Solos in Warmachine may not have the raw power and durability of warjacks or the sheer numbers enjoyed by infantry. But don’t discount them. For so few points, no models can tip the balance of a game quite like solos can. Today, I’m taking a look at the Pistol Wraith.
IN SHORT: These ghostly duelists are experts at reaching their targets, striking first, and striking hard. But watch out! They are glass cannons.
STRENGTHS: First, the Pistol Wraith lives up to its name. It shoots well, which is something of a novelty in Cryx. With RAT 7, the Pistol Wraith’s twin POW 12 pistols are accurate and can do some decent damage. Good speed on the solo and range on the weapons also lends the Pistol Wraith a high threat range of 16”.
But what’s better than POW 12? Boosted POW 12! Thanks to its Body Count rule, the Pistol Wraith can collect souls of living enemy models it kills. Those souls can then be used to boost attack or damage rolls, making the Pistol Wraith one deadly customer.
But there’s more! If the Pistol Wraith connects on the same target with both pistols, it fires a third non-damaging Chain Attack at that target. This Death Chill attack forces the target to give up either its movement or its action during its next activation. This gives the Pistol Wraith the ability to hinder targets it has trouble damaging, such as high ARM warrior models, heavy warjacks, and even Colossals!
To keep the Pistol Wraith safe, it has Incorporeal, which grants it immunity to normal attacks until it opens fire.
WEAKNESSES: At 3 points, the Pistol Wraith is a mildly pricey solo. With DEF 14, ARM 12, it’s also vulnerable. This can lead to the Pistol Wraith becoming a one-hit wonder by getting flattened immediately after opening fire the first time.
This problem also makes it difficult to use souls because the Pistol Wraith has to collect them first through attacks. And when it attacks, it loses Incorporeal for a round, leaving it very vulnerable.
Finally, besides our impressive selection of debuffs (which go great with Pistol Wraiths), Cryx has very little support for enhancing ranged attacks.
SYNERGIES: Skarre, Queen of the Broken Coast and Pistol Wraiths go together like chocolate and peanut butter. Not only does Epic Skarre enhance shooting to ridiculous levels with Black Spot, her Fate Weaver feat can be used to protect the Pistol Wraith. First Black Spot a unit, then have a Pistol Wraith or two attack the unit, gobbling up the soul tokens and getting free shots. After this, use Fate Weaver to make the Pistol Wraiths invalid targets. With the Pistol Wraiths gorged on souls and protected from reprisal, they’re ready to do some real damage next round!
And, of course, debuffs make anything better, not just melee attacks. The Pistol Wraith’s ranged attacks can benefit greatly from the wide selection of Cryx debuffs. Why not team up with Warwitch Deneghra for an assassination run. Combining Parasite with her feat, The Withering, on the same target can turn the Pistol Wraith’s RAT 7 POW 12 attacks into effective RAT 9 POW 17, which can be boosted further with souls!
JUST FOR FUN: You know the saying, boosted 12’s win games. Hey, check it out. Pistol Wraiths have two POW 12 attacks that can be boosted. Huh.
Just saying. Might be worth a look.
SUMMARY: Pistol Wraiths are dangerous solos, and with Incorporeal, they can normally get the drop on their target. Just don’t expect them to last long after that first strike if you haven’t planned accordingly. That said, make no mistake. With the right list and a solid battle plan, Pistol Wraiths are absolutely deadly!
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Fantasy
Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Warwitch Siren
Solos in Warmachine may not have the raw power and durability of warjacks or the sheer numbers enjoyed by infantry. But don’t discount them. For so few points, no models can tip the balance of a game quite like solos can. Today, I’m taking a look at the Warwitch Siren.
IN SHORT: Cheap, fast, and supremely versatile, the Warwitch Siren is one of the premier Cryx solos.
STRENGTHS: The name of the game here is versatility. For only 2 points, the Warwitch Siren brings a large toolbox of interesting abilities. Let’s take a look at them.
First, there’s Power Booster. The Warwitch Siren can clear of warjack of the Disrupted effect and, if it doesn’t have any Focus, she gives it one. Warmachine is a game of resource management, namely Focus, and the Warwitch Siren lets the warcaster keep more. Very nice!
Next, the Warwitch Siren can move into base-to-base with a living enemy warrior model and use Seduction. Take control of the enemy model, make a full advance then make one normal melee attack. There is no roll to hit for Seduction. The ability always works, though warcasters and warlocks are immune.
The applications of this power are many and varied. Need to bring an enemy support solo closer to your warjack? Seduce them! Want to break a unit by moving the leader out of formation? Seduce them! Got a powerful melee solo closing in? Seduce them, turn them around, and attack something!
The Warwitch Siren also come with Venom, a low POW 8” magic spray that causes Corrosion. With a magic attack of 7, Venom is deadly against clumped up groups of enemy infantry. Between the initial spray attack and the Corrosion afterwards, the Siren can clear out surprising numbers of enemy infantry all by herself.
As if that wasn’t enough, the Warwitch Siren can inflict Shadow Bind with her P+S 11 Shadow Blade melee attack. This is great for stopping an enemy warjack or warbeast dead in its tracks, especially if the target doesn’t have Reach. Because, guess what? The Siren does! She can freeze models in place, lower their defense by 3, and they can’t even smack her back. This also gives her the defense bonus for being engaged in melee.
On top of all of this, the Warwitch Siren comes with Stealth to protect her at range and Parry to let her ignore free strikes.
All this for 2 points? Very nice indeed!
WEAKNESSES: ARM 13 and DEF 15 are good, but not great. The Warwitch Siren can be difficult to pin down, but when she is, she gets squished. Even with Stealth protecting her, she has to watch out for blast damage. Never mind that there are plenty of ways to bypass Stealth.
And while Shadow Bind on her melee attack is nice, she’s only MAT 5. Even against the generally low DEF of heavy warjacks, she has a reasonable chance to miss.
Finally, she’s a living model, with all the extra vulnerabilities that brings over our undead models.
SYNERGIES: Just about everything in Cryx. Almost every list I make includes one and sometimes two Warwitch Sirens. However, there are some combinations that can stand out.
