Arcanist Mechanik

Even the most masterfully crafted myrmidon requires repair and support, particularly after the rigors of battle. Arcanists are seasoned mechanics with a broad working knowledge of arcanika that allows them to piece together shattered and broken hardware to get even a mostly ruined myrmidon working again. Their expertise also allows them to lend subtle arcane power to push these machines past their normal operational limits.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Magic Ability
• Template:Repair

Weapons

• Multi-tool - 0.5" reach, P+S 8 melee weapon

Spells

{{Category: Template:Concentrated PowerTemplate:Empower Spell }}[[Category: Template:Concentrated PowerTemplate:Empower Spell ]]

Theme Forces

• Template:Defenders of Ios. Arcanist Mechaniks gain Reposition [3] in this theme.
• Template:Forges of War
• Template:Legions of Dawn
• Template:Shadows of the Retribution. Arcanist Mechaniks gain "optional" Take Down in this theme.

Thoughts on Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik in a nutshell

The Arcanist is your repair crew and myrmidon enhancer solo. After the battlebox, he's one of the first things you should buy (or rather, he's three of the first things to buy), when starting to play with the Retribution. Even one of his two magic ability would be great, but the two - and the possibility of combining them, if you brought 2 or 3 of them - is nothing short of awesome. You should always have at least one Arcanist in your list, especially if there is a marshalled jack. Either that or a compelling reason for why not to bring at least one.

Combos & Synergies

• Casters that run warjacks - i.e. all of them. Really, there's no caster or jack marshal who could not do something with a spare focus.
• Combat jacks - i.e. most of them at some point or other, because Concentrated Power is generally necessary to get damaging hits in, owing to how comparatively pillow-fisted Retribution jacks tend to be when compared to melee focussed equivalents in other factions (a counterbalance to having two melee initials AND a ranged weapon.)

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Vulnerable, yet have to stand close to the myrmidons to use his abilities. That can invite messy death from electro leaps, AoE, slams, and the like.
• Too many awesome abilities, which all demand your Action. Learn when it's time to Repair, Empower, or cast Concentrated Power.
  • The latter 2 are short ranged magical abilities, which can be affected by Anti-Spell abilities.
• You'll rarely get them for free as in 3 themes you can get 2 Lys Healers or 2 Ghost Snipers instead, and in Forges of War you'll get an entire unit of House Shyeel Arcanists for 1 card. They're still a bargain for 2 pts though.

Tricks & Tips

• Repairing is a rarely used ability, and for most jacks enemies will leave them dead or next to dead. If you do find yourself needing a repair, check if another jack in range could do with Concentrated Power or Empower instead and achieve more that way (especially if the jack that needs repairing has already lost its cortex).
• Positioning is key. If you expect AoEs or stray electro leaps, walk away with your myrmidons once the Mechanik did his job - unless you really need an aiming bonus, and ready to sacrifice your repairer.
  • You gain Reposition in the Defenders of Ios theme, which eases the AoE danger (but electro leaps can still catch you).
  • In Forges of War, have an Artificer in tow to hand out Force Wall (CID potential changes, however), to give it a bit of survivability against ranged attacks.
  • Try to predict where you will need an Empower or Concentrated Power the following turn, and position your models accordingly. Premeasure where you 'jack will end up at the end of the turn, and try to position your Mechaniks within 9" to Empower/Concentrated Power the following turn, or within 6" if you think you will be able to pull off a repair
  • It can be easy to forget to Empower or Concentrated Power in the middle of a turn, so it is often advised to activate your Mechaniks as close to the beginning of the round as possible. Just be sure they don't get in the way of the rest of your army.

Other

Trivia

Released in Forces of Warmachine: Retribution of Scyrah (Novermber 2009)