Editing Warmachine/Tactics/Retribution of Scyrah (section)

===Solos===

*'''Arcanist:''' Mk. 3, with its focus on 'jacks, makes the Arcanist all the more useful.  Repair is generally useful, but the magic abilities are where he shines.  Concentrated Power gives a minor buff to melee damage.  Slapping it on a Vyre 'jack or Imperatus will see some serious extra output.  Empower is what you'll probably use the most, however.  An extra focus and removing Disruption.  The extra focus frees your warcaster up a bit.  It's extremely helpful for focus hungry casters.  Thanks to the minor increase in points, they're a little harder to squeeze onto lists, but they're well worth the points.
*'''Dawnguard Scyir:''' The Scyir is ideal for warcasters with lots of strong spells (Rahn, for example). Instead of spending all your focus powering your caster's battlegroup, you have your Scyir do the lifting. He's not only a Jack Marshal, but he also has quite a few abilities that augment his synergy with his myrmidons and make them work very well with Dawnguard (himself included). If you're having problems deciding whether you want to cast spells or power battlegroups, look no further than the Scyir (unless you've got Elara, of course).  He now grants Dawnguard the ability to move and shoot through each other, which is fantastic.
*'''House Shyeel Artificer:''' Oh, hey Mr. Magic Jack Marshall.  This guy is actually pretty tough for a caster solo, with high ARM, decent defense against ranged attacks, and some good spells.  Force Manipulation makes him immune to charges and slams in his front arc, Force Wall puts Force Barrier on nearby friends, and Magno Bolt is a decent POW blast that pushes or pulls nearby models.  As a Jack Marshall, he can repair the field of a myrmidon, giving them sustainability.  In melee, which he isn't actually bad at, he can smack foes around as is standard for mittens.
*'''House Shyeel Magister:''' If you're going to take a Magister, you should seriously ask yourself 'why don't I spend another three points and get six of them instead?' In almost all situations, a full group of House Shyeel Battle Mages is superior to a single Magister. Six of them means six Force Bolts instead of one (and if you're taking the Magister for the Force Bolt, you're doing it wrong anyway). Combo Smite, an extra MAT, and some extra health boxes are the Magister's only claim to fame (Whip Lash is negligible), so he could be good for bodyguard duty on your 'caster. His only other function is as an escort for nasty solos: Combo Smite is a good way to set up an assassination attempt. Unfortunately, he's pretty squishy, and if anything actually gets the drop on him, he dies instantly.
*'''Houseguard Thane:''' Put simply, if you are taking Houseguard units, you want at least one of these guys.  Yeah, he's got weaponmaster on that sword, but who cares?  You're taking him for his special rules.  He is only usable with Houseguard, but he has two special commands.  First is Desperate pace, which adds a small bonus to normal movement.  The other is Firing Solution, which allows houseguard to ignore stealth.  This guy makes Halberdiers quick, and single handedly makes riflemen worth taking.  He's a bit squishy, so keep him back and life will be good.
*'''Lys Healer:''' A healer with a few tricks.  The basic trick she has is to heal a small amount from a living model.  Great if you need to heal a solo or, potentially, a warcaster.  Power of Faith makes it harder to pull movement tricks on units, and Purifying Prayer gets rid of all continuous effects and animi.  This makes her a highly useful unit against Hordes.  She can also move if a model is damaged in her command range, and, perhaps most uniquely useful, she prevents soul tokens in her command range.  She's overall a decent defensive toolbox with a lot to offer.
*'''Mage Hunter Assassin:''' Often hailed as 'the best solo in the game, take two or more.' Yeah, they're pretty spiffy. First, let's address her issues. She only has one attack, so she needs to charge (preferably into the back arc) to make an impact. The other option is having her charge a knocked down model (warjacks, Magister, Battle Mages, Rahn, etc). Her armor sucks, watch out for explosions. Everyone's going to focus her, so don't play dumb and expect her to Rambo around by herself and not get wasted.
:Why is she so good, then? If you can set her up with a good charge where she lands her hit, she can kill almost everything in the game that doesn't have 20+ armor with just that one hit. Decapitation combined with 9 + 4d6 damage on the charge means that on average you're hitting for 23 damage before Decap. Against an armor of 16, that means you're doing 14 points of damage. That will drop most Warcasters as long as they've taken even marginal damage prior to the Assassin's dive. Pathfinder means terrain is no problem, Arcane Assassin of course is nasty for killing 'casters, she can hit them from 4" away (giving her a 14" threat range on the charge, base), and Advanced Deployment means she can get into that threat range very quickly. If you're going to run two, also run something that can seriously threaten your opponent (Mage Hunter Strike Force, Dawnguard Sentinels + Stormfalls, heavy myrmidons, etc). This way, you can place one major threat on each flank and force your opponent to choose how he's going to split up his defenses. This dramatically increases your odds of getting the kill.
*'''Ghost Sniper:''' Like Mage Hunter Assassins, they work best in pairs. Use them to kill important attachments, solos, and officers, or damage systems on warjacks. They can also punish your opponent if he walks his Warcaster up the field with a lot of camped Focus (though if you're playing Scyrah and not running at least two dudes with Arcane Assassin, what are you doing with yourself?). Think of them as a bubble of board control: your opponent will be wary of moving any important pieces into their kill zone. Make sure you have some dudes set aside to cover them if your opponent tries to rush them. They're exceptionally effective with Ravyn and Kaelyssa.
*'''Dawnguard Destor Thane:''' Much like the Destor Unit, this guy has shifted in the latest edition.  He's got the same gunfighter/assault combo with quick work that the base unit does, also still has reposition, but now give an armor buff to Destors nearby when they're engaging an enemy.  He acts a bit like a slightly more free roaming UA as a result.
*'''Soulless Voidtracer:''' Got a decent magic two handed sword, but is squishy and only has a single box.  However, she makes life very nasty for spellcasters.  She can't be targeted by spells, and in her command range, anything targeted by a spell causes the caster to suffer damage as a backlash.  Even better, if this boxes the caster, the spell doesn't happen.  Stealth to keep her alive, but watch for blasts as it takes very, very little to kill her.