Scaverous’s feat boosts the attack rolls of magic attacks. Combined with the Siren’s Venom and her solid magic attack, and suddenly that spell is really, really accurate. Go ahead! Melt their faces right off!
Venethrax also gives the Venom spell’s Corrosion effect a nice boost with his Caustic Presence [Corrosion]. Instead of a two in three chance of basic infantry dying, now they just die.
With the number a warjacks Mortenebra normally fields, she really enjoys the extra Focus two Warwitch Sirens can bring to her battlegroup.
Finally, what’s better than one round of Shadow Bind? TWO rounds of Shadow Bind! Try teaming up some Sirens with Wraith Witch Deneghra’s feat to really paralyze your opponent.
JUST FOR FUN: A little combo I like to use is a Warwitch Siren and a Stalker as a two-part flanking force. Both the Siren and the Stalker swing wide on one flank. Both are SPD 7 and both have Stealth. Plus the Siren can Power Boost the Stalker if Focus is tight. With the Stalker’s Extended Control Range, the warcaster is free to load it with Focus when the moment is right. Together, the two can cause a lot of chaos for only 6 points.
SUMMARY: The Warwitch Siren is a fantastic, supremely versatile solo that fits great in almost any Cryx army. The sheer number of abilities she brings to the table gives you plenty of options and makes it almost impossible for your opponent to predict her moves. It’s a rare game where I’m not fielding my trusty Siren in the list.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Machine Wraith
Solos in Warmachine may not have the raw power and durability of warjacks or the sheer numbers enjoyed by infantry. But don’t discount them. For so few points, no models can tip the balance of a game quite like solos can. Today, I’m taking a look at the Machine Wraith.
IN SHORT: In Cryx, we steal enemy corpses and enemy souls. But what about whole warjacks? Yeah, we do that too.
STRENGTHS: The Machine Wraith is a 1 point solo that TAKES CONTROL OF ENEMY WARJACKS! Granted, there are a number of conditions that have to be met and qualifiers that need to be added. But still. Seriously. I mean seriously, this is so awesome.
The Machine Wraith needs to get within 1” of the target warjack and execute its Machine Meld special action, so it cannot be used if the Machine Wraith charges. The target warjack must have a functioning cortex, cannot be a character warjack, and cannot be a Colossal since they are immune to control of any kind.
To pull this off, the Machine Wraith is fast at SPD 7 and is Incorporeal! This not only protects the Machine Wraith from normal attacks, it also allows it to pass through other models and terrain on its way to taking control of the enemy.
Opponents have a few options for getting the warjack back. Warcasters can spend Focus and attempt to kick the Machine Wraith out. Basically, the warcaster and the Machine Wraith compare CMD and add a D6. The Machine Wraith has a low CMD 7, by the way. Damaging the warjack will also kick the Machine Wraith out, but in your Maintenance Phase. Either way, your opponent is wasting resources.
And even if the Machine Wraith is kicked out, the biggest benefit is preventing any Focus allocation to the enemy warjack. When the Machine Wraith is inside, the warjack is not a part of any battlegroup! No Focus for you!
As a side bonus, the Machine Wraith can also use its speed to harass enemy solos and infantry, setting itself up for free-strikes while remaining protected by Incorporeal.
WEAKNESSES: Except for Incorporeal, the Machine Wraith is a soft target. DEF 14 isn’t too bad, but ARM 12 on a medium base with one hit box is nothing to be excited about. If your opponent wants the Machine Wraith dead, it’s probably dead. Protecting it with smart use of terrain is critical.
Also, while the Machine Wraith is best used against Warmachine armies, those armies tend to have a wider selection of magical weapons. Even worse, Colossals and character-warjacks give Warmachine players plenty of options that are immune to the Machine Meld ability.
And that comment about not allocating Focus to a warjack under Machine Wraith control swings both way, so you can’t allocate Focus to it either, though this isn’t a big deal. The Machine Wraith is more about denying options to your opponent than opening up new ones for you.
And finally there are Hordes armies that don’t care one bit about Machine Meld. Against them, the Machine Wraith is a simple solo harasser … with low P+S and average MAT. It’s not terrible, but it’s not exciting either.
SYNERGIES: The Machine Wraith needs the enemy warjack to be within 8” in order to steal it … unless another model pulling it in! Try teaming up with Reaper or Malice warjacks and using their Drag attacks to bring the enemy warjack into range. Scaverous’s Telekinesis spell can produce a similar effect, either pulling the warjack in or bumping the Machine Wraith closer. Or both.
Also, fielding the Machine Wraith with other Incorporeal models can saturate your opponent’s ability to deal with them effectively. The Wraith Engine can also help the Machine Wraith get to its target by giving it a small ARM buff via its Unhallowed rule. This also makes the Machine Wraith immune to blast damage.
JUST FOR FUN: Against a Gargantuan or a Colossal there’s nothing a Machine Wraith can do, right? Well, not so fast!
Yes, the Machine Wraith is an Incorporeal model, which means enemies can walk right through it too. Except, Large bases normally come with low speed. Sure, that Colossal can walk right through the Machine Wraith, but it has to clear it too! It can’t stop on top of the Machine Wraith!
Run the Machine Wraith up and engage the Colossal. Now the Machine Wraith has DEF 18 to ranged attacks. Shooting the Machine Wraith down with magic is going to be tough. And if your opponent moves in another model to take the Machine Wraith out, now THAT model is blocking the Colossal!
SUMMARY: The Machine Wraith is a fairly situational solo that sometimes shines and sometimes is barely mediocre. Still, for only one point, the ability to take an enemy warjack as your own should not be dismissed. In the right place at the right time, Machine Wraiths can single-handedly swing games in your favor.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Dungeon Master Brings the Pain
When I’m running a campaign, I have a script in mind. I think most dungeon masters do. For me, everything is moving towards an epic final confrontation. Throughout the encounters, the villain is established and shown to be a powerful, formidable threat. The motivations are laid out. The stakes are revealed. The encounters are set up so the action crescendos in intensity until it reaches its peak at the Final Battle. Everything is laid out with precision and care.
And then players try to pull stuff like this.
Jacob Holo: Okay, what are you trying to do again?
