The Cygnaran Storm continues with the appropriately named heavy warjack: the Stormclad.
The Stormclad is a heavy warjack designed to fight alongside the Stormblades that excels in melee but packs a ranged attack as well. The most expensive non-character heavy warjack, the Stormclad is often named as Cygnar’s finest heavy warjack, meshing well in nearly any army list with its electrical immunity, high ARM, ranged POW 14 and an initial melee combination of POW 19 and 14.
The Stormclad is the warjack you include for cracking high ARM enemy models. His primary POW 19 Generator Blade will see the most use. He packs a secondary initial attack of an open fist at POW 14. Similar to the Storm Glaive, the Generator Blade also packs a ranged attack at POW 14.
As if the Generator Blade didn’t put out enough damage, it also has electro leap on both the ranged and melee attacks. This extra POW 10 is perfect for clearing out support solos or infantry that is nearby the heavy target the Stormclad is destroying.
Next to the POW 19, the Stormclads next greatest feature is the ability to generate a free focus by starting near the Stormblade infantry. When including the Stormclad you should always consider pairing him with the Stormblades to pick up that free focus, but it’s not a requirement. On early turns this free focus can be used to run the warjack, meaning your warcaster doesn’t need to give anything until he gets engaged.
Weapons Generator Blade - The main reason you bring the Stormclad, the blade puts out massive amounts of damage and an electro leap as well. Open Fist - A POW 14 that also comes with all the utility of an open fist. This arm also includes a buckler for additional ARM. Generator Blast - At the limited RNG 8, it falls 2″ shy of his melee charge range of 10″, which makes it situational. An early game Snipe can extend it to 12″ with the attached electro leap. Stormblades and ‘Jack Marshalling
Obviously the Stormblades are the obvious pairing for the free focus. You might think the Stormguard would also fit the bill, but sadly no, they will not provide focus for the Stormclad.
When pairing the Stormclad with the Stormblades it opens up the possibility for marshaling the ’jack to the Stormblade UA. Starting near the ’blades will give the Stormclad one focus, then a second pseudo-focus from the ’Jack Marshall. To get a third focus you can add Arlan Strangewayes with his power booster, and being electrically immune he can avoid any electro leaps from the Stormclad. Power Booster also removes disruption, which will keep your point investment working for you at full capacity. While ‘jack marshalling to the Stormblade UA makes sense as he will want to stay near the unit anyway, it’s often more advantageous to have him in the warcaster’s battlegroup to ensure he can get full focus and take advantage of in-battlegroup buffs.
The Stormclad can work well with any Warcaster, but here’s a few to keep in mind that bring multiple advantages to the heavy ‘jack.
Stryker1 - Arcane Shield gets the Stormclad up to 22 ARM and his feat will get him up to 27 ARM for a turn. Stryker also has Snipe to extend the reach of the Generator Blast. Stryker2 - the feat gives extra movement and an additional melee attack. Positive Charge will boost his attack and damage rolls as well as boosting the infantry around him. Nemo3 - Boost electrical damage during the feat, Fail Safe for increased durability and Lightning Shroud for increased melee damage, though electro leap won’t stack. Between the Stormblades and Finch, Nemo will only need to allocate one focus to get the jack up to 3. Darius - Full Throttle and Jack Hammer increases the damage output of the Stormclad. Caine - Both Caines like to keep their focus for themselves, so the ability to have a heavy that generates it’s own focus is a good match.The Stormclad is a solid addition to any Cygnar army and works well with any caster. Combine with the Stormblades for free focus to get the most out of this heavy hitting ’jack.
-DieselDM