M2E+Ironsides


 * Toni Ironsides, Arcanist Master**

= __Overview__ = Toni Ironsides is a brawler beatstick/tarpit master that buffs friendly M&SU and runs with some very useful utility models. She can pull single enemies in to deal with individually, or get herself in a cluster of models and tie them down spending ** Adrenaline ** condition as her resource. The normal ability for the ** Adrenaline ** condition is that at the end of the turn, Ironsides heals 1 damage and lowers the condition by one. But there is much more that she can do with it.

She gains the ** Adrenaline +1 ** condition at the beginning of her activation for each enemy model within 2" of her. Other models can move her into place, or she can simply move there and prepare for the next turn if you want a batch of adrenaline. She can turn these points into extra mobility, attacks, or healing. =Table of Contents= Overview  Mobility  Offense  Resilience  Actions  Buffs  Upgrades  Crew Tactics and Tips With Mouse, the Totem

= __Mobility__ = She has a standard Wk 5/Ch 8 movement, with the (0) action **Rush 'Em** to lower her **A** ** drenaline ** condition by 1 to place in base contact with an enemy model within 6". This gives her a substantial threat range, and can get directly into a cluster of models to set up her **Adrenaline** for next turn.

= __Offense__ = Ironsides is made for melee. She has a (1) Ml and (2) Ml attack, and each one allows her to take the other with the right allocation of resources. The (1) Ml **Brass Knuckles**, has an adequate damage track with a trigger to give her more **Adrenaline** with a crow, or to combo into her (2) Ml **Uppercut** with a ram and the expenditure of 2 **Adrenaline**. The (2) Ml **Uppercut**, gives **Slow**, has a whopping 4 weak damage, and the Ml increases with her **Adrenaline** condition, to a max of Ml 8. It also auto-triggers into **Brass Knuckles** Ml attack by lowering the **Adrenaline** condition by 2.

Strangely enough, her built-in tome Df trigger is also an offensive ability. When an enemy within 2" damages her with Ml, she immediately deals 2/3/4 back to it and gains **Adrenaline** +1.

= __Resilience__ = She has the top-tier for health in the game at 14 wounds and **Hard to Kill**, which makes her incredibly resilient. Combine these with the Challenge the Crowd and Iron Determination upgrades (below), and she becomes a downright tank. Strangely, for being so melee-oriented, her Df is very average at 5, but any more and she wouldn't be killable. She also has an impressive Df trigger, **Good Shot, My Turn**, which deals 2/3/4 damage back to the attacker on a built-in tome and gives her **Adrenaline** +1. It's also worth mentioning her cache of 5 SS's, which can contribute to her longevity. In short, every Df resist damage the enemy stacks on Ironsides is earned and, if an Ml attack, punished. Be careful of Wp resist attacks, as her Wp of 6 is very much surmountable for a dedicated spell caster.

= __Actions__ = We've already mentioned her (0) action **Rush 'Em**, which allows her spend adrenaline to place in base contact with an enemy within 6".

(1) **You looking at Me?** is a lure-like spell that moves a model its Cg toward Ironsides, where it immediately makes an (1) Ml attack against her at a double negative to the damage flip, without triggers. This brings more models into the fray, gives Ironsides the ** Good Shot, My Turn ** Df trigger, and can break up synergistic auras. With the right trigger, she casts the spell again. This is good for pulling enemies in, as well as getting your own models out of harms way or moving them up the field first turn (trigger to cast again, and it's two models' Cg stats for one AP).

= __Buffs__ = **Hand Picked Men** is a passive ability that gives wounded M&SU models friendlies within 6" [+] to attack and damage flips. This makes very good models simply amazing in combat. There are a few ways to damage your own models if you don't want to wait for the enemy to do it for you - an Electrical Creation can do 1 damage during the first turn. Another option would be to take the Mobile Toolkit (which is 1ss cheaper) and use **Timed Detonation** on the first Turn (remember to use **The Right Tool** first, if you have a friendly Construct around). Make sure your Oxfordian Mages have activated, though, otherwise they will not take any damage at all. You may need to cheat your Df flips down to ensure your M&SU fail and take 1Dg. If you can cheat in a Ram you can give your Gunsmiths **Fast** as well. She combos particularly well with the Gunsmiths, Oxfordian Mages, Union Miners, and The Captain, but truly any M&SU model benefits well from this ability.

Note that if you are using Oxfordian Mages, and want to damage them before they activate, they reduce all damage received by 1, with no minimum. You can get them worked up with Willie, by having him take a walk action and drop a blast marker on them. Relent the Df duel and they'll take 2 (now 1) damage and get the plus to attack and damage. And Willie is a solid M&SU model, so it's not far out of your way to hire him.

= __Upgrades__ =
 * Challenge the Crowd: ** This upgrade gives Ironsides the **Bring It!** passive ability, which gives [+] [+] to Df flips when engaged with two or more enemy models. This brings her resiliency to even greater heights, and gives you more cards to choose from for Df - letting you (hopefully) pick one that is very close to or equals the attacker's flip, minimizing the damage she'll take while letting Toni counter-attack with her built-in Df trigger.


