammer Strike is all the AoEs you can get from the rhulic units, jacks and battle engines. He's probably better in SoF, but all the tools he needs are in Hammer Strike. His Forge Guard hit real hard under Primed, and Balthazar Bamfist keeps them from dying to blast damage, including when they themselves blow up. Earthbreakers, Gunners, Ogrun Assault Corps, Herne and Jonne, Horgenhold Artillery, Siege Crawlers, Bamfist and one unit of Forge Guard make up his army.
The only thing Gorten brings to Hammer Strike is Solid Ground preventing Knockdown for your tough infantry, but you can get that in both other themes. His army will be painfully slow and probably get taken off the table by guns before it does much. No way he's better here than in Soldiers of Fortune spamming Halberdiers.
Sample Lists
Starting a 25 point Brawl list
In 2021.03 Phillip Melvin, one of the LOS authors, put together this list for the Brawlmachine format. It was then updated for the 2021.10 errata. He even wrote about it's playstyle and expanding it beyond 25 points, which you can read here.
- General Ossrum: [+28 WJP]
- Ghordson Driller: [10 pts]
- Ghordson Basher: [9 pts]
- Grundback Blaster: [6 pts]
- Grundback Gunner: [6 pts]
- Harlowe Holdemhigh: [3 pts]
- Steelhead Gunner: [3 pts]
- Thor Steinhammer: [3 pts]
- Horgenhold Forge Guard (Min unit): [9 pts]
- Command Attachment: [4 pts]
- Horgenhold Artillery Corps: [Free] Template:Grey
Other
Trivia
In Mk1 and Mk2 this was known as The Searforge Commission.