Twinkie: I want to dodge the robot, grab Shrike, but not where he’s drenched in acid, jump up to the next level, and flip us both over the ledge.
Jacob Holo: <sigh> Acrobatics check.
Twinkie: <rolls D20> Okay … uhh, it’s a one.
Jacob Holo: <blank stare>
Twinkie: This is going to hurt, isn’t it?
Sometimes I wish they would just read the script. Except, yeah … They don’t have my script.
Well, shoot.
That being said, it’s a fun and challenging exercise to guide players towards their goal without letting them feel like they’re being led by the nose. Case in point, Twinkie was supposed to just shoot the robot, which had (what I thought were) conspicuous weak points. Instead, he lathered up with acid, melted his armor, and later asphyxiated on the lunar surface because, you know, no air.
Fortunately, this is science fiction, so the party was able to rescue him as a Futurama style head-in-a-jar and then get him a new body. I particularly enjoyed coming up with that bit.
So, after much coaxing that (I hoped) didn’t seem like coaxing, the players were ready for the Final Battle. And this is where I deviated from the norm. I had a script, and darn it, it was going to be followed. After all, this was it: the end of our campaign. I wanted it to be memorable and exciting, and the players were not going to get in my way, darn it!
Jacob Holo: Perception check.
Agnis Crane: Thirty-one!
Jacob Holo: You see a vague, ghostly silhouette down the ship corridor. It appears humanoid.
Agnis Crane: I shoot it!
Jacob Holo: Go ahead.
Agnis Crane: <rolls D20> Umm … let’s see here …
Jacob Holo: Yes?
Agnis Crane: Hold on. I’m doing math. Twenty-four?
Jacob Holo: Hit.
Agnis Crane: Yay! Ten points of damage.
Jacob Holo: The optical illusion falters, revealing a crusader. He raises his Gatling gun, and he’s not alone. Three more crusaders decloak and raise their weapons. One of them has a thermal lance.
Agnis Crane: Well, crap.
And that was just the start. After that, the foes kept coming, impeding them every step of the way. It was a long, grinding battle as the party fought through obstacle after obstacle, struggling towards their target at the center of the enemy starship.
They chewed through a huge number of gun-spiders, crusaders, and three tank-spiders before I finally wore them down. Those of you who have read my book, The Dragons of Jupiter, will know this is no small feat. In retrospect, I should have given the tank-spiders beefier stats, but oh well. They did their job.
At the very end, three party members had been knocked out. Agnis Crane, with only five hit points left, took out the last tank-spider with a lethal shot. After that, the flow of new enemies stopped. Because, you know, the rules of drama had been satisfied. The party had seized a victory from what could have been a Total Party Kill. Throwing more enemies at them would have served no useful purpose.
Angis revived the team, and they went on to complete their objective. The campaign ended on an emotional high note, with players talking excitedly about what had happened and how close to defeat they had come.
Just as I had intended.
As a dungeon master, I don’t just see myself as the guy running the game and setting up the encounters. I’m a story teller, and if I have to bend the rules to tell a better story, well … yeah, consider those rules bent. There were exactly enough enemies, and their attack rolls were just good enough to make the battle a tense nail biter. No more. No less. The players don’t need to know that, right?
At the end of the day, I had four happy players who enjoyed my campaign and will probably ask for another someday in the future. Now that’s what I call a happy ending.
For a sample of our misadventures, click here.
Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Blackbane’s Ghost Raiders
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 Blackbane’s Ghost Raiders.
IN SHORT: Who doesn’t like zombie pirates? Well, these are GHOST zombie pirates! On FIRE!
STRENGTHS: Blackbane’s Ghost Raiders are Incorporeal! This isn’t a lone solo like the Pistol Wraith, but an entire unit of up to 10 bodies that are immune to non-magical damage and can walk through walls or even enemy troops. Granted, they lose their Incorporeal status for one round when they attack, but this is still a terrifying ability to deal with.
If that wasn’t enough, their attacks set enemy models on fire. Not critical fire, mind you. Continuous Fire! Even if they don’t kill their target, there’s a chance the enemy will just burn to death. Fire is a powerful and dangerous continuous effect that a lot of models do not want to get hit with. Many warcasters are especially vulnerable to continuous fire, because fire does its damage before they replenish their Focus. As an added bonus, their attacks are also magical.
Blackbane, the unit leader, also grants Reanimation to the unit. If they kill a living model, a new Ghost Raider gets added within 3” of the model doing the killing.
Finally, because of these abilities, the Ghost Raiders are a huge free strike threat. Often the best move is to run them forward and engage as many enemy models as possible (though watch out for enemies with magical weapons). Many models simply aren’t equipped to handle Incorporeal units, nor risk a MAT 8 or 9 free strike with P+S 10 and boosted damage.
In response, your opponent may: (A) Move away, risking the free strike and the new Ghost Raider. (B) Move in models capable of dealing with the Ghost Raider, taking them from other parts of the battle. (C)Spend valuable Focus to blast the Ghost Raider with magic. (D) Glare at the Ghost Raider in frustration and do nothing.
Any of these results can be useful, making the Ghost Raiders premier disruption units.
WEAKNESSES: With MAT 6 (except for Blackbane, who has MAT 7) and a single P+S 10 attack, Ghost Raiders can struggle to do damage. This is why using free strikes is my favorite strategy with them, since the +2 MAT and boosted damage roll helps bring them up to respectable levels. They’re also pricey at 9 points for a full unit, which puts them in competition with many other excellent Cryx infantry units that are harder hitting and easier to use for a similar price.
And while Reanimation is a great ability, it goes away as soon as Blackbane is taken out. Smart opponents will target Blackbane first, so watch out and try to protect him.
Finally, magic and magical weapons bypass Incorporeal. Without Incorporeal for protection, the Ghost Raiders are easy targets with only DEF 13 and ARM 12. Magical ranged attacks are especially painful! Incorporeal grants them superb mobility. Use it to keep them safe!
SYNERGIES: The Ghost Raiders can walk through walls and enemy troops. Why not use them with Epic Deneghra’s Marked for Death spell? Not only does Marked for Death drop enemy DEF by 2, it also allows them to be targeted regardless of line of sight. Nice!
