Malvin & Mayhem

File:MercenariesLogo.jpg File:MinionsLogo.jpg

Template:FH2

This model is playable only in an Unlimited format.

Gobbers are supposed to be cute, adorable little tech-savvy scamps, right? WRONG! Meet Malvin, the master of mechanical mayhem. He couldn't give a gorax's toe how cute you think he is. No, Malvin is too busy engineering evil inventions in order to help him get exactly what he wants: everyone else's stuff! Enter Mayhem, Malvin's newest creation, a custom warjack with a bad attitude and a wonky cortex. Mayhem is the brawn to Malvin's undeniably genius brain. Malvin & Mayhem are ready to take on every crew wandering the ruins of Immoren, if they're dumb enough to actually fight back

Basic Info

Tip: When using Warroom you add M&M to your army by attaching it to a Gobber model.

Abilities

• Template:Construct
• Template:Arcane Machinery
  • Template:Disengage Safety
  • Template:Ignite Thrusters
  • Template:Telescoping Shields
• Template:Independent Warjack
• Template:The Button

Weapons

Dream Crusher
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		1				7				18
Template:Warhead
Spiked Fist
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		1				4				15
Template:Open Fist

Theme Forces

The Mastermind rule makes listing theme forces for M&M a bit intricate. The main thing is that, as of 2020.08, every Faction can get access to a Gobber except for Convergence, Retribution, and Grymkin. Mercenary & Minion armies have the most Gobbers, and Cygnar have fairly easy access to Gobbers.

• Mercenaries
  • Template:Flame in the Darkness
  • Template:Llaelese Resistance
  • Template:Soldiers of Fortune
  • Template:The Irregulars
  • Template:The Talion Charter

• Minions
  • Template:The Blindwater Congregation - This theme normally allows "Gobber" models, but despite being a Gobber themselves M&M still require at least one other Gobber to go in this theme.
  • Template:The Thornfall Alliance
  • Template:Vengeance of Dhunia
  • Template:Will Work for Food

• Other Factions
  • As mentioned above, most Factions can hire at least one Mercenary/Minion Gobber. However this will often "use up" your Mercanry/Minion slot. Refer to #Other Theme Forces, below.
    Also, special mention to:
  • Template:Black Industries (Cryx) doesn't have much access to Gobbers, but BI gets special mention because it gives Malvin Carapace in this theme.
  • Cygnar have an in-Faction unit of Gobbers (Field Mechaniks), so have fairly easy access to Melvin & Mayhem.
  • Template:Flame in the Darkness is a multi-Faction theme that also happens to have Field Mechaniks.
  • Template:Hearts of Darkness (Infernals) with Sloan or Crosse2 can get Gobbers. Malvin will gain Accumulator [Soulless] in this theme.
  • Template:Vengeance of Dhunia (Minion/Trollblood) has lots of Gobbers.

Thoughts on Template:Pagename

Template:Pagename in a nutshell

These guys are a powerful melee package with a hefty price tag. Odds are you will be able to deliver them and they will get there and do their thing without much resource drain on your caster, which is nice. They do not eat up a mercenary slot in any theme force so long as you pay the gobber tax to bring them. The challenge will be accomplishing something worth 17 points when they go in, because they certainly will not survive once they do.

Combos & Synergies

It's little cumbersome to buff M&M because (a) they can never get battlegroup buffs (such as Energizer) and (b) a lot of the time they won't get friendly-Faction buffs (such as Dark Guidance). Problem (b) is not an issue for Mercenaries and Minions as factions and Flame in the Darkness and Vengeance of Dhunia as theme forces where M&M are always a friendly Faction model.

End result, you're often looking for a debuff caster to get the most out of M&M.

Mercenary Casters

• Constance - Fortune gives you better odds of completing your Berserk chain and Crusaders Call make them SPD 9 with the Thrusters but only when she is used as a mercenary or Flame caster. However, Blaize does not want mechaniks or more than the minimum required warjacks in her army due to her soul mechanic.
• Speaking of Thrusters, if you use them, Aurora2 can give them battle directives, but that requires running her outside of Strange Bedfellows...
• Magnus1 can give them Death Ward.
• Fiona the Black is a debuff caster who has a feat that protects Malvin & Mayhem. Occultation is a splendid spell for them as well. She also appreciates having a heavy that she doesn't have to fuel, as he's often focus strapped.
• Crosse2 - Hands out Ghost Walk and Stealth on his feat turn and loves heavies he doesn't have to fuel. He also demands Reinholdt, which means there is no Gobber tax.
• Shae - 3" extra threat from the feat are always nice, as is Veil of Mist.
• Ashlynn1 can Quicken them to get them there and she can bring Choir of Menoth to keep them getting shot on the way in and make them hit harder once they do. Her feat means the Berserk chain is far more reliable, which means more left over focus at the end for punching something tougher.
• Magnus2 does not mind Roadblock or warjacks that don't need his focus. They're also a fine Bullet Dodger target.
• Macbain's Failsafe spell goes very nicely with these lads.

