Warcasters are the stars of Warmachine, and Cryx has no shortage of powerful and fun-to-play warcasters. Today, I’m taking a look at Lich Lord Terminus.
IN SHORT: Tired of fielding the typical Cryx glass cannon? Want to play an unstoppable juggernaut that just keeps on coming? Try Lich Lord Terminus!
STRENGTHS: Terminus is an absolute brute of a warcaster. Base ARM 18, 6 Focus, and 20 health means he isn’t going down anytime soon. Even better, he has Sacrificial Pawn [Undead], so any ranged hits against him can be handed to nearby undead models.
On top of this, he and all undead models within 10” of him are Tough, thanks to his Shadow of Death rule. So even if your opponent kills him, there’s a chance he’s not really dead.
All of this makes him very difficult to kill. His feat, Dragon’s Call, can make him almost invincible. Terminus can collect the soul token of every enemy living model destroyed in his control area, and those souls add to his ARM. The next turn, all those souls get converted to Focus, again adding to his ARM. Yikes!
He’s also fast. With SPD 6 and Flight, there isn’t much that can run from him for long. When he gets there, he can debuff the enemy with Malediction, which reduces the DEF and ARM of all enemies within 2” of him by 2. That puts him at an effective MAT 9, P+S 18. He can also cast Ravager on himself (or have a Skarlock do it for him) to gain Berserk!
Plus he’s an Abomination, so the enemy might run away just from being near him.
And in case all that wasn’t enough, he has a 10” POW 14 spray attack with Continuous Corrosion. Oh yeah. Terminus comes fully loaded.
WEAKNESSES: His feat needs living models. If there are none available, or only a few, his feat isn’t going to help him weather incoming attacks.
Sacrificial Pawn is great for diverting ranged attacks, but spells will still hit Terminus normally. Debuffs can be especially bad.
Also, Terminus is a large based model. Unless he has a Kraken tagging along, there aren’t many places he can hide.
SYNERGIES: Terminus loves a strong bodyguard of undead, both to benefit from Shadow of Death and for him to sacrifice when he gets shot. Mechanithralls can be a cheap, plentiful screen for Terminus. Their support model, the Necrosurgeon, is also very welcome. Terminus is going to take some hits advancing towards the enemy. Having a Necrosurgeon handy to patch him up can easily make the difference.
The Withershadow Combine serves two purposes for Terminus. First, they can clear any debuffs he gets hit with. Second, they allow him to upkeep Malediction for free. Both of these are a big help to Terminus.
Finally, don’t be afraid to take a heavy warjack along. Terminus likes to keep his Focus to himself, but a heavy warjack can screen Terminus from incoming charge attacks and take the brunt of enemy fire.
Another reason to take a heavy warjack is Ravager, which can give not only Terminus, but warjacks in his battlegroup Berserk. This opens up a whole field of nasty possibilities, given how adept Cryx warjacks are in melee to begin with. I prefer the Seether, since it’s Focus efficient and hits like a Mack truck.
JUST FOR FUN: Take a Kraken and the Withershadow Combine. Load up the Kraken with Focus. Use Puppet Master and Ravager on the Kraken, then wade into enemy infantry. Hilarity will ensue as the Kraken gobbles up model after model with free Berserk attacks. If the Kraken misses, just reroll with Puppet Master.
And don’t worry too much about the Kraken removing models from play. Once it eats 3, it’s full.
SUMMARY: Cryx is often a subtle faction to play, relying on our tricks, speed, and special rules to see us through. Terminus plays like a wrecking ball of death. He’s not at all subtle, and that can be a refreshing change of pace for any Cryx player.
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Been looking for a reason to play Terminus and now I have one, playing the way I do I’ve noticed the army lists and Warcasters I’ve been losing more units than necessary. I often find myself with almost half of my infantry units gone. I haven’t played an army with heavy hitting, fast attacks. My armies usually focus on holding objectives and doing light damage with corrosive abilities and relying on Banes and Incomporial units to do so, mainly using Deneghra as my Warcaster and her epic Shadow Game list. Thank you for the explanation on Terminus.
Thanks, Tekkshell. I’m glad you’re finding my articles helpful. Terminus is really a wonderful wrecking ball of death and a blast to play. H.P. Holo hates going against him. 🙂
Also, for players just coming to grips with the game, my recommendation is to steer clear of the theme lists at first. A lot of them can be interesting, but they can also be very restrictive.