Balthazar Bamfist

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Balthazar Bamfist Mercenary Rhulic Solo

Mark IV Status: Prime - This model is available in one Prime Army, Rhul Guard. It can also be used in the Unlimited game mode. You can view the other Mk3 models that made it into a Legacy Army at this page. Note that the rest of this page is about the model's Mark III rules.

Fluff

Basic Info

Balthazar Bamfist
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Small SPD 5 STR 7 MAT 7 RAT N/A M.A. N/A DEF 13 ARM 16 CMD 7 ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS N/A FURY N/A THRS N/A HP 5 F. Field N/A WJP {{{wjp}}} WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA C UNIT SIZE N/A COST 4 N/A N/A N/A Warcaster 1 COST N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

Riot Quest - Although this model has rules which allow it to be played in Warmachine and Hordes, it was primarily designed for the Riot Quest boardgame. RQ is set in an alternate and/or future timeline where the Infernals won the war. Some of the RQ models are slightly more goofy than their WMH equivalents.

Mercenary - Balthazar Bamfist will work for Crucible Guard, Cygnar, and Khador.

Abilities

• Battle Wizard - Once per turn, when this model destroys one or more enemy models with a melee attack during its activation, immediately after the attack is resolved it can make one Magic Ability special attack or special action.
• Force Barrier - This model gains +2 DEF against ranged attack rolls and Blast Resistance. (Blast Resistance - A model with Blast Resistance gains +4 ARM against blast damage.)
• Magic Ability [ - ] - This model can cast spells. Normally this uses up the model's Combat Action and as such is limited to one spell per activation, but exceptions do exist.

Weapons

Mecha-Fist
		RNG				POW				P+S
		0.5				5				12
Ram - When an enemy model is hit by this weapon during this model's Combat Action, it becomes knocked down and can be pushed 1" directly away from this model. If the model hit is pushed, this model can immediately advance 1" directly toward it.

Spells

	COST	RNG	AOE	POW	DUR	OFF
Empower	(★ Action)	CMD	-	-	-	No
Target friendly Faction warjack. If the target warjack is in range and it was suffering Disruption, it is no longer disrupted. The warjack also gains 1 focus point.
Protection of the Great Fathers	(★ Action)	6	-	-	Round	No
Target friendly Rhulic model/unit. If the model/unit is in range, it gains Force Barrier for one round.
Tectonic Shift	(★ Action)	-	-	-	-	No
Enemy models within 3" of this model are pushed 3" towards the table edge of your choice.

Theme Forces

• Mercenary
  • Hammer Strike. Bamfist gains Tough in this theme.
  • The Irregulars

• Other Factions
  • Mercenary models can be hired by other Factions. Normally those Factions' themes will have a limit on how many models they can hire. Refer to #Other Theme Forces, below.
  • Aside from that, there are a few themes that will change what Faction this model counts as (and thus what "friendly Faction only" buffs it can receive). They are:
    • Infernal players can use this model in the Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Crosse2 is leading the army.

Thoughts on the Balthazar Bamfist

Balthazar Bamfist in a nutshell

Bamfist is primarily brought for Empower - an ability not currently available elsewhere in Irregulars or Hammer Strike. 4 points is a fairly pricey package for this ability alone, and it is hard to get great value from his other two abilities in Irregulars. In Hammer Strike he becomes a more appealing option, that being keeping Durgen's Primed Forge Guard from blowing each other up when they die, or combining with Gorten's rock wall for some DEF 16 infantry - but mostly because there aren't many options in that theme...

Combos & Synergies

• Any jack appreciates extra focus and any Rhulic model/unit likes Force Barrier.
• In Irregulars marshaled warjacks gain Flank, and he is the only way to get additional focus onto them.
  • The most powerful possible combination would be a Mariner on Boss Machorne, ran with Captain Shae: Shae's Coup de Main spell gives the Mariner a free 12" charge, Machorne would grant it Crush and Dismantle (combined with Flank for two extra damage dice against constructs) and Bamfist would give it the focus point to allow three attacks. However that's a 24 point combo (or your free solo choices).
  • If you want to go all in on marshalled jack in Irregulars, he, Lanyssa, and Widget make for an excellent team of enablers.
• Stacking Gorten's Rock Wall cover bonus with Force Barrier pushes the defence stat of any model to sky high levels, even the lumbering Rhulic heavies.
  • If you want even more DEF, add Gudrun2's Kinetic Distorsion for a total of +8.
• Ossrum has Bullet Dodger, which you can use together with Force Barrier to make a key solo like Harlowe basically unshootable.
• Durgen can cast Primed on a unit of Forge Guard and Force Barrier makes them resistant to blast damage so they are less likely kill each other when they die and explode.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• When taken in Irregulars his Great Fathers ability has few targets for Force Barrier: Herne and Jonne is the only unit, a few solos like Thor & Harlowe, and your caster/warjacks (if you took a Rhulic battlegroup).
  • Spending 4 pts for a single empower each turn is generally very bad points value, so you need Rhulic models in your list for Force Barrier to get value out of him, limiting your list building options.
  • Great Fathers in general isn’t great on high armour low defence models, unless you also have another bonus like cover for them.
• He is only available via the RiotQuest starter box or the much less expensive RiotQuest Throwdown kit (his blinged out version). This makes him an expensive solo to own fiscally.
• Rhulic lights don't need Empower, so your targets for Empower are limited to Rhulic heavies or any non-rhulic jack in Irregulars.

