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 Wraith Witch Deneghra.
IN SHORT: Wraith Witch Deneghra may have lost some of her original version’s raw debuffing power, but she has become a true master of board control.
STRENGTHS: Board control. Board control. And more board control. Deneghra has so many awesome ways to manipulate the battle in her favor. Let’s take a look at them.
Her feat, Web of Shadows, inflicts all enemy models in her control area with Shadow Bind. That drops their DEF by 3 and freezes them in place! It’s like getting a free turn!
Hit an enemy model or unit with her Pursuit spell, and punish them for even moving! Every time the target moves, a model in Deneghra’s battlegroup gets to move for free. Who doesn’t like a free out-of-turn move?
Hellmouth is a costly attack spell that, on a direct hit, sucks enemies within 3” towards it. It can be used for pure offense, dealing POW 12 to all models under the 3” AOE, or for pulling enemy models out of position.
Finally, Deneghra has a powerful trio of spells in Curse of Shadows, Ghost Walk, and Marked for Death. Curse of Shadows is Deneghra’s ARM debuff, but it also allows her army to pass through the target models. Ghost Walk is a Cryx mainstay, allowing one of our models or units to ignore terrain, free strikes, and even buildings. Finally, there is Marked for Death. Drop an enemy model or unit’s DEF by 2 and allow it to be targeted, regardless of Line of Sight.
Let’s recap that last bit, shall we? Run through enemy models with Curse of Shadows. Run through terrain and buildings with Ghost Walk. Target without actually seeing the target with Marked for Death. Now try hiding from this lady!
To top this off, Deneghra has two more board control abilities at her disposal. With Seduction, she can move living enemy warriors out of the way and even make them attack allies. All she has to do is be base-to-base with the target. No roll is needed.
And finally, her staff Eclipse, has Dark Banishment. If she damages an enemy model, she can place the model d6” from its current position, plus an additional 1” for every Focus Deneghra still has. Did something get too close? Poke! Go play with the Bane Knights over there.
WEAKNESSES: Deneghra is just as squishy as before. DEF 16 is nice, but ARM 14 isn’t. She lost Stealth and gained Wraith Walker. She can become incorporeal every other turn, which may be better or worse depending on the circumstances.
Also, her Debuffs are not as powerful as before. I miss Crippling Grasp the most. This makes her far less straight forward to play. She can be a challenging caster to get the most out of.
SYNERGIES: Deneghra can drop both DEF and ARM, so take what you want. She can even drop DEF by 5, which will make even the most cross-eyed models hit reliably. Mechanithralls, anyone?
Now, what’s even better than freezing the enemy in place for one turn with Deneghra’s feat? Freezing them in place for two turns! Warwitch Sirens are an effective 2-point solo, and their attacks inflict Shadow Bind. The combination of Deneghra’s feat and their attacks can really bog down the enemy’s heavy hitters.
Then, there’s Marked for Death. Any model likes a DEF debuff, but what about the ignoring Line-of-Sight part? Deneghra can give Ghostly to anything in her army, but it helps if the unit already can ignore terrain/buildings/free strikes. Bane Knights and Nightmare have Ghostly covered. The Wraith Engine can go incorporeal, and Blackbane’s Raiders come with Incorporeal as standard.
With that said, Deneghra is a well-rounded warcaster that can support a wide variety of models.
JUST FOR FUN: Charge an enemy heavy warjack with your infantry. Didn’t cause enough damage that turn? No problem. Next turn, charge the warjack with Deneghra and poke it with Eclipse. Place the warjack at least 3” away from your infantry.
Now charge the infantry in again! Boosted damage rolls for everyone!
SUMMARY: Wraith Witch Deneghra is nowhere near as straight forward as her Prime version, and can seem a little underpowered at first. But she’s not! Once you get a handle on her board control abilities, she becomes a true terror to face. Have fun!
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
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Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Epic Goreshade
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 Goreshade the Cursed!
IN SHORT: Do you like Bane Thralls? Want to field a horde of infantry that can actually end the game larger than it started? How about targeting the enemy no matter where they’re hiding? Goreshade the Cursed can do all of this and more!
STRENGTHS: Goreshade comes loaded with useful abilities. Foremost is Elite Cadre [Bane Thralls]. Any living enemy infantry killed by Bane Thralls become Bane Thralls. Yikes!
Curse of Shadows is an ARM debuff with a useful side effect. In addition to losing 2 ARM, the target model or unit cannot make free strikes and Goreshade’s army can walk right through them. This can be very useful in bypassing an enemy’s powerful frontline defenders.
Phantom Hunter allows a model in Goreshade’s battlegroup to ignore Line of Sight when making any sort of attack, as well as ignoring Concealment and Cover. It’s a powerful ability. Want to shoot through walls and enemy troops? Check. Want to charge through clouds or forests or enemies afflicted by Curse of Shadows? No problem.