 * Iron Determination: ** With this, Ironsides has an excellent healing spell, which can keep her going even longer in the fray. To couple with that, it gives her immunity to that random red joker damage flip against her (flipped Red Joker damage flips against her must be reflipped), which is one less fluke factor to be taken into consideration especially when you consider how many cards your opponent can potentially be flipping for her thanks to the [-] [-] imposed by **You Lookin' At Me?**.


 * Frontline Leadership: ** This upgrade gives the **Protective** ability, which allows Ironsides to gain **Adrenaline** when other friendly models within 6" are damaged by an enemy, provided Ironsides discards a card. It also gives Ironsides another (0) action, **Come Get Some**, which forces enemies declaring a walk or charge action within 6" of her to make a Wp 13 duel or target her with the charge or get as close as possible to her with the walk. This can severely disrupt the opponent's plans for placement.


 * Warding Runes: ** There are many interesting interactions with this ability. It is usable by Ironsides or any henchman, and gives **Counterspell**. Among other things, this shuts down the Lure spell against her and makes enemy models get lucky or cheat to get even the moderately difficult spells off. The other thing that it does is combos with the Oxfordian Mages, who have three 0-cost, rare 1 upgrades: Doom Ward, Blood Ward, and Nemesis Ward. These abilities gives any model with the Warding Runes within aura 8" upgrade one of three effects:

// Doom //** : Regeneration +1 ** // Blood //** : ** Immunity to enemy-originated conditions and damage from pulses // Nemesis //** : ** Plus to defense against the enemy leader.

If you have three Oxfordian Mages in range, Ironsides with the Warding Runes upgrade gets all three for many buffed abilities.


 * Message from the Union: ** This gives her access to a ranged attack that doles out **Burning +3** and ignores cover. This is great for stacking up that burning on the enemy and it'll just consume them at turn end. It allows Ironsides to function as ranged support for her crew, provided that crew can make use of **Burning** (Gunsmiths and the Firestarter are good options). However, The Captain also offers ranged **Burning** support, so think carefully about whether you need more or not.


 * Veteran Fighter: ** One of the two upgrades Toni got in book five, this automatically gives her a point of **Adrenaline** at the start of her activation, and is worth the 1ss for that alone! It also gives her a neat new trigger on her **Brass Knuckles**, See It Through To The End - which, as the name implies, gives her another way to heal when she hits people. Nicely, the amount she heals is equal to the damage __before reductions__, meaning that she'll be healing a good chunk of wounds with each punch.


 * Union President: ** Toni's second upgrade from book five represents her unwanted promotion in the M&SU while Ramos is off running around with the Leviathan core or whatever he's doing. It gives her the option not to lower her **Adrenaline** and heal at the end of the turn, and so pairs well with **Veteran Fighter** where she can heal off her **Brass Knuckles** and save the **Adrenaline** for other stuff. She also gains a new (0) **Challenge**, which is a nice option to have late-game when she's in the thick of things and just wants to disrupt as many enemy models as she can.


 * Imbued Protection: ** Making use of the Arcanists' generic upgrades, Ironsides with Df 6 and the ability to prevent 2 damage just stacks on even more resistance.

= __Crew Tactics and Tips__ =

Start the turn in melee with 3+ enemies or have 3 or more left over from previous rounds, use (0) **Rush 'Em** to push into base contact with a slaughter target (say, a master that's on the back lines). That gives you three actions to (1) Ml, triggering into your (2) Ml, and then two more general AP to either (2) Ml or (1) Ml twice). That is a significant amount of damage potential for a single activation.
 * With Adrenaline +3 **

**As a Tank**

As mentioned, Ironsides is difficult to take down, but it is not impossible. It is probable that any damage the opponent puts onto her comes at the cost of resources. If you take models that heal, this aggravates the issue for the opponent, either with Silent Ones, Mouse, or the Oxfordian Mage with the upgrade that gives **Regen +1**.


 * With the Oxford **** ian Mages **

The Oxfordian Mages gives her extra buffs with their wards. **Regeneration** and immunity to enemy conditions as excellent for keeping her alive even longer. A useful tactic is to separate an enemy model from the rest of the pack via **You Looking at Me?** and use the Oxfordian Mages' auto-trigger from their ranged spell to push other models away.


 * With the Captain **

The Captain's **Airburst** can be used to get Ironsides into the thick of things to obtain a grand chunk of adrenaline. He can also keep ranged attackers at bay until Ironsides can get in there.

With Mouse, the Totem
Mouse offers a ram-dependent healing spell and two other good maneuverability abilities, one that pulls models in (auto-trigger on the ranged attack), and one that stops them from moving (the (1) spell, **Arrest**.

= __Playing Against Ironsides__ = Ironsides is very difficult to take down, but is not particularly adept against Wp duels. She needs a lot of cards to operate, so attempt to paralyze her with horror duels. Be wary of the plethora of mobility tricks she has, both to pull specific models in and keep others away. Use your own movement tricks to keep as a cohesive group if your crew requires it.

This tactica uses work done by forums user brdparker & Forgotmytea Unless otherwise stated, all names and images on this site are property of Wyrd Miniatures, LLC. ([|Link])
 * __Ownership__ **