Tricks & Tips

• Keep him back - he might hit hard but he's mostly support.
• Force Wall bypasses Blessed weapons because the spell doesn't actually add to DEF - it gives them Force Barrier and the DEF boost comes from there.

Other

Trivia

Blinged Bamfist. Cannot be purchased, it can only be won at Throwdown events.

• Released 2019.07
• Despite being Rhulic in the Warmachine rules, he is not from the nation of Rhul.
  • He is an Arcane Mechanik from the mysterious continent of Zu and did not visit the continent of Immoren (where Rhul is located) until after the Infernals ravaged the continent in the RiotQuest timeline.
  • It is assumed that he has Rhulic ancestors that travelled to Zu.
• He has a neat glowy ball in his left hand that has absolutely no function in either Warmachine or RiotQuest but is apparently a treasure finder.
• This model has a limited edition sculpt, released in 2020.01.

Other Theme Forces

Crucible Guard (Edit)

• Magnum Opus

Cygnar (Edit)

• Gravediggers
• Heavy Metal
• Sons of the Tempest
• Storm Division

Khador (Edit)

• Armored Korps
• Jaws of the Wolf
• Legion of Steel
• Winter Guard Kommand

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification : Battle Wizard      (Edit) A Battle Wizard doesn't have to kill a model to cast a spell. They can instead skip making melee attacks and use their Combat Action to cast a spell. Cavalry Battle Wizards can trigger it from their Mount Attacks. (Infernal Ruling) This does not, however, allow them to trigger it twice in the same turn. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Force Barrier      (Edit) Rules Clarification : Blast Resistance - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Magic Ability      (Edit) Using a Magic Ability counts as a spell, for effects such as Spell Ward, Witch Hunter, etc. Combat Action Nearly all Magic Ability spells require the spellcaster to use their Combat Action to cast the spell. As such it is not an "at any time" ability (like it is when warcasters/warlocks cast spells). This means ... You must complete your movement before you use a MA. A model in a unit cannot use its Combat Action to cast a spell until all members of the unit have completed their movement. (Infernal Ruling) You cannot make initial ranged or initial melee attacks on the same turn you use a MA. You cannot buy additional melee/ranged attacks after using a MA special attack. Refer to the core rulebook, "Special attacks listed as a rule of the model itself are neither melee attacks nor ranged attacks. The rules for these special attacks indicate the nature of any additional attacks that can be made afterward, if any." You cannot use a MA on the same turn you charge. Because a charge must (almost always) be followed by a melee attack. Non-Combat Action There are a few models that can use a Magic Ability without using their Combat Action. These models get around all the restrictions listed above. Models with Geomancy or Necromancy can use a Magic Ability at "any time" just like a warcaster/warlock. Models with Battle Wizard or Necrophage can make melee attacks then get a bonus "free" spell. Models with Combat Caster can cast a spell before charging, then do a normal charge + melee attack. Note that Battle Wizards, Combat Casters, etc have the option to use their Combat Action to cast a spell. Their special rule is in addition to the normal spell casting, not instead of.

Rules Clarification : Ram and/or Batter     (Edit) Push - General     (Edit)   [Show/Hide] Pushed models do not change their facing. Pushed models move at half rate through difficult terrain. Also, Pathfinder doesn't apply during pushes. Pushed models stop if they contact anything - a model of any size, or any obstacles or obstructions. You don't get free strikes against pushed models, because it is "involuntary movement" and therefore does not count as an advance. Pushed models suffer the effects of anything they move through (such as acid clouds). If you use a Push vs a charging model (via a free strike for example), this will stop the charge movement (refer core rulebook). However, if the pushed model is in melee range of its charge target after the push, then it is considered a successful charge. (Infernal Ruling) In that scenario, you measure whether the charging model moved 3" or less excluding the push distance. (Infernal Ruling) If you push a model to a position where it regains Incorporeal (for instance you push it out of range of an Exorcist) then what happens is (Being Checked by Infernals) Knockdown (Edit) - Remember, knockdown only prevents what it says it does. Refer to the Knockdown page for a recap of what a model can/can't do.

Rules Clarification : Empower and/or Recharge     (Edit) A warjack can benefit from this ability multiple times. A warjack cannot go over its normal focus limit (which is 3 for most jacks) as a result of this ability. Refer to the Cortex rules.

Rules Clarification : Protection of the Great Fathers - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Tectonic Shift      (Edit) Push - General     (Edit)   [Show/Hide] Pushed models do not change their facing. Pushed models move at half rate through difficult terrain. Also, Pathfinder doesn't apply during pushes. Pushed models stop if they contact anything - a model of any size, or any obstacles or obstructions. You don't get free strikes against pushed models, because it is "involuntary movement" and therefore does not count as an advance. Pushed models suffer the effects of anything they move through (such as acid clouds). If you use a Push vs a charging model (via a free strike for example), this will stop the charge movement (refer core rulebook). However, if the pushed model is in melee range of its charge target after the push, then it is considered a successful charge. (Infernal Ruling) In that scenario, you measure whether the charging model moved 3" or less excluding the push distance. (Infernal Ruling) If you push a model to a position where it regains Incorporeal (for instance you push it out of range of an Exorcist) then what happens is (Being Checked by Infernals)