Matsudan and Spectra stats preview!

We’ve had a great week previewing the brand-new Matsudan sub faction and the awesome Spectra. So far we’ve mainly showed off the background of these two releases, so you know how they fit into the Warpath universe. In today’s blog, we wanted to give you a bit of a taste of how the Matsudan and Spectra will play in the game.

OTA SORA

It all started with Ota Sora – the mercenary from the Terror in the Deep Star Saga expansion. When we were putting together Escalation we wanted to give each faction a legendary character. When it came to Ota Sora, we loved the aesthetic of the chunky Matsudan working alongside the wraith-like Marionettes or Cyphers. Plus, there was a sort of anime-vibe to Ota Sora’s outfit and the Marionettes supporting him – which we loved.  Ota was also able to provide some useful fire support too for the Asterians.

So, after the popularity of Ota Sora and the Matsudan in DreadBall, we started thinking about a potential support faction for the Asterians. Typically, most Asterian players take Cyphers and Kalyshi in their list but we wanted to help support the unloved Marionettes – after all, they’re some of our favourite hard plastics!

SPLAT ATTACK!

This meant we came up with the idea of the Matsudan all being specialists, while the Marionettes are used as troops. The Matsudan provide the heavy fire, while the Marionettes run around grabbing the objectives. You’ve also got the option of having the Toshiyori as the Matsudan leader or the Marionette Prime, which has been given a boost with a revised splat.

Both leaders give the Marionettes a helping hand. Let’s take a look at the Toshiyori first:

Bringing Honour to the Machine: Spend an Army Special result on a Command Dice to allow up to 3 Marionette models to increase their Shoot to 4+ and gain Weight of Fire (1), Resilient (1) and Honourable but lose Construct until the end of the Round. At the start of the next Round before any activations each Marionette affected by this Army Special result will be marked as activated.

Phew! That’s a handy upgrade to your Marionettes. Use that in the early portion of the game, when you still have some Marionettes left and they can start putting out some serious damage. Plus, at only 10pts each, it’s likely you’ll have a few in your Strike Team.

Next up is the revised Marionette Prime splat:

Linked: Use an Army Special Result on a Command Dice when a Marionette, Marionette Specialist or Marionette Prime performs a Shoot action to allow a second Marionette, Marionette Specialist or Marionette Prime within 2 cubes of the first model to also take a free Shoot action at the same or another model in range. At the end of the activation, do not mark the second model as activated.

It’s only a subtle change, but it’s potentially very powerful. Now, rather than marking both models as activated, the second model is free to perform another action later in the round. Combined with an extra activation command dice, this could be extremely useful.

Some pretty tasty options with the splats there.

HOW DO THEY PLAY?

Good question! The Matsudan are size two models and you’ll find armour 1 across the board. Apart from the Inashi, the close combat specialist, which has armour 2. All the Matsudan are Solid, so they can’t be pinned or knocked back – very handy for avoiding those indirect attacks. They should also be fairly good at sticking around too, with a survive stat of 4+ across the board.

As mentioned, the intention with the Matsudan is that the Marionettes are an intrinsic element of the list. The Marionettes are your troops to swarm objectives, while the Yokozuna or Ozeki provide covering fire. The Yokozuna is armed with the Ion Cannon (same as Ota Sora), so has range 6, AP2 and Weight of Fire (1), while the Ozeki has an Ion Barrage, with range 5, AP1 and Suppression.

Meanwhile the Sekiwake armed with the Shock Maul melee weapon and Inashi with the dual light blades, can mop up some stronger foes in close combat. The Inashi, in particular, is pretty tasty in combat. With a Fight stat of 4+, the light blades have Frenzy (1) and AP2, so you can carve through armour.

MORE OPTIONS!

The Matsudan are a sub faction of the Asterians, so that also means you’ve got the full Asterian list to mix into your Strike Team. Although we’ve intended the Matsudan to fight alongside the Marionettes, you could easily team them up with Kalyshi and Cyphers too. In fact, we can’t wait to see the filthy combinations you come up with.

Of course, because you’ve got access to all the Asterians that means you can combine the Matsudan with the Spectra! The thought of sumo wrestling space lizards fighting alongside the anime-esque Spectra makes us squeal like a little kid with a bowl full of Coco Pops – other cereals are available.

The stats for the Matsudan and Spectra are currently being laid out but, in the meantime, here’s a little taste!

That 2-3 move really shows that this isn’t your standard mech. It can move around the gaming table with ease and combined with Flight, the Spectra is going to be extremely agile. That stompy old Iron Ancestor won’t know what has hit it. Of course, that’s only the tip of the iceberg for the Spectra and we’ll reveal the weapon stats in a future blog.

We hope you’re as excited about the Matsudan and Spectra as we are! Both are now available to pre-order from the Mantic website, or you can head to your local game store and DEMAND them order them for you.