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Forces of WARMACHINE: Cryx Command
First printing: December 2016. Printed in China.
Hardcover: 978-1-943693-41-2 Softcover: 978-1-943693-40-5
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CONTENTS Foreword . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Military of the Cryxian Empire. . Theme Force. .
. . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Warcasters of Cryx . .
5 6
17 18
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Captain Aiakos .
22
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
24
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Iron Lich Asphyxious .
34 38
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Goreshade the Bastard & Deathwalker. Goreshade the Cursed .
36
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Deneghra, the Soul Weaver .
. .
40 42
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Goreshade, Lord of Ruin .
44
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Master Necrotech Mortenebra & Deryliss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .
Mortenebra, Numen of Necrogenesis . Lord Exhumator Scaverous .
Sturgis the Corrupted .
Defiler .
Harrower. . Helldiver. . Inflictor.
Barathrum .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
92 94
Kharybdis . Malice.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
100 102
Sepulcher. .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Troops of Cryx . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
104
106
Unit & Solo Model Entries Bile Thralls .
108
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
109
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
52 54
Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls .
56
Soulhunters.
. . . . . . . . . . .
116 118
The Withershadow Combine. . Bloat Thrall. .
62
Iron Lich Overseer .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
121 122
Skarlock Thrall .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Warwitch Siren.
Aiakos, Scourge of the Meredius. .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
74
Bloat Thrall Overseer Mobius .
75
Hellslinger Phantom .
76
Darragh Wrathe. .
77
Wraith Engine .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
80
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
81
Ripjaw. .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
82
. . . . . . .
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125 126 128 130
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
132
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
134
Model Gallery . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Painting Your Army . . Templates . .
123 124
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
73
Reaper .
120
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Necrotech & Scrap Thralls . Pistol Wraith .
119
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
72
79
115
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
58
78
111 114
. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Soul Trapper.
110 112
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
60
68
98
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nightmare. .
Brute Thrall .
64
. . . . . . . . . .
96
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Kraken .
88
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Deathjack. Erebus .
87 90
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Machine Wraith. .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nightwretch .
86
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Leviathan.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Stalker.
Skarlock Commander .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Desecrator.
Slayer .
Mechanithralls .
. . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Deathripper.
85
50
Warjack Model Entries Corruptor .
84
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
46
. . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Witch Coven of Garlghast & Egregore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Warjacks of Cryx. .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shrike.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Lich Lord Venethrax. .
83
Carrion Thralls .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Skarre, Queen of the Broken Coast . Lich Lord Terminus.
30
. . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Wraith Witch Deneghra .
Pirate Queen Skarre .
28
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Asphyxious the Hellbringer & Vociferon . Warwitch Deneghra .
26
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Lich Lord Asphyxious .
Seether. .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cankerworm .
Warcaster Model Entries Bane Witch Agathia.
Scavenger .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
136 147 156
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4
FOREWORD The armies of Cryx spread like a cancer across the nations of western Immoren. Every battle serves only to swell their ranks as necrosurgeons pick the charnel fields clean. These tireless meatsmiths imbue the corpses with fell magic, fit them with cruel mechanika, and instill in them a powerful lust for destruction. From brutally simple yet terrifyingly efficient mechanithralls and carrion thralls to far darker and more sinister undead abominations like the skarlock thralls and murderous pistol wraiths, the undying legions of the dragonfather Toruk need neither rest nor respite. They desire only the screams of the dying and the carnage of war. Alongside these undead soldiers march the nefarious Cryxian warjacks, shadow-forged machines laden with gruesome weaponry and powered by foul necrotite—a substance created from the agonized energies of death itself. Far more savage and cunning than the warjacks of other nations, the bonejacks and helljacks of the Nightmare Empire are unholy demons given form in black metal, their cortexes tailored by Cryxian necrotechs to amplify their predatory, malicious nature. Commanding the black armies of Cryx are its warcasters, masters of necromancy who work tirelessly to spread their master’s dark dominion across the Iron Kingdoms. Each Cryxian warcaster wields the strength of a small army,
whether it be the macabre majesty of Lich Lord Terminus, the withering power of Warwitch Deneghra, or the ritualistic magic of Pirate Queen Skarre. When they lead their unnatural and fearsome warjacks into battle, few mortal foes can hope to stand against them. Within its pages, Forces of WARMACHINE: Cryx Command gives you an extensive look at the background of the Nightmare Empire of Cryx and access to all of its wicked warcasters and death-fueled warjacks, as well as a range of units and solos to support them on the battlefield. This volume also introduces four new servants of the Dragonfather—warcasters Captain Aiakos and Mortenebra, Numen of Necrogenesis; the terrifying character helljack Kharybdis; and the Wraith solo known as the Hellslinger Phantom. Along with the wealth of information about specific models that can form the core of any Cryxian army, this book includes the first new Cryx theme force: Infernal Machines. This theme force allows you to overwhelm your foes in a black-iron tide of bonejacks and helljacks. The unending and utterly loyal masses of undead thralls and necrotite-powered warjacks of Cryx stand ready to snuff out the living at your command. Embrace the shadow, raise the dead, and let the Iron Kingdoms fall by your hand!
5
MILITARY OF THE CRYXIAN EMPIRE CLAWS OF THE DRAGONFATHER
For centuries outsiders have had little awareness of the vast power of the Nightmare Empire of Cryx. To the mainland nations, Cryx seemed a remote and mysterious threat, a haven for criminals and undead horrors, with few witnesses to verify the atrocities ascribed to them. The dragon god Toruk created this empire to serve his needs and spent over a millennium shaping it into a weapon that could extend his reach across the continent. Mainlanders avoided these islands, and they had little contact with Cryxians beyond brutal clashes with raiding pirates and the reaving dead. Survivors spoke of dread vessels that blazed with an unholy and unquenchable fire and of strange soul-burning machines that emerged from the waves to slaughter the unwary before disappearing back into the mists. Only in the last decade have mainlanders come to learn the scope of the armed forces serving the Nightmare Empire. Across western Immoren, armies of the dead emerged to plague the living, having lain in wait just beneath the notice of their many enemies. Only by throwing aside ancient rivalries and working together in 609 AR did the Iron Kingdoms avoid total annihilation under a crushing wave of Cryxian nightmares. Even then, they merely dispersed the forces of Cryx, and Cryxians still lurk in the shadows in countless numbers. Lord Toruk desires only to eradicate his progeny, and the armies of Cryx exist only to serve the Dragonfather. Coastal raids are but deceptions to mask greater troop movements and incursions by which Toruk plants his minions deep within the mainland. Once the nations of mortals have fallen,
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Toruk will drag all other dragons, his spawn, from their hiding places to devour them.
Toruk, the Dragonfather
In Cryx only one master reigns supreme—Lord Toruk, the Dragonfather. An entity both sovereign and divine, he is described by his faithful as the first god of Caen. All who dwell in Cryx do so at Toruk’s sufferance. No entity on Caen is more feared. The Church of Toruk teaches that, long before the Nightmare Empire or the mortal nations came into being, when the world was young and not yet fully formed, Toruk soared alone over a lifeless Caen for an interminable epoch of isolation. Eventually life arose, and Toruk observed teeming hordes of short-lived creatures crawling, swimming, and flying below him. He was seized by the urge to create other dragons, to spawn his own progeny. He did not reproduce the way nature does but rather carved pieces from his otherwise imperishable athanc—the crystalline heart that formed the core of his divinity. Each shard became a dragon. These great beings proved more willful than Toruk had anticipated, however, defying their father and turning upon him. Since that time Toruk has sought to undo his creation by consuming each dragon in turn—a great hunt that has stretched over six millennia. For the immortal lords of Cryx who serve Toruk directly, no other goals take precedence over this pursuit. Toruk created
Lich Lord Divinitus
Infrastructure
Occult Research
Lich Lord Fulmenus
Church of Toruk
Lich Lord Corripio
Necromancy
Archive of Skell
Lich Lord Tenebrous
Lich Lord Angorus
Esoteric Occult Lore
Treasury, Resources
Lich Lord Venethrax
TORUK
Lich Lord Thalassina
Foreign Affairs
Draconic Lore Dragon Hunter Incursion
Lich Lord Scopulous
Lich Lord Malathrax
Cryxian Defenses
Espionage
Mainland Intelligence Networks
Reserve Garrisons
Lich Lord Asphyxious
Lich Lord Terminus
Conquest & Navy
War Industry & Conquest
Invasion Incursion
Necrofactorium Garrisons
Vacant Lich Lord Position (Formerly Morbus)
Cryxian Fleets Skarre Ravenmane, Queen of the Broken Coast
Slaughter Fleet
Black Fleet SHIPS: 75+ Admiral Skarre Ravenmane
Slaughter Army
Bloodgorgers, Black Ogrun General Gerlak Slaughterborn *Korgal defers to Slaughterborn
Flagship Flotilla Ships: 15+
Remaining Black Fleet Ships: 60+
Ghost Fleet
Pirate Fleet
Transport Ships: 25+ *Admiral Korgal the Blacktooth
Ships: 16+ Ghost Fleet operates largely autonomously
Ships: 550+ Admiral Axiara Wraithblade
Axiara�s Raiders SHIPS: 25+ Admiral Axiara Wraithblade
Bloated Bilge TREASURE GALLEON Revenants Captain Wineblood
Pirates & Smugglers SHIPS: 525+ Includes many smaller vessels and prize ships
Plunder FRIGATE Revenants Captain Galloway
Dirge FAST FRIGATE Revenants Captain Magrott
Atramentous ANCIENT DIRGENMAST Captain Rengrave, First Citizen of Cryx
Death Knell FAST FRIGATE Revenants Captain Farwain
The four cinder ships most commonly seen with the Atramentous
Raider Wing
Escort Wing SHIPS: 5+ Fleet Captain Kelvexis Darkreef
TRANSPORT SHIPS: 4+ Fleet Captain Tryme Selvixen
Widower BLACKSHIP Satyxis, Thralls, Wraiths Queen Skarre Ravenmane
Ill Tidings BLACKSHIP Satyxis Captain Velmexria Dawnblood
Flagships
Blood Tempest BLACKSHIP Satyxis Captain Xysa Shoalbreaker
Maledictor BLACKSHIP Black Ogrun/Loaned Revenant Crew Captain Jorvak Earcutter
Branding Iron BLACKSHIP Warjacks, Necrotechs Captain Vemolluc
Exhumation BLACKSHIP Necrosurgeons, Thralls Captain Anathius (skarlock)
the Nightmare Empire of Cryx sixteen centuries ago after an alliance of the dragons drove him from the mainland, and he dedicated the ever-expanding and evolving armies of Cryx to eventually restoring his athanc to wholeness through the annihilation of these dragons. No simple task, this ultimate goal required innumerable bloody clashes with the mainland nations and other rival powers. Toruk is a font of seemingly limitless power, the blackened heart of an empire built on necromantic principles deriving from his supremely potent blight. This radiant energy seeps from his athanc and spreads out across hundreds of miles, affecting all it touches. It is by Toruk’s blight that the dead are made to rise again and the chosen servants of Toruk receive unparalleled occult power and become immortal, freed from the clutches of the lesser gods, most of whom have been banished to Urcaen, no longer able to manifest on Caen. Toruk’s mind is vast and alien, occupied with higher matters beyond mortal reckoning. He takes no interest in the countless quotidian tasks required for the smooth running of his empire. Such minutiae he leaves to the twelve lich lords created to lead in his stead, each responsible for their individual dominions. They in turn delegate tasks to their own chosen lieutenants, many of them iron liches, wraiths, or other self-willed undead. Due to his imperishable nature, Toruk’s concept of time is quite unlike that of mortals, and his plans sometimes unfold on a protracted timeline. In 609 AR, escalating battles among competing powers distracted the dragons from their vigil against their father and culminated in a clash in the skies over the Wyrmwall Mountains. Toruk took wing for the first time in centuries, seeing an opportunity to recover what he had lost. The Dragonfather succeeded in feasting on the athanc of the dragon Charsaug and wounded most of the others before each side retreated. Toruk did not emerge unscathed from this battle of immortals and withdrew to Skell to recuperate and plot his next move. The lich lords are under considerable pressure to secure another great victory as soon as possible. These undead lords fear that Toruk’s festering wounds have left the empire vulnerable, though none dare speak such blasphemies aloud.
Toruk’s Citadel & the Black Temple The Dragonfather dwells in a great citadel ornamented with metal spires resembling grasping claws, attended by his priests and the lich lords. Beneath the citadel lies the Black Temple, the center of Toruk’s worship, where his undead clergy gather at the direction of Lich Lord Divinitus to chant obeisance to the God of Caen. Mainland faiths do not accept Toruk’s claim of primacy or divinity, but it remains an unquestioned fact in the island empire. To suggest otherwise is to invite retaliation by the merciless blighted priests of the Church of Toruk.
8
MILITARY OF THE CRYXIAN EMPIRE
The greatest of Toruk’s clergy are undead, but the largest number are still alive, though horribly rotted from intense blight. Their flesh undergoes a perpetual cycle of decay, rot, and regeneration, sprouting disfiguring cancerous deformities. The clergy of the Black Temple pays occasional visits to every community in Cryx, where they serve as the eyes and ears of Divinitus, enforcing orthodoxy and rooting out those who speak ill of the Dragonfather. They also ensure Cryxian funeral services harvest useful souls and cadavers for use as raw materials in the necrofactoriums of Skell. Such corpses are sometimes referred to as the tithe of the Black Temple. All priests periodically return to the Black Temple, which contains the strongest concentration of dragon blight on Caen. There, the priesthood receives a special communion—a solution containing drops of Toruk’s own blood—which causes their flesh to fester and distort. Priests consider this affliction a blessing and savor the revulsion their horrific state evokes in those brought before them. The aura of their blight is strong enough to kill mortals brought in close proximity for extended exposure. All living priests consider their exalted waning a necessary step before the immortal undeath the worthy receive as a reward for faithful service. Shortly before death they are taught Tkra, the sacred language of Lord Toruk and a tongue almost unknown except among the dragons. Most priests dwell within the Cryxian empire, but some have ventured to the mainland to establish small, covert cults to spread the word of the Dragonfather. They periodically return for their sacred communion or have the blessed liquid smuggled to them. Lich Lord Divinitus considers the few cults of Toruk in the Iron Kingdoms an experiment: they might help prepare the way for the acceptance of Toruk’s inevitable victory over all life, but even if not, they provide a convenient source of cadavers and information.
The Lich Lords of Cryx
The lich lords are powerful immortal undead generals who weave cunning strategies that span centuries, of a scope inconceivable to mortal minds. These liches were created to do the bidding of Lord Toruk, the Dragonfather, though they are often preoccupied with their own agendas. So long as the empire and its armies answer to his will, the Dragonfather affords them considerable latitude. Toruk personally selected each of these lich lords to command his armies and govern aspects of his empire, but he shows no interest in scrutinizing their deeds. Some have held dominion for centuries, others for more than a millennium, though the significant turmoil of the last several years led to the loss of two and the replacement of one. At present only eleven of the twelve seats are filled. The origins of the first lich lords can be traced back to the ancient pirate kings, fourteen in number, who ruled the old Scharde Islands before Toruk’s arrival, squabbling over their island domains. These proud kings initially refused Toruk
when he demanded their obedience, and so the Dragonfather orchestrated a demonstration of his power. Toruk chose the notorious pirate Captain Rengrave of the Atramentous as his emissary. Toruk’s fiery breath transformed Rengrave and his crew into revenants, indestructible specters that dwelled aboard the blackened ship they crewed in life. Toruk sent Captain Rengrave against the pirate kings of the Scharde Islands, whose gathered warriors he slaughtered to show the consequences of defying the dragon.
twelve remain. Some have fallen to outside forces, while others have succumbed to scheming subordinates, their mantles taken up by those who engineered their downfall. Such calculated betrayal is routine in Cryx, where only those brilliant and strong enough to retain their positions survive. Toruk’s commandments, however, forbid the lich lords from openly warring with one another as the pirate kings once did, as direct strife would interfere with the great work of finding and delivering up his progeny.
Two of the original fourteen kings remained defiant: King Threnodax, whom Captain Rengrave had served as a vassal in life, and King Moorcraig, who fled to his castle thinking he could defend himself from the Dragonfather. Both were soon annihilated and their souls subjected to endless torment, while the twelve who bowed to Toruk and surrendered had their mortal forms shattered and remade by the Dragonfather. They were rewarded with immortality as liches, bound to serve as the overlords of Toruk’s new empire.
Within the last thirty years, the Dragonfather’s schemes reached a critical point, and Cryxian forces began to swarm the mainland in unprecedented concentrations. These armies, called incursions, were once the responsibility of Lich Lords Daeamortus and Terminus, who orchestrated their efforts from a distance, remaining with the fleets. What mainlanders refer to as the “Scharde Invasions” of 584–588 AR was planned by these two lich lords as a series of attacks on enemy shores to disguise the movement of incursions into the interior.
