Mule

Mule Mercenary Heavy Warjack

Prime This model is available in three Prime Armies, Mercenary: Soldiers of Fortune Mercenary: Talion Charter Mercenary: The Thornfall Alliance (requires Raluk) . 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.

Mercenary warjacks are often drawn from discontinued chassis once produced by kingdom armies. The Mule, a former Cygnaran warjack, wields a massive battle mace and an innovative steam-powered cannon packing enough explosive punch to scatter enemies like leaves. Mercenaries maintain these battle-tested machines and find them fully capable of standing toe-to-toe against any fresh from the assembly line.

Basic Info

Mule
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Large SPD 5 STR 11 MAT 6 RAT 5 M.A. N/A DEF 10 ARM 18 CMD N/A ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS N/A FURY N/A THRS N/A HP 30 F. Field N/A WJP {{{wjp}}} WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA U UNIT SIZE N/A COST 14 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
• Tried & True - When this model is affected by a Repair special action, remove 1 additional damage point from it.

Weapons

Steam Lobber
		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW			LOCATION
		12			1			4			15			Left
Arcing Fire - When attacking with this weapon, this model can ignore intervening models except those within 1" of the target. Critical Devastation - On a critical hit, models hit are thrown d6" directly away from the attacker. Roll distance once for all models affected. Models thrown do not deviate. Move models farthest from the attacker first. Instead of suffering blast damage, models hit but not directly hit suffer a damage roll with POW equal to half the POW of this weapon. The POW of collateral damage is equal to half the POW of this weapon. Steam Pressure - If this model uses its Normal Movement to aim, it gains +4 RNG that activation.
Battle Mace
		RNG				POW				P+S				LOCATION
		2				5				16				Right

Theme Forces

• Mercenaries
  • Flame in the Darkness
  • Llaelese Resistance
  • Operating Theater
  • Soldiers of Fortune
  • Strange Bedfellows
  • The Irregulars. If it is 'jack marshalled in this theme, it gains Flank [Warrior]
  • The Kingmaker's Army
  • The Talion Charter

• Other Factions
  • Convergence players can use this warjack in the Strange Bedfellows theme, or by putting it in Aurora2's, Asphyxious4's, or Nemo4's battlegroup in various themes.
  • Cryx players can use this warjack by putting it in Asphyxious4's battlegroup in various themes.
  • Cygnar players can use this warjack in the Flame in the Darkness theme, or by putting it in Nemo4's battlegroup in various themes.
  • Infernal players can take this model in the Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Crosse2 is leading the army. This model gains Accumulator [Soulless] in this theme.
  • Khador players can use this warjack in the Flame in the Darkness theme.
  • Aside from that, Mercenary warjacks can be taken in a plethora of Faction's themes via by putting it under the control of a Mercenary 'Jack Marshal or Mercenary "Junior Warcaster" (see #Who can take this warjack?). However the "Faction Type" of the warjack doesn't change when you do it this way.

Thoughts on Mule

Mule in a nutshell

The Mule is the dedicated ranged heavy of mercenaries. It boasts a POW 15 gun with decent range and a big blast but is hampered somewhat by RAT 5. Its key selling point is Critical: Devastation which can theoretically win games - but is too unreliable to count on unless you have something to support your crit fishing. It competes directly with the Mariner) in the 14 point ranged jack department and is usually not as good.

Combos & Synergies

• A fine way to run a Mule is to give it to Crosse1 whose Fire Group spell bumps the range to 18" with Steam Pressure. He can also give the Mule Run & Gun for an end-of-activation move, if the Mule killed something.
• Ossrum or Magnus1 can snipe it. Add Crosse1 and you're looking at a whopping 22" shooting range.
• There are several ways to increase the odds of landing that all important Critical Devastation, whether or not it is in Crosse1's battlegroup:
  • Damiano1's Deadeye spell. Damiano also makes it hit harder in melee and increases its ARM with his feat.
  • Ashlynn1's feat.
  • Ossrum1's Fire for Effect spell. This is especially good because it will affect all the damage rolls, too. Note that Ossrum can't Snipe it and Fire-For-Effect it at the same time.
  • Rerolls from Eilish1.
• Dougal can give it +2 RAT and +2 range.
• The Soldiers of Fortune theme force grants solos Mark Target bumping your RAT by an effective 2 points.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Its melee game is poor - the weapon simply doesn't have enough POW. But it's going in as a last resort anyway.
• It has the DEF of a Khadoran heavy and ARM of a Cygnaran heavy. In short the only reason it doesn't go down easily is because its range keeps it safe from a lot of stuff.
• Fundamentally it's almost identical to the Mariner but the comparison goes almost entirely in the pirate jack's direction:
  • When shooting the Mule has +1 POW (including blast damage) and Critical Devastation in exchange for 3" of threat range - and doesn't require a loader. This is the Mule's main advantage.
  • In melee (which you need to break armour; if you want a shooting-first model get a battle engine) the Mariner has +1 POW and a thresher attack, making it easier to clear chaff infantry.
  • Defensively the Mariner has +2 DEF, and can't be knocked down. In exchange the Mule gets an extra HP back when you repair it.
  • Finally, the Mariner is a privateer warjack, giving it access to buffs from Shea and Powder Monkeys. This puts the mule at a serious disadvantage in Talion lists.

Tricks & Tips

• Devastation throws all models in the 4" AOE simultaneously, using a single distance roll. Models furthest from the mule are thrown first

Other

Trivia

• Released in Warmachine: Superiority (2006)
• Resculpted in 2012. It now comes in a multi-kit with the Nomad & Rover.

Who can take this warjack?

The standard way to include a Mercenary warjack in your army is to put it under the control of one of these models. So first you need to figure out which of these models will work for your Faction.

Mercenary 'Jack Controllers (Human) (Edit)
Warcasters	Ashlynn1 - Ashlynn2 - Aurora2 - Blaize - Caine3 - Crosse2 - Damiano - Fiona - Macbain - Magnus1 - Magnus2 - Montador - Rahera - Shae
"Juniors"	Asphyxious4 - Crosse1 - Nemo4
'Jack Marshals	Colbie Sterling - Dirty Meg - MacHorne1 - MacHorne2 - Raluk Moorclaw - Rutger Shaw - Steelhead Ironhead

Note: Other restrictions may apply (such as 'Jack Marshals can't control Colossals).

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification : Arcing Fire      (Edit) Arcing Fire lets you ignore models but not terrain. You don't ignore clouds, forests or buildings.

Rules Clarification : Devastation      (Edit) At very short range it is possible to catch yourself in the Devastation AOE. If this occurs you will be knocked down but not moved (since you can't be moved away from yourself). (Infernal Ruling) This is not a Power Attack Throw, it just causes models to be thrown. As such, it can be used against friendly models. Damage is worked out like this: The model you targeted: Full POW + 2d6 (+1d6 if it was thrown into an equal- or larger-based model, or an obstacle). This can be boosted. Other models in the AOE: Half POW + 2d6 (+1d6 if they were thrown into an equal- or larger-based model, or an obstacle). This is not blast damage. This can be boosted. Models outside the AOE but that got something thrown into them: If they were hit by something smaller: No effect If they were hit by something with the same base size or larger: They're knocked down and take Half POW + 2d6. This is not blast damage. This cannot be boosted.   Refer to the Throw article for more.

Rules Clarification : Steam Pressure - None yet. (Edit)

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 : Tried & True - None yet. (Edit)