Hunter

Few military developments have been so disquieting to Cygnar's rivals as the Hunter; simply stated, it is a jack assassin. Equipped with advanced mechanika relays, an inventive boiler design, and a Long Arm cannon specifically designed for penetrating heavily armored opponents over distances, the Hunter has already made a name for itself in the field. Template:TOCbox

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Construct
• Template:Pathfinder
• Template:Extended Control Range

Weapons

Long Arm
File:Gun icon.jpg		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW			LOCATION
		14			1			Template:-			6			Left
Template:Armor Piercing
Battle Axe
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S				LOCATION
		1				4				12				Right

Theme Forces

• Cygnar
  • Template:Flames in the Darkness
  • Template:Gravediggers
  • Template:Heavy Metal
  • Template:Sons of the Tempest
  • Template:Storm Division. This model gains Immunity: Electricity in this theme.

• Other Factions
  • Infernal players can use it in Hearts of Darkness, but only if Sloan is leading the army. This model gains Accumulator [Soulless] in this theme.
  • Mercenary and Khador players can use it Flame in the Darkness
  • Mercenary and Convergence players can use it by putting it under the control of Nemo4 in various themes.

Thoughts on Hunter

Hunter in a nutshell

The Hunter is an accurate, long-range, armour piercing jack with great mobility. It Long Arm is exceptionally good at punching through naturally high ARM, erasing on average more than a column of an ARM 18 jack per shot with damage boost. It boasts above-average DEF, but weaker ARM and fewer HP than the other light warjacks (save the Grenadier).

This jack almost always ends up compared to the Defender, Cygnar's other long-range jack: Template:Hunter Defender comparison

Combos & Synergies

• Kraye can let it retreat after shooting, plus Admonition keeps it safe from jammers.
• Extended Control Range makes the Hunter ideal for Journeyman Warcasters, since the Journeyman's 6" control area, which can be a real pain to work with, is extended to 12" for the Hunter.
• Works well with Haley2's Temporal Acceleration, giving him speed buff and another shot.
• The Hunter loves nearly everything Captain Kara Sloan can offer.
• Haley 3 lets it have a 32' leash. (8 focus= 16 doubled to 32, giving it an extremely long leash. If you want to consider absurd CTRL ranges, look for Nemo1 too, who is quite capable of leading the Hunter across the entire board. Also, extended CTRL range synergize very well with AOE:CTRL spells, like Deceleration.
• Siege1 - Though the feat doesn't stack with Armour Piercing, he offers no damage buff to his army, and you'll need something to crack heavier targets, before Siege drops his feat. Also, Foxhole makes a DEF 18 jack out of the Hunter.
• Long Gunners - The Hunter's shots are quality shots of the best kind. Use the Long Gunners' quantity fire to trigger Shield Guards and erase Sacrificial Pawn targets. It is especially pronounced in the Heavy Metal theme.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Abysmal melee capacity and fragile frame - once in melee, it is in deep trouble
• Ablative ARM buffs (Arcane Shield, Carapace, Buckler, Wall of Steel, Shield, etc.) aren't halved, significantly lowering it's hitting power.
• Very sensitive for jamming infantries - fortunately, extended control plus pathfinder often gives you space to evade them.
• With the Defender being only four points more expensive but a legitimate dual threat the Hunter is, as of the end of 2021, a questionable choice (a change from the previous Mk3 situation)

Tricks & Tips

• With Pathfinder the Hunter can routinely hide in forests to boost its DEF to levels which are, for a warjack, absurd.
• Try to put it in or behind a solid obstacle (walls, etc.) so that it benefits from cover, and can take advantage of Pathfinder to get away from the enemy if they make a move towards it.
• The Hunter is great at shooting Battle Engines and other targets on huge base, as most of the defensive tricks won't work on them.
• Extended Control Area, by its current wording applies to spells which affect models within CTRL zone - have fun with Magnetic Field, Energizer, Deceleration, Pursuit, and the like.
• The Hunter is accurate enough to not need to boost to hit against its favoured targets. Just the one focus from Power Up is enough for it do its job.

Other

Trivia

Originally released in Warmachine: Escalation (2004)