The Crucible Guard are the military arm of The Order of The Golden Crucible, which is a high-tech R&D organisation that was based in Llael before the Khadoran invasion. Since the invasion the organization has taken refuge in Ord. The Crucible sports high tech weaponry with a heavy emphasis on ranged attacks and alchemical effects.

For more backstory refer to Lore - Golden Crucible.

Mini-Faction
As with all Factions released after 2013, Crucible Guard has a much smaller range of models than the pre-2013 Factions. The upside is that it's easier to complete your collection, the downside is that list-building has less variety.

As an in-game counterbalance to this low variety, the synergies within the Faction are strong and/or models have uniquely powerful abilities. Some Mini-Factions even have rules that affect the core rules of the game.

Crucible Guard for Beginners

Faction Aesthetic

Aesthetically, Crucible Guard are a bit of 19th century firefighters meets World War 1 meets steampunk with an alchemical twist. They feature experimental technology, alchemy-based weapons, weaponized human test subjects, and a very unique collection of warjacks.

In terms of appearance, the models have a lot of heavy trenchcoats, gas masks, and pipes/pumps/vials feeding their alchemically-based weapons. They also have iconic train-tanks and Rocketeer style rocketmen.

Playstyle

Crucible Guard playstyle is-

Stackable debuffs applied via ranged attacks, stackable buffs applied via spells and abilities. Stacking multiple buffs/debuffs is relatively uncommon in other factions but common in Crucible Guard, and is the key to getting the most out your army.
Lots of spray attacks, AOEs, and buffed attacks and damage.
Lots of elemental attacks (mainly fire and corrosion), and lots of resistance to elemental damage (fire and corrosion), plus a bit of carapace and other anti-ranged tech thrown in.
Versatile models, many having multiple Attack Types, abilities, and modes that can adapt to the opposing army and the situation.
Multiplicative damage and effects from sprays, AOEs, and/or multiple attacks. CG usually prefers quantity (in the form of a large number of attacks or the ability to hit multiple models with each attack) over quality, then overcompensates on quality with buffs/debuffs. CG can take advantage of a single buff/debuff multiple times by hitting several enemies at once with a spray or AOE, and multiple attacks with multiple stacked buffs/debuffs can make otherwise underwhelming models perform like far more expensive ones.
CG is primarily a "ranged faction", relying on their guns, rockets, and alchemical sprayers/flame throwers to do most of the work. However, stacked buffs/debuffs can create some truly terrifying melee threats (e.g., Mosby attached to Steelhead Halberdiers with Transmutation, Trancers with virtually any buff).

For more playstyle info refer to the Magnum Opus theme force article. That theme allows you to take any model in the Faction, so anything written about that theme is generally applicable.

Unique Rule: None*

Unlike the other Limited Release Factions, Crucible Guard don't have any unique core rules. They do have a phenomenal amount of Attack Types, Battle Plans, and special orders - at a much higher concentration than any other faction - that let them adapt on the fly to whatever army your opponent brings.

Alchemically Treated is present on five out of seven warjacks in faction giving them obscene protection against fire and corrosion. At current this rule is not found in any other faction.

Gas effects are also present in the faction aplenty, which is an atypical way of applying a certain effect since it's neither spell, nor elemental-related buff/debuff - but there are several other models scattered around in other factions which stops this rule of being completely unique.

Starter Sets

CG does not currently have a battlebox starter set (see below for playing CG in battlebox events). There is an "All In One" Army box that went on sale when the Faction was released in 2018 that can be difficult to find but not impossible. If you can find them, they are a good starting point for the faction. When it was first released it was not uncommon to get two of the army boxes to start but many of the models (Combat Alchemists, Assault Troopers, Rocketmen, Vindicator) were not considered to be competitive with options that were released later and so have been rarely taken, and almost never in multiples. However, all of these models got revised rules in early 2021 and are now much better options than they were.

For Journeymen leagues and battlebox games, Crucible Guard's battlebox models are Syvestro, a Suppressor, and a Vindicator.

