Hunter

99% of this website is about Mark 3 (mk3), which is the previous edition of the game (2016 to 2022). The reasons for this are explained here. 1% of the website is about Mark 4 (mk4), but only in regards to which mk3 models are useable in mk4 Prime and which are mk4 Unlimited. See Legacy Armies for more detail.

Hunter Cygnar Light Warjack

Prime This model is available in one Prime Army, First Army. 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.

Few military developments have been so disquieting to Cygnar's rivals as the Hunter; simply stated, it is a jack assassin. Equipped with advanced mechanika relays, an inventive boiler design, and a Long Arm cannon specifically designed for penetrating heavily armored opponents over distances, the Hunter has already made a name for itself in the field.

Hunter, the Cygnar warjack Hunter, the model ability

Basic Info

Hunter
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Medium SPD 6 STR 8 MAT 6 RAT 7 M.A. N/A DEF 14 ARM 15 CMD N/A ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS N/A FURY N/A THRS N/A HP 24 F. Field N/A WJP {{{wjp}}} WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA U UNIT SIZE N/A COST 10 N/A N/A N/A Warcaster 1 COST N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

Warjack - All warjacks share the same set of special rules. Most notably being big and stompy. Click here for a newbie-friendly recap, or click here for the full rules.

Abilities

• Construct
• Pathfinder
• Extended Control Range - When checking to see if this model is in its controller's control range, double the range.

Weapons

Long Arm
		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW			LOCATION
		14			1			-			6			Left
Armor-Piercing - When calculating damage from this weapon, halve the base ARM stat of models hit.
Battle Axe
		RNG				POW				P+S				LOCATION
		1				4				12				Right

Theme Forces

• Cygnar
  • Flame in the Darkness
  • Gravediggers
  • Heavy Metal
  • Sons of the Tempest
  • Storm Division. This model gains Immunity: Electricity in this theme.

• Other Factions
  • Infernal players can use it in Hearts of Darkness, but only if Sloan is leading the army. This model gains Accumulator [Soulless] in this theme.
  • Mercenary and Khador players can use it Flame in the Darkness
  • Mercenary and Convergence players can use it by putting it under the control of Nemo4 in various themes.

Thoughts on Hunter

Hunter in a nutshell

The Hunter is an accurate, long-range, armour piercing jack with great mobility. It Long Arm is exceptionally good at punching through naturally high ARM, erasing on average more than a column of an ARM 18 jack per shot with damage boost. It boasts above-average DEF, but weaker ARM and fewer HP than the other light warjacks (save the Grenadier).

This jack almost always ends up compared to the Defender, Cygnar's other long-range jack:

Defender	Hunter
Cost
14 points	10 points
Range
16" aiming 21" walk-and-shoot	14" aiming 20" walk-and-shoot
Accuracy
RAT 6 But can aim more often due to longer range	RAT 7
Damage
Better against targets with natural ARM 17 and below or who have additional ARM protection (Shield, Buckler, spells, etc.)	Better against targets with natural ARM 20 and above
Melee
MAT 7 P+S 17 Cortex damage vs warjacks 9" melee threat Good against heavy targets	MAT 6 P+S 12 10" melee threat Only useful against light/medium single wound infantries and light solos.
Resilience
DEF 12 ARM 18 30 HP	DEF 14 ARM 15 24 HP
Other
Cortex Damage on the melee weapon Can Trample	Armour Piercing gun, Pathfinder to help navigation, Extended Control Range
(Edit this comparison)

Overall, the Defender is much more resilient, and better at dealing damage against targets with ablative protection (Buckler, Shield, spells, etc), while the Hunter is good against naturally very high ARM targets (they tie against ARM 18-19). The Hunter beats the Defender in mobility, and flexibility in positioning, but cannot compete with it in melee. Superior range in SR2017 scenarios is a debatable advantage due to the increased number of terrain pieces.

Combos & Synergies

• Kraye can let it retreat after shooting, plus Admonition keeps it safe from jammers.
• Extended Control Range makes the Hunter ideal for Journeyman Warcasters, since the Journeyman's 6" control area, which can be a real pain to work with, is extended to 12" for the Hunter.
• Works well with Haley2's Temporal Acceleration, giving him speed buff and another shot.
• The Hunter loves nearly everything Captain Kara Sloan can offer.
• Haley 3 lets it have a 32' leash. (8 focus= 16 doubled to 32, giving it an extremely long leash. If you want to consider absurd CTRL ranges, look for Nemo1 too, who is quite capable of leading the Hunter across the entire board. Also, extended CTRL range synergize very well with AOE:CTRL spells, like Deceleration.
• Siege1 - Though the feat doesn't stack with Armour Piercing, he offers no damage buff to his army, and you'll need something to crack heavier targets, before Siege drops his feat. Also, Foxhole makes a DEF 18 jack out of the Hunter.
• Long Gunners - The Hunter's shots are quality shots of the best kind. Use the Long Gunners' quantity fire to trigger Shield Guards and erase Sacrificial Pawn targets. It is especially pronounced in the Heavy Metal theme.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Abysmal melee capacity and fragile frame - once in melee, it is in deep trouble
• Ablative ARM buffs (Arcane Shield, Carapace, Buckler, Wall of Steel, Shield, etc.) aren't halved, significantly lowering it's hitting power.
• Very sensitive for jamming infantries - fortunately, extended control plus pathfinder often gives you space to evade them.
• With the Defender being only four points more expensive but a legitimate dual threat the Hunter is, as of the end of 2021, a questionable choice (a change from the previous Mk3 situation)

Tricks & Tips

• With Pathfinder the Hunter can routinely hide in forests to boost its DEF to levels which are, for a warjack, absurd.
• Try to put it in or behind a solid obstacle (walls, etc.) so that it benefits from cover, and can take advantage of Pathfinder to get away from the enemy if they make a move towards it.
• The Hunter is great at shooting Battle Engines and other targets on huge base, as most of the defensive tricks won't work on them.
• Extended Control Area, by its current wording applies to spells which affect models within CTRL zone - have fun with Magnetic Field, Energizer, Deceleration, Pursuit, and the like.
• The Hunter is accurate enough to not need to boost to hit against its favoured targets. Just the one focus from Power Up is enough for it do its job.

