Greetings again everyone from the Steam-Powered Gamer! It's that time again to look at a Warmachine/Hordes warcaster/warlock and figure out what makes them tick and build a list with that in mind. Much like last time, I don't wish to imply that today's warlock is bad or anything, but merely just want to share some musings I've had with this particular warlock lately to make him work differently than you might see him played typically. I've largely not been terribly interested in the Skorne, admittedly; they're too heavy-handed of a faction for my tastes. The only warlocks who really catch my interest are Zaal and Mordikaar, and I've always had a love of animated constructs, so Zaal is a really interesting warlock to me. So without further ado, let's take a look at Supreme Aptimus Zaal and see how I can twist around the usual take on him - starting with his spell list this time.
Zaal has a very interesting set of spells that he has access to. It's obvious from his spell list right away that Zaal will want to be supporting his army and not really spell-slinging or charging into the front lines. Even then, Zaal plays support in a very interesting way. He really only has one easy-to-use buff, and that's Inviolable Resolve, granting extra ARM and making a model/unit fearless. A solid buff to use on a unit that already has a large ARM value. Fearless is great and all, but it really isn't something to write home about. It's always something that you'll be grateful that you have it when you need it, but it's not something that you always want. It's very handy on a front-line unit that you will expect to take some casualties.
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| Hmmm... yep! These guys fit the bill quite nicely! |
His other buff is a straight offensive one, which is really interesting in its application. Last Stand is an upkeep that gives a model/unit an additional die on its attack and damage rolls. The only drawback? Once a model makes an attack, it will be destroyed at the end of turn! This is interesting because it will make sure that you hit and damage your target, but at what cost? You'll need to keep this spell on a unit that you want to hit really hard, and you'll need to be careful not to blow it too early or you risk missing out on some field coverage when you really need it. This also goes fairly well with Zaal's feat, which will discuss in a minute. Next on the buff spell list is Awakened Spirit. This interesting upkeep is placed onto a warbeast and allows the warbeast to use it's animus for free! This pretty awesome as long as it's upkept and allows you to save fury with your warbeasts for other, more important things like buying extra attacks. We'll definitely want to throw this on a target that will be using it's animus fairly regularly.
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| These guys would probably be good for Last Stand |
Next, Zaal has 2 offensive spells: Hex Blast and Sunder Spirit. Sunder Spirit is situational and really is only good against Hordes armies as it only affects warbeasts. If you damage the warbeast with this spell then they lose their animus for one round. Pretty solid, but you'll probably need to boost the damage roll in order to do enough to damage a warbeast. Lastly, Hex Blast is a neat little offensive AOE that removes any upkeeps on the model/unit. This is a very useful little spell because not only does it remove upkeeps but it also is still an AOE. This is great for dealing with the Kayazy Assassins who seem to be growing in popularity. Not only can you strip Iron Flesh off of them, but you can also kill a couple with blast damage!
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| Okay, okay. So Zaal likes Ancestral Guardians. Next? |
The last abilities that people might forget that Zaal has are Gunfighter, allowing him to shoot in melee (2" because he also has reach!) as well as Ghost Sight, allowing him to ignore LOS, concealment, and cover! This means that he's quite the potent shot with his Spirit Eye - especially since you can add the target's STR to the damage roll if they're a living model. Again, this suggests that Zaal is much better off dealing with Hordes armies, because it means that he can usually deal straight damage to a heavy warbeast. The only problem? The range is fairly short for a ranged attack.
The last thing to look at with Zaal is that he also comes with a buddy: Kovas. Kovas is an interesting solo because the only way it can really come into play is through the destruction of an Ancestral Guardian. What's also interesting is that while you can only have one Kovas in play at a time, if he dies and then another Guardian is destroyed, Kovas comes back into play! This is a great way to recycle your own Guardians and takes a bit of the sting out of using them as transfer targets. On top of that, Kovas is basically a turbo-charged Void Spirit, but it has a Thresser (* Attack) with Reach, AND it can collect the souls of it's enemies (as well as those that Zaal wishes to send his way!).
