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.
Fantasy
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.
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.
Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Goreshade
Warcasters are the stars of Warmachine, and Cryx has no shortage of powerful and fun-to-play warcasters. Up next is the Goreshade the Bastard!
IN SHORT: Do you want to try a caster that plays like no other in Cryx? Feel like leaving all the arc nodes at home? Want to stomp around with some extra warjacks? Tired of your opponent’s feat getting you down? Well, search no further! Version 1 of Goreshade has you covered!
STRENGTHS: Goreshade the Bastard has a very powerful spell list. He comes with two great spells for supporting his battlegroup, a spell for removing enemy upkeeps and animi, and he can SHUT DOWN ENEMY FEATS! Wow, just wow. He has two powerful ways to debuff enemies, and he doesn’t need arc nodes the way other Cryx casters depend on them.
Shadowmancer gives Goreshade’s entire battlegroup Stealth and Dark Shroud. This includes him and his companion solo, Deathwalker. With this, it’s possible to have an entire army benefit from Stealth. Many factions have ways to neutralize Stealth, but not a whole army at once! On top of that, anything engaged by the battlegroup is going to be at -2 ARM. Nice! No need to hit the enemy with a debuff spell!
And speaking of easy debuffs, Deathwalker has big debuff aura. Any living enemies within 5” of her are at -2 DEF and -2 STR. Just run Deathwalker up. It’s debuffed! And if she dies, Goreshade can make a new one by killing a living enemy model.
Soul Gate gives Goreshade a powerful tool for relocating warjacks. At the expense of a trooper model in his control area, Goreshade can move a warjack to that location. The warjack cannot activate afterwards, so here’s what I like to do. Hit the enemy hard with the warjack, then teleport it away to safety. Yoink! The enemy has no chance to counterattack.
To compliment his already formidable arsenal, Goreshade has Hex Blast. This POW 13 AOE spell not only causes decent damage, but can clear enemy buffs on a direct hit. It can even clear debuffs inflicting your own troops, just as long as you’re cool with vaporizing a few of them.
And then there is his spell Mage Blight. In Goreshade’s control area, living enemy models cannot cast spells or use feats. Period!
WEAKNESSES: Goreshade can cast a lot of very powerful spells. He just can’t do it all at the same time. Mage Blight costs a massive 5 Focus! Shadowmancer, Soul Gate, and Hex Blast all cost 3 Focus. Even as a 7 Focus caster, there’s only so much he’s going to be able to do in one turn. Picking the right spells for the right situation is key. To top this off, he has no upkeep spells and cannot collect soul tokens. With Goreshade, every Focus counts.
Goreshade is on a medium base, with all the disadvantages that brings. He has access to Stealth through Shadowmancer, but watch out for enemy models that can bypass that defense!
Goreshade’s Feat, Dark Summons, allows him to bring 6 new Bane Thralls into play within 3” of him. These Bane Thralls can then activate freely. This certainly has punch in the right places. However, the feat does not scale with larger games. In smaller games, the added weight of a whole new unit can be devastating. But in larger games, it can easily fall flat.
SYNERGIES: Goreshade works well with a solid combination of powerful warjacks and infantry. Those warjacks are going to need some Focus, but Goreshade needs to be pumping out high-powered spells. Focus efficiency is absolutely essential. Warwitch sirens are excellent additions to help power the warjacks. As an added bonus, they have built in Stealth.
For warjacks, the always-efficient Seether can help with Goreshade’s Focus woes. Warjacks with Reach are also powerful, allowing you to maximize the effects of Dark Shroud. The Desecrator is also a good addition, since it can Accumulate from nearby Bane models, such as those from Goreshade’s feat.
To support Soul Gate, I recommend taking a group of cheap infantry like Mechanithralls. When the time is right, run one to whatever location you want to Soul Gate a jack to.
And speaking of Banes, any of them work well with Goreshade. There are going to be Banes in the army no matter what, so why not take some more? More Bane Thralls are my first choice. They follow the Stealth theme and bring their own Dark Shrouds. This can relieve some of the spell-casting pressure from Goreshade once the two armies lock in melee. On top of that, Bane Lord Tartarus can help any of the Banes kick more butt.
Alternatively, just about any infantry unit in Cryx can benefit from the battlegroup’s Dark Shroud or from Deathwalker running into the midst of their next target.
JUST FOR FUN: Got to bring some pain to the enemy, but can’t reach him? No problem! First, run a model forward in roughly the direction you need to go, somewhere between 9” and 11” from Goreshade. Activate Goreshade and charge your own model. Now feat, and place those Banes 3” further towards the target. For added silliness, have Bane Lord Tartarus Curse the target.
Now charge in with those 6 new Banes. They can reach a target roughly 23” away from Goreshade’s original location! And let’s face it, 6 weapon masters hitting with effective MAT 8 POW 13 charge attacks is scary, scary, scary!