The domains of the lich lords have evolved over time. Even as Toruk spread his blight across the islands, his new generals and acolytes set about transforming this scattered land of fourteen petty fiefdoms into a single kingdom sworn to their dragon god. The last sixteen centuries have taken their toll upon the lich lords; fewer than half the original
Both Terminus and Daeamortus relied heavily upon powerful vassals such as subordinate iron liches to direct the clandestine movement of troops. The eldest and most successful of these was Asphyxious. This powerful figure was effectively considered by many in Cryx a thirteenth lich lord. After his triumph over Daeamortus, Asphyxious replaced his old
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master and became the equal of Lich Lord Terminus. Both are now permanently positioned together with their incursion forces to advance Cryxian interests. Venethrax, the lich lord charged with acquiring draconic lore and the undisputed authority on Toruk’s children and draconic blight, has also taken a more active role directing mainland operations related to finding and securing other dragons for Toruk. His investigations would ultimately lead to Toruk’s clash with his progeny over the Wyrmwall Mountains. These three lich lords are presently the commanding generals of the Dragon Lord’s armies conducting operations against the continent. A fourth military leader, Lich Lord Scopulous, commands the Cryxian army kept in reserve. He supports the incursions on the mainland with his sizable stockpile of thralls, weapons, and necrotite. Scopulous also controls the Nightmare Empire’s garrisons and fortresses and ensures their readiness against counterattack, such as when the Cygnarans retaliated in the aftermath of the Scharde Invasions. He coordinates his efforts with those of Terminus’ fleets to guarantee that a steady stream of reinforcements reaches the mainland. Asphyxious’ measures to construct mainland production facilities have mitigated the urgency of this resupply. It has been four centuries since the armies of Cryx last marched to war at full strength. They mustered against the Orgoth in the invaders’ final bastion of Drer Drakkerung on Garlghast Island. At the height of the conflict, Orgoth warwitches obliterated the city. The conflagration destroyed three of the lich lords and reduced two others, Tenebrous and Fulmenus, to spectral shadows. Though their physical potency was diminished, their new state heightened their ability to perceive and manipulate necromantic powers, and they now serve as the Dragonfather’s reigning experts on occult lore and esoteric experiments. As Orgoth secrets became part of Cryxian occult knowledge, Toruk elevated new lich lords to replace the fallen: Terminus, Thalassina, and Angorus. Thalassina was tasked with steering matters regarding the human kingdoms and other potential rival powers, to complement Malathrax’s intelligence gathering. Few mortals could fathom the full extent of their sway when these lich lords work in tandem; their prescient and subtle scheming has made them two of the most influential beings in western Immoren. Toruk’s draconic mind has difficulty distinguishing the petty lives of mortal rulers, given that they die and are replaced so frequently, and he therefore relies heavily upon Malathrax, Thalassina, and the agents who report to them. Of the lich lords residing in Skell, Angorus and Divinitus oversee the treasury and Toruk’s cult, respectively, and rarely leave that city. Angorus’ agents collect tithes taken from the pirate fleet and the mortal inhabitants of Cryx, and he oversees the tabulation of other significant resources,
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such as accumulated necrotite. Divinitus spends more time in Toruk’s presence than perhaps any other lord, directing the Dragonfather’s enigmatic priesthood. Lich Lord Corripio controls the Archive of Skell, a library of inestimable worth that includes a treasure trove of stolen and accumulated lore, including many tomes thought lost forever by those on the mainland. What the archive contains on the Orgoth in particular is beyond compare. It also preserves voluminous documents transcribing discoveries and insights arising from the work of other lich lords, such as Fulmenus, Tenebrous, and Venethrax. Corripio’s peers must stay in his good graces if they desire access to this information. Lich Lord Malathrax has been notably reticent to contribute to the archives, hoarding his gathered intelligence and doling it out frugally. Until recently Cryxian military production was overseen by one of the original lich lords, Morbus. He went to the mainland in 608 AR to take control of the vast necrofactoriums established by Asphyxious and to ensure that Venethrax received what he needed for vital missions to come. However, Morbus was destroyed by the Cygnaran Army in an ambush under what many lich lords considered questionable circumstances; Terminus suspected Asphyxious’ involvement but failed to prove he took part in any conspiracy. There have been twelve lich lords since the founding of Cryx, and all in the upper echelons await Toruk’s announcement of a replacement, though no one knows whom he will select for the twelfth seat. As yet no great undead lord has been singled out by the Dragonfather for elevation to the position. In the meantime, Asphyxious has assumed responsibility for Morbus’ domain, though some of the necrofactoriums in Skell have been co-opted by Lich Lord Scopulous to better consolidate the strength of his reserve army.
Hierarchy of the Dead
The hierarchy of Cryx is a simple pyramid with Lord Toruk at its apex. Below Toruk are the lich lords, each a relative monarch with near-absolute authority over his or her respective domain. Mighty as they are, all are terrified of the Dragonfather. Serving the lich lords in vital capacities are powerful field commanders and overseers, as varied as they are resourceful: iron liches, necromancers, elder wraiths, and other, stranger vassals. The individuals at this level enjoy tremendous latitude, and many put into motion complicated schemes to advance their own ambitions. The most effective and ruthless of undead have sometimes risen to become lich lords themselves, a common aspiration for many of Cryx’s subordinate leaders. Lich lords are ever watchful of their underlings, knowing inattention can all too quickly lead to their own displacement. All leadership in Cryx is rooted in the skillful application of intimidation, violence, and fear.
Warcasters of Cryx, both living and undead, invariably achieve special prominence by virtue of their invaluable talents as battlefield leaders. They transcend the ordinary limits of station to command larger forces commensurate to their strength and cunning. Their stature can sometimes make them willful and unpredictable; however, their superiors rarely seek to quash this spark entirely, for it is also vital to their battlefield success. The other most influential vassals are those warlords who have risen through the ranks by their wits, prowess, and personal power. Some, like the trollkin warlord Gerlak Slaughterborn, the human necromancer Darragh Wrathe, or the Satyxis pirates Skarre Ravenmane and Axiara Wraithblade, are living champions who have proven themselves in countless conflicts. Others, like Bane Lord Tartarus and Captain Rengrave of the Atramentous, are particularly powerful souls bound into eternal service who use their unique abilities to command specific undead forces. Although the vast majority of Cryxian forces consists of thralls and necromechanikal horrors, the nation also fields a host of fearsome living soldiers. Only two groups of mortals are accorded any real respect by their undead masters: the Satyxis and the warwitches. The Satyxis were blighted a millennium ago by the blood of the dragon Shazkz, which rained down on their island while Lord Toruk consumed its athanc. The people of Satyx were already immersed in a culture of sacrifice and blood ritual when the blight fell upon them. The men withered away
but the women were transformed, their minds embracing an even greater cruelty. When the Dragonfather appeared to the survivors, their queen immediately prostrated herself before their new god. The Satyxis have since served Toruk as consummate reaver witches and raiders. The Orgoth annihilated themselves when Toruk’s armies marched upon the city of Drer Drakkerung, but not as completely as they had hoped: a handful of warwitches survived and were captured. Given the choice of cooperating or having their secrets ripped from their bones, the survivors shared their occult tradition with Cryx. Within a few centuries what little remained of Orgoth culture had been subsumed by Cryx, and this new warwitch tradition has produced some of the most powerful mortals ever to serve the Nightmare Empire.
Necro-Industry
Early in the empire’s history it was left to the lich lords to derive occult methods from Toruk’s example, making use of the animated dead drawn from the withered mortal communities scattered around the islands. Before long they managed to create a great horde of thrall slaves and a smaller number of more cunning lieutenants. These simple undead built the great city of Skell and the black palace where Toruk chose to dwell and receive worship. In short order the lich lords extended their awareness to the mainland. Planting agents among humanity, they watched as the Thousand Cities feuded, noting every innovation in the MILITARY OF THE CRYXIAN EMPIRE
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arts of murder and warfare. Rather than reverse engineer the inventions of mortal genius, Cryxian agents pillaged the graves of humanity’s greatest thinkers and stripped the secrets from their bones through forensic necromancy. These necromancers excelled at uncovering lore and applying the research to their own nightmarish creations. The arrival of the Orgoth on their terrifying blackships— among the very few mortal affairs ever to capture Toruk’s interest—forestalled the long-planned Cryxian invasion of the mainland. The Orgoth possessed a unique necromantic tradition as well as a vast wealth of powerful relics and unfamiliar lore, and they went about subduing the mainland population with inhuman savagery. Although Toruk himself laid waste to their fleets when they foolishly approached Cryx’s main island, the Dragonfather allowed them to claim the island of Garlghast, where his agents could easily observe them. The Orgoth crushed the people of western Immoren beneath their tyranny over the next several centuries, but eventually the oppressed rose up against them. A turning point came when the goddess Thamar granted humanity the gift of magic. Soon the Immorese merged their newfound arcane skills with technology to create the first mechanikal devices. The Cryxians were immediately fascinated by these machines and envisioned necromantic equivalents. They plundered the bones of countless arcanists and set about incorporating mechanikal knowledge into their own morbid industries, crafting a new and unique necrotechnological tradition. They readily mastered techniques to augment their thralls with crude steam engines, and a new era was born. Cryx took note of every weapon the Immorese and the Orgoth employed in their struggles for dominance. When the Iron Alliance constructed the first colossals during the Rebellion, Cryx wasted no time in stealing the secrets of the cerebral matrix, the massive arcane device that served as the cortex of the titanic constructs.
The Incursion Armies
Over the last twenty years, Cryxian incursion forces have successfully penetrated the mainland and established secret bases in a number of remote wilderness locations, most significantly Cygnar’s Wyrmwall Mountains and Khador’s Thornwood Forest, though operations in the latter have ceased in recent years. Underground tunnels, whether naturally occurring or painstakingly excavated, are the favored sites. With these bases, Cryx has begun to establish the infrastructure for unlimited necromechanikal fabrication—an essential part of their insidious campaigns.
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Cryx has located most such facilities near places of slaughter, where necrotite can be mined to fuel their war industry. Hidden mining rigs often accompany the necrofactoriums. Most materials for crafting thralls are stolen from forgotten graves and fresh battlefields. Cryxians use the ancient dead to produce banes or skarlocks, while fresher corpses are reanimated as bile thralls or mechanithralls. Few major engagements between the Iron Kingdoms go unnoticed by Cryxian agents. They descend upon battlefields like carrion birds, stripping the carnage of corpses, mechanika, and any other potentially useful salvage. Cryx’s spy network includes contacts in the governments of all the mainland nations. Many informants do not truly grasp the implications of their dealings, willfully ignorant of their patrons’ aims and focused only on the wealth they earn by furnishing seemingly trivial information. In the aggregate, this data allows Cryx to follow troop movements and subtly push for battles to occur in places convenient to the Nightmare Empire. Other undead minions scour the continent for lost artifacts and lore—or Toruk’s hated spawn. In some cases these subordinates remain unsupervised for years, to be collected later when they uncover some obscure object or useful intelligence. All these assets work to extend Cryx’s hold on the mainland. Several necrofactoriums within the Wyrmwall now comprise the production center for the mainland war effort, with minor operations scattered in isolated places such as the Vescheneg Headlands and Vilkhan Bluffs of Khador. Previously the largest portion of Cryxian industry on the mainland was situated beneath Thornwood Forest, but the unlikely alliance between the nations of Khador and Cygnar forced Cryx to relocate most of these facilities elsewhere. The recovery of resources lost at the Thornwood facility was swift by Cryxian standards, and remaining necrofactoriums continue to bolster the Nightmare Empire’s strength. While Asphyxious controls this network of facilities, Master Necrotech Mortenebra oversees certain operational details. Her flawless machine logic has already exponentially increased production in these necrofactoriums, which are equal parts factory and surgical theater. Vast numbers of specially crafted thralls and necrotechs endlessly assemble new thralls and helljacks as the roar of unwholesome machinery eclipses the screams of living victims. Mortals dragged into this abyss for vivisection spend their last moments breathing a nauseating miasma of smoke, poison, and vaporized blood, all the while lit by the green flames of necrotite-powered forges. In shockingly few years, Cryx has insinuated a horrific new tendril of their empire into the heart of western Immoren. While the mortal nations squabble over their borders, Cryx quietly spreads like a cancer just beneath the surface.
Cryxian Fleets
The fleets of the Cryxian navy have served as the face of the Nightmare Empire since it was founded. With an extensive but disparate armada arising from several distinct Scharde Island pirate forces, Cryx controls one of the premier naval powers of western Immoren. For centuries, Lich Lord Terminus has had oversight of the Cryxian fleets. Since taking charge of an incursion army, however, he has entrusted operational command to Skarre Ravenmane, recognizing her leadership, her skill as a warcaster, and her unwavering loyalty to the Dragonfather. She unleashed the full fury of Cryx’s naval power upon the western seaboard, battering its ports with a punishing frequency not seen since the Scharde Invasions during Vinter Raelthorne’s rule. These attacks have ranged north to Khador’s farthest frozen ports and intruded across the heavily patrolled Gulf of Cygnar down to the shores of the Protectorate of Menoth. The fleets include vessels capable of penetrating the major river arteries of Immoren in support of the incursion armies. The dark iron heart of the Cryxian navy is the dreaded Black Fleet. The mere sight of one of the blackships is regarded as a sign of imminent and certain doom. The Cryxians bring their own weather, with eerie winds to fill their sails and chilling fogs to conceal their approach. Derived from closely guarded
secrets ripped from the Orgoth, these ships easily rival the most powerful vessels of the mortal navies; only modern ironhulls can stand against them one on one. Blackships are constructed in Dreggsmouth under the supervision of Master Shipwright Kress Soratt, who answers to Lord Captain Derevnia Vrace, master of Dreggsmouth and former vassal of Lich Lord Morbus. The lord captain presently serves Lich Lord Terminus, who laid the foundation for the original fleet. Skarre leads this fleet directly, alongside the notable captains of the other flagships that form her immediate escort. Satyxis make up a larger proportion of blackship crews, officers, and captains than they do in the other fleets. In addition to being among the most formidable warships ever created, blackships have the capacity to carry large numbers of soldiers, helljacks, and other supplies to support invasion forces. The Black Fleet has rarely been released in full force, and mainland admirals often underestimate its size. They view Cryx’s nautical strength through the skewed lens of encounters with the chaotic and less formidable mortal pirate fleet. The Ghost Fleet, the smallest of the Cryxian fleets, is not quite as fast or deadly as the blackships, but its frigates and its few larger ships have their own advantages: they are pushed by phantom winds, regenerate from damage sustained with unnatural alacrity, and are crewed by seemingly indestructible spirits rather than living men. All but the most
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powerful mortal fleets retreat at the first sight of one of these ghastly vessels looming ahead, green flames flickering along its decks, rigging, and crew. The Ghost Fleet’s crews fear and respect Captain Rengrave, who changed many of them into revenants and built up the spectral flotilla. Rengrave has the distinction of being Toruk’s first vassal and Cryx’s first citizen, and his flagship Atramentous is the most ancient ship sailing the Meredius—an enormous blackened galleon that was once a Tordoran dirgenmast funeral vessel. To be boarded by her revenants is to face eternal torment, and many sailors choose to end their lives rather than endure that terrible fate. Though Rengrave is the first and most formidable entity in this fleet, each ship obeys its own captain, and coordinated efforts between them are infrequent.
Masters & Servants
Cryx’s mortal pirate fleet is the largest but least ordered of its armadas, a diverse group mostly made up of sailing vessels liberated from other nations. Indeed, this fleet operates more as a loose collective of flotillas than as a single cohesive group. These vessels include the largest number of living crewmen, primarily human Scharde Islanders, but they also employ trollkin, ogrun, and Satyxis. The largest population of Satyxis is concentrated on the elite vessels called Axiara’s Raiders, led by Axiara Wraithblade, who has been delegated oversight of the entire pirate fleet. Axiara has the direct ear of Skarre Ravenmane, and the other commanders obey her accordingly, if not always swiftly or predictably.
Necrotechs
In addition to mounting chaotic attacks on mainland shipping for plunder, the pirate fleet has long been involved in the smuggling trade—the only true commerce between Cryx and the mainland. Their ability to find even marginal welcome at smugglers’ ports and seedy pirate dens has made them a valued asset for Cryxian intelligence. Though used primarily for support and diversion, this fleet stands ready to answer the call to action. Because its numerous vessels are crewed by willful, bloodthirsty scoundrels of volatile temperament, the pirate fleet has historically proven difficult to control and coordinate. Recent efforts by Axiara, on Skarre’s orders, have helped to bring these captains more in line and ensure their obedience. Satyxis blood witches have learned that they may do as they please—until Axiara or Skarre calls upon them. Cryx otherwise deploys these ships to distract naval forces while the Black Fleet or Ghost Fleet engages higher-priority targets. Though the various Cryxian fleets are made up of disparate and sometimes mutually hostile crews, they come together for raids against key targets. The terrifying entities that crew these vessels are accompanied by amphibious helljacks such as the Leviathan and Harrower. Dropped into the water before the ships land, these fearsome machines rise from the depths to terrorize coastal defenders. Raiding tactics usually involve routing panicked enemies through sheer press of numbers.
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The upper echelons of the Cryxian hierarchy are populated primarily by powerful undead necromancers skilled in the use of necromechanika, most prominently the ancient iron liches, dozens of which serve the individual lich lords. Under their command are all manner of horrors, both living and undead, for the soldiers of the Nightmare Empire of Cryx come in many forms. Some are brought into the fold after their death or are captured and bound to a life of servitude. Others are lured by the promise of power and wealth as merciless pirates. The service of these lesser beings is often short and violent. After the end of their mortal lives, their remains are recycled as the crude material of necromechanikal constructs.
Using a combination of necromancy and mechanikal ingenuity, the necrotechs of Cryx are responsible for creating and maintaining the undead forces that serve the Nightmare Empire. These mad savants shape creations that fit their twisted visions of perfection, and they replace their own flesh with an array of customized mechanikal limbs. Necrotechs are at the heart of much of Cryx’s industry, overseeing the operation of the Dragonfather’s many necrofactoriums both on the Scharde Islands and on the mainland. Their efforts supply the lich lords with an endless stream of war materials. They scour the battlefields for choice specimens to use in their experiments, and from the dead craft a wide array of reanimated horrors with which to fight the living. Given enough time and access to proper tools, necrotechs can produce helljacks and other machines of war from necrotite, steel, bone, and flesh.
Thralls Thralls are corpses reanimated through the power of complex runes carved into their flesh. Forming the backbone of the armies of Cryx, these risen dead are the most numerous of all Lord Toruk’s soldiers. The corpses used in the creation of thralls are obtained through a variety of means, most often scavenged from the battlefield or purchased through Cryx’s slave trade. Thralls vary in both intelligence and strength depending on the quality of the corpse and the power of the runes carved into their flesh. The simplest of these undead creations are mindless rabble intent on rushing across the battlefield to tear opponents limb from limb without regard for their own survival. Many of these troops are augmented by necrotechs to make use of mechanical components such as massive, steam-powered fists or sludge cannons. Other more advanced thralls possess a cold and cunning intelligence, allowing them to act in their master’s stead and even develop their own personalities. Regardless of intelligence, though, all thralls are utterly beholden to their master and devoid of true free will.
Revenants, Wraiths & Banes Not all the undead soldiers serving the Nightmare Empire are mindless or completely enslaved to the wishes of others. A number of these beings arise from souls bound to Caen by dark rituals and transformed into entities filled with an intrinsic animosity for the living. All of these undead retain intelligence and will, but their psyches are often shattered, retaining only glimmers of past memories now filtered through their new unnatural state of mind. These accursed warriors have no choice but to submit to the Dragonfather and his lich lords. Revenants and specters of various types play significant roles in different areas of the Cryxian forces. Bound to specific ships to become their eternal crews, revenants make up the majority of the Ghost Fleet. A number of wraiths also haunt Cryx, some fused with necrotech and put to specialized uses, or driven to kill by the violence of their own deaths. Lastly there are the formidable banes, whose fabrication resembles that employed with thralls but requires the careful preparation of especially potent corpses: the remnants of ancient warriors are used to house maddened spirits torn from an otherworldly void between Caen and Urcaen. These enigmatic warriors often serve as heavy infantry or cavalry.
Satyxis The Satyxis were once an isolated warrior race living on the lonely, fog-shrouded isle of Satyx. It wasn’t until the dragon Shazkz clashed with Toruk in the skies above their island that the Satyxis were transformed into their current blighttwisted forms. The women survived, but all the males of their tribes became monstrous creatures and perished, even the children. The Satyxis have found a valued place in the Cryxian navy, both serving as leaders of the lesser pirate fleet and making up a large portion of the crews in the infamous Black Fleet. Many are versed in blood magic and are formidable combatants by nature. Whether wielding modern firearms or their bladed lacerator whips, Satyxis warriors outmatch most opponents in speed, precision, and ferocity. Their cold disposition is well known among any who sail the Meredius, as is their complete disregard for the lives of others.
