Mutant Army Generals
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| Strontium Dog Mutant Generals Image (c) Warlord Games |
Along with the Kreelers, one of the last sets that was released for Warlord's Strontium Dog Miniatures Game were the Mutant Army Generals. It was to my intense relief that this set was released because, for me personally, the game would have felt incomplete without these additions. To me these characters were more iconic than perhaps a few of the lesser SD Agents, such as Kid Knee, Maeve and Blubberlips, memorable as each of those may be. So, how do they play, and are they any good?
The Torso from Newcastle
Stats
Torso has decent stats, the best of which being that he gets a Resist of 4 if hit from his Focussed Front Arc. On stats alone, he is an all-rounder, but as soon as you factor in that Con Arms Assault Blaster Rifle, he becomes one of the game's most effective shooters!
Skills
Torso can call upon his S&W.35 Repeating Blaster to use Gunfighter skill. Due to a -2 long range modifier, this is less effective as distance, but get him into short range and that becomes a +2 which can hit with deadly accuracy! In addition, Torso can use a single action to perform Eloquent Gestures which enables any pinned allied team character within 8" to take a cool test to see if they can remove their pinned marker. I've read this a few times and believe it should only apply to one character in that range, meaning that if you had multiple allies who were pinned, one such action would be required for each which seems a bit of a waste when he is so good at shooting.
Tactics
Torso is the game's greatest sniper so get him into a good position in hard cover to simply pick off opponents before they can get anywhere near him! You may want to consider not attempting to return the Star Chip counter as his Gunfighter skill should allow him (especially when in hard cover) to shoot back! That said, his high Resist in the Focussed Front arc and really decent Fight means that he is a character who is capable of holding his own against all but the game's most ferocious hand-to-hand specialists, so don't be afraid if that situation arises!
Evans the Fist
Stats
Evans is the ying to Torso's yang! His weapon and poor shoot mean that he cannot fire at all at long range unless taking an Aimed Shot, but his oversized arm does make him powerful in Close Combat!
Skills
Reinforcing what I've said above, Evans has the Brawler skill. If you find yourself in close combat, particularly against multiple opponents, it may be worth not going for broke and keeping him unpinned to fight back! He also has Long Throw which will be very handy if you have grenade weapons, particularly Time Bombs!
Tactics
Get Evans up the field as quickly as possible, perhaps throwing a grenade weapon if you have one first - and then get in and about your enemies in close combat!
General Armz
Stats
Armz is the leader of the mutant rebellion and is a great all-rounder as a result. The bonus conferred by his weapons mean that he is slightly better at shooting than fighting.
Skills
The Inspirational Mutant Commander ability enables Armz to spend a Single Action each turn to remove D3 action chips from any minor character with mutations within 6". This is really powerful, especially when you make use of Clacton Fuzz and Studs Boyce to protect him!
Tactics
If you have some Minor Characters nearby, that Inspirational Mutant Commander ability is well worth spending a Single Action on each turn! If not, I'd keep him back to shoot at range. Even if he is wounded, he can use those multiple arms to boost his shoot (even though it will give the defender +1 to their Resist) and keep landing hits on enemies!
Clacton Fuzz
Stats
Clacton's Fight is better than his Shoot, but if he's at short range, his Shoot is better than his Fight! On the other hand, his Resist is poor unless he is in Close Combat, so it's a tough call to advise how best to use him.
Skills
Clacton's gung-ho attitude is represented by the Leading From The Front skill. This helps prevent him from being Pinned, but negates the benefits of light cover and means that he only gains +1 from Hard Cover. As mentioned, he gains +1 to his Resist in Close Combat due to his fur, but this also makes him susceptible to flame weapons.
Tactics
Bring him to the table with Armz and use him as a foil to him - if luck is with you, you will be able to get him to activate twice every turn. His weapon packs a punch with Power 4, so it's worth considering using Aimed Actions at long range to augment his roll to hit rather than the damage.
Studs Boyce
Stats
Studs is the cheapest of all the Mutant Generals so, unsurprisingly, he's the weakest and is pretty unremarkable as a consequence.
Skills
His For The Cause skill is effectively the same as Wulf's Look Out Johnny! although the net is widened, allowing him to switch places with any friendly mutant major character when attacked.
Tactics
Sadly, for fans of Studs Boyce, his main use in the game is protecting fellow Star Chip characters. So far as his fighting is concerned, I would use him to shoot at enemies rather than engaging them in Close Combat - but his weapon modifier means he can only fire at range by using an Aimed Shot! His weapon has Power of 4 which increases my desire to use him as a shooter rather than a fighter.
Team Tactics
There's a good synergy between these five and I would pretty much play them as a team the way I would play them individually. Torso sits back while the others close in with Evans leading the charge while Clacton and Studs stay close to Armz in the hope they can activate twice each turn. And if you can keep Studs close enough to both Armz and Evans, he can protect either!
