Our coverage of the new theme forces continues today with something a bit…irregular. If you missed the news, this September we’re going to release a slew of new theme forces for WARMACHINE and HORDES that will add loads of new army-building options and give many models that didn’t have a home in an existing theme force a new place to thrive.

So, today’s theme force is for the Mercenaries—practically all of them. The Irregulars theme represents the unorthodox collections of soldiers who sometimes find themselves battling together for coin and glory. Not every Mercenary force out there are Magnus’ Kingmakers, the crew of the Talion, or Rhulic soldiers, and certainly not all of them are Cephalyx and their slaves (though I’m sure the Cephalyx wouldn’t mind that). In fact, many Mercenary armies marching across the battlefields of western Immoren are made up of a motley crew of sellswords who may only know each other by reputation alone!

The Irregulars allows you to take any Mercenary warcaster and non-character warjacks as well as all Mercenary units and Mercenary character solos. You heard that right: ALL units and ALL character solos. A few more feral helpers also join the list in the Gobber Tinker, Wrong Eye & Snapjaw, and Rorsh & Brine. The list of available models is rounded out by also allowing ALL Mercenary battle engines as well. Talk about a theme force with a massive amount of options!

First, let’s discuss the models you can get for free with this theme. For every 25 points of units and warjacks, you net yourself a free command attachment or small- or medium-based solo without the lesser warlock rule. (Sorry, no free Wrong Eye here.) When picking your solos, you want to review the various ’jack marshals available to Mercenaries due to the second benefit.

For the Irregulars, we decided to do something a bit…irregular. (I’m telling ya, this line just keeps working.) There was some #designspace open to push an ability we don’t often see a major light shone on very often: ’Jack Marshaling. Mercenaries have a ton of great ’jack marshals available to them: Captain Sam MacHorne & the Devil Dogs, Rutger Shaw, Dirty Meg, Thor Steinhammer, Raluk Moorclaw, and Colbie Sterling—all of whom can be taken in this theme force.

It was important to have a good selection of strong ’jack marshals because the second benefit of this theme gives all ’jack marshaled warjacks Flank [friendly warrior model]. That is a tremendously powerful ability, especially on a swarm of light warjacks, and when you consider that warjacks count toward the points threshold to receive free solos, the synergy quickly becomes apparent.

The final benefit provides a bit of oomph to any heavy warjacks you bring to your list, regardless of whether they’re marshaled or not. For each unit in your army, one heavy warjack gains Advance Move, allowing it a full advance before the game begins. So, whether you’re running a list with several budge heavies such as Freebooters or Nomads, or perhaps more elite heavies like Manglers or Wroughthammer Rockrams, or even a gun line of Mules and Mariners, getting that extra distance up the field to begin the game is a big help.

We can’t wait to see the kinds of lists that are going to come out of the Irregulars theme force. With so many options available during army composition, we expect this to be one of the most wildly varied theme forces that hits the table. Check out the list I’ve been testing lately to give you an idea of what this list is capable of:

Drake MacBain +30

-Mangler 15

-Mangler 15

Rutger Shaw 4

-Nomad 11

Colbie Sterling 3

-Freebooter
 9
Rhupert, Piper of Ord 4

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios Free from theme

Orin Midwinter Free from theme

Kayazy Assassins (max) 15

-Kayazy Assassin Underboss 4

Idrian Skirmishers (max) 15

-Idrian Chieftain and Guide Free from theme

Alexia Ciannor & the Risen 10