Goreshade also has a number of ways to hinder the enemy. For starters, he has Arcane Consumption. If an enemy casts a spell in his control area, they suffer 1 damage point and Goreshade health 1 damage point. This can soften up a warcaster/warlock or completely shut down 1 hit box magical infantry. They can cast a spell, but as soon as they do, their heads explode!
Hex Blast is a classic Goreshade spell. Target a model with an annoying upkeep spell and blast it away. Remember that he can also use this to clear debuffs from his own army, as long as you’re willing to take the hit.
He also has access to Occultation, which gives a model or unit Stealth. Always a great ability to have in order to provide that extra layer of protection. Goreshade can even apply this to himself, to help defend against enemy shooting.
On top of all this, Goreshade is reasonably tough and he hits hard at P+S 15, MAT 7. The best part is, his sword, Voass, inflicts Stationary! That’s just nasty! Hit once and then just pound away!
WEAKNESSES: Goreshade does not have access to Ghost Walk. Given how heavily he relies on infantry, this can be a big deal, depending on how much terrain is on the game table.
Goreshade also does not have a DEF debuff. Keep this in mind when selecting his army. Hex Blast can help there, but plenty of models have very high natural DEF.
Finally, his feat, Reanimator, can be completely nullified by a smart opponent. The feat allows Goreshade to sacrifice any number of infantry models and then bring the same number of infantry models back. For example, sacrificing 9 Scrap Thralls to bring back 9 Bane Thralls. However, this only works if the original unit is present. A smart opponent will focus their efforts on completely wiping out one unit at a time to prevent this feat from having any effect.
SYNERGIES: Bane Thralls. Serious, just take them. And while you’re at it, take Bane Lord Tartarus. He benefits greatly from Goreshade’s spell Sudden Death, which can allow Tartarus to charge the enemy during the enemy’s turn. He can even make some more Bane Thralls while he’s at it.
Goreshade likes one or two Arc Nodes to cast Curse of Shadows or Hex Blast while he hangs back in relative safety. He also wants cheap warrior models to sacrifice for his feat. Scrap Thralls or Mechanithralls are great for this.
Finally, what warjack to put Phantom Hunter on? There are a number of possibilities, but my favorites are a Leviathan, Nightmare, or the Kraken. The Leviathan’s synergy is pretty clear. It can shoot its formidable gun 3 times. With Phantom Hunter, it can shoot at anything within 13”.
The Nightmare works well because it has Imprint: Ghostly. Combined with Phantom Hunter, it can charge enemies through walls! Combined with Curse of Shadows, it can charge through just about anything!
And finally, the Kraken. This is an absolute beast with Phantom Hunter. With 4” Reach on its melee attack as well as formidable ranged abilities, there’s no running from this monster. It can strike at things through walls or lines of infantry, all while laying down Kill Shots across the map. It doesn’t matter what the enemy is hiding behind. It won’t help!
JUST FOR FUN: Try out Goreshade’s Theme Force, Heresy of Shadows. Two full units of Bane Thralls with unit attachments, and the second attachment is free? 24 Bane Thralls that can make more Bane Thralls and Goreshade’s feat to bring back dead ones? Yes, please!
SUMMARY: Goreshade is a powerful warcaster with a host of interesting abilities that make him surprisingly well-rounded. The combination of Phantom Hunter and Curse of Shadows opens up a lot of attack vectors that can easily surprise your opponent. He also takes my favorite infantry unit, Bane Thralls, and makes them even better!
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Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.
Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Mortenebra
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 Master Necrotech Mortenebra.
IN SHORT: Mortenebra is the undisputed queen of Cryx warjacks. No one can make our warjacks perform like she can.
STRENGTHS: Mortenebra comes loaded with 6 ways to support our warjacks. Let’s step through them.
Spectral Steel gives one of her warjacks +2 ARM and Ghostly. The extra armor is great, but Ghostly is fantastic, allowing her chosen warjack to ignore terrain and run through buildings. Nice!
Jump Start is a super cheap spell at 1 Focus. With this, Mortenebra can clear stationary and knockdown effects from her entire battlegroup. At the same time, her battlegroup can face in any direction, which is situational, but still nice when you need it.
Overrun is a powerful spell that gives one of her warjacks a surprising burst of speed, once per turn only. Put Overrun on a warjack. Now have that warjack destroy an enemy model. Immediately after this happens, ANY model in Mortenebra’s battlegroup can make a full advance. This gives her battlegroup a terrifying threat range!
Her spell, Terminal Velocity, allows any of her warjacks to charge or execute power attacks for free. But that’s not all! They also gain boosted melee attack rolls against living models, AND they gain +2” movement when they charge or slam a living model. Ouch!
On top of all this, Mortenebra can repair warjacks (skill check 10) and has an interesting ability in Interface. If she is base-to-base with one of her warjacks, that jack can spend her Focus. ALL OF IT!
