File:Mk4 icon.png Template:Red This mk3 Theme Force will get a similar Legacy Army in mk4, but it hasn't been released yet (as of 2023.03).

The Retribution of Scyrah is most adept at striking from the shadows. Its mage hunters traditionally undertake clandestine missions executed by solo operatives and small teams of elite and dedicated warriors. On rare occasions, however, a show of force is required, and to that end the Retribution assembles stealthy armies comprised of seasoned mage hunters and powerful myrmidons. Experienced in swift and brutal combat, they skillfully orchestrate surprise attacks and take the enemy unaware.

Theme Rules

For the core rules on how Theme Forces work, see this article.

Theme Restrictions

An army made use the Shadows of the Retribution theme force can include only the following Retribution and Mercenary models:

Retribution warcasters
Non-character warjacks
Moros
Template:Mage Hunter models/units
Arcanist Mechanik solos
Eiryss, Fortune Hunter of Ios
Fane Knight Guardian solos
Lys Healer solos
Void Archon solos

This army can also include one Mercenary solo and one Mercenary unit that will work for Retribution.
- These models/units can be included even if they have the Partisan [Retribution] rule.
- Mercenary units can have attachments

Template:Tipbox

Full model list

Template:SotR models

Requisition Points

You can spend each Requisition Point on either:

One Retribution CA
Two Lys Healer solos
Three Soulless Voidtracer solos
One other small- or medium-based Retribution solo with a points cost of 5 or less

Theme Bonuses

Retribution warrior models/units in this army gain "optional Take Down".
Template:Take Down - Theme
You can reroll your starting roll for the game. Your starting game roll can only be rerolled once as a result of this special rule.

Thoughts on Shadows of the Retribution

Shadows of the Retribution in a Nutshell

The ninja theme - lots of stealthy skirmish infantry with good DEF and maneuverability, but poor ARM and hitpoints.

A quick note on sportsmanship. Though your warriors' attacks can RFP a model, it is not the same as having RFP on them all the time. In the spirit of fair play always inform your opponent whether or not you'll use the RFP feature. If you miss that, they can assume that the model was destroyed and not removed from play, causing a whole lot of confusion (soul collecting, eligibility for revival, etc).

This is mostly a solos and infantry unit Theme list, where just about everything has stealth. It wants to close in fast for an alpha strike, before opponents get a chance to get around the army's stealth.

Theme Weaknesses

Victim stats; reliance on Stealth

While they do have a decent DEF stat, it isn't GREAT and anything that does land a hit can kill most of the units with a sneeze.

Nearly everything in the list uses stealth and a decent to high DEF stat as their primary means of protecting themselves. Against accurate armies with a decent amount of anti-stealth tech, say Cygnar with Captain Kara Sloan, this list will crumble quickly. If you get stuck in such a match-up, close the distance quick and screen, but expect a tough fight if you are kept at range. To add to this, the Soulless Escorts you can attach to your stealthy units do not have Stealth themselves, meaning a clever opponent will use this to apply unit-wide debuff spells to them, or use them as targets for AOE guns and the like. If they are playing a list with large AOE templates, spread out as much as you can to minimize the damage, but otherwise stick to the above strategies.

Limited shooting

Only the Mage Hunter Strike Force and whichever Eiryss you bring. Both are great at shooting down warjacks and casters, but will struggle against high ARM troops, Multi-wound infantry, anything with the ability to reduce or transfer damage, and Warbeasts.

List Building tips

One of the main advantages of this theme is the ability to take two Void Archons and Eiryss without using up your slot for a Merc solo. Instead the slot will usually be Sylys or the Hermit, but other options could be useful as well.

When making a list in this theme there are 3 questions that you need to answer:

Template:Header

Do you want to run max FA of each unit you can or would a Min unit of one and a Max unit of the other be ok? The answer to this question ties in heavily to the next one.

Template:Header

A lot of the models in this theme need help with one thing or another. Whether its dealing damage, fixing accuracy or needing a way to extend their threat ranges, you need to have a general gameplan in mind to help your units do the work they need to, and each caster has a different playstyle and wants different list compositions.

Template:Header

These models are extremely powerful and do a lot to help fix the weaknesses of this theme. However, they also cost 8 points and running 2 can eat up a good chunk of your points, but only running 1 can mean a lack of board coverage when needed. Additionally, if you are using them for their Dark Shroud debuff, beware that you risk your Mage Hunter Strike Force becoming very inaccurate unless you spend a soul to go incorporeal or Garryth 2's feat.

Starting a 25 point Brawl list

In 2021.05 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.

Garryth1: [+29 WJP]