Engineering Victory: The Strengths of Bauhaus Forces

Welcome to the first article of this faction focus series. In this series we will be looking through the units and assets of the Bauhaus faction, its strengths, weaknesses and overall strategies from the viewpoint of a tester.

In Warzone Eternal, Bauhaus has 3 base units to play with: The Venusian Rangers, The Blitzers and the Etoiles Mortant. Each one of them has a specific role in the warzone (see what I did there?).

Venusian Rangers

Starting off with the Venusian Rangers, like most troops in WZ:E they cost 4DPs and they come with 5 distinct characteristics:

• Very High MW: 14
• Camouflage (1)
• Precise Senses
• Determination
• The AG-17 Assault Rifle

These things make the Venusian Ranger a very strong rearguard. They can secure Objectives close to your deployment zone (since they get to re-roll LD checks via Determination), and they are very survivable due to Camouflage increasing Obstruction modifiers to a -3 or -5 on ranged attacks. Their secondary role is sniping enemy Camouflage via Precise Senses, their high MW and reliable weapon make them quite accurate. Against an enemy in Heavy Obstruction at long range, they need a TN(9) , DAM12 at 12-36″ for a regular shot, or TN(13) DAM 14 for an Aimed Shot. That’s a 45 – 65% chance of a hit, excluding DEF modifiers. Don’t forget at close range (<=6″) it’s better to use their pistol than the actual AR. So the weapon selection should be as follows:

This choice means that botching (AKA Critical Fail) a TN(MW) roll, isn’t as big of a deal, because you can swap weapons around freely.

As far as choices go, for each Trooper you can get a Medic, who can heal a wound for free on a TN(12) roll and provides Critical Failure mitigation for TN(AR) rolls for models within 6″.

Their Leader is excellent at using Command due to Determination, but they do have an HG-14 Shotgun for a weapon. That means their good range-band is only up to 6″. Thank the Cardinal you got your MP-105. But you can use them to touch objectives and give actions to…

The HMG Support. They have to be one of humanity’s most dangerous units, with MW14, Precise Senses, Camouflage(1),  a DAM14 weapon within 24″ and Burst 3! What’s not to like? Well that Recoil(4) means you won’t be Counter Attacking too often, but a Braced shot from their MG-80 is nothing to sneeze at.

Pesky Pretorian Stalker giving you a hard time? MG-80. Free Marine squad wanting to spread capitalism to your colonies? MG-80. (Corrupt) Mortificators doing Mortificator things? MG-80! Even Razides have legit reasons to being scared of them!

These Rangers are strong, but they have a core weakness: Melee. If you get to melee they can’t really defend themselves. At best they will strike at a TN(CC) of 12 for DAM 12, so be careful and don’t let anyone touch your Rangers in melee. Otherwise you risk having your troops die, or even worse, be locked in melee with no way out. There’s nothing worse having your Venusian Ranger Support be unable to shoot at anyone because a pajama-clad Shadow Walker is annoying. Even if the Shadow Walker fails to kill your Ranger, you’re losing at this exchange. The reason is that if you try to break from melee, you risk a Parting Blow or even worse, an Ambush. You can’t really hit back, so you have a choice: either risk getting killed while breaking off melee, or try and fight while stacking Overwhelming Numbers for a better chance of hitting. Either way avoid B2B contact.

Don’t be afraid in placing them into Dangerous Terrain, as their good LD and Determination make it highly unlikely they will get injured, and the terrain will work as a deterrent to your enemy.
Overall the Rangers are a solid back line with a very good statline overall and excellent profile choices. You could field an entire 40DP army just with Venusian Rangers and it would be strong!

Blitzers

Blitzers are a very interesting unit, with a unique special ability: Blitz. It reads: After an enemy model fails an armor save against your shoot action, you may make a ✨free move action ✨. Potentially this means you get to shoot twice and then move twice. Mind blown number 1. They also come with the MP-103 SMG, that’s pretty neat-o. DAM 12 at 6″, DAM 11 at 7-18 is not bad, but if you look at the keywords you see: Burst (2). Mind blown number 2. They also get Trailblaze, which mean they can move freely in Rough Terrain. These guys (or gals) are designed to do one thing: get close fast,  harass the enemy and get out of LOS. Use your blitz and reposition as a way to make hit-and-run tactics.

