Super Mutants Tactics & Model Overview, v5.0

SUPER MUTANT TACTICS AND OVERVIEW

v5.0

Super Mutants are straightforward, but this isn't a bad thing - knowing your game plan and stopping your game plan are two different things! "Club everything til it stops moving and eat what's left" is brutal, but brutal = effective in the Wastelands.

Like all my Tactics articles, this is written from the view of Battle Mode, which is very thematic - in Campaign/Narrative, the options are much more open to cover problems in the list, and I'd prefer to keep it focused on just the Super Mutants. I'll mention Campaign possibilities, but that isn't the main point.

What Super Mutants are SPECIAL at is clear - high STR and END makes them hard to put down and easy for them to put things down in close combat, especially since so many have access to the bonus Damage die from STR 7+. With common access to the Heavy Weapons skill they also have a solid ranged game - as anyone who's taken a missile to the face in downtown Boston can attest to. Battle Cry is fairly common, making their charges quite dangerous. Last, they ignore Radiation, so putting rad-heavy terrain on the battlefield is a solid turn 0 tactic.

What are they bad at? Well, PER/CHA/INT/LUK are all dumpstats - they have rare models who reach up to average, but for the most part, they fail those tests. This can make some objectives harder to reach, as well as Searchables a bit more risky; however, only 1 in 5 non-lettered Searchable tokens require a Test so you're not too hosed there. Their skill access is lacking as well; solid Search rolls are only on a few units, and Computer/Lockpick... HAH. Their units also have generally low armor, making them easy to damage.

This will go from common to unique units, and from lowest cost to highest cost in the common with alphabetical in the Unique.

COMMON

AVIATOR

...I don't get it. Yes, okay, I do get it, they get PER 6 and ARM 3/2, which makes them very tanky, and they're F****** cool because of that Cap, but that's at the same cost as a Brute, while losing 1 STR, War Cry, and STR-based Presence. The Blue trigger range is nice (adding 4" total), but if one gives them a Heavy Weapon they're losing 10% to hit over the Brute, and PER 6 still only gives them a 55% to-hit rate with rifles and pistols.

Unlike Brutes, they also lack access to the High Tech pool, which cuts out the possibility of adding Energy weapons aside from the Laser Musket to your Super Mutant pool.

The one thing they have is above 50% Search rolls on a model that isn't soft and squishy, but I think a far better option is the Pack Leader Perk on someone who can stay close to Mutant Hounds/Fiends and let them use their great PER.

BRUTE

Brutes are two things: Highly effective chargers (8"), and the cheapest non-character Heavy Weapons carriers in the Force List with access to High Tech Items. With STR 8, they are also terrifyingly effective with them (at 75%!). They also possess War Cry, making their charges frightening as well. These are what I'd call SUPER, not just Mutant, and should form the combat core of most SM lists despite being expensive.

Going cheap with just a Sledgehammer/Board or Minigun AND going expensive with a Missile Launcher or Huge Club/Super Sledge are valid options; note they're the cheapest model in the game that can take a Huge Club, which can drop an orange AOE 60% and inflict Stun 33%. Giving them a Leader card to take advantage of their large and reliable Presence is also a possibility!

 

The High Tech Item list also includes one terrifying option: the Stealth Boy. While it's also quite expensive, triggering it just before charging in can prevent your opponent from adequately reacting to this big scary model in their midst.

ENSLAVED TECH

ETs are your objective runners - with the only access to high Computer and Search, and mediocre (but there) Lockpick, they do a vital job in an SM force and every Super Mutant should have at least one or two in their force bare minimum. However, they are very, very squishy, and anyone facing you knows it; protecting them with a wall of olive flesh is vital.

Equipping them is easy: stick to the basics of a Baseball Bat and Pipe Pistol so they're not helpless in combat. If you only buy a single ET, you can reach into the Perk stack for Locksmith (to raise their 45% to a 65%), or to Toughness/Life Giver for a bit more endurance. But be wary about investing too much in them; their job is to serve their masters by running objectives and then dying horribly.

