In terms of weaponry, Torch still wields the trademark buzz saw that Decimators are known for, with P+S just short of the Juggernauts Ice Axe and Sustained attack, it really lends itself to Torch's in your face play style. It's second weapon is somewhat ordinary until you take a closer look, at first it's just an open fist with a spike on it, however this adds up to a weapon with an extra P+S and opens the door to all power attacks (apart from the two handed throw) meaning that when Torch hits something it's going to be hurting for some time. The last weapon at first appears to be something added on as more a novel idea than a weapon, but like Torch as a whole you need to take a closer look before discounting it. It's a short range Flamethrower capable of killing most infantry that relies on stealth for protection, add to this that the Flamethrower has the Continuous Fire effect, and then infantry that somehow survives being near Torch next maintenance phase will likely find itself dead due to the damage roll the fire generates.
As for special rules Torch brings them in by the bucket load. In an activation where he charges he gains Pathfinder, throw Superiority on this jack and you'll be laughing at just what he can do. It also allows for faster movement as you can declare a charge that you know will fail and actually cover more ground than running, while gaining concealment, which combined with Superiority can lead to some ordinarily threatening attacks to fly past the six foot robot that happens to be hiding behind that tree. In keeping with the abilities of both Strakhov and his Elite Cadre of Assault Kommandos, Torch can throw out clouds, due to the smoke bombs mounted on it's chassis, making the situation mentioned before even more funny (when a Jack has better DEF than your average Caster you just have to laugh) now while they don't have great range this still can be used very well, especially when fielding Greylord Ternions and Gorman Di Wulfe, practically allowing a chain of cloud effects to span half the board. Finally come the best of Torch's abilities, firstly he has Gunfighter allowing him to use his Flamethrower in melee, against Jacks this doesn't tend to matter too much, although the continuous fire effect is a nice way to ensure that even if you don't kill that Jack this turn chances are it'll be pretty sore come next maintenance phase, add on the fact that he also comes with Virtuoso and then the fun really begins as if you kill all your melee targets and still have focus, you can then use your Flamethrower with it's regular profile (again see my earlier battle report for this example) meaning that once you smash through the Caster's defenses and then find they don't have immunity fire you'll be laughing all the way to victory.
I think given the rise of light cavalry units that we may well soon see a large number of Strakhov lists coming to counter them, as barring Sorscha and lVlad, he is one of our fastest Casters and I believe Torch won't be too far behind especially given how many models that flamethrower could see off despite it's seemingly low P+S. Overall when playing Torch, remember he loves to be in melee, the quicker you get him there the faster he'll start paying his points back.
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