Magnus the Warlord

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.

Magnus the Warlord Mercenary Warcaster

Prime This model is available in one Prime Army, Soldiers of Fortune. 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.

Magnus has proven to be more than simply a one-man army with a grudge against the nation he once served. He has become a singular lord and master of the arts of war. He relies on no nation's backing and he carves his legend across western Immoren with blood and blade. He is ruthless in his determination to bring the exiled former king of Cygnar back to power regardless of the lives it costs.

Basic Info

Magnus2
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Small SPD 5 STR 6 MAT 7 RAT 6 M.A. N/A DEF 14 ARM 17 CMD N/A ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS 6 FURY N/A THRS N/A HP 17 F. Field N/A WJP +28 WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA N/A UNIT SIZE N/A COST N/A N/A N/A N/A Warcaster 1 COST N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

Mercenary - In a 2+ caster game, he will work for Cryx, Khador, or Protectorate.

Warcaster - All warcasters come with a stack of standard special rules - most notably being awesome. Click here for a newbie-friendly recap, or click here for the full rules.

Feat : Kill Box

Choose two table edges. Enemy models beginning an advance in Magnus' control range cannot advance toward those table edges for one round.

Abilities

• Backstab - While completely within the back arc of an enemy model, this model gains an additional die on its attack and damage rolls against that model.
• Unyielding - This model gains +2 ARM against melee damage rolls.
• Field Marshal [Unyielding] - Warbeasts/warjacks in this model's battlegroup gain Unyielding.

Weapons

Scattergun
		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW
		SP 8			1			-			12
Foecleaver X
		RNG				POW				P+S
		1				7				13
Damage Type: Magical Powerful Attack - When attacking with this weapon, this model can spend 1 focus point to boost all attack and damage rolls for the attack. Armor-Piercing (★ Attack) - When calculating damage from this weapon, halve the base ARM stats of models hit.
Mechanikal Arm
		RNG				POW				P+S
		0.5				5				11
Knockdown - When a model is hit by an attack with this weapon, it becomes knocked down.

Spells

	COST	RNG	AOE	POW	DUR	OFF
Bullet Dodger	2	6	-	-	Upkeep	No
Target friendly Faction model gains +2 DEF and Dodge. Dodge - A model with Dodge can advance up to 2" immediately after an enemy attack that missed it is resolved unless it was missed while advancing. It cannot be targeted by free strikes during this movement.
Calamity	3	10	-	-	Upkeep	Yes
Target model/unit suffers -2 DEF & ARM.
Convection	2	10	-	12	-	Yes
When Convection destroys a living enemy model, you can give 1 focus point to a warjack in the spellcaster's balttlegroup that is in its control range.
Escort	2	SELF	Control	-	Upkeep	No
Warjacks in the spellcaster's battlegroup beginning their activations in its control range gain +2" movement when advancing as part of their Normal Movement. The spellcaster gains +2 ARM while one or more warjacks in its battlegroup are within 3" of it.
Obliteration	4	10	5	15	-	Yes
This spell has zero special effects.

Theme Forces

• The Irregulars
• The Kingmaker's Army. Magnus gains Feign Death in this theme.
• Soldiers of Fortune

Thoughts on Magnus2

Magnus2 in a nutshell

Magnus2 has a suite of support abilities that incentivize bringing a large battlegroup. Escort allows his warjacks to set the line of engagement far up the table, blocking the opponent from scenario objectives and screening utility pieces, while Field Marshal: Unyielding forces the opponent to commit more to removing the offending warjacks.

Although Field Marshal: Unyielding permits a warjack-heavy Magnus list to more easily eke out an attrition advantage, Magnus's primary victory condition is scenario. To that end, competitive Magnus lists also feature battlegroup-light and infantry-heavy lists that flood the board with cheap, jamming units such as Steelhead Halberdiers and Alexia Ciannor & the Risen.

Magnus's feat is his primary selling point, as it is capable of locking an opposing army out of scenario and threatening a five-point lead by turn 3, thus forcing his opponents to position units in an attempt to remain outside of his control range, or commit models farther afield to preemptively contest scenario, leaving them vulnerable.

Magnus2 has been a staple of competitive Mercenary play since the advent of MK3. He has remained competitive through every evolution of the meta, although his does have accuracy issues.

