Siren

House Vyre was once noted for its sinister weapons of war, and the Siren harkens back to those morally dubious inventions. Capable of mystically seizing control of those it slays to turn them against their former allies, the Siren makes use of terrifying technology. Only the dire nature of the Retribution’s cause justifies its use, employed only against those who would harm the gods.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Construct
• Template:Oracular Vision

Weapons

• Force Shock - 10" range, POW 12 ranged attack
  • Template:Magical Weapon
  • Template:Death Driver

• Rune Blade - 1" reach, P+S 14 melee attack
  • Damage Type: Magical - As above
  • Template:Blessed
  • Template:Open Fist

• Light Rune Blade - 0.5" reach, P+S 12 melee attack
  • Damage Type: Magical - As above
  • Blessed - As above
  • Open Fist - As above

Theme Forces

• Template:Defenders of Ios
• Template:Forges of War. In this theme this model gains Shield Guard.
• Template:Legions of Dawn. (1) In this theme this model 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 this model in this theme, it gains Flank [Dawnguard].
• Template:Shadows of the Retribution

Thoughts on Siren

Siren in a nutshell

The Siren is the melee focused house Vyre light jack. It doesn't hit out of its weight class by default, but Blessed weapons make sure that the most common defensive spells will not stand in your way. Its gun is also useful against recursion-based armies, removing key pieces to deny their eligibility to revival by feats, spells and the like.

Combos & Synergies

• An Arcanist can Empower it after it activates, leaving one focus on it to use Oracular Vision.
• Helios - Broadcast Power can supply you with the spare focus for Oracular Vision, if the one from Power Up, or Empower is not enough.
• Dawnguard Scyir - If you look for a brawler jack to marshal, this might be one to consider beside the trusty Griffon. The Griffon can be delivered more efficiently due to its higher SPD, Pathfinder and longer reach. The Siren can contribute to the battle at range too, can be protected from a free strike via Oracular Vision (making it capable to dart into the enemy lines), can perform throws and the Blessed blades enable you more efficient resource control.
• Vyros2 - There's a list floating around with Vyros and just a buttload of Sirens, looking to maximise Oracular Vision to deliver 'jacks that then hit hard thanks to Synergy. It's kind of weird, though, because it's a jack-heavy force that can't go in the jack-heavy theme.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• One of the slowest light jacks in the faction, alongside the Harpy, and has no native ability to navigate through rough terrain.
• Oracular Vision requires you to "waste" focus and for your opponent to attack what you plan for them to attack.
  • Although it can be very useful vs free strikes.

Tricks & Tips

• Even if you don't want to move the warrior with the Force Shock, it worth to shoot at it just for the RFP effect.
• If you destroy/RFP an enemy unit’s leader while under your control, the enemy will not replace the Leader model. Perfect against models with Deathbound or the Electric Arc rule.
• On your first turn you'll often have a bit of focus to spare, and it can be worth chucking an extra one on the Siren just in case it gets shot after running into position.
• Since it has 2 open fists, and the typical STR9 of its class, it can deliver Throws with a surprisingly high chance against medium/small based targets.
• Since Oracular Vision is once per turn, a Siren sitting on two focus is a nice target for your own attacks with beneficial effects. You can shoot it with an AOE gun or the Lightning Generator effect of the Electromancers, block your own damage roll, and still block a damage roll during your opponent's turn.
• Force Shock is pretty good against models using Dig In. If you can tag one of them or a different nearby warrior with your gun, have that model move to engage as many Dug In models as possible to scoop them all out of the ground.
• remember that Oracular Vision just ignores the damage secondary effects on guns etc can still get you

Other

Trivia

• Like its Harpy sibling, the Siren has a fitting name for its abilities, in this case, being able to compel enemies to do things they otherwise wouldn't (trading a song for something a little more fatal, though death comes either way!).
• Released in the "12 Factions of Xmas" CID cycle (2017.08)
• It has a longer fluff blurb on PP's "extras" page.