Cracking Contraptions

Here's the current version of my engineering insanity...

Cracking Contraptions
Olanore, Master of Gehran College (Unique) – 40pts
Larigal, the Empire's greatest centre for the crafts and arts of the engineers, is divided into bitterly rival colleges. The greatest and oldest of these is Gehran, and its master Olanore is one of the oldest and wisest Fubarnii Engineers in the Empire. That wisdom, of course, does not mean he is not woefully absent minded, and certainly hasn't given him the necessary common sense to stop accompanying his college's militia regiment on excursions near Larigal in order to look for interesting pebbles or other oddments...
Move: 6
Combat: 1
Support: 0
Tough: 6+
Stamina: 1
Size: Small
Command Range: 6”
Apprentice Master [T]: May have up to three Fubarnii apprentices carrying his experimental weapons. He himself may not carry a weapon.
Absent Minded [T]: The Engineer may not be activated by another model – he can only be activated with an activation counter.
Revered [T]: Apprentices or fubarnii militia gain +1 support when in a combat involving Olanore.
College Master [C]: May activate up to 8 militia, herders, militia captains, apprentices and/or engineers each turn.

Fubarnii Engineer (Civilian) – 35pts
Move: 6
Combat: 1
Support: 0
Tough: 6+
Stamina: 1
Size: Small
Command Range: 6”
Apprentice Master [T]: May activate up to two Fubarnii apprentices.
Rare [T]: Only one Fubarnii Engineer may join the force for every 500 points of Fubarnii troops (so 0-500 1 Engineer, 501-1000 2 Engineers, and so on.) In addition, if an engineer is killed the Fubarnii side loses an activation counter for the remainder of the game (remove one from the bag and put it to one side) as the loss of the engineer is a highly demoralising portent for the Fubarnii forces.
Absent Minded [T]: The Engineer may not be activated by another model – he can only be activated with an activation counter.

An engineer automatically gains any two of the following skills, and may select another two of the following instead of an experimental weapon or contraption.
Tactics, Lad! [A]*: The Engineer may select one friendly troop within 6”, who in turn selects 2 other troops within its command range. They may all make a free cautious movement (though may not use any other activation abilities and do not count as having been activated).
Up and to the left a little… [A]*: The Engineer may select one friendly ranged troop within 6”. The next time that troop fires they may re-cast up to two combat stones of the attack.
There, boy… [A]*: The Engineer may select one friendly mounted troop within 6”. That troop gains +2 movement in their next activation.
Confused orders [A]*: The Engineer may select one enemy troop within 6” that has not yet been activated this turn. He may activate it and get it to move and use any activation abilities it has as if it was on the Fubarnii side. This may never be used to initiate a close combat with a friendly model.
I can teach it tricks! [A]*: The Engineer may select one friendly beast within 6". The beast may re-cast up to two combat stones this turn as if it had the combat trained ability.
Lie of the land [A]*: The Engineer may select up to three enemy models within 6". They may only move cautiously for the remainder of this turn, and may not use any abilities that would increase their movement normally.

Fubarnii Apprentice Engineer (Civilian) – 20pts
Move: 6
Combat: 1
Support: 0-1
Tough: 6+
Stamina: 0
Size: Small
Command Range: 0.5”
Apprentice [T]; The Apprentices may not be activated except via the engineer. If all the Fubarnii Engineers on their side die, the apprentices may be activated normally. They normally have a support value of 0, unless supporting the engineer in which case it increases to 1; while the engineer is adjacent to an apprentice, he may recast one combat stone per apprentice per phase (this recast may be used on a contraption or in combat).

CONTRAPTIONS

Derak [R]
Move up to 3” then make a 3CS blast range attack. Cast an additional stone for any models that are caught Full Blast.

Gushrak [R]
A gushrakeer has 2 stamina.
Gushrak [R]. Move up to 3". Make 2CS blast attack. Cast an additional stone for any models that are caught Full Blast. May use one or more of following:
- More Power*. Cast one more CS for all attacks.
- Wide Spray*. Place an additional blast template when selecting targets. Each target is only hit once.

Net Firer [R]
May be fired in the engineer's activation if he has not moved. Select 1 unobstructed enemy model within 8. Make a 5CS ranged attack against the target, then when the number of successful hits is found consult the chart below;
0 Nothing happens.
1 Tangled: The model may not move until the end of its next activation, but may fight and use abilities as normal.
2 Netted: The model may not move until the end of its next activation, and if engaged or shot at may use one less combat stone than it normally could.
3+ Hopelessly Enmeshed: As with netted, but this also prevents the model from using any abilities until the end of its next activation.