Her feat, Recalibration, is also extremely powerful. All Cryx models in her control area can reroll attack and damage rolls. Missed? Do over! Not happy with the damage? Do over! This is for her ENTIRE ARMY!
And, as an added bonus, she comes with her own Skarlock with a few minor upgrades.
WEAKNESSES: Except for her feat, Mortenebra has no support for anything but warjacks. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take infantry, only that they’ll be a little lackluster with Mortenebra compared to more conventional Cryx warcasters.
Mortenebra also has low personal attack power. Her melee attacks are okay, nothing too special. She comes with two attacks spells, but she’s going to be spending most of her Focus on supporting her warjacks, not slinging spells. Her army has to do the heavy lifting for her.
SYNERGIES: Warjacks. Lots of them. Big ones. Small ones. Whatever your heart desires. Mortenebra can support any of them. Or all of them at once.
That said, Mortenebra only has so much Focus. A Warwitch Siren or two are great additions to help power the warjacks. Cryx also has an excellent selection of Focus efficient warjacks to choose from. Taking one of these, like the Seether, can greatly aid Mortenebra’s resource management.
Mortenebra’s Theme Force, Infernal Machines, is one of the few themes I would actually recommend to new players. Who doesn’t like helljacks that each cost 1 point less? 5 Points for a Slayer? That’s just nuts!
JUST FOR FUN: Interface + Recalibration + Kraken. Just think about it for a moment. Let the ridiculousness sink in.
The Kraken can reroll any roll with 2 base melee attacks and up to 10 additional melee attacks (7 Focus on Mortenebra + up to 3 on the Kraken from corpse tokens). Not many models in the game can take a pounding like that!
SUMMARY: Cryx is a faction focused more on infantry that warjacks. Mortenebra lets us go crazy with our warjacks, and win with them.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Terminus
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.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Venethrax
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 Venethrax!
IN SHORT: An army under Venethrax is a lean, mean, soul-collecting machine. Because, if Venethrax is anything, it’s hungry for souls. Nom-nom-nom-nom. He also enjoys moonlit walks through the graveyard, melting people with acid, and causing them to spontaneously combust.
STRENGTHS: Venethrax’s big call to fame is his spell Soul Harvester. With this, a Cryx model or unit can collect souls from living enemies slain in melee. It doesn’t matter where they are or where Venethrax is. He gets the soul. Very few abilities can shut this down, and it can give Venethrax a huge reserve of Focus to cast spells and deal damage.
Another powerful spell at Venethrax’s disposal is Lamentation. All enemy spells cost double to cast and maintain in his control area. With his 14” control area, Lamentation can be absolutely fatal to enemies that require a lot of spell casting in order to function.
Venethrax is also the premiere anti-Hordes Cryx warcaster. He’s MAT 8 and comes with Dismember, giving him an additional damage die against enemy warbeast. Combine this with Dragon Slayer, which allows him to absorb a killed warbeast’s Fury as Focus for himself, and this guy is an absolutely wrecking ball against Hordes armies. As an added bonus, Dragon Slayer gives Venethrax +2 STR and +2 ARM. Not bad at all.
Venethrax’s feat, Charnel House, can make an absolute mess of light infantry. Anything killed in his control area, friend or foe, bursts into a 3” AOE flame cloud that blocks ALL line-of-sight, including Eyeless Sight. It also does 1 point of damage to anyone entering the clouds. This can quickly turn the battle field into one hilarious inferno impeding your opponent’s army.
Finally, Venethrax has Caustic Presence [Corrosion]. Any Corrosion effects on enemies in his control area do not expire. Ever. Combine this with Blood Rain (and AOE attack that causes the Corrosion continuous effect) and Venethrax’s soul harvesting talents, and he can single-handedly devastate enemy infantry.
WEAKNESSES: No debuffs of any kind. His army supports him, not the other way around. Just accept this and move on.
Venethrax has a lot of abilities that trigger on requirements. He needs lots of living enemy models to maximize Soul Harvester and Hordes warbeasts to get the most from Dragon Slayer. Undead models and lots of warjacks are not his thing.
While Venethrax has two powerful spells in Dragon Slayer and Lamentation, both are SELF only. He can use one at a time, and switching between the two during the battle can be dangerous if he hasn’t harvested enough souls.
Also, while Venethrax can really rough up light infantry, heavy infantry with their multiple hit boxes can ignore his Caustic Presence and the damage from Charnel House without too much trouble. They also offer him less chances to collect souls.
SYNERGIES: Without debuffs, Venethrax needs troops that are self-reliant. This means models like Banes under Bane Lord Tartarus, Satyxis Raiders, Blood Witches, Revenant Crew with Captain Rengrave, and other models that can reliably hit their targets.
With Bane Thralls supporting him with Dark Shroud, other units collecting souls, and Dragon Slayer active, Venethrax is very capable of taking down any enemy warjack or warbeast on his own. Alternately, don’t be afraid to take a beefy Cryx warjack. With a heavy or two and soul collecting units, Venethrax can keep his warjacks fueled and happy, and he can hang back with Lamentation up to mess with the enemy caster.
