Arcantrik Force Generator

The arcantrik force generator is a massive engine of war that houses one of the most devastating and complex weapons in the arsenal of the Retribution of Scyrah. Its teleforce cannon, which fires concentrated bursts of kinetic energy, represents the very pinnacle of Iosan arcane science. Blasts from the force generator shatter anything they touch, reduce the ground to craters and rubble, and fling enemies aside like broken dolls.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Battle Engine
• Template:Construct
• Template:Pathfinder
• Template:Gunfighter
• Template:Focused Power
• Template:Carapace

Weapons

• Teleforce Cannon - 14" range, ROF 2, POW 14 ranged weapon
  • Template:Magical Weapon
  • Template:Attack Type
    • Template:Blasted Earth
    • Template:Destructor
    • Template:Momentum

Theme Forces

• Template:Defenders of Ios

Thoughts on Arcantrik Force Generator

Arcantrik Force Generator in a nutshell

Arcantrik Force Generator (aka Noisy Cricket/Space Cricket) is a flexible gun platform first and a support piece second. Its main selling point is, obviously, the Teleforce Cannon. Want to knock down an enemy for the killing blow? Evaporate chaff infantry? Halt their advance with rough terrain? Or just hammer a heavy target with boosted shots? Want to do two of these (whether the same or different) each turn? The AFG has it all.

The support feature, Focused Power, is a poor man's Fire Group as you must keep your battlegroup members close to an otherwise painfully slow model, though there are ways of moving it a little quicker up the board.

In terms of durability, it doesn't have many hitboxes and can be fragile. However, Polarity Shield keeps it mostly safe from melee during the mid game, and Carapace makes it impervious against unboosted POW 10 shooting and AOEs. Still, stronger shots and spells of any kind can quickly drain its health boxes.

Combos & Synergies

• Anything with a hefty gun will appreciate the range booster capability. Hydras are the most obvious choice, but Banshees and other warjacks can benefit as well.
• The House Shyeel Magister's Whip Snap can be used to let it aim and still move up, but it is situational as the Magister needs an enemy model close enough to hit and trigger it.
• Casters with Deceleration (Helynna and Vyros2) give an extra layer of survival against shooting, up to the poin where even boosted POW 10 attacks will have hard time hurting you. Helynna under her feat makes it nigh-immune against shooting with an effective ARM 27. However, they do not really offer much direct synergy to the AFG beyond that.
• Lord_Arcanist_Ossyan is the best friend of a ranged gun platform, which can - under his feat - deliver 2 POW 14(16) + 4D6 shots, and becomes nigh-invulnerable against ranged retaliation.
• Adeptis Rahn has a plethora of board controlling spells, and the AFG provides another tool for pushing enemies around. Telekinesis also works on it.
• Kaelyssa with Refuge heavily mitigates the AFG's mobility problems as it allows it to aim and fire then reposition up the board afterwards and aim next turn as well.
• Garryth1 benefits greatly from the AFG's presence. He can enhance its threat range with Mirage and appreciates a nice tool to knock down his target for a proper assassination run. Not only is the AFG a point cheaper than a Banshee, but it's RNG and RAT are both higher and it gets twice as many shots. If you are planning on taking a Banshee with Garryth specifically for the knockdown gun, seriously consider one of these instead.
• Garryth2 loves slam guns for his feat turn. And there is no gun that slams as good as the AFGs in Retribution. Also it is great at procing Road to War.
• Ravyn is your only caster with Snipe. Now, standing still suddenly does not sound so terrible, since you can deliver 2 RNG 20 shots into your opponents lines in whatever combination you want, hotswapping turn to turn allowing her to run two without much trouble. And obviously, feat increases the already solid changes of their shots hitting.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• As every Battle Engine, it is not part of your battlegroup, so those spells won't affect them.
• The second squishiest Battle Engine after the Transfinite Emergence Projector (1 HP difference so some might argue that distinction!). Though Carapace eases the ranged threat, weapon master enemies turn it to scrap metal in no-time (even without charging). And because the AFG's native ARM isn't especially high, a trampling heavy can destroy it with just purchased attacks with a only a bit of buffing.
• Gunfighter is not as good as Dual Attack - you cannot charge in to get extra range for your shots, like the Storm Strider.
• One of the slowest Battle Engine and you must stay in place to use Focused Power's range extender.
• Anything that forbids shooting, nullifies its combat output.
• As it is on a huge base, it is easily targeted, along with all the problems common to battle engines, more so because the AFG likes to (and generally needs to) stay still.
• It has no way of ignoring Stealth (except via Issyria's feat) or defensive spells (except via Thyron's Spellpiercer, though Ret does have a few ways of stripping upkeeps).

Tricks & Tips

• 2 rough terrain templates per turn can really mess with the enemy's charge lanes, if they lack Pathfinder. Sometimes it worth even to just blind-fire into the distance, and hope for a good scatter roll.
• Unlike Colossals Battle Engines can be placed - which works both ways. Watch out for enemy casters with Telekinesis and the like.
• Though it cannot be charged, it will not stop an enemy with multiple attacks to charge in a model beside the AFG, and after the charge attack, deliver its other attacks against the AFG. Place your units around accordingly.
• Slamming a target back with Momentum (preferably near to some squishy support), then delivering a Blasted Earth upon its knocked-down head is a trick that never gets old.

Other

Trivia

• Released in Warmachine: Wrath (2010)
• In mk2 it was weirdly included in Kaelyssa's "Force Wall" theme force. This was weird because it was a House Vyre model in an otherwise entirely House Shyeel theme.