Major Markus ‘Siege’ Brisbane
Major Markus ‘Siege’ Brisbane |
A professional soldier with more field experience than virtually any other warcaster in the Cygnaran Army, Major Markus Brisbane is famous among Cygnaran troops for his ability to lead from the front and infamous among his enemies for his ability to triumph. It has been said there is no strategic obstacle the man cannot overcome, nor is there any wall in western Immoren that can stand against him.
Basic Info
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Abilities
- 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.
- Tough
- Combat Engineer - This model gains an additional die on its damage rolls against structures.
Weapons
- Rocket Cannon - 14" range, POW 14 gun. One of the main highlights of taking Siege.
- Ground Pounder (★ Attack) - Place a 4" AOE anywhere completely within this weapon's RNG that is in this model's LOS. This model makes one ranged attack roll against each model in the AOE, ignoring concealment and Stealth. This model does not gain a bonus for aiming when resolving a Ground pounder attack. Models do not gain the target in melee DEF bonus when resolving Ground Pounder attack rolls. Models hit suffer a ranged attack damage roll equal with a POW equal to the POW of this weapon. Ground Pounder attacks are simultaneous.
- Havoc - 1" reach, P+S 14 S melee weapon. Serviceable if Siege is already engaged, but not good enough to warrant charging in with.
- Damage Type: Magical
- Critical Smite - On a critical hit, the model hit can be slammed d6" directly away from this model. If the model hit has a larger base than the attacking model, it is moved only half the distance rolled. The POW of collateral damage is equal to the STR of this model.
Spells
COST | RNG | AOE | POW | DUR | OFF | ||
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Explosivo
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1 | 6 | - | - | Upkeep | No | |
Target friendly Faction model's ranged weapons gain Damage Type: Magical. If the affected model directly hits and boxes an enemy model with an attack from a ranged weapon, center a 3" AOE on the boxed model, then RFP that model. Models in the AOE are hit and suffer an unboostable POW 8 magical blast damage roll. | |||||||
Force Hammer
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4 | 10 | - | 12 | - | Yes | |
Instead of suffering a normal damage roll, a non-incorporeal model Force Hammer hits is slammed d6" directly away from the spell's point of origin and suffers a POW 12 damage roll. Collateral damage from this slam is POW 12. | |||||||
Foxhole
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2 | Control | 5 | - | Upkeep | No | |
Place a 5" AOE anywhere completely within the spellcaster's control range where it does not touch a model's base, an obstruction, or an obstacle. Models completely within the AOE have cover and do not suffer blast damage. When drawing LOS to a model not completely within the AOE, ignore intervening models completely within the AOE. | |||||||
Mage Sight
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2 | Control | 5 | - | Upkeep | - | |
Place a 5" AOE completely within the spellcaster's control range. While a model is within the AOE, models in the spellcaster's battlegroup ignore forests and cloud effects when drawing LOS to it and ignore Stealth when attacking it. | |||||||
Rift
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3 | 8 | 4 | 13 | Round | Yes | |
The AOE is rough terrain and remains in play for one round. |
Feat - Breach
- Remove all wall templates currently in Siege’s control range.
- Additionally, the next time each enemy model suffers a damage roll while in Siege's control range, halve its base ARM when calculating damage.
Breach lasts for one turn.
Theme Forces
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Flame in the Darkness - Gravediggers
- Heavy Metal
- Sons of the Tempest
- Storm Division. Siege gains Immunity: Electricity in this theme.
Thoughts on Siege1
Siege1 in a nutshell
Brisbane is a resilient, one-man-artillery, offensive caster, who likes to be near the front. He lives up to his name and fluff, by being a tough combatant, and capable of tearing down even the mightiest defences. He has an excellent ranged game and a good assassination potential thanks to his Rocket Cannon (and especially, Ground Pounder), and his feat can be absolutely devastating.
Feat thoughts
Being among the strongest offensive feats in the game it is all about having the caster in the right place, in the right time, and having an army nearby who can capitalize its perks. The ARM de-buff only works on the first damage roll against every targets, so you want to make it count. Don't get too greedy; sometimes catching a few heavy in the radius is better than getting the whole enemy force within your CTRL area, and leaving you exposed for the counter-attack. If you took the enemy's heavies out of the equation, it is likely they don't have much left to counter yours.
