Countdown to Cyriss - Week 8

Welcome back to another installment of Countdown to Cyriss where I try to breakdown Privateer Press's Wednesday spoilers and give my evolving thoughts on the army. We got a shorter spoiler this week, but wow is it a good one!

Cyriss is all about clockwork and math, so it should be no surprise that positioning is key when it comes to the Transfinite Emergence Projector (TEP), Cyriss's battle engine that is guaranteed to bring the hurt! At first glance it seems painfully lackluster - two 10" POW 10 sprays is nothing to make you throw up your hands in jubilation. But then Dave "DC" Carl, who is taking over the Cyriss blog, gave us the TEP's special rule Firing Formulae:

When this model makes a ranged attack with this weapon during its activation, determine the position of the Permutation Servitors this model put into play. For each completely within its left firing arc, this model gains an additional die on its attack rolls. For each completely within its right firing arc, this model gains an additional die on its damage rolls. For each completely within its back arc, this model makes an additional Auto Fire attack.

A few things immediately stand out to me here.

• It creates Permutation Servitors, it doesn't just come with them. That means that it isn't like the Witch Coven where you are at max power until people shoot your resources.
• It gains "an additional die" on attack or damage rolls. That means boosting is still a thing!
• It can make an additional Auto Fire Attack that doesn't require you to buy it (Auto Fire ignore ROF)
• It gets these bonuses for each model in a particular arc. That means 3 servitors (which I assume is its max number) on its left gives it 5d6+RAT. Take THAT Winter Guard Death Star!
• Being a spray means that these bonuses apply to all attacks. If this thing gets within 10" of an opponent's warcaster the only thing they can hide behind is a large piece of blocking terrain. 
• Finally, multiple servitors allows you to mix and match what you need for a particular situation. If you have a lot of DEF 14 infantry to take care of, 1 or 2 servitors on the left will boost the attack well enough, allowing you to put the rest in the back arc to grant additional attacks. 

And while TEP (likely) won't receive the battlegroup bonuses, the rest of the army still has plenty of utility to get even more out of this thing. I don't think we saw all that TEP has to offer, but even if this is as good as it gets... it's really really good. I can see this being a must-have in any 50 point list, even if it means leaving a warjack in your bag. Cyriss reveals have been lacking ways to handle infantry, instead showing how well they can focus-fire a target to shreds. TEP looks to serve as the perfect way to balance any part of SAID the rest of a list can't answer.

So... there's a moderate-to-high chance I'm back to my "I must have this!" stance. I'm finally getting over the fact that PP won't be supporting this army - looking at my loaded painting tray that may even be a blessing. What I'm looking at is "could I have fun making this my main, secondary, or tertiary army? I have most of what I want for Khador, I'm quite satisfied with my Circle collection... why not have an army I can easily complete, paint, and be done with?

See you tomorrow for the giveaway results!