101 - Warjacks
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- This article is part of Warmachine University's Crash Course (101) series, which is "Basic Training" aimed at new players who are still learning the core rules.
- The 101 series is intended to help you understand the rulebook, but you shouldn't be reading this instead of the rulebook.
This article is a recap of the Warjack rules. (For a verbatim copy of the rules, refer to Warjack.) If you've just read the 101 article on Warbeasts, you'll find this article is very similar; the only real differences are how warjacks generate focus.
Warjacks are powerful weapons of war, that are turned up to eleven when properly controlled by their warcaster. They have a swathe of special rules, mostly to do with how they interact with their warcaster, receive & spend focus points, and making Power Attacks.
Mostly they are the big, hulking brawlers of the battlefield (although smaller, support-style ones do exist). They are immensely strong, crush bones and grind enemies to dust. If equipped with ranged attacks, they are the most powerful guns that can be mounted.
Contents
Basic Rules
Controlled
You cannot take warjacks by themselves (except for a couple of notable exceptions). Instead warjacks must be bossed around by either your main warcaster, a junior warcaster, or a 'Jack Marshal. You have to decide which it will be when you write your army list.
- If a warcaster or junior warcaster is in charge of it, and it is in their control range at the start of the turn, then the warjack can gain focus via Power Up and Allocation.
- If it is outside of control range at the start of the turn it can still activate normally, but it will start the turn at zero focus.
- If a 'Jack Marshal is in charge, it works quite differently. This is covered in the intermediate lesson LPG - 'Jack Marshal.
Sometimes a warjack can gain focus via other special rules (such as Accumulator). In this case it doesn't matter if it is in control range and/or being bossed around by a 'Jack Marshal - it'll happily take the focus and use it.
Warjacks & focus
Gaining focus
As long as their cortex is working, warjacks can gain and use focus. Warjacks can have up to 3 focus points at any time. As mentioned above they can gain focus in 3 ways:
- If they are in their warcaster's control range during your Control Phase (at the start of your turn), then they get 1 focus for free. This freebie is called Power Up.
- Then, still during the Control Phase, their warcaster can allocate them extra focus.
- There are various special rules that can give warjacks focus during the Activation Phase. (Such as Accumulator, Empower, Spirit Harvester, Convection, etc)
Note that a warjack that is 'Jack Marshaled cannot gain focus via methods 1 and 2.
Spending focus
A warjack can spend focus to gain a benefit. The restrictions on spending focus are:
- A warjack can only spend focus during its activation - except for when it shakes an effect.
- It needs to have a non-crippled cortex.
The benefits a warjack can gain via focus are:
- During the Control Phase, after allocating focus, a warjack can spend focus to shake knockdown, stationary, Blind, and other shake-able effects, at one focus per effect.
- During the warjack's activation it can spend focus to buy/boost attacks the same way as warcasters can, described above. One warjack, the Deathjack, can even use focus to cast spells.
- During the warjack's activation it must spend a focus if it wants to run or charge (nearly all the other model types in the game can run/charge for free).
- During the warjack's activation it can spend a focus if it wants to perform a Power Attack. Most of the time, though, they're better off to make their normal attacks (which they can do for free).
Warjack health
Most models in the game just have a health bar, but warjacks have a damage grid. This is a six by six grid with each column labelled 1 to 6 (colossals have two grids). When you damage a warjack, you roll a dice to see which column takes the damage. You start at the top, work down, and then overlap to the next column to the right. Column 6 overlaps to column 1. Colossals overlap from 6 to 1 on the same side, unless the whole side is filled; if that happens it overlaps to a random column on the other side.
Dark grey boxes are ignored, white boxes are the warjack's outer armour layer, and the letters correspond to the warjack's systems. If you knock out all the same letters, that system becomes crippled and the warjack suffers these effects:
- A - Crippled Arc Node = The warjack can no longer be used to channel spells.
- C - Crippled Cortex = the warjack loses all its focus, and cannot get any more.
- I - Crippled Induction Node (Convergence only) = the warjack loses all its focus, and cannot get any more.
- M - Crippled Movement = the warjack's base DEF is lowered to 5, and it cannot run, charge, slam, or trample. Also, if Movement gets crippled while charging or slamming, the warjack has its activation end immediately.
- L - Crippled Left Weapons = Weapons mounted on the Left side roll one less dice for attack rolls and damage rolls.
- R - Crippled Right Weapons = Similar
- S - Crippled Superstructure = Loses a special rule (what is lost varies between warjacks).
- F - Crippled Field Generator (Retribution only) = the warjack cannot heal its force field, and loses another special rule (what is lost varies between warjacks).
When you repair a warjack, you can heal any boxes in any order.
Interaction with warcasters
Interaction
Unlike their warbeast counterparts, warjacks have comparatively little interaction with their warcasters. The warcasters 'fuel' the warjack with focus, but that's about it.
- In the Control Phase, any warjack in their control range gets 1 focus for free. This is the 'Power Up' focus.
- After that, the warcaster can give any warjack in their control range extra focus from their own stack. This is 'allocated' focus.
- Warcasters can't Power Up or Allocate focus to warjacks that aren't in their battlegroup, whether or not they're in control range.
Battlegroup
When you build your army list you assign warjacks to be in your warcaster's battlegroup. In fact, you have to assign a minimum number to each battlegroup. A caster can only allocate focus to their warjacks, and many spells/feats only affect battlegroup models (such as Energizer).
A battlegroup is a shared noun, a bit like the word "team"; the warjacks are in the warcaster's battlegroup, but also the warcaster is in the warjack's battlegroup.
It is possible to add more warjacks to your battlegroup mid-game, but only if that warjack's original controller died earlier in the game. This doesn't happen very often, especially in beginner games, so we won't cover it here. Instead it is detailed in the intermediate lesson LPG - Death of a Controller.
Advanced Rules
Colossals
The colossals are the largest and most powerful warjacks ever to stride the battlefield. As a result of their great size and raw power, there are a number of special rules that apply to colossals but not to smaller warjacks.
Due to their extra complexity, we cover them in the intermediate training article LPG - Colossals & Gargantuans. Or you can read the verbatim rules on the warjack article.
Vectors
The Convergence of Cyriss does not use warjacks in the traditional sense. Their machines, called vectors, are built using arcane science fused with applied physics and mathematics. They are a type of warjack that have a number of special rules that apply solely to them.
Due to their extra complexity, we cover them in the intermediate training article LPG - Convergence.
Monstrosities
The Cephalyx shape lesser creatures into powerful weapons of war. They use some of the same rules as warjacks, but they are explicitly not a type of warjack.
Due to their extra complexity, we cover them in the intermediate training article LPG - Cephalyx.
Rules Clarifications
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Rules Clarification : Warjack (Edit)
Inert warjacks
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