Make no mistake, this feat is every bit as deadly at range as is in close combat; just make sure you have enough fast, hard hitting units, who can charge the enemy, once Breach is being cast.
The first half of the feat does not look too appealing, but it can open up charge lanes, cleaning roadblocks and take away enemy covers to make shots connect. Wall templates are inter alia the Razor Wall, the covering fire of the Manticore, Cyclone or the Trencher Chaingun and the Rock Walls from Gorten, Baldur, or Gunnbjorn.
Spell thoughts
- Explosivo - This can be a real nightmare for several Cryx and Protectorate models, and can add to the ranged game of any unit. Brisbane himself is also an excellent target of this spell. RFP on it also offers some other shenanigans, see the Tips section. As it is an upkeep, cycle it according to your own leisure.
- Force Hammer - Incredibly expensive for his focus pool, you'll likely to see this one in use only if you want to knock down something for assassination (feel free to use some expendable model of yours, if that's what it takes). The damage is also nothing to write home about.
- Rift - Another fairly expensive spell, with relative short range. It puts a medium AOE of rough terrain into game, but unless it is arced, its short range can be as much hindrance for you, as for your enemy.
- Foxhole - The offensive use is now severely diminished, since you cannot place it in touch with models' base. However, it still retains a certain level of board control, if you can predict, where your enemy wants to march his screening models. Apart of that, it is every squishy infantry unit's dream. Damn shame, it's an upkeep spell; there are so many ideal candidates for that one.
- Mage Sight - your number one tool in the faction to remove Stealth on enemy units. Only your battlegroup profits from its effect, but that is usually more than enough for the job. Like Foxhole, it can also be used for board control.
Drawbacks & Downsides
- He's a special order model.
- Damage support is mainly from his feat turn - outside that he offers few buff to hitting power to his army and battlegroup alike
- He must be close to the enemy to make the most out of his feat; you can easily leave him exposed for assassinations and counter-attacks
- He is focus-strapped, unless you take Caine0 for Fire for Effect. At that point he can quite happily be sitting on 4 or more Focus.
- All his supports are upkeeps, making him vulnerable for Lamentation and Purification. On the brighter side, 2 of them are AOEs, so units in it won't be harmed by Purgation attacks' extra die, and cannot be cancelled by Dispel.
- Speed de-buffs and rough terrain can hinder him and his army.
- He is quite punishing to new players who may struggle with activation order.
- However, the learning curve is relatively shallow. Once you're aware of where to position him for an upcoming Feat turn and leave a space, he is remarkably straightforward to use.
Tricks & Tips
- Explosivo RFPs targets upon being boxed, countering things like corpse/soul token collections and Take-up for things like weapon attachments and artillery. Thagrosh1's and The Twins' (Rhyas+Shaeryn) feat is also severely imperilled by Explosivo shots.
- If your melee damage makes more damage, than your Assault shots, spare them on feat turn against tough foes. Also, watch out for electro leaps, and especially Lightning Arcs, as they can trigger the damage roll on models you wanted to shoot later with something heavier.
- He is a great target for his own Explosivo. Since the secondary AOE triggers on an enemy death, Ground Pounder becomes total overkill and can catch models that the AoE missed the first time around or are outside of the main AoE. Triumph also enjoys this upkeep, and you can double-tap this magic AoE with Rapid Fire.
- Mage Sight's Stealth removal works both ways - a model losing Stealth blocks LOS. Remember that, if you want to target something beyond the stealthy model(s).
- As the Foxhole template's diameter is 7 mm wider than a huge base, it is technically possible to cast Foxhole and straight up walk into it with your colossal to cease it being a LOS-blocker. When in doubt, communicate it in advance with your opponent, as this trick requires accurate measuring to pull off.
List Building Advice
Strategy
Breach is pretty suitable for assassination - but that somewhat hard to pull off against experienced players. Even though, you can swing the balance to your favour, and win on attrition, by removing the enemy's key heavy hitters with ease.
