Seige the day!

This is the list with which I went undefeated at ATC:

War Room Army

Cygnar - Dirty Thirty Express

Theme: Gravediggers
3 / 3 Free Cards 75 / 75 Army


Colonel Markus 'Siege' Brisbane - WJ: +28
- Rocket Turret
- Triumph - PC: 18 (Battlegroup Points Used: 18)
- Ironclad - PC: 12 (Battlegroup Points Used: 10)

Trench Buster - PC: 0
Trench Buster - PC: 0
Captain Maxwell Finn - PC: 0
Patrol Dog - PC: 2
Trencher Master Gunner - PC: 4
Ragman - PC: 4

Trencher Express Team - Spotter & Gunner: 5
Trencher Express Team - Spotter & Gunner: 5
Trencher Commandos - Leader & 9 Grunts: 15
- Trencher Commando Officer - PC: 4
- Trencher Commando Scattergunner - PC: 2
- Trencher Commando Scattergunner - PC: 2
- Trencher Commando Scattergunner - PC: 2
Trencher Infantry - Leader & 9 Grunts: 16
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt - Lady Aiyana & Master Holt: 8
- Captain Jonas Murdoch - PC: 4


THEME: Gravediggers
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I like the list a lot. It plays well into a surprisingly wide range of archetypes. At ATC, I had a Hammersmith instead of the Ironclad, but I believe I like the Ironclad more.

Well, it's only 3 scattergunners; not really a lot.  And yes, they absolutely perform well.  Think about it; for 2 points, you are adding a stealth 13/13 model with tough, that threatens to walk 11" and spray 8" with a potential RAT9/POW14 spray.  He can also charge 14.5", kill a model with anatomical precision (at anywhere from MAT7 to MAT10), and then quickwork a spray.  Scattergunners are fantastic with Seige2; Commandos in general are.

No problem.  Questions are always welcome. 

It's true, you don't see them in very many lists, and honestly, I don't think I would play them outside of Siege2.  But if you are playing Siege2, he turns them up so hard that it seems silly to not play them with him.  The issue is that not very many people are playing Siege2 yet, which baffles me because he is so good.

Siege2's strength extends well beyond his feat.  After having played over 50 games with Siege2 at this point, I've come to strongly believe that his primary strength lies in the fact that he shores up the weaknesses of the Trencher design space, which allows you to play them even more effectively into a wide band of MU's. 

In order to understand the above, let's first discuss what Trenchers are good at. 

First, Trenchers are inherently survivable.  Their base statline (13/13 tough) is good to begin with.  They all have some additional innate defensive technology (stealth, dig-in, etc.).  Trenchers don't need help getting delivered; they do that well on their own.

Second, Trenchers skirmish well.  Trenchers are very good at out-skirmishing other infantry.  Their guns are accurate and numerous, and they will win a skirmish with other infantry units most of the time.  They are also very effective at thinning the ranks of (or destroying outright) lightly armored enemy melee units before the lines meet.  A further analysis of why Trenchers skirmish well has to do with a combination of their good innate accuracy, their survivability, and their decent to long ranged threat distance.

Finally, Trenchers as an archetype now have a lot of tools.  The Trencher Express Crew is the brightest example of this.  For 5 points, you get a 2 man unit which absolutely exemplifies the above 2 points, while also bringing board control and Grievous Wounds to the list.  Thunderbolt shots on a model which is 13/13, Tough, with Cautious Advance Order and 5 boxes, who threats a minimum of 20" each turn, is incredible.  Contrasted with the Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (who die to a stiff breeze), the Trencher Express Crew is more accurate, and incredibly difficult to kill.  Grievous Wounds is also just Kryptonite in many matches.  Trenchers also provide the option to block LOS with clouds, some of the models have native Pathfinder, some of them have anatomical precision, etc.  A Trencher Platoon is a versatile toolbox and brings a lot of technology to the table. 