With Caustic Presence, anything that causes Corrosion is going to get a boost. Bile Thralls and a Defiler anyone?
JUST FOR FUN: Need to charge a gun-line? Worried about getting there in one piece? Does Everblight’s Eyeless Sight have you down? Not to worry!
Take a minimum sized unit of Revenant Crew and another melee unit with Reach. Satyxis Raiders will work for this example. Run the Revenant Crew up with 5 models spaced apart in a line abreast. Keep the leader back as far as possible.
Activate Venethrax and use his feat.
Have the Satyxis Raiders charge the Revenant Crew in the back. They should be easy pickings (effective DEF 10 against MAT 6), and will burst into a wall of flame the enemy cannot see through.
Move your army up under the flaming wall cover. Next turn, the Revenant models revive. No losses! This technique can be expanded with two Revenant units for an even larger flame wall.
SUMMARY: When Venethrax gets going, he can be flush with ridiculous amounts of Focus. When the enemy composition doesn’t include warbeasts or plenty of living infantry, he can feel a little underwhelming. He is not bad. I find him an absolute blast to play, but his performance will depend on your opponent’s army much more than other Cryx casters.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Scaverous
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 Lord Exhumator Scaverous!
IN SHORT: Falling somewhere between Asphyxious’ raw power and Deneghra‘s expert debuffing, Scaverous has a spell for every situation. He’s also one tough dude to put down.
STRENGTHS: Scaverous’ main strength is his versatility.
Both of his attack spells have dual purposes. Excarnate is a POW 13 magic attack that can generate a new small-based undead infantry model. Feast of Worms is a 4” AOE that hits for POW 12. It also leaves an AOE that debuffs ARM by 2. That includes when the AOE is fired, which makes the blast damage very respectable. It also makes it a debuff that doesn’t actually have to hit the enemy to be effective, or can be targeted against a less agile enemy nearby.
Scaverous comes with the always awesome spell Ghost Walk for giving his own units some added mobility, and can decrease enemy mobility and DEF with Icy Grip. This spell can only target enemy warrior models or units, but it also prevents them from running or making special attacks. Watch out, though! They can still charge.
But the most exciting spell is Telekinesis. With this, Scaverous can place a model 2” away. Not impressed yet? Let’s combine this with his feat, Black Gate, which gives out boosted magic attack rolls, reduces his spell COST by 1 and increases enemy spell COST by 1.
With Telekinesis and Black Gate, Scaverous can play chess master with the board, moving 7 different models, molding the battlefield to suit his needs and hinder his enemy.
Scaverous also isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. With base ARM 17, 7 Focus, and access to Death Ward, he can conceivably fortify himself to ARM 26 with support from a Skarlock or the Withershadow Combine. Go on. Just try to assassinate him at range.
And with his P+S 14 scythe Avernus, Scaverous can Thresher through living enemy infantry and reap their souls for even more spell casting. The combination of Thresher and Cull Soul is just sick!
WEAKNESSES: Scaverous does a lot of things well, but he doesn’t do any one of them exceptionally well. He’s a generalist, and he suffers a bit because of that. It’s both his greatest strength and weakness all at once.
Also, his feat, while powerful, can only aid a fairly limited number of models in the Cryx arsenal. If you’re looking to do the maximum amount of damage on feat turn, Scaverous’ army list doesn’t have much flexibility.
SYNERGIES: Taking models like Warwitch Sirens, a Skarlock, and the Withershadow Combine are almost always good choices. Since these models benefit from Scaverous’ feat, that makes them even better.
Death Ward can boost the ARM of a full unit or a single model. I like to put it on a powerful warjack. For this, Erebus is at the top of my list. With Death Ward on Erebus, it has DEF 14, ARM 20 and Poltergeist. Yeah, it’s sticking around for a while. As the cherry on top, Erebus has an affinity with Scaverous that lets him collect soul tokens for the Lord Exhumator.
Scaverous likes his arc nodes. Not only can they deploy his attack spells and debuffs at great range, but they’re a powerful assassination vector on feat turn. 2 Excarnate spells back to back with boost attack and damage rolls are not to be trifled with. It’s not going to be enough to put a caster down, but it’s going to leave one heck of a dent in most of them.
JUST FOR FUN: Scaverous’ Telekinesis spell brings a lot of board manipulation with it. What goes great with board manipulation? More board manipulation! Try bringing a Reaper along for its Drag ability.
Hit the target with Telekinesis. Hit the Reaper with Telekinesis. Now activate the Reaper, move up, and Drag in the target. Proceed to beat the target to death with unit of your choosing.