Feat thoughts

When using feat, most often the primary objective is to ensure that the opponent's models are incapable of moving in such a way that they are able to contest scenario elements. Being able to mitigate attacks on your front-line units tends to occur as a secondary benefit, but this benefit can be maximized by selecting the ideal table edges. Generally, selecting your own table edge and one side to guarantee nothing is able to contest is common, but selecting yours and your opponent's table edges forces the affected models to move in wholly horizontal vectors, which can lead to nightmarish order-of-activation situations in model-heavy armies lacking the Tactician benefit.

As Magnus has a control range of 12, he will need to be relatively far afield to ensure it affects the necessary models, which leaves him vulnerable. Terrain which blocks line of sight is beneficial, and the additional armor from Escort serves as insulation from assassination attempts.

Furthermore, Magnus's feat applies to advances originating from within his control range, and certain lists are capable of displacing models out of activation to free them from the 12" bubble. Apparition and Vengeance are the more common effects to look out for, while certain casters such as Siege2 are able to unstick a major chunk of their army if they're initially positioned near the boundary of the feat range. Also be on guard for abilities that can displace Magnus himself, moving the feat bubble along with him. Many offenders are ranged and can be mitigated by terrain to some extent, but positioning the Escorting heavy or heavies very close to Magnus such that he has no room to be shoved very far serves as additional insurance.

Spell thoughts

• Bullet Dodger - An upkeep for flag-capturing solos or slippery contesting models, Bullet Dodger is a useful tool to have, but is only situationally relevant. Occasionally, giving Magnus +2 DEF and Dodge is more useful than sitting on the focus spent to cast Bullet Dodger, when facing down a high volume of attacks. Be wary of dodging in a way that frees enemy models that have yet to activate from feat. Its most useful target is on a Swashbuckler sent in to contest an opposing zone if such a gimmick appeals to you.
• Calamity - Costly and redundant in a battlegroup-heavy list, it's often preferable to leave tackling the problem of armor skew to Aiyana or Ragman. In an infantry-heavy list, Calamity proves more effective. Bring a Renegade if this is in your plan.
• Convection - Sometimes you need to zap a contesting model off of your zone. For those times, try Convection.
• Escort - Generally, you cast this on the first turn and don't drop it until it's dispelled. A 12" threat range from heavies makes for a more daunting deterrent, and gives you some additional leeway for dictating the terms of engagement. It also makes the Blockader a scary choice.
• Obliteration - A powerful but expensive AOE spell, Obliteration is rarely used. When it is, it's often arced through the Renegade for threat extension and target selection. This spell benefits greatly from Sylys Wyshlanyrr, in part because he alleviates a portion of Magnus's focus demands, and in part from the Arcane Secrets action, which affects the blast damage rolls from this spell as well, making it an effective if costly tool for removing elusive targets within an 5" AOE centered on a nearby model.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Short on focus
• Don't get overconfident with his buffed ARM. He still dies more easily than a warjack.
• Mercenary warjacks are all MAT 6 which can mean a lot of focus going toward boosted attack rolls instead of buying attacks. Princess Dolores Graciela with Toros can fix this.
• After his feat turn he spends most of the game handing out focus and running to safety.
• Backstab only works if Magnus himself is in the back arc. It does not work with an arc node.
• If the opposing force has even a moderate number of good guns it can threaten Magnus on his feat turn and cripple his army before it arrives. It is well-known among Mercenary players that you do not play Magnus2 into gun lines.

Tricks & Tips

• Be absolutely certain you cannot be killed on your feat turn. Watch for lots of guns, or powerful models that can charge farther than 12".
• ANY advance that begins in Magnus's control area is subject to the feat, so if the opponent charges in and wants to side step, sprint, beat back, etc... they will be subject to the feat's restrictions.

This means that out of activation movement/placement options such as Admonition, Telekinesis or Time Stutter can potentially allow a model to move outside of Magnus' CTRL (depending on the table edges chosen and the position of the model), then charge back in afterwards. Be mindful of these kinds of movements or placements when positioning for Magnus' feat.

List Building Advice

Strategy

Magnus locks the opposing force out of scenario, then wallops them with warjacks - hopefully hard enough that they can't fight back afterward. He's a pretty blunt instrument with a strong battle group, a stellar feat and not a whole lot else. As a general rule, he will beat most melee-heavy forces, and lose to armies with lots of guns.

Theme Thoughts

Magnus has three themes to choose from: The Irregulars, The Kingmaker's Army, and Soldiers of Fortune.

Kingmaker's lets him advance behind a Trencher cloud wall making him playable into guns, and mostly unkillable if you knock him down on his feat turn. Unless the other guy has a 13" charge.