For even more hilarity, run the Deathwalker over to the target. Now they’re effective MAT 10!
SUMMARY: Goreshade the Bastard is a fun warcaster within Cryx. He has a very unique spell list, can support jacks better than most of our casters, and has two effective ways to deliver debuffs. Besides, the guy can teleport jacks around and shut down enemy feats! There’s a reason he’s called the Bastard!
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Hordes Gargantuans Review: Circle of Orboros
IN SHORT: The Horde Gargantuans rulebook is here, and once again Privateer Press shows their top shelf support for an excellent gaming system.
As with previous releases, every Hordes army gets a host of new additions that mix up the game in exciting ways. In the past, Privateer Press has shown their skill in maintaining game balance while still adding tons of exciting new options. Fortunately, this rulebook does not disappoint. Every main faction gets a new warlock, one of the new gargantuans, and a mix of beasts, units, and solos. The rulebook itself is full color, and the artwork is absolutely gorgeous!
Today, let’s take a look at the new additions to the Circle arsenal!
MORVAHNA THE DAWNSHADOW: Morvahna is back and she’s riding a goat! Okay, granted it’s a really cool looking mountain goat, but it’s still a goat.
As before Morvahna is most comfortable surrounded by lots of infantry. At first glance, she looks like a risky warlock that can either really pay off or blow up in your face. She has no less than 3 abilities that drain her health. Her feat, Blood Sacrifice, returns infantry in exchange for health at a 1 for 1 ratio. These models lose their actions the turn they come back.
Second, Scales of Fate allows friendly attack or damage rolls in her control area to be rerolled. Very powerful, but pricey. This ability costs her d3 damage each time. And last, her weapon has Life Trader, allowing her to gain an additional damage die by suffering 1 damage point. She’s also squishy with DEF 15, ARM 15, a large base, and only 16 damage points. Ouch!
To counterbalance this, she has two abilities that help her regenerate health. Imperishable Conviction gives her 1 damage point for each friendly killed in her control area. Carnivore gives a friendly model or unit +2 to MAT. Any living models they kill means d3 damage points for Morvahna.
Is this enough? I’d say that’s up to player skill more than anything else. Liberal use of Scales of Fate can be absolutely devastating under the right circumstances (say, an assassination run), but if the attack goes south, it can leave Morvahna very vulnerable.
RAZORWING GRIFFON: It slices! It dices! It’s a trampling light warbeast!
The Razorwing Griffon has a slew of rules that make it appealing to trample with this light warbeast. The very fact that it can trample at all is novel, though I picture it swooping over its enemies while slicing their heads off.
First, it tramples over anything, regardless of base sizes or obstructions. Second, it adds the POW of its weapons to the trample, which gives it P+S 12. Third, it has Amuck, which means all those trample attack rolls are going to be boosted.
And if you can’t trample, it has 3 P+S 12 attack. For 5 points? Yeah, I’d buy that.
RIP HORN SATYR: At 9 points, the Rip Horn is the most expensive Satyr to date. It also hits the hardest and has the best ARM. Basically, there’s not much to this guy. He’s a solid beat stick. Nothing too flashy. He has the typical Satyr Hard Head rule, so slams from this guy are going to hurt. His animus, Bulldoze, helps him get to the target of your choice, and Aggressive gives him a little extra Fury efficiency. SPD is excellent for a heavy. Just point him at a target and smash it to bits.
THARN BLOOD PACK: Here’s a new type of heavy infantry for Circle, and they’re built for offense. They have high SPD, MAT, and RAT scores, but their DEF and ARM aren’t too great. However, they have the potential to put out a lot of attacks.
First, they can shoot and then charge thanks to Assault & Battery (Order). Next, they share the Lord of the Feast’s Heart Eater rule, allowing them to collect corpse tokens from living enemy models and use those tokens to buy melee attacks or to boost rolls, including ranged attack rolls. Did I mention those ranged attacks are POW 13? Imagine boosting a few of those, eh?
Given that this unit relies on corpse tokens to maximize its effectiveness, and is kind of squishy, I think they’re a little tricky to get the most out of.
WARPBORN ALPHA: At 3 points, this unit attachment is pricey, but he greatly enhances his unit of Warpborn Skinwalkers. First, they hit harder thanks to Tactics: Rapid Strike. Every Skinwalker gets an extra attack! Second, they have some added resilience thanks to Granted: Blood Drinker. When they kill living enemy models, they get to heal a little. The Warpborn Alpha is a fantastic addition to this unit, and really helps bring it to the next level.
Finally, I assume the lack of Reach on his Pole Axe is simply a typo and will be corrected in a future FAQ.
WOLDWRATH: Now that is a health spiral! And ARM 20 too! Nice!
Okay, let’s get this out of the way. Spell Ward is a double-edged sword. You’re either upset Circle buffs can’t affect it or you’re glad enemy spells bounce off its stone hide. Me, I think Spell Ward is worth it because it’s a powerful denial tool. There are a lot of absolutely nasty spells out there that can really cripple a gargantuan’s effectiveness.