The Wraith Engine can provide a welcome boost to the Ghost Raiders while they’re Incorporeal and in its generous command range. Between the Wraith Engine’s clouds and its Unhallowed ability, it can mean the difference between DEF 13 ARM 12 Raiders and DEF 15 ARM 14 Raiders immune to blast damage. Not too bad.
Finally, Captain Rengrave is a solid addition with his Veteran Leader [Revenant] ability, giving a +2 bonus to Revenant model attack rolls if they can see Rengrave. With smart positioning, those free strikes suddenly became a terrifying MAT 10!
JUST FOR FUN: If you’re taking Ghost Raiders, why not load up on Incorporeal models to saturate your opponent’s ability to handle them? Taking Ghost Raiders with Machine Wraiths, Pistol Wraiths, Wraith Engines, Epic Deneghra, and Blood Witches with Blood Hag can overwhelm your opponent’s ability to cope. This can lead to a somewhat unbalanced army list, but also a fun one.
SUMMARY: Normally, Blackbane’s Ghost Raiders aren’t going to deal a ton of damage. What they excel at is charging into the enemy ranks and causing absolute chaos. They’re nowhere near as straightforward to use as most Cryx infantry, but their ability to disrupt the enemy’s plans is a powerful and welcome addition.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Revenant Crew
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 Revenant Crew of the Atramentous
IN SHORT: Zombie pirates! They may not hit hard or shoot straight, but these rotting corpses JUST WON’T DIE!
STRENGTHS: The Revenant Crew won’t frickin’ die! Their ability, Deathbound, restores all lost grunts in the Maintenance Phase within 3” of the leader. All of them! The only catch is if the leader dies. When that happens, all grunts that were killed before the leader are removed from play, so opponents will try to kill some of the Revenant Crew and then off the leader. Even with that exception, Deathbound makes them a real pain to get rid of. Their support solo, Captain Rengrave, can even add new crew with Death Toll [Revenant Crew of the Atramentous] by killing living models. Because, you know, Deathbound isn’t sick enough on its own.
The Revenant Crew also benefit from Point Blank and Gang. Point Blank allows them to use their pistols in melee, giving the Revenant Crew two melee attacks per model. Gang gives the +2 to attack and +2 to damage rolls in melee when another crewmember is engaging that target.
On top of that, Captain Rengrave can provide an additional +2 to all attack rolls if the Revenant Crew have line of sight to him. With all of these bonuses in play, their base MAT 5 and RAT 4 can become very respectable MAT 9 and RAT 6! This can, of course, be combined with the huge selection Cryx warcaster debuffs for even greater accuracy.
With multiple attacks per model and plenty of way to get attack roll bonuses, Revenant Crew can surprisingly accurate in melee.
Revenant Crew also have an excellent unit attachment in the Revenant Crew Rifleman. For 1 point a model, Riflemen bring a Range 14 POW 10 shot with Combined Ranged Attack, and 3 can be added to each Revenant Crew. That may not seem like much with RAT 4, but with all 3 riflemen combining their attacks, this suddenly becomes RAT 7 POW 13. Add in Rengrave, and that’s RAT 9 POW 13! There are a lot of juicy solos and even warcasters that will not enjoy being on the other end of their shots!
And yes, Revenant Crew Riflemen benefit from their own version of Deathbound called Death Ties, which is basically the same, but worded for the unit attachment.
WEAKNESSES: Revenant Crew have poor base stats, both offensive and defensive. DEF 13 ARM 12 doesn’t scare anyone. They’re easy to put down. It’s getting them to stay down that’s the hard part.
They’re also expensive. We’re talking roughly a point per model expensive. That’s Bane Thrall/Knight expensive. They also don’t hit very hard. Even with Gang, they’re melee attacks are only P+S 11 and POW 12 for the pistol shot to the face. Revenant Crew are damage sponges, not damage dealers.
Protecting the leader can be difficult at times, and you want to protect the leader. Their durability comes from a gimmick, which a smart player can bypass completely by killing the leader last. This makes their durability harder to use than, say, a unit that relies on high base stats.
Finally, these pirates do not like remove from play effects, which completely bypass Deathbound. Watch out!
SYNERGIES: Revenant Crew work well as a pure damage sponge, shielding the squishier parts of the Cryx army, but there are two warcasters that stand out above the rest: Terminus and Epic Skarre.
Terminus loves a posse of undead, and he makes them better by giving them Tough while in his command range. What’s worse than a big blob of Revenant Crew? That’s right. Revenant Crew with Tough! Terminus also likes to sacrifice Revenant Crew to incoming fire because, well, they get back up! I personally like to hide the leader behind Terminus while sacrificing other Revenant models around him.
Epic Skarre can use her feat to prevent the Revenant Crew leader from being targeted, which effectively protects the entire unit. Just be aware that her feat prevents models from being target, but they can still be damaged by other means such as slammed models or deviating blast templates.
JUST FOR FUN: Take a max squad of Revenant Crew, add 3 Riflemen, and bring Rengrave along for the ride. Now team them up the Scaverous and a pet Skarlock.
Between Rengrave’s Death Toll and Excarnate attacks from Scaverous and the Skarlock, the Revenant Crew could easily end the game bigger than it started! How’s that for a tar pit unit?
SUMMARY: Seriously, who doesn’t like zombie pirates that simply refuse to die? The Revenant Crew aren’t going to steal the show by themselves. What they will do is soak up a ridiculous amount of damage that would otherwise pound the squishier parts of your army, and that is an addition I welcome in my Cryx armies.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Epic – Movie Review
IN SHORT: A race of miniature tree elves are about to choose their next leader in a really stupid way. Hordes of personified tree rot plan to crash the party.
WHAT IT IS: Fun and visually striking, Epic took me on a ride I genuinely enjoyed from start to finish.
WHAT IT IS NOT: Don’t expect much depth beneath the flash. We’ve seen these characters before by different names in different movies.
WHAT I THOUGHT: With a title like Epic, I was expecting more, I don’t know, epic-ness? Is that even a word? But I suppose it’s better than calling the movie Didn’t Suck.