Soldiers of Fortune grants Anastasia's bonus to go first, Eiryss1, Steelhead Ironheads and Arcanists for warjack support, and either Alexia1 or 2 for some strong recursion and scenario play.

Irregulars also gets you Anastasia, and more importantly, Asphyxious4, who provides clouds, threat extension and an easy ARM debuff.

Army

Warjacks - Magnus has Field Marshal: Unyielding, which makes his tough warjacks tougher, and Escort to make his warjacks faster. Hence, most players run lots of them. Years of successful Magnus2 play by the mercenary community have shown there is no wrong way to build his battlegroup. Any mix of Toros, Rovers, Nomads, Freebooters, Renegades, Vanguards, Talons, Buccaneers and Mariners can be about as effective as any other mix. Even a Blockader has merit. The Galleon probably does not.

    Soldiers of Fortune    

• Up to 50 Steelhead Halberdiers to shove down the opponent's throat are great.
• Sergeant Nicolas Verendrye gives you more halberdiers and is cheap at the cost.
• Alexia1 turns them into Risen and then to Thrall Warriors while in Soldiers of Fortune Alexia2 takes their souls and turns them into Thralls directly.
• Steelhead Ironhead gives you a 2" place for your models, which extends the reach of Magnus's feat that much further.
• Steelhead Arcanist gives you Empower and deals with those pesky cloud walls.
• Steelhead Heavy Cavalry provide bulldoze, which with Magnus' feat can be an impressive combination. Calamity cranks them way up.

    The Irregulars    

• Kayazy Eliminators are marvelous units with any Mercenary caster, and Magnus2 is no exception.
• Asphyxious4 improves the output of his jacks, as do Aiyana and Holt, Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist, Hermit and Hutchuck, Ogryn Bounty Hunter.
• Lanyssa provides extra threat extension and focus efficiency.
• Nemo4 can bring an Ironhead (see above).
• Crosse1 - Discombobulate sets up Backstabs for him and it and Calamity make for a -4 DEF swing. He's an excellent target for Bullet Dodger.

    Various Themes    

• Sylys Wyshnalyrr because he can easily run short of focus and Arcane Secrets makes Obliteration more effective.
• Anastasia Di Bray helps you go first which is really useful as a scenario jammer.
• Princess Delores Graciela - She is pretty good with Calamity and loves Unyielding Toros.

Other

Trivia

Asheth Magnus, Warlord of Darkness; Minicrate Exclusive.

• Released in Warmachine: Superiority (2006)
• His fluff blurb (at the top of this page) describes his outlook around the time of Superiority. The backstory has advanced since then, and Magnus has ultimately reunited with Vinter during the Skorne invasion, only to end up on Morghul's torturing table for having a mild disagreement on Vinter's leadership, causing him to renounce his loyalty to him after the botched attempt of taking Caspia. Magnus has since dedicated himself to Vinter's bastard son, Julius, whom he managed to place on the throne of Cygnar. As such, he is one of the most successful characters in the Iron Kingdoms having actually accomplished his goals. Only Krueger has greater accomplishments having personally saved the world.
• This model has a limited edition sculpt, released in 2020.08.

Video Battle Reports

• 2019.03 Guerilla Miniature Games, vs Harkevich1
• 2019.03 Guerilla Miniature Games, vs Malakov2
• 2018.03 Deathclock Dave, vs Jalaam1
• See also Category: Video Battle Reports for more casters with videos.

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification:  : Magical Damage      (Edit) (Click Expand to read)

* The "Damage Type: Magical" is not inherited by "secondary" damage from a weapon. That is, stuff like arcs (Electro Leap) or hazards (Scather). (Infernal Ruling) All spells have "Damage Type: Magical" (refer errata). This is inherited by "immediate" secondary damage (such as Eruption of Spines). (Infernal Ruling) and might be inherited by "lingering" secondary damage (see below). If a spell leaves a template in play that does damage to models that walk around in it, then: if it is not described as a hazard it will do magical damage to models that walk around in it. (Example: Razor Wall) if it is a hazard then it will not do magical damage to models that walk around in it. Instead, it does whatever damage type is specified by the spell description. (Example: Breath of Corruption). (Infernal Ruling) If a weapon/spell includes Magic Damage and another kind of elemental damage it will still damage Incorporeal models. Incorporeal models are not affected by the rule "if an attack does multiple types of damage and a model is immune to at least one it is immune to the entire attack." The phrase "immune to non-magical damage" should be interpreted as "immune to damage that doesn't include Damage Type: Magical" (not interpreted as "has immunity to Corrosion and Electricity and Cold and etc.")

