The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Wild Bill and Carmen Johns & Bâtard in RTF

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY - Wild Bill and Carmen Johns & Bâtard in RTF

In the Unit Focus series I take a look at the different units that make up the Ramah Taskforce, and try to answer why, not if, you should include them in your lists.

 

(Disclaimer! I've made the decision to use a Dynamo Biker and a spare Antipode model to reprisent Carmen & Bâtard - I've made this decision purely on stylistic grounds, and I still find the actual models amazing, if less professional looking, than the ones I've chosen to use!)

 

While most of Ramah Taskforce is made up of dedicated Haqqislamite career soldiers, there are also more eccentric characters mixed into the force. In this article, I'm going to take a look at the Faction's only Warband option in the mercenary biker Carmen Johns and her companion Antipode Bâtard, as well as the legendary Aristeia! gunslinger (and a Janissary wannabe), Wild Bill

In This World, There Are Two Kinds of People...

Wild Bill - MULTI Pistol (+1B), Contender OR Rifle; 22pts OR 25pts

The crowd favorite Aristeia! duellist Wild Bill apparently also moonlights as a Ramah operative! This old-timey hero can move about the battlefield with surprising speed, thanks to his 6-2 MOV, as he looks for opportunities to leverage his deadly shooting. Marksmanship, BS 13, BS Attack (Shock) and BS Attack (+1DMG), combined with the MULTI Pistol (+1B), make him a truly devastating close range gunfighter. Most of the time he'll be firing at Burst 3 to utilize AP (+Shock) rounds, but there's also the possibility of going for Burst 2 DA (also with Shock)!

Bill's "primary" (read secondary) armanent is either the cheap Contender (mostly good for AROs due to it being only Burst 1), or the more aggressive, and also Suppressive Fire capable, Rifle. Both of these weapons reach DMG 14 in Wild Bill's capable hands, but neither of them can compete with the destructive power of the MULTI Pistol(s) - the choice between the longer range gun probably comes down to how you're anticipating your approach to go; if Bill has to fight his way into Pistol range, bring the Rifle along, but if you think he can reach his sweet spot with little opposition (maybe in a Janissary Fireteam?), spare the points and go for the Contender!

 

Dodge (+3) and No Wound Incapacitation offer a level of defense against returning attacks (and Courage guards you against the faint-heart-syndrome), but with ARM 1, BTS 0, PH 11 and no Immunities, the options available to Bill in most hostile encounters is to either be quick or be dead... While Wild Bill's CC isn't great (15), don't forget that he can leverage the Burst bonus from the MULTI Pistol to threaten two attacks with DMG 13 and DA ammo - which might just be enough to destroy an attackable Mission Objective over a couple of Orders!

All in all, Wild Bill is a very straight forward piece: he wants to get close to his chosen enemies, and then riddle them with (MULTI Pistol) bullets. He has just enough speed and survivability to achieve this when you execute the attack run properly, but you aren't really losing a key piece if he goes down in the effort! Then again, blowing half your turn's Orders on a failed offensive isn't good either...

Curiously enough, this Aristeia! champion can join Fireteams of Janissaries. Even though this doesn't seem the most thematically approriate way to field him, it can actually works rather nicely on the table! The Janissaries can push through enemy opposition and escort Bill to his optimal rangeband, while the duellist helps keep the cost of the unit down - a win-win! Well, almost... Unfortunately Wild Bill doesn't count as a Janissary for the purposes of Fireteam Bonuses, so including him in the squad provides you added diversity at the cost of raw combat power!

At the end of the day, it's quite rare to see Wild Bill included in an RTF list, unless there are also Janissaries present. This isn't to say he's bad - far from it - but rather that Ramah as an abundance of semi-expensive models that fight well, and most of them are also Specialists and/or more diversely Fireteam compatible. Then again, if you've gotten everything you absolutely want already into your list, and you've got the points to spare, why not narrow your eyes, throw your poncho over your shoulder and very, very slowly start moving your hand towards your Pistol hilt...

Thuglife

Carmen - Chain Rifle (+1B), Smoke Grenades, Heavy Pistol (+1B), DA CC Weapon, Bâtard; 17pts

When you picture a Ramah Taskforce strike team preparing for action, I doubt you think of a mercenary biker revving her bike's engine, while her Antipode companion howls eagerly by her side, but well - that's what we've got here!

RTF's only Warband option is a flavorful pair. Carmen is mostly what you'd expect from a character biker. She has MOV of 8-4 (reduced to 4-4 when Dismounted), high PH of 13, modest BS of 11, low ARM and BTS scores of 1 and 0 respectively, but rather surprisingly, CC 22! Not only that, but this ferocious daredevil also benefits from Martial Arts L2 and Natural Born Warrior - her enemies better watch out when they hear her engine sound drawing closer!

 

Dodge (+2'') allows for Carmen to advance a distance equal to her second MOV value when successfully avoiding enemy attacks (whether they be AROs or could-be-AROs), and her Dogged skill means that unless getting hit by Shock weapons, even a mortal wound won't stop her attack run! Booty is a funny (if very, very unreliable) addition, that may see her start the battle with anything between +1 ARM and an HMG!

Miss John's equipment is very focused on fast entries and close range carnage. Smoke Grenade Launcher and Smoke Grenades give her the ability to deploy Smoke accurately up to 8'' and with a 55% chance of success out to 24''! She isn't a Core Fireteamed Ghulam NCO, but she isn't far either - especially considering the fact that her Impetuous Order gives you a "free" try at the Smoke toss!

