Cygnar Squire Assassinates All Other Crappy Caster Attachments

(or A Review and Assessment of Cygnaran Warcaster Attachments)

When I look at the lists I run, pretty much every one at this point has a squire. The squire is the only Cygnar attachment, and the most expensive attachment. But is it the best? When would you ever want anything else?




Our other options are Sylys, Reinholdt, and Madelyn Corbeau. Sylys gives a free upkeep, +2 range on non-arced spells, and arcane secrets, which lets you roll and extra die and discard the lowest. Reinholdt negates stealth, gives a lucky charm reroll, and grants the occasionally priceless extra shot. Madelyn negates stealth at close range, has the seduction ability, and has parlay - an ability which is either overpowered or useless depending on the makeup of the enemy army.

Now, let's look at the squire. It gives an extra focus, but only three times during the game. Given that you probably won't use this on turn one, you've got an extra focus up until turn 4, and that's usually when most games I play end. I rarely ever use all the squire's focus. This ability is very comparable to Sylys's free upkeep. If you do have an upkeep out, it's effectively identical, but Sylys can do it forever rather than only three times. I'm calling this mostly a wash given that my games rarely hit turn 5.

The squire also extends control area by two inches, which is much nicer than it might sound. Going from 12" to 14" is a big bonus.

Lastly, the spell re-roll. If you're casting offensive spells at all, it's super-valuable. It's also comparable to Sylys's arcane secrets and Reinholdt's lucky charm. Kind of.

To my mind, the most closely comparable attachment to the squire is Sylys. Let's quickly review the Cygnar casters I'm familiar with and which attachment they each want. Yes, I'm leaving a number of casters off, but that's because I don't want to be talking out of my ass about things I don't know.

• Stryker1 is the first caster I think of when I ask myself if anyone would potentially want a non-Squire attachment. Saving the point is potentially nice, and Stryker1 has so many upkeeps that you'll always have a use for the free one. The +2 range is also nice for earthquakes if your arc node dies. I've taken Reinholdt with Stryker, because an extra 14" range disruption shot is really good. But honestly, in most cases, I'll give Stryker1 the squire. If you're in-theme, it's the only attachment option, and you can get those 5 points for free, anyway.
• Stryker2 wants a squire, largely because the extra two inches is great for his feat and for deceleration. Free upkeeps and extra shots don't interest him.
• Nemo1 wants the squire too, because expanding his crazy-big control area even more is nice. Plus, maximizing his huge focus pool and having the re-roll for chain lightning or voltaic snare is great. Sylys might be interesting for arcane secrets on chain lightning, but that alone isn't nearly good enough to warrant going squire-less.
• Nemo3 wants to play in Storm Division, which means the squire is the only attachment you're taking. His lightning-generator gun is great, so having Reinholdt would be pretty amazing, but let's be serious. You're not playing Nemo3 outside of theme.
• Caine1 is an interesting case. Seriously, there are a number of good options for him. The Arcane Tempest theme is garbage, so mercenary attachments are worth thinking about. Any Caine always likes more shots, and Caine1 doesn't have True Sight like Caine2, so Reinholdt is a good option. But Sylys might be the best option. Caine's got plenty of upkeeps for Sylys to help with, and having Sylys for Thunderstrike is amazing - you get 2" extra range, which extends Caine1's threat with it to 22 inches! Given that it slams models, you can add the slam distance to the potential threat range. Nothing is safe. Arcane Secrets also lets you add an extra die to that Thunderbolt's hit and damage and drop the lowest. It's too bad that if Caine1 thunderbolts and teleports back, he's camping nothing. Better to thunderbolt, maintain blur on yourself, and camp the last one.
• Caine2 pretty much always wants Reinholdt. Having that extra shot on his feat is indispensible.
• Sloan I've never played, but from what I hear, she's in the Reinholdt boat with Caine2.

To sum up, the squire really is the best choice most of the time. That's often because he's the only in-faction option, but with a few specific casters, Reinholdt is actually the best attachment. In fact, with a couple casters, Reinholdt might be the entire reason you're playing out of theme. Sylys is a possibility with a couple other casters. Madelyn Corbeau? Who's that? I've pretty much never seen her on the table. If infantry makes a major comeback in the meta though, that may change.