Imagine Warwitch Deneghra’s Crippling Grasp on this model, dropping its SPD, DEF, STR, and ARM. Not a pretty sight. Now let out a sigh of relief, because this guy can’t be targeted by enemy spells. Gargantuans are prime debuff targets, but not the Woldwrath!
Its animus is also pretty neat. Magic attack rolls against models within 10” of the Woldwrath gain an additional die, which can then be boosted for a total of four attack dice. Many warlocks and especially Druids can benefit from this synergy. Extra accurate Force Bolt rolls? Bring it on!
On top of this, its ranged attack can put down electric POW 10 AOE’s, and its fists will knock down nearby targets. You don’t even have to hit your target. Just hit something near them. This is great for setting up assassination runs. All in all, I really like this gargantuan.
SUMMARY: Privateer Press continues to release exciting new models for every faction at roughly the same time. They have shown a strong commitment to game balance and to supporting owners of all factions. The releases in this rulebook are a fine example of their dedication to the game and to the fans.
All in all, Gargantuans is another top-notch release for a top-notch game.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Hordes Gargantuans Review: Trollbloods
IN SHORT: The Horde Gargantuans rulebook is here, and once again Privateer Press shows their top shelf support for an excellent gaming system.
As with previous releases, every Hordes army gets a host of new additions that mix up the game in exciting ways. In the past, Privateer Press has shown their skill in maintaining game balance while still adding tons of exciting new options. Fortunately, this rulebook does not disappoint. Every main faction gets a new warlock, one of the new gargantuans, and a mix of beasts, units, and solos. The rulebook itself is full color, and the artwork is absolutely gorgeous!
Today, let’s take a look at the new additions to the Trollbloods arsenal!
HUNTERS GRIM: Trollbloods get a warlock unit! Plus, anything with a bowler hat gains extra cool points in my book. I love these Trollblood models!
Grim’s feat is excellent for ranged-heavy Trollblood armies. Any Cygnar player with Rangers knows the power of Mark Target. Toss in Snipe for extra range, mix and serve. With a few models forward marking targets and the rest of the battle-line holding back with Snipe, Grim’s feat turn can be absolutely devastating!
The guns of the Hunters Grim are pretty nice too. Grim’s Headhunter lets warbeasts charge enemy models for free. Muggs can knock enemies down, and Krump can lay down large POW 10 traps to keep the team safe. Nice!
Once the range drops, Grim’s spell list has some neat tricks. Mirage gives a model or unit Apparition, which can help the target close faster or disengage from melee. Mage Sight can let his battlegroup ignore Stealth, cloud effects, and forests. Good stuff. But I think Mortality is the best. This debuff will drop DEF and ARM by 2 for a whole unit. Just picture that with the Mountain King’s spray attack on feat turn. A 10” spray attack at effective RAT 9 POW 18? Yes, please!
Overall, the Hunters Grim look like a flexible addition to the Trollbloods team. They have support for both warbeasts and infantry as well as a potent feat with ranged armies.
NIGHT TROLL: Wow, this guy is one freaky-looking troll! Can’t wait to see the model!
For 4 points, this light warbeast brings some interesting stuff to the table. Its claws can paralyze living models, reducing their DEF to 7 among other maladies. It comes with Stealth and Eyeless Sight, stock. And it has an interesting animus, Beguile. Basically, living enemy models within 5” of him have to advance towards him.
Note that this is not “directly” towards, just towards, so it’s not as powerful as it first sounds, but it is still very potent. Still, I can see this ability really messing with enemy charges. It creates a 5” bubble around the Night Troll, and that can mean a lot of failed charge vectors. Not bad for a 4 point light warbeast.
TROLLKIN WARDERS: These guys are slow, heavy infantry that are going to take a concerted effort to get rid of. If you want to bog down an enemy, these guys look like they’re up to the challenge. As soon as you damage one, their ARM shoots up to 19, among other benefits. They don’t have the same offensive power as, say, Trollkin Champions. But they’re cheaper and are going to stick around much longer. Not bad at all.
TROLLKIN SORCERER: Here’s a 1 point solo that brings some very interesting tools into the mix. He has an attack spell, Ice Bolt. Nothing too exciting there. However, he also has Arcane Antidote and Winter Storm, and these are worth a look!
While the Sorcerer is a solo, it is assigned a client Trollkin unit thanks to its Adjunct rule. Arcane Antidote allows the Sorcerer to clear enemy upkeep spells off his client unit. Very nice, especially against foes like Cryx or anyone who likes to toss around debuff spells.
If the Sorcerer uses Winter Storm, enemy models activating in his command range lose Eyeless Sight, Flight, and Pathfinder. Yikes! That’s going to be nasty against Legion!