Worthwhile first purchases

Vindicator

Although harder to get a hold of as a single boxset, the contents of the "All-in-One" army box still represents a solid start. It includes:

Warcaster: Aurum Adeptus Syvestro
Warjacks: Vindicator and Suppressor
Unit: Combat Alchemists
Unit: Crucible Guard Rocketmen (including the CA and 3 WA)
Unit: Dragon’s Breath Rocket (weapon crew)
Unit: Crucible Guard Assault Troopers
Solo: Trancer
Solo: Gorman di Wulfe

Expanding from there, other good first purchases are:

Aurum Ominus Alyce Marc. As CG's warcaster attachment, she has a place in most lists.
Doctor Alejandro Mosby. One of CG's power pieces that lets the Guard maximize their mercenary choices. Mosby is one of the biggest reasons Magnum Opus is generally regarded as a more powerful theme than Prima Materia. You will need to have a unit to attach him to, and the best units to take with Mosby are usually Steelhead Halberdiers or Order of Illumination Resolutes, though there are many viable options.
Three more Trancers. They are extremely strong solos, and one of the things that set the Crucible Guard apart from other factions
A pair of Vanguards & a Liberator. These are your go-to lights, with every caster having a list which will use some combination of these three.
Two additional heavy kits, Toro, Suppressor, Vindicator, ideally magnetized. You'll usually want two Toros to pair with your Vindicator & Suppressor from the army box, but there are enough instances that you'll want two or more of your gun 'jacks that it is worth the effort to magnetize. (I will create a page for magnetizing this kit -Jaxck 02.2021)
Syvestro is the "default" Crucible Guard caster and by far the best caster to start. Marshal General Baldwin Gearhart & Mr. Clogg and Aurum Lucanum Athanor Locke are usually the next best two casters to pick up, with Gearhart catering to heavy infantry play in Magnum Opus and Locke catering to heavy warjack play in Prima Materia. It's advised to hold off on Captain Eira Mackay & Major Aline Benett until you've decided to commit to the faction, as both rely on a large monetary investment in either the Railless Interceptor or additional Rocketmen. Aurum Legate Lukas di Morray is a good "first caster" that does not require any special models besides Aurum Ominus Alyce Marc and maybe a Liberator.
Hutchuk is a Partisan who works for Crucible Guard, and pairs nicely with the faction's more aggressive pieces.
Crucible Guard Infantry are excellent with Marshal General Baldwin Gearhart & Mr. Clogg though you are unlikely to use them with other casters very often.
Once you have decided to commit to the faction and can afford them, the Vulcan colossal warjack and two Railless Interceptor battle engines are all staples of the faction. Some people use Captain Eira Mackay as their second Railless Interceptor, either magnetizing Mackay or just using her model as-is.
Popular Mercenary solo options for Magnum Opus are Anastasia Di Bray, Death Archon, Harlowe Holdemhigh, and Hermit of Henge Hold. Starting in April/May 2021, Death Archons will also be allowed in Prima Materia.

External Articles

2018.08 CG List Pairings by Will Pagani
- One of the game developers, Will Pagani, wrote an article on Crucible Guard list pairings. Since he works for the company it's a little salesperson-y, but still worth a read.

Line of Sight article : Brawlmachine List Building - Crucible Guard
In 2020.09 Phillip Melvin, one of the LOS authors, wrote an excellent article for how to start Crucible Guard. It is based on the newbie-friendly Brawlmachine format (25 point limit).
The article contains a different list for each Crucible Guard theme, and advice on how to expand those lists beyond 25 points.

Theme Forces

Vulcan

Magnum Opus

This is Crucible Guard's "default" theme because it allows every Crucible Guard model. The only reason not to use it is if you either want the other theme, or you want to go themeless and have more than one mercenary unit/solo. The theme benefits support Guard solos and weapon crews (of which only the Dragon's Breath Rocket currently exists), and can be considered an infantry theme when compared with Prima Materia.

The models allowed in Magnum Opus are ... all of them.

Prima Materia

This is Crucible Guard's "high tech" division. It doesn't allow any mercenaries (because they might steal CG's tech secrets). There is a lot of overlap with Magnum Opus in terms of what troops are available, but the theme benefits lend it to focusing on battle engines and/or warjacks.

The models allowed in Prima Materia are: [Show/Hide]

This list was last updated: 2021.04 (Edit)

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