Grenadier

"When we have four firing in tandem on the enemy, we like to say they're enjoying a little "trencher rain". - Master Sergeant Harris Taggin

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Construct
• Template:Advance Deployment
• Template:Dig In

Weapons

Grenade Launcher
File:Gun icon.jpg		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW
		10			1			3			13
Template:Arcing Fire Template:Manual Reload
Mattock
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		1				5				13
Template:Brutal Charge

Theme Forces

• Cygnar
  • Template:Flames in the Darkness
  • Template:Gravediggers
  • Template:Heavy Metal
  • Template:Sons of the Tempest
  • Template:Storm Division. Grenadiers 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 Grenadier

Grenadier in a nutshell

The Grenadier is an advance deploying fire bastion, capable of shooting three times while spending no Focus at all. It's also very hard to hit by warjack standards (and harder than most Cygnaran infantry). Once dug in, it can be very difficult to remove.

The Launcher's special abilities are what make it really shine; with them, Snipe on the Grenadier fielded with Trenchers is a great way to lay down a hailstorm of 3" AOE's. Once Dug In the Grenadier goes from an annoyance to a real tick to remove. Its DEF jumps to an exceptional 18. A Sniped Grenadier is a great way to capitalize on its Dig In bonuses while taking pot shots at unit leaders from over 16" away at a good RAT. The Manual Reload ability is great, as it essentially lets the 'jack fire twice more for no additional focus, just add Trenchers. This ability is entirely passive, so the Trenchers do not lose their actions and don't need to activate in any specific order.

Combos & Synergies

• Naturally, this is model should be taken with Trenchers. Once entrenched, the Grenadier and it's Trenchers can unleash some serious firepower.
• With up to 3 attacks, it is tempting to look at the Grenadier and think you should take him with a Jack Marshal. That does mean you won't see many boosted shots, which is where the Grenadier can really shine.
  • If you still really want to marshal him consider the Arcane Tempest Gun Mages UA giving it rune bullets which of of course gives it Snipe.
    • Using the Take Aim special rule, they will pose a significant threat to any infantry and will even be able to hurt decently armored units.
• A dug-in Grenadier under Blur or Major Prime Victoria Haley's Temporal Distortion is downright obnoxious to remove with ranged attacks.
  • With Temporal Distortion, it's no slouch in melee either with DEF16.
• Haley3 is one of the few Warcasters who can consistently allocate maximum focus to more than one Grenadier and carry on doing other things.
  • She also typically plays well with Trenchers and a cloud wall can keep your grenadiers safe until it's ready to go in guns blazing.
  • Temporal Distortion also goes a long way to making Grenadiers hit consistently and then leave their focus to boost the damage.
• If you want to take it outside of Gravediggers, i.e. in Heavy Metal, and still want a maximum number of attacks consider the Trencher Warcaster Lieutenant, Trencher Mechaniks and Major Harrison Gibbs.
  • Captain Allison Jakes also provides Bullet Dodger to make the package obnoxious to deal with.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• The support staff for making a Grenadier work include Trenchers (although the Trencher weapon crews all work) and some form of jack marshal to make the most of it. While these aren't bad units, this can end up taking up a large sum of points on units that struggle to handle armor.
• Without something to give it snipe, the Grenadier may be hard pressed to get into range with it's gun. Advance Deployment will mitigate this, but you are going to require a turn to Dig In if you want to protect your investment.
• Really not worth it without Trenchers (and in the Gravediggers theme)

Tricks & Tips

• Although this jack can be taken in many themes, you probably want to stick with themes that actually allow Trenchers to get the most from it.
• While it's not a terrible melee weapon, you're probably best off using the gun on this thing
• If you are using Jack Marshals for this (and you should be), Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officers is the probably the best Marshal to use. His Rune Shot ability buffs your already decently accurate gun:
  • Critical Brutal allows for the Grenadier to legitimately threaten some armored units.
  • Thunder Bolts can push back several units at once, even hold back larger slower heavies.
  • Snipe allows the Grenadier to threaten an area large enough that opponents will seldom have the luxury to simply stay out of it's range.
• If you are on a budget, the Trencher Master Gunner can marshal the Jack and give it an extra shot without using any of his special actions.
• With a potential of 3 AoEs per turn, it's tempting to bring all the blasts you can. Before you do, remember that it takes a prodigious amount of time to work out all those scatters and blast damages. All of that can eat up your death clock in no time, if you are not skilled enough in working out those shots as fast as possible.

Other

Trivia

• Originally released in Warmachine: Superiority (2006)