And that’s generally my feeling towards the movie. The characters were likable. The plot was zany, but entertaining. The action was good. The villain was serviceable. Art direction was very cool. Voice acting was solid. The comedic relief was absolutely hilarious (I loved the slug character)!
Yes, this movie genuinely didn’t suck.
Now, that’s not to say it blew me away. While I liked the characters, there really wasn’t anything exceptional about them. They’re all characters we’ve seen before, familiar and not overly complicated. But that’s okay. They weren’t annoying. They didn’t get in the way of my enjoyment of the movie.
I also appreciated the complete absence of a Hollywood Environmental Message™. I generally don’t like it when movies get preachy at me. It’s something of a pet peeve, and honestly, this was my biggest fear going into the movie. Being an engineer who works in Evil Corporate America™, a lot of movies portray people like me or people I work with in a really bad light.
So kudos this time for not making us out to be the villains! Again. For like the millionth time. Seriously, we’re just normal people trying to get by like everyone else.
So, yeah, fun movie. Not deep. Not really all that epic. But fun.
VERDICT: Recommended.
Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Withershadow Combine
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 our character unit, the Withershadow Combine.
IN SHORT: With solid defensive stats and a slew of special abilities, the Withershadow Combine can tip the balance in Cryx’s favor and even construct whole warjacks during the battle! No, seriously, they can do that!
STRENGTHS: The three Iron Liches of the Withershadow Combine bring a diverse and powerful set of abilities to the tabletop. Let’s step through them.
All three members come with Dismantle. This gives them an extra damage die in melee against warjacks. Combined with a base P+S 13 and their ability to buy new attacks if they have souls, the Withershadow Combine can inflict a tremendous amount of pain on a warjack, which is just awesome because …
The ability Dark Industries allows the Withershadow Combine to build new Cryx warjacks out of enemy warjacks! There are a few conditions to pull this off. All three Iron Liches must be present and be engaging the enemy warjack in melee when one of them destroys it. After that, replace the enemy warjack with an equivalent-sized Cryx warjack of your choice. Note that the new warjack is autonomous, and so does not start in your warcaster’s battlegroup.
Also, Dark Industries does NOT work on Colossi, so no free Krakens, because that would be silly.
The Withershadow Combine also has strong defensive stats. As long as the leader, Maelovus, is alive, the unit has Stealth. Add in DEF 14, ARM 16, and 5 hit boxes each, and the Combine is fairly resilient by Cryx standards, especially at range.
Each Lich can cast Dark Fire, a decent attack spell that collects the soul of destroyed living models, allowing the Combine to inflict damage at range and stock up on souls for a later attack (such as an attempt to pull off Dark Industries). With a respectable magic attack of 7, they can certainly pull this off. Oh, and they also come with Terror.
In addition to these abilities, the other two Iron Liches have their own special abilities. Admonia allows a warcaster to upkeep one spell for free with her Black Arts ability. She can also clear all enemy upkeep spells within 5” with her Unbinding ability. This also inflicts D3 damage to the controlling model, per upkeep cleared, allowing Admonia to inflict some minor damage to the enemy warcaster or warlock.
Tremulus comes with an awe-inspiring ability: Puppet Master. Target a model or unit, friend or foe, and then chose a CMD, attack, or damage roll to reroll. You can even choose which dice to reroll, greatly increasing the odds of a favorable outcome. Seriously, how many uses are there for this ability? It is incredibly potent ability.
Under normal conditions, I put this ability on the warcaster. Cryx depend heavily on debuff spells. Missing a key debuff attack at a critical moment can be disastrous. But with Puppet Master active, you get a free do-over!
WEAKNESSES: At 5 points, the Withershadow Combine is a bit pricey. They’re almost the cost of three separate solos, though it’s a fair price for what they bring. Stealth can help protect them at range, but there are plenty of ways an enemy can bypass that defense. Plus, if Maelovus goes down, so does Stealth.
That leads to the toughest part of pulling off a successful Dark Industries attack: all three Iron Liches have to be alive. Take out any one of them and your opponent takes out the Dark Industries threat.
And naturally, if there are no warjacks in your opponents army, Dark Industries and Dismantle have no effect. That doesn’t mean the Withershadow Combine is bad against Hordes, just that they’re not quite as versatile.
SYNERGIES: From allowing rerolls of attack spells to upkeeping for free, the Withershadow Combine can help out almost any Cryx warcaster. The one possible exception is Goreshade the Bastard, who lacks upkeep spells. That doesn’t mean the Combine is bad with him, just maybe not an ideal combination.
Warwitch Sirens are great toolkit solos to have around, and their Power Booster can come in handy if the Withershadow Combine pulls off a successful Dark Industries. Remember, the new warjack is not automatically part of the warcaster’s battlegroup, and so cannot be allocated Focus. The Warwitch Siren allows you to bypass this problem by using Power Booster to give the new warjack a Focus token.
Lastly, since Dark Industries requires all three Iron Liches to engage the target warjack in melee, it can be tricky to wear the warjack down AND leave enough room for the Combine. Infantry with Reach, such as Bane Knights, can certainly help deal out damage while keeping space open for the Combine to finish the warjack off.
JUST FOR FUN: Executing Dark Industries on a full strength target is normally not the best idea. Ideally, a warjack should be softened up before the Combine moves in for the kill. But how soft does the target need to be? Let’s assume a charge attack with no extra souls available for additional attacks. Even against a Khador warjack, the Combine will do an average of 21 points of damage.
Obviously, there are a lot of permutations that can affect the outcome. But in general, if a warjack is at roughly half-health, it can be a good opportunity for the Combine to strike. Note that if the target has a defensive upkeep spell, consider having Admonia clear it with Unbinding instead of attacking.
SUMMARY: The Withershadow Combine is a powerful character unit with a diverse set of abilities. While their flashiest abilities are geared towards taking down warjacks, that is nowhere near the extent of their usefulness. From clearing enemy upkeeps, setting up strategic rerolls, and adding some extra Focus efficiency, the Withershadow Combine can find a place in almost any Cryx army.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve – Book Review
The people of the future no longer live on the ground. In the time between our period, theirs, and the pivotal Sixty Minute War, they’ve moved onto enormous mobile cities known as Traction Cities, which carry them around the world to escape the geological dangers created by the Sixty Minute War…and also away from other cities. For the Traction Cities abide by the code of Municipal Darwinism, in which the bigger, stronger cities keep themselves running by devouring the smaller cities and their resources. As one character says, it’s a “town-eat-town” world.
