A Tale of Dragons and Pirates and Zombies and Robots and More...

I mentioned in a previous blog that I had no desire to play Cryx when we first got into Warmachine. The few pics I'd seen (zombie pirates like Blackbane's Ghost Raiders) just didn't grab me. I don't have anything against pirates or zombies or dragons, but none of those had really been my "thing" before. I was initially drawn to WMH by the look of powerful steam-powered robots like 'Jacks from Protectorate, Khador, & Cygnar. 

Mainly Protectorate.

The ornate patterns on their armor. The huge strong silhouettes / shapes. Everything about them drew me in.

I gave Donna first dibs when our first Mystery Boxes came in and she immediately claimed the Protectorate as her own. Why? Was it all the reasons I mentioned above?

Nope.

It was because she liked the idea of being able to light my army on fire. 

* sigh *

and oh how she has done that to great effect in our games over the last 7 months.

Our other Mystery Box was Skorne, which brought up the problem that we didn't want to learn both Warcaster / Warjack / Focus rules at the same time we were learning Warlock / Warbeast / Fury while we were also trying to learn the basic overall game play. So, when we heard a game store about an hour away had a table with a bunch of old MK2 stuff on sale, we took a trip one Saturday in hopes that I could find a Warmachine faction to start with. The Skorne were put on the shelf for a later date, once we felt like we had a decent grasp on the basics.

Over the month leading up to getting our boxes, I'd spent countless hours checking out every picture, video, and article I could find about the game & models. Through all of that, there was one thing that was clear: I didn't care for Cryx. Not one bit.

When we got to the game store out of town, the table had already been picked through by locals from the area. There was a ton of Protectorate stuff left....and a smattering of Cryx. 

* sigh again*

But then as I started going through the table, I saw some models that really drew me in. The first were the little bone jacks like Defiler & Ripjaw. There was just something about these quirky little death machines that made me want to dig deeper into the pile of Cryx on the table.

Then, I saw a Slayer. What it lacked in the ornate decorative emblems of the Protectorate warjacks, it more than made up for in the sheer visual brutality of the model. It just looked like it wanted to hurt people. From there, I went through it all & snagged up enough to make at least a couple of 25 point lists.

As I got more into Cryx, reading up on the lore, reading other people's opinions, etc...it made me want to play them even more. From the lore aspect, there are so many fascinating elements that hooked me. Learning about how Toruk's children turned on him. How his motivation for building the Empire of Cryx is to get revenge on them. How he destroyed the 12 prostrate kings & reanimated them as his first Lich Lords. All of it pulled me into the story

More than all of the lore, one thing that ignited my fire to play Cryx was that I'd seen videos, podcasts, & articles saying that with other factions getting more recent CIDs, Cryx was a bottom tier faction. It wasn't as good as others & was harder to win with. Loving the underdog, I welcomed the challenge of building a Cryx army that I could find ways to make competitive. 

My idea for this blog is to go through what I currently have in rotation in my Cryx army, what I have that's waiting to be built / painted, and what I might have my eye on to add to them later; along with my thoughts on each model. 

Oh....and I'm currently playing Skorne as we're now getting into learning the Hordes rules differences...and I'm not hating it, but I'm not loving it. It's weird playing Skorne while my Cryx sit in their case.

* Note: The images of the models I've played are my own. The images of models that I haven't built / painted yet were found randomly through Google image searches. Some didn't have credits for who the owners were. Thankfully, several had watermarks on them. Some others without watermarks came "Lord Iron Cake" on WordPress, MiniatureMarket, and FigurePainters.com.

Warcasters

My first Cryxian caster was Wraith Witch Deneghra. It took a month or so before I got the hang of how to play Deneghra2, but I'm a legit fan now. One of the things that took a bit to learn was not to hold onto her feat like it was a precious gem. I had a terrible outing in my first few plays with her, because I would hold her feat waiting for the perfect time. 

Deneghra's feat give Incorporeal to d3+3 friendly Faction models in her control range for 1 round. I didn't have a proper appreciation early on for how "squishy" a lot of Cryx models are. Now, I recognize that the perfect time to pop her feat is between rounds 1 & 2, depending on whether or not I'm going first or second. Basically, I want to use it right before the bulk of the attacks on me is going to kick off. In most cases, that's round 2 when the heavier melee is going to go down. If I'm facing a long range AOE threat like Protectorate's Sunburst, I'll sometimes pop it at the end of round 1 if I'm going second.

Her spells can be a lot of fun to work together, especially given that she's FOCUS 7. If I'm dealing with a particularly hard to remove model like a Protectorate 'Jack, I like to double up on them with "Breath Stealer" (-2 SPD, -2 DEF for 1 round) and "Curse of Shadows" (-2 ARM & more). Having Denny go first to hit them with that combo & then have some of my heavy hitters pile up on them works really well.

