Ship of the Line

I have now had a game testing out the Galleon and discovered it is a wonderfully flexible model. Even if it is locked down it can do something every turn.  It also has excellent synergy with Renegades and their obliterator rockets.  I tried it out in a tier 4 Most Wanted (pMagnus) themed force and found that pMagnus does some nifty things with it but the loss of his feat is rather harsh.

The Galleon gives Mercenaries the heavy hitting power they have lacked (outside the Rhulic casters) and it has drag.  You can't go wrong with drag.  Having placed so many eggs in one basket however, I wouldn't leave home without some sort of mechanik or damage mitigating abilities.  I think Dirty Meg will be making more appearances in my Mercenaries lists, and I will have to try out the Galleon with MacBain(!) since he brings Failsafe.  Temper Metal was a very powerful lifesaver in the game I had against Jim last night, with such a large damage grid, every point of damage you prevent increases the lifespan of your colossal.

Having seen the Mercenary colossal in action however, Jim and I discussed at length the impact other colossals are going to have on the game.  The Galleon was a horror to take down, what is a Conquest with its swarm of mechaniks going to be like?  Also, a single colossal cannot take down another colossal in a single turn without some ludicrous dice or some serious buffing, so even if you get the alpha strike, you're likely to be in for some serious pain in return.  This does give me some hope for the Mountain King, since it has enough power and fury to destroy a colossal, especially with the amount of buffing Trollbloods can bring.

Whilst colossals are difficult to kill in one go, they aren't as immune to damage as people seem to think.  Jim's Woldguardian pretty much scrapped the right grid of my Galleon, and a Woldguardian is not exactly a damage-dealing powerhouse like a Warpwolf Stalker with primal on it.  It's very much a case of eggs in one basket, as once you lose your hideously expensive model, you're in for a rough ride.

Now, with the colossals, what will happen to our precious battle engines?