MASTER

For +12 Caps over a Brute, Masters add +1 STR, Health, and physical ARM; they also get Black for their Trigger range. That matches the ranges on, say, a Missile Launcher, and while Brutes drop to 55% on their attack rolls from a Reaction, Masters stay at a respectable 65%. They're both solid choices, but honestly? I think the Brute is a better choice. I'm not sure what you gain is worth the extra points you could spend on Perks or a few Chems. Blitz and Penetrator are both solid Perks for Brutes that cover for the points cost between these two models.

MUTANT HOUND/FIEND

Compare Hounds to Skirmishers. They have the same STR, but trade off 2 Health and 1 ARM for 4" of charge distance, as well as not needing LOS to charge. They also have Leap, which lets them threaten enemies at a raised elevation!

Now, compare both to Fiends. Yes, Fiends are much squishier than either - with 2 damage being the normal from incoming weapons, an enemy can remove a Fiend in a single activation, where it takes 3 actions to kill a Hound or 4 for a Skirmisher. But the one thing they have is STR 7; the bonus die takes them to an average of 3 damage (compared to 2 for Skirmishers and 2.5 for Hounds), and they get +10% chance to hit.

Which one is best? It's situational. Skirmishers are toughest, benefit from Super Mutant only abilities, and can have ranged attacks; Hounds are a fair middle ground between damage and durability while having high Movement; and Fiends are glass cannons that can erase enemies but get erased if used poorly. Hounds and Fiends can also benefit from Pack Leader and their high PER 7, which gives Super Mutants another option for Search Expertise tests.

 

NIGHTKIN

Nightkin are kinda bad, and I don't think I'd use them.

 

Wait, you want more? OK. 

 

Prowl is actually quite excellent - the first two turns are often the most critical in getting a Melee model stuck in, and with an 8" Charge they can do it quite easily. They also have access to the entire gamut of item tables, which gives them a lot of options to choose from, and even have an... existent... Hacking and Lockpicking skill, unlike many of their "Big Dummy" compatriots.

Unpredictable is a great buff - especially in giving the Damage option for spending AP! But...

 

My problem comes from STR 5 governing their Melee skill in a faction filled with STR 7+ Melee beaters. You're relying on the 33% of triggering Unpredictable in getting them to that number, which isn't insignificant but not trustworthy. In any wargame that you're playing to win, you want to reduce variance as much as possible, and with the Nightkin they're inherently variant.

With Brutes being reliable and only 17 Caps more expensive, as well as able to use the STR7+ Gang of weapons, I'm not sure I'd take these out of the box for now.

OVERLORD

Now this is a boss. Their aura effect, allowing SMs in their large Blue Presence in close combat to swap any color die to a Black die, is solid, because most SMs have no problem hitting in melee. The other Aura adds +2" to the charge range of any non-unique SM activated the same turn as him, is also pretty nasty - though it does require turn passing and activating multiple units in the same turn, which can both pose problems in a faction with a fairly low model count.

Resisting Stun is situational but helpful, and they are also SUPER tough, with 11 Health and 2+1 regular armor. For the 163 Caps, though, you need to be leveraging their abilities, which means putting together a heavily close combat related crew - a bunch of Skirmishers, for example, for cheap mass charges.

Also, they have a computer skill! Adorable! At 30%! Or 40% if you add Hacker!

SKIRMISHER

For +7 Caps over a basic mutie, the Skirmisher gains +1 Health, AGI, and regular armor (yay!), but loses -1 PER and access to rifles (meh!). They are basically better at everything a SM wants to be better at, and lose nothing of value in the process. Whether to use them or Mutant Hounds, though, was discussed earlier.

If they really need ranged attacks, they can chuck Molotov Cocktails if you really want to pay for it; two of them are 8 Caps so it's not a big investment for a solid attack. For weapons, Lead Pipes have a 50% of dealing status effects, Sledgehammers have good AP, and Boards add another Black die to their attacks for 8 points versus 12.

SUICIDER

...Don't just go BOOM. Okay, that's what they can do, but they are solid objective runners and most of all area denial specialists. No one wants to go near a Suicider, and a canny commander can make use of that. They also have decent PER with Search for SMs. That said, they are also solid piece trade models. A Suicider Nuke will deal on average 4.5 damage with 1 AP in a fairly large area; know that and make sure that you get your points back before letting one go nuclear.

