War Dog

In a world teeming with multi-ton, fully ambulatory metal constructs, it's easy to see how some might scoff at the thought of a dog on the field of battle. But Khadorans possess two useful characteristics in their extremes: a twisted sense of creativity and unbreakable obedience. The chosen pup is bred from a line of murderous bull mastiffs and drilled to kill anyone but its master at the slightest provocation. For the master, the warcaster, this dog becomes an extension of his or herself, a trusted confidant.On the field of battle, the war dog is a terror for any that threaten its master. Its sinew and muscles ripple beneath the heavy iron plates, aching to tear the life out of nearby enemies.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Tough
• Template:Countercharge
• Template:Guard Dog
• Template:Return

Weapons

Bite
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		0.5				4				11

Theme Forces

• Khador
  • Template:Armored Korps
  • Template:Si
  • Template:Jaws of the Wolf
  • Template:Legion of Steel
  • Template:Warriors of the Old Faith
  • Template:Winter Guard Kommand
  • Template:Wolves of Winter

• Other Factions
  • Protectorate players can use this model in the Warriors of the Old Faith theme.
  • Infernal players can use this model in the Template:Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Malakov2 is leading the army.

Thoughts on War Dog

War Dog in a Nutshell

The War Dog is a great way to make your warcaster that much trickier to line up for a melee assassination, potentially killing charging solos with Countercharge, and bringing Casters like Sorscha1 up to ludicrously high DEF, or pushing Karchev to the point enemy jacks/beasts will likely need to boost to hit, mitigating the volume or severity of incoming attacks.

Giving Parry to any melee-centric warcaster (such as Butcher1, Butcher2, or Butcher3) is nothing to frown about either, as they can now easily un-jam themselves from free strikes. Meaning they can waltz across the board targeting anything important in your opponents army.

Combos & Synergies

• Any caster who likes the extra DEF from Guard Dog and the counter charge return combo over the Greylord Adjuncts guidance, spiritual conduit and arcane assist.
  • Lord Kozlov, Viscount of Scarsgrad - Return gets the boost from his feat and many people don’t expect that kind of damage output from a pup.
  • Strakhov1 often plays forward but doesn't have great defensive stats. Because he doesn't need the upkeep help from Sylys or an Adjunct, if you rely on Resourceful, a war doggo will definitely be his best friend.
  • Butcher3 prefers getting up the board savely to wreck some face and the Doggo helps with that way more than anything the Adjunct does.
  • Any of the casters in Warriors of the Old Faith. They are on large/huge bases, making them very vulerable, and have to play very far forward either fpr personal out put or because of their feats.
• A Morrowan Archon's Blinding Radiance and Shield Guard further ensure the casters safety. As does anything with the Ashen Veil rule, so Menite Archons, Purifiers, Hand of Silence.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Do not get too confident with your warcaster! The War Dog itself becomes your warcaster's weakness, if it dies that can leave your warcaster in a vulnerable position, so watch out. Protect your lovable mutt.
• It competes with the other attachments, the Greylord Adjunct in particular, for its slot in the list, and most of the time the versitilty of that model is far superior to the cheapness and anti melee capabilities of the dog.

Tricks & Tips

• If you need your warcaster to charge past someone but don't want to eat a free strike, activate the War Dog first and run it into a position. The position you want the dog is one where, when your warcaster charges, you'll be within the Guard Dog aura at the same time you'll be leaving the enemy's melee range.
• You can put the War Dog out front of your warcaster, to block charges and/or Counter Charge enemies.
  • But putting yourself too far forward runs the risk of getting shot off the board or being charged yourself (remember you can't trigger Counter Charge versus someone that charged you).
  • Usually it is more useful to keep the War Dog behind your warcaster. Either to keep it alive this turn for the DEF bonus, keep it alive next turn for the free strike bonus, or simply to be in position to Counter Charge models that charge your warcaster (and hopefully kill them before they even attack).
• Alternatively you may want it to guard your warjacks. You can use Counter Charge to chomp an enemy Weapon Master infantry (one less Weapon Master attack can make all the difference!) and/or block any more infantry getting into melee with the jack.
• Sometimes you don't need to Return, most models cannot shoot if they are engaged by the dog.

Other

Trivia

• Released in Warmachine: Legends (2008)