Reciprocators

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Reciprocators Convergence Unit

Ready to repel any threats to the Great Work, reciprocators stand firm, shields interlocking with engineered perfection as they brace to absorb enemy assaults. After blunting a charge against their heavy shields and spears, the reciprocators spring into an immediate counterassault, converting their protean polearms from defensive spears to wicked halberds.

Basic Info

Reciprocators
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Medium SPD 5 STR 8 MAT 7 RAT N/A M.A. N/A DEF 12 ARM 16 CMD 7 ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS N/A FURY N/A THRS N/A HP 8 F. Field N/A WJP {{{wjp}}} WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA 2 UNIT SIZE 3 / 5 COST 10 / 16 3.6 each N/A N/A Warcaster 1 COST N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

Abilities

• Construct
• Combined Melee Attack
• Shield Wall (Order) - Until the start of their next activation, each affected model gains +4 ARM while B2B with another affected model in its unit. When receiving this order a model can forfeit its Combat Action to gain +3” movement as part of its Normal Movement this turn. This bonus does not apply to damage originating in the model's back arc. Models in this unit can begin the game affected by Shield Wall.
• Soul Vessel - This model generates soul tokens as if it were a living model.
• Variable [Melee] - At the start of this unit's activation, choose one of the following special rules. The unit's Melee weapons gain the special rule chosen for one round.
  • Empowered Attack - This weapon gains +2 on its damage rolls.
  • Set Defense - A model in this model's front arc suffers -2 on charge, slam power attack, and impact attack rolls against this model.

Weapons

Protean Polearm
		RNG				POW				P+S
		2				4				12

Command Attachment

They can have a Transverse Enumerator. Her info has been omitted for brevity.

• Her weapon benefits from Variable.
• In Clockwork Legion, she also gains Vengeance if put with this unit.

Theme Forces

• Clockwork Legions. They gain Vengeance in this theme.

Recent Changes

No changes since 2021.10

Thoughts on Reciprocators

Reciprocators in a nutshell

The Reciprocators' job is to take an enemy charge and then hit back! At ARM 20 in Shield Wall and 8 wounds, this is what they are built for. They are also now quite fast with their shield wall order, moving 8", plus with a caster who improves their speed (Aurora1 or Directrix) or who can boost their armour so much where they can risk running turn one (Lucant).

Previously these were the best heavy infantry in Convergence, but now the other Cyrissian heavy infantry, Eradicators and Perforators, work well together and all three are considered excellent at what they do. The Reciprocator weapons are versatile and right-in-place, well balanced between defense and offence. The selection of which variable weapon to use is often obvious and it depends if you are planning to take or give the charge.

Combos & Synergies

Reciprocators yearn for two things; A speed buff to help them keep up with other units while maintaining shield wall, and a damage buff for when they start poking. Reciprocators are great at two things: getting in front of your army to take an attack, and poking back afterwards. Therefore, they benefit from any buffs that help those two roles (preferably in that order).

• The usual Clockwork Legions synergies.
• Axis1 - Onslaught is a great spell to support Reciprocators when they charge, but then they can't use Shield Wall. His feat covers all the support Reciprocators need. On the other hand, Reciprocators in B2B for Shield Wall will often block Countercharge lanes, though using a Transverse Enumerator fixes this.
• Directrix1's Tactical Supremacy spell is perfect for Reciprocators, letting them move more than running with Shield Wall at 11", and her exponent servitors bring up their P+S into warjack level. Unfortunately while Facilitate increases RAT, she has no way to make them benefit from her feat.
• Lucant1 - an ARM buff on the feat (+4) means the enemy will bounce right off the Shield Wall (another +4), which when paired with Deceleration (and +2 against ranged) can get them up to ARM 26. Positive Charge is great for them too.
• Aurora1 has a great speed buff, but has zero damage buff apart from the costly Arcane Might spell.

  If used with Aurora, Reciprocators become more of a jamming bullet sponge rather than damage dealers.

  Although using all the unit to make a single CMA with Empowered Attack, and then using Arcane Might on that, is powerful. It works out an effective MAT 12 POW 19 + 3d6.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Charging leaves them open to annihilation. But they're still very capable of jamming for several turns.
• In Shield Wall they have the same ARM (and slightly fewer damage boxes per point) as a Conservator - which has Pathfinder and can run or charge without losing its armor. If you intend to keep them in the heart of the army, the Conservator is probably preferable.
• You will not get the variable effect on your vengeance attack - don’t overestimate your output.

Tricks & Tips

• Like all shield wall infantry, they can forgo their combat action for a speed boost. When paired with Vengeance, they may be moving 11" or more in a turn.
• Capitalise on their durability by:
  • pushing them into a zone and staying there far longer than they have any right to,
  • deploying them on one side of your army, preventing the enemy flankers from pushing through into the core of your army.
• Keep one model back by an Enigma Foundry, to ensure you always have a Reinforce target.
• Don't forget your CMA. Stack a 2-man CMA with Empowered Attack and you're hitting at effective MAT 9, P+S 16 which is not to be sniffed at.
• Try not to accidentally glue their heads on upside-down (unless you like the look of bowl-cuts).

