Manticore

House Shyeel has brought the power of its formidable myrmidons to the Retribution, fighting machines enhanced by sophisticated arcanika systems. The Manticore is equally as formidable in melee or at range, thanks to kinetically augmented attacks and its Cyclone Cannon.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Construct
• Template:Field Dependent
• Template:Force Fields
• Template:Force Generator

Weapons

Cyclone Cannon
File:Gun icon.jpg		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW
		12			d3			Template:-			12
Template:Magical Weapon Template:Covering Fire
Saber Fist (x2)
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		1				5				15 (17)
P+S 17 while its Field Generator is working Template:Open Fist

Theme Forces

• Template:Defenders of Ios
• Template:Forges of War. Manticores gains Shield Guard in this theme.
• Template:Legions of Dawn. (1) In this theme Manticores can ignore friendly Dawnguard models when determining LOS, and it can advance through friendly Dawnguard models if it has enough movement to move completely past them. (2) If someone 'Jack Marshals Manticore in this theme, it gains Flank [Dawnguard].
• Template:Shadows of the Retribution

Thoughts on the Manticore

Manticore in a nutshell

The Manticore is an extremely cost efficient and effective warjack with an excellent P+S 17 on it's fists thanks to Force Generator, MAT 7 which is amazing for a heavy, and a very good defensive profile of 13/18/32 and it comes at a steal of 14 points. Oh and we haven't even mentioned that is has a hand cannon on its should which also lets it put down covering fire templates. This makes it adept at limiting where single wound infantry can go at range while also being able to easily take down heavies in melee. Chances are you should run 1 in every Retribution army you are constructing, and there is little reason to not just reach for a second or even third one, too.

Combos & Synergies

The Manticore is a very self sufficient jack who does not need lots of input to function. Still particular synergies include:

• Goreshade4 - Covering Fire and a cloud wall can limit where the enemy goes. Especially nifty if you fight infantry Goreshade's clouds are useless against, who can ignore clouds but will die to POW 12 covering fire templates.
• Garryth1 - Reposition 3 makes it so the Manticore can be 15" away from where it placed its Covering Fire. Crippling Grasp, Perseverance or Mirage are also excellent spells for the Manticore.
• Ravyn - Cycle Snipe between two of these and put covering fire templates 16" down the line, energize them back to be even further away.
• Lanyssa Ryssyl - She let's it charge for free, with is a focus freed up for buys or boosts.
• Arcanist Mechanik - Extra focus or a damage buff is exactly what the doctor ordered for this jack.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• While it sports impressive melee P+S, it’s tied to a particular system. Don't be lured into thinking he can one-round other heavies easily without it.
• Losing either the cortex or the Force Generator system will heavily cripple his melee ability.
• Its guns variable ROF makes it very unreliable as a dedicated ranged piece, which is decidedly not what this jack wants to be anyway. Take a Hydra if you want a ranged heavy, but honestly you are probably better served with two Harpies.

Tricks & Tips

• Space your Covering Fire(s) out to cover more board. For example, if you place it next to an obstruction and leave a gap just slightly smaller than a small-base, this will effectively add 1" to the area you've blocked off.
• That said, one Manticore is usually only worth it to deny charges from single-wound models, so always bring two or more if you can help it.
• Remember, unique to the Manticore, Covering Fire is a *Action, not a *Attack, so it can do so from combat. If a model has run up to jam it, but you know it won't hurt the Manticore, use Covering Fire as you would normally to stymie the enemy main line so you can deal with the jammers at your leisure.
• Negation Angels really do not appreciate having to take a POW 12 to the face from Covering Fire, so the Manticore is a very nice tech piece against Strange Bedfellows.

Other

Trivia

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