Post by borderprince on Jun 26, 2017 7:02:48 GMT
It's a question without a really right answer. There are important variables to consider:
(1) Scenario play - using Steamroller 2107, you need some units to capture particular zones. If you plan to win via scenario, that's an important consideration. Khador has some good and cheap zone takers in the form of Kayazy Eliminators. But if you are not planning to win via scenario, then just use your jacks to contest the zones and ignore them otherwise. In that case you can pretty much fill the points limit with jacks.
(2) How many jacks can your caster support? Some casters support jacks simply by having lots of Focus, but that's not really the case in Khador (in theory Butcher3's feat would do it, but it isn't usually the best use of the feat).
Some casters don't want to be allocating much focus to jacks, often suggesting you don't want to field too many with them. Others may not want to allocate much focus, but have spells/feats which provide substantial battlegroup buffs, enabling them to run more jacks than their focus score might suggest. There are also some jacks which do not need much focus and will mostly run perfectly happily with just the single focus from power-up. Even casters with limited jack support can run a few of these jacks.
Examples of casters who do not want to allocate much to jacks would be Irusk1 and Vlad2. Both of these also have single-target jack buffs. In Warmachine, spell-slinging Warcasters often lack the Focus to run many jacks. Sorscha1 is an example - she will often be casting Wind Rush and Freezing Grip, leaving little for her jacks. In Hordes it is quite different as spell-slinging Warlocks need enough beasts to fill up their Fury through the game.
Casters who do not want to allocate much focus, but have battlegroup buffs is where I would place Khador's jack casters. These include Butcher1 (Full Throttle gives free charges for the entire battlegroup and boosted attack rolls - even a single Juggernaut with Power-up and Full Throttle can do quite a bit of damage) and Vlad1 (usually wants either Signs and Portents or Blood of Kings up, so not much Focus left. But Signs and Portents + free charges from the feat lets jacks do lots of work with little focus allocation), as well as Karchev and Harkevich. Strakhov1's Resourceful ability is another way of achieving a similar sort of battlegroup wide benefit, enabling him to run more jacks than his raw stats suggest, and his feat also benefits jacks. In theory Zerkova2 could fall into this category, using Sacrificial Lamb, but this probably isn't the best way to play her.
Jacks that do not need much focus are typically exemplified by the Devastator, which just uses the single focus to run or slam and holds a zone with high ARM. The Marauder can also often cope with a single focus, either to charge or to boost the combo-smite ability (similarly the Kodiak, if you mainly use it as a Vent Steam and chain attack jack). The Destroyer can fall into this category, using the single power-up focus to boost the ranged attack roll if required, or use it to boost a damage roll. But ranged jacks are often better with two focus (boost attack and damage rolls) - the ability to get two focus of boosts from a single focus is what makes Cygnar's Charger such a great ranged jack. These jacks can be good with casters who have limited focus, but still some nice battlegroup buffs. Kozlov and Irusk2 fall into that category, I think - they don't have the available focus to have a battlegroup do lots in an individual turn, but can use their buffs to do good/interesting things with what they do bring.
(3) Size of jacks - colossals complicate this by using lots of points. But until they hit melee, they can sometimes get away with relatively low focus allocation for their shooting and special abilities. Creeping Barrage from the Conquest, for example, is a great ability against some lists, but doesn't require any Focus allocation.
(4) Don't forget Malakov1, the journeyman warcaster. Even casters with little focus to allocate to jacks can benefit from Malakov1 to bring more jacks if you want. And it isn't a bad idea. Redline is a great jack buff. Sometimes you can even combine the buffs. For example, in a Sorscha1 list, Malakov1 can cast Redline on his jack and allocate Focus to it. Sorscha1 can then also cast Boundless Charge on it (as Boundless Charge is not an upkeep and not restricted to the battlegroup). That jack can now charge 11", with +2 STR too.
(5) Finally, are you losing out by going jack heavy? Essentially, Will doing so mean that you cannot/will not use some of your caster's tool kit? Beyond a certain point, doin this will mean you are running a weaker list. Irusk2 is clearly geared to infantry, for example, even if Energizer let's him do some good things with a few jacks. You don't want the jacks to predominate in his list, as it will weaken the list overall.
