Guild+Rifleman

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 * Guild Rifleman, Guild Minion**

=__Overview__= The Guild Rifleman is another cheap Minion for The Guild, except this one comes with a longer range gun and the potential for a wall of bullets.

=__Mobility__= The Rifleman has a very average WK of 4, meaning it's not nearly as mobile as some of the other cheap Minions. Its range, however, makes up for that.

=__Offense__= While the Rifleman has a knife, it's the rifle that takes center stage. At CB 5 Mask and Rg 11 with a decent damage of 2/3/4, it gives him a threat range of 15" unmodified. This is improved when he performs his (0) "Take Aim," which gives his rifle +3 RG until he's done activating. This makes the threat range 18" if he walks, or 14" if he wants to take two shots. The Rifle has two triggers: - __Firing Squad__ (Ram) This allows the Rifleman to ignore the Hard to Wound ability. Those Rezzers better watch out.... - __Two Birds__ (Mask + Ram) Similar to Ricochet, this allows an enemy model within 3" of the original target to suffer a DG 1/2/3 that can't be cheated.

All of this is made better because the Rifleman can be fielded in a trio. Why is this good? The Rifleman has Companion (Guild Rifleman) and an (all) action: - __Combined Arms__ This model makes up to three ranged attacks, but it can only do this if it's simultaneously activated with one or more friendly Guild Riflemen.

This means, with three of them, you can shoot a total of nine times at potentially nine different targets as these don't target just one model.

=__Resilience__= With a DF of 4 and 5 wounds, there's not a lot of built-in protection against Melee or Range for the Rifleman. The best they can do is use the (0) action "Stand and Fire." This lets them take a shot at an enemy model that's charging a Guardsman model within 6" of the Rifleman. This only works for one enemy model, however, because the effect will end either when the Rifleman next activates or takes the shot.

=__Tips and Tricks__= The Combined Arms action requires multiple Riflemen to activate simultaneously, but it doesn't require them all to take that action. This can be use to disengage one Rifleman from melee and then pop the attacker with 3 shots from the others or to check range with a standard shot if you're not sure the target is within 11".

Stand and Fire gives you a free shot against anyone charging a Guardsman within 6" which also includes the model taking this action. It can be quite tricky to get value out of this, since in most situations you'll be able to get an extra shot at targets within 11" using Combined Arms and will want to use their other (0) action Take Aim against more distant targets. It does last until the start of your next activation though, so if you don't have anything to shoot you may as well have all of your Riflemen declare Stand and Fire.

Don't forget that Riflemen have Hunter, which allows them to ignore the penalty for shooting targets in cover and see further into obscuring terrain. This won't work against effect that generate obscuring auras such as Steam Cloud since they don't count as terrain, but it does give the Riflemen an edge against enemies hiding in buildings or forests.

=__Master-Specific Tips__= Lucius can field Riflemen and they provide a scarier back-field gunline than standard Guild Guards. Issue Command from Lucius and/or his totem can reposition your Riflemen to get them out of enemy charge range or advance them to within 11" of a target to use Combined Arms when they activate. You could even chain activate them with a Guard Captain companioned to Lucius to get 9 shots into someone then and there, youch.

=__Minion-Specific Tips__= Riflemen are Guardsmen which means Guild Guards can call them 3" using Raise the Alarm. This is useful for putting more distance between the Riflemen and advancing enemies. In a Lucius crew you're likely to have one or more Guild Guards hanging around your deployment zone so this can be something handy for them to do before being called up as reinforcements.

Combining a Drill Sergeant with one or more Guild Rifleman drastically i ncreases their damage output by granting them a positive twist to attacks with their rifles.

=__Playing Against [Minion]__= Ranged specialists are usually dealt with by engaging them in melee and this is especially true of Guild Riflemen. They have no special ways of disengaging and their melee attack is below average in every way; once you get in their face they go down very quickly. Getting there without eating a lot of lead first may be tricky so either Lure them towards you, advance under the cover of some obscuring non-terrain effect or engage them with something that can close the distance in a single activation. The most important thing is to not leave yourself in the open within 11" of them, their rifles don't pack as much of a punch as a Peacebringer but taking 9 consecutive shots can really wreck your day.

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