Hey everyone and welcome to the latest and greatest issue of... the Dispatch!
Mental note: need to get out more...
Where was I? Oh yeah, this issue we are going to be doing the first faction overview in the Intelligence Report. Then we will head over to the parade ground as we Review the Troops, where we will look at what I am now thinking is one of the nastiest units in the game. So sit down and strap in because we are about to hit the ground running!
Intelligence Report
Taking a Closer Look at...
The Cryx from Prime: Remix
Spreading from their island home like a disease upon the mainland, the walking dead of the Dragon Lord Toruk come. With every battle they add to their ranks, bringing them closer to their goal of conquering the Iron Kingdoms and ultimately destroying the rest of the Dragons.
In a world where the motivations of some factions are portrayed in shades of grey, the Cryx are nothing but black. With the legions of undead, there is no question that they are clearly among the villans of the Warmachine world. Still, enough with the fluff. The real question is how do they play?
The Cryx are unique in the Warmachine universe when it comes to some of their units, at least with regards to Prime (which is my main focus here). They can field some of the fastest units and 'jacks in the game, not to mention the cheapest and in some cases perhaps the most versatile. For infantry units, they have both ends of the spectrum with two of the cheapest and two of the most expensive units in the book. Even so, their cheap units are very effective at what they do and are not to be taken lightly. From a 'jack point of view, Cryx is the faction with the most arc nodes available to them. Equipped with light armor (for a 'jack at least), the Cryx warjacks make up for this by having a high defense and speed.
With spells that focus on weakening and damaging their opponents, the Cryx warcasters are geared toward lightning quick attacks leading up to the final assault on the enemy warcaster. More than any other faction, virtually all the troops in a Cryx army are expendable as they are simply tools for clearing the way for the 'caster to move in for that final kill.
All of these elements come together to create a faction that excels at one thing: assassination. Their troops plow into your army as the arc node equipped bonejacks move into position to channel spells where they are needed most. As this deadly ballet of carnage is playing out, the warcaster is moving forward, getting closer and closer to its final target. Once a path has been cleared, they strike with deadly accuracy.
Their style of play is not for everyone, especially since they have some combinations that you have to puzzle out the most effective uses for. That said, if you enjoy an aggressive play style with some sneaky combos and don't mind losing your entire army in the process, the Cryx might just be for you.
Reviewing the Troops
The Trollkin Champions
Heros of kith and kriel, the Trollkin Champions are the elite melee unit for the Trollbloods. I recently had a chance to field these killing machines against Matt and I think that we were all amazed at just how deadly they can get.
With a base Melee Attack score of 7, the Champions can hit most units in Hordes on average rolls but it is after this that they truly become powerful. For every model in their unit that makes a successful melee attack against, the next Champion gets a +1 to its attack and damage rolls this turn. The first Champion starts at a 7, the next at an 8, the next at a 9... And this does not reset, so if one of the Champions misses, the next one will still receive the same bonus. To make this even more damaging, try fielding them with Madrak and use his Crusher feat. This will allow them to move and make another attack if they destroy their original target, and since this all happens in the same turn, the bonus continues to stack.
As if they weren't "offensive" enough, the Champions are also multi wound models. A regular champion has eight wounds while the leader has ten, plus they are all tough. Their one weakness is the Defense which is only 12... unless they are in base to base contact with another member of their unit, which gives them a +2 but only against melee attacks.
Ringing in at 106 points, they are one of the most expensive units in the game but having seen them in battle, I am more than happy to pay that cost. I'd even pay double, which is handy because they are field allowance two. Ya gotta love Champions!
The Parting Shot
And that wraps up another issue of the Dispatch, but have no fear as there is more on the way! Up next will be another special report as we take a closer look at some of the changes made in Mark II (wait, it costs how much?!?!?) and later this month will be Issue #17: Hardcore Terrain! I am finally getting my gaming room set up and I decided to make some Iron Kingdoms style terrain so I figure I might as well do some step by steps to show how I did it. If you have any comments or questions, I'd love to hear them! You can leave them on the blog or you can email me at sincitydispatch@gmail.com and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!
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