Scharde Pirates & Black Ogrun Whereas the pirates of the northern seas may demand their targets surrender or negotiate terms such as the relinquishment of cargo, the pirates of the Scharde Islands know no such niceties. Scharde fleets fire upon ships without warning, and once the pirates board, they either slaughter the entire crew or force them into chains. These boarding parties are merciless, swinging their crude axes and machetes like madmen amid deranged howls and war cries.
Those taken aboard Scharde slave ships are destined for a fate worse than death: either they will suffer as galley slaves or, after being sold in Blackwater’s markets, they will be put to slave labor or dissected by the necrosurgeons of the Nightmare Empire. The Scharde pirates have no sense of morality to which captives can appeal, and any who make trouble are summarily executed, as their abductors know the corpse still holds value. The crews of Cryxian pirate vessels are diverse, and black ogrun are sometimes employed as boarding crew. Valued for their formidable size and ruthlessness in combat, these ogrun tend to serve the more powerful pirate captains, particularly those engaged in the slave trade. Upon boarding a targeted vessel, black ogrun unleash their rage and bloodlust upon any within reach, killing those unfit for heavy labor and dragging the rest off for a lifetime of servitude in Cryx’s foundries.
Blighted Trollkin After the fall of the Molgur, many trollkin kriels settled in the Scharde Islands, especially Blackrock. Close enough to be affected by Toruk’s potent blight, these trollkin have had their flesh and minds twisted irrevocably, becoming quite different from their distant mainland cousins. They developed an insatiable taste for flesh and eagerly participate in the Nightmare Empire’s conflicts. The island kriels feud among themselves but have been forcibly united under the leadership of General Gerlak Slaughterborn. Following Slaughterborn’s commands, the blighted trollkin of Cryx have participated in some of the bloodiest missions imaginable, often undertaking assignments with minimal chance for survival. On the battlefield, these trollkin massacre any in their path, pausing only to feast on the dead.
The Cephalyx Lich Lord Thalassina is credited with urging Asphyxious to reach out to the enigmatic cephalyx, believing they could forge a mutually beneficial pact. That Asphyxious managed to strike a deal with this little-known race is significant, as the cephalyx had never before deigned to communicate with other species and appear emotionless even when compared to the undead. Asphyxious bargained for their services in mortal lives; thus, cephalyx accompanying Cryxian forces into battle often claim a portion of enemy survivors and surgically alter them to create warrior drudges and massive hulking monstrosities. The Cryxians and the cephalyx have crafted shared facilities for their use amid the tunnels beneath Immoren. Caves excavated by the cephalyx connect ancient burial sites to sunken portions of the lost empire of Morrdh, and this network provides a covert means by which Cryxian forces move about the mainland undetected.
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CRYX THEME FORCE
INFERNAL MACHINES The true might of the Nightmare Empire lies in its endless tide of undead thralls and the power of its helljacks. Cryxian forces overwhelm their opponents and bury the living in a swarm of reanimated soldiers. It is in the midst of these shambling masses that Cryx delivers its formidable helljacks, shielded by a wall of flesh and repurposed steel. Such tactics are most effective at eliminating durable targets concealed deep within the enemy’s ranks while burying lesser armies under the weight of numbers.
ARMY COMPOSITION An army made using this theme force can include only the following Cryx models: • Cryx warcasters
• Warwitch models/units
• Non-character warjacks
• Necrotech solos
• Deathjack
• Wraith solos
• Malice
• Solos with the Battlegroup Controller ability
• Iron Lich models/units • Thrall models/units
• Darragh Wrathe
SPECIAL RULES • For every full 20 points of Thrall models/units in this army, you can add one command attachment, non-character solo, or Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls unit to the army free of cost. Free models/units do not count toward the total point value of Thrall models/units in the army when calculating this bonus. • Warjacks in the army gain Hyper-Aggressive. (When a model with Hyper-Aggressive suffers damage from an enemy attack at any time except while it is advancing, after the attack is resolved it can immediately make a full advance directly toward the attacking model.) • One Mechanithrall unit in this army gains Ambush. (You can choose not to deploy a unit with Ambush at the start of the game. If it is not deployed normally, you can put it into play at the end of any of your Control Phases after your first turn. When you do, choose any table edge except the back of your opponent’s deployment zone. Place the unit with Ambush completely within 3˝ of the chosen table edge.)
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WARCASTERS OF CRYX
The warcasters of Cryx are the Nightmare Empire’s most potent military assets, valued not only for their ability to master vicious Cryxian warjacks but also for their vast and dark occult powers. Among Cryx’s warcasters are some of the mightiest arcanists in all of western Immoren, several of whom bring over a thousand years of battlefield experience, twisted scheming, and cunning adaptability to their service for the Dragonfather.
Necromantic Mastery
The dark islands of Cryx are home to numerous profane and shadowy arcane arts. The Nightmare Empire has assimilated the blasphemous knowledge of the Orgoth conquerors, embraced the blood magic of the Satyxis, and perfected the art of necromancy, giving the Dragonfather’s warcasters diverse magical traditions upon which they can draw. The origins of necromancy as an occult art run deep, rooted in the primal power found in the divide between life and death. It is considered the oldest of arcane practices, the only systematic magical art that predates the Gift of Magic on Immoren. The Lords of Morrdh were practicing simple but effective necromancy even in ancient times. They had learned that corpses contained echoes of behaviors and patterns left over from life and that these echoes could be strengthened and rewritten by the application of runic glyphs to create powerful and versatile undead servants, including those capable of limited reasoning while remaining bound to their makers. Countless divergent necromantic practices and traditions evolved over the centuries, each with its own
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secrets and profane lore. In Cryx, all of these rites and stores of knowledge are deemed worthy of study. The Archives of Skell and the libraries of the lich lords surpass any similar repositories on the mainland. Only a handful of beings can claim any sort of comprehensive mastery of this lore—among them Lich Lords Tenebrous, Fulmenus, Corripio, and Asphyxious. Most Cryxian necromancers utilize only a small portion of this knowledge. They focus on pragmatic rites to animate dead bodies and to seize and capture souls, and they favor spells that can invoke destructive or debilitating effects on the battlefield. Toruk transcends all other entities in the scope and breadth of his necromantic power. Necromancy may be intrinsic to Toruk’s being, tied to the endless blighted energy pouring from his athanc. Even as blight harms and transforms living tissue, necromancy brings animation and a semblance of life and strength even to the dead following similar principles. The Dragonfather seems to know no limits in his use of necromantic power, and it is in this arena that his claims to godhood are most clearly vindicated. Simply by breathing balefire over the sailors of the Atramentous, he gifted undeath unto the Ghost Fleet, a mighty flotilla crewed by immortal and nearly invincible revenants. Among Toruk’s first creations were the hellwrought iron and bone bodies of the first lich lords, who now serve him as administrators of the Nightmare Empire. Each of these beings has inherited formidable necromantic capabilities. Yet, though Toruk awakened the lich lords’ magical potential, the
Dragonfather’s powers remain his own and are not shared by these lesser minions, who must find other ways to shape necromantic energies. For this reason the liches of Cryx have spent many lifetimes gathering every scrap of occult lore they can find, accumulated through their own research, experimentation, or outright theft. The Orgoth served as a significant resource to the Cryxian arcane arts, though the lich lords vastly improved and expanded upon what the conquerors knew. The most vital lore taken from them involved the capture, transfer, and harnessing of souls after death. The soul cages employed by many beings in Cryx were derived after plundering and replicating countless Orgoth artifacts, and they are now commonly used to augment and empower the spells available to a necromancer. Each soul contains considerable residual energy, and tapping into this source allows Cryxian necromancers to exceed their natural limits, at the modest cost of tormenting the souls so employed. Similar Orgoth principles lie behind a great deal of Cryx’s necromechanika, though the lich lords and necrotechs have taken them far beyond their origins. The Orgoth also pioneered the warwitch tradition, which the masters of Cryx inherited and have since adapted for their own use. Mighty natural-born sorcerers, warwitches were enslaved
and bound to serve Orgoth generals as versatile assassins. While warwitches practice necromancy, their diverse arcane arts encompass both puissant offensive battlefield magic and subtler spells allowing them to peer into and control the minds of others. This art is best refined through living practitioners, as it relies to some degree on emotions and bodily systems inherent to mortal flesh, though experienced warwitches retain their magical abilities into undeath. Another occult tradition practiced exclusively in Cryx is the blood magic of the Satyxis, though mainland groups such as the Tharn work similar sorcery. The Satyxis have long been versed in the power connected to blood as the essence of living vitality. This cruel people knows of a wide variety of bloodletting and sacrificial rites, practiced skillfully by both younger sea witches and the elder blood hags. Some among these practitioners can harness sacrificial blood to perform auguries, perceiving the strands of fate reflecting the decisions of those around them. Such primal blood magic is deemed by the other arcane practitioners of Cryx to be an art related but inferior to necromancy. The Satyxis insist their traditions hold true power not manifested in other arcane arts. Certainly warcasters like Skarre Ravenmane bear out this assertion, as she is among the most formidable of Cryxian warcasters.
WARCASTERS OF CRYX
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own base of powerful servants. Rivalries run deep among the lich lords, and infighting is not uncommon when a particularly powerful talent comes to light. The gifted are trained in whichever manner best suits their aptitudes or the whims of their new masters. Some warcasters are initiated into warwitch covens to learn Orgoth secrets as well as Cryxian necromantic principles. These depraved teachings inevitably fracture the minds of the witches in precisely the ways their superiors desire. Other living warcasters may have been trained in the traditions of whichever culture spawned them and master Cryxian magic over time. Because the living learn more quickly than the dead, Cryx knows the value of keeping those with arcane power alive as long as possible before granting them the blessing of undeath. Living warcasters nonetheless remain a minority in Cryx, since the lich lords seldom hesitate to sacrifice such individuals as required to further their plans, fully aware that useful servants can be readily restored to a semblance of life. Special care and rituals are necessary when reanimating the gifted to preserve their talents past death. An incautious necrosurgeon might transform the corpse of a powerful arcanist into a mere mechanithrall, spoiling its potential for greater service.
Harnessing the Gift
Toruk can directly imbue his mightiest undead minions with the ability to wield magic after they transition to undeath— every lich lord and iron lich has this capacity. This greatly contrasts with the unpredictable manner in which arcane talent is manifested in other nations, where it is found only in those born with the potential. However, the process of becoming a lich requires souls of unusual potency for the transformation to succeed; only the most willful, ambitious, and intelligent of individuals are selected. Even great necromancers like Darragh Wrathe are not guaranteed immediate welcome in their company. Even in an empire ruled by the walking dead, there is merit to allowing the gifted to develop their powers in life. Cryx does not rely solely on its liches and commits itself to finding and seizing exceptional individuals such as warcasters wherever possible, turning them into weapons for Toruk’s arsenal. A number of Cryxian warcasters are sorcerers in the same vein as their mainland counterparts, possessing innate arcane talents from birth. Over the centuries the empire has developed its own methods for finding them. Cryxian seers perform regular occult rituals to foresee when the warcaster gift will manifest among both the island populations and coastal communities. They keep a hungry eye out for opportunities to snatch gifted youths from the mainland. The lich lords greedily work to secure these living assets for their own exclusive use, hoping to deny their political enemies these same potent resources as they each build their
20
WARCASTERS OF CRYX
The lich lords have plumbed the fundamental nature of the warcaster talent to a depth far exceeding the research efforts of their enemies, and they have developed ancillary methods to emulate such abilities through necromantic technology. They are assisted in this endeavor both by the endless diligence of their necrotechs and by a complete freedom from morality that allows them to conduct all manner of ghastly experimentation. The cortexes and arc nodes of bonejacks and helljacks have been designed to answer the mental commands of the undead as they would living warcasters. There is no inherent difference between the means used by a natural-born warcaster and a lich lord for controlling warjacks on the battlefield. Therefore, Cryx has access to far more individuals with the equivalent of warcaster talent than would otherwise be possible.
Battlefield Role
As important as warcasters are to other armies of the Iron Kingdoms, such individuals prove doubly vital to Cryx, given that the majority of its hordes of unliving and unthinking thralls require powerful leaders to direct them. Accordingly, Cryxian warcasters must have even greater mastery over their armies than their counterparts in the Iron Kingdoms. Lich lords orchestrate the actions of entire armies, not just warjacks, wielding the multifarious thralls as extensions of their indomitable will. Living soldiers and sentient undead are expected to follow a warcaster’s commands without question, but in practice such beings can behave willfully. Whether due to the soldiers’ lack of discipline, their instinct for self-preservation, or simple
bloodlust, warcasters must constantly adapt when their warriors fail to adhere to their careful plans. Cryxian warcasters use different methods to quash insubordination, though most maintain control of their mortal forces through terror and the very real threat of violence. Refusal to follow orders is met with painful death and, in many cases, the imprisonment of a mutinous warrior’s immortal soul for further torments. Cryxian warcasters support these soldiers through potent magic. A warcaster’s retinue of spells can cripple the enemy with debilitating waves of pain or savagely destroy an enemy formation with a torrent of caustic energy. Under the enervating spells of the warcaster, the enemy is reduced to a pack of mewling weaklings unable to defend against the next group of thralls to wash over them. With the proliferation of arc nodes among Cryxian battlegroups, a single warcaster can dominate whole battlefields by sending one debilitating spell after another arcing across an entire enemy front. While given broad latitude to complete their objectives, all Cryxian warcasters ultimately answer to a lich lord master. If opportunities arise in battle for warcasters to secure a resource that would give an edge to their lord over the others, they must act quickly. Nothing invites more ruthless retaliation than the failure to seize such chances.
CRYXIAN GLYPHS OF AUTHORITY The runes engraved in the flesh of thralls can be of two varieties: those used in the actual necromantic animation process and those created for purposes of identification. The lords of Cryx often mark their thralls, bonejacks, helljacks, ships, and correspondence with such glyphs. This branding enables their subordinates, who might otherwise have difficulty telling one thrall from another, to identify legions belonging to different masters.
VENETHRAX
SKARRE RAVENMANE
ASPHYXIOUS TERMINUS
WARCASTERS OF CRYX
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BANE WITCH AGATHIA CRYX WARCASTER
FOCUS: 7 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 6 7 4 15 15 9
AGATHIA 1
DEATH KISS RNG POW P+S 2 6 12 DAMAGE:16 WJ +29
FA C
BASE:SMALL
AGATHIA 1 UNDEAD DARK SHROUD – While in this model’s melee range,
enemy models suffer –2 ARM. SOUL TAKER: CULL SOUL – This model can gain soul
tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed within 2˝ of this model, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. After this model replenishes its focus during your next Control Phase, replace each soul token with 1 focus point.
DEATH KISS DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL
FEAT: SHADOWFALL From her time in the void, Agathia learned mastery over darkness itself. She can create shadows so dark they serve as holes in reality, enabling her army to vanish in one place and reappear in another to take her enemies completely by surprise. Friendly Faction models/units currently in Agathia’s control range are affected by Ghost Walk. While in Agathia’s control range, friendly Faction models gain Stealth . Additionally, when a warjack in Agathia’s battlegroup ends its activation in her control range, you can immediately place that model anywhere completely within 3˝ of its location. Shadowfall lasts for one round.
SPELLS GHOST WALK
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF 2
6
–
–
TURN NO
Target friendly Faction model/unit gains Ghostly for one turn. (A model with Ghostly can advance through terrain and obstacles without penalty and can advance through obstructions if it has enough movement to move completely past them. It cannot be targeted by free strikes.) HELLFIRE
3 10 – 14 – YES
Models disabled by Hellfire cannot make a Tough roll. Models boxed by Hellfire are removed from play. HELLWROUGHT
2
6 –
– UP NO
Target warjack in the spellcaster’s battlegroup gains +2 ARM and Retaliation. (If a model with Retaliation was damaged by an enemy attack during the last round, during your Maintenance Phase it can advance up to 3˝ and make one basic melee attack.) PARASITE
3
8
–
– UP YES
Target model/unit suffers –3 ARM and the spellcaster gains +1 ARM. VANISH
1 SELF –
– – NO
Place the spellcaster anywhere completely within 3˝ of its current location. Vanish can be cast only once per activation.
Once regarded as both prisoner and oracle, Bane Witch Agathia is one of the more unusual weapons in Cryx’s arsenal. In life she was valued for her insight into the occult, and the tragic circumstances of her death only increased her worth to the dark lords of the Nightmare Empire. Though presently more pawn than queen, Agathia has begun to assert her will, and she may yet find a way to choose her own fate. For decades Agathia resided in the solitary watchtower at Hell’s Hook overlooking Cryx’s barren southern coast. Her peculiar imprisonment there was a result of having betrayed her former master, Lich Lord Daeamortus, in her dogged pursuit of occult knowledge. Judging her too valuable to be slain outright, the lich lord cast her soul into the depths of the void to wander endlessly between worlds. A host of thralls attended her motionless but living form, and on those rare occasions when Cryxians came to her tower seeking advice on otherworldly matters, her consciousness returned briefly to speak scraps of truth veiled by riddles. After Daeamortus was destroyed and replaced, Agathia was forgotten and her tower abandoned. The thralls that attended her soon fell apart, and her body died not long thereafter. While searching for useful salvage, servants of Lich Lord Tenebrous found Agathia’s body in the tower’s inner chamber. Tenebrous took a personal interest in her condition. By plumbing the depths of the void he found and recovered her soul, discovering her mind was remarkably intact despite her time in that hellscape. The foremost expert in such matters, the lich lord reunited Agathia’s soul with her unliving flesh, creating a uniquely powerful bane. She returned as a shadow of death, retaining great insights from her time in the void. Her mind had been fractured and reshaped, and now Agathia moves through the world like a sleepwalker, coming fully awake only in the midst of battle. She remains connected to her past only by fleeting memories she finds difficult to interpret. Tenebrous regards Agathia as an invaluable tool, prizing her unusual perspective on the world and the way her transfigured mind interprets arcane mysteries. He covets the secrets buried within her memories. Bound to the lich lord’s service, Agathia serves him by plundering tombs and sacred grounds in the pursuit of lost and ancient lore, bringing him treasures to add to his vast repository. Unknown to Tenebrous, Agathia’s memories have begun to return, and she has taken a secret interest in unearthing the mysteries of her past. The lich lord’s trust has enabled her to operate with minimal oversight, a fact she has exploited to extend her missions abroad and visit sites of her own choosing. On more than one occasion she has convinced her master to send her on expeditions more beneficial to her research than to his. Though Agathia remains a potent oracle, her sense of time has become fractured, and it is not always possible for the bane witch to tell whether the visions revealed to her are representative of the future or remnants of her forgotten past. She is plagued by visions that can send her into fits of rage or bring on feelings of hopelessness that shatter her stoic demeanor. Agathia has been careful to conceal these outbursts from her master. Tenebrous is as yet unaware of her personal interests and growing autonomy. As slivers of her memory return, Agathia’s silent disobedience grows, and while she continues to give her master the valuable relics she obtains, she is not above examining them for herself first, seeking pieces of a key to unlock her mind.
