Mariner

The Mariner was designed to endure uncertain footing fighting ship-to-ship, a skill just as formidable on dry land. Giving up some armour to move quickly and proving nearly impossible to knock down, the Mariner carries a liberated ship cannon in one hand and a brutal barnacle-encrusted anchor in the other.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Construct
• Template:Amphibious
• Template:Lash

Weapons

Ship Gun
File:Gun icon.jpg		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW			LOCATION
		15			1			4			14			Left
Template:Loader
Anchor
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S				LOCATION
		2				6				17				Right
Template:Thresher These attacks are not optional.

Theme Forces

• Mercenaries
  • Template:Flame in the Darkness
  • Template:Llaelese Resistance
  • Template:Operating Theatre
  • Template:Soldiers of Fortune
  • Template:Strange Bedfellows
  • Template:The Irregulars. If it is 'jack marshalled in this theme, it gains Flank [Warrior]
  • Template:The Kingmaker's Army
  • Template:The Talion Charter

• Other Factions
  • Convergence players can use this warjack in the Template:Strange Bedfellows theme, or by putting it in Aurora2's, Asphyxious4's, or Nemo4's battlegroup in various themes.
  • Cryx players can use this warjack by putting it in Asphyxious4's battlegroup in various themes.
  • Cygnar players can use this warjack in the Template:Flame in the Darkness theme, or by putting it in Nemo4's battlegroup in various themes.
  • Infernal players can take this model in the Template:Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Crosse2 is leading the army. This model gains Accumulator [Soulless] in this theme.
  • Khador players can use this warjack in the Template:Flame in the Darkness theme.
  • Aside from that, Mercenary warjacks can be taken in a plethora of Faction's themes via by putting it under the control of a Mercenary 'Jack Marshal or Mercenary "Junior Warcaster" (see #Who can take this warjack?). However the "Faction Type" of the warjack doesn't change when you do it this way.

Thoughts on Mariner

Mariner in a nutshell

On sheer versatility and value, the Mariner is bested only by the utterly ridiculous Vindicator. A boostable POW 14 shot with 15" range is stellar. Boostable 4" AoEs are great. POW 17 is respectable on the anchor. 2" melee with Thresher is tremendous. A 12/18 statline is solid. And then there's Amphibious and Lash. All for 14 points. It excels at nothing but is so versatile and contributes every turn that you can never go wrong bringing one or several. You will almost never have a turn pass where it isn't helping you in some way.

Combos & Synergies

• It becomes quite the assassination piece with Captain Phinneus Shae threatening 27" on his feat turn with Dougal and Coup de Main.
• Fiona the Black gives it a lot of benefit from her feat.
• Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile can give it a better chance to hit (with a re-roll on deviation), and a bit more range. He also can't be hit by any blasts that target the Mariner, and won't be knocked down when his Hit the Deck rule triggers. He's designed to be the loader in case that wasn't immediately apparent.
• Magnus the Traitor and General Ossrum can cast Snipe to give it a formidable 19" range.
• You could do worse than to run one on Gastone Crosse.
• The Powder Monkey gives it an extra shot in the Talion Charter - an excellent combination.
• Rahera uses the Mariner's excellent range with her Rough Seas and Escort spells to swing threat ranges in her favor.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Other than the nuisance of the Loader rule, the only real drawback is that it isn't great at anything. Instead, it's good at most tasks at a low price. It's got a decent gun, a decently hard hitting melee weapon, a 2" thresher to take out infantry and a 4" AoE. It's certainly a jack of all trades.
• The anchor does not have Chain Weapon despite having a chain. It swings it like an axe instead.

Tricks & Tips

• The Mariner has one major bonus in that B2B models cannot be knocked down, this has a natural synergy with the Loader rule.
• If the Mariner is slammed over a friendly warrior model, Lash will prevent that model from being knocked down when impacted, assuming it survives.
• If your opponent takes control of the Mariner it will not be able to shoot unless your opponent provides one of his own warrior models as a loader.
• Like almost all ranged jacks it hits harder in melee than at range. You just get a couple of shots in while the armies close (frequently vapourising solos).

Other

Trivia

• Released in Forces of Warmachine: Pirates of the Broken Coast (2007)
• Shares a chassis with the Swabber & the Freebooter. However they're sold as separate models.