Man-o-War Shocktroopers

The Man-o-War Shocktroopers thunder across the battlefield in steam-powered battle armour, shield cannon locked together in an unbreakable defensive wall and annilator blades held high ready to conquer any opponent. Encased in formidible steam-powered battle armour, the Man-o-War Captain leads his unit of Shocktroopers into battle against the greatest foes of Khador.

Man-o-War shocktrooper officers embody the strength and resilience of the frozen north and, like their homeland, bow to no opposition. The enemies of the Motherland rightfully fear these indomitable warriors and the inexorable tide of steam and steel that marches alongside them. As they wade into the bloody fray amid the thunderous roar of cannon fire, these decorated veterans inspire those they lead to acts of unparalleled bravery and unfettered violence.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Entire unit
  • Template:CMA
  • Template:Repairable
  • Template:Shield Wall

• Officer only
  • Template:Officer
  • Template:Granted
  • Template:Tactics (Template:Steady-alt)
  • Template:Tactics (Template:Sturdy-alt)

Weapons

Unit	Shield Cannon File:Gun icon.jpg  RNG   ROF   AOE   POW  6 1 Template:- 14 Annihilator Blade File:Sword icon.jpg  RNG   POW   P+S  2 5 14
Officer	Shield Cannon File:Gun icon.jpg  RNG   ROF   AOE   POW  6 1 Template:- 14 Frost Axe File:Sword icon.jpg  RNG   POW   P+S  2 6 15 Template:Critical Freeze

Theme Forces

• Khador
  • Template:Armored Korps. This unit gains Advance Move in this theme.

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

Thoughts on Man-o-War Shocktroopers

File:Shocktrooper Officer.jpg

Command Attachment

Man-o-War Shocktroopers in a Nutshell

The Armored Korps' Man-o-War are elite combined-arms combatants who trade agility for strength by fighting in steam-powered armor. They exemplify both Khadoran strength and resilience, and favor battles of attrition over mad scrambles. Slow and methodical, Man-o-War thunder up the battlefield as an indomitable wall of iron, crushing everything in their path.

Man-o-War heavy infantry are elite combatants that trade mobility for heavy steam-powered armor. They are highly trained and equipped to deal with a wide range of threats, benefiting from a highly disciplined combined arms approach to achieve victory. Each of the three Man-o-War infantry units fills a distinct niche:

• Man-o-War Shocktroopers are the Man-o-War frontline infantry, capable of weathering tremendous punishment before they engage in close quarters combat with their heavy Shield Cannons and Annihilator Blades. They are an excellent screening unit that can do serious damage to almost anything they set their sights on.
• Man-o-War Demolition Corps are heavy hitters, outfitted to crack the toughest of targets with their Ice Maul hammers. When they connect with the appropriate targets they can do spectacular damage.
• Man-o-War Bombardiers are deadly combined arms combatants that excel at clearing out swathes of enemy combatants, opting for an overwhelming volume of attacks with the combination of Grenade Cannons and Chain Blades.

Shocktroopers are the Armored Korps' definitive frontline unit that can take an impressive amount of punishment before going down. They are the most defensively built of all the Khador infantry but are still elite combined-arms combatants in their own right who can do serious damage to just about anything. Their primary function is to form a slow, impenetrable battle line that delivers your army to the battle safely and perform this duty admirably. Generally speaking, their focus is on dragging opponents into attrition battles and providing protection for their force's main damage dealers; they often prefer maintaining their Shield Wall over reaching the opponent as quickly as possible. A force built around Shocktroopers will often use heavy firepower to force the opponent to come to them, and break their charges on their shields before striking back with devastating force.

Thoughts on the Command Attachment

Man-o-War Shocktroopers are a defensive unit first and foremost, and the command of an Officer makes them better in every way that matters to them. Steady and Sturdy drastically improve Shocktroopers' performance as a defensive Shield Wall unit, the addition of Assault makes them significantly more dangerous whenever they do decide to charge and the Officer is an especially lethal combatant even among his peers, with improved accuracy and a terrifying Frost Axe. The Officer is an obvious inclusion with just about any Shocktrooper unit.

Combos & Synergies

• Armored Korps: Shocktroopers find their way into the bulk of Armored Korps theme forces, where they benefit from numerous Man-o-War synergies, gain Advance Move and become more easily Repairable.
• Hearts of Darkness: They're also a great fit in Man-o-War-based Hearts of Darkness theme forces led by Kommander Andrei Malakov.
• Kommandant Kratikoff: Man-o-War Shocktroopers are also excellent Irregulars in any force led by Sorscha's third incarnation.

• Small- & Medium-Based models: Shocktroopers are an amazing screening unit fit for almost every force. They are often seen covering the advance of Man-o-War Demolition Corps, Bombardiers and Kovniks, but should be considered for all your other screening needs as well.
• Kommandant Arconovich: Arconovich and Shocktroopers are a perfect match: Tactician opens their movement up immensely and they benefit massively from all three of his Battle Plans.
• Man-o-War Kovnik: Shocktroopers are typically the main target of the Kovnik's Desperate Pace ability because unlike other Man-o-War units they prefer to close the distance to the enemy in Shield Wall rather than run and charge.
• Man-o-War Tankers: Tankers are natural additions to Shocktroopers' front line to either help clear a path, frustrate a charge or even down a heavy. Tankers can't be screened by Shocktroopers but on the flipside they can see over them to fire their devastating weapons, even without a Tactician helping them out.
• Battle Mechaniks: Like all Man-o-War, Man-o-War Shocktroopers are Repairable, and especially so in Armored Korps forces.