TACTICAL TIPS Soul Taker: Cull Soul – A model can have more focus points than its FOCUS as a result of Cull Soul. Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it.
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23
CAPTAIN AIAKOS CRYX WARCASTER
A merciless cutthroat of the high seas, Aiakos has risen from humble beginnings among the gangs of Blackwater to become one of the fiercest captains in Cryx’s pirate fleet. He has assembled his crew one by one from inhabitants of the Scharde island chain, selecting only those pirates who exhibit exceptional ruthlessness and skill.
FOCUS: 6 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 6 7 5 15 15 9
AIAKOS 2
HARPOON RNG ROF AOE POW 6 1 — 12
Aiakos and his crew live to prove themselves in combat. The warcaster rushes to the forefront of every engagement, bounding from ship to ship and hurtling over the planks to skewer his opponents with harpoon and blade. Helljacks follow in his wake, cutting down sailors on tightly packed decks or rising from the roiling tide to wreak havoc among coastal towns. Wherever the promise of a bloody battle arises, Aiakos and his crew are not far behind.
REAVER RNG POW P+S 1 7 13 DAMAGE:17 WJ +29
FA C
BASE:SMALL
AIAKOS 2 TOUGH JUMP – After it makes a full advance during its Normal
Movement but before it performs its Combat Action, you can place this model anywhere completely within 5˝ of its current location. Any effects that prevent charging also prevent this model from using Jump.
HARPOON DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL DRAG – When this weapon damages an enemy model
with an equal or smaller base, immediately after the attack is resolved the damaged model can be pushed directly toward this model until it contacts a model, an obstacle, or an obstruction. After the damaged model is moved, this model can make one basic melee attack against the damaged model. After resolving this melee attack, this model can make additional melee attacks during its Combat Action.
REAVER DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL GRIEVOUS WOUNDS – A model hit by this weapon loses
Tough and cannot have damage removed from it for one round.
FEAT: BOARDING ACTION Aiakos sends forth his forces like a tide of nightmares, crushing his foes beneath a wave of blackened iron. Models in Aiakos’ battlegroup that are currently in his control range gain +3 SPD and Assault . Boarding Action lasts for one turn.
SPELLS ASSAIL
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF 2
6 –
– UP NO
Target friendly Faction warjack can charge or make slam or trample power attacks without spending focus. The warjack gains +2˝ movement when it charges or makes a slam or trample power attack. Models slammed by the warjack are moved +2˝. CARNAGE
2 SELF CTRL – TURN NO
Friendly Faction models gain +2 to melee attack rolls against enemy models in the spellcaster’s control range. Carnage lasts for one turn. SCYTHING TOUCH
2
6
–
–
UP
NO
Target friendly Faction model gains Dark Shroud. (While in the melee range of a model with Dark Shroud, enemy models suffer –2 ARM.) STRANGLEHOLD
3
8
–
12
–
YES
Instead of suffering a normal damage roll, a nonincorporeal model hit by White Squall is thrown d6˝ directly away from the spell’s point of origin and suffers a POW 12 damage roll. The model thrown does not deviate. Collateral damage from this throw is POW 12.
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Appearing to capitulate to Morvaen’s demands, Aiakos and his crew offered up a haul of riches recovered from the lost flagship of Lich Lord Daeamortus, a vessel last seen in the final days of the Scharde Invasions. Morvaen was tempted by the treasure trove of artifacts, coins, and ancient relics, certain the lich lords would reward him richly when he offered them a portion of the haul, and he granted Aiakos and his soldiers entry to his fortress without question. While the guards searched the pirate crew for weapons upon entry, both they and Morvaen were blinded by greed and overlooked the seemingly inert, barnacle-encrusted helljack, known as Kharybdis, waiting amid the offerings. During Morvaen’s inspection of the generous tribute, Kharybdis remained motionless—until the lord leaned in to take a closer look at the helljack. It was then that Kharybdis unleashed a spray of black ichor in Morvaen’s face. As Morvaen screamed in agony, Aiakos’ crew retrieved weapons stashed among the plunder, and the warcaster bid Kharybdis to rise. Together they slew any who stood against them, and Aiakos soon emerged with Morvaen’s head on his trident for all of Blackwater to see. In addition to seizing Morvaen’s fortress and the treasure within, Aiakos claimed the lord’s formidable ship, Nocturnus. Though Aiakos maintains a measure of influence in Blackwater, he rarely stays in the Cryxian port. The warcaster leaves dockside affairs in the hands of the Quay Slayers, the street gang he ran with before his career as a raider and the manifestation of his warcaster talent. The gang now occupies Morvaen’s former fortress and has grown appreciably in power and influence. What Aiakos has achieved may satisfy a lesser man, but the pirate’s burning lust for bloodshed and treasure does not permit him to rest. Until he has had his fill of spilled blood and plunder, Aiakos will continue his reign of terror, building his reputation one corpse at a time.
2 10 – 11 * YES
A model damaged by Stranglehold forfeits either its Normal Movement or its Combat Action during its next activation, as its controller chooses. WHITE SQUALL
After earning his notoriety in the Cryxian pirate fleet and gaining the favor of its leader, Admiral Axiara Wraithblade, Aiakos set his sights on commanding his own ship. When the pirate king of Blackwater, Lord Craethan Morvaen, demanded a greater share of Aiakos’ earnings, the warcaster saw his opportunity to better his place in the hierarchy of the Scharde Islands.
TACTICAL TIPS White Squall – Incorporeal models are not thrown; they just suffer a damage roll.
25
IRON LICH ASPHYXIOUS CRYX WARCASTER
Asphyxious has become the Dragonfather’s chosen instrument on the mainland and the unholy general of the rapacious unliving army of Cryx. His campaigns have carved out bastions for Cryxian forces on the continent, where he excavates pits of evil and despair in old, deserted battlefields to spawn countless horrors.
FOCUS: 7 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 5 7 6 3 15 16 7
ASPHYXIOUS 1
SOULSPLITTER RNG POW P+S 2 8 15
The iron lich has almost forgotten the time he was alive; it was the blink of an eye compared to the sixteen centuries he has spent in his greater form. Yet once he was a powerful member of the enigmatic Circle Orboros, tasked to watch over the Scharde Islands. When he saw Lord Toruk flying across the ocean to seize the islands for himself, Asphyxious realized the true shape of ultimate power.
DAMAGE:18 WJ +28
FA C
BASE:MEDIUM
ASPHYXIOUS 1 UNDEAD SOUL TAKER: CULL SOUL – This model can gain soul tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed within 2˝ of this model, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. After this model replenishes its focus during your next Control Phase, replace each soul token with 1 focus point.
SOULSPLITTER DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL SUSTAINED ATTACK – During this model’s activation, when it makes an attack with this weapon against the last model hit by the weapon this activation, the attack automatically hits.
FEAT: CONSUMING BLIGHT Death follows the iron lich wherever he passes, and it is on the energies of death that Asphyxious feeds. In a horrific demonstration of necromancy, this terrible undead warcaster emits an all-consuming blight that leeches vitality from everything around him, empowering him to unleash an even greater slaughter. Enemy models currently in Asphyxious’ control range suffer an unboostable POW 5 damage roll. Consuming Blight damage rolls are simultaneous. Asphyxious then gains up to 7 focus points. He cannot have more focus points than his current FOCUS as a result of Consuming Blight.
SPELLS
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF
BREATH OF CORRUPTION
3
8
3
12
RND YES
Models hit suffer a POW 12 corrosion damage roll . This spell’s AOE is a cloud effect and hazard that remains in play for one round. Models entering or ending their activations in the AOE suffer 1 point of corrosion damage . HELLFIRE
3 10 – 14 – YES
Models disabled by Hellfire cannot make a Tough roll. Models boxed by Hellfire are removed from play. PARASITE
3
8
–
– UP YES
Target model/unit suffers –3 ARM and the spellcaster gains +1 ARM. SCYTHING TOUCH
2
6
–
–
UP
NO
Target friendly Faction model gains Dark Shroud. (While in the melee range of a model with Dark Shroud, enemy models suffer –2 ARM.) SPECTRAL LEECH
2
10
–
–
–
YES
Remove d3 focus or fury points from target model hit by Spectral Leech. TELEPORT
2 SELF –
– – NO
Place the spellcaster anywhere completely within 6˝ of its current location, then its activation ends.
The mortal druid spent his days witnessing the seminal acts by which the Cryxian Empire was born. He saw the dread ship Atramentous sail into Darkmoor Harbor to greet the gathered pirate kings, exulted in the following slaughter, and watched with jealous hunger as the Dragon obliterated the twelve pirate kings and remade them into undying lich lords. Renouncing his ancient vows, Asphyxious went to Lord Toruk at the site that would become known as Dragon’s Roost, in the shadow of a great volcano. The druid prostrated himself and offered his service in exchange for even a fraction of the Dragon’s power. Toruk made no promises but challenged the mortal to prove his willingness to sacrifice everything. Asphyxious did not flinch. He climbed atop the lip of the volcano and jumped into its depths. His horrific screams were swallowed by the magma as it stripped his flesh. Toruk scooped his bones from the caldera with one massive talon and blew a spark of unlife into them. The druid’s dark soul lingered, agitated from torment, and was placed into a metal vessel of power so as to evade the greedy clutches of Urcaen. On that day, Asphyxious entered the Dragon’s employ. After the forges of Skell were completed and the industry of Toruk’s new empire began to belch smoke and assemble the first weapons for his new army, the Dragon called forth the liches. To Asphyxious and the lich lords he gave the gift of steel, wrapping their brittle bones in frames of dark metal and imbuing them with the strength and durability of alloyed iron. He then sent Asphyxious forth to master the great powers of necromancy and do the Dragon’s bidding. For sixteen centuries Asphyxious has gathered lore, mastered war and the arcane arts, and become as formidable a creature as has ever walked the face of Caen. He looks to orchestrate the will of Toruk, see the Dragon’s empire encompass the mainland, drown its cities in blood, and release a never-ending tide of souls from which he can drink and draw power. Asphyxious leaves behind ashen fields of lifeless grasses and withered trees. Blackened corpses and bubbling pools of gore are all that remain of his victims. The demands of his iron body create a ravenous thirst for fresh souls. The powerful iron carapace grants great physical strength, and his iron talons wield the ensorcelled Soulsplitter—a twin-pronged spear bathed in raw entropy. Iron Lich Asphyxious is a terrible foe, crafty beyond measure and capable of any act in Toruk’s name. A prime source of the cancer feeding upon western Immoren, he gleefully spreads the shadow of the Dragonlord’s wings. It is a shadow that will one day, by his efforts, extend across all Caen.
TACTICAL TIPS Breath of Corruption – Affected models do not also suffer blast damage. Soul Taker: Cull Soul – A model can have more focus points than its FOCUS as a result of Cull Soul. Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it. Teleport – This model cannot be placed on or in an obstruction or in impassable terrain as a result of Teleport.
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27
LICH LORD ASPHYXIOUS CRYX WARCASTER
For millennia Asphyxious has schemed, taking calculated action and instigating intricate plans no mortal mind could hope to unravel. The lich lord’s cold genius has created holds in Cryx where none existed and carved a private undead empire from nothing. It has also spawned unspeakable treachery. Asphyxious draws all he touches into webs of intrigue that blind even visions and prophecy. Many have been sacrificed or reborn to further his schemes, and not even the other masters of Cryx have escaped his manipulations.
FOCUS: 7 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 5 7 6 3 15 16 8
ASPHYXIOUS 2
DAEAMORTUS RNG POW P+S 2 8 15 DAMAGE:18 WJ +28
FA C
BASE:MEDIUM
ASPHYXIOUS 2 UNDEAD SOUL REAPER (HACTION) – Place a 5˝ AOE anywhere
completely within this model’s control range. The AOE remains in play for one round. When a living enemy model is destroyed in the AOE, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. While the AOE is in play, this model cannot attack with Daeamortus and has no melee range. SOUL TAKER: CULL SOUL – This model can gain soul tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed within 2˝ of this model, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. After this model replenishes its focus during your next Control Phase, replace each soul token with 1 focus point.
DAEAMORTUS DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL
FEAT: SPECTRAL LEGION Calling on his powers of necromancy, Lich Lord Asphyxious beckons forth his former servants for one last sally against his enemies. A ghostly horde of tireless spirits carry out the lich lord’s nefarious will. Return up to d3 + 5 destroyed small- or medium-based Grunts that were part of a friendly Faction unit to play, placing them completely within 3˝ of Asphyxious. Returned models gain Undead and Ghostly, become solos, and cannot be attacked or damaged for one turn. Returned models must charge during their activations and leave play at the end of this turn. (A model with Ghostly can advance through terrain and obstacles without penalty and can advance through obstructions if it has enough movement to move completely past them. It cannot be targeted by free strikes.)
SPELLS CAUSTIC MIST
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF 2
CTRL
3
–
RND NO
Place a 3˝ AOE cloud effect completely within the spellcaster’s control range. A model entering or ending its activation in the AOE suffers the Corrosion continuous effect . Caustic Mist lasts for one round. DEATH KNELL
4
8
4
10
–
YES
Before dealing damage, count the number of models in the AOE. Add the result to each Death Knell damage roll. EXCARNATE
3 10 – 13 – YES
When a living enemy warrior model is boxed by Excarnate, remove it from play. You can then add one Grunt to a friendly Faction small-based undead unit in the spellcaster’s control range. Place the Grunt in formation and completely within 3˝ of the spellcaster. The Grunt must forfeit its Combat Action the turn it is put into play. HELLBOUND
3 SELF *
– RND NO
3
– UP YES
The spellcaster cannot be targeted by charges or slam power attacks. While within 5˝ of the spellcaster, enemy models treat open ground as rough terrain. Hellbound lasts for one round. PARASITE
8
–
Target model/unit suffers –3 ARM and the spellcaster gains +1 ARM. TELEPORT
2 SELF –
– – NO
Place the spellcaster anywhere completely within 6˝ of its current location, then its activation ends.
No fewer than two lich lords have fallen, directly or indirectly, as a result of Asphyxious’ complex schemes. The first to succumb to his machinations was the ancient and powerful Lich Lord Daeamortus: his undying soul and pieces of his undead remains were bound to a deadly new weapon that Asphyxious had forged. That Toruk did not interfere or seek punishment for the loss of one of his generals attests to Asphyxious’ keen political acumen; in fact, the Dragonfather even elevated Asphyxious to his former rival’s vacant station. While Asphyxious insists he had no part in the subsequent destruction of Lich Lord Morbus at the hands of Cygnaran warcasters, the involvement of Asphyxious’ subordinate, Wraith Witch Deneghra, in this chain of events strongly suggests a connection. After securing his elevation to the inner circle of the lich lords, Asphyxious launched the next stage of his relentless plan. Under the pretense of establishing a great necrofactorium beneath the Thornwood, the iron lich activated the malefic energies of the Temple Garrodh, at whose heart lay Orgoth machinery through which he intended to achieve godhood. Thousands fought and died at his behest to provide the souls necessary to charge the device. Had his scheme gone as planned, Asphyxious might have ascended to divinity, seizing power that would allow him to rival Toruk himself. His schemes were eventually thwarted—partially by another of his rivals, Lich Lord Terminus—but the very attempt showed the scope of Asphyxious’ inhuman ambition. Toruk ultimately interceded to end the conflict between Asphyxious and Terminus before it undermined Cryx’s efforts on the mainland. Shrugging off this temporary setback, Asphyxious immediately initiated his next ambitious plan by helping negotiate a secret pact between Lich Lord Thalassina and the cephalyx, enigmatic creatures that lurk in caverns far beneath the Thornwood. Without the aid of these alien beings, it would have taken generations for Asphyxious to establish his vast network of secret necrofactoriums scattered across the mainland. Thus, the lich lord has accelerated work on an expansion centuries in the making: a series of projects and contingencies that have allowed him to quickly recover from even significant setbacks. Each fortress and stronghold he creates is built to be expendable, serving its purpose and inevitably collapsing before he moves to the next. He has not entirely surrendered his aspirations to godlike status, but he bides his time while growing his army and cementing his political and occult power. Asphyxious has been aided in all his endeavors by his faithful protégée Deneghra, whom he reshaped after her death to ideally suit his plans. The Wraith Witch serves as his right hand and closest confidante and can often be found at the eye of his ever-growing storm. With her help, the lich lord casts his long shadow across the battlefields of western Immoren, darkening the land with a plague of undead legions and the promise of destruction.
TACTICAL TIPS Excarnate – The boxed model does not provide a soul or corpse token. The new Grunt can activate the turn it is put into play. Soul Reaper – Cull Soul converts soul tokens gained from Soul Reaper into focus points. Soul Taker: Cull Soul – A model can have more focus points than its FOCUS as a result of Cull Soul. Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it.
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Teleport – This model cannot be placed on or in an obstruction or in impassable terrain as a result of Teleport.
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ASPHYXIOUS THE HELLBRINGER & VOCIFERON CRYX WARCASTER & CRYX SKARLOCK THRALL SOLO FOCUS: 7 ASPHYXIOUS 3 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 5 8 6 3 15 17 9
DAIMONION RNG POW P+S 2 8 16 DAMAGE:18 WJ +24
FA C
BASE:MEDIUM
ASPHYXIOUS 3 UNDEAD FIELD MARSHAL [UNYIELDING] – Warjacks in this
model’s battlegroup gain Unyielding. (While engaging an enemy model, a model with Unyielding gains +2 ARM.) SOUL TAKER: CULL SOUL – This model can gain soul tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed within 2˝ of this model, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. After this model replenishes its focus during your next Control Phase, replace each soul token with 1 focus point.
DAIMONION DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL BLOOD BOON – Once per activation, immediately after
resolving an attack in which it destroyed an enemy model with this weapon, this model can cast a spell with COST 3 or less without spending focus.
TACTICAL TIPS FEAT: RITES OF SHADOW When the time is right, Asphyxious the Hellbringer invokes the Rites of Shadow to enfold the battlefield in a spiritual darkness of his own design. Amid this flickering landscape, the magic of his enemies is tainted. With every incantation his iron frame is mended, while the restless souls of the slaughtered rise only to be harvested to fuel the Hellbringer’s powers. When an enemy model is forced, casts a spell, or spends 1 or more focus or fury points while in Asphyxious’ control range, Asphyxious can remove d3 damage points and gains one soul token. If a model casts a spell by spending focus or fury, Rites of Shadow triggers only once. Rites of Shadow lasts for one round.