Their choices include an Operator: Perfect for camping Objectives (and holding more Reactions) and holding those sweet, sweet grenades. Smoke grenades are also extremely important, so make use of them. Note: you can indirect fire grenades in order to hit that pesky Mortificator and their smug -8 penalty in Heavy Obstruction. Watch their smile turn to confusion as they realize that you don’t need to target them in order to throw that grenade.

But what’s also interesting is the Blitzer Support choice. The Gehenna Puker means you lack the 18″ range of the SMG, but anyone within 10″ is in danger. That DAM 13 Continuous means you get to shoot and scoot very reliably.

Their Leader is good, too. They’re armed with a Shotgun, meaning that at 6″ people are in danger. Plus, they can command other Blitzers (preferably Operators and Supports).

Overall, Blitzers are an excellent CQB choice, perfect for contesting the midfield and its Objectives. They are weak to long range engagements, but also pure melee units.

Etoiles Mortant

Last but definitely not least we have the Dying Stars, AKA Etoiles Mortant.

The Mortant, are Bauhaus’ melee shock troops. Very lightly armored but very fast (MV 5), they can reliably reach the midfield by the end of Turn 2 the latest. Whilst they don’t have high armor, they can be survivable thanks to their Awareness & Dodge combo – meaning they get to have 2+ Reactions per turn – and Evasive (-2) which make them difficult to shoot at. Specifically with no obstruction, enemies take a -4 to Shoot at them, -6 in Light Obstruction and a whooping -8 in Heavy Obstruction. Yes, if you manage to hit them they will implode with their 20 AR, but good luck. Their LD of 13 means that they can reach and contest the enemy Objectives reliably. They are armed with a Punisher combo: Pistol and Short Sword. The latter means you can easily execute wounded enemies. Their lack of Duelist mean you can strike them back in melee at no penalty (except for DEF) and they can potentially attempt to Counter Attack if they are not Pinned.

Their choices include:
Good’ol 4-0 Trooper

A very nice 5-2 Leader, with all the goodies a Leader enjoys (+1 to MW and CC, plus +2 on LD, plus Command plus Inspire)

Drumroll please!

Support: AKA one of the best snipers in the game.

what is this guy on? Etoiles Mortant one of the best snipers?

Let me explain. Granted they only have MW(12) but hear me out. You can’t Counter Attack them, because you will likely miss. You can’t Ambush them because it’s likely you will miss. They have  an Accurate(3) weapon, so if you attack them they can either Counter Attack if they are gambling addicts like me, or they will just Dive for Cover twice and probably not take the Reaction Counter due to Dodge. They only have a MW(13) on open targets, but that gets bumped to 17 for aimed shots (13 on heavy obstruction) which is not too bad. You can slap them with a HyperActivator in order to get a “free” move and not miss your nice Aim and Shoot combo.

Ironically EM are susceptible to melee also or high Burst weapons (so you can go fishing for Criticals)

With these three units, Bauhaus is strong in Long, CQB and Melee ranges, but weak to melee and 2/3 of their units can be out-ranged.

Assets

Fire Support: Do you want to move close to an enemy unit? Are you afraid they will Ambush/Counter Attack? No more! Once per game you can make your play and the enemy can do nothing about it!

Reliability: Do you have 2 Venusian Ranger Support units and you want to go full dakka? For the entire game turn (Reactions included) you can shoot to your heart’s content without being afraid of Critical Failures.

The Moment Has Come!: This means “I go first so suck it.” You get to have the first activation of the turn!

Overall, Bauhaus has some very good faction specific assets that can complement their strengths.

I believe that this is a very straight forward faction to play with and you will have a lot of fun with their unit combinations.