Flame Bringers

When the need arises for great mobility, the most skilled riders of the Daughters of the Flame mount up for war. Flame Bringers engage their enemies at full gallop while riding with incredible skill and blinding speed. With their twin swords these masters of mounted combat slice through their enemies with fluid grace and precise lethality.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Cavalry
• Template:Parry
• Template:Pathfinder
• Template:Reposition 5
• Template:Side Step

Weapons

• Sword (x2) - 0.5" reach, P+S 9 melee attacks.
  • Template:Weapon Master
  • Template:Critical Grievous Wounds
• Mount - 0.5" reach, POW 10 mount attack.

Theme Forces

• Protectorate
  • Template:Guardians of the Temple
  • Template:Warriors of the Old Faith. They gain Line Breaker in this theme.

• Other Factions
  • Infernal players can take this unit in the Template:Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Feora is leading the army.
  • Khador players can take this unit in the Template:Warriors of the Old Faith theme. The gain Line Breaker in this theme.
  • Mercenary players can take this unit in the Template:Llaelese Resistance theme. They become Llaelese models in this theme.

Thoughts on Flame Bringers

Flame Bringers in a Nutshell

Flame Bringers are light cavalry and have a a bit of a mixed bag of abilities.

As every other light cavalry unit, they sport an impressive speed, good DEF, and the thickest armour in their class (which still won't save them from most of the direct hits). They are also big and expensive targets, so you must use terrain and their supreme speed to reach the enemy lines.

Unlike light cavalries of the other factions, they don't have any form of ranged threat or a long-reach melee weapon, so their unaided threat range is among the shortest of their kind (and falls behind even to heavy cavalry with a 2" melee range, like Storm Lances or Exemplar Vengers). However, they sport Sidestep, which, along with Parry and Pathfinder, allows them to dart into the enemy lines, tag targets with their weapon-master attacks, then reposition even further, or back to safety.

Combos & Synergies

Even with weapon master, they rarely crack heavy armour. Against anything else, they will cut a swathe through their ranks, with the right support. Anyone, who can buff their strength, or helps them reaching their target, will find a good use of these girls.

• Thyra - Her entire game style reflects the hit&run, aggressive warfare, and the Flame Bringers match her theme very well. She gives them her Elite Cadre bonus, granting even more speed but her Occultation and Silence of Death spells both offer great bonuses. Carnage helps them hitting the more elusive targets, especially with the boosted cavalry charge attack. Her feat offers some extra threat range.
• Tristan - mainly a battlegroup caster, but he loves multi-wound models for Hand of the Creator, and if you don't have any better target for Inviolable Resolve, they can reach the ARM of Storm Lances.
• Feora's first and third incarnations love the girls on fire. Feora 1 can increase their hitting power with Ignite, and they can benefit from her Veteran Leader ability to trigger Side-Step more reliably. Feora 3's feat will make them hitting super accurate, and able to set whole units on fire.
• All Kreoss versions offer a lot for the Flame Bringers. Kreoss 1's feat is self evident, while Defender's Ward makes them much sturdier than they should be. He can also vanquish protective spells and animi from the enemy with Purification. The Flame Bringers become truly a close combat beast under Kreoss 2's feat, even if it somewhat works against the critical effect on their swords. Inviolable Resolve is not as good as Defender's Ward, but makes them nigh- immune to unboosted blast damage. Kreoss 3 loves cavalry, and Arcane Ward may put their DEF to absurd levels. Both Ignite and Death Sentence are great on the girls too.
• Severius - He's a turd polisher without equal, and the Flame Bringers are no exceptions from the units, who can get a lot of mileage out of his abilities and spells.
• The Harbinger - she supports every melee element of her army, through spells and Martyrdom, plus helps them by cleansing enemy upkeeps. Also, if the enemy happens to engage the Flame Bringers in her command range, they technically jump to DEF 16.
• The High Reclaimer - Want to pump up the offensive output? Want to bring the girls back again, once they bit the bust? This guy is your man.
• Testament of Menoth - Shelter your troops in hardly assailable DEF 16. Bring them back, if they die. Charge through enemy during feat like no matter, what.
• Vladimir3 - Hand of Fate to up their damage output and improve their chances to strike a Crituical Hit. His feat gives them Side Step which makes them super mobile.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Typical weakness of their class - big targets, and not overly durable. They can die to boosted POW 10 damages.
• No ranged game.
• The shortest unaided threat range of all the light cavalries (discounting side-step)
• Even with weapon master, they struggle to crack heavy armour.

Tricks & Tips

• Side Step adds up with Reposition - use this to run deep into the enemy lines, or go back to safety, up to 7" away from your opponent.

Other

Trivia

Released in the Warmachine: Vengeance expansion (2014)