Other

Trivia

Originally released in Warmachine: Escalation (2004)

Other Cygnar models

Cygnar Index       (Edit)
Battlegroup & Similar
Warcasters	Caine1 - Caine2 - Caine3 - Constance - Darius - Haley1 - Haley2 - Haley3 - Jakes2 - Kraye - Maddox - Nemo1 - Nemo2 - Nemo3 - Sloan - Stryker1 - Stryker2 - Stryker3 - Siege1 - Siege2 - Sturgis1
Warcaster attachments	Squire (Cygnar) - Madelyn Corbeau (Merc) - Reinholdt (Merc) - Wyshnalyrr (Merc)
Other Warjack Controllers	Battlegroup Controllers: Caine0 - Nemo4 - Jakes1 - Journeyman - T. Warcaster Lieutenant 'Jack Marshals: Runewood - Strangewayes - Anson Hitch - Stormblade Captain - T. Master Gunner - Gun Mage CA - Stormblade CA - Sword Knights CA
Light	Charger - Firefly - Grenadier - Hunter - Lancer - Minuteman - Sentinel Ace - Thorn
Heavy	Avenger - Centurion - Cyclone - Defender - Hammersmith - Ironclad - Reliant - Stormclad Brickhouse - Dynamo - Gallant - Ol' Rowdy - Thunderhead - Triumph
Colossal	Stormwall - Hurricane
Units, Solos, Battle Engines, & Structures
Units	Arcane Tempest Gun Mages - Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team - Field Mechaniks - Legion of Lost Souls - Long Gunner Infantry - OoI Resolutes - OoI Vigilants - Precursor Knights - Rangers - Silver Line Stormguard - Storm Lances - Stormblades - Stormguard - Stormsmith Grenadiers - Storm Tower - Sword Knights - Tempest Blazers - Tr Cannon Crew - Tr Chain Gun Crew - Tr Commandos - Tr Express Team - Tr Long Gunners - Tr Infantry - Tr Mechaniks Special CA : Captain Jonas Murdoch (Mercenary unit) - Special WA: Morrowan Battle Priest (any unit)
Solos	Arcane Tempest Rifleman - Archduke Runewood - Captain Arlan Strangewayes - Captain Maxwell Finn - Commander Anson Hitch - Dreyfus1 - Dreyfus2 & Flubbin2 - Grand Master Gabriel Throne - Glyn Cormier, Illuminated One - Gun Mage Captain Adept - Journeyman Lieutenant Allister Caine - Journeyman Warcaster - Harlan Versh, Illuminated One - Lieutenant Allison Jakes - Lieutenant Bastian Falk - Lieutenant Gwen Keller - Major Katherine Laddermore - Major Harrison Gibbs - Morrowan Archon - Savio Montero Acosta - Squire - Stormblade Captain - Stormcallers - Tr Buster - Tr Master Gunner - Tr Patrol Dog - Tr Warcaster Lieutenant - Viktor Pendrake
Battle Engines & Structures	Nemo4 - Storm Strider - Trencher Blockhouse
Theme Forces
Flame in the Darkness - Gravediggers - Heavy Metal - Sons of the Tempest - Storm Division
Mercenaries
Refer to Who Works for Whom and/or Category: Cygnar Mercenary
This index was last updated: 2021.11

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification : Warjack      (Edit) The Cortex/Induction core rule means a warjack cannot have more than 3 focus at any time (maybe 4 if they're really special). Many abilities give out focus and don't state an upper limit (such as Convection and Empower). Despite not stating an upper limit, they are always "hard-limited" by the core rule. A warjack can have more than 3 focus during a turn, though. For instance, a knocked down warjack can Power Up and be Allocated 2 focus, then spend 1 to shake knockdown, then another model could Empower it back up to 3. Warjacks cannot spend focus outside of their activation. For instance, they can't boost free strikes or trigger Powerful Attack on Broadsides. (Infernal Ruling) Inert warjacks Abilities that say they cannot be used if the model is stationary (such as Shield Guard) cannot be used while a warjack is inert, either. Refer "Warcaster Destruction", page 59 of the core rulebook.

Rules Clarification : Construct - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Armor-Piercing and/or Case Cracker     (Edit) The correct maths is (Infernal Ruling): First halve the target's base ARM (what's printed on their card). Then round up. Then apply any +/- ARM modifiers (Shield, Spiny Growth, Dark Shroud, etc). There are examples of how to do maths on the Armor Piercing page.

Rules Clarification : Pathfinder      (Edit) Pathfinder (Edit) - Pathfinder does not apply to involuntary movement (pushes & slams). (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Extended Control Range and/or Long Leash - None yet. (Edit)