Black 13th Strike Force

Template:Cygbox This model is playable only in an Unlimited format.

The Black 13th is the elite strike force of the Militant Order of the Arcane Tempest and a weapon of war sharpened to a razor’s edge by relentless service to the crown. Intense fighting has cut the unit’s complement to three: Captain Dixon Lynch, Sergeant Samuel Watts, and Lieutenant Darsey Ryan. When these three fight together, each effortlessly watches the blind spots of the others while combining their fire to tear apart any opposition. For the Black 13th there can never be capture or surrender, only victory or death.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Entire Unit
  • Template:Gunfighter
  • Template:Pathfinder
  • Template:Concentrated Fire
  • Template:Prowl
  • Template:Swift Hunter
  • Template:True Sight

• Lynch only
  • Template:Officer

Weapons

Lynch & Watts	Magelock Pistol File:Gun icon.jpg  RNG   ROF   AOE   POW  10 1 Template:- 10 Template:Magical Weapon Template:Attack Type Template:Black Penny Template:Brutal Damage Template:Snipe Attack
Ryan	Magelock Pistol (x2) File:Gun icon.jpg  RNG   ROF   AOE   POW  10 1 Template:- 10 As above, except double the fun.

Theme Forces

• Cygnar
  • Template:Sons of the Tempest. In this theme the unit gains Pistoleer, and you don't have to pay to upkeep spells on it.

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

Thoughts on the Black 13th

The Black 13th in a nutshell

The Black 13th Strike Force (or more commonly, B13) is an elite ranged combat unit, normally available in the Sons of the Tempest theme force. They excel at erasing light/medium infantries from the table, and between their variable ammo type and special rules they can solve quite a few tasks. Most importantly they sport Pathfinder (nice to trigger Prowl) and True Sight (really nice buff, as it counters a lot of anti-ranged defensive tech), which makes them a quasi-autonomous unit.

They are still gun mages with the weaknesses that entails their armour is crate paper & preventing shooting neuters them. But they can deal a lot of damage if needed

Combos & Synergies

• They fare well with any caster who can boost their ranged capacity (Stryker1, Caine1, Caine2, Maddox, Sturgis1), or their survival (Siege1 is a good choice for Foxhole and his feat).
• They're Kraye's favourite tool to apply the Beacon and Flare bonuses of his feat from afar.
• Special mention to Haley1 - her feat grants each model get +1 attacks and you can potentially deliver 2x POW 10, 2x POW 11 and 3x POW 12 shots (each preferably with Brutal Damage). Also, you can trigger Swift Hunter off the extra feat attacks too, giving the 13th great mobility.
• They also really like models who can boost their damage, so the usual mercenaries (Hermit, Gorman, and Ragman) are all useful to capitalize the bonus by Concentrated Fire and Brutal Damage.
• The Sons of the Tempest theme force is a good way to pump up the overall usefulness of this unit. Brutal Damage shots with Pistoleer can hardly be ignored.
• Falk - He's basically mandatory in SotT with his Rune Marked shot, and that +2 damage can produce really scary results against enemy armour.
• Sons of the Tempest can now push their accuracy to stellar levels thanks to Rangers and the Gun Mage Captain Adept.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Even though they have multiple damage boxes, they are so squishy that a POW 9 will kill them on an average roll.
• Need additional support to be able to wrestle with heavy armour.

Tricks & Tips

• Concentrated Fire means it's best to attack with Ryan last, because she'll get two attacks at max buff.
• Concentrated Fire applies only to your attacks during your activation, not to stuff like free strikes.

Other

Trivia

• Released in Warmachine: Legends (2008)
• In the lore the two surviving members of the B13, Ryan and Watts accompanies the renegade Caine on his errands - forming the unit known as Caine's Hellslingers.
• The old sculpts are remarkably smaller than the rest of the army - it is advised to base them on an elevated position to avoid making them look like hobbit gunslingers.