Rules Clarification : Powerful Attack      (Edit) If your weapon can make multiple attacks (such as a Charger's ROF 2 gun) then you need to declare (and pay for) Powerful Attack for each attack. (Infernal Ruling) You must declare whether you're using Powerful Attack before making any attack rolls. If you choose not to use it on attack rolls, you can't trigger it on damage rolls. (Infernal Ruling) Exception: If your attack auto-misses, such as an AOE vs Stealth, then you can declare it after deviation but before making damage rolls. (Infernal Ruling) If you declare you're using Powerful Attack, it will apply to to-hit roll(s) and damage rolls. You can't choose to have it just boost the attack roll(s) or just boost the damage roll(s). (Infernal Ruling) The Powerful Attack bonus doesn't apply to "secondary" damage such as Magic Bullet or Electro Leap.

Rules Clarification : Knockdown      (Edit) 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 : 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:  : Warcaster      (Edit) (Click Expand to read)

General Damage from a feat is neither an attack nor Damage Type: Magical (unless the feat says it is). FOCUS (uppercase) is the stat printed on the warcaster's card. Focus (lowercase) refers to focus points a model currently has. Your CTRL area is double your FOCUS stat, not double your focus points. (Infernal Ruling) Casting spells or using feats is an anytime ability with the added restriction that you can't use them on the same turn you run even before you run. See also the clarifications on Any Time abilities (below). Some warcasters are also Battle Engines and thus follow all the Battle Engine special rules. There is no particular interaction between the Battle Engine rules and the Warcaster rules. Work out all damage modifiers (such as Decapitation doubling the damage that exceeds ARM) before reducing it with the Power Field. (Infernal Ruling) Restrictions on "Any Time" abilities     (Edit)         [Show/Hide] "Any Time" abilities can be used at any time during a model/unit's activation, except: Before any compulsory forfeiture of movement/action. See step 2 of the activation sequence, appendix A. After the model with the "Any Time" ability has had their activation end "prematurely". By this I mean you resolved something which includes the phrase "its activation ends". Examples include: Running, failing a charge, or failing a slam. Abilities that include "then its activation ends" (such as Reposition and Teleport). In between declaring your charge target and making your charge movement. (Infernal Ruling) In between completing your charge movement and determining whether it was a successful charge. (Infernal Ruling) When you're in the middle of moving. (Note: Impact Attacks count as being in the middle of movement). When you're in the middle of an attack. Which also includes effects that occur "after the attack is resolved". (Although the attack is "resolved" at Step 11, in terms of using an "Any Time" ability the attack is not "finished" until after Step 14. Refer to the first paragraph of Apdx A.) Your opponent interrupted your activation to trigger one of their own abilities (such as Countercharge). Warcasters/warlocks/etc can normally cast a spell or use their feat "At any time". However, there is a core rule saying they cannot do so on the same activation that they run. So, they are subject to all the same restrictions listed above, plus they can't cast/feat before running. Units: See below. In general you can use "Any Time" abilities while you're knocked down or stationary (except Spells and Feats which specify you can't). If you have a gun with a random ROF, you can use an "Any Time" ability inbetween rolling the number of shots and actually making the first attack. (Infernal Ruling) Units with "Any Time" abilities You cannot use an "Any Time" ability before issuing/receiving orders. See step 1 and 2 of the activation sequence, appendix A. A model in a unit can't use an "Any Time" ability after they run (Infernal Ruling) or fail a charge. Because that makes that specific model's activation to end even though the unit's activation is still ongoing, and you can't use abilities on models that are not active. You can use an "Any Time" ability before running, however. A model in a unit can't use an "Any Time" ability after anyone in the unit has begun a Reposition move. (Infernal Ruling) Warcaster/Warlock Cavalry ( Edit ) Warcasters/Warlocks can't cast spells or use their feat while resolving Impact Attacks. Because Impact Attacks occur during movement - you can use spells or feat before moving, or after moving, but not during movement. Exception: If your Impact target(s) include your charge target, then your movement has ended (refer rulebook, last paragraph of 'Impact Attacks') and thus you're fine to use "any time" abilities before starting the Impact attacks. Rules Clarification:  : Warcaster Unit or Warlock Unit     (Edit) (Click Expand to read) This summary is specific to Warcaster/Warlock units. You may also want to check the Warcaster and Warlock pages respectively, for the "regular" rules clarifications. All models in the unit count as part of the battlegroup. So, for instance, Butcher3's argus can be moved via his Energizer spell. Warcaster units can have attachments. They can even attach units (such as the WSC). (Infernal Ruling) The non-caster models are trooper models but are not normally Grunt models. Therefore they're not normally eligible for stuff like Revive. If any member of the unit start to do their reposition movement, the warcaster or warlock in the unit would no longer be able to feat.(Infernal Ruling) Press Forward Order vs Spells cast at Any Time (Edit) You must issue orders before anything else. If you issue a Press Forward order, you must run or charge. If you cast spells before moving, you can't run so you must charge. If you cast spells before moving, then start the spellcaster's Normal Movement but have no valid charge targets, you are in a situation where you must charge but cannot charge. In this situation the spellcaster must either: forfeit their Combat Action, use their Normal Movement to make a full advance, then their activation ends. (Note that you cannot cast more spells after the full advance). forfeit their Normal Movement, then their activation ends. (Infernal Ruling) Steamroller 2018 The non-caster models can contest scenario zones & flags. The caster model cannot contest. The caster model can control zones and flags by itself, but: to control a zone, the entire unit remaining in play needs to be in formation. to control a flag, the entire unit remaining in play must be within 4" of the flag. Units Buying Attacks (Edit) If you make attacks with model [A], then start making attacks with model [B], you cannot 'go back' and buy more attacks with [A]. Because: A model can only buy additional attacks during its Combat Action. A model in a unit must complete its Combat Action before the next model starts theirs (with some exceptions, like CMA). Rules Clarification : Unit of Warcasters or Warlocks     (Edit) Even though they're warcasters, if they're out of formation they suffer the normal penalties (can't make attacks, actions, spells, etc). They can't upkeep each other's spells. They can only dominate one SteamRoller scenario element at a time. Each warlock/warcaster can have different upkeeps on them if those upkeeps are "target SELF" or "target model". If you cast an upkeep that is "target model/unit", that is the only upkeep any of them can have. Units Buying Attacks (Edit) If you make attacks with model [A], then start making attacks with model [B], you cannot 'go back' and buy more attacks with [A]. Because: A model can only buy additional attacks during its Combat Action. A model in a unit must complete its Combat Action before the next model starts theirs (with some exceptions, like CMA). The Legion Twins Rhyas cannot dominate a zone while out of formation. Rhyas can use the feat while out of formation. Haley3 Only Haley Prime is an 'actual' warcaster model, and as such she is the only one that can dominate a scenario element. The echoes can Control/Contest scenarios like a normal unit. Haley Prime can dominate an element even if the echoes are out of formation.