In the midst of this municipal Survival of the Fittest are our protagonists, Tom Natsworthy, Katherine Valentine, and Hester Shaw. Tom is a third-class apprentice in the Guild of Historians, located on the impressive Traction City of London. Despite the difficulties of his work, he loves London and cheers it on when it chases and captures the smaller city of Salthook. In the course of the following city-wide celebration, he encounters Thaddeus Valentine, the dashing head of the Guild of Historians and a hero among Londoners, Tom included. More importantly, though, he encounters Valentine’s daughter, Katherine, with whom he is immediately smitten. He doesn’t have much time to be smitten, though, for in the flurry of activity, an assassin approaches Valentine with a knife, intending to do exactly what assassins do with knives. However, Tom is not about to let that happen. He rescues Valentine, in the process being knocked off of the London Traction City, and afterward finds that the assassin is actually Hester Shaw, a girl with a hideous scar and a story to tell—one that will change Tom’s impression of his beloved Traction City forever.
There is more plot, but all of it is a spoiler.
Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve is the first in The Mortal Engines Quartet/The Hungry City Chronicles/The Predator Cities series (This is another of those series that gets a new identity every time it’s rereleased), and is among the books that I consider the most perfect examples of steampunk. It has action, adventure, a unique and well-realized setting, political intrigue, character twists and turns galore, and on top of that, a whole city inhabited by airship pilots and all the epicness that ensues when a bunch of airship pilots find something to do battle over (among other awesomeness. There are Traction City pirates, too. And a pet wolf named Dog. And also a thing called MEDUSA which, avoiding spoilers, is terrifying for the characters involved with it, but thrilling to readers who want some exciting steampunk action).
The whole concept of Municipal Darwinism is what gives this novel its strong base. While the idea of a moving city is not original to Mortal Engines, the idea of a city chasing and eating another city is, and brings an interesting level of conflict to the world of the novel. This was one of those settings where, as with many sci-fi settings, my first reaction was “Ooo, I’d totally love to live on a Traction City and travel all over the world and chase other towns!” And then I realized that I live in Spartanburg, which as cities go is not that big, and as Traction Cities go means that it would totally be eaten by one of its many larger surrounding before it could even finish chasing the little towns around it. People who live in Spartanburg are even called Spartanburgers. We sound like food. We’d be doomed from the start. And we’d be doomed while on the run from the earth itself, since one of the results of the pseudo-nuclear Sixty Minute War was unpredictable geological upheaval. You want real stress? Try running from the ground you’re running on.
Of course, to the characters in the novel, all these novelties are old hat. They’re so used to Traction Cities that the whole idea of a static city seems weird and barbaric to them, as does the Anti-Traction League, a group of protected nations determined to maintain their static cities, and who occasionally perpetrate alleged terrorist attacks on Traction Cities…in protest of the activities which the Anti-Traction League finds barbaric. This contributes to what I found to be one of the most satisfying elements of the book. While it has adventure and explosions and everything else that I find entertaining in a novel, it also presents some interesting moral and ethical questions, and explores all sides of every side presented in the novel. Though the story in the novel has a clear set of antagonists, the world of the novel is composed of several different shades of moral gray, many of which change shades over the course of the narrative. Allegiances and animosities that the readers have at the beginning are changed in nearly every chapter when readers happen upon haunting new information. Questions about the world itself arise—how ethical is it, exactly, for a city to eat another city, even when the limited availability of natural resources necessitates it? What are the moral implications of resurrecting the dead as memory-less half-machines (another technology that plays a significant role in the plot)?
This is a novel that makes the reader question everything it presents as awesome in the first few chapters, and for that, I love it. It’s simultaneously a fun adventure novel and a thinking person’s novel. Because of that, I cannot wait to read the remaining three books in The Mortal Engines Quartet(/The Hungry City Chronicles/The Predator Cities).
Top image found here: http://fav.me/d1r6f62
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Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Satyxis Raiders
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 Raiders.
IN SHORT: Fast and deadly, Satyxis Raiders will eviscerate enemies hiding behind their shields and fry a warcaster’s brain right through their warjack!
STRENGTHS: Raiders are fast! Smoking fast! With SPD 7 and Advanced Deploy, they can easily be the first line of Cryx infantry to crash into the enemy’s ranks. Reach on their Lacerators gives them a total threat range of 12”, which goes up to 14” with Raider Captain support! Damn!
Raiders are well armed, too. In addition to Reach, their Lacerators come with Chain Weapon, Critical Knockdown, and Feedback. Chain Weapon allows them to ignore Bucklers, Shields, and Shield Wall. Critical Knockdown is a nice bonus if you get lucky, but Feedback is where it’s at.
With Feedback, every time a Raider damages a warjack, its controller suffers 1 point of damage. This is a great tactic for softening up a warcaster for an assassination run or deal the final blow.
Last, but not least, Raiders have Combined Melee for added hitting power and accuracy when they need it. Given that each Raider comes with two attacks, one from the Lacerator and a basic P+S 8 hit from their horns, Raiders can sacrifice non-Lacerator attacks to power-up other Raiders’ Lacerators.
WEAKNESSES: With DEF 14 and ARM 12, Raiders do not take hits well. They have a good chance of hitting first and hitting hard, but that counterattack is going to eat them alive. Add to that their living CMD 8 models, and these girls can break at the worst possible moment.
While fast, Raiders do not have Pathfinder, but their attachment, the Raider Sea Witch, can fix this. In fact, a lot of issues with the Raiders are solved by taking a Raider Sea Witch.
Also, while the Lacerator has great special rules, its hitting power is a mild P+S 9. In order to threaten many warjack targets, Raiders need to use their Combined Melee, get the charge, and/or use Power Swell from their attachment, the Raider Sea Witch.
And speaking of warjacks, Raiders love cutting into warcasters one hit box at a time. Against Hordes armies, the Feedback on their Lacerators is completely useless.