All in all, this guy brings some nice abilities to the table for only 1 point. And you can have 2 of him.
FENNBLADE KITHKAR: So here’s a 2 point Fennblade solo. Nothing too flashy. Good offensive abilities. Good defensive abilities. The main synergy with this model is Tactician [Fennblades], which allows nearby Fennblades to ignore other Fennblades for line of sight. Again, nothing too flashy. I could see some potential use out of it, since the Fennblades are medium based models and sometimes a big mob of them can get in the way of each other.
That said, the Fennblade Kithkar is not a part of the unit, so if the Fennblades have a buff spell on them, he won’t benefit from it. Same goes for Fell Calls. So, yeah. Nothing too exciting here. Just a solid solo with good rules and stats.
MOUNTAIN KING: At first I was like, MAT 5? Really? On a 20 point model? What the flip? But then I saw its animus, Amuck. Ahh, now it makes sense.
With Amuck and Kill Shot, this guy can charge forward, Sweep a whole mess of infantry with boosted attack rolls, eat them for health, and then cut loose with a free ranged attack. He may not start with high health, but his regenerative abilities are top notch. Between that and the ARM buffs Trollbloods have at their disposal, the Mountain King is one tough customer to put down.
Just think about this for a moment. +2 ARM from the Krielstone. Maybe another +2 ARM from an Earthborn Dire Troll’s Elemental Communion. Add in double doses of Whelps for munching on, and the aforementioned boosted Sweep attacks. Let’s face it. If the enemy doesn’t kill this guy in one turn, all they did was piss him off!
SUMMARY: Privateer Press continues to release exciting new models for every faction at roughly the same time. They have shown a strong commitment to game balance and to supporting owners of all factions. The releases in this rulebook are a fine example of their dedication to the game and to the fans.
All in all, Gargantuans is another top-notch release for a top-notch game.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Hordes Gargantuans Review: Legion of Everblight
IN SHORT: The Horde Gargantuans rulebook is here, and once again Privateer Press shows their top shelf support for an excellent gaming system.
As with previous releases, every Hordes army gets a host of new additions that mix up the game in exciting ways. In the past, Privateer Press has shown their skill in maintaining game balance while still adding tons of exciting new options. Fortunately, this rulebook does not disappoint. Every main faction gets a new warlock, one of the new gargantuans, and a mix of beasts, units, and solos. The rulebook itself is full color, and the artwork is absolutely gorgeous!
Today, let’s take a look at the new additions to the Legion of Everblight arsenal!
LYLYTH, RECKONING OF EVERBLIGHT: A battle engine warlock? Why not!
This third versions of Lylyth certainly knows how to shoot. She has Auto Fire [3]. Not d3. Just flat out 3 shots every time, no need to buy more attacks. On top of that, if she kills a living enemy model, she gets to cast one of her spells for free thanks to Blood Boon. Not bad, especially given her low Fury of 5.
Her feat, The Reaping, encourages a lot of shooting in her army list. Directly hit an enemy with a ranged attack in her control area and they have to give up either their movement or action. It doesn’t even have to be damaged by the attack, just hit. Ouch!
Lylyth is also quite a bit tougher to kill this time. Her base ARM is 16, but can go up to 18 thanks to her Escort spell. Add in Wind Wall, which she can trigger with Blood Boon, and non-magical ranged attacks automatically miss. Top it off with Spiny Growth or Tenacity for a very durable warlock.
And speaking of Escort, that spell also gives her warbeasts an extra 2” of movement. ALL OF THEM. More speed for an already speedy faction. With lots of shooting, high speed, and a feat that can leave enemies frozen in their tracks, Lylyth can definitely put up a fight!
AFFLICTOR: This guy is so disgusting and cool at the same time. When it kills living enemy infantry, it spawns an Incubus model. It can do this once per turn. On top of that, when it gets hit by ranged attacks, its animus allows it to pawn the hit onto soulless warriors, such as the Incubus it just created. For 4 points, it’s a nice light warbeast.
NEPHILIM BLOODSEER: This light warbeast brings some interesting tools to the Legion arsenal. It can make any spell more accurate with Telemetry, which can be a huge benefit to several warlocks or models like Hex Hunters. The Bloodseer has to get close to use this, but its fast and it can fly, so it’s not too tough to pull off. It can also cast the animi of warbeasts in its command range, which has a wide range of applications.
The Bloodseer isn’t for every army, but with the right list, it can definitely pull its weight.
WARSPEAR CHIEFTAIN: For 2 points, this unit attachment gives Warspears the Huntsmen and Relentless Charge rules. Select a prey and go to work. He makes Warspears faster, more accurate, and harder hitting. If you use Warspears, I say take him and be done with it. Auto-include. He’s that good.
BEAST MISTRESS: Legion is known for its ability to run large numbers of warbeasts, and the Beast Mistress brings a new set of tools to that already formidable arsenal. Oh yeah, Legion has what is basically a lesser warlock! And they can take 2 of her! Too bad she can only take lesser warbeasts.
