Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters

File:MercenariesLogo.jpg File:Minion Logo.jpg File:Ret Logo.jpg

Template:FH2

After fleeing the blighted terror that consumed her homeland, Cylena Raefyll leads a strong band of fanatically loyal warriors against her despised foes. The skilled hunters of the Raefyll tribe are expert stalkers capable of unleashing withering fire from their compound bows and deadly harm from their elegantly curved Nyss claymores.

Basic Info

Mercenary - This unit will work for Template:Cryx Mercenary, Template:Cygnar Mercenary, Template:Khador Mercenary, or as a Template:Retribution Partisan.

• Template:Partisan

Minion - This unit will work for Template:Circle Minion, or Template:Trollblood Minion.

Abilities

• Entire unit
  • Template:CRA
  • Template:Pathfinder

• Cylena only
  • She has a better statline
  • Template:Officer
  • Template:Granted (Template:Hunter-alt)

Weapons

Nyss Bow
File:Gun icon.jpg		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW
		12			1			Template:-			10
Nyss Claymore
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		1				4				9
Template:Weapon Master

Theme Forces

• Mercenary
  • Template:Operating Theatre (Only if a Cephalyx Dominator is attached)
  • Template:The Irregulars

• Minion
  • Template:Will Work for Food

• Retribution
  • As a Mercenary unit, the Nyss Hunters can go in every Retribution theme. However, they will use up your "Up to one Merc unit" slot (most of the time).
  • Template:Defenders of Ios. They don't use up your Merc slot in this theme.
  • Template:Forges of War
  • Template:Legions of Dawn
  • Template:Shadows of the Retribution. They gain optional Take Down in this theme.

• Other Factions
  • Mercenary/Minion models can be hired by other Factions. Normally those Factions' themes will have a limit on how many models they can hire. Refer to #Other Theme Forces, below.

Thoughts on Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters

Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters in a nutshell

The Nyss Hunters do a little bit of everything, though none of it exceptionally well. They're above average melee combatants, and decent at range, mobile with a longer threat range than most things, hard to hit as units go. They are ideal for taking out enemy units in cover or concealment. Unless you can buff MAT or STR, you'll be cursing MAT 6 and/or POW 9 when it's time to send them into melee. Also they die to every blast that gets near them.

Many players considered them to be better in Retribution than in Mercenaries or minions due to dedicated support solos (Prist of Nyssor, Artificer) pre-2021.02. Now with a points decrease and many supporting Riot Quest solos (Gudrun2, Boomy2 or 3) the might win back a place in merc and minion lists.

Combos & Synergies

• Falcir the Merciless - She provides them with a blanket +2/+2 on feat turn with Prey Upon, as well as re-rolls for damage rolls with Execute. Falter Courage and Confuse help deliver them and win battles at range. Flashing Steel also lets them hit twice a turn in melle, which is amazing on a 10-man weapon master unit.
• Kaelyssa, Night's Whisper covers their weaknesses with her feat and Blur.
• Ossyan has a bevvy of upkeeps they all appreciate and a feat that makes their bows more powerful
• Aelyth Vyr, Blade of Nyssor and the Priest of Nyssor are their designated support solos among the Retribution. Aelyth is their Veteran Leader, the Priest gives them another, stackable, +1 to attack rolls
• House Shyeel Artificers give them Force Barrier, for Blast Resistance. You probably don't want to run them without this.
• They are a prime source for corpses/souls for Death/Void Archons respecively.

• Bloody Barnabas - They are quite good at triggering Warpath at a distance. You can also pop & drop targets he knocked down with his feat.
• Midas - Battlelust for 5D6 damage dice on charge is normally enough to crack armor + minions don't have that many Weapon master models.
• Boomhowler2 - He can hand out Reposition to them, letting them back away from their target after shooting.
• Boomhowler3 on the other hand has either Hoof It or +2 to hit with shout down.
• Gudrun2 packs a very important DEF buff for them.

• Durgen Madhammer - He offers protection against enemy AOEs with Force Field and can turn them into Mat 8 P+S 11 Weapon Masters with Primed, of feat they also get to charge and shoot, and the loss of armor isn't going to make a difference. The issue is that now you have exploding Nyss that you bought at a premium...
• Gorten Grundback - Solid Ground is what the doctor ordered for the squishy Nyss. No knock down and resistance to blast damage! He can also put up a nice bit of cover for them to hide behind in Rock Wall.
• When taken in the Cephalyx Theme Force, Operating Theater, they are given tough thanks to the Cephalyx Dominator they must be leashed to. Cognifex Cyphon is able to give them Blur for that sweet DEF 17 Against shooting, DEF 21 and Tough in cover can be really tough to remove. Make sure to keep the Dominator back away from harm if you don't want your 19 point unit stuck doing nothing but running on an important turn, or kill it early on if you think keeping Tough isn't worth the risk of being nullified for a round.
• Fiona the Black - Occultation gives them an actual defensive ability in Stealth and under her feat they become virtually unhittable. Curse of Veils ups their damage both at range and in melee considerably. They can also be her cultists (take that Nyssor!)
• Boomhowler2, Gudrun2 and Boomhowler3, mentioned above, are also merc models.
• Nemo4 (Merc/Cygnar) - He can bring back fallen Nyss.
• Asphyxious4 and Gabriel Throne - They offer damage buffs to their melee damage, which is pretty scary on weapon masters. Gabriel also offers tough and Gaspy has clouds so you should be able to deliver them.

• Deneghra2 - Denny2 gives various buffs to hit an damage rolls, but Cryx lack viable ranged models, so Nyss fill a niche there. As all of her debuffs are faction agnostic (as debuffs tend to be) she makes Nyss into very respectable ranged threats, who will also hit like trucks in melee, and they can still receive support from a merc solo like Boomy3 if you choose to run them.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• They have victim stats and no defensive abilities to speak off. They will die easily to blast damage and other anti-infantry tech, meaning they will need support of any kind to fix their problems, which inflates their cost. Conversely you will likely bring the solos that make them better anyway.

Tricks & Tips

Use Boomhowler, Solo Artist to grant them Reposition 3". This helps them strike and fade.

Other

Trivia

• Released in Warmachine: Superiority (2006)
• Cylena and company are regarded as being one of the most difficult-to-assembly models in the game. Tiny contact points and loads of spikey bits mean arms and legs can fall off all the time. Oh, and they've got ugly faces.