Another that I use a lot is "Shadow Step". I really like this spell when I've moved her up to get into the melee with her Eclipse. The halberd's 2" range means I can get a hit in & then use "Shadow Step" to move back to the safety behind a nearby friendly model and possibly catching enemy model's in range with "Shadow Bind".

I like to use both "Venom" and "Hellmouth" to deal with enemy infantry; depending on what formation they're in and her position relative to them. I've  also found another fun use for "Hellmouth" is to pull some of her model's out of position to charge in their next turn. I'll target a model near them & then pull (push) the potential charge threat model into them. Even if they live through the spell, the idea is that the 3" push moves them out of range to be able to charge any of my models in the next round.

Lastly, her being able to use "Wraith Walker" every other round to go Incorporeal can really work to prolong her life on the battlefield. I just have to keep in mind her position relative to any magical weapons or casters / arc nodes that might still get to her.

Other warcasters that I have, but that aren't built / painted yet:

Iron Lich Asphyxious

Sturgis, the Corrupted

The Witch Coven of Garlghast with Egregore

Hell Jacks & Bone Jacks

My first few 'Jacks were Slayer, Stalker, & Defiler. Since then, I've added a Ripjaw & a Shrike. I've experimented with running different combinations of them and can't say that I like any grouping more than the others just yet.

I often like to use Slayer for power attacks, especially against troublesome enemy jacks. MAT 7 is nice even before boosting & with the Tusks' adding +2 to damage rolls for head butts & slams is a sweet little bonus. Having 2 Open Fist weapons means it can also use throw power attacks. Finally, being a heavy means it can trample too. Lastly, once Slayer's in position, its Death Claw Combo Strike offering a chance to hit with POW 22 is simply magnificent.

Up next on the roster is Stalker. SPD 7, MAT 7 and with Advanced Deployment, Pathfinder, & Stealth...PLUS its "Bounding Leap" & "Extended Control Range" abilities...allows it to advance into (and often behind) enemy lines to do some serious damage.

Defiler is mainly my anti-infantry jack. I move it into position to spew corrosion on as many models as possible. Then, it serves as an arc node to channel Denny's spells onto enemies while she stays safely away from the danger.

With Ripjaw, the attack vs arc node dual threat sequence is flipped. It only has 0.5" melee range with it's Bone Saw. So, I try to take advantage of its SPD 7 to get into position to channel spells through. In later rounds, I move (hopefully charge) it into position to do whatever damage it can. Honestly, at P+S 10, I don't put a lot of faith into its Bone Saw to do serious damage, but the "Powerful Attack" ability allowing me to boost both attack & damage rolls in a single attack with just 1 focus is nice.

Shrike is the newest edition to my bone jacks & I only have 1 play with it so far. I'm excited to see what I can do with it, mostly focused on exploring it's Flight advantage along with all the bonuses it gets when it uses trample power attacks.

Other warjacks that I have, but that aren't built / painted yet:

Seether

Deathripper

Nightwretch

Solos

My first few solos were Soul Trapper, Hellslinger Phantom, & Darragh Wrathe. I recently added a Bloat Thrall to the mix too.

I've had a little bit of success using Soul Trapper to claim enemy souls & funnel them to other models like Deneghra & Hellslinger Phantom. However, that really depends on what models Donna is fielding. If she's got a lot of 1 wound infantry like Temple Flameguard, he can excel in that function, but if she's got elites like Exemplar Bastions, Soul Trapper is best used to camp on the closest flag to score. At only 1 point, I have no problem letting him grab up flag points if need be, but it's definitely a lot more fun to have him grab souls to pass on to more powerful models.

Hellslinger Phantom has been one of my absolute favorite models of any type hands down. The ability to choose an attack type, namely "Ghost Shot" & "Incendiary", can really pay off, whether it's ignoring LOS / concealment / cover or being able to light enemies on fire. I take an extra special joy out of being able to burn Protectorate models.

Darragh Wrathe is a model that took me a bit to get used to. It was rough early on not knowing how to use him effectively, but it's been fun working out the best moves & timing of when to do what. The most effective being when I can charge him into 1 wound infantry to kill one off & then trigger his "Battle Wizard" ability to cast "Hellfire" or "Mortal Fear" to attack or effect the rest of the unit or nearby models. "Death Ride" is nice early on in the game to grant the +1" movement to undead models in range so that I can advance so much of my army as deep into the field as possible to take up key positions.