The Beast Mistress not only allows for more warbeasts to be fielded, but brings two interesting abilities into the mix. Energize allows her to move models in her battlegroup up to 3”, and Field Marshall [Aggressive] lets them charge for free! Talk about an alpha strike!
She has Flank [lesser warbeast], so a pack of Shredders makes sense.
ARCHANGEL: At first sight, the Archangel is a little underwhelming. It has the lowest ARM and health of any Gargantuan. The range on its Dragon Breath is kind of short. Its attacks hit hard, but not much harder than a Carnivean. Plus, its animus is underwhelming to say the least. So why would anyone take this guy?
First, this dragon has Ride-by Attack. It can move, attack, then move again. This effectively means its ranged attack is anywhere from an okay 10” to an insane 16”! And we’re talking d3+1 POW 14 AOE’s every turn, too! Without spending 1 Fury and with Critical Fire!
For protection, a 2 point Shredder could be considered an auto-include. Add Tenacity on the Archangel, and suddenly this gargantuan is at DEF 12 and ARM 19. Respectable, but not fantastic. But we’re not done yet! Absylonia can boost its DEF, Bethayne can boost its DEF against living enemies, and Epic Thagrosh can give it more ARM, while many of the warlocks have more offensive enhancements to give it. Heck, prime Thagrosh can even bring it BACK FROM THE DEAD!
With Absylonia, that’s DEF 14 on a model that cannot be knocked down, has 46 hit boxes, and can move AFTER it blasts your face off. Yikes!
With that being said, I think the Archangel is going to be trickier to use than other gargantuans, which have much more straight forward play styles. The Archangel isn’t unplayable, but it’s definitely not an easy model to use.
SUMMARY: Privateer Press continues to release exciting new models for every faction at roughly the same time. They have shown a strong commitment to game balance and to supporting owners of all factions. The releases in this rulebook are a fine example of their dedication to the game and to the fans.
All in all, Gargantuans is another top-notch release for a top-notch game.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Hordes Gargantuans Review: Skorne
IN SHORT: The Horde Gargantuans rulebook is here, and once again Privateer Press shows their top shelf support for an excellent gaming system.
As with previous releases, every Hordes army gets a host of new additions that mix up the game in exciting ways. In the past, Privateer Press has shown their skill in maintaining game balance while still adding tons of exciting new options. Fortunately, this rulebook does not disappoint. Every main faction gets a new warlock, one of the new gargantuans, and a mix of beasts, units, and solos. The rulebook itself is full color, and the artwork is absolutely gorgeous!
Today, let’s take a look at the new additions to the Skorne arsenal!
MAKEDA & THE EXALTED COURT: Makeda is back for a third go, and this time she brought friends. Makeda and her two Exalted Guardians form one of the rulebook’s new warlock units. The main point here is the Exalted Guardians are part of Makeda’s battlegroup, activate with her, and benefit from her feat, Dance of Death.
At first glance, Makeda looks tailored to run more beasts than the average Skorne warlock. She doesn’t have any spells that support infantry, but her Feat benefits from plenty of warbeasts. Under her feat, every enemy model destroyed by her battlegroup means 1 extra fury for Makeda or 1 less fury for a warbeast. That’s a scary proposition when you consider what Molik Karn or a Bronzeback can do!
I can see her advancing into the thick of it with Vortex of Destruction up. Thanks to this spell, every damage roll against a model she engages is going to be auto-boosted. She really doesn’t have much need to spend a lot of Fury each turn, not even to buy extra attacks. She just has to engage what she wants to die. And if she’s running a lot of beasts, that means plenty of transfers. Combine that with the unit’s Battle-Driven rule (which makes them tougher if any of them are damaged, among other benefits), and the Exalted Guardian’s Shield Guard rules, you’ve got one lady who is not going down easily.
Time and playtesting will be the final judges, but overall this new version of Makeda looks very solid and a lot of fun.
REPTILE HOUNDS: Skorne now has access to a 2 point lesser warbeast. Reptile Hounds are clearly meant to be run in packs, since they benefit from Flank [other Reptile Hounds]. Alone, they’re not too impressive with only a P+S 8 attack. Put them in a group, support them with some beast handlers, and suddenly you have a swarm of 2 point ankle-biters hitting with MAT 7 P+S 10 attacks that get extra damage dice.
Not too bad, and it’s always nice to have something cheap to transfer damage to. Why cripple a Bronzeback when you can throw away a Reptile Hound?
DESPOILER: Now here’s an interesting fellow, a character Rhinodon. The Despoiler is an expensive warbeast at 10 points. He’s squishier than and doesn’t hit as hard as most Skorne heavies, but he comes with some unique abilities for the faction. His animus, Arcane Suppression, can help shut down enemy magic. He allows the warlock one free upkeep, always nice. And he makes Void Spirits when he kills living infantry, once a turn. So, cool. Free solos.