Total distance between Reaper and target at the start? 18” Total distance at the end? 0”
SUMMARY: Lord Exhumator is another fun and powerful Cryx caster. What he lacks in raw talent in any single category, he makes up with in versatility and his insane ability to manipulate models on the board. Scaverous is a fantastic caster, and a fine addition to the Cryx line.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
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Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.
Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Witch Coven
Jacob Holo: So which warcaster should I do next?
H.P. Holo: Those ladies with the disco ball.
Jacob Holo: You mean the Coven?
H.P. Holo: Yeah, them. Their disco ball is cool.
Requested by H.P. Holo. Sort of.
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 the Witch Coven of Garlghast!
IN SHORT: The Coven has no less than six ways to help get their army where it needs to be. Six! Just keep them far away from the action. They do not mingle well with others!
STRENGTHS: Focus 9. You read that right. This is a Focus 9 caster. That control area stretches 18” out from the Egregore (the aforementioned disco ball). On top of that, the three witches can enter into a Perfect Conjunction which reduces the COST of all their spells by 1. That’s crazy good! The Coven also has a host of ways to augment mobility and ensure safe delivery of their army to the enemy. Let’s step through them.
For defense, their spell Occultation can give a whole unit Stealth. Always nice to have. Their feat, Nightfall, reduces enemy MAT and RAT by 2 and limits enemy line of sight to 5”. The feat may be purely defensive, but it’s great for that closing-in turn when the Cryx army is most vulnerable.
Infernal Machine gives our already speedy warjacks even more speed in addition to increased MAT and Terror. Ghost Walk let’s a unit ignore free strikes and terrain. They can even walk through walls. Veil of Mists allows the Coven’s army to see through and walk through anything in a 4” AOE. This can create some very surprising charge lanes!
And for the last mobility booster, they have Curse of Shadows. Put an enemy unit at -2 ARM, negate their free strikes, and let the Coven’s army walk right through them.
Let’s recap that, shall we? 2 ways to hinder enemy attacks. 1 speed increase, warjacks only. 3 ways to ignore free strikes. 2 ways to ignore terrain. 2 ways to pass through enemy troops. If you need your army somewhere, the Coven can get them there!
To top it all off, they have Stygian Abyss, a POW 12 attack spell with critical Shadow Bind (pin a model in place and reduce its DEF by 3). With 9 Focus, this magic attack is extremely accurate, and can be a great assassination vector all by itself.
WEAKNESSES: Most warcasters and warlocks operate at peak efficiency until they drop dead. Not so with the Coven where the loss of a single witch can be disastrous. Each dead witch means 3 less Focus, which shrinks their control area and prevents them from achieving a Perfect Conjunction. With a pitiful ARM 12 and only 8 health on each witch, they drop easily.
Keep them safe! At all costs, keep them safe!
SYNERGIES: Since the witches of the Coven are experts at delivering elements of your army where you need them the most, warjacks and infantry that hit like a ton of bricks are ideal, though be careful with infantry that have low MAT scores. The Coven does have a DEF debuff, but it’s a temperamental one that requires a critical hit to a single model.
Banes are a personal favorite of mine, and the Coven can augment both flavors. How about adding Stealth to the Bane Knights or Ghostly to the Bane Thralls? They can even do both at the same time with plenty of focus to spare.
Arc nodes are critical to a Coven army. Pick your favorites. Take at least 2. Don’t look back.
A skarlock is also a worthwhile addition. Have one follow a unit, dispensing Ghost Walk or perhaps helping the Coven bounce Infernal Machine from warjack to warjack.
Finally, the Coven likes a big, beefy warjack to maximize the use of Infernal Machine. Even a humble Slayer is an absolute beast with that spell. SPD 8, MAT 9 and Terror on a 6-point model? Ouch. And don’t be afraid to take multiple heavies. With 9 Focus and Perfect Conjunction, the Coven can keep up just fine and still sling some nasty spells.
JUST FOR FUN: The enemy warcaster is on the other side of the map. They have just emptied their focus casting upkeep spells and powering jacks for running. They’re safe from harm, right?
Wrong!
Keep all 9 focus on the Coven. Use a skarlock to place Infernal Machine on an arc node. Give the arc node a focus with a Warwitch Siren’s Power Boost. Now run that speed demon up 18” and give it line of sight to the enemy warcaster.
With 9 Focus and Perfect Conjunction, the Witch Coven can unload a lot of pain. For best results against most warcasters, fire 3 shots and boost the damage every time you hit.
SUMMARY: The Coven is not a beginner’s warcaster. Their mobility support role takes some getting used to, and mistakes can quickly become fatal. But in the right hands, no terrain, building, or phalanx is going to stop their army from reaching the enemy caster and tearing them to bits!
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Skarre
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 Pirate Queen Skarre!
IN SHORT: The first version of Skarre is a massive force multiplier. She can make her army hit with pin-point accuracy, and on feat turn, they hit like Khador heavy warjacks! But nothing is for free. Her abilities will burn through her troops and even her own health if you’re not careful.