Now, what are Trencher's weaknesses?  Primarily, they don't hit very hard in melee.  Without assistance, the hardest any Trencher unit can hit in melee is at POW11.  This is a significant limitation because you will almost always need to hit harder than POW11 in melee to close out a game.  Additionally, Trenchers don't threat very far in melee.  9.5" to 10" is their maximum native melee threat.  Frequently, that is just not far enough (as they are out-threat by your opponent's models). 

Siege2 doesn't just put a patch on these holes, he builds a fortress around them.  Bringing Fury to the table instantly solves the Trencher's issue with being pillow-fisted.  Furthermore, because Gravediggers allows you to bring a merc solo and a merc unit, you can add up to a 7 point damage swing in the list.  Trenchers who can charge at PS 16 or 18 kill heavies.  We're in Cryxian territory at this point.    Additionally, being able to add up to 5" of threat to a single Trencher unit (and 3" to every other warrior model in the list except Ragman) is huge.  Adding 2" every turn of the game to one unit is also fantastic.  The fact that Siege shores up these weaknesses means that you can play Trenchers in the Gravediggers theme and fully commit to the Trencher platoon, thus maximizing free points and the skirmishing/scenario strength of the models.  This is Siege's greatest strength, but not his only contribution.

Siege is also a solid anchor.  He threats a long distance, is highly mobile, and the fact that he has Ram on his hammer enables assassinations that would otherwise be impossible.

Finally, he has a huge personal impact on scenario.  This is a combination of many factors, including his personal mobility and Ram (he can charge, kill something or even just push it out of contesting, then leap 5" back to safety), his spell list (Battering Ram and Razor Wall are incredible spells for scenario play), his personal survivability, and the fact that he can create a model which is a solo warrior model.  He will always be able to add a model to contest or score a flag; that is a huge boon by itself.  

When you consider everything above, it seems like Siege2 is playable into almost anything.  My experience has shown this to be true.  He has few truly unplayable matchups, and has a surprisingly high skill cap.  I feel like I am pretty good at playing him, and I've still come nowhere near to what I would describe as mastery of my list.  

Hey juris, what do you think of a unit of trencher long gunners with siege2? played a few games with them, they seem alright but hard to position with 3 units of max infantry.

conflictchamber.com/#c1201b_-0Fid9GicaminifieieiNiha19U9Vikil

Cygnar Army - 74 / 75 points
[Theme] Gravediggers

(Brisbane 2) Colonel Markus "Siege" Brisbane [+28]
- Ironclad [12]
- Triumph [18]
Captain Maxwell Finn [0(6)]
Commander Anson Hitch [4]
Patrol Dog [2]
Trench Buster [0(5)]
Trench Buster [0(5)]
Trencher Commandos (max) [15]
- Trencher Commando Officer [4]
- Trencher Commando Scattergunner (2) [4]
Trencher Infantry (max) [16]
- Trencher Infantry Officer & Sniper [5]
Trencher Long Gunners (max) [18]
- Trencher Long Gunner Officer [4]

Theres my list, but no express teams :/ Thinking of dropping the LGs and taking 2 express teams and master gunners.
Thoughts?

I'm not really a fan of Long Gunners with Siege2.  Express Teams, on the other hand, are god tier.

I've gotten about 10 games with the Colonel under my belt, my record isn't so hot, as I'm still learning him and the game overall. 

I've run lists w/Hitch and without Hitch. I find that his biggest asset is "Tenacity" letting them shoot w/out blocking each others line of site, is so nice.  The time I didn't have Hitch in, I sorely missed him, and the Tactician Tenacity.  I feel overwhelmed moving so many troops, and he alleviates this stress. 

I have been using him to Marshall a Grenadier, to some success.  It is nice to have that extra Jack in there.  It takes pressure off of Triumph.  

Seems that the Colonel is a myriad level caster, and there is so much to learn w/him that having Hitch in there lets me focus on learning Siege 2, and not on troops jamming up.