 

On the weapons department, Carmen carries a trusty DA CC Weapon for whacking at foolish enemies (as well as destructable Objects!) in melee, while her Chain Rifle (+1B) and Heavy Pistol (+1B) ask her enemies a pretty hard question at close ranges; would you like to Dodge and face Burst 3 DMG 14 Shock rounds, or will you fire back and eat double Direct Templates? As of writing of this article, you can even take advantage the Heavy Pistol's extra Burst when using it to melee an enemy in your active turn, and in the vast majority of cases it's more advantageous to strike twice and thus have a higher chance of winning the face to face roll as well as a higher probability getting critical hits!

The other part of the this mercenary duo is the Peripheral Batârd. This antipode is quick enough to keep up with his motorcycle riding mistress, and he carries a Trench Hammer to either throw at enemies, or to smash them in close combat with (for the latter part, this 'werewolf' also carries a backup AP CC Weapon). Mimetism (-3) and Dogged also mean that taking this bad dog out isn't going to be too easy either!

As is the case with most aggressive models with offensive Peripherals (like Ariadnan Strelok K-9s and O12 Team Sirius), when used properly, you can set your enemies up for some truly hard ARO situations. Being able to threaten someone with a thrown Trench Hammer in addition to either a Heavy Pistol or a Chain Rifle attack can really leave your opponent with no good choices. Getting to enjoy Burst 2 (or rather, Burst 3!) in melee, by piling both Carmen and Bâtard on a happless enemy, can also really devastate most targets, and if a troublesome Mine blocks your path, you only need to risk the Antipode to take it out!

To me, this mercenary tagteam is an excellent tool for digging out enemies who try to hide from you by deploying in total cover. Attacking such dug in models with more conventional troops can be too Order intensive (not to mention dangerous!) to be worth while, but with an 8-4 Impetous model (with a 6-6 Antipode in tow!) it's doable! In an ideal situation I'll gun down any long ranged enemy AROs with a first Group sweeper model (such as a Zhayedan HMG or a Khawarij NCO shooting through Smoke), before spending my remaining Orders to charge Carmen and Bâtard as deep in to the enemy lines as possible, and take out as many enemies as I can. If such a maneuver is unfeasible, it's okay to just lay low, and wait for the potential opportunites offered by the next turn.

 

It pays to to take note that Bâtard also has Sensor, so not only does he get a +6 mod to Discover rolls against Camouflaged enemies, he can also reveal all Hidden Deployed and Camoed troops within 8'' of himself! This can be hugely powerful if you have a reason to believe that there's something waiting to ambush your troops (or several Camo Markers requite simultanious revealing)! Just the other day I faced an Onyx list which deployed only two Imetrons to start the battle... I sure could have used a Sensor!

At the end of the day, Carmen and Batârd require quite some thought to employ properly. Their large footprint on the table makes hiding them a pain, while a long ranged ARO from a Sniper, a Missile Launcher or a Total Reaction HMG can gun them down is short order, and Shock Mines are especially dangerous to your mercenary operatives due their ability to bypass Dogged. Then again, you only pay 17 points for these guys, so you can't expect them to take on the whole world by themselves, now can you?

Let Slip the Dogs of War!

While Wild Bill and Carmen & Bâtard are very unconventional additions to Ramah Taskforce, they fit in strangely well. Bill can be a valuable member in a Janissary Fireteam, or work as a fast attack piece of his own, while C&B can take advantage of any gaps in your Opponent's lines to wreak havoc, or toss around Smoke for others to take advantage of, while they wait for their opportunity to attack. While playing these models may take some getting used to, I've found them to be excellent tools to include when the Mission being played or the Opponent being faced could benefit from the use of (for Ramah) more non-traditional strategies - playing differently from what your Opposing commander expects you to can go a long way towards winning you the game after all!

Until the next time - I wish you the very best in leading the Swift and Deadly Spear of the Haqqislamite Army to Victory!

The Veteran's Word

In The Veteran's Word I write down experiences and tactics that I did not include when I released the article originally. I will separate these additions into a subpart of their own, instead of adding them to the main text, as to make it easier for readers who've already read the article to find the new additions!

• 
   What Can You Smell Boy? Bâtard's Sensor opens up the possibility of using him as a "Discover Turret" of sorts; you can tuck Carmen somewhere safe and have Bâtard take up a commanding position with a good view of the battlefield. You can then leverage the Sensor's +6 mod to Discover Rolls to uncover up to two enemy Camouflage Markers per Order (you're Discovering Daylamis on 16s within up to 32''!), and on the reactive turn you can take suicidal Discovers against advancing Camouflaged enemies before they can make it to your lines! Oh what's that? The enemy wants to spend Orders shooting at a Mimetism (-3), Dogged Peripheral, while the werewolf Dodges their attacks with PH15? Please, take as many Orders as you need!
  

16/4/2021 Edit. Corrected the DMG value of MULTI Pistol when used in melee. Thanks to forum user Delta57Dash for pointing out the mistake!

20/4/2021 Edit. Added the fact that atleast at this time, Carmen can use the +1B of the Heavy Pistol when making melee attacks with it. Thanks to forum user Angry Clown for pointing that out! Additional thanks to forun user RobertShepherd for checking with the rules team to make sure this was legit!

28/4/2021. Edit. Polished the text a bit and added links. 

16/10/2021 Edit. Added the pictures of my versions of Carmen & Bâtard. 

2/3/2022 Edit. Added The Veteran's Word What Do You Smell Boy?

7/3/2022 Edit. Finally added the pictures of my painted Wild Bill!

3/8/2022 Edit. Updated the piece of reflect the changes brought about by the N4 Fireteam Update.