STRENGTHS: Here’s an interesting Cryx caster. Skarre has no debuffs. Does that make her weak? Heck, no!
First, Skarre has an excellent support spell in Dark Guidance. This gives friendly Cryx models an extra die on melee attack rolls. ALL OF THEM! As long as they’re in Skarre’s control area. It’s a costly spell at 4 focus, but it makes Skarre’s army a terrifyingly accurate one.
Next up is Backlash. Plant this spell on an enemy warjack. Now every time it takes damage, its controller takes a point of damage too. This is a great way to soften up an enemy warcaster!
Skarre may be a 6 Focus caster, but she can operate far beyond that limit. By sacrificing a friendly warrior model, Skarre gets d6 extra focus next turn. Also at the cost of a friendly trooper model, Skarre can auto-hit an enemy with a magic attack called Sacrificial Strike.
Skarre’s feat, Blood Magic, is a devastating combo of offense and defense. Skarre sacrifices up 5 health. For each point of damage she takes, her army gets +1 STR and +1 ARM.
Did I mention her middle name is “sacrifice”?
Defensively, this can help her army weather that scary gun-line’s shooting before she closes for the kill. Or cause her army to hit with terrific force when they do close, AND put a damper on any reprisals. It’s a superb, flexible feat.
On top of all of that, she has a Great Rack.
No, seriously. She has a weapon called a Great Rack. She knocks people down with it. Oh, Privateer Press! You’re so punny!
WEAKNESSES: A lot of Skarre’s abilities come with unconventional costs. Her feat and her sword consume her health. Her special attack and one of her spells eats up friendly models with every use. Skarre can be her own worst enemy if you’re not careful.
She’s also squishy with only 16 health and 15 ARM. Having access to extra Focus from Ritual Sacrifice does help, but keeping her safe is still very important.
Lastly, her lack of an ARM debuff means certain models really need to hit home on her feat turn, or they’re just not going to make a big enough dent.
SYNERGIES: Skarre greatly benefits from having a Skarlock to cast Ritual Sacrifice every turn, supplying her with extra focus for “free”. Cheap infantry to sacrifice is also a must. Mechanithralls or Scrap Thralls are probably the best route, though any cheap infantry can work.
And while we’re taking Mechanithralls, might as well throw in a Necrosurgeon to heal Skarre after her feat.
With Dark Guidance benefitting melee attack rolls and her feat boosting STR, Skarre’s army is happiest close in and personal. And since both of these abilities boost everything in her control area, the more attacks her army puts out, the bigger the benefit. Infantry with multiple attacks like Mechanithralls, Blood Witches, and Satyxis Raiders work superbly with Skarre, and can help get the most out of her abilities.
Skarre can also benefit from some of our formidable melee jacks. The Harrower is particularly impressive. Its high ARM of 18 (high for Cryx, I mean) gets boosted up to 23 with her feat, and its thresher attack will tear enemy infantry limb from bloody limb under Dark Guidance.
JUST FOR FUN: Pick a beefy enemy warjack. The more health the better. Tag it with Backlash. Use Dark Guidance. Feat to boost the STR of your Satyxis Raiders. The P+S of the Raiders should be about 7 or 8 less than the ARM of the warjack, for optimum results.
Now charge the warjack with your Raiders. Each damaging hit will do 2 points of damage to the enemy warcaster. That’s a potential 20 points of damage! If there are enough Raiders to seal the deal, then congratulations! Game over.
SUMMARY: Skarre may not be the lean, mean, debuffing machine a lot of Cryx casters are, but she certainly gets the job done. With ways to boost melee accuracy, melee damage, and armor, she can turn our most humble infantry into absolute superstars.
That is before she vaporizes them to fuel her abilities.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
The Dragons of Jupiter: Cover Rough Sketches!
Kaneda’s dropfighter ground to a halt just outside the city. Explosive bolts blew the rear hatch open. The locks holding his armor released.
“Move out!” Kaneda shouted.
Crusaders stormed out of the dropfighter. Kaneda raised his Gatling gun and followed. He stepped off the metal ramp and onto the moon’s surface. Ice crunched under his boots. Leftover gel from the bombing run still burned in patches on the gray, drab buildings. Crusaders splashed through shallow pools that quickly refroze.
“Spread out! Secure those buildings!”
Jupiter’s storm-wracked face rose in front of him. Kaneda paused and looked at the planet. It filled the horizon from end to end. Ten years had passed since he’d seen the mighty gas giant with his own eyes. And now he was home again, on Europa, with ice under his boots. He even recognized some of the buildings. The nostalgia of the moment hit him harder than he thought possible, and he hesitated.
The second thing that hit him was a needle grenade exploding in his face.
Excerpt from The Dragons of Jupiter, by Jacob Holo
Oh, man! I have been so excited about this! Robert Chew (a.k.a CrazyAsian1) has begun working on the cover. He produced a few rough sketches for me to review, and I have to say, they have me giddy with excitement.