====Character Solos====

*'''Aelyth Vyr, Blade of Nyssor''': Mk. 3 has introduced the idea of attachments that aren’t attachments. Enter angry elf Santa. On his own, Aelyth is a tough bastard. Literally. He also hits hard and has cleave for an extra hit if he lands a kill, which is easy with his excellent MAT, decent sword, and weapon master. But what really sells it is how tough he is to kill. He has Hard, which means no impact or collateral, so you have to hit him. He has steady, so you can’t knock him down. And even if you disable him, he gets one last advance and attack. He also grants Ryssovass in his bubble Hard, making them even more annoying to kill. If you field Ryssovass Defenders, you should strongly consider fielding him alongside. Otherwise, he’s a tough warrior solo that your enemy is going to have a frustrating time dealing with.
*'''Elara, Tyro of the Third Chamber:''' Elara is a bit odd, but has some use.  Like the other apprentice warcasters, she's squishy and has a limited range.  Her offensive spell is also difficult to hit with her low focus.  That said, Convection is useful if you can reliably kill with it, and Speed of Death is fantastic on proximity 'jacks.  Gorgon and Banshee in particular benefit from it.  Apparition can keep her mobile, either out of range or set up for a charge, and her sickles, used correctly, can give her 'jack a serious boost if used correctly.
*'''Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios (pEiryss):''' Eiryss has been killing people for the Retribution since before the Retribution was cool. An upside of taking one of the mercenary Eiryss pieces is that you can use her in lists for armies besides Retribution.
*'''Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (eEiryss):''' So you thought Eiryss1 was a bitch? This is she, matured into a full-grown bitch.  She doesn't have the same potency of her younger self, but is more reliable.  She is still squishy, but between all the special rules, assault, weapon master in melee, and a ton of mobility, she's still a very dangerous threat.
*'''Fane Knight Skeryth Issyen:''' Mk. 3 has moved Skeryth into something of an odd place.  His ARM is now a bit higher, and the mounted rules give him a bit more offensive utility.  He also picked up shield guard, so he can work to protect vulnerable targets.  Retribution players are working where to squeeze him in, but for the moment, you can think of him as a Shield Guard to protect vulnerable casters with some offensive punch if needed.
*'''Nayl:''' Souless anti-magic suicide bomber.  Can't be targeted by spells (even your own) and when he dies everyone within 8" loses all focus/fury and can't cast spells for one round (it affects you too).  He does respectable damage, besides all that, and has Stealth and Advance Deployment, so he can walk your Mage Hunter Assassins up the field. Be very careful with him: if the enemy manages to have a 'jack throw him into your warcaster before killing him, he can seriously mess up your day. Treat him as if he were a live grenade. The best use of Nayl is typically in conjunction with other solos: run them along a flank, send Nayl at the enemy warnoun, and watch your opponent's ensuing headache as he picks from several bad options to deal with him.
*'''Narn, Mage Hunter of Ios:''' The character version of the Assassin. Doesn't have the nice reach or decapitation, but instead he's got two melee attacks and is incredibly mobile. He can use Acrobatics to hop right through your opponent's lines with a charge, ignoring free strikes while he does so, kill a nice target, and then move quite a distance with Sprint to get into cover. Remember: back strikes are your friend, and it's very easy for Narn to get them with Acrobatics. On the charge, he can kill most warcasters from full health with a bit of luck.