In most Skorne armies, he’s competing with several great options around the same price, so he’s hard to judge without first playing him. However, put him with Mordikaar, and he gains a whole new level of ridiculousness. He gets Dark Shroud! Not only does that make him hit like a Gladiator (a faster version with Reach), but he debuffs enemy ARM just by walking up to them! Not to mention those Void Spirits he creates now get boosted attack rolls.
This guy is going to be very popular with Mordikaar.
CATAPHRACT INCINDIARII: Skorne continues to expand its repertoire of nasty shooting. Each Incindiarii launches a 3” AOE ranged attack that sets things on fire. Not Critical Fire, mind you. Continuous Fire! Oh, yeah! On top of that, they have good RAT, can make Combined Ranged Attacks, and have typical Cataphract robustness. All in all, a nice unit. Skorne doesn’t have much that can support them, other than Epic Hexeris’ Black Spot spell, which is ridiculously good with any shooting.
MORTITHEURGE WILLBREAKER: The new options this 2 point solo brings to Skorne are almost too numerous to count. Ancillary Attack is simple and straight forward. Want the Cannoneer to shoot twice a turn? Ancillary Attack. Need another hit from the Gladiator to finish off the enemy heavy? Ancillary Attack.
The other ability is Puppet Master. The power of this ability cannot be understated. Try casting it on a warbeast, then go for the caster kill. Did you roll poorly when you couldn’t afford to? Do over! That’s just one of the many options this power brings to Skorne.
On top of these two abilities, the Willbreaker is a Beast Master, allowing it to force your warbeasts. And Skorne can take 2 of them in an army? Wow, just wow.
MAMMOTH: The Skorne gargantuan is an impressive beast. With solid stats and high durability, it takes a strong commitment to bring this bad boy down. The Mammoth can pound enemies at range with up to 3 blast templates, and when the distance closes, its large number of high P+S attacks will turn most enemies into pulp. On the way there, it can shove enemies out of the way with Bulldoze, plus it has a powerful animus with Counterblast, which can be used defensively to great effect.
Oh, yes. The Mammoth is one solid beasty. Did I mention the model looks absolutely wicked?
SUMMARY: Privateer Press continues to release exciting new models for every faction at roughly the same time. They have shown a strong commitment to game balance and to supporting owners of all factions. The Skorne releases in this rulebook are a fine example of their dedication to the game and to the fans.
All in all, Gargantuans is another top-notch release for a top-notch game.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Asphyxious
Warcasters are the stars of Warmachine, and Cryx has no shortage of powerful and fun-to-play warcasters. Up next is the infamous Iron Lich Asphyxious, Version 1.
IN SHORT: If you’re looking for a Cryx warcaster that can put out massive amounts of damage, look no further! Iron Lich Asphyxious has you covered. Fairly tough and surprisingly agile, Version 1 of Asphyxious is a powerful, well-rounded warcaster.
STRENGTHS: Asphyxious is all about doing damage, either in person or through his army. With the best ARM debuff in the game, a potent melee damage buff, a truly terrifying melee attack, and a versatile feat, Asphyxious can bring the pain to your foes in any number of flavors. Let’s step through them, shall we?
Parasite is a massive -3 ARM debuff that can be applied to single models or whole units. When it’s in play, it also give Asphyxious +1 ARM, making him a little tougher. Put this on something you want to die and then smash it to bits!
Scything Touch is a +2 melee damage buff to either single models or units. Yes, a buff spell in Cryx! And a nice one at that! This spell definitely encourages plenty of infantry, especially when you consider Asphyxious and a Skarlock can apply this spell to three whole units!
Like so …
Asphyxious upkeeps Scything Touch on Unit A. Unit A activates. Asphyxious activates and casts Scything Touch on Unit B. Unit B activates. Skarlock activates and casts Scything Touch on Unit C. Unit C activates. That’s a whole lot of models with +2 melee damage!
Asphyxious’ staff Soul Splitter is a P+S 15 magical reach weapon with Sustained Attack. Yikes! Give that a moment to sink in. Once Asphyxious hits his target, every follow-up attack to the same target that turn is an auto-hit. And these aren’t little piddly hits either. These are beefy P+S 15 hits that can be further enhanced by Scything Touch and/or Parasite.
Did I mention this goes well with the Focus refill his feat, Consuming Blight, provides? Want more spells this turn? Check. Want to power up your jacks and keep your Power Field full? Check. Want to wail on a single target with Soul Splitter until your opponent cries? Check and double check. The low POW damage caused by the feat isn’t anything special, but every enemy it takes out is a nice freebie.
On top of all of this, Asphyxious can even Teleport out of trouble. If you’ve committed Asphyxious to an attack that just went south, spend 2 Focus at the end and teleport him behind something solid to avoid the inevitable counterattack. Lastly, he comes stocked with two excellent attack spells, Hellfire and Breath of Corruption.