At the same time I added the Shrike to my battlegroup, I added a Bloat Thrall. Again, only 1 play with the model, but it was fun to try to figure out. I knew about "Death Blast", but I lost sight of it as the game was going on. When she shot & killed him, he ended up killing my Soul Trapper who got caught in the corrosion and died in my next Control Phase.

I think in the future, I'd like to waddle him around the outside, using terrain as best as possible to keep him alive long enough to start taking flanking shots at her troops. Also, hoping to get close enough so that when he does die, he's more likely to blow up on her models than on mine.

Other solos that I have, but that aren't built / painted yet:

Warwitch Siren

General Gerlak Slaughterborn

Satyxis Raider Captain

Machine Wraith

Necrotech

Scrap Thrall (x4)

Units

The first unit I had for my Cryx army was actually Mercenaries; namely Cephalyx Mind Slaver & Drudges. To be fair, I didn't give them enough time before shelving them for my Mechanithralls, Stitch Thralls, etc. Looking back, I really wasn't fair to them. I was such a new player that I didn't take advantage of all of their abilities and advantages. 

For instance, I didn't deploy or advance them in a way that made the most out of the Mind Slaver's "Prep For Surgery" ability; which is key to their recursive potential. I also didn't appreciate using "Sac Pawn" & "Stealth" to keep the Mind Slaver safe as they were moving towards engaging in melee; often forgetting that he had those abilities / advantages.

My first "proper" Cryx unit was Mechanithralls. Again, I struggled with them at first, but after a handful of plays, I really feel like I've gotten the hang of how to use them the most efficiently. One of the things that hurt me the most in my first couple games with them is that I didn't realize that you could do Star Attacks / Special Attacks in charges. At MAT 5, they're not really going to have a great chance to hit a lot of the time, but being able to move from P+S 10 to P+S 13 in a charge with their Steamfist Combo Strike can make a big difference when they do connect. Too many times I've either failed to crack armor by just 1 point or failed to destroy a model by just a few points; +3 on a boosted damage roll is nothing to take for granted.

Other than that, I have come to view my Mechanithralls as a bit of a mobile wall. More often than not, they've served me well to stave off Donna's onslaught & tie up her models until my slower, heavier hitters can get into the mix. 

Not long after I added the Mechanithralls, I beefed them up with a Skarlock Commander command attachment & a pair of Brute Thrall Femme Fatale weapon attachments. The Skarlock Commander is nice because he gives the unit Advance Deployment, as well as giving the unit a ranged threat with his "Dark Fire" magic attack.

The Brute Thralls are absolute power houses. The ability to hit a heavy with a P+S 19 attack in a charge is fantastic. I also like to take advantage of their "Shield Guard" ability to keep important nearby models in play.

The next unit I added was my first experience with a true support model / unit: the Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls. Being able to spread the Stitch Thralls out as little satellites to snag corpses & funnel them back to the Necrosurgeon is truly appreciated, as I can benefit from several areas on the battlefield in a 14" range across from one to the other with her in the middle.

I've used her "Necrosurgery" special action a few times to heal Deneghra or another valuable undead model, such as Hellslinger Phantom. That said, her true purpose is to hang out behind the Mechanithralls and use the corpses she gets to bring them back with her "Resurrectionist" special action. Mechanithralls don't hit very hard & they die pretty easily, but being able to bring them back to continue to clog up key charge lanes for enemies can be so frustrating for my opponent. Again, it goes back to using the Mechanithralls as blocking agents & a nussance until my more powerful models can get close enough to lay down some punishment.

Other units that I have, but that aren't built / painted yet:

The Withershadow Combine

Blackbane's Ghost Raiders

Satyxis Raiders

Bloodgorgers + Jussica Bloodtongue

Soulhunters

Closing Thoughts

It's crazy to think of how drastically my feelings about Cryx have changed over the last 7 months. Not only have I fallen in love with the lore & characters, but I've really become engrossed in their play style too. Recognizing which units / models are going to be thrown out in a shambling horde, knowing most will get chopped down, but taking comfort in the knowledge that some will be reanimated and even those that don't will have served a purpose of stalling my enemies until the true terrors of Toruk can get into the battle.

I've come to embrace their play style so strongly that over the last month that I've been playing Skorne, it feels...odd. I've read up quite a bit of Skorne lore and I * am * enjoying it...but it feels like I'm being unfaithful to my first love and I long for the day when I can march into battle with my undead thralls once more.

Now, I do realize that as I get my other warcasters built / painted how I play with them is likely to change, at least a little. This is all the more likely when I consider the different units & solos I still have yet to play with.

That said, I enjoy working for scenario and assassination with them. I realize that as easy as they die, the chances of me winning by attrition are not very high.