Dynamo

Having been rebuilt nearly from scratch by Sebastian Nemo after serving years on the front lines as a Stormclad, Dynamo represents a tremendous advancement in voltaic warjack technology. Powered by its galvanic generator, Dynamo is outfitted to render electrical destruction via its devastating firestorm cannon. This weapon fires deadly bolts of lightning that can strike clusters of advancing soldiers or be concentrated to melt heavy armor to slag. Thanks to Dynamo’s ability to harness and channel its own kinetic energy, each attack it unleashes is deadlier than the last.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Construct
• Template:Immunity: Electricity
• Template:Bond
• Template:Chain Reaction
• Template:Insulated Frame

Weapons

Firestorm Cannon
File:Gun icon.jpg		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW
		10			3			Template:-			12
Template:Electricity Damage
Battle Spear
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		2				6				17

Theme Forces

• When taken by Nemo (1), (2), or (3)
  • Template:Gravediggers
  • Template:Heavy Metal
  • Template:Sons of the Tempest
  • Template:Storm Division

• When taken by Nemo4
  • Nemo4 can take Dynamo in a plethora of Cygnar, Convergence, and Mercenary theme forces.

• When taken by anyone else
  • Template:Storm Division

Thoughts on Dynamo

Dynamo in a nutshell

File:Nemo1.jpg

Nemo1

Dynamo seemingly does nothing well with a fairly average POW ranged weapon and melee damage that is outclassed by the dedicated Cygnar melee jacks. But it is Chain Reaction that makes him shine - his ranged attacks, assuming all hit, see a 3rd shot at POW 14 which will worry lights and some heavies, especially as all three shots tend to be boosted. And that is all before you begin to consider all the buffs Cygnar can apply to lightning attacks.

Similarly, P+S 20 is not out of the question in melee.

Combos & Synergies

File:Nemo2.jpg

Nemo2

• Any of the Nemos love to have him along as his personal jack.
  • Nemo1 can ensure Dynamo can boost every single damage roll with the Firestorm Cannon thanks to Field Marshal: Supercharged.
  • Nemo2 can use Energizer to solve his short range issues and use his feat to power him.
  • Nemo3 in particular can turn him up to 11 and give him maximum focus when only spending one point, with possible 4D6 damage on the feat.

• He has a ranged weapon with Electrical Damage. That means you want to consider:
  • The Firefly for Ionization to start his attacks at POW 14.
  • Stormguard Infantry for Electroconduction to start his attacks at POW 14.
  • If both Ionization and Electroconduction are in effect, then his attacks start at POW 16 due to being different abilities.
  • The Storm Strider to improve his accuracy.
  • Rangers to improve his accuracy.
  • Gun Mage Captain Adept for Flare to increase accuracy and to ghost shot blockers out of the way.

In Storm Division

File:Nemo3.jpg

Nemo3

Any model can take Dynamo in this theme, which opens up a few more combos:

• Caine3 can start the damage chain off at the equivalent of POW19, using his feat, Calamity, and the Firefly's ionisation. Three shots under Caine's feat is simply good.
  • Which also works wonders at fixing Dynamo's RAT, giving an effective +5 swing against a target with Calamity applied to it.
• Haley1 can make it easier for Dynamo to hit its target with Temporal Barrier, saving you the focus for damage.
• Kraye can get him starting off his Battle Spear melee attacks at P+S 18, since impact attacks from Iron Horse will invoke Chain Reaction.
  • Gaining Reposition also means he can scoot back if he wants another round of shooting.
• Sloan can offer Guided Fire, but can struggle to provide enough focus to boost Dynamo's damage rolls.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• It's 4 points more expensive than a Reliant, with the same level of survivability and equal damage on the first melee attack (while the Reliant is more focus efficient). You need to get work both out of the multiple shots and the buff for multiple hits from Chain Reaction
• As one of the few models that has the capability to severely damage or destroy heavy Warjacks or Warbeasts at range, he can be a priority target for your opponent. It can be worth applying Snipe or one of Cygnar's many defensive buffs if you play it aggressively.
• His range is painfully short, you may find that you only get one good round of shooting with the Firestorm Cannon.
• When you want to use Dynamo to shoot, you really want to allocate him maximum focus. This can be an issue for Cygnar's typically focus-strapped Warcasters - fortunately, none of the Nemos are among them.
• Chain Reaction, while useful, really needs all your attacks to land to be effective. If you land one hit it does no extra damage. Two it does a total of one. Three a total of three. Four a total of six. And the rare times you manage five it does a total of ten extra damage. This means accuracy buffs are vital (fortunately Nemo's bond reroll is worth +2 to hit on the gun) and it's only worth 1 POW at range if all three attacks hit.
• Dynamo has rivals, especially within Storm Division and unless you're running Nemo the case for Dynamo is hard.
  • Reliant is the cheap rival. Four points cheaper, Reliant is just as tough, more focus efficient (thanks to the accumulator), and only does less damage in melee thanks to the chain reaction. The shooting's a little worse - but Reliant still gets a fully boosted POW 13 AoE with board control even with no allocation.
  • Stormclad is the same price, slightly tougher (thanks to the buckler), gets only one ranged attack (with an electro leap), but gets to start at P+S 19, has an open fist, and has an accumulator. It's a tough case.
  • DJ Thunderhead is one point more - but is slightly tougher, has a ranged attack that starts rather than finishes at POW 14 for heavy-melting (although the Thunderhead needs to buy the second and third shots), has the infantry melting special attack, and can normally do more damage in melee thanks to Sustained Attack.
  • Two Chargers. For one point more and the same Focus investment to achieve four fully boosted attacks with a longer range, Dynamo has to crutch on the electrical synergies to be a superior ranged warjack. They're also flat out giving your another contesting/scoring model with 22 more boxes (with lower ARM).

Tricks & Tips

• Make sure you get a Firefly into a good position ahead of time so you can run it in before Dynamo attacks.
• RAT 6 is good, but one miss ruins the chain. Try and set him up with some RAT buffs or whenever he can aim.
• Chain Reaction triggers from Trample attacks. So if there are, say, 10 small-based dudes between you and your "real" target, you could get a +10 damage on any attacks you buy after the Trample is resolved (assuming you hit).

Other

Trivia

• Released in the Warmachine: Reckoning expansion (2015)