Editing Warmachine/Tactics/Retribution of Scyrah (section)

==General Strategy==
Typically, you want to build a Retribution list with two components (unless you're building a theme list). The first component will be your 'front lines'. These will be the myrmidons and soldiers that will actually engage the enemy. The Phoenix, Griffon, Dawnguard Sentinels and Houseguard Halberdiers are the heavy and light myrmidons and infantry that are most iconic for this role (respectively), though other units can be substituted in.

Substitutes include Battle Mages, many heavy myrmidons, Destors (in some cases), and Mage Hunter Infiltrators. Each of these dramatically changes the way your army will play.

The point of the 'front lines' component of your army is to give your opponent a solid threat that he has to address in melee. Dawnguard Sentinels are my personal favorite for this, but I've found that running them in first is a quick way to get them killed. Screening them with Griffons or Battle Mages dramatically increases their survival rates, as shooting will typically target the Griffons/Mages, where it will be far less effective than against your Sentinels.

Once the Sentinels are delivered in to close combat, there's not a whole lot they can't kill. Halberdiers are like Sentinels, but with less murder, so they should really only be used if you're planning on taking heavy myrmidons or other components of your list to do most of the killing. Consider Soulless Escorts for both Sentinels and Halberdiers, as being able to negate enemy spell-casting against your melee warriors is often important (especially against Cryx and Cryx-like debuff lists).

The second component is the 'strategic shenanigans' component. While your opponent is busy engaging your front-line fighters, you use this component to set up your one-two punch. Often, this component involves a combination of your warcaster (Ravyn, Kaelyssa, Rahn, Garryth...) and some sort of tricksy unit like Mage Hunter Strike Force + Commander, two groups of Battle Mages, some solos like Mage Hunter Assassins or Ghost Snipers or Narn, and so on. These will allow you to both swing the front line fighting in your favor by applying various battlefield manipulation strategies and lots of potential damage output to the parts of your opponent's formation that are most likely to break under pressure. Always keep in mind that the goal of this component is to kill the enemy warcaster/warlock if possible, and position them accordingly to be threatening. Don't throw them away on a gamble, however: they're much more useful alive than dead.

When building a Retribution army, start with the Battle Box. Helynna is a warjack focused caster, and she comes with a good sample from the Shyeel warjack list. From there, pick a unit or two that you think fits your play style. Battle Mages are a good bet, as is Mage Hunter Strike Force, as they're quite good generalists. Don't neglect solos: more than other armies, Retribution forces need their solos, and Mage Hunter Assassins are infamous for a reason. The goal is to figure out how aggressive you like to be, and which warcasters you want to play, and tailor your lists accordingly.