Last, remember that incoming shots have a 1/6 chance to set off their nuke and kill them outright. Keep them away from your own force and use that chance as taunting insurance against your enemy shooting them: "Do you really want me to roll the blue die? Okaaaayy..."

SUPER MUTANT

The basic mutie is mediocre. Not bad, mind, but everything they do well other units do better. At most, giving them a Bolt Action Pipe Rifle so they can do ranged slightly better than the Skirmisher while still fighting good close in is a solid bet.

You COULD add to their shooting ability with the Aviator's Cap, which also raises their armor - at 58 Caps, it's still reasonably budget for the raw stats you get. The only advantage the actual Aviator has is access to the Advanced Items, but on the other hand you could have a pack of regular Super Mutants in Conductor's Caps with Railway Rifles running around the battlefield screaming, "CHOO CHOO!"

UNIQUES

BEHEMOTH

HOLY. CRAP.

First all, the good: He's super tough and his melee weapons have Orange reach - this is good. He can move through non-friendlies - this is good. His Fire Hydrant Bat has 3 damage at base (plus a black die for STR 7+), a solid 60% of dropping an orange AOE, 33% of Stun, and WILL crack armor. He's a scary bastich that can control a huge area by crippling tests with his Red aura, which prevents other factions from using their superior Expertise to get a leg up. He's also deceptively fast, thanks to his enormous base size adding to his average Super Mutant movement.

 

He's also dropped in price enormously; with his Bat he now costs 245 Caps and now comes with the Rock Throw for free. That's still a lot, but it's actually reasonable to take one and still have enough of a force to do other things.

 

But now the bad: He's not actually that good at hitting things, with his awful 3 PER governing his melee and his (now free) Rock Throw. Even with a Specialty in his bat, he still only has a 45% chance of hitting on any given swing, and the Rock Throw can only be used once per activation - and only adds a Green in its Short range. 

 

Is he worth it? Yes, but not every time. Certainly he'll make it harder for opponents to score VPs, but you have to balance it with scoring your own - and he's not THAT good at killing things unless he actually hits them!

FIST

In a mainly vertical map his free Climb isn't to be dismissed; he can also shield close buddies from getting fired upon (-2 is a LOT to drop). He's also cheaper than a Brute, which befits his lower stats, and has okay armor and END. I think he has a role, especially as a shield for a long-range battery of Heavy Weapons, but he needs to be leveraging those two abilities. He's far more situational than a Brute or Hammer. You might look at picking up the Heavy Gauntlets for him to shore up his weak Energy armor, especially if he's working to shield a long range battery with Taunt.

Also, one oddball thing is that he does have access to the Lockpick skill. Not at high levels, but as the only non-ET model in the faction with Lockpick he might occasionally contribute.

HAMMER

For +2 Caps over a Master, Hammer loses 3 STR, 1 Health, War Cry, Black reaction range, and swaps STR 8 Blue Presence for CHA 4 Green - all bad things, even if he does have Specialization in the Super Sledge so he's still at 8 for melee attacks (though he is missing the bonus black die from STR 7+).

What he gains, though, is the ability to Ready a nearby Unready friendly. That is huge in a game with alternating activations, allowing multiple attacks in one round against a model (or multiple models) who haven't activated yet, giving an activation advantage. The downside is that in a faction with a low model count like the Super Mutants (who don't have much in the way of cheap models like the Survivors or Raiders) can get out-activated at the end of the turn, leading to gangups that remove your models, or being outmaneuvered as they set themselves up for the next turn.

Is Hammer worth it? I think so, actually. Masters are basically upgunned Brutes; Hammer does something unique that can be tactically useful. Also, he has a Computer skill too! Do you think he writes Brotherhood slash fiction between Maxson and Danse?

 

LILY BOWEN
Everyone's favorite blue Meemaw! 

 

She's everything that the Nightkin should be. Starting at STR7, triggering Unpredictable is a bonus rather than a requirement, and the Leo voice lets her do so more reliably. Or less reliably. But in this case, listen to the voices, Lily! Leo's right! 

