M2E+Guild+Austringer


 * Guild Austringer, Guild Minion**

=__Overview__= The Guild Austringer is one of the few models in Malifaux that may target enemies with attack actions without requiring Line of Sight. With good range and high accuracy no-one is safe from his flappy bird, but he's not just a straight up sniper. His other abilities and actions can help you achieve objectives and frustrate your opponent's efforts, making the Austringer a very versatile minion for the cost.toc

=__Mobility__= The Guild Austringer has a Walk of four inches and a Charge of six inches. The **Unimpeded** ability increases the his maneuverability, but because of his stand-and-shoot approach, the Guild Austringer usually wants to find a location hidden behind terrain where he can affect critical areas without moving. If you can force your opponent to slog through severe terrain to get at him as well that's just gravy.


 * Quick Retreat** is an action he may only use in melee, which pushes him four inches in any direction. This makes it very easy for him to get out of engagements.


 * Deliver Orders** is a (2) action which pushes a friendly model 2" in any direction and lets them take a **(1) Interact** action. Using this purely for movement the movement is a bit wasteful as it takes the Austringer's whole turn, but in a pinch it can be used to get key models out of combat or set up charges.

=__Offense__= Being the consummate shooty minion the Guild Austringer has not one, but two ranged Attack Actions. He has absolutely no close range attacks so typically wants to get out of melee quickly, but can also just slap people with his hawk up close if need be.

The primary attack of the Austringer is the **Raptor** action, which has a very high attack statistic of seven. The damage is decent at **1/3/4** but since it tends to benefit from focus and has //Critical Strike// it's a bit more threatening than it seems. The thing that sets this apart from most other ranged attacks is that it ignores Line of Sight and cover. It has a good range of 12", and the attack has no gun symbol, meaning that it can be used while engaged and does not randomise when fired into melee.

This Attack Action has two triggers, //Critical Strike// with a Ram, and //Distract// with a Mask, which forces the opponent to discard two cards instead of dealing damage. Depending on the situation the card removal can be better than damage, particularly if you're only just meeting their defense result and have the Mask anyway. Even though the opponent will discard their lowest cards any card removal is advantageous. If the opponent's hand has few cards, or you have some to moderate Masks and a low **Df** target this Trigger can be crippling.

The second attack option on the Guild Austringer is **Peacebringer**, which is the same as a Death Marshall's gun although the Austringer has better aim with it. It has slightly better damage than **Raptor**, but less range and none of the amazing frills that come with a well trained hawk. **Peacebringer** is best used if the Guild Austinger has just pushed out of engagement with **Quick Retreat** and needs to get some quick damage, or when the Austringer is in the buffing radius of Captain Dashel, which only helps against targets you can see anyway.

=__Resilience__= Guild Austringers are not particularly resilient with slightly no defensive abilities other than slightly above average Defense and Willpower to protect their 6 wounds. They mainly stay alive by hiding out of Line of Sight and keeping away from engagements. If caught in an engagement, the Austringer can use **Quick Retreat** to escape but with his low walk he'll likely get re-engaged quickly.

=__Tactics and Tips__= The Guild Austringer can get Scheme Markers placed in three ways. The first way is the standard Interact Action, the second way is through his **Finish the Job** ability and the third the **(2)** **Deliver Orders** Tactical Action.

Since the Austringer tends to be mostly a back-field shooter using him to place Scheme Markers by interacting or using **Finish the Job** tends to not be that useful for many Schemes. At a push he can probably pull off Protect Territory if left alone, stick a Cursed Object or similar on someone attacking him or get up to the centreline later in the game.


 * Deliver Orders ** is what makes the Austringer really useful for completing schemes and strategies. This Action allows any friendly model within eighteen inches (regardless of line of sight) to push a couple of inches and take a **(1) Interact** Action. Because ** Deliver Orders ** is a (2) action, the Austringer needs to be in position to use it in advance. When pursuing objectives this is often a better use of the Guild Austringers activation than attacking as it can turn AP straight into victory points. You can also use ** Deliver Orders ** to take any kind of (1) **Interact**, like for Cursed Object, Distract, or Squatter's Rites, so it's extremely versatile. Moving one model into position with its activation and then giving it an interact through can ** Deliver Orders **can let you score objectives that would otherwise be unattainable and pushing a model 2" so it can lose a condition or contest a table quarter can quickly deny your opponent hard earned victory points.

Don't forget that Raptor is a **Sh** action but not a projectile attack. If your opponent plans on locking the Austringer down by engaging him he can still hit anyone within 12" of him and firing into melee is no problem for him. You can even batter the model engaging you with the bird from point blank if you reckon that'll kill it.

Both Lucius and Captain Dashel have some abilities that work with Austringers. **Commanding Presence** and **Issue Command** on Lucius can target the Austringer, this can be used to give him a focus action without using AP or move him up into position (**What Lackeys Are For** works for that as well). Dashel won't let the Austringer take **Focus** as a (0) - because that would be mental - but he does still provide +flips to shooting if the Austringer can see the target and is within 12".

=__Playing Against the Guild Austringer__= Unlike most sniper threats in Malifaux, hiding behind terrain does not work with the Guild Austinger because of the **Raptor** Attack Action. Two options are to ignore the Guild Austringer and accept the inevitable damage, card loss, and Scheme Marker placement, or dedicate effort into hunting him down. If you manage to get into melee kill the Austringer quickly as with **Raptor** he'll still be able to hit anyone within 12", and watch out for disposable models bogging you down in engagements the Austringer can happily fire into.

Keep calm. Don't let yourself make mistakes out of frustration.

If you've got a speedy anti-sniper unit that can move through terrain, it will help a lot. Night Terrors and Necropunks help. Silurids or, heck, even Gupps can do pretty well. If you can commit a cheap fast unit to harass an Austringer without dying, you'll see a lot of results.

More than that, though, try to keep the action away from the Austringer's 12" bubble. That's usually a third of the table, but it can be done. If the Austringer has nothing to attack, he'll have to come out of cover and get a lot more vulnerable. Make trouble for your opponent elsewhere.

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