SPELLS CALAMITY
Hex Blast – Because they expire immediately, upkeep spells and animi that had an effect when the model/unit was hit or damaged will have no effect. Rites of Shadow – Cull Soul converts tokens gained from Rites of Shadow into focus points. If a model casts a spell by spending focus or fury, Rites of Shadow triggers only once. Soul Taker: Cull Soul – A model can have more focus points than its FOCUS as a result of Cull Soul. Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it.
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF 3
10
–
–
UP YES
Target model/unit suffers –2 DEF and ARM. CLOAK OF ASH
2
6
–
–
UP
NO
Target friendly Faction model/unit gains Ashen Veil. Models are not affected while out of formation. (A model with Ashen Veil has concealment. Living enemy models without Immunity: Fire suffer –2 to attack rolls while within 2˝ of a model with Ashen Veil.) HELLFIRE
3 10 – 14 – YES
Models disabled by Hellfire cannot make a Tough roll. Models boxed by Hellfire are removed from play. HEX BLAST
3 10 3 13 – YES
Enemy upkeep spells and animi on the model/ unit directly hit by Hex Blast immediately expire. MOBILITY
3
SELF CTRL – TURN NO
Models in the spellcaster’s battlegroup currently in its control range gain +2 SPD and Pathfinder for one turn.
More than a thousand years of preparation, intrigue, and nested contingencies have brought Asphyxious closer than ever to his goal of rising above the other lich lords. He has established a hidden empire on the mainland filled with necromechanikal terrors and built a ghastly army that stands ready to answer his every command. Even those Cryxian lords who despise him are eventually forced to turn to him for aid. Since the moment the druid who would eventually become a lich lord chose to leap to his death as a sign of commitment to the Dragonfather and rose again in undeath, Asphyxious has chosen a path meant to ensure his eternal status as Toruk’s most favored servant. Whereas once he was deemed merely a useful minion in the arsenal of Lich Lord Daeamortus— little more than a skilled scavenger feeding on the periphery of mainland wars—he has since risen to change the very shape of Cryxian leadership. Even his failures and defeats have ultimately advanced his position, for he has the tenacity as well as the ability and desire to adapt and exploit every possible advantage. Only the deathless city of Skell, capital of the Cryxian empire, can rival the convoluted lairs Asphyxious has constructed. Leveraging dark pacts made with the enigmatic cephalyx, Asphyxious directed extensive excavation beneath the
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Thornwood for years, creating a necrofactorium complex without equal. Once the tunnels were established, Asphyxious installed a vast abattoir and factory complex within, making use of the plentiful products of battle: both those corpses his forces gathered in their own quiet raids and those harvested from the ongoing conflicts between the petty nations of mankind. Asphyxious has eliminated one obstacle after another, including the overseer of Cryxian war industry, Lich Lord Morbus, who arrived on the mainland to urge patience and advocate slow growth. When Morbus threatened to seize control of the Thornwood necrofactoriums and impede progress, Asphyxious encouraged Deneghra’s scheme to lure the lich lord to his destruction. Asphyxious subsequently emerged as the ultimate master of the Nightmare Empire’s military production. Asphyxious has willingly made major sacrifices to advance his schemes, even allowing the invasion of his Thornwood facilities to convince the mainland armies that they had defeated Cryx. Despite the obliteration of the bulk of the necrofactorium in the upper chambers, the deeper levels of the cephalyx hive remained hidden and intact. Asphyxious used the template perfected in the Thornwood to create other smaller hidden operations elsewhere, including Cygnar’s Wyrmwall Mountains.
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VOCIFERON 1 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 5 5 3 13 16 9
CLAWS RNG POW P+S 0.5 3 8 DAMAGE:5 FA C
BASE:SMALL
ATTACHED [ASPHYXIOUS THE HELLBRINGER] –
This model is attached to Asphyxious the Hellbringer. Each warcaster can have only one model/unit attached to it.
VOCIFERON 1 UNDEAD COMPANION [ASPHYXIOUS THE HELLBRINGER] –
This model is included in any army that includes Asphyxious the Hellbringer. If Asphyxious is destroyed or removed from play, remove this model from play. This model is part of Asphyxious’ battlegroup. DEATH REAPER – When a living enemy model is destroyed while in this model’s command range, Asphyxious gains the destroyed model’s soul token. MAGIC ABILITY [7] • SPECTRAL LEECH (HATTACK) – Spectral Leech is
a RNG 10 magic attack that causes no damage. Instead, remove d3 focus or fury points from target model hit. • SPELL SLAVE (HACTION OR ATTACK) – This model must be in its warcaster’s control range to make the Spell Slave special action. When it does, it casts one of the spells on its warcaster’s card with a COST of 3 or less. This model cannot cast upkeep spells or spells with a RNG of SELF or CTRL. When casting an offensive spell, Spell Slave is a magic attack. Use this model’s Magic Ability score when making magic attack rolls.
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As Toruk’s war on his progeny progresses, the other lich lords must deal with Asphyxious if they wish to utilize the war resources he now controls. The forces he has built are no mere raiding parties or even battalions; rather, they are the great hosts Lord Toruk intends his lich lords to use to weaken his draconic progeny so he can consume them. Should Caen be razed in the passage of these hosts, it is of no consequence. Those few souls fortunate enough to have escaped the brief Cryxian occupation of Point Bourne have glimpsed the world Asphyxious would usher in: a charnel land of inescapable death where souls are nothing but fuel for the Dragonfather. To aid in this great work Asphyxious crafted Vociferon, a skarlock of extraordinary cunning, perfectly equipped to serve as a conduit for souls. Vociferon benefits from Asphyxious’ mastery of thrall runes. It carries a battle standard of death and discord that resonates with unholy intent, for it was created to collect the essences of all who perish within its reach. Vociferon also has sanction to speak with the lich lord’s voice and direct lesser minions. Asphyxious views the prospect of upcoming battles with keen anticipation. He intends to prove his worth in a conclusive fashion to Lord Toruk and thus elevate himself above his rivals. All that live shall look upon his armies and tremble as the world is reduced to ashen waste and its peoples to piteous howling souls in the clutches of Asphyxious the Hellbringer.
TACTICAL TIPS Death Reaper – Because Asphyxious is the model gaining the destroyed model’s soul token, use his location when determining which model eligible to claim the soul token is closest to the destroyed model. Magic Ability – Performing a Magic Ability special action or special attack counts as casting a spell. Spell Slave – This model cannot cast spells if its warcaster is destroyed or removed from play. Spell Slave does not confer the ability to channel spells as a warcaster.
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WARWITCH DENEGHRA CRYX WARCASTER
Wherever she travels, Deneghra leaves a scorched path of devastation. On the battlefield she is a terror single-mindedly stalking each victim. Perversely angelic in her wicked beauty, Deneghra drifts like a phantom through trees and walls whenever she wills it. She need but whisper and men claw at their skulls in vain attempts to silence the voice inside their minds. Those wretches who fall to her spell would slit a familiar throat—comrade, brother, or beloved—at her command.
FOCUS: 7 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 7 5 5 4 16 14 8
DENEGHRA 1
SLIVER RNG POW P+S 2 7 12 DAMAGE:16 WJ +28
FA C
BASE:SMALL
DENEGHRA 1 PARRY STEALTH SOUL TAKER: CULL SOUL – This model can gain soul tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed within 2˝ of this model, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. After this model replenishes its focus during your next Control Phase, replace each soul token with 1 focus point.
SLIVER DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL SHADOW BIND – A model hit by this weapon suffers
Shadow Bind for one round. (A model suffering Shadow Bind suffers –3 DEF, and for one round when it advances it cannot move except to change facing. Shadow Bind can be shaken.)
FEAT: THE WITHERING Darkness and death obey the beck and call of the warwitch. With mere spoken words and an arcane gesture, Deneghra blankets an area with a web of debilitating despair. Enemy models currently in Deneghra’s control range suffer –2 SPD, STR, MAT, RAT, DEF, and ARM and cannot run, charge, or make power attacks or special attacks. The Withering lasts for one round.
SPELLS CRIPPLING GRASP
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF 3
8
–
–
UP YES
Target model/unit suffers –2 SPD, STR, DEF, and ARM. DARK SEDUCTION
4
8
–
–
–
YES
Take control of target enemy non-warcaster, nonwarlock warrior model. You can immediately make a full advance with that enemy model followed by a basic attack, then Dark Seduction expires. The enemy model cannot be targeted by free strikes during this movement. Dark Seduction can be cast only once per activation. A model can be affected by Dark Seduction only once per turn. GHOST WALK
2
6
–
–
TURN NO
Target friendly Faction model/unit gains Ghostly for one turn. (A model with Ghostly can advance through terrain and obstacles without penalty and can advance through obstructions if it has enough movement to move completely past them. It cannot be targeted by free strikes.) PARASITE
3
8
–
4 8 3 13 – YES
Models hit by this attack become knocked down. VENOM
2
SP 8
–
10
–
YES
Venom causes corrosion damage . Models hit suffer the Corrosion continuous effect .
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The Cryxian warwitches are cruel beyond comparison and willing to commit any act, no matter how depraved, in their lord’s name. Adept at necromancy and blade, they are cunning, adaptable, and unpredictable. The witches have been so warped by Toruk’s influence that some suspect they have been drained of all humanity. None who knew Deneghra as a youth could have anticipated she would become a merciless killer. She and her twin began life in a fishing village on the western coast of Cygnar. Occult portents unveiled by Skarre Ravenmane indicated a mortal birth of a sorceress with unbridled potential. After she informed her master Asphyxious of this presaged birth, he dispatched the pirate queen to ensure the procurement of this precious asset personally. Skarre returned with her captive, believing herself successful. The auguries had been vague, however, and she was unaware the power foretold was manifest in a pair of twins, not in a single birth. Asphyxious discovered the nature of these misread signs later, too late to rectify the situation easily. Deneghra proved an apt pupil. Asphyxious took her personally under his wing and twisted the young woman into a phantasmal temptress—body, mind, and soul. She excelled at the arcane arts, and even the terrifying helljacks bowed to her will. When the iron lich judged her ready, he unveiled the darkest secret: she had a twin sister named Haley who possessed the other half of her soul. Asphyxious spoke of this Cygnaran sorceress and insisted she had stolen her twin’s essence while sharing a womb, preventing her from reaching her potential. In a murderous rage Deneghra volunteered to join the incursions of the mainland in order to find this twin and reclaim the stolen power. Pleased with his machinations, the iron lich sent forth his protégée as a lieutenant in his army. Some scream in horror at her approach and others beg her for salvation, but Deneghra yearns for one sound alone—the gurgle of her sister’s death rattle. That alone would be the sweet music of victory to her black soul.
– UP YES
Target model/unit suffers –3 ARM and the spellcaster gains +1 ARM. SCOURGE
The few who succeed in staving off her seductions become her reluctant prey. She twirls, leaps, and laughs while enemy soldiers weep and blades slash air or strike harmlessly off her bladed armor. Then she ends the game with a single sweep of her mechanikal spear Sliver. In Deneghra’s hand the weapon turns her foe’s shadow against him by entwining him in a writhing mass of umbral coils. Rather than being a release, death traps her victim’s soul in the cages dangling at her side.
TACTICAL TIPS Scourge – This means every model in the AOE is knocked down, friendly and enemy alike. Soul Taker: Cull Soul – A model can have more focus points than its FOCUS as a result of Cull Soul. Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it.
35
WRAITH WITCH DENEGHRA CRYX WARCASTER
When Deneghra fell to the blade of her twin sister, Victoria Haley, at the end of 605 AR, the result was not her destruction but rather her empowerment and liberation in a new undead form. Asphyxious would have waited until a later death, but the lich lord had long planned to exalt her stature in unlife. After her body was returned to him by one of her faithful Slayers, Asphyxious brought the corpse into his necrofactorium, where he directed a team of necrosurgeons in returning her to an immortal reflection of her former self.
FOCUS: 7 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 7 5 5 4 16 15 8
DENEGHRA 2
ECLIPSE RNG POW P+S 2 7 12 DAMAGE:16 WJ +28
FA C
BASE:SMALL
DENEGHRA 2 PARRY UNDEAD SOUL TAKER: CULL SOUL – This model can gain soul tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed within 2˝ of this model, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. After this model replenishes its focus during your next Control Phase, replace each soul token with 1 focus point. WRAITH WALKER – At the end of your Control Phase, this model can gain Incorporeal for one round unless it gained Incorporeal during the last round.
ECLIPSE DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL DARK BANISHMENT – When this model damages an
enemy model with this weapon during its activation, after the attack is resolved you can place the enemy model anywhere completely within d6 + 3˝ of its current location.
FEAT: BLADES OF SHADOW Deneghra’s tenebrous powers reached their apex upon her death. Now the Wraith Witch can call upon the power of darkness itself to bind her enemies and leave them helpless to avoid her cruel intentions. While in Deneghra’s control range, the weapons of friendly Faction models gain Shadow Bind. Blades of Shadow lasts for one turn. (A model hit by a weapon with Shadow Bind suffers –3 DEF, and for one round when it advances it cannot move except to change facing. Shadow Bind can be shaken.)
SPELLS CURSE OF SHADOWS
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF 3
8
–
–
UP YES
Target model/unit suffers –2 ARM and cannot make free strikes. A model can advance through an affected model if it has enough movement to move completely past its base. HELLMOUTH
4 8 * 12 – YES
Darkness itself now heeds the Wraith Witch’s command, entangling her foes in choking shadows that writhe hungrily even in the light of day. She can channel the energy of death itself to reduce enemies to mere phantasms. Her amplified connection to shadow has taken her beyond the scope of warwitch sorcery to become the umbral master of an even greater craft. Deneghra wields Eclipse, a vicious iron glaive once held by the vanquished Lich Lord Daeamortus. It was with spiteful pride that Asphyxious granted the weapon of his hated foe to his protégée. In bestowing it upon her, he celebrated the betrayal and defeat of his former superior while also acknowledging the power he had cultivated in his favored witch. In life, Deneghra was content merely to carry out the designs of her master. But death has removed a certain haze from her mind even as it has sharpened her occult awareness. Her brief time among the dead has increased her ambition and the depth of her understanding of Cryx’s unforgiving hierarchy. She now moves to claim her place as one of the greatest commanders of Cryx, having earned the fear and respect of her peers and even a degree of genuine appreciation from Lich Lord Asphyxious himself. Her plots grow ever more nefarious and far-reaching, but her devotion to Asphyxious has never wavered. Her tactical acumen and her capacity for inventive wickedness are matched only by her loyalty.
If this attack misses, nothing happens. If it hits, before making the damage roll, push models within 3˝ of the model hit 3˝ directly toward it in the order you choose. Then center a 3˝ AOE on the model hit. Models hit suffer a POW 12 damage roll. Models boxed by Hellmouth are removed from play.
TACTICAL TIPS
INFLUENCE
Soul Taker: Cull Soul – A model can have more focus points than its FOCUS as a result of Cull Soul. Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it.
2 10 –
– – YES
Take control of target enemy non-warcaster, nonwarlock warrior model. The model immediately makes one basic attack, then Influence expires. A model can be affected by Influence only once per turn. MARKED FOR DEATH
2
8
–
–
UP YES
Target model/unit suffers –2 DEF, loses Incorporeal and Stealth , and cannot gain Incorporeal or Stealth while affected by Marked for Death. PURSUIT
2
8
–
– UP YES
If target enemy model/unit advances during its activation, one model in the spellcaster’s battlegroup that is in its control range can immediately make a full advance. VENOM
2
SP 8
–
10
–
YES
Venom causes corrosion damage . Models hit suffer the Corrosion continuous effect .
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Deneghra rose from her blasphemous restoration not fully embodied. The bond between her flesh and spirit had been weakened by the soul cairn at Garrodh, and these corruptive energies had warped and twisted her flesh. Deneghra was torn between the physical and spectral worlds. With fresh insight into the realms beyond death, she found her link to shadow increased a thousandfold. Another would have succumbed to fear or madness, but Deneghra drew strength from her ordeal, which opened her undying eyes to the entropic mysteries of the void between death and life.
Hellmouth – Because the boxed model is removed from play before being destroyed, it does not generate soul or corpse tokens. Pursuit – Remember, if an affected model made a full advance, ran, or charged during its activation, a model in this model’s battlegroup gets to make a full advance.
Wraith Walker – This model loses Incorporeal when it makes a melee or ranged attack.
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DENEGHRA, THE SOUL WEAVER CRYX BATTLE ENGINE WARCASTER FOCUS: 7 DENEGHRA 3 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 9 5 6 4 15 16 9
VENOMOUS BREATH RNG ROF AOE POW SP 8 1 — 10
—
MALEFACTOR RNG POW P+S 2 8 13
—
MOUNT RNG POW 0.5 12
—
DAMAGE:18 WJ +27
FA C
BASE:HUGE
DENEGHRA 3 CAVALRY CONSTRUCT FLIGHT UNDEAD
SOUL MASTERY – At any time during its activation, this model can spend soul tokens to use one of the following effects for each token spent. • ARCANE SPIRITS – This model can cast a spell with COST 3 or less without spending focus. • VENGEFUL SPIRITS – Choose a warjack in this model’s battlegroup that is in its CMD range. The warjack gains up to 3 focus points. SOUL TAKER: CULL SOUL – This model can gain soul tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed within 2˝ of this model, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. After this model replenishes its focus during your next Control Phase, replace each soul token with 1 focus point. SOUL WEAVER – Once per turn at any time during its activation, this model can remove soul tokens from one friendly Faction model in its command range and place them on itself.
VENOMOUS BREATH CONTINUOUS EFFECT: CORROSION DAMAGE TYPE: CORROSION
MALEFACTOR DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL
In the time since her death and reanimation she has plumbed the depths of her necromantic powers, gaining profound insight into and dominion over mortal souls. In her wake the world of the living is left blackened and exanimate. Deneghra manipulates the souls of the dead with consummate skill, stealing their power for her own designs. Those slain in her presence are forbidden passage into Urcaen, their souls left twisting in her grasp. Such is her mastery that she can send these tormented spirits to empower the machines at her command or tear their essence apart to weave a torrent of withering magic. It is possible her own arcane gifts comprise the perfect dark counterpart to the talents of her still-living twin, currently recognized as the most potent arcanist of the age. Those who have witnessed Deneghra’s efforts know all too well that she has evolved into a warcaster every bit the equal of Victoria Haley—an implacable and unpredictable adversary.