 

At only +17 Caps above the Brute, she's a definite upgrade to any melee Brutes that you already have; losing Battle Cry might seem bad but it's not a reliable thing with all the immune models and ways to avoid it, and Prowl is a more than worthy replacement. Ignore her Assault Carbine rule, as it's a bad gun, and just give her a Vertibird Blade or Blade of the East. 

MARCUS

In a faction filled with melee models, Marcus is... another one. The nice thing is that even though he's at 115 Caps, he comes with a great melee weapon in Marcus Paunch so he's a solid replacement for a melee Brute - being more durable and having a solid Search skill. His 'disadvantage' isn't much of one, as if he doesn't attack he can move and Search, and it's not likely the opponent won't try to kill SOMETHING of yours...

Overall, not much to say about him. Just a good, useful model.

STRONG

On the one hand, he has an automatic 2 damage and his War Cry aura is shorter ranged than a Brute's - he also uses PER for Heavy Weapons! On the other, he can let friendlies in a decent range swap Accuracy (which most SM's don't need) for AP (which can usually equal more damage!) when they outnumber an enemy - very, very good. Entangle is a wash; yes, it can keep enemies engaged with him, but if they succeed Strong gets no disengage attack - and there are lots of models with decent AGI. For Survivors, he's solid. For Super Mutants? Eh, not so much.

 

Strong comes off looking much worse with the Wave 5 SM characters as well, but more on that in his Survivors entry. 

 

TABITHA

On first glance, one might think, "Wow, a better version of Blue Meemaw!" But without Unpredictable, she doesn't have any Fast Actions. At all. Losing the extra Damage one is especially hurtful. Leg Guards makes up for this, and her higher END is useful, but...

 

She's a solid model, and will kill things when she gets in close - and it's nigh impossible to stop her early on with Prowl. I'd use her, for sure, but I'd probably reach for Lily first. 

 

 

SUPER MUTANT ITEMS

SMs also have several items unique to them, which are discussed in the Armor/Clothing list, but reposted here for clarit's sake. If something is Clothing or Armor is noted by C or A in their price point.

RANK A

LEG GUARDS (8 Caps, C)

Spending Action Points on movement is golden. Getting a 17% VATS chance of more AP is also golden. This may be one of the best things that a Super Mutant can buy, and might even be S tier - spread out across multiple green bois the AP and bonus movement are not to be underestimated.

RANK B

BLADED HELMET (7 Caps, A)

Super Mutants charge a lot. This gives a bonus Yellow when charging. The two things go together like organs and a meat grinder! It also isn't exclusive to taking Leg Guards! However, do remember that you're only likely to get 2-3 Charges off in a typical game; make sure not to over-invest in these.

RANK C

AVIATOR CAP (16 Caps, C)

For +1/+1/- Armor and +2 PER, this is AMAZING - in a vacuum. However, being Super Mutant locked means that it's very marginal. While most Super Mutants can use PER for Search, that's about all they DO use it for; though you could make a case for standard SMs equipped with this and Railway Rifles as a weird kind of shooting gallery, they still don't have great PER with it. So mostly you're using it for the armor buff, which isn't bad, and it can be worthwhile to buff Overlords and Brutes.

 

HEAVY GAUNTLETS (16 Caps, A)

+2 Energy armor is pretty good, and most Super Mutants have sub-par Energy armor. On Fist (who wants to get shot at!) it could be good. But it's expensive.

 

SHOULDER RAGS (10 Caps, C)

Swinging again in melee is no joke, particularly for melee-based SMs. That said, it has stiff competition from the Leg Guards.

 

CHANGELOG

v5.0 Added Wave 5 Models to the list. 

 

v4.0 Lots of changes; Aviator, Brute, Super Mutant, Behemoth, and Fist all saw changes. Still waiting for some of the new SMs coming in the NV expansion, though. And The Master... Also added the SM-only items into the end.

v1.5 Not much - changed the Super Mutant entry to account for the price drop of Assault Rifles. Very little changed for Super Mutants here.

v1.4 Added Changelog section. Alphabetized everything. Redid the Mutant Hound (better discussion on merits of Hounds, Fiends, and Skirmishers) and Behemoth (just was fairer after getting some good feedback).