SYNERGIES: Raider. Sea. Witch.
Seriously, this is one awesome unit attachment. For 2 points, the unit gets Pathfinder, Force Barrier (+2 DEF against ranged attack rolls and blast damage immunity), and Power Swell (once per game, get an additional die on melee damage rolls during that activation). For 2 points! Take her. Seriously, just take her. Even the model looks cool.
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The Raider Captain is another option worth considering. Her main synergy is Desperate Pace [Satyxis Raiders]. The Captain targets a Satyxis Raider unit in command range, and that unit gets +2” movement during its activation that turn! Raiders are fast, and the Raider Captain makes them even faster!
Against a Warmachine opponent, Skarre loves taking a group of Satyxis Raiders to double-up the Feedback damage with her spell, Backlash. This can make each damaging hit against a warjack do 2 points instead of 1. With this, even the mightiest warcaster can fall in a hurry!
Lich Lord Asphyxious can use a similar tactic by sending Raiders in to bang up some warjacks. Then, after your opponent has slaughter them, call them back for Feedback seconds!
Asphyxious the Hellbringer also has a neat combo. Raiders with a Sea Witch are DEF 16 against ranged attacks. Add in Ashen Veil, and they’re DEF 18. Now we’re talking!
JUST FOR FUN: Sometimes, just running the Raiders forward can be enough to really mess with an opponent’s plans, engaging their shooters and giving the meat of your army time to close.
So how far into the map can Raiders get right out of the gate?
That’s 6” for Advanced Deploy, 14” from the run, 2” from Reach, and an extra 2” from Desperate Pace. All totaled, that’s 24”! Did I mention Raiders are fast?
SUMMARY: Satyxis Raiders are fast, deadly, and versatile. They’re solid against Hordes and incredible against Warmachine. Raiders are an excellent addition to many Cryx forces. Even better, many of their weaknesses are taken care of with the simple addition of a Raider Sea Witch.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
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Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.
Blue Exorcist, Volumes 1-2 by Kazue Kato – Manga Review
Occasionally a manga comes along that makes me squee with glee every time a new volume is released. Though I’ve only read the first two volumes, I can tell that Blue Exorcist is going to be one of those manga.
Volume 1 introduces Rin Okumura, a well-meaning but short-tempered teen who has been raised by Father Fujimoto, a high-ranking exorcist, in place of the father he has never known. When a sharp argument between the two causes Father Fujimoto to drop his spiritual guard, Rin finds out why his father has been so absent: The lapse causes Father Fujimoto to be possessed by the demon lord Satan, who reveals that Rin is, in fact, a son of Satan (skip to the end of the review for more on that), and can possess all the demon powers that come with it when he unsheathes the magic sword that contains them. Generally, it’s not a good thing to be the son of the devil in the presence of exorcists, so Rin finds his life in mortal danger. Rather than run, though, he makes a rather unexpected decision. Feeling himself responsible for Father Fujimoto’s death, and determined to defeat Satan, he decides to become an exorcist. He is thus allowed to enter True Cross Academy, the training ground for exorcists, under the watch of eccentric Academy president Mephisto Pheles, who has plans of his own for Rin’s powers. In Volume 2, Rin meets his classmates and begins preparing for the Exwire Examination, the passing of which is his first step to becoming an exorcist. His successes are varied—He’s not an enthusiastic student, preferring field work to studying, and his snap-quick temper sometimes gets him into trouble with other equally hot-tempered students. However, he does form enough alliances to have help when powerful demons attack the school. Perhaps most importantly, though, he learns of the Blue Night, a night 16 years ago on which powerful exorcists around the world died after exploding into blue flame—the same blue flame that is the mark of Satan, and that identifies Rin as his son.
Blue Exorcist reads like a direct successor of D.Gray-Man and Soul Eater, two other familiar demon-hunting manga. It combines the quirky-cast-of-exorcists model found in the first with the bizarre artistic flair of the second, and then one-ups them both by featuring a surprisingly complex set of character relationships, and stellar art to boot.
The basic story of the series is, unfortunately, very familiar: boy-looking-for-his-place-in-the-world-gains-magic-powers-and-goes-to-school-to-learn-to-use-them. But the abovementioned good points easily make up for this. While the individual character types (for the main characters, at least) are about as familiar as the story type, the ways in which they interact are interestingly plotted. In Volume 1, for example, Rin’s high-powered abilities and his twin brother Yukio’s weakness around bullies would lead readers to expect Rin to be Yukio’s constant protector. (Rin got all of Dad’s demon powers, leaving Yukio with nothing but brains and a cute, squishy face.) However, the story works in such a way that Yukio ends up being Rin’s defender and even his teacher at the Academy…while at the same time knowing that he’ll be responsible for destroying Rin if his demon powers get out of control.
Most of the individually interesting character types are introduced in Volume 2, which sets up most of the supporting cast. These characters are also made of clever combinations of traits, my favorite being Ryuji Suguro, the class muscle who also happens to be a really intelligent student, and another favorite being Izumo Kamiki, an initially manipulative girl who, instead of spending a whole series figuring out that It’s Bad to Manipulate Friends!, learns it early, and then uses the damage caused by her actions as the driving force behind her future choices. For me, the only uninteresting character is Shiemi Moriyama, whose main goal at True Cross Academy seems to be to make friends and be adorably shy while doing it, but even she serves an eventual purpose in Volume 2, which is more than I can say of other manga characters who exist only to be The Cute One. And by the end of the second volume, Shiemi does become legitimately endearing. That said, this is one of the few manga in which I’ve found all of the characters appealing on some level.
