M2E+Slate+Ridge+Mauler


 * Slate Ridge Mauler, Arcanist Minion**

=__Overview__= This cute and cuddly four-armed bear wants nothing more than to give you a hug (and then rip your face off).

=__Mobility__= The Slate Ridge Mauler is not mobile. There is nothing on the card that will help it move, but it is able to move other models to it by use of its **Bear Hug** attack. It does gain a bit of extra mobility from its 0ss upgrade - more on that below.

=__Offense__= The Mauler starts off with a modest **Ml** 5, and reasonable damage track 2/3/5 (again, its 0ss upgrade provides a slight boost to its Ml, bringing it up to a more respectable 6). When it gets hurt, it gets angry and, once it is below 6 wounds, it becomes **Frenzied** and its melee attacks all deal +2 damage. It has a **(0)** action, **Bear Hug**, which pushes the target into base contact and gives it **Slow**. On a trigger it is then allowed to make a **(1)** attack against the target. This can give the bear a surprisingly long reach as models up to 12" from it at the beginning of its activation can be reached and drawn into it, and attacked. It can also be used to disrupt enemy plans by moving their models about.

=__Resilience__= This is where the bear excels. It is **Impossible to Wound**, **Hard to Kill** and its melee attack has a trigger to heal it. The trick is to try and keep the bear at 5 or lower **Wd**s remaining to keep it **Frenzied**. It has a low **Df**, so it is probably going to be hit, but plenty of wounds. It is also, unsurprisingly, sporting **Bearskin Armor**, which will allow it to ignore damage from **Pulses** and **Blasts**.

=__Upgrades__= Despite being a minion, the Slate Ridge Mauler is allowed one upgrade, and only one - the 0ss Circus Bear upgrade. This gives the bear a bit of a boost to its Wk and Ml, as well as another (0) action for a slight push. On a trigger, you can even use another (0) action in the same activation, allowing you to combo into **Bear Hug**. As it costs 0ss and the Mauler isn't allowed any other upgrades, there's almost no reason not to take this.

=__Tactics and Tips__= The Mauler really wants to be in the thick of it. It can cause a huge amount of damage and take a decent hit in the right circumstances. But what its not good at is moving, so it is going to be good at things like Turf war and Reckoning, but not schemes like Breakthrough. Because of **Frenzied**, there will be times you don't want to use his healing trigger. Don't use it if it is the first attack of the turn and the healing will mean that you lose the **Frenzied** bonus. Watch out for models with high weak damage, as they can very quickly kill your bear.

Whilst I like the **Slow** and the push from the **Bear Hug**, I really like the extra attack trigger, so often try and hold a high tome for this. Obviously this will be very crew dependent, but it has to be a pretty good use of a card to do better than an extra attack.

=__Playing Against Slate Ridge Mauler__= The Slate Ridge Mauler works at its best when damaged. That bonus +2 damage is huge. So either ignore it, or concentrate on it. The worst thing you can do is hit it a few times and then leave it injured.

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