List Building: General Nemo Part 2

Greetings again ladies and gentlemen of the intertubes, Whitestar333 from SPG again here for the thrilling conclusion to my article on General Nemo.  Today I will start by sharing a 35 point list which I believe plays to eNemo's strengths (covered in the first article here).  I will justify each decision made in the 35 point list and then I will craft a 50 point list for you to peruse to detect any trends, differences, similarities, strengths, and weaknesses on your own!  Part of the fun of Warmachine is that making lists can only take you so far and that it really depends on whether the list matches the player's style.  These lists work for me and I have fun with them, but you might find that swapping a few things will work better for you.

Now that we've analyzed his abilities, I'll present you with a 35 point list followed by my justifications:


"The Weathermen" theme force at 35 points (Tier 4)

Nemo (+6)
- Firefly (5)
- Firefly (5)
- Ironclad (7)
- Hammersmith (8)
Stormguard (min, 6)
Stormguard (min, 6)
Storm Tower (free*)
Stormsmith Stormcaller (1)
Stormsmith Stormcaller (1)
Stormsmith Stormcaller (1)
*Stormsmith Stormcaller (1)

(* denotes tier benefit)

There are some out there who claim that the theme lists are not as competitive as a regular default list since they are too limiting, but I am not one of those people.  In this case, I think eNemo's tier list offers some beautiful synergy with what works for him.  Tier 2 requires two Fireflies but gives them advance move after deployment, and these 'jacks are great light 'jacks that synergize really well with Stormcallers (of which you can now have more than 3), who also get a significant boost from eNemo's elite cadre bonus for them.  I cannot emphasize how awesome Stormcallers are - especially with Fireflies to triangulate with!  They can remove swaths of enemy infantry with ease and can shut down enemy warjacks in the blink of an eye.

Tier 3 gives us a free Storm Tower for two units of Stormguard, and the Storm Tower is probably one of the best artillery units out there right now thanks to it's lightning-generator, but this is hardly the best tier benefit out there.  Stormguard are good for eNemo as they can provide a nice front line for his forces.  While there is a bit of Skornergy going on with Nemo's Polarity Shield, they can still benefit from it and be somewhat useful to keeping models protected.  You should always line these guys up in a wedge formation on the table, fairly spread out, to make the most of them.  They're surprisingly squishy so it will take a couple of games to get them to work, as they're not as "easy-button" as some other infantry choices, but they can be devastating once you figure them out.

Tier 4, however, is what we were aiming for the whole time: free upkeeps first turn for the low price of 2 heavy warjacks!  Since eNemo has 4 pretty great upkeeps and he would normally not be able to put them all out there on first turn, this is a pretty significant benefit - even if he ends up not using one later.  The two warjacks we chose are also fantastic for eNemo, as an Ironclad is a cheap, but effective heavy that can also knock models down - especially with the extra focus on feat turn - to make it easier to hit other heavies or an unlucky warcaster.  With Fail Safe on him, no one wants to deal with an Ironclad and he'll be surprisingly effective for such a cheap heavy.  The Hammersmith is utterly scary with eNemo, as with Lightning Shroud he not only becomes P+S 19 on his hammers, but with beat back combined with the electro-leap (granted by Lightning Shroud) he can continue to beat down a heavy while killing off nearby infantry!  Additionally, Energizer will be great for mitigating one of the biggest weaknesses of the Hammersmith (SPD 4) while granting the same movement boost to all of his warjacks, so it doesn't feel like you're wasting it.

"This is not the hammer..."

All this is to say that eNemo can be tons of fun and I enjoy playing him because he represents the things that got me hooked on Warmachine: steam-powered robots and lightning technology.

In conclusion, I present you with a list for your perusal and comments:

"The Weathermen" theme force at 50 points (Tier 4)
eNemo (+6)
- Firefly (5)
- Firefly (5)
- Centurion (9)
- Hammersmith (9)
- Ironclad (7)
Stormguard (min, 6)
Stormguard (min, 6)
Storm Tower (free*)
Storm Tower (2)
Journeyman Warcaster (3)
Stormsmith Stormcaller (1)
Stormsmith Stormcaller (1)
Stormsmith Stormcaller (1)
Stormsmith Stormcaller (1)
Stormsmith Stormcaller (1)