Rangers

Cunning and resourceful, Rangers are elite troops trained to blend into the terrain and mark enemy targets for Cygnaran gunners. Equipped with an array of signal gear and detailed maps, Rangers can blaze trails for friendly units and even bring them into the battle far behind the enemy’s lines.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Advance Deployment
• Template:Pathfinder
• Template:Mark Target2
• Template:Prowl

Weapons

Military Rifle
File:Gun icon.jpg		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW
		10			1			Template:-			11
Knife
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		0.5				2				7

Theme Forces

• Cygnar
  • Template:Gravediggers
  • Template:Sons of the Tempest

• Other Factions
  • Infernal players can use this unit in the Template:Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Sloan is leading the army.
  • Mercenary players can use this unit in the Template:Llaelese Resistance. They become Llaelese models in this theme.
  • Mercenary players can use this unit in the Template:The Kingmaker's Army. They gain Feign Death in this theme.

Thoughts on Rangers

Rangers in a nutshell

Competent fighters who buff the accuracy of other models in the army. They're also fast enough to surprise the enemy and jam them thanks to their good DEF.

Combos & Synergies

Rangers currently can be fielded into 4 theme forces. Their usefulness heavily depends on the rest of your army composition.

Regardless of themes, they're great for helping assassination runs with whatever caster you like. Prime candidates are Caine2, Sloan, or Magnus1 with his Obliterator-equipped Renegades.

This theme is full of with innate RAT buff. Since Trencher Infantry and Trencher Long Gunners have CRA, Express Team sharpshooters gain boosted attack rolls, Commandos have their minifeat plus sprays and all the Trenchers can enjoy Finn's Veteran Leader bubble, it is usually not a problem to hit elusive targets. However, DEF14+ targets are rarely over-armored, so a 3-4 man CRA might be overkill, and could be spent on heavier targets with less impressive DEF. If you expect a lot of high-DEF targets (Winter Guard infantry spam under Sorcha1's Fog of War, etc), Rangers can eliminate the need for CRA, increasing your damage dealing capabilities.

• Triumph - Since the Rapid Fire shot happens outside its activation, you cannot boost the hit roll. Having a Ranger nearby basically gives you an aiming bonus, and an effective RAT9.
• Siege1 - His Ground Ponder rocket is a favored tool for dealing damage, as it ignores a whole lot of defensive measures, yet can't benefit from aiming. Get a Ranger near your target, and you can hit much more reliably with RAT8.

Trencher Infantry and Long Gunners are popular in this theme too, but apart of them, this list is rarely as range-focused as the Cygnarian Trencher theme.

• MacBain - Between Countermeasures and Prowl, Rangers can be downright annoying.
• Galleon - This expensive colossal appreciates every bit of buff for its RAT.
• Steelhead Cannon Crew, Steelhead Volley Gun Crew, Steelhead Mortar Crew - You ranged supplement weapon crews, all of which love Mark target, the mortar especially, because it's inaccurate.

On paper they're great in this theme, but unfortunately they use up 50% of your Cygnar unit allowance (you can bring only 2 Cygnar units into this theme). Usually you want something with more staying power, like Trencher Infantry, paired with something heavy hitting, like Storm Lances.

• Thorn Gun Mages - Though their RAT is good, a bit of help makes their attack all the more dangerous (and that includes their Gunfighter shots too).
• Crosse2 - This gunslinger warcaster gets a lot of work done through his gun - obviously, he likes RAT buffs.

This almost writes itself. The entire theme is about Gun Mages - Rangers makes models with a Gun more accurate. They offer the theme a more throwaway unit that can be more difficult to shift thanks to Prowl and generally get in the way of the enemy getting to your important but fragile Gun Mages. But a few things to note:

• Siege1, although not a Gun Mage himself, likes the accuracy buff. Sons of the Tempest is also the only place where he can work with Rangers and take a Squire to extend his Control Range to match his gun range.
• Caine2 starts to look like a much more terrifying assassin if you can makes him hit with 4+ (or better) on 2D6 followed up by the Pistoleer bonus.
• Move in the Rangers to Mark Target a key model then Flare it with a Gun Mage Captain Adept - If your opponent is attempting a hard DEF skew, suddenly their key pieces will be a lot more vulnerable.
• On the note of the GMCA, he also has Veteran Leader for Gun Mages, making for a casual +3 RAT swing, or even +5 if Flare comes into play.
• On the same note, Kraye's feat offers Flare across the board making it a lot harder to avoid or prevent with rules like Shield Guard.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• They die to blasts and pretty much anything that can bypass their high DEF.
• Not much is afraid of POW 11 rifles.

Tricks & Tips

• A ranger model has to be in formation to make use of Mark Target. Although you can't just run any single trooper out to mark an enemy, you can send the leader instead (since the leader is always in formation). You won't mind if the leader dies since the field promotion should put the rest of the unit back into formation.
• They buff each other's RAT. Get the unit in close to another unit, and you can fire at RAT 8 at point blank range.

Other

Trivia

• Released in Warmachine: Superiority (2006)