WEAKNESSES: Asphyxious may be reasonably tough, but he’s a medium base. That means he’s difficult to hide from enemy attacks. Cryx has a lot of great infantry, but most of it is mounted on small bases. His medium base also makes him vulnerable to Armor Piercing weapons. Watch out!
Asphyxious also has no means to lower an opponent’s DEF. Models with high MAT scores and units that are self-sufficient do better with him than those that rely on their warcaster for accuracy. Abilities like the Blood Witches’ Gang or the Raider’s Combined Melee help these units benefit from the extra damage while retaining decent accuracy. That said, I still like taking Mechanithralls with Asphyxious, just for the insane damage potential his spell list grants them.
SYNERGIES: First, take an arc node or two with him. His medium base makes him a tempting target. If you’re slinging spells at the enemy, fire them through the arc nodes and keep Asphyxious safe to the rear.
Any unit can reap the benefits of Parasite and Scything Touch, but those with a lot of attack are even better. The more attacks, the greater the impact of the buff or debuff.
Models that assist with Focus efficiency are always a plus. Warwitch Sirens can help fuel the jacks while Asphyxious pounds the enemy with spells, and the Skarlock is a must-have with this caster.
Try taking the Cankerworm with him. Between Asphyxious’ Teleport spell and the Cankerworm’s affinity with him, the two can ping-pong in an out of combat, inflicting damage while denying the enemy a counterattack target.
JUST FOR FUN: Let’s say an enemy Colossal stands between you and victory. Let’s call it a full-health Khador Conquest. That’s 62 hit boxes and ARM 20. It’s just Asphyxious and the Conquest.
Asphyxious powers up with Scything Touch. He casts Parasite on the Colossal, charges in, and hits. Every hit after that is automatic thanks to Sustained Attack. He pours on the extra attacks, feats to refill his Focus, then keeps wailing on the thing.
On average, Asphyxious will do over 70 points of damage, easily bringing the Conquest down. Yes, that’s right. This guy can take down a Colossal or Gargantuan BY HIMSELF in ONE TURN! I love this guy!
SUMMARY: Don’t let the fact that this is Version 1 of Asphyxious fool you. Iron Lich Asphyxious is powerful, flexible, and fun to play. He’s a worthy addition to any Cryx player’s collection.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Dungeon Master Messes with Player Sympathy
As a writer, I find being the dungeon master of our local RPG sessions to be a challenging and rewarding experience. In a lot of ways, it’s like writing a novel.
Yeah, like writing. Heh. Like writing on the fly with a captive audience. Like writing where any lovingly-crafted character may be put to death by the “readers”. Like writing where no matter how many signs I put down saying GO RIGHT, the “readers” are still going to go left because, you know, there might be something cool over there.
It’s a lot of fun, and it keeps me on my toes. Every session the players do something I never expected, and so I have to think fast to make it entertaining. Otherwise people aren’t having fun and won’t come back. Also, let’s face it, the best part about being the DM is getting to mess with people, their expectations, and even their sympathies.
Player sympathy is a tricky proposition. How do I get the players to care about an NPC? After all, the same guy who portrays the NPC (namely me) also handles every nightmarish terror trying to shoot, maim, incinerate, or digest the party. Not the best grounds for a trusting relationship.
But I found a fast and easy workaround. So easy, I almost consider it cheating. Almost.
Allow me a moment to set the stage.
We play using a house-modified Pathfinder ruleset. The setting is science fiction spanning the whole solar system, but nothing too crazy. No shields or warp drive or artificial gravity. The party had just escaped captivity while on the Moon and were making their way north across a lunar city.
That’s when they met Pochi. He’s a talking dog.
Yep, I did it. I used a talking animal. I even gave him a Scooby Doo voice. Partly because everyone thought it was funny, and partly because it’s an easy voice for me to perform when sick.
Now, this wasn’t some cuddly, white-haired Maltese with big eyes and a cute, button nose.
No, this was a man-sized dog in power armor with a gun on his back and chainsaw teeth. Something more like this.
Yeah. Not exactly a dog you want jumping into your lap. The first time the party saw him, he ripped an enemy combatant’s throat out.
But they loved him all the same. At one point, Pochi helped the party fight off a group of four very nasty commandos and almost got himself killed. One of the commandos threw his smoldering, horribly-burned carcass off the roof. It landed in front of the party.
Oh, you should have seen their faces when I described the scene! Nobody messes with the dog! The party went after the commandos with reckless abandon and tore them a new one. It was awesome! The battle had emotional punch for them. They CARED. Afterward they discovered Pochi wasn’t quite dead and used most of their healing items to revive him.
Pochi is fine, by the way, just in case you were wondering.