Other

Trivia

• According to their fluff, they can form perfect shield walls with their interlocking shields, unlike the imperfect ones of the other species. That's amusing when you consider just how hard it is to put them B2B into an actual shield wall-line on the table.
• Released in Forces of Warmachine: Convergence of Cyriss (2013)

Other Convergence models

Convergence Index       (Edit)
Battlegroup
Warcasters	Aurora1 - Aurora2 - Axis - Directrix - Locke - Lucant - Orion - Syntherion
Light	Corollary (Attached) - Diffuser - Galvanizer - Mitigator - Negator - Tesselator
Heavy	Assimilator - Cipher - Conservator - Inverter - Modulator - Monitor
Colossals	Prime Axiom - Prime Conflux
Units, Solos, & Battle Engines
Units	Asphyxious4 - Clockwork Angels - Eradicators - Obstructors - Optifex Directive - Negation Angels - Perforators - Reciprocators - Reductors Special CA [Any Unit] : Transverse Enumerator
Solos	Accretion Servitors - Algorithmic Dispersion Optifex - Attunement Servitors - Destructotron 3000 - Elimination Servitors - Enigma Foundry - Frustum Locus - J.A.I.M.s - Prefect Hypatia - Reflex Servitors - Steelsoul Protector - Widget, Mathlete Archeologist
Battle Engines	Nemo4 - TEP
Theme Forces		Mercenaries
Clockwork Legions - Destruction Initiative - Strange Bedfellows		Refer to Category: Convergence of Cyriss Mercenary
This index was last updated: 2021.11

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification : Construct - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Combined Melee Attack      (Edit) Each CMA only counts as a single attack, no matter how many participants are involved. This means, for example, that if Satyxis Raiders damage a warjack and trigger their Feedback ability, the enemy warcaster will only take 1 damage total, not 1 for every Raider. Any bonuses (such as back strike) or penalties (such as intervening terrain) are determined according to the model leading the CMA (the attack leader). If the participants have buffs/debuffs but the attack leader doesn't ... then the CMA doesn't because only the attack leader matters. Simple as that. A single unit can perform multiple CMAs, utilising different groupings of models. eg a unit with 10 models could make one 10-man CMA, or two 5-man CMAs, or five 2-man CMAs, or etc. CMA for units that have more than one melee weapon (the short version) Once you have more than one melee weapon, charging becomes a bit complicated. There are two important rules: A model which charges must use its first attack to make a charge attack. It can't "skip ahead" to contributing its second non-charge attack before it's resolved its first attack. For a CMA to gain the charging bonus, then all contributors must be contributing a charge attack. These two rules have a few, slightly confusing implications. Click the expand box below for a full breakdown. CMA for units with more than one weapon (the long version) (Edit) The following example is about Satyxis Raiders, but is equally applicable to other units with two CMA: Each Raider gets two attacks. Both, one, or neither can be a CMA as you choose. If you are doing two CMA in a row, then you should note that the second CMA doesn’t have to use the same “primary attacker” or the same “participants” as the first CMA. For instance, you could have the first CMA with raider A being the "primary attacker" and raider B being the "participant", then for the second CMA have raider B the "primary attacker" and raider A the "participant". Or leave A alone for a moment and use B plus C. Whatever takes your fancy. Primary attackers and participants don't have to use the same weapon. So, continuing with the above example, you could have primary A use lash and participant B use horns, then primary B use lash and participant A use horns. Effectively granting you two lash attacks with CMA bonuses! Combined Melee Attack and charging Remember the 2 rules above? Rule 1 means you cannot contribute your second, non-charge attack before you have resolved/contributed your first attack. Rule 1 means you cannot "skip ahead" to resolving your second, non-charge attack before you have resolved/contributed your first attack. but wait, there's more! However, thanks to the "Units with Combined Melee Attack ignore the rule that one trooper's combat action cannot begin until the previous model's combat action ends" rule, you can "pause" your second attack if you want to do a CMA with it later. For example: Model A performs its charge attack. Model B performs its charge attack. (Interrupting A) Model C performs its charge attack. (Interrupting B) CMA using A, B & C's remaining attack.

Rules Clarification : Shield Wall      (Edit) You don't need to have the entire unit in B2B to get the bonus. Even just two models in B2B will give it to each other. Which way they're facing doesn't matter, either. You can still get Shield Wall while knocked down. Shield Wall works against all damage except damage originating in your back arc. If a damage roll doesn't have an origin point (such as Scather, Old Witch1's feat, continuous fire, etc) then by definition it can't originate in your back arc, and you'll get your bonus vs it. It won't work vs stuff that "leaps" off models in your back arc, such as Electro Leap. (Locked thread) If you start the game in Shield Wall, it will expire when you activate the unit. It doesn't let you run and be in Shield Wall on turn 1. Since models move in straight lines, it impossible to keep two models B2B while advancing. Thus you cannot benefit from Shield Wall while moving through acid clouds etc. Unless you have something that lets you move through models, like Tactician. Orders affect unit attachments, even if that attachment doesn't have the order on their card (such as a Soulless Escort benefiting from the Shield Wall order). (Infernal Ruling) You get your Shield Wall bonus vs continuous fire in the Maintenance Phase. Shield Wall doesn't expire until the unit activates. (Locked thread)

Rules Clarification : Soul Vessel      (Edit) The only thing the Soul Vessel rules does is, the model produces a soul when it is destroyed as if it were a living model. For similar logic, things that prevent living models from generating souls (such as Annihilator) also prevent Soul Vessels from generating souls. (Infernal Ruling) A Soul Vessel is not a living model for the purposes of anything except soul generation & collection. Special rules that interact with living models but which aren't soul-related (such as Bloodthirst or Poison) don't do anything vs Soul Vessels. For example: An attack that RFPs living models (such as Snacking) would normally prevent that living model from generating a soul token; but Snacking doesn't work vs non-living. So a Soul Vessel doesn't get Snacked and will produce a soul token.

Rules Clarification : Variable      (Edit) Unit Attachment(s) will gain the benefit of Variable, because it is worded "models in this unit gain [x]". (Locked Thread) But only as long as at least one model with Variable is still alive.

Rules Clarification : Empowered Attack - None yet. (Edit)
Rules Clarification : Set Defense - None yet. (Edit)