Minion Casters

• Rask - Rask is arguable the best caster for M&M, both for his spell and feat, but also because his armys always contain a Swamp Horror and Witch Doctor whch bring further very strong buffs. Rask himself brings Boundless Charge and Fury to make them extra scary offensively, but also packs Veil of Mists as a cloud for them to hide behind, and/or as a movement buff. His feat protects everything on the approach supremely. The Swamp Horror can give them 2" with its animus which makes the Berserks really back breaking and the Witch Doctor hands out Ghostly, which combined with Flight means they can pretty much go anywhere unobstructed.
• Under Jaga-Jaga's Signs and Portents they will gain an extra die on all their attack and damage rolls (including Warhead explosions), and Ghost Walk gives them free strike immunity and Pathfinder (free strike immunity is really good on flyers). On the other hand Jaga-Jaga gives her battlegroup Escort - and M&M don't get the benefit.
• Barnabas2 is mostly a debuffer who doesn't do anything specific for his battlegroup. Hunter's Mark is amazing for them, giving them a 13" threat range and 3 focus to buy or boost.
• Calaban the Grave Walker is a pure debuff warlock, but he can also gives them Stealth via Occultation.
• Midas - Another great debuff caster.
• Helga1 - She loves River Raiders to begin with and under feat they can slam an enemy model towards her army. You can use M&M to clean up instead of running one of her battlegroup hogs hot. Defender's Ward on them is also a very good use of the spell.

Flame in the Darkness - Cygnar/Khador/Mercenary Casters

M&M become friendly Faction to everyone in this theme, which makes M&M easier to buff.

• Stryker1 likes ARM 20 warjacks with his feat and likes that M&M are outside his battlegroup. You can hit ARM 28 on feat turn.
• Stryker2 loves targets for Positive Charge that are outside his battlegroup - and that don't get outside the control range of a lesser warcaster. M&M can get places and Berserk + positive charge is scary. (Jakes2 also has Positive Charge and gives them 2" reach on feat turn but is much more of a battlegroup caster)
• Stryker3 M&M absolutely love iron aggression. Apply and be happy.
• Maddox1 gives free charges at an even higher threat with Assail, Onslaught helps, and the feat is useful.
• Zerkova1 is a debuffer who can hand out Ghost Walk for either Pathfinder or to make a flying M&M immune to free strikes.

Vengeance of Dhunia - Trollblood/Farrow Warlocks

M&M become friendly Faction to everyone in this theme, which makes M&M easier to buff.

• Horgle2 - He loves their Flame Trail rule for his feat and has an ARM buff in Inviolable Resolve for them.
• Pyre Troll or Slag Troll a nice little damage buff.
• Kriel Stone - +2 ARM and +1 STR, what's not to love?
• Ragnor - On top of Pulveriser his other tricks also work on them here. Namely his feat and Earth's Sanctuary.

Other Combos

• Kolgrimma - Hunter's Mark is faction agnostic, and a threat range of 13" on this model is a nightmare for the opponent. Plus she can set up a cloud wall for them to hide behind or arrange the perfect Berserk with her feat.
• Iona the Unseen also has Hunter's Mark.
• Asphyxious4 can run a servitor to increase their damage output.
• Gatorman Witch Doctor - The gator hands out ghostly and makes his way into most minion list anyway. Add in the buffs from Rask and you can convincingly say Rask runs them the best with the help of a doctor.
• Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress or the Blackclad Wayfarer both provide Hunter's Mark for free charges and 2" extra threat range.
• Steelhead Ironhead is another +2" on M&M's threat range.
• The Wastelander - The Wastelander can stand next to them while they are roadblocking and become DEF 20, while being able to take a bullet and deflect it.
• Gudrun the Wasted - Kinetic Distortion stacks with the cover bonus from the telescoping shields.
• Dhunian Archons can heal them for some reason. Don't be afraid to have a trooper take a free strike just to get a system on M&M operational again with a heal.
• In Black Industries they gain Carapace, which is an amazing rule for them.
• Getting a Gobber into your list as cheap as possible:
  • 1 points: Swamp Gobber Chef, Swamp Gobber River Raider
  • 2 points: Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew, Gobber Tinker
  • 3 points: The Grunts in the Field Mechaniks unit or Flubbin

Drawbacks & Downsides

• 17 points DEF 11 ARM 18 makes for a soft target for its points. Of course you should be spending much of the time at ARM 20.
• They don't gain battlegroup buffs
• They are only friendly faction in Mercenaries and Minions so can't take advantage of friendly faction buffs in other factions.
• At 17 points with no gun, it is a challenge to trade favorably with this piece. It must be sent into the enemy to destroy models, and it has very low odds of destroying 17 points worth of models the first time it does so. It is then likely to be destroyed on the following turn unless protected by a strong feat like Stryker1 or Fiona's.

Tricks & Tips

• Use Telescoping Shield near the start of the game to help M&M survive crossing the board. It's nice if other models can take advantage of the cover, but don't stand nearby if the enemy has stuff like Electro Leap.
• Use Berserk to "launder" attacks. Use your weak weapon to trigger a free attack with your strong weapon.
• The Button
  • The best time to use The Button is when you can charge a bunch of tightly bunched models. You're essentially wanting to get the +2 SPD, Flight, +2 STR, and Berserk in one activation so you can murder everything. The +2 ARM, Flame Trail, and Roadblock is just icing on the cake.

Other

Trivia

• Released 2020.06
• Malvin & Mayhem are the "boss fight" for Season 1 (2019-2020) of the Riot Quest game.