38
Deneghra’s grasp on the thread between life and death has given rise to powers most terrible during her service to the Nightmare Empire. Drawing upon the well of imprisoned souls at her disposal, the Cryxian warcaster descends on the living with a deluge of power to fuel her blistering spells. Deneghra immediately gains seven soul tokens.
SPELLS GHOST WALK
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF 2
6
–
–
TURN NO
Target friendly Faction model/unit gains Ghostly for one turn. (A model with Ghostly can advance through terrain and obstacles without penalty and can advance through obstructions if it has enough movement to move completely past them. It cannot be targeted by free strikes.) GRAVE WIND
2
6
–
–
UP
NO
Target friendly Faction model gains +2 DEF and Poltergeist. (When an enemy model misses a model with Poltergeist with an attack, immediately after the attack is resolved you can choose to push the enemy model d3˝ directly away from the model with Poltergeist.) MORTALITY
3
10
–
–
RND YES
Target model/unit suffers –2 DEF and ARM, loses Tough , and cannot have damage removed from it. Mortality lasts for one round.
REPOSITION [5˝] – At the end of an activation in which it did not run or fail a charge, this model can advance up to 5˝, then its activation ends.
Thousands have suffered and died because of the warwitch Deneghra. Thousands more will fall before her in the days to come. As Cryx’s legions sweep across western Immoren, she stands ready to enact the will of her mentor, Asphyxious. Deneghra has served the lich lord as his most potent and loyal retainer, proving her cunning and her absolute command of the arcane gift with which she was born. She manipulates the armies of her enemies into attacking where she desires and outmaneuvers them with her own forces. Her actions have put events in motion that shape the fate of nations.
FEAT: HELL GATE
SCOURGE
4 8 3 13 – YES
Models hit by this attack become knocked down.
Many of Lich Lord Asphyxious’ triumphs can be laid directly at Deneghra’s feet. No obstacle, not even death, has stayed her from achieving her master’s wishes. In pursuing his goals, she has amassed power and influence of her own. From out of his shadow, she has risen in prominence to become the Soul Weaver, a black queen of the Nightmare Empire. Deneghra rides a powerful necromechanikal mount built to her specifications by the master necrotechs of the Thornwood necrofactorium, a tool and weapon designed to augment her mobility. This fearsome engine of destruction made an appearance in the final clash in defense of that ill-fated complex; from the skies Deneghra sowed terror in the armies below, soaring high to blot out the sun as the lich lord and other key figures made their withdrawal. She flies this mount still, from one hidden Cryxian base to another, hunting where she pleases. Those caught in her long shadow know instantly they are destined to live or die by her will.
TACTICAL TIPS Scourge – This means every model in the AOE is knocked down, friendly and enemy alike. Soul Taker: Cull Soul – A model can have more focus points than its FOCUS as a result of Cull Soul. Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it. Vengeful Spirits – A warjack cannot exceed normal focus limits as a result of Vengeful Spirits.
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GORESHADE THE BASTARD & DEATHWALKER CRYX WARCASTER UNIT
FOCUS: 7 GORESHADE 1 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 7 7 4 15 16 7
BLOODCLEAVER RNG POW P+S 2 7 14 DAMAGE:17 WJ +27
FA C
BASE:MEDIUM
GORESHADE 1 OFFICER UNDEAD WARCASTER UNIT – This unit is made up of Goreshade and the Deathwalker.
BLOODCLEAVER DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL DEATHWALK – When this model boxes a living enemy
warrior model with an attack with this weapon and the Deathwalker is not in play, remove the boxed model from play and replace it with the Deathwalker.
FEAT: DARK SUMMONS
SPELLS BLEED
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF 2
8
When Bleed damages a living enemy model, this model can remove d3 damage points. HEX BLAST
3 10 3 13 – YES
Enemy upkeep spells and animi on the model/ unit directly hit by Hex Blast immediately expire. LAMENTATION
3 SELF CTRL –
UP NO
When an enemy model casts a spell while in the spellcaster’s control range, double the COST of the spell. Additionally, enemy models must pay double to upkeep spells on models/units in the spellcaster’s control range. SHADOWMANCER 3 SELF *
– RND NO
SOUL GATE
–
While in spellcaster’s command range, models in its battlegroup gain Stealth and Dark Shroud. Shadowmancer lasts for one round. (While in the melee range of a model with Dark Shroud, enemy models suffer –2 ARM.) 3
CTRL
–
–
NO
Remove a friendly trooper model in the spellcaster’s control range from play and replace it with target warjack in the spellcaster’s battlegroup that is in its control range. The warjack cannot activate this turn after being placed by Soul Gate.
Reaching into the frozen void between the realms of the living and the dead, the eldritch Goreshade calls upon his mastery of dark lore to summon a lethal group of bane thralls bound to him and obligated to fight at his bidding. Put a unit of Bane Warriors (one Leader and five Grunts) into play. Place each model completely within 3˝ of Goreshade.
Goreshade once bore a different name: Ghyrrshyld. Decades ago, this powerful Iosan noble accumulated a devoted following and dreamed of halting the decline of his race. This cause defined his final living days and, against his own moral code, set him on the path to becoming an eldritch. Centuries ago, the priests of Ios were severed from their gods. The elves suffered widespread infertility, which doomed them to slow extinction. Among the few children they had, some were born with a horrifying condition: soullessness. The elves’ apathy to their own plight offended Lord Ghyrrshyld, and he set about forcing the Iosans to face their crisis. Already a formidable politician, Ghyrrshyld had spent years accumulating power for House Vyre, which hoarded immense occult knowledge. Ghyrrshyld immersed himself in lore, hoping to discover the root of his people’s ills. He sought out profane secrets wherever he could find them, even beyond the borders of Ios. He learned of a dark, terrible void between Caen and the Veld—an abyss to which, he suspected, the elven dead were condemned. His work eventually revealed a possible solution, but one requiring bloody sacrifice that his people would undoubtedly deem an unforgivable blasphemy. While Ghyrrshyld was absorbed in this research, his cousin’s wife Lysevyn birthed a soulless child. In a rage, Ghyrrshyld tore the silent child from its mother’s arms and stormed to the meeting chamber of the Consulate Court with the infant. Ghyrrshyld held the soulless newborn aloft and declaimed
40
– 10 – YES
DEATHWALKER SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 3 4 3 14 10 5 FA C
BASE:SMALL
DEATHWALKER UNDEAD BREATH TAKER – Living enemy models suffer
–2 STR and DEF while in this model’s command range. DARK RESTORATION – If Goreshade is disabled while in this model’s command range, this model is destroyed and 1 damage point is removed from Goreshade. GHOSTLY – This model can advance through terrain and obstacles without penalty and can advance through obstructions if it has enough movement to move completely past them. It cannot be targeted by free strikes.
TACTICAL TIPS Dark Restoration – Remember, if a damage point is removed from a disabled model, the model is no longer disabled. Dark Summons – The Bane Warriors can activate normally this turn. Deathwalk – Because the boxed model is removed from play before being destroyed, it does not generate a soul or corpse token.
his peers as cowards. Then he dashed the child’s skull on the stone floor before his horrified audience. This atrocity did indeed spur the nobles to action, though not as he intended, as Ios plunged into civil war. Despite years of political strife, Ghyrrshyld remained fixed on his research. He seized hundreds of soulless infants and subjected them to monstrous experiments. In his singlemindedness, Ghyrrshyld conducted similar ghoulish trials on normal children as well. When his adversaries discovered the gruesome truth, they united to breach his fortress compound. In the final battle Ghyrrshyld was mortally wounded and narrowly escaped. He crept into the forbidden ruin of Eversael and, on the brink of death, let himself be transformed into an eldritch, a monstrous undead abomination called Goreshade. Knowing he would be hunted, he fled Ios, eventually reaching the Nightmare Empire of Cryx. There he made obeisance before Iron Lich Asphyxious, pledging to serve the Dragonfather. Such oaths meant little to Goreshade, who sought primarily to study the necromantic lore of Cryx. Soon, though, his arcane prowess impressed even the masters of the dead, who entrusted armies of thralls to him. With every life he took, a cursed spirit was dragged from the void to steal his enemies’ breath and grant him unnatural vitality. When not distracted by study or slaughter, Goreshade stared into the night sky, remembering when he nearly seized control of a nation to save its people. Then he would be reminded he was just another general among the legions of the Dragonfather.
41
GORESHADE THE CURSED CRYX WARCASTER
By becoming an eldritch, the Iosan undead known as Goreshade gained insight into the origins of the void from which banes spring and which he believes may be attracting the souls of dead Iosans. Mastery of this lore irrevocably altered his perception of reality. With the additional necromantic knowledge of Cryx, he came to believe the ailing Iosan gods had to be removed from Caen, even if that meant their destruction. None of his own people could face the possibility that their salvation required their living gods to die, but Goreshade persisted in his determination to see this great and terrible work completed. He used the armies of Cryx for his own ends, playing a dangerous game with the immortal powers of the Nightmare Empire.
FOCUS: 7 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 7 7 4 15 16 8
GORESHADE 2
VOASS RNG POW P+S 2 8 15 DAMAGE:17 WJ +28
FA C
BASE:MEDIUM
GORESHADE 2 IMMUNITY: COLD UNDEAD ARCANE CONSUMPTION – When an enemy model declares it is casting a spell while in this model’s command range, the enemy spellcaster immediately suffers d3 damage points and this model can remove d3 damage points. If the enemy spellcaster is destroyed as a result of this damage, the spell does not take effect. TACTICIAN [BANE] – While in this model’s command range, friendly Bane models can ignore other friendly Bane models when determining LOS. Friendly Bane models can advance through other friendly Bane models in this model’s command range if they have enough movement to move completely past them.
VOASS DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL FREEZE – A model hit by this weapon becomes
stationary for one round unless it has Immunity: Cold .
FEAT: REANIMATOR Goreshade bolsters his mastery of death magic with profane lore otherwise forgotten. As part of a dark accounting he balances the scales of death by snuffing the animating force of one soldier to grant its spark to another. Remove one or more friendly Faction warrior models currently in Goreshade’s control range from play. For each model removed, return one destroyed noncharacter friendly Faction warrior model to play completely within Goreshade’s control range. Place returned trooper models in formation with their original units. Returned models forfeit their Combat Actions the turn they return to play.
SPELLS ABYSSAL GATE
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF 3
8
–
12
–
YES
When Abyssal Gate damages an enemy non-warcaster, non-warlock model, after the attack is resolved you can place the enemy model anywhere completely within 3˝ of its current location. A model can be placed by Abyssal Gate only once per turn. CURSE OF SHADOWS
3
8
–
–
UP YES
Target model/unit suffers –2 ARM and cannot make free strikes. A model can advance through an affected model if it has enough movement to move completely past its base. HEX BLAST
3 10 3 13 – YES
Enemy upkeep spells and animi on the model/unit directly hit by Hex Blast immediately expire. MIRAGE
2
6 –
– UP NO
Target friendly Faction model/unit gains Apparition. (During your Control Phase, place models with Apparition anywhere completely within 2˝ of their current locations.) OCCULTATION
2
6 –
– UP NO
Target friendly Faction model/unit gains Stealth . Models are not affected while out of formation.
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Although some of Goreshade’s actions brought him perilously close to defying the lich lords of Cryx, he convinced his superiors he remained faithful to Lord Toruk. Several of the eldritch’s actions would put his standing in jeopardy were they known, in particular his temporary alliance with the forces of the dragon Ethrunbal, to whom he revealed the hiding place of the dragon Pyromalfic; such intelligence should certainly have been given to Lich Lord Venethrax instead. Goreshade had no qualms about these schemes, however, as he believed this act necessary to gain information regarding the location of one of the last surviving Iosan gods, Nyssor, Scyir of Winter. The chance to confront this divinity was worth any risk. The vault of the god had been secured by Nyss refugees seeking asylum below the catacombs of the great Morrowan cathedral in Korsk. Goreshade slaughtered its defenders to confront the Father of Winter, intending to extinguish the immortal flame within. This act of deicide proved far more difficult than he anticipated, and humans drove him from the cathedral before he could complete the task. As he fled he pulled the god-blade Voass from Nyssor’s frozen fingers, and the god invoked a curse that marked the eldritch as a blasphemer and heretic. Goreshade accepted this curse as his burden and believed the stolen weapon would allow him a better outcome when next he faced either Scyrah or Nyssor. Once those two gods were gone, he hoped to commence the process of salvation for the elves—or their souls, should they perish before he had reached his goal. Goreshade’s eyes burn with a fire all the more terrifying for his unshakable conviction. Even if his people refuse his notion of salvation, he intends to bring it to them by force. He stands ready to unmake Caen if he must. He sees no contradiction in destroying the world to save countless immortal souls.
TACTICAL TIPS Hex Blast – Because they expire immediately, upkeep spells and animi that had an effect when the model/ unit was hit or damaged will have no effect. Mirage – Remember, troopers must be placed in formation. Reanimator – Remember, you cannot return models to a unit that has been completely destroyed. Remove all damage from returned models. Tactician – Remember, a model is within its own command range.
43
GORESHADE, LORD OF RUIN CRYX WARCASTER
Unquestionably the most influential Iosan to have ever lived, the eldritch and would-be god-slayer Goreshade has for decades sought nothing less than the salvation, restoration, and liberation of his people from the gods themselves. For decades he amassed knowledge and raw power so he could shake the people of Ios from their death spiral of apathy and spiritual dissolution. Though Goreshade was dealt a mortal blow in the civil war that followed, he managed to sustain himself not out of the fear of his own passing, which impels so many of the craven eldritch to seek to extend their lives past death, but out of an overpowering need to see his greater work completed.
FOCUS: 7 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 8 7 7 4 14 17 8
GORESHADE 3
VOASS RNG POW P+S 2 8 15
MOUNT RNG POW 0.5 12 DAMAGE:17 WJ +27
FA C
After turning the machinations of the Nightmare Empire to his own ends, by 609 AR Goreshade came closer than ever to achieving his mission, thwarted only by the efforts of ignorant mortals who could not fathom his purposes. In a desperate attempt to salvage his plans he was forced to turn to some of his most deeply hidden contingencies.
BASE:LARGE
GORESHADE 3 CAVALRY IMMUNITY: COLD UNDEAD REPOSITION [3˝] – At the end of an activation in which
it did not run or fail a charge, this model can advance up to 3˝, then its activation ends. SPELL VORTEX – If an enemy model cast a spell in this model’s control range last turn, this model can cast one spell without spending focus during its activation this turn.
VOASS DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL FREEZE – A model hit by this weapon becomes
stationary for one round unless it has Immunity: Cold .
FEAT: WINTER’S GRASP As proof that he is truly the Lord of Ruin, Goreshade reaches inside Voass to steal the Father of Winter’s divine power for his own profane use. With a sweep of the frozen blade Goreshade’s enemies are seized in an unyielding grip, rendered helpless and vulnerable. Center 3˝ AOEs on any number of friendly Faction non-warcaster warrior models currently in Goreshade’s control range. Enemy models within an AOE become stationary for one round unless they have Immunity: Cold , then the models the AOEs are centered on are destroyed.
SPELLS INFERNAL MACHINE
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF 2
6
–
–
UP
NO
Target warjack in the spellcaster’s battlegroup gains Murderous and +2 SPD. (A model with Murderous gains an additional die on melee attack rolls against warrior models.) MOCKERY OF LIFE
2
CTRL
–
–
–
NO
Return one destroyed undead Grunt to a friendly Faction unit with one unmarked damage box. Place the returned Grunt in the spellcaster’s control range, in formation, and completely within 3˝ of another model in its unit. The Grunt must forfeit its Combat Action the turn it is returned to play. OCCULTATION
2
6 –
– UP NO
Target friendly Faction model/unit gains Stealth . Models are not affected while out of formation. SCYTHING TOUCH
2
6
–
–
UP
NO
Target friendly Faction model gains Dark Shroud. (While in the melee range of a model with Dark Shroud, enemy models suffer –2 ARM.) SIPHON BOLT
3
8
–
13
–
YES
When this spell hits an enemy model with 1 or more focus or fury points on it, that model loses 1 focus or fury point and the spellcaster gains 1 focus point. Spellcasters without the Focus Manipulation special rule cannot gain focus as a result of Siphon Bolt.
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Goreshade went to great lengths to intercept the frozen vault of Nyssor but ultimately failed, as the Retribution of Scyrah had thrown all of its considerable resources into the vault’s recovery. Though this loss might have seemed a setback to Goreshade, his service to Cryx had taught him to see beyond short-term victories and losses. By bringing Nyssor into Ios and to the Fane of Scyrah, the Retribution had in fact set the stage for Goreshade to confront both of the surviving elven gods. Without delay Goreshade changed his plans, seeking to bring an end to both Nyssor and Scyrah at once, an act by which he intended to dispel the doom threatening his people. He anticipated that their destruction would open the Veld to the children of the gods, allowing them to assume leadership over this spiritual dominion and establishing an empire in Urcaen to outlast the world of the living. He saw himself as the inevitable immortal ruler of this restored afterlife. To most, such messianic ambitions would seem like madness, but Goreshade is a unique being. More than any mortal arcanist, he has come to understand the nature of the threshold between the worlds of the living and the dead. Armed with mystical secrets terrifying in their implications, Goreshade possessed the instruments required to bring his plan to fruition, including powerful relics he tainted and corrupted for his own ends. All that remained was to assemble the pawns to reach his objective and complete his ultimate blasphemy. He breached the borders of Ios and once more entered Eversael, the dark catacombs of his transformation to undeath. There he recruited the other eldritch to his cause, and with them at his side he marched to Shyrr, the capital, even as Ios was beset by war with the invading skorne. All of the events of his life and unlife conspired to place him just where he was needed to fulfill his destiny, though the outcome would prove far different than he had anticipated.
TACTICAL TIPS Mockery of Life – Remember, the Grunt can activate normally with its unit this turn. If all models in the Grunt’s unit have been destroyed, it cannot be placed within 3˝ of a model in its unit and therefore cannot return to play.
45
MASTER NECROTECH MORTENEBRA & DERYLISS CRYX WARCASTER & CRYX SKARLOCK THRALL SOLO FOCUS: 7 MORTENEBRA 1 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 7 6 4 15 16 8
SCAVENGER RNG POW P+S 2 5 12 DAMAGE:16 WJ +24
FA C
BASE:MEDIUM
MORTENEBRA 1 PATHFINDER UNDEAD INTERFACE – While B2B with this model, a warjack in
its battlegroup can spend focus points on it. REPAIR [d3 + 3] (HACTION) – RNG B2B. Target friendly Faction construct model. If the model is in range, remove d3 + 3 damage points from it. SOUL TAKER: CULL SOUL – This model can gain soul tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed within 2˝ of this model, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. After this model replenishes its focus during your next Control Phase, replace each soul token with 1 focus point. STEADY – This model cannot become knocked down.
