Hello there!

Normally on Wednesdays like this, Oz and I would be hosting a live-streamed Dev Chat to show you all the fresh hotness coming out of the development pit. Unfortunately, getting out of the house and streaming isn’t an option right now, so we’ll just have to do the next best thing: type out some fresh hotness instead!

The highly anticipated release of two new Riot Quest models is just around the corner. Both Feora the Forsaken and the Mekanoshredder are coming out soon, so now seems like the perfect time to reveal their finalized Riot Quest rules, the Riot Gear cards that come with each, and the current in-testing WARMACHINE rules for both.

Let’s start off with the Mekanoshredder, shall we?

This adorable little Hero provides your Crew with some unique utility for the Guard class. Baseline, we see that it has standard “construct”-level Defense, with a stat of 3/8. This lil’ bugger has Safeguard, like all other Guards, and a fairly average melee attack. Beyond the baseline, though, you can start to see what this Hero brings to your table.

Assimilated Parts is a new ability that just gets better as the game goes on. The more Gear in your discard pile, the better Mekanoshredder is at attacking enemies and rigging bounties. Of course, what’s a Gear-related ability worth if it doesn’t also help facilitate getting more Gear for your Crew in the first place? Thanks to its Scavenger ability, the Mekanoshredder will often net you at least 2 Loot per activation. Throw a Fell Charm on this little monster, and really watch the Loot start rolling in.

The Riot Gear card that comes in Mekanoshredder’s blister is the Enormous Monkey Wrench that…puts an enormous monkey wrench in your opponents’ plans. Check it out.

This low-cost Riot Gear is excellent for disrupting your opponent’s plans, especially when it comes to their rigging plans. Let’s say an Enemy has the bomb token and is trying to run it in for the game-winning rig. Just Discombobulate them up to SEVEN SPACES AWAY, and watch their plans unravel. Or maybe you need to land the killing blow on an Enemy who is hiding in cover—just Discombobulate them out of cover and start blasting.

Over on the WARMACHINE side of things, let’s just saying things are moving full steam ahead.

Will you look at that animus! Even if there aren’t constructs to charge for the additional movement and Pathfinder, Full Steam at worst allows you to defer the fury cost of charging from your warbeasts onto either your warlock or your Mekanoshredders.

For only 4 points, you get a very strong animus and a lesser warbeast capable of getting some decent work done in melee. Assimilation and Dismantle are cherries on top, but Clamp on the Mekanoshredder’s Bite attack is no joke at all.

Switching gears (is that a pun?), let’s move on to the next new hotness (that is a pun): Feora the Forsaken.

As a Fighter Hero, Feora can be summed up as follows: Burn bright and burn out.

Feora has average stats for a Fighter across the board, but don’t let those initial numbers deceive you. As a Fighter, she has Charge, so she is typically getting an additional Power Die on her attacks. Add to that the Flank ability, which is effectively a free strike on an attack roll, and suddenly she becomes a bit scarier. Top all of that off with the ability to reroll ANY number of dice when attacking at the cost of discarding a Riot Gear card, and it’s apparent that whatever Feora wants to smack, she smacks.

Oh, and you know who pairs well with Feora in your Crew? Another Hero who benefits from having Riot Gear discarded to her Burnt Out ability like, say, the Mekanoshredder.

In her blister, you’ll also find this absolute nuke of a Riot Gear card, Time Bomb.

Yup, that’s a lot of text. And yup, that’s a LOT of power and risk all bundled up into one delightful Gear card. This single card effectively gives a Hero up to four free Action Dice on their activation at the cost of their life and some VPs for your opponents. Knowing when and where to set off the bomb is key to using it, but in the right situation, it can absolutely win you the game.

Oh, and let us all agree that the art of Time Bomb is one of the greatest illustrations in all of Riot Quest. #thankshaley

Moving on to the WARMACHINE side of things, Feora the Forsaken is the fourth iteration of the warcaster, and, man, is she mad about how things turned out for her.

There is a lot of raw power in Feora’s special abilities and her feat. The Anger tokens from her Hatred ability have no upper cap—she just keeps getting them the longer the game goes on. Most games of WARMACHINE don’t last more than seven rounds, but if you’re playing one that does, watch out.

Watch the World Burn is an incredibly powerful ability. Feora won’t have any pesky immunities get in her way. What she wants to set on fire, she will set on fire. Especially with her feat!

Her spell list can be summed up with one word: Revenge. There are three different vengeance-type triggers in her spell list, two of which she can upkeep for free with her Resourceful ability. Due to the power of her Field Marshal, Feora doesn’t have any baseline speed buffs such as Mobility or Boundless Charge. Instead, her movement buffs all come in the form of her vengeance triggers.

Watch out for that Hellwrought/Tantrum combo. If you’re fighting against Feora and you damage the warjack with Hellwrought on it, you better kill it that turn!

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this analog Dev Chat, and I’ll see you next time when we take a look at the rules for General Brug and Lord Azazello!