Equally as appealing as the characters is the art. Kazue Kato uses a smart balance of simple character-focused frames and immensely detailed setting-focused frames, throwing in the occasional detailed character shot, too, for extra spice. It’s a clever, practical way to produce art that is both dynamic to look at for the readers and turned in on time for the comic’s editor (always a concern for these deadline-driven series), and it works well here. And then there are the covers. Blue Exorcist is a series that I considered buying for the covers alone, even before I read the actual books. Kato has a brilliant sense of color and character design, and when I tried to think of other manga covers to compare these to, I couldn’t. They are truly in a class all their own. The character designs themselves are worth some mention, too, not merely because they’re great, but because they’re also pleasantly varied. The absurd and clownish (and even iconic) design for Mephisto Pheles is one of the most memorable character designs that I’ve seen in recent manga. A series full of character designs like his, though, could have become overwhelming to look at, which is why I consider it a good choice on the part of the artist that most other characters in the series were rendered in fairly normal clothing—normal for a manga, anyway. The variety of face designs is commendable in this series, too. Many manga suffer from having too many characters that are simple variations on one basic character design, rendering them all basically indistinguishable. Everyone in Blue Exorcist is unique and recognizable.
The series’ only real problem, if it can be called one, is this: Some readers may be uncomfortable with the fact that the series’ protagonist is the son of Satan. However, as most anime/manga fans will already know, this isn’t intended to be a religious statement. In anime and manga, priests regularly wield ridiculous guns (Trigun, and virtually every manga involving a priest), nuns blow up things with abandon (Chrono Crusade), bible verses have magical power (Le Chevalier D’Eon and also this series) and the Vatican possesses an airship force and employs vampire-eating-vampires (Trinity Blood). In short, Japan’s take on Christianity, in its comics, at least, is pretty much like America’s take on Greek and Roman Mythology: We entertain ourselves with the parts we like and then add explosions to the rest.
For those who can jump this latter hurdle, Blue Exorcist comes highly recommended. If you like D. Gray-Man, Soul Eater, or shonen manga in general, this is a definite title to try.
Warmachine Tactics – Cryx: Bane Knights vs. Bane Thralls
VS.
IN SHORT: Cryx is a faction spoiled for awesome infantry. At the high end of our impressive arsenal sit the Banes. Powerful, feared weapon masters through and through, the Banes can lay waste to enemy armies, and are made even more dangerous when accompanied by Bane Lord Tartarus.
WHY BANES? Banes are weapon masters. With P+S 11 attacks and 4 damage dice on the charge, they hit hard. That by itself is bad enough, but they’re also undead. It doesn’t matter how many casualties they take, they’re going after your opponent until every last Bane has been dropped.
That’s a good thing because they’re not the fastest infantry in the Cryx arsenal. In a faction that often emphasizes speed, the base Bane SPD of 5 can seem underwhelming. However, that SPD 5 is actually misleading because Banes can benefit from the impressive abilities of Bane Lord Tartarus. In fact, Tartarus is a huge reason to take Banes, in and of himself.
All Banes can benefit from Tartarus’s ability to Curse an enemy model or unit. Banes attacking a Cursed model get +2 attack rolls and +2” movement on the charge (including Tartarus himself). Oh, and there’s no roll to hit for Curse. It’s point-and-click simple to use.
Jacob Holo: Tartarus Curses your Gun Mages.
H.P. Holo: Don’t you have to roll to hit or something?
Jacob Holo: Nope.
H.P. Holo: What? This Tartarus guy is a real jerk.
Jacob Holo: He gets that a lot.
That +2” is pretty good by itself, but where it gets absolutely insane is when Tartarus uses Death Toll. When Tartarus kills a living model, he creates a small-based Bane that appears within 3” of him and in unit cohesion of a friendly Bane unit. This can be a unit that has not activated yet. So not only can these new Banes appear right in your enemy’s face, but they can still benefit from Curse AND activate that very same turn! That’s just sick!
On top of that, Bane Lord Tartarus has Thresher and Reach, so he has the capacity crank out quite a few extra models. He’s pricy as a 4 point solo, but you definitely get what you pay for.
There are two types of Banes: Knights and Thralls. Both have strengths and weaknesses. But which is better? Let’s take a look, shall we?
BANE KNIGHT STRENGTHS: Knights are great at bypassing obstacles and penalizing your opponents. Ghostly is a fantastic ability that allows them to speed through terrain, walk through walls, and ignore free strikes. Thralls can’t do that without a warcaster’s support.
Vengeance acts as both an offensive and a defensive ability. Offensively, extra attacks are always nice. Defensively, it discourages piecemeal attacks. Killing one Knight results in all other Knights getting a free 3” move and a free attack. That is not a good exchange for your opponent! When Thralls take casualties, they just take them.
On top of this, Knights have Reach. Reach combined with a Vengeance move can give Knights a 4.5” threat range advantage over Thralls. When factoring in how they ignore terrain, this can be huge!
As a nice little bonus, Knight also have +1 ARM over Thralls, giving them a little extra durability.
BANE THRALL STRENGTHS: Two words, Dark Shroud. I absolutely love this ability! Bane Thralls are walking debuffs. They don’t even have to hit their opponents. Just engaging them in melee drops their ARM by 2, and there is no defense against this ability!
Not only does this make Thralls hit harder than Knights, but it also acts as a force multiplier. Any other model attacking the same target benefits from the Bane’s Dark Shroud. Cryx debuffs make everything better, and Thralls are debuffs.
Bane Thralls also come with Stealth, which helps mitigate their losses on the approach. They can also gain Tough through a powerful unit attachment, granting them even more durability. An opponent may be able to bypass one of these defenses, but probably not both, and not for the whole unit. Even better, the attachment officer has Dead Rise, which will allow knocked down survivors of Tough rolls to stand up for free in the maintenance phase. Overall, Thralls have more staying power than Knights for this reason, even with the Knights’ ARM advantage.
Finally, Thralls are cheaper. Even with a max unit and the attachment, they only cost 1 point more than Knights, and that set up comes with two extra Banes.
VERDICT: It is almost never a bad idea to put Banes in a Cryx army. Both Knights and Thralls can pull a lot of weight in an army list, and both are very valid choices. For me, it comes down to personal taste.
And my preferred choice is … Bane Thralls!
Bane Thralls are my absolute favorite Cryx infantry. They are the go-to models when I’m up against a tough opponent or I want to try something new, but still have a solid fallback. They consistently perform well in game after game after game.
It’s a close call, because both Thralls and Knights are fantastic units. But the Thralls edge out the Knights because of Dark Shroud. I’m a big fan of force multipliers, and Thralls perform that function nicely.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