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| Zaal + Kovas = BFFs. Got it. |
If you haven't figured it out, Zaal is all about using the souls of the dead to fuel an army of super-charged freaks. His feat epitomizes this above all else. What's interesting about this feat is that throughout the game you need to keep track of your models which have been destroyed. Each model that has been destroyed will, on his feat turn, provide an Ancestral Rage token that can be used by anyone to boost an attack or damage roll for one token per boost. Note that these tokens cannot be used to buy extra attacks - only boosting! Even still, it means that whatever models remain standing can be quite angry on his feat turn. You have to be careful to weigh out when exactly you want to use this feat, because if you use it too late, you won't have any models left to use those tokens. It's a tricky dance you'll need to perform.
So now here's where I present a list. Like I said earlier, Zaal is hardly a bad warlock, and there are lots of great ways to build a list with him. I want to try something very different today and make a list that will be quite different than most conventional Skorne lists and try to justify to you why I think it will work well. Before I begin, I will add that I believe this list will largely only be effective against Hordes armies, but if you came across a Cryx warcaster who loves munching on souls (Terminus comes to mind) then this might do okay. The importance of this exercise it to open your mind up to new options and think outside of the box to new possibilities that might lead to new strategies. Here we go:
The Immortal Host - Tier 3 - 35 Points
Supreme Aptimus Zaal (+5)
- Kovas (free)
- Cyclops Raider (5)
- Titan Cannoneer (9)
- Aptimus Marketh (3)
Praetorian Karax (full, 6)
Praetorian Swordsmen (full, 6)
Ancestral Guardian (3)
Extoler Soulward (2)
Extoler Soulward (2)
Hakar the Destroyer (4)
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| Fortunately, PP decided to release this IP free so that way I can share it with you to see the nitty-gritty details! |
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| What are you giggling at...? HEY! IT'S NOT LIKE THAT OKAY!? IT'S JUST A GUN! |
The full unit of Karax often gets some bad publicity compared to their Swordsmen brethren, but they become quite respectable with Inviolable Resolve on them. The Swordsmen will be great with Last Stand on them as well, since they'll get two attacks each before getting killed, maximizing their killyness before they die. Also, having 20 living models on the table not only means more Ancestral Rage tokens (which can be used by all of those Spirit Eyes, by the way) but also more souls for your soulwards. Suddenly those two point solos are looking quite scary now that you realize that they can boost their spirit eye damage pretty much every turn. That's a lot of hurt going towards heavy warbeasts. Toss in the Ancestral Guardian and Hakar the Destroyer for some great melee 'oomph' and flank protection and we have a list that will take ground while laying down some punishing firepower with some consistent boosting of damage - which by the way ignores LOS, concealment, cover, and stealth between the ghost shot rules and the Soulwards granting eyeless sight. Oh and they have gunfighter too with these magical weapons, meaning that even incorporeal models can't just run past you! Certainly makes you think, doesn't it!
Like I already said, this list does certainly have its weaknesses and is definitely intended to give the Hordes factions serious headaches for the most part, but I think it'll become far more effective at 50 points:
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| It's a bit spammy, I know, but at least it's thematic! |
- Kovas (free)
- Cyclops Shaman (5)
- Cyclops Raider (5)
- Titan Cannoneer (9)
- Aptimus Marketh (3)
Praetorian Karax (full, 6)
Praetorian Swordsmen (full, 6)
- Officer and Standard (2)
Ancestral Guardian (3)
Ancestral Guardian (3)
Ancestral Guardian (3)
Ancestral Guardian (3)
Extoler Soulward (2)
Extoler Soulward (2)
Extoler Soulward (2)
Extoler Soulward (2)
Hakar the Destroyer (4)
Who said Skorne can't do a ranged army?
