Steelhead Halberdiers

Steelhead Halberdiers Mercenary Steelhead Unit

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.

Steelheads are willing to fight anyone, anywhere, anytime—as long as the pay is right. Working in concert, Steelhead riflemen thin out enemy lines with concentrated fire before the halberdiers charge in to cut down foes with practiced precision. Numerous, well-trained, and well-equipped, the soldiers of the Steelhead Mercenary Company are the best money can buy.

Basic Info

Steelhead Halberdiers
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Small SPD 6 STR 6 MAT 5 RAT N/A M.A. N/A DEF 13 ARM 13 CMD 7 ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS N/A FURY N/A THRS N/A HP 1 F. Field N/A WJP {{{wjp}}} WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA U UNIT SIZE 6 or 10 COST 7 or 11 1.1 pts each N/A N/A Warcaster 1 COST N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

Mercenary - This unit will work for Crucible Guard, Cryx, Cygnar, Khador, or Protectorate.

Abilities

• Combined Melee Attack
• Set Defense - A model in this model's front arc suffers -2 on charge, slam power attack, and impact attack rolls against this model.

Weapons

• Halberd - 2" reach, P+S 11 melee attack
  • Powerful Charge - This model gains +2 to charge attack rolls with this weapon.

Theme Forces

• Mercenary'
  • Operating Theater (Only if a Cephalyx Dominator is attached)
  • Soldiers of Fortune
  • The Kingmaker's Army. Steelhead Halberdiers gain Feign Death in this theme.

• Other Factions
  • Infernal players can use this unit in the Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Crosse2 is leading the army.
  • Furthermore, Mercenaries can be hired by other Factions. Normally those Factions' themes will have a limit on how many models they can hire. Refer to #Other Theme Forces, below.

Thoughts on Steelhead Halberdiers

Steelhead Halberdiers in a nutshell

Steelhead Halberdiers embody the strengths of the Mercenary faction. They among the cheapest infantry around, yet surprisingly effective. For 11 points you get an 11" charge threat, 2" melee range, Combined Melee Attack, Set Defense and Powerful Charge on a solid 13/13 frame, meaning they are capable of contributing against almost anything (although armor is a bit of a problem) with no help, can take a charge, and aren't going to die to every blast that lands on them. Again, you get 10 bodies with all of that for 11 points. They are one of the finest units in the game point for point.

Combos & Synergies

Steelhead Halberdiers are part of the Steelhead boat - they can either be used as cannon fodder to stop bullets and blunt charges or with their fellow steelheads.

• Captain Damiano - the Captain of the Steelheads allows them to Reposition 5" if he spends a coin.
• Steelhead Heavy Cavalry add a hard hitting charge to come in behind the Steelheads and get to flank with them.
• Sergeant Nicolas Verendrye hands out Wall of Steel and brings them back
• Stannis Brocker lets everyone move through everyone else. Normally enabling heavy cav to charge straight over the top of halberdiers on the countercharge.
• Alexia, Mistress of the Witchfire - they provide cheap souls for her and get turned into Thrall Warriors. You can do similar things with Alexia Ciannor & the Risen with their bodies.
• ARM-fixing solos like Ragman, Lady Aiyana & Master Holt or Gorman Di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist help out with their relatively weak hitting power.
• The Kingmaker's Army theme force allows them and lets them get Stannis or the like for free - it's a good way of running a steelhead boat.
• Soldiers of Fortune is the real Steelhead theme and lets them get Stannis and Alexia2 for free. It's a better way of running a Steelhead boat.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Considering how good they are, any gripes you may have about their deficiences are answered by their 7/11 point cost.

Tricks & Tips

• They are wonderful as a front line unit to soak up casualties while you deliver the business end of your army.
• They operate well on flanks needing no buffs to put damage on high ARM targets or hit high DEF ones.
• Use Damiano's reposition ability to charge them out of zones and move back in.

Other

Trivia

Released in Warmachine: Superiority (2006)

Other Theme Forces

Cryx (Edit)

• Black Industries
• Dark Host
• The Ghost Fleet
• Scourge of the Broken Coast

Cygnar (Edit)

• Gravediggers
• Heavy Metal
• Sons of the Tempest
• Storm Division

Khador (Edit)

• Armored Korps
• Jaws of the Wolf
• Legion of Steel
• Winter Guard Kommand

Protectorate of Menoth (Edit)

• Exemplar Interdiction
• Guardians of the Temple
• The Creator's Might
• The Faithful Masses

Crucible Guard (Edit)

• Magnum Opus

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification : Powerful Charge  and/or Brutal Charge     (Edit) If you declare a charge but move less than 3", then the attack doesn't count as a "Charge Attack" and you won't get the bonus.

Rules Clarification : Set Defense - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Combined Melee Attack      (Edit) Each CMA only counts as a single attack, no matter how many participants are involved. This means, for example, that if Satyxis Raiders damage a warjack and trigger their Feedback ability, the enemy warcaster will only take 1 damage total, not 1 for every Raider. Any bonuses (such as back strike) or penalties (such as intervening terrain) are determined according to the model leading the CMA (the attack leader). If the participants have buffs/debuffs but the attack leader doesn't ... then the CMA doesn't because only the attack leader matters. Simple as that. A single unit can perform multiple CMAs, utilising different groupings of models. eg a unit with 10 models could make one 10-man CMA, or two 5-man CMAs, or five 2-man CMAs, or etc. CMA for units that have more than one melee weapon (the short version) Once you have more than one melee weapon, charging becomes a bit complicated. There are two important rules: A model which charges must use its first attack to make a charge attack. It can't "skip ahead" to contributing its second non-charge attack before it's resolved its first attack. For a CMA to gain the charging bonus, then all contributors must be contributing a charge attack. These two rules have a few, slightly confusing implications. Click the expand box below for a full breakdown. CMA for units with more than one weapon (the long version) (Edit) The following example is about Satyxis Raiders, but is equally applicable to other units with two CMA: Each Raider gets two attacks. Both, one, or neither can be a CMA as you choose. If you are doing two CMA in a row, then you should note that the second CMA doesn’t have to use the same “primary attacker” or the same “participants” as the first CMA. For instance, you could have the first CMA with raider A being the "primary attacker" and raider B being the "participant", then for the second CMA have raider B the "primary attacker" and raider A the "participant". Or leave A alone for a moment and use B plus C. Whatever takes your fancy. Primary attackers and participants don't have to use the same weapon. So, continuing with the above example, you could have primary A use lash and participant B use horns, then primary B use lash and participant A use horns. Effectively granting you two lash attacks with CMA bonuses! Combined Melee Attack and charging Remember the 2 rules above? Rule 1 means you cannot contribute your second, non-charge attack before you have resolved/contributed your first attack. Rule 1 means you cannot "skip ahead" to resolving your second, non-charge attack before you have resolved/contributed your first attack. but wait, there's more! However, thanks to the "Units with Combined Melee Attack ignore the rule that one trooper's combat action cannot begin until the previous model's combat action ends" rule, you can "pause" your second attack if you want to do a CMA with it later. For example: Model A performs its charge attack. Model B performs its charge attack. (Interrupting A) Model C performs its charge attack. (Interrupting B) CMA using A, B & C's remaining attack.