The cover is set up to wrap around the book, so most of the left half will be on the back cover. The front prominently features three crusaders, elite heavy infantry that are the antagonists of the novel. A lone dragon, one of the protagonists, hides on the back cover, ready to ambush in ninja-like fashion.
Robert has been great to work with. As we began to discuss the specifics of the cover, his attention to detail has been very impressive. Just to give you an idea, below is one of the first things he asked me during the concept phase.
“Now the purely logical side in me is wondering how Kaneda and his fellow Crusaders could heft around gatling guns. In my mind gatling guns are very heavy. The gun itself, the power source to get the barrel spinning, and the ammo. I’m wondering if the Crusaders use exoskeleton power armor to help them carry this stuff around. I could see them carrying this stuff around in space with 0G’s, but on the surface… Could you provide some insight into that for me? This will determine the character designs so I need to know.”
Ladies and gentlemen, that attention to detail is the sign of a true professional. Even at this early stage, Robert has done a superb job of capturing the look and feel I’m after. Check out these quick character studies Robert did of the crusaders.
The helmet designs are Robert Chew’s signature touch, and they have a striking profile that I just adore. I’m absolutely thrilled he’s letting me put them on the cover. I may ask for a few minor tweaks to the crusader armor, but they are already a fantastic design.
The first rough sketch I posted is my favorite, but the other two are also quite impressive. Check out this one.
And the last one.
And finally, just for laughs, here’s the original picture I sent Robert. As you can see, my crack PowerPoint skills were pushed to their limit.
Seriously, though. In my defense, I am not an artist. However, it did get the job done of communicating the layout to him … and it probably gave him a chuckle too.
Having an awesome cover for my book isn’t too far off now. After that, it’s time to publish this bad boy!
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Dungeon Master Writes Novel that Writes Campaign that Writes Novel
Last year, I played Dungeons and Dragons for the first time. My wife got me started on the hobby. I played a character I affectionately remember as the “Burninator”, a wizard whose first response to any problem was to set it on fire.
It was loads of fun, but I wanted more. I wanted to drive the campaign, create the mood, and tell the story. I wanted to be the Dungeon Master.
I told our group about my writing hobby and how I thought one of my books would be a great setting for a campaign. It was an urban fantasy novel called Time Reavers, and it had plenty of formidable monsters to fight and interested powers for the characters to use. They basically said, “Sure, why not? We’ll give that a try.”
I went to work, feverishly converting the creatures and abilities from my novel into a coherent rule set, using Pathfinder as a template. The result was Time Reavers: A D&D Campaign, and it was a surprising success.
The players really enjoyed the unique setting. These weren’t skeletons and kobolds anymore. They had to contend with a whole new bestiary. Every encounter was a mystery, every new creature feared for its unknown strengths and weaknesses. Even their own abilities were revealed piece by piece.
The group enjoyed it so much that I am now running my second campaign with them. That’s great just by itself, but the biggest benefit came as a complete surprise.
You see, Time Reavers was a dead novel to me. I’d written it years ago and tried to get it published. That failed, so I tossed it away and moved on to another story. I’ve done this repeatedly over the years. It’s just the way I handle my hobby. I always try to look forward and not dwell on a failed experiment.
But running the campaign sparked my creative juices. I crafted new scenarios that didn’t exist in the book, and I even designed totally new creatures. The players came up with solutions I hadn’t thought about, indirectly adding their own creative spark. When the campaign finished, I looked at my notes and realized I had the blueprints to totally revitalize my novel.
And so I did just that. It was strange revisiting a dead project, but also a lot of fun. I revamped the main character, added a secondary protagonist and some old-fashioned conflict between the two. I wrote two brand new action scenes, spiced them up with one of the new creature types, and cut the fat out of the third act.
It took months. The 58,000 word urban fantasy novel I started with became a 70,000 YA urban fantasy novel, and it’s a much stronger story than its predecessor.
So what’s the next step? Well, I’m going to try to get the thing published. And if that fails, I’m going to do what I’m doing with The Dragons of Jupiter. I’m going to self-publish.
Wish me luck!
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Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Blood Witches
Requested by Frank. Thank you for your support!
Infantry may not be the stars of Warmachine, but that doesn’t make them any less important. From screening high priority targets to overwhelming a foe with sheer numbers, infantry plays a critical role, especially in the armies of Cryx. Today, I’m taking a look at the Satyxis Blood Witches.
IN SHORT: These cursed ladies are cheap, fast, and very accurate killers. They can also make people explode into clouds of gory mist, and that’s just cool.
STRENGTHS: With two attacks each and Gang, Blood Witches are capable of handling most high DEF, low ARM infantry out there. A pair of Blood Witches operates at effective MAT 8, with a P+S 12 and a P+S 10 attack each. Two Blood Witches working in tandem have solid odds of hitting anything up to DEF 17, and they make short work of DEF 15 or lower.