His army selection is usually being made with the feat in mind: they must hit heavily, and must be rather self-sufficient, until the feat allows the to deliver the deathblow. Thanks to that, he can perform well in all the current theme forces.
Theme Thoughts
Support models - Various themes
Siege like these Cygnar solos which can be taken in multiple themes.
- Captain Arlan Strangewayes – A good repair option, and Power Booster is great for a marshalled Defender. Explosivo with spray is also nasty.
- Journeyman Warcaster – Put Arcane Shield on a key jack, or your warcaster. Park then Siege inside his Foxhole to give him a better DEF than Caine and the same ARM as a Khador 'jack.
- Journeyman Lieutenant Allister Caine - Provides Fire for Effect which makes Ground Pounder devestating. He's also an excellent solo hunter on his own and can bring his character jack Ace is needed.
- ATGM – Ground Pounder requires LOS, so they can knock away/off targets from Brisbane's path. Their UA is also ideal for marshalling jacks with Snipe bullets, and can occasionally help you out with stealth hunting.
- Black 13th – They are pretty efficient in removing stealthy models, if your battlegroup has other targets and/or you want to spare on Mage Sight. Their concentrated fire can be exploited by firing upon targets, which were already hit by another unit under your feat, and shoot a max-powered brutal damage shot into a yet untouched target. They also gain superb DEF from foxhole (though not Stealth).
- Tempest Blazers - Their access to Brutal Damage or Electro-Leap makes them a huge danger on Feat turn.
- Gun Mage Captain Adept - Your toolbox solo, and yet another source for Brutal Damage during feat turn.
- Lieutenant Bastian Falk - Explosivo hands out magical damage, Falk adds +2 to the damage roll via Rune Marked.
- Long Gunner Infantry – Their superior range lets them staying behind, and peppering the enemy lines from afar. With their high volume of fire and Explosivo they can clear tightly packed infantries like few other. They love Foxhole, as they tend to die, as soon as the enemy gets a bead on them. Finally, their CRA under feat turn can be devastating - a minimum unit hits as hard as a Defender, while a full unit will likely to cripple a heavy warjack. They can also scale their CRA according to your needs; under feat, a minimum unit with Dual Shot 2-person CRA can remove a max unit of Iron Fang Uhlans under Iron Flesh and Wall of Steel.
- Precursor Knights – Since Foxhole doesn't target any models, it's a rare buff that can affect these Spell Warded knights. They're good tar pit unit for Siege.
- Since they're Partisans, these guys can be taken in the other themes (but use up your "Up to one Mercenary unit" slot).
- Sword Knights flankers under his feat can leave quite a dent on your enemy.
- Trenchers - Really, each and every trencher from rank-and-file infantries to artillery pieces gets better, and not only by his feat. Explosivo makes them bane of other infantry units, especially the Commandos with their scatterguns. Their CRA is also welcomed in and outside feat.
- Trencher Long Gunners - With their UA you can deliver surgical strikes into jacks and beasts, crippling their most important systems and aspects under your feat.
- Rangers – Foxhole gives cover and makes them immune to blast damage. If you can put them in some concealment as well, this makes your Rangers extremely hard to kill. Mark Target, combined with Ground Pounder gives Siege a better than average RAT that ignores many defensive buffs.
- Trencher Express Teams do heavy damage themselves and can tag something with Grievous Wounds to prevent healing.
- Trencher Master Gunners let them shoot twice for twice the fun.
- Trench Busters Flank under his feat can be absolutely devastating and they got Shield Guard to boot.
- Storm Lances - They hit like a ton of bricks, even before the feat, and can deliver a charge from afar. When not in feat turn, use Explosivo to cause havoc among infantry units.
Mercenaries
Support models, like Ragman, Gorman, Hutchuk and either version of Eiryss are all useful for him as well. Do not forget to activate them, before you use your feat to get the most out of their abilities.
- Lynus Wesselbaum & Edrea Lloryrr - Siege is all about doing heavy damage on feat turn. Sometimes that is not enough to oneround something though. With Applied Knowledge you can carve out certain aspects in order to cripple heavies.
- Use something with Grievous Wounds so the damage sticks.
