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.