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Warhammer 40K: Tyranid Army

April 20, 2013 by holojacob 11 Comments

Presenting my Warhammer 40K Tyranid army.

tyranid hordes 1 — Even more of the Horde.

tyranids broodlord conversion — Broodlord conversion, leaping forward.

tyranid zoanthrope 2 — Zoanthrope awesomeness blew this space marine’s mind.

tyranid zoanthrope 1 — Zoanthrope posse.

tyranid winged hive tyrant conversion — Winged hive tyrant conversion. Kind of a crazy pose.

tyranid warrior — Tyranid warrior with his new friend.

tyranid trygon — Stock trygon model. Nothing fancy.

tyranid tervigon conversion — Tervigon conversion, vomiting some more termagants.

tyranid mawloc conversion — Mawloc conversion playing with its food.

tyranid lictor — Lictor sneaking up on one unlucky space marine.

While I’m not the best painter or converter or player … I do have a lot of fun with the hobby. And for me, that’s the whole point.
I currently favor Warmachine over Warhammer 40K for my gaming needs, but there’s no denying that Games Workshop produces fantastic models. The heavy use of plastic in their product lines allows for all sorts of conversion flexibility, which I absolutely love.
I hope you enjoyed this brief look at my Tyranids army.
Check out the complete list of Warhammer 40K articles here.

Engineer Likes WordPress

April 20, 2013 by holojacob 4 Comments

Starting near the end of February, 2013, I began an experiment. I stopped playing video games for a whole month and started a blog. Because, you know, why not? Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed blogging quite a bit.
You see, I love statistics. I love numbers. I love analyzing data. It’s part of being an engineer. And what is one of the perks of having a blog? Tons and tons of data, that’s what!
It was fascinating. Which articles were popular? Which were not? Which spiked in views and then died off? Which provided a steady stream of views? How did people find the site? What country were they from? How often did people view more than one article? Which search engine did they use? What keywords did they type?
And on, and on, and on.
Oh, this stuff just tickles my brain. I love it.
But there was one piece that didn’t seem to fit. Often, my articles would have more LIKES than VIEWS shortly after their release. Now that seemed odd to me. What did that mean? Was there a delay in recording the VIEWS?
This was an easy enough theory to test. I used a second computer and was pleased to see the new VIEWS registered almost immediately. The only delay I saw was in reporting unique VISITORS, not VIEWS.
Okay, that cleared up that. VIEWS update quickly. So how did I get more LIKES than VIEWS?
And then I witnessed it happening.
A fellow blogger LIKED one of my stories … and then another … and another. The blogger LIKED about five of my articles in the span of a minute … in the reverse order I wrote them. And the VIEW count did not rise. I actually had my dashboard open at the time, since I was prepping my next article.
Huh. I wondered what’s going on there. I checked the person’s blog. Maybe we had something in common.
Now, I suppose the person could have had a huge interest in Warmachine Cryx warcaster strategy articles, but it seemed unlikely from a young lady with a poetry blog. I know there are plenty female wargamers out there. I married one, but I’m also smart enough to know that isn’t the norm.
So what was the point in LIKING the article if she never actually read it? It’s not as if I had interest in following a poetry blog … oh, shoot. There it is! I visited her blog because she LIKED my article! That was the only reason I visited her blog! And that was why she LIKED my article, to generate traffic!
After catching it once, I found this was a fairly common activity.
Well, that kind of makes the LIKE button meaningless, doesn’t it? If the LIKE button is being used as a blog advertisement, then it becomes more of a nuisance than anything else. Call me old fashioned, but I actually read the articles I LIKE. And if I don’t like them, I don’t LIKE them.
But it’s still cool. I am definitely having a good time. After all, isn’t that the point of a hobby?

Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Epic Skarre

April 5, 2013 by holojacob 2 Comments

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 Skarre, Queen of the Broken Coast.
IN SHORT: Feel like outshooting Cygnar for a change? Try Skarre, Queen of the Broken Coast! No, serious. She can actually do that. But if you don’t feel like shooting, she can do the melee thing too.
STRENGTHS: Skarre has BLACK SPOT! Seriously, the awesomeness of this spell cannot be understated. This spell, by itself, is enough reason to take Skarre. First, Black Spot acts as a 2 DEF debuff for either a unit or model (HINT: pick a unit). Not bad, right? Oh, it gets better! If a Cryx model kills an enemy suffering from Black Spot, the Cryx model gets a free attack. ANY free attack at its disposal at ANY target. The only limitation is these extra attacks cannot generate more attacks, because that would just be silly!
Skarre retains Backlash for whittling down enemy warcasters by beating on their warjacks. Always nice for softening up the target before the main assassination push.
Skarre is also very Focus efficient. Her ability, Seas of Fate, allows models in her battlegroup (her included!) to boost after rolling. This is immensely helpful for getting the most out of allocated Focus! Also, thanks to Blood Trade, she can take a point of damage instead of spending Focus to upkeep her spells.
When it comes to warjack support, Skarre has some great tools. Perdition is an attack spell with a powerful trigger ability. If Skarre damages the target, a model in her battlegroup may move towards the nearest enemy. She can even cast this multiple times! A model can only be moved once per turn due to Perdition, though.
Death Ward is a nice +2 ARM buff that can apply to a unit or single model. On a warjack, this lets Skarre pick the damage column, allowing her toughened warjack to keep its critical systems running even after heavy damage.
And then there’s Admonition. Put this on a warjack or Skarre. If an enemy gets within 6”, this model gets a free 3” move. Just got charged by an enemy heavy? Not anymore! As an added bonus, the model is immune to free strikes during this move.
Finally, there’s Skarre’s feat, Fate Weaver. By suffering up to 5 points of damage, Skarre can select up to 5 models, friends or enemies. Friendly models cannot be targeted by enemy attacks. Enemy models cannot attack. Yikes! Those enemy models can’t even make free strikes, so her army can walk right by!
WEAKNESSES: Without an ARM debuff and with an army often geared towards shooting, Skarre can suffer against enemy heavy armor. Taking models with their own ARM debuffs can help offset this, though.
Skarre is also just as squishy as before. DEF 16, ARM 15, and 16 damage is okay, but Skarre still has that nasty habit of self-inflicted wounds.
SYNERGIES: Any model can benefit from Black Spot, but models with shooting attacks more than others. They are much more likely to have a valid target after taking out a Black Spotted enemy. The more shots the better. Warjacks like the Leviathan and especially the Kraken can really punish the enemy with extra shooting.
Also consider Pistol Wraiths and Revenant Crews with Captain Rengrave. Not only can they take advantage of Black Spot, but they also make good targets for Fate Weaver. Try using Fate Weaver on the Pistol Wraiths after they go corporeal, or on the Revenant Crew leader to make the unit extra annoying to get rid of.
With Black Spot, Perdition, and Backlash, Skarre really wants an Arc Node or two. Why not take ones with shooting attacks while you’re at it?
Also, given Skarre’s self-destructive nature, take a Necrosurgeon. With Blood Trade, she can often upkeep multiple spells for “free” if a Necrosurgeon is handy to patch her up.
Finally, Skarre doesn’t have an ARM debuff. It may be a good idea to some Bane Thralls or Gorma Di Wulfe handy to deal with enemy heavy armor.
JUST FOR FUN: So, how ridiculous is the Kraken with Black Spot? This ridiculous!
First, load the Kraken with Focus. Have Skarre hit an enemy infantry unit with Black Spot. Now start shooting, and use that Focus to boost rolls where needed. Results will vary depending on how many Flayer shots the Kraken gets.
The best results possible? 4 Flayer shots at POW 12 and a massive 6 Hell Blaster shots (4” AOE up to POW 17 with POW 10 blast damage)! Just call this combo, the Table Sweeper!
SUMMARY: Skarre brings some love to the shooting side of the Cryx army. Even better, her diverse abilities and battlegroup efficiency means she can support a wide variety of builds.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.

Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Epic Asphyxious

April 5, 2013 by holojacob Leave a Comment

H.P. Holo: I see you’re using Odiferous.
Jacob Holo: His name is Asphyxious.
H.P. Holo: Yeah, but isn’t he the one that farts out those clouds of noxious fumes every turn?
Jacob Holo: I guess …
H.P. Holo: Then I’m right. He’s a stinking fart machine. So there.
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 Asphyxious.
IN SHORT: Asphyxious got a promotion to Lich Lord. Players got one heck of a warcaster for leading Cryx’s powerful infantry.
STRENGTHS: Asphyxious comes loaded with ways to support Cryx infantry. His spell, Caustic Mist, can lay down acid clouds in his control area. Models entering or ending their activation take a point of damage. At 2 Focus per cloud, Asphyxious can lay down a solid line of acid 9” across, shielding a large portion of his army from light infantry charges and most ranged attacks.
He also has access to Excarnate, a POW 13 attack spell. When Excarnate kills a living enemy, Asphyxious gets to add a grunt to a nearby small-based undead unit.
And then there is his feat, Spectral Legion. Bring back any 10 small or medium based grunts (note the important change here with July 2013 Errata) and places them within 3” of Asphyxious. The returned models act like solos and must charge. Once the turn is over, they vanish. The returned models even gain Ghostly as an added bonus.
This is where Asphyxious’ real hitting power comes from. Not only can he screen his infantry, but any casualties his army does take only serve to fuel his feat. Combined with Asphyxious’ own mobility , this feat has an extremely large threat range and hard hitting potential.
Asphyxious also comes with several tricks of his own. He can Teleport 8” away, allowing him to charge in, do some damage, then bail out. He also has a new spell, Hellbound. With this spell active, Asphyxious cannot be charged and 5” of open ground around him is treated as rough terrain by enemies. This makes it far more difficult for most opponents to engage Asphyxious directly.
Asphyxious also has a very effective way to collect souls. By sacrificing his attack with his staff Daeamortus, he can place a 5” AOE in his control area and can collect the souls of enemy living models destroyed inside it. This is a very nice way to gain some extra focus.
Finally, he retains his powerful ARM debuff, Parasite. Just hit an enemy model or unit, drop their ARM by 3 and raise Asphyxious’ ARM by 1. Very nice!
WEAKNESSES: Asphyxious loves infantry, but he doesn’t have Ghost Walk. He has no tools for improving his army’s mobility, which can result in the normally speedy Cryx army slogging it through rough terrain.
He also lacks a DEF debuff. This wouldn’t be too bad, except his feat returns infantry as solos. This means they are not part of a unit, and therefore, cannot benefit from abilities they used to have like Combined Melee or Gang for added accuracy.
While Asphyxious is a powerful caster, these two factors limit which units he works well with, resulting in less army list variety with this caster.
SYNERGIES: Bane Knights and Bane Lord Tartarus are the perfect fit for Asphyxious’ army. They come with Ghostly, standard, so terrain is not a problem. Banes hit hard, have Reach for clumping around a single target, and can benefit from Bane Lord Tartarus’ Curse for improved accuracy.
Bane Thralls also work well, though their lack of Reach can make capitalizing on his feat a bit tricky. I also like Satyxis Raiders, since it gives them a second change to pound the enemy’s Warjacks with Backlash!
The Wraith Engine can also help support Asphyxious’ army. With a heavy concentration of infantry, the Wraith Engine can provide additional clouds to further screen the army.
JUST FOR FUN: Just how far can Asphyxious strike with his feat?
Asphyxious charges a model (9”), then activates his feat. Bane Knights and Bane Lord Tartaus are placed (3.5”). Tartarus Curses the target. The Banes charge in (10”) with Reach (2”).
How far is that? 24.5”! And that’s with effective MAT 8 P+S 11 Weapon Masters on the charge. Wow! Try dodging that!
SUMMARY: Epic Asphyxious has a narrow focus, but what he does, he does superbly well. Take some powerful infantry with him, and go to work!
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.

The Dragons of Jupiter: Cover Rough Sketch, Version 2!

April 4, 2013 by holojacob 5 Comments

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

Robert Chew, a.k.a. CrazyAsian1, has created a new rough sketch for my cover. I have to say, it is fantastic! He has expertly captured the feel I wanted.
The cover maintains the overall layout from previous versions, wrapping around the book. Three crusaders on the front cover, advancing. One dragon on the back, waiting for a chance to strike. They look so cool!
Robert continues to be an excellent artist to work with. He has been very professional throughout this entire process, and I have no doubt that will continue.
Next up, color studies!
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Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Epic Deneghra

April 4, 2013 by holojacob Leave a Comment

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.

Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Epic Goreshade

April 3, 2013 by holojacob Leave a Comment

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!
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
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Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Mortenebra

April 2, 2013 by holojacob 3 Comments

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

March 31, 2013 by holojacob 2 Comments

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

March 31, 2013 by holojacob Leave a Comment

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

March 28, 2013 by holojacob 2 Comments

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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Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Witch Coven

March 28, 2013 by holojacob Leave a Comment

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.