FEAT: RECALIBRATION
SPELLS
Master Necrotech Mortenebra is a virtuoso of the twisted occult science that gave rise to the war machines of Cryx. By extending her power she can impart mechanical perfection to her entire army to maximize their killing efficiency. Though some would protest that the walking dead need no encouragement for slaughter, Mortenebra contends there is always room for improvement.
OVERRUN
While in Mortenebra’s control range, friendly Faction models can reroll attack and damage rolls this turn. Each roll can be rerolled only once as a result of Recalibration.
SPELLS DOOM SPIRAL
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF 2
8
–
12
–
YES
When Doom Spiral damages a warjack that is part of a battlegroup, its controller suffers d3 damage points. JUMPSTART
1 SELF CTRL –
– NO
Models in the spellcaster’s battlegroup that are currently in its control range stand up and are no longer stationary. Affected models can turn to face any direction. Models that were knocked down this turn are not affected by Jumpstart.
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF 2
6
–
– TURN NO
When target model in the spellcaster’s battlegroup destroys one or more enemy models with an attack, immediately after the attack is resolved one model in the spellcaster’s battlegroup that is in its control range can make a full advance, then Overrun expires. A model can advance only once per turn as a result of Overrun. Overrun lasts for one turn. SACRIFICIAL LAMB 1
CTRL
–
–
–
NO
Remove one friendly Faction warrior model in the spellcaster’s control range from play. Each warjack in the spellcaster’s battlegroup that is currently in its control range gains 1 focus point. Sacrificial Lamb can be cast only once per activation. SPECTRAL STEEL
3
6
–
–
UP NO
Target warjack in the spellcaster’s battlegroup gains +2 ARM and Ghostly. (A model with Ghostly can advance through terrain and obstacles without penalty and can advance through obstructions if it has enough movement to move completely past them. It cannot be targeted by free strikes.) VOID GATE
3 10 3 13 RND YES
The AOE remains in play for one round. While in the AOE, enemy models cannot cast or channel spells.
SCAVENGER DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL
Master Necrotech Mortenebra has emerged from the smokebelching factories of Skell to lead her constructs to war. The living rarely get the chance to marvel long at her horrific appearance before her helljacks strike. Even Cryxians find her singularly cold, and her alien tone of voice and perfectly calculated cadence in speaking stand out even among such undead as the lich lords.
Undeterred by their platitudes, Mortenebra decided to take a more radical approach, though it would forever alienate her from the group that would evolve into the Convergence of Cyriss. She experimented on the necromechanikal lords of Cryx, which, to her analytical mind, provided the closest parallel to the cult’s work. She recruited cult members loyal to her to craft a meticulous trap, and she chose her prey carefully.
Cryxian necrotechs look upon Mortenebra with almost religious adoration. They honor her with many epithets— the Fleshless Maiden, the Mistress of Precision, the Cruel Shaper. These titles merely amuse her, for they echo those given to the goddess she once served: Cyriss, the Maiden of Gears. Mortenebra reigns supreme over her dominion; any necrotech impertinent enough to present her with flawed engineering quickly joins the mistake on the scrapheap.
Rumors she planted of a buried Orgoth library gained the attention of an ancient iron lich of Skell named Lorvetus. Though he obligingly took the bait, he proved difficult to subdue and murdered most of her escort before Mortenebra could secure the creature for closer scrutiny. She then dissected the iron lich in her laboratory, working to isolate, extract, and examine its animating spirit. She took her detailed findings back to the cult’s main workshop along with the lich’s remains. Her peers blanched in horror as she suggested incorporating necromantic elements into their machinery.
In life Mortenebra was drawn to one of the first organized cults devoted to Cyriss, a goddess of machines and mathematics. She joined this cult over three hundred years ago, shortly after its founding, and contributed to some of its fundamental breakthroughs—notably the transfer of a sentient consciousness into a clockwork shell. She became dissatisfied with the organization’s progress and perceived flaws where others saw beauty. Mortenebra finally identified the issue that so troubled her: the creations did not possess true free will. Some external force exercised a subtle but undeniable control over the translated consciousness. Her peers accused her of paranoia when she presented her findings, and they dismissed her conclusions as palpable signs of Cyriss’ guiding hand.
46
The Cyrissists denounced Mortenebra and cast her out. Unbeknownst to them, she retained loyal agents within the organization who would conspire against their superiors. When the cult finally succeeded in transferring a priest’s
TACTICAL TIPS Jumpstart – Remember, a model cannot stand up during a turn in which it was knocked down. Soul Taker: Cull Soul – A model can have more focus points than its FOCUS as a result of Cull Soul. Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it. Steady – Remember, even if a thrown model cannot be knocked down, it must still forfeit its Normal Movement or Combat Action if it activates later in a turn it was thrown.
47
DERYLISS 1 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 6 5 3 14 14 6
MECHANO-CLAWS RNG POW P+S 0.5 4 10 DAMAGE:5 FA C
BASE:SMALL
ATTACHED [MORTENEBRA] – This model is attached to
Mortenebra. Each warcaster can have only one model/ unit attached to it.
DERYLISS 1 UNDEAD COMPANION [MASTER NECROTECH MORTENEBRA] –
This model is included in any army that includes Master Necrotech Mortenebra. If Mortenebra is destroyed or removed from play, remove this model from play. This model is part of Mortenebra’s battlegroup. MAGIC ABILITY [7] • SPELL SLAVE (HACTION OR ATTACK) – This model
must be in its warcaster’s control range to make the Spell Slave special action. When it does, it casts one of the spells on its warcaster’s card with a COST of 3 or less. This model cannot cast upkeep spells or spells with a RNG of SELF or CTRL. When casting an offensive spell, Spell Slave is a magic attack. Use this model’s Magic Ability score when making magic attack rolls. REPAIR [d3 + 1] (HACTION) – RNG B2B. Target friendly Faction construct model. If the model is in range, remove d3 + 1 damage points from it.
consciousness into a clockwork body, Mortenebra returned in force. She deactivated the guardians, slew all who opposed her, and fled with the clockwork priest to Cryx. Mortenebra offered everything she knew to the lords of Blackwater in exchange for asylum. The clockwork priest cursed her as necrotechs laid bare its inner mechanisms, before its consciousness was finally extinguished. In time she began to apply her theories to her own form, initiating her slow transformation into a unique iron lich variant. Mortenebra now manages to serve the lich lords without calling any one of them master. As efforts on the mainland escalated, she spent a great deal of time servicing the war efforts of both Terminus and Asphyxious. But while Asphyxious has escalated his demands for her services, she has never sworn oaths to him and remains autonomous. The master necrotech’s skarlock Deryliss constantly lurks by her side, lending its considerable skills wherever she travels. Mortenebra crafted Deryliss soon after she arrived in Cryx, and over the centuries she has refined it into an intelligent aide. Mortenebra has delegated to Deryliss some measure of her authority; the creature often speaks in her stead. For decades, Mortenebra has used Deryliss and other minions to collect various Orgoth relics, seizing them from old ruins and destroyed adversaries. Her past nearly forgotten, Mortenebra is now entirely a creature of Cryx. Her specialized knowledge and machine empathy grant her unique insight into Cryxian necro-horrors. Mortenebra can synchronize her will with the helljacks at her command to create a terrifying army that moves as a virtual extension of her unfathomably complex mind.
TACTICAL TIPS Magic Ability – Performing a Magic Ability special action or special attack counts as casting a spell. Spell Slave – This model cannot cast spells if its warcaster is destroyed or removed from play. Spell Slave does not confer the ability to channel spells as a warcaster.
48
49
MORTENEBRA, NUMEN OF NECROGENESIS CRYX WARCASTER
FOCUS: 7 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 8 6 4 14 17 9
MORTENEBRA 2
CLAW RNG POW P+S 2 6 14 DAMAGE:19 WJ +27
FA C
BASE:LARGE
MORTENEBRA 2 CONSTRUCT PATHFINDER UNDEAD FIELD MARSHAL [SALVAGE] – Warjacks in this model’s
battlegroup gain Salvage. SALVAGE – When a warjack is destroyed while in this
model’s melee range, remove d6 damage points from this model. If the destroyed warjack was a heavy warjack or a colossal, remove +3 additional damage points from this model. SOUL TAKER: CULL SOUL – This model can gain soul tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed within 2˝ of this model, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. After this model replenishes its focus during your next Control Phase, replace each soul token with 1 focus point. STEADY – This model cannot become knocked down.
CLAW DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL
FEAT: MECHANISM OF DESTRUCTION Under the dissecting eyes of the Numen of Necrogenesis, vulnerabilities in the enemy’s defenses become obvious. With her superlative guidance the warjacks she commands work in concert to unerringly find their marks and wreak wholesale devastation. While in Mortenebra’s command range, models in her battlegroup gain Flank [another model in Mortenebra’s battlegroup]. Mechanism of Destruction lasts for one turn. (When a model with Flank [another model in Mortenebra’s battlegroup] makes a melee attack against an enemy model in the melee range of another model in Mortenebra’s battlegroup, the model with Flank gains +2 to attack rolls and gains an additional damage die.)
SPELLS ARCANTRIK BOLT
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF 2
10
–
12
* YES
A warjack damaged by this attack becomes stationary for one round. CURSE OF SHADOWS
3
8
–
–
UP YES
Target model/unit suffers –2 ARM and cannot make free strikes. A model can advance through an affected model if it has enough movement to move completely past its base. FAIL-SAFE
2
6 –
– UP NO
Target friendly Faction warjack gains +2 ARM and does not suffer the effects of crippled systems. LOCOMOTION
*
6 – – – NO
The spellcaster spends up to 3 focus points to cast Locomotion. Target warjack in the spellcaster’s battlegroup immediately advances up to 1˝ for each focus point spent. A warjack can be targeted by Locomotion only once per activation. SPELLPIERCER
2 SELF CTRL – TURN NO
While in the spellcaster’s control range, the weapons of friendly Faction models/units gain Blessed and Damage Type: Magical . Spellpiercer lasts for one turn.
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Mortenebra is the dark mistress of the Cryxian war industry. With her cold and penetrating mind, she has worked behind the scenes to further the development of the Nightmare Empire’s necromechanikal horrors. She operates at all times with a clinical dispassion, commanding her helljacks to slaughter with the same inhuman calculus employed in her experimentation. When Lich Lord Asphyxious established his extensive necrofactorium beneath the Thornwood, he entrusted Mortenebra with much of the base’s operations, including interactions with the local cephalyx, with which the complex shared its network of tunnels and workshops. When allied forces from Khador and Cygnar discovered and subsequently destroyed the structure, some of her research was lost in the retreat from the tunnels. For Mortenebra, however, these setbacks were insignificant compared to the limitless opportunities she gained by directly participating in the conflicts on the mainland. For too long she had toiled in the factories of Skell, far from the enemies of the Nightmare Kingdom and the wars they waged. Now, with the chance to observe her creations in battle, Mortenebra’s dark mind has been stirred to new heights of exhilaration. Driven to seek insights through the crucible of combat, she has continued to augment her own physical form through iterative reimaginings of her mechanikal frame. With each new body, she strives to attain perfection, keeping the spare constructs on hand to allow for the quick transition from one to the next as her needs change. When preparing for battle, the Numen of Necrogenesis dons an imposing iron frame so that she can conduct analysis in the midst of combat without fear of enduring critical damage or, worse, distraction. Though her work has continued within new necrofactoriums established across the Wyrmwall Mountains and elsewhere, Mortenebra spends an increasing amount of time on expeditions seeking new knowledge and resources vital to advancing the Cryxian war industry and her own pursuits. Thus it is that she regularly clashes with the forces of the Convergence of Cyriss, the machine cult to which she once belonged. In recent years the Convergence has increased its activities exponentially, constructing facilities over key locations across western Immoren to harvest the energies of Caen. Mortenebra seeks any opportunity to fight the cult, both to test her own capabilities and to plunder their technological advancements and adapt them to her own use. Those cultists she does not slay outright suffer long, drawnout deaths as she disassembles their clockwork bodies within her workshop before stripping useful information from their minds.
TACTICAL TIPS Fail-Safe – When all its damage boxes have been marked, the warjack is still destroyed as normal. Soul Taker: Cull Soul – A model can have more focus points than its FOCUS as a result of Cull Soul. Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it. Steady – Remember, even if a thrown model cannot be knocked down, it must still forfeit its Normal Movement or Combat Action if it activates later in a turn it was thrown.
51
LORD EXHUMATOR SCAVEROUS CRYX WARCASTER
FOCUS: 7 SCAVEROUS 1 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 8 6 4 14 17 7
AVERNUS RNG POW P+S 2 6 14 DAMAGE:18 WJ +27
FA C
BASE:MEDIUM
SCAVEROUS 1 UNDEAD KNOWLEDGE OF THE DAMNED – When a model in its
control range makes an attack or damage roll, this model can spend a soul token to cause that model to reroll that roll. Each roll can be rerolled only once due to Knowledge of the Damned. SOUL TAKER: CULL SOUL – This model can gain soul tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed within 2˝ of this model, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. After this model replenishes its focus during your next Control Phase, replace each soul token with 1 focus point.
AVERNUS DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL THRESHER (HATTACK) – This model makes one melee
attack with this weapon against each model in its LOS that is in this weapon’s melee range. Thresher attacks are simultaneous.
FEAT: BLACK GATE
SPELLS
Through profane rites known by only a few masters of necromancy, Lord Exhumator Scaverous tears an opening in the shroud between life and death to release a backlash of foul energies inimical to life. This unholy surge empowers the magic of death wielded by his allies while hindering the feeble arcane efforts of his enemies.
FEAST OF WORMS 4 10 4 12 UP YES
While in Scaverous’ control range, friendly Faction models gain boosted magic attack rolls. When Scaverous casts a spell, reduce the COST of the spell by 1. When an enemy model casts a spell while in Scaverous’ control range, increase the COST by 1. Black Gate lasts for one round.
ICY GRIP
SPELLS DEATH WARD
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF 2
EXCARNATE
–
–
UP
NO
3 10 – 13 – YES
When a living enemy warrior model is boxed by Excarnate, remove it from play. You can then add one Grunt to a friendly Faction smallbased undead unit in the spellcaster’s control range. Place the Grunt in formation and completely within 3˝ of the spellcaster. The Grunt must forfeit its Combat Action the turn it is put into play.
Soldiers of the Iron Kingdoms hope that if they die in battle, their suffering will quickly end. Those who fall beneath the reaping blade of Scaverous, the Lord Exhumator of Cryx, are denied that final wish. The souls of the dead furnish both ammunition and fuel for Scaverous. Those slain and cast aside are fortunate compared to any possessed of special lore, whose skulls and souls he preserves for horrific necromantic interrogation. Scaverous has served the Nightmare Empire for centuries. Bestowed with the gift of undeath for his obsession with and skillful pursuit of knowledge, Scaverous was put to work first in the Archive of Skell and later abroad to gather intelligence. He spent decades specializing in those exacting necromantic arts required to unbind the tongues of the dead, manifesting their shades from echoes left on their bones and compelling them to answer to his questions. Undead immortality has given Scaverous the potential to learn every secret that has ever existed. He is willing to pay any price for that sum of knowledge. His master, Lich Lord Malathrax, has observed his efforts with approval. Through carefully inscribed runes and the manipulation of the energies separating Caen from Urcaen, Scaverous can compel virtually any spirit to give up its memories. He stands at the forefront of the uniquely Cryxian discipline of forensic necromancy. When the Orgoth immolated themselves rather than fall to Toruk’s armies, Scaverous was sent to assist Terminus in ransacking the ruins of Drer Drakkerung. The smoldering corpses yielded a rich harvest. It was largely through his efforts
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6
Target friendly Faction model/unit gains +2 ARM. If an affected warjack is damaged, choose which column suffers the damage. Models are not affected while out of formation.
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF
While in the AOE, enemy models suffer –2 ARM. When a living enemy model is destroyed in the AOE, the spellcaster gains the destroyed model’s soul token regardless of the proximity of other models. The AOE remains in play as long as upkeep is paid. 2
8
–
–
UP YES
Target warrior model/unit without Immunity: Cold suffers –2 DEF and cannot run or make power attacks or special attacks. SOUL HARVESTER 2
6
–
–
UP NO
When target friendly Faction model/unit destroys a living enemy model with a melee attack, the spellcaster gains the destroyed model’s soul token regardless of the proximity of other models. TELEKINESIS 2 8 – – – *
Place target model completely within 2˝ of its current location. When Telekinesis targets an enemy model, it is an offensive spell and requires a magic attack roll. A model can be placed by Telekinesis only once per turn.
that so much of the Orgoth’s terrible occult secrets fell into the hands of Cryx. When the design of the soul cage was extricated from the souls of the Orgoth, the power of the Nightmare Empire grew incalculably. Whenever Lich Lord Malathrax requires the retrieval of valuable corpses or other well-protected necromantic items, he sends Scaverous and his helljacks. Scaverous keeps a number of his favored repositories—the skulls of his subjects—with him at all times, safely tucked within his ribcage. He often plots with them, replying to voices only he can hear. Secretly he longs to gain access to the skulls of Cryx’s own lich lords, each of whom he knows to be a trove of accumulated occult lore, though he takes care to keep such desires hidden. Scaverous feels no qualms about indulging in carnage, as the living are utterly uninteresting to him; they cannot be properly processed until they are dead. Moreover, it is often expedient to pry secrets from a freshly gathered soul. For him, the pursuit of knowledge more than justifies any so-called atrocity.
TACTICAL TIPS Excarnate – The boxed model does not provide a soul or corpse token. The new Grunt can activate the turn it is put into play. Feast of Worms – Cull Soul converts tokens gained from Feast of Worms into focus points. Soul Harvester – Cull Soul converts these soul tokens to focus points. Soul Taker: Cull Soul – A model can have more focus points than its FOCUS as a result of Cull Soul. Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it. Thresher – These attacks are not optional.
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PIRATE QUEEN SKARRE CRYX SATYXIS WARCASTER
Skarre Ravenmane, called the Pirate Queen, is the bloodthirsty ruler of the Satyxis, the warrior women of the island of Satyx blighted by ancient dragon blood to become something more than human. Her ship, the Widower, strikes along the western coast frequently and without apparent rhyme or reason. Following the guidance of mystical omens revealed to her through rites of slaughter and bloodletting, she braves the storm and lands ashore to deliver panic and grief. For decades anxious mainland admirals and captains entrusted to guard the coastline have tried and failed to predict her movements. Any foolish enough to confront her directly have been destroyed to fuel her legend.
FOCUS: 6 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 7 6 7 4 16 15 9
SKARRE 1
TAKKARYX RNG POW P+S 1 7 13
BLOODWYRM RNG POW P+S 0.5 3 9
Without warning she disgorges undead forces and helljacks from the black hull of her vessel to obliterate any resistance. She withdraws with equal speed and leaves ruin and chaos as her legacy. Even the Orgoth feared the Satyxis reaver witches. Few know better than Skarre the power of shed blood, for she is able to invoke acidic rains and project gouts of hellfire from her fingertips.