- Rhupert - all of his given abilities are a gift of Morrow to Brisbane's forces.
- Horgenhold Artillery - even without the possibility to add Murdoch, this unit will leave a mark under your feat.
- Reinholdt OR Squire - Choosing between these attachments is very difficult. With Reload and Lucky Charm Reinhold gives a lot in terms of personal offensive output. Spyglass on a single stealthy target can also spare focus on Mage Sight. The Squire on the other hand provides him much-needed extra focus, increases the control area for his feat, and can prove occasionally useful for Force Hammer or Rift attacks. The increased control range from the Squire means that models affected by his feat are in his Rocket Cannon range too. With any other attachment you have to be 2" closer for him to be shooting models affected by Breach.
- Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters – Their CRA can devastate your opponent with your feat, and then they can fight in melee in later turns giving some much needed melee ability to what will generally be a ranged list. They deal with terrain well, something Siege cannot help with personally and a thing his lists often lack.
- Alexia Ciannor & the Risen - the Alexia "torpedo" synergizes fantastically with sieges feat, as a Pow 10 charging weapon master can cause some horrific damage on a heavy under his feat.
Battlegroup
Siege lacks movement buffs (Pathfinder and +SPD), meaning he must plan careful with low mobility Jacks like the Hammersmith.
- Charger – It's cheap, and the Dual Cannon can do serious damage on Brisbane's feat turn.
- Minuteman - jumping behind a shield walled enemy unit and activating Flak Field is usually the end-game for most infantry formations. Under his feat, even elite infantries can be evaporated with well placed blasts.
- Hunter - Though its armour piercing shot does not stack with Breach, you'll need something to soften up enemies before your feat, and keep on hammering them, if they somehow managed to survive. In Foxhole they get an absurd level of DEF for a warjack, and with Pathfinder they navigate rough terrain with ease.
- They also allow you to push Siege's activation back later into the turn, which is especially important when you want to feat. Since Hunters don't care about the feat, they can start doing work independently of Siege.
- Sentinel – Gives Brisbane an extra layer of protection against ranged attacks, and protects your Stormwall from Gorman.
- Ironclad and Ol' Rowdy - you want your Breach shots and blows to be telling, so you want to hit the enemy in the first place. Nothing is easier, if these jacks knocked your target down with Tremor before. The Avenger can also knock down at range, though its speed can be an issue.
- Lancer - Excellent for arcing a patch of rough terrain with Rift. Thorn is also great, but it locks you out of the theme forces.
- Defender – Boosting both the attack and damage roll on Brisbane's feat turn can inflict insane amounts of damage to even particularly tough 'casters such as The Butcher or Terminus, and knocks out more than 2 damage column of a Khador heavy on average.
- Stormwall and Hurricane - both sport deadly, long range weaponry, something that can make the most out of the feat. They are also resilient enough to stay alive, until Brisbane drops Breach. The Hurricane is suitable for Rift arcing too.
- Triumph - his character jack, which gets boosted damage rolls due to his bond. Its out of activation shot can soften up targets before feat (and the damage is still boosted), while the power-up focus can be spent on boosting the attack roll. Shield guard is a nice addition, and its amended price makes it nearly auto-include.
- Stormclad - outside Colossals, no other jack hits harder in close combat than this one.
Other
Trivia
Released in Warmachine: Apotheosis (2005)
Other Cygnar models
Video Battle Reports
- 2019.03 Feat Fetish, vs Thagrosh1
- 2018.11 Arcane Assist, vs Sorscha3
- 2018.09 Not Snakes Gaming, vs Durst1
- See also Category: Video Battle Reports for more casters with videos.
Rules Clarifications
Rules Clarification : Ground Pounder (Edit)
Placing the template
Making the attacks
Other
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Rules Clarification: : Magical Damage (Edit) | |
* 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)
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Rules Clarification : Smite (Edit)
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Rules Clarification: : Warcaster (Edit) | |||||
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Rules Clarification : Tough - None yet. (Edit)
Rules Clarification : Combat Engineer (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Explosivo (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Force Hammer and/or Thunder Strike (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Foxhole - None yet. (Edit)
Rules Clarification : Mage Sight (Edit)
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