Meet the Warrior
“Into the fray!”
In this week’s Meet the Fighters article, we discuss the fearsome Warrior!
Background
The Tempest has many horrors to offer those who dare venture into it. In spite of all of them, one of the scariest things to be found therein is still, quite simply, someone rushing at you with a very big sword.
Some things never change.
In an age of high magic, to specialise in the low arts of slashing, smashing and bashing is quite a remarkable path. Warriors are generally regarded with a mix of skepticism, distrust and outright fear by their more magically-inclined peers. What madness would drive a person to hurl themselves headlong into combat?
Those who make friends with a Warrior know better, at least. It is not madness or stupidity that drives the martially inclined into battle1 with the likes of Wizards and Witches, but bravery.
A Warrior is no brute who forswears the magical crafts altogether - they are just as much of a magi as anyone else is these days.
As such, a Warrior makes for a very good ally indeed.
Appearance
I somehow forgot to add an appearance section to last week’s article so have added it in post - why not go back and check it out?
Warriors are as diverse in their appearances as all the cultures of the Continent, wielding all manner of weapons from hefty hammers to slick swords, as likely to be adorned in armour of enchanted silk as in plate mail.
When choosing a model for your Warrior, there really aren’t many limitations beyond “Do they look like they mean up-close-and-personal business?”
Rules
At Toughness 7, Warriors are a little tougher than your ordinary fighter, but only by one point. They can hit a little harder in melee, too, when making a Heavy Attack.
What makes Warriors stand out from the pack is their unique Charge ability:
When this fighter finishes a Move Action which they started 1” or more away from any enemy fighters, this fighter may immediately make a free melee Attack Action. In that Attack Action, they may not make a step move and must choose the Heavy Attack profile.
In Magewinds, you normally have to wait a turn before attacking the enemy you just rushed up to, but the Warrior gets to do so immediately. Not only that: they get to do it for free!
There is one major drawback: it has to be a Heavy Attack, making it easy to Dodge. This means you might want to wait until your target is out of actions before charging in. Or, less deviously, Charge can be a good way to force a Reaction out of a target early in the round - because they’re definitely going to want to avoid a Power 7 attack - and put your opponent on the back foot.
Tip: Combine Charge with the Haste universal spell to give the Warrior a truly terrifying 9” threat range.
Conclusion
Simple, reliable and impossible to avoid dealing with, the Warrior is a fighter I expect to see in a lot of warbands2.