GREAT RACK RNG POW P+S 0.5 4 10 DAMAGE:16 WJ +28
FA C
BASE:SMALL
SKARRE 1 SACRIFICIAL STRIKE (HACTION) – RNG CMD. Target
a model in this model’s LOS. If that model is in range, remove one friendly Faction trooper model within 1˝ of this model from play. The target model suffers an unboostable magical damage roll with POW equal to the base ARM of the removed model.
TAKKARYX DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL LIFE TRADER – When an attack with this weapon
hits, this model can suffer 1 damage point to gain an additional die on the damage roll against the model hit. Life Trader can be used only once per attack.
BLOODWYRM DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL LIFE DRINKER – When it destroys a living enemy
model with this weapon, immediately after the attack is resolved this model can remove d3 damage points.
GREAT RACK KNOCKDOWN – When a model is hit by an attack with
this weapon, it becomes knocked down.
FEAT: BLOOD MAGIC As the dark queen of the Broken Coast, Skarre Ravenmane wields her natural powers of the ancient, island-born black magic with ease. She hesitates at nothing, even sacrificing her own blood to imbue her followers with dark power to enhance their abilities. Skarre immediately suffers any number of damage points. For each damage point suffered as a result of Blood Magic, one friendly Faction model currently in her control range gains +5 STR and ARM for one round. This model cannot spend focus points to reduce this damage.
SPELLS BACKLASH
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF 3
8
–
– UP YES
When target enemy warjack that is part of a battlegroup is damaged, its controller suffers 1 damage point. BLOOD RAIN
3
8
3
12
–
YES
Blood Rain causes corrosion damage . Models hit suffer the Corrosion continuous effect DARK GUIDANCE
4 SELF CTRL – TURN NO
While in the spellcaster’s control range, friendly Faction models gain an additional die on their melee attack rolls this turn. HELLFIRE
3 10 – 14 – YES
Models disabled by Hellfire cannot make a Tough roll. Models boxed by Hellfire are removed from play. RITUAL SACRIFICE
2
6
–
–
* NO
Remove target friendly warrior model from play. Skarre gains d6 additional focus points at the start of her next activation. Skarre can gain the benefit of Ritual Sacrifice only once per round.
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Sacrifice is vital to Skarre’s dark magic. She carries with her a millennia-old ritual dagger she uses to drain the energies binding her comrades together—living or dead, willing or captive—to fuel its enchantments. Alive with stolen essence, the blade can unleash a powerful curse upon Skarre’s foes. She is swift to employ her dagger to wrack her victims with gut-wrenching pain that leaves behind twisted, broken corpses. Skarre seized dominion over the Satyxis through strength and cunning. Her bloodline is famed among them, as her mother ruled before her, but for the Satyxis the right to lead is proven in battle, not inherited. Even as a youth she took to the waves and dominated her kind through the power of her magic and the strength of her will. She has the power to see patterns in the spray of freshly spilled blood, visions granted by sacrifice and pain. She has made a point of destroying any who would dare plot against her. Cryxian intrigues have occasionally caught her in the subtle and dangerous games of the lich lords, who view her as an effective weapon and a living pawn. Her true loyalty has always been to the Dragonfather, not to any single lich lord. Skarre reads portents and auguries in every kill and claims Lord Toruk speaks to her through the entrails of her victims. Through these signs she steers the Widower to private ports of call to trade blood, steal coin, and sell depravity. Children cling tightly to their mothers when the fog thickens along the Broken Coast, for the dreaded pirate queen may be hiding within.
TACTICAL TIPS Sacrificial Strike – This special action is not an attack.
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SKARRE, QUEEN OF THE BROKEN COAST CRYX SATYXIS WARCASTER FOCUS: 7 SKARRE 2 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 7 6 7 5 16 15 9
LIFE TRADER – When an attack with this weapon
RNG ROF AOE POW 12 1 — 12
GREAT RACK
FEAT: FATE WEAVER
RNG POW P+S 0.5 4 10
The Queen of the Broken Coast knows the deepest secrets of blood magic, sacrificial rites, and blasphemous rituals that can twist and pull the very strands of fate. She has learned to pluck those strands binding souls to their destinies to shield her allies from harm and to render those who oppose her ineffectual.
GUN BLADE RNG POW P+S 0.5 3 9
TAKKARYX RNG POW P+S 1 7 13 DAMAGE:16 FA C
SPELLS
DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL
hits, this model can suffer 1 damage point to gain an additional die on the damage roll against the model hit. Life Trader can be used only once per attack.
HAND CANNON
WJ +26
TAKKARYX
BASE:SMALL
SKARRE 2 BLOOD TRADE – This model can upkeep spells by
suffering 1 damage point per spell instead of spending focus. FIELD MARSHAL [FUTURE SIGHT] – Warjacks in this model’s battlegroup gain Future Sight. FUTURE SIGHT – This model can boost attack and damage rolls after rolling.
Skarre immediately suffers up to 5 damage points. This model cannot spend focus points to reduce this damage. For each damage point she suffers as a result of Fate Weaver, one model currently in her control range can be affected by Fate Weaver. An affected friendly model cannot be targeted by charges and gains +5 DEF for one round. An affected enemy model suffers –5 to attack rolls for one round. This model cannot spend focus points to reduce this damage.
SPELLS ADMONITION
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF 2
6
–
– UP NO
When an enemy model advances and ends its movement within 6˝ of target model in the spellcaster’s battlegroup, the affected model can immediately advance up to 3˝, then Admonition expires. The affected model cannot be targeted by free strikes during this movement.
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF
BACKLASH
3
8
–
–
UP YES
When target enemy warjack that is part of a battlegroup is damaged, its controller suffers 1 damage point. BLACK SPOT
3
8
–
–
UP YES
Target enemy warrior model/unit suffers –2 DEF. When a friendly Faction model destroys one or more affected models with a basic melee or ranged attack during its activation, immediately after the attack is resolved it can make one additional melee or ranged attack. Attacks gained from Black Spot cannot generate additional attacks from Black Spot. BLOOD RAIN
3 8 3 12 – YES
Blood Rain causes corrosion damage . Models hit suffer the Corrosion continuous effect . DEATH WARD
2
6
–
–
UP
NO
Target friendly Faction model/unit gains +2 ARM. If an affected warjack is damaged, choose which column suffers the damage. Models are not affected while out of formation. SOUL STRIKE
3
10
–
12
–
YES
When a living model is directly hit and destroyed by Soul Strike, after resolving the attack you can choose one model within 4˝ of the destroyed model. That model suffers a damage roll with a POW equal to the ARM of the destroyed model. This additional damage roll is not considered to have been caused by an attack.
GREAT RACK KNOCKDOWN – When a model is hit by an attack with
this weapon, it becomes knocked down.
Not long ago, Skarre Ravenmane was only an instrument of fate carried in the swirling currents of destiny, but the momentous events that have caught her up have given her perspective into the occult webs that entangle every soul. Her abilities have placed the Queen of the Broken Coast at the fore of Cryx’s ongoing wars as she sows devastation along the shores of Immoren. Skarre stood at the center of the tumultuous battles between lich lords that began with the destruction of Lich Lord Daeamortus, led to the ascension of Asphyxious to that rank, and concluded with the titanic clash between Asphyxious and Terminus at Garrodh. As Asphyxious was scheming to augment his own power at the expense of Cryx and Lord Toruk, Skarre alone realized the true objective of his plans and acted to intercede. She succeeded in warning Lich Lord Daeamortus of the threat, but he proved too weak to thwart Asphyxious and was destroyed. Skarre joined Terminus when he marched on Temple Garrodh in the Thornwood to put an end to Asphyxious’ grandiose ambitions. Although Terminus’ forces ultimately triumphed, they won at great cost: in defeat Asphyxious invoked a spiteful revenge that banished Terminus from Caen even as the temple began to collapse. Tremendous energies exploded from the crumbling Orgoth temple. Surrounded by devastation, in a place where the
56
walls between life and death were stretched thinnest, Skarre experienced a rush of insight and power. She could trace the individual strands of destiny connecting the souls of the living and the dead in an ever-changing tapestry. She also saw the means to restore Terminus and repair the plans of the Dragonfather jeopardized by the clash between lich lords. This vision also allowed her to preserve herself as the structure imploded and began to collapse. Soon thereafter, Skarre combined her sorcery with the magic of the Witch Coven of Garlghast to open a portal between worlds, returning Terminus from his supernatural exile. Terminus accepted Skarre as his vassal and entrusted her with the command of the entire Cryxian fleet. She now has all the resources of a lich lord at her disposal as she leads an army of Satyxis, revenants, black ogrun, thralls, and helljacks in merciless destruction. No coastal city or village within Khador, Ord, Cygnar, or even the Protectorate of Menoth remains safe from her bloody gaze. Skarre is a scourge all along the western seaboard. Auguries of blood and shadow guide her hand, and with singular vision and inhuman ruthlessness she commands the Black Fleet toward whichever terrible destiny will best serve her and the Dragonfather. The Queen of the Broken Coast may be a creature of flesh and blood, but she stands on equal footing with immortals as she manipulates the tides of war.
57
STURGIS THE CORRUPTED CRYX WARCASTER
FOCUS: 6 STURGIS 2 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 6 7 5 15 16 8
RNG ROF AOE POW 12 1 — 12
BLADE (LEFT)
FEAT: DEAD ON ARRIVAL
RNG POW P+S 2 7 13
Amid a roiling maelstrom of necromantic darkness, the former commander Dalin Sturgis pulls the enemies around him closer before unleashing a surge of entropic energy. The death energies from each of the fallen empowers his helljacks to finish any remaining foes.
BLADE (RIGHT) RNG POW P+S 2 7 13 DAMAGE:18 FA C
DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL DEATH STRIKE – If this attack destroys a living or
undead model, after resolving the attack choose a model within 4˝ of this model. The chosen model suffers a damage roll with a POW equal to the STR of the model destroyed by the attack.
HAND CANNON
WJ +31
TACTICAL TIPS BLADE (RIGHT)
BASE:SMALL
STURGIS 2 UNDEAD CHAIN ATTACK: DARK SHROUD – If this model hits the
same target with both its initial melee attacks, after resolving the attacks this model gains Dark Shroud for one turn. (While in the melee range of a model with Dark Shroud, enemy models suffer –2 ARM.) RELENTLESS CHARGE – While advancing as part of a charge, this model gains Pathfinder . REVERSAL – When a model misses this model with a charge or a power attack, the attacking model becomes knocked down. SNAP STRIKE – This model can make one additional attack with each melee weapon for each focus point spent to make additional attacks.
BLADE (LEFT) DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL SOUL TAKER: SOUL THIEF – This model can gain soul
tokens. When this model destroys a living enemy model with an attack with this weapon, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. When this model replenishes its focus during your next Control Phase, replace each soul token on it with 1 focus point.
Soul Taker: Soul Thief – Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it. Teleport – This model cannot be placed on or in an obstruction or in impassable terrain as a result of Teleport.
Enemy non-warcaster, non-warlock models in Sturgis’ control range are pushed 3˝ directly toward Sturgis in the order you choose. Then enemy models within 3˝ of Sturgis suffer a POW 12 magical damage roll . These damage rolls are simultaneous. For each model destroyed by Dead on Arrival, you can allocate 1 focus point to a warjack in Sturgis’ battlegroup in his control range.
SPELLS
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF
BLOOD RAIN
3 8 3 12 – YES
Blood Rain causes corrosion damage . Models hit suffer the Corrosion continuous effect . CONVECTION
2 10 – 12 – YES
When Convection destroys a living enemy model, you can give 1 focus point to a warjack in the spellcaster’s battlegroup that is in its control range. OCCULTATION
2
6
–
– UP NO
Target friendly Faction model/unit gains Stealth . Models are not affected while out of formation. PARASITE
3
8
–
–
UP YES
Target model/unit suffers –3 ARM and the spellcaster gains +1 ARM. TELEPORT
2 SELF – – – NO
Place the spellcaster anywhere completely within 6˝ of its current location, then its activation ends.
Much of the Nightmare Empire’s power derives from the losses of its rivals. Those who face Cryx are forever haunted by the sight of their brothers and sisters in arms resurrected in undeath to do battle against them, their corpses twisted by the grotesque toil of the necrotechs. While the desecration of the bodies of fallen soldiers is a horrific sacrilege, it pales in comparison with the capture and enslavement of an immortal soul. Such was the fate of Dalin Sturgis, a beloved hero of Cygnar. A renowned warcaster in the Cygnaran military, Sturgis was slain by the Butcher of Khardov during an operation deep within the Thornwood. His remains were recovered by Cryxians scouring the forest for its bounty of corpses and then brought before Lich Lord Malathrax. The lich lord performed ancient and foul rites to corrupt Sturgis’ flesh and capture his lingering spirit, wielding necromantic powers to reanimate Sturgis’ body and poison his mind against the living. Sturgis now serves Malathrax in his undead state, venturing forth to handle those situations that require a keen blade rather than the subtler skills of the Cryxian spymaster.
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Convection – A warjack cannot exceed normal focus limits as a result of Convection.
Soldiers whom Sturgis once led in battle now fall beneath the strokes of his bladed staff or wither under his necromantic powers. By concealing himself in a cloak of shadow and teleporting vast distances in the blink of an eye, Sturgis navigates the battlefield with ease. In life he was not only a fierce combatant but also a skilled tactician. In death, he has become a formidable weapon wielded by the lich lords. Much of Sturgis’ free will and personality were subverted by his undead state, though a portion of his former self remains buried within the confines of his mind. The few past acquaintances who have encountered the former commander are appalled by the corruption of such a noble man. Some have tried to appeal to the virtue he maintained in life, but in each case these individuals have been mocked and slain. Sturgis gives their deaths only a passing thought, recognizing their faces the moment before striking them down and pushing the memory from his mind. Yet these flashes of memory may hint at the fact that Sturgis will not always remain a puppet, for his will even in death is strong.
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LICH LORD TERMINUS CRYX WARCASTER
FOCUS: 6 TERMINUS 1 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 9 7 5 14 18 10
DRAGON FIRE RNG ROF AOE POW SP 10 1 — 14
SOUL TAKER: CULL SOUL – This model can gain soul tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed within 2˝ of this model, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. After this model replenishes its focus during your next Control Phase, replace each soul token with 1 focus point.
DRAGON FIRE DOOMSAYER RNG POW P+S 2 7 16
SCYTHING CLAW RNG POW P+S 0.5 5 14 DAMAGE:20 WJ +26
FA C
BASE:LARGE
CONTINUOUS EFFECT: CORROSION DAMAGE TYPE: CORROSION
DOOMSAYER DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL
ASSAULT FLIGHT UNDEAD SACRIFICIAL PAWN [UNDEAD MODEL] – When this model is directly hit by an enemy ranged attack, you can have one friendly, non-incorporeal undead model within 3˝ of it directly hit instead. That model is automatically hit and suffers all damage and effects. SHADOW OF DEATH – While in this model’s command range, friendly undead Faction models gain Tough .
CRITICAL PITCH – On a critical hit against a
model with an equal or smaller base, the model hit can be thrown d6˝ directly away from this model. The model thrown does not deviate. The POW of collateral damage is equal to the STR of this model.
When Terminus calls upon Toruk’s unholy name, he unleashes a dreadful howl that bathes the battlefield in malignant energy. The cacophony of evil devours the souls of the fallen while strengthening his own towering iron frame.
Models hit suffer a POW 10 damage roll. Models destroyed by Annihilation are removed from play and do not generate corpse tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed by Annihilation, the spellcaster gains the destroyed model’s soul token regardless of the proximity of other models. HELLFIRE
3 10 – 14 – YES
Models disabled by Hellfire cannot make a Tough roll. Models boxed by Hellfire are removed from play. 2 SELF – UP NO
*
While within 2˝ of the spellcaster, enemy models suffer –2 DEF and ARM. RAVAGER
2
6
–
– TURN NO
Target warjack in the spellcaster’s battlegroup gains Berserk for one turn. While affected by Ravager, a model cannot make Chain Attacks. (When a model with Berserk destroys one or more models with a melee attack during its Combat Action, immediately after the attack is resolved it must make one additional melee attack against another model in its melee range.)
When a living enemy model is destroyed in Terminus’ control range, Terminus gains the destroyed model’s soul token. Terminus gains +1 ARM for each soul token on him. Dragon’s Call lasts for one round.
Lord Terminus is the architect of a thousand plots and hidden wars. Towering over others who serve in the Dragon Lord’s shadow, this twisted abomination of blighted bone and hell-wrought iron has methodically fought in service to his master’s ambitions for centuries. Long ago, he who would come to be known as Terminus commanded the Dragonfather’s legions at the fortress called Dragon’s Roost, Cryx’s northernmost fortress and bastion for the fleet. It was there that Terminus began to internalize his master’s transfiguring blight. His body slowly swelled to immense size, and wings erupted from his back, tearing and distending skin and bone. As his flesh failed him, necrosurgeons replaced the cankerous portions of his body with necrotech and iron; no semblance of his previous form remained by the time Cryx launched its assault against the remnants of the Orgoth invasion at Garlghast Island. He joined the attack as an iron lich of already fearsome reputation. In the aftermath of Drer Drakkerung’s obliteration, Terminus rose to prominence in Toruk’s service. Together with Scaverous, another iron lich, Terminus led efforts to rip secrets from captured Orgoth, living and dead, and he worked to apply that knowledge to rebuilding Cryx’s devastated fleet and armies. Based on this lore, he oversaw the construction of the first Cryxian blackships. When the Dragonfather witnessed the fruits of Terminus’ many labors, he granted him the title of lich lord, elevating him to replace one of those lost in the great battle.
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COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF
ANNIHILATION 4 10 3 10 – YES
MALEDICTION
SCYTHING CLAW
FEAT: DRAGON’S CALL TERMINUS 1
SPELLS
With legions of thralls under his command, Lich Lord Terminus devoted himself to the conquest of the mainland. His agents throughout the Iron Kingdoms gathered information and searched for Toruk’s hated brood. Terminus conspired with his counterpart Daeamortus to orchestrate the Scharde Invasions of 584–588 AR. While Daeamortus established secret strongholds on the mainland, Terminus’ forces tested the defenses of the Iron Kingdoms, seeking to lay the foundation for their eventual destruction. It is a testament to Terminus’ ingenious plans that it wasn’t until 605 AR, during the Llaelese War, that Cryx’s enemies understood how the black fleet had managed to plant invasion forces so deep inside the mainland. Such is the strength of his dark majesty that Terminus can inspire even the dead. He leads hordes of thralls equally eager to kill or sacrifice