Factory Fortress Inc has released a new Merc for the battlefields of the Great War. The Combat Biologist comes with a new model, a lore page, and a ruleset for fielding it. We gathered our brightest alchemical scholars (whoever was able to write today) to add some thoughts on the new model.
The Lore
Combat Biologists exist in both the forces of New Antioch and within the Iron Sultanate in their own way. Ultimately though, their goals are the same: Find the weirdest, nastiest hellspawn and capture it to see how to inflict as much pain as possible on it. These scientists are usually deployed to the most dangerous parts of No Man’s Land in order to capture specimens from the most horrible foes of humanity. After capturing their prize they bring them back to the research labs of their order. As you might expect, these creatures escape said labs all the time.
Norman: These guys rule. Their addition to the setting really helps flesh out humanity’s reaction to hell things walking the earth, not just looking to destroy them but also to understand them. I also love the mention of these containment labs as it sets up some opportunities for interesting close-quarters tables and custom scenarios.
Dandy: Keep your friends close, and your enemies in your city, where they can escape and wreak havoc upon the general populace! Despite the chuckle I got when reading how the faithful “hide” their prisoners, I do like the general lore surrounding the Biologists. The Death Factories of Hell seem to be effortlessly and consistently evolving their craft, creating deadlier machinations with each iteration, whilst the faithful are scrambling to find any morsel of hope that can give them an advantage in the war. Needing to not only go out and find all manner of monsters, but then having to drag them back and only then can they begin to extract useful information, really portrays how badly the scales are tipped against the forces of the faithful.
The Model
Norman: This model does a great job selling the sterile weirdo scientist joining your warband. He’s got hints towards the more traditional Trench Crusade aesthetic with the half plate he’s got on along with the tactical leather pouches, but the focal point of the model is rebreather and mask that completely hides any human features he has. It’s unmistakable as a part of New Antioch while also looking alien and detached from the things around them. The scalpel polearm is also just inspired.
Dandy: I really like how this model showcases some of the sci-fi elements sprinkled throughout the setting, and it gives the model a distinctive look compared to the rest of the mercenary line-up. The blend between a bio-weapon hazmat specialist and a plate-wearing warrior aesthetic is excellent, and I can’t wait to have a crack at painting this model. There’s a good balance of detailed areas and open canvas here to explore.
Loxi: There’s something I love about evoking that sort-of “early astronaut helmet” aesthetic to these that feels unmistakably modern, yet also extremely archaic. From a painting point of view, it has a variety of textures that I think will take great to a bunch of different methods and styles and will have great chances to express yourself, I can’t wait to get one on my painting desk.
The Rules
The Combat Biologist is a Mercenary, costing 3 Glory to add to your warband. He’s got a pretty basic infantry stat block, moving 6” with +1 Dice in melee. He comes equipped with Standard Armor and a Gas Mask which makes sense. Passively he gets the Prize Specimens rule which gives him a blessing marker if he takes out a Daemonic or Black Grail model and Battlefield Vivisection which gives you an extra glorious deed to attempt in your games. This tasks you with killing three models engaged with the Combat Biologist, a tall order but an interesting extra goal.
His weapon, the Vivisector, also comes with some extra rules. It is two-handed and has Block (the new keyword for the polearm rule for -1 dice for attacks from models that charge this model) and Cumbersome. It has two rules; Pain Amplifier which makes crits easier for each Blood Marker the target has and Inflict Pain which forces non-Artificial models on a 40mm or smaller to move D3” away, provoking attacks from everything in combat with it which can then force them to move an additional D3” if they score another crit (although this doesn’t provoke additional attacks).
Norman: This dude is very interesting. I like that he adds another Glorious Deed to your warband, that’s a very interesting design space that helps sell that this guy is here with a job to do. It’s also good that the Glorious Deed doesn’t require the Combat Biologist to do the killing since he’s not exactly much of a beatstick. Pain Amplifier can get very nasty although an 11+ or 10+ isn’t exactly a common roll. I think it’s easy to get carried away with what this model can do given the perfect storm of events but more often than not, he’s just gonna hit and do a Blood Marker. That said, just the threat of ganging up on a model and provoking a bunch of free attacks will have your opponent thinking twice about tossing their model into No Man’s Land.
Bre4d_: The Biologist definitely feels like it has some spice, although for 3 Glory, you better have a strategy going forward involving his abilities. I am into the fact that Bio Bro over here can work well with both New Antioch and Iron Sultanate, since both have solid pieces that are able to pump out Blood Markers, allowing for some real utility from the Pain Amplifier ability. The icing on the cake is the ability to have your own little Glorious Deed side quest, hopefully being able to get your own Glory back throughout your campaign. Unfortunately, this nerd is simply just a dork, and would be pretty easy to take Out of Action if he is not piloted carefully.
Another note, I am really happy with the inclusion of keywording for the release of 1.0! Having keywords makes being able to teach and learn the game both easier and quicker, allowing for more players to be able to experience the trenches for themselves.
Dandy: There is some gas here, and I can see a use for this model in New Antioch, especially when paired with a melee-focused fireteam that has a Lieutenant in it. With the “On My Command!” ability and the Vivisector pushback, you can activate three models, whilst squeezing in some cheeky extra hits with those models with little retaliation in between. However, that’s just me speculating, and realistically, there are a lot of “ifs” to make this a reliable strategy overall. On the other hand, I don’t see the Biologist replacing either a Mamluk Faris or an Observer as my primary (or even secondary) mercenary choice for New Antioch. Those picks provide immediate value through an extra fireteam and activation shenanigans, while the Biologist asks you to invest in a particular plan. I could see him working in an aggressive melee warband that wants to snowball Glory, where they are one of the many immediate threats an opponent has to deal with. Iron Sultanate also has some very nice Glory items that they want to grab, so adding an early Biologist could be a decent choice, if you’re confident you’re going to get your investment back, and then some.
I think we can get a clearer picture of how this model fits in once the 1.0 rules are out, but as it stands, it’s an interesting pick that can undoubtedly help accumulate Glory. Compared to other mercenaries, the Biologist requires things to consistently line up a little too conveniently for it to replace the optimal picks at the moment.
Loxi: I think there are two key points here for me. First and foremost, it’s a good way to cash in on something that’s already wounded, as you can use Pain Amplier’s blood token bonuses to better secure a crit before you swing in for the kill, making him potentially very good as a frontliner for rosters that want to get a bunch of tokens tallied up from afar, but might not have as much melee pressure to push for kills. The other reason I think it fits great in that type of roster is that it has an extremely unique ability to create space and really secure a sturdy frontline, making him a bit of a tough cookie to charge into without repercussion if you can’t kill him in one go.
The blessing markers are a handy and flavorful touch which can definitely swing some matchups in your favor, but I think our little field biologist will shine best with ranged rosters looking to add some bite and protect their midfield/backfield models with a bit of frontline support. He isn’t a one man army though and definitely will best operate as a supporting contingent to some other units up in the midboard. I can see a lot of merit especially with the other movement shenanigans of Iron Sultanate, making you have an even more slippery board and forcing people to make some really awkward movement decisions and charges – with the biologist able to heavily capitalize on felling misplaced enemies.
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