If all the stones are miscast, the engineer/apprentice him/herself becomes "Netted."

Mechanical Sling [R]
May be fired in the engineer’s activation if he has not moved. Make a 3CS ranged attack against one target within 18”. If all three erac cast successfully, the attacked model must take its tough save at -1.

Ornithomata [R]
These are small mechanical flying darts that an Engineer designed to attack Devanu jenta, after noting that a small flying animal living nearby successfully stopped one eating it by flying at it and scratching at its eyes. The model with the Ornithomata only starts with d6+4 of them. Move up to 3", then select a target within 18". Choose to attack with 1, 2, or 3 Ornithomata, and use that many combat stones. As the Ornithomata attack at close range, the attack counts as a Close Combat attack, but such is the difficulty it takes to avoid them that each successful Erac in the attack takes 2 Oran to counter.

Grappling Claw [A]
May be used in the engineer’s activation if he is engaged with an enemy. Make a 6CS attack against the target with the target only casting Oran and the Apprentice only casting Erac, then when the number of successful hits is found consult the chart below;
0 Total Failure: The enemy model may attack the engineer if they wish, the engineer is unable to respond as the claw has jammed and he cannot defend himself.
1 Glances off: The enemy model may, if they wish, initiate a free round of combat with the engineer.
2 Grapples: Initiate a combat with the enemy model. The enemy model may use as many or as few stones as they wish. The engineer may use the same number of stones, though does not benefit from the opponent’s combat abilities.
3 Holds: Initiate a combat with the enemy model, using up to the opponent’s maximum number of stones (engineer’s choice). The enemy may use up to one less than the same number of stones, though does not benefit from the opponent’s combat abilities.
4+ Grabs Tight: Initiate a combat with the enemy model. The enemy model may not attack the engineer, but the engineer may use the opposing model’s number of combat stones for the combat.

Note that in none of the above combats may either side benefit from support, and that the claw cannot be used in combat phases, only in activations, as it takes a long time to set up for use.

Flaming Staff [A]
May be used once per turn by the engineer when engaged with an enemy. If used in the activation phase, the engineer may disengage with the enemy, who may then not re-engage with him for the remainder of the turn. If used in a combat phase, it decreases the enemy combat pool by –1 as they recoil from the flames and adds +2 to the combat and support stats of the Engineer, though all extra stones gained in this way must be cast as Erac.

Trained Garkrid [A][R]
This small flying animal has been trained to carry messages or attack nearby foes with its vicious claws. The Engineer/Apprentice must select one friendly elite within their combat range. That elite may then, in their next activation, activate one friendly elite anywhere within 18”. If the Engineer/Apprentice does not use this ability they may use the Garkrid to make a 1CS ranged attack against 1 enemy model within 18”.

Balloon [A]
This may only be taken by an engineer with 0-1 apprentices. The Engineer may move over enemy models if he has sufficient movement, and gains +9 movement (for a total of 15). One other model at a time may accompany him in the balloon. Models in the balloon may not make combat attacks or blast range attacks, but may make other ranged attacks as normal. The balloon must cast two oran to be able to move. If both fail, the balloon is grounded this turn and models inside may be attacked as normal. The balloon may also be landed at any point in its movement, in which case the same thing applies. In either case, as long as the Engineer is alive the balloon may attempt to take off next turn.

SCENARIO; Defence at All Costs

FORCES
Defenders - Fubarnii Empire
1 Fubarnii Engineer
1 Fubarnii Apprentice
1 Militia Captain
4 Fubarnii Militia
4 Fubarnii Herders

VERSUS

Attackers - 300 pts of any WoT force

RULES
Setup on a 4'x4' table. The defender sets up within a 12" quarter-circle of one corner (preferably with a few Fubarnii houses around them), the attacker may put their models anywhere 15" away from any Fubarnii models.

The Fubarnii defenders win if all enemy elites are killed or by killing over half the enemy starting models.
The attackers are attempting to get past the defenders; they win by getting over half their starting models off the table edges inside the Fubarnii start area.

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NOTES

I've tried to make each piece of weaponry of a very similar strength, so these should be swappable for each other.