Now, let’s compare this moment to one with a human NPC. In an earlier session, one of the players met a relative on the field of battle. A cousin by the name of Viter to be precise. I set it up so the players could, fairly easily, gain his trust and use his help during the coming battles. I had Viter join in near the end of a fight and help out, reinforcing the fact he was a potential ally. I even took one of the players aside and filled him in on the necessary backstory, stressing that he was on good terms with this NPC.
So what’s the first thing the players try to do? They try to STAB HIM IN THE BACK! I’m not kidding! They didn’t trust this heavily armed dude in front of them, and they wanted him out of the equation.
Let’s recap that, shall we?
Human NPC, just helped fight off an enemy, related to one of the players, ALMOST GETS A KNIFE IN THE BACK!
Talking dog NPC, just ripped a guy’s throat out, not related to anyone (obviously), gets saved by the party.
Huh. Well, whatever works. As long as we’re all having fun, right? And in this case, we are definitely having fun.
Click here to enjoy some of our misadventures.
Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Mechanithralls
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 Mechanithralls.
IN SHORT: Cheap, plentiful, hard-hitting, and a little cross-eyed, the humble Mechanithrall is a mainstay of Cryx infantry.
STRENGTHS: Mechanithralls are dirt cheap. At 3 points for 6 or 5 points for 10, they can outnumber almost anything of equivalent cost. They also hit surprisingly hard. Each Mechanithrall is capable of 2 P+S 11 attacks or performing a single combo strike at P+S 15. That’s pretty amazing, and makes them very flexible.
Like all undead units, they don’t care about causalities. Command checks? Pffft! Those are for the living! Mechanithralls will march blindly into whatever gun-line or meat grinder you send them into.
And while an individual Mechanithrall goes down easily, they have weight in numbers that adds its own degree of resilience. Sure, something like a full unit of 5 Menoth Exemplar Bastions are tough to put down, but for the same cost Cryx can have 16 Mechanithralls!
WEAKNESSES: Mechanithralls die easily. Shoot them, they die. Hack at them, they die. Sneeze on them, they die. Just get used to it. Mechanithralls have low ARM and okay DEF. It’s nothing spectacular.
Mechanithralls also have a low MAT score of 5. Fortunately, this isn’t nearly as bad as most people think. Let’s compare a unit of 10 Mechanithralls to a unit of 6 Bane Thralls (same point cost). Sure, the Bane Thralls have a higher MAT, but the Mechanithralls will have 20 attacks to their 6! Under most conditions, the Mechanithralls will kill more enemy infantry due to their higher number of attacks.
With that said, Mechanithralls do have a low MAT, and do enjoy some debuff love to operate at peak efficiency.
SYNERGIES: Mechanithralls work superbly well with a Necrosurgeon and some Stitch Thralls on the field. For an additional 2 points, the Necrosurgeon can collect the corpses of fallen Mechanithralls or living models (your or the enemy’s) and bring back 3 Mechanithralls … per TURN! Wow! Just remember, this only works if a unit of Mechanithralls is still on the table. If you’re opponent wipes them all out, then that’s it! No new Mechanithralls for you!
Mechanithralls also benefit greatly from DEF debuffs. Fortunately, this is Cryx. We’re spoiled for awesome debuffs in this zombie’s army! Just be aware of warcasters that cannot debuff DEF or buff the Mechanithralls’ MAT. I’m not saying don’t take them, just to be aware of the limitations. It can be a little tricky getting the most out of your Mechanithralls if they keep whiffing against high DEF infantry.
Mechanithralls also like a good ARM debuff. Again, we’re in Cryx. This is not a problem! The high number of attacks Mechanithralls put out helps maximize the use of debuffs. Remember, if you reduce an opponent’s ARM by 2 and hit him with one big attack, that’s 2 extra points of damage. Hit him with 10 smaller attacks, and you’ve done 20 extra points of damage. Ouch!
Finally, take Mechanithralls when fielding Lich Lord Terminus. Mechanithralls go with him like peanut butter and chocolate thanks to his Shadow of Death rule. Mechanithralls with Tough? Yes, please!
JUST FOR FUN: Got a unit of Mechanithralls taking ranged hits? Got a Necrosurgeon flush with corpse tokens? Not quite, but almost in charge range this turn? Try this trick out. Activate the Necrosurgeon first, move her ahead of the Mechanithralls, towards your intended target, and deploy the 3 new Mechanithralls HERE. Remember the Mechanithralls must be within 3” of the Necrosurgeon and inside the unit’s command range. Now activate the Mechanithralls.
Congratulations! You’ve just taken some of your casualties, reanimated them, and deployed them closer to their target. You are now in charge range. Now go smash something!
SUMMARY: Mechanithralls are an excellent addition to almost any Cryx force. Their raw stats may not be spectacular, but don’t let that fool you. With plentiful attacks and the right support, they can drown your enemies in a wave of bodies and devastate their most powerful models. Bring on the undead!
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.