Template:Header Man-o-War function well under a wide range of warcasters and the Man-o-War Shocktroopers is no different. Any 'caster that can improve their mobility, further emphasize their defenses and/or boost their threat projection work well with them. Look for spells like Fury, Iron Flesh and Tactical Supremacy among many others. Khador boasts so many devastatingly powerful warrior-supporting warcasters that this section refers only to those that work well with the Man-o-War Shocktroopers specifically. Refer to the Armored Korps page's "Casters of Note" section for more information.

• Kommander Zoktavir: As a combat warcaster, the Butcher's first three incarnations really enjoy working with self-sufficient infantry on Medium bases that can screen him on his advance and take his support spells extremely well. Refer to his pages for more information.
• (Supreme) Kommandant Irusk: Both incarnations of Irusk work especially well with Man-o-War, refer to his pages for more information.
• Kommandant Kratikoff: As Khador's resident Man-o-War 'caster, Sorscha boasts numerous synergies with Man-o-War; refer to her page for more information.
• Kommander Malakov: You wouldn't think it by looking at him, but Malakov is exceptionally good at leading Man-o-War; refer to his page for more information.

• Aside from Battle Mechaniks, there are several Mechanikally Adept options that can Repair Khador models. Of these, the Gobber Tinker and Tubbin are generally the most interesting.
• Orin Midwinter: Orin is a flexible support unit for Shocktroopers because he can both help clear jamming units and provide protection from spells.
• Ragman: Giving Shocktroopers Dark Shroud helps them crack heavier armor, and Bone Shaker is a very powerful utility spell.

Drawbacks & Downsides

Like most Man-o-War, Man-o-War Shocktroopers's base SPD and DEF are comparatively low, and they have no way of dealing with rough terrain. They're especially vulnerable to any impairments to their mobility or positioning, and while they're very tough, one or two solid hits can still take them out before they've accomplished anything of note; do not make the mistake of thinking your Man-o-War are immortal. For Man-o-War Shocktroopers specifically, consider the following:

• While their attacks are powerful, they can only deal with up to an absolute maximum of six enemy models per turn. When pitted against typical twelve-model units, they're going to have tough time chewing through them and should instead rely on other troops to clear them out. Absent those, an opponent can tie a unit of Shocktroopers down with chaff for most of a battle.
• In the vast majority of cases, Shocktroopers benefit more from making more attacks than making fewer, stronger ones using Combined Melee Attack, so you're paying for an ability that doesn't come into play very often.
  • Similarly, Assault is a powerful ability but because Shocktroopers often don't make charges, it's effectively wasted. If you intend to use it later in a battle, make sure the Officer survives to Grant it to them.
• While Shocktroopers are usually protected from being pushed and knocked down, they're nót immune to displacement effects so be wary of those.
• Models with Massive or Immunity:Cold are protected against the Officer's Critical Freeze effect.

Tricks & Tips

• As a small unit, it's worth considering a single line of six Shocktroopers to maximize their screening potential, but typically it's better to form two triangles, with the Officer in the second line for more safety. It depends on the matchup and battlefield though, so be sure to give the matter some consideration each time.
  • For visual reference, a max unit of Shocktroopers might be formed up as follows:

0 0 0 0 <--- front line of four, all in base contact from left to right
 0   0  <--- rear line of two, each touching both Shocktroopers ahead of them

• It's especially important for Shocktroopers' survival to maintain their Shield Wall, so be very careful about running or charging with them.
  • Read the rule clarification for Shield Wall when you will get the bonus.
  • Enemies with Chain Weapons are natural predators of Shield Walls, be wary of them.
• When attacking, take full advantage of the Officer for their higher accuracy and Critical Freeze.
  • When the Officer does end up freezing something, their allies can Shatter it with ease.
  • In the cases where you do decide to CMA, use the Officer as the lead for the same reason.
• Assault attacks with Shield Cannons still trigger even if the attacker fails their charge. This means you can stretch the Shield Cannon' range to a base (4" + 3" + 6" =) 13", but at the cost of the unit's Shield Wall.
• Finding ways to make Shocktroopers Tough is extremely useful for an already resilient unit, but even more so because they're Steady and can thus keep making consecutive tough rolls.
• Watch out for effects and attacks, which find their way through your ARM; Corrosion, Puncture, Snipers and Anatomical Precision attacks can usually clip off a single damage point at a time, but can still finish off your wounded troopers. Deadly Shots are dangerous even for undamaged models.

Other

Trivia

• The unit, not including CA, was originally released in Warmachine: Prime (2003).
• The CA was released at the start of Mk3 (2016).
• The Unit Leader's insignia signify their rank as a Korporal. There is some confusion because the rest of the unit has the same emblem on their left shoulder plates as well, although the Unit Leader has an additional emblem on their chest.
• The Officer's insignia signify their rank as a Kovnik. Curiosly, this excessively high rank is inconsistent with the rank of the Bombardier Officer CA and might simply be a design oversight.
• The Man-o-War motto is "When I die, I die in steam!"