I've been listening to a lot about Cygnar recently. Storm Legion is at the bottom of the heap at the moment, faring worse than any other MK4 faction. The most recent episode of Focus, Fury, and Friends (episode 9) had some great in-depth discussion on Storm Legion. I listened twice. And while I am admittedly a filthy casual, I've got a lot of thoughts about the eventual end-of-year errata that will tweak models, and I've got a short wishlist.
I played Calder for the first time this past weekend, and she's a lot of fun. I lost twice before I got to feat with her, so my take on the caster may be premature, but she seems solid, if not strong. I'd love to see a buff to the caster, but I don't have enough plays to suggest anything as of yet.
Huxley, as a caster, is in theory a ton of fun. He doesn't do much at all to support his army, but he's a super solo, like Caine was back in the day. Instead of destroying all your infantry singlehandedly, Huxley takes a few big shots at extreme range and is extremely difficult to kill. But he's also the worst caster in the faction. Nobody takes Huxley. He does nothing for his army, and Cygnar really needs support in order to do much of anything. Short of giving Huxley a character jack that really unlocks him, I've really only got one suggestion.
Huxley has a great gun, and doing stuff himself rather than supporting his army seems to be his whole thing. Against an ARM20 heavy, his gun is going to do 5 points on average, or 8 if damage is boosted. But he's also got the siege weapon rule in ground assault mode, which means that boosted shot into an ARM20 colossal will do 12 damage on average. In the world of 2024, where colossals are increasingly appearing, that ain't bad.
My suggestion for Huxley? Make his gun reload 1. A second shot at the cost of one focus would be useful, but given that he's likely boosting damage on both shots, he's spending half his stack every turn on shooting. My feel is that this change would make more people take Huxley, but he still wouldn't be winning any tournaments. He'd be more of a counter to colossals.
The stryker is... fine. It does the job, but it's completely underwhelming when compared to the heavies in other factions. I've got two suggestions for Storm Legion's flagship heavy. First, it's bizarre to me that you've got a faction throwing lightning everywhere, making sure all the troops are lightning resistant, but the warjacks aren't. Unless you put the most expensive head on the stryker. Make that damn thing one point instead of three. The only other thing it does besides grant lightning immunity is plasma nimbus, which hits melee attackers with a POW10. How often has that ever been super relevant? If we're not putting in errata to make the stryker lightning immune by default, the head should be one point.
Secondly, the stormblazer cannon. The what? Yeah. Even if you play Cygnar, you likely don't know what this thing is because nobody would ever consider it. It's a range 10 POW14 shot with no AoE, and it leaves a behind a lightning cloud which does a POW10. Sure, in theory you could block a choke point with a cloud if your opponent places a model perfectly, but planning for that and selecting a stormblazer cannon? Not advisable. The stormblazer cannon costs a whopping 5 points. Let's change it to 4 points.
The courser is a solid little jack. I love those range 12 POW12 lightning sprays, and the light mag bolter can do some work. But there are some arms that nobody will take ever. First off, the sword. At POW14, it's the hardest hitting weapon the courser can take, if you discount the punching spike. I think it makes sense to bump it up to POW15. Again, I doubt anyone will take it despite the buff.
Secondly, the courser's rapid fire light mag bolter is kind of trash. Range 10 POW10 would be decent if it weren't for "rapid fire" meaning only 1d3 shots. The fact that it has beat back is kind of cute, but it only feels marginally legit when you get 3 shots every time. I'd suggest upping the rate of fire. Either ROF3 or else 2d3 shots.
Most of the troops in Cygnar are okay, if situational. The only ones I'd like to address are the tempest thunderers. Despite getting infinitesimally better in the last year-end update, the thunderers are still bargain basement bad. Let's bump their melee weapons up from POW12 to POW 14. Not much will change, and I'm sure nobody will take them, but it's something.
Lastly, in an attempt to pull Cygnar melee threat ranges out of the toilet, how about giving the officer desperate pace back?
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