Rules Clarification : Backstab      (Edit) Backstab always applies on a free strike, because free strikes are always in the back arc. (Infernal Ruling) Backstab applies to magic and ranged attacks, too. For a caster with Backstab that uses an arc node to attack their target: Backstab doesn't care about the point of origin of the attack, and does not interact with Arc Nodes at all. In other words, if your arc node is in the target's back arc & but the caster is not, then Backstab doesn't apply. And vice versa, if your arc node is in the front arc & you're in the back arc, then Backstab will apply. Models with Circular Vision aren't immune to Backstab. They still have a back arc, and backstabbers can stand in it. As of November 2021, Steamroller objectives no longer have facings, and cannot be backstabbed.

Rules Clarification : Field Marshal      (Edit) Field marshal only grants the ability to warjacks/warbeasts in the battlegroup, so (normally) the caster does not have the Field Marshal ability. However if it is listed on the caster's card separately, such as on Magnus2, then they do have it. (Closed thread)

Rules Clarification : Unyielding - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Bullet Dodger      (Edit) Rules Clarification : Dodge      (Edit) Dodge triggers after any missed attack - melee, ranged, or magic. An enemy model with 2" melee range that is B2B with you before you Dodge, will be exactly 2" away afterwards, and thus will be able to attempt a 2nd melee attack. If you're missed by an AOE attack, but it doesn't deviate very far and still hits you then: Dodge still triggers, but the AOE does damage before you get the Dodge movement. (Infernal Ruling) If an enemy can attack you when you advance and then stop moving (such as Countercharge or Defensive Strike) and they miss you, then you can trigger Dodge (because you're no longer advancing). Dodge plus Riposte (Edit) If a model has both Dodge and Riposte, you can choose whether to dodge or riposte first. Appendix A Step 13 applies here, because the controller of the model being attacked is not the active player.

Rules Clarification : Calamity - None yet. (Edit)

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

Rules Clarification : Escort and/or Battle Host - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Obliteration      (Edit) The text description has no in-game effect. It's just for flavour.