They’re fast, and have decent hitting power, but their real trick is Bloodletting. This ability triggers when they take out a living model, and can be used in two ways. Blood Mist turns enemies into cloud effects, which you can use to protect your Blood Witches from reprisals or screen the slower portions of your army.
Death Strike takes the STR of the model killed and shoots it at another model within 4”. There is no roll to hit. Just pick a target and roll for damage. The POW is going to be low (normally around 5 or 6), but if high DEF low ARM enemies are nearby, this is one more way to deal with them.
As the cherry on top, their blood razors are Magical Weapons, which is always a nice tool to have in an army list.
WEAKNESSES: Blood Witches are weedy. With DEF 13 and ARM 13, they’re not going to stick around very long. To make matters worse, they have CMD 8, which gives them a good chance of running away once they take enough casualties.
Deploying Blood Witches in pairs is critical to success. Without the benefits of Gang, their accuracy is average and hitting power is quite low.
And while Gang works on all enemies, Bloodletting needs living models. However, this just comes with playing Cryx. Lack of living enemies shuts down a lot of our cool abilities. Bloodletting is just one of them.
SYNERGIES: Blood Witches already have excellent accuracy. What they lack is raw hitting power. Warcasters that have ARM debuffs or STR buffs can get a lot of mileage from Blood Witches. Fortunately, Cryx has plenty of those.
The Blood Hag, a 2 point unit attachment, is a superb addition to a team of Blood Witches. Her Blood Shadow, which turns the entire unit Incorporeal for a round, has many defensive and offensive possibilities. If you’re tired of your Blood Witches getting shot to pieces before they can close, try a Blood Hag.
In addition, she can prevent enemy Tough rolls, stop enemy healing, and Dispel enemy upkeep spells with a hit. She also gives them an extra point of CMD, which can help prevent them from running away at the worst possible moment.
If you like Blood Witches, then for 2 points, you’ve got to try the Blood Hag. She’s just that good.
JUST FOR FUN: Note that the rule on Bloodletting says “living model”. It does not say “living enemy model”. Does that mean what I think it means?
Yes! You can exsplode your own Blood Witches to provide cloud effects for the rest of your army! For that matter, you can even sacrifice your own Blood Witches to make Death Strike attacks.
Heck, you’re playing Cryx! You can even have a Necrosurgeon recycle them as Mechanithralls. Just remember that Blood Mist removes the model from play, and that Gang only works on enemy models.
SUMMARY: Blood Witches may be on the lower end of powerful Cryx infantry, but they come at a bargain price and have a nifty set of tools. Smart use of their abilities can screen the rest of your army and take out high DEF targets. Plus the whole bloody explosion imagery is just so cool.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
In Death Ground by David Weber and Steve White – Book Review
IN SHORT: A race of genocidal alien bugs has targeted humanity, and they’re coming after us with a lot of ships. I mean, A LOT OF SHIPS.
WHAT IT IS: Expect lots of extremely detailed and well-written combat. Stuff blows up in this book. LOTS of stuff. The military tech of In Death Ground is coherent, detailed, and well thought out. There’s a lot to take in, but I never felt overwhelmed. Even with all the SBMs, AFHAWKs, primaries, heterodyne lasers, force beams, plasma cannons, sprint-mode missiles, and a ton of different ship classes, the novel delivers it at a controlled pace, doling out a few new pieces of tech in each battle. This keeps the combat fresh and exciting.
WHAT IT IS NOT: The characters, while distinct and entertaining, are not the real stars here, and it shows. The viewpoint bounces around quite a bit. As soon as I got comfortable with one group of characters, I had to learn a whole new cast. These viewpoint shifts paint a great picture of a war on multiple fronts, but at the cost of character development.
WHAT I THOUGHT: In Death Ground is fun. The action is fast paced and exciting. Every battle has some sort of interesting twist to it. It’s just a great page turner. Without a doubt, I enjoyed following humanity’s struggle against this unstoppable, genocidal alien juggernaut.
The technical details give it a layer of depth and consistency that just feels right. Humans have the technology advantage. The bugs have massive numbers and just don’t care about casualties. The tactics each side employs are well thought out and consistent within the setting … for the most part. Sometimes the bug “we don’t care how many of us die” mentality can come across as a little stupid.
On a thematic level, this is not a complicated book. The military characters are very heroic. The politicians are complete scum. And the bugs are the bad guys. Period. No question about it. I mean, they even eat human babies, for goodness sake. There is no ambiguity here.
The novel does show a little of the bug perspective, but only in a military tactical sense. At no point does the reader get any insight into why the bugs invaded or who they really are. They are faceless, remorseless killers that serve as foils for the heroic humans. That’s it.
But that’s okay. This is an action novel. I wanted spaceships to blow up in exciting ways, and I got it. If that’s what you’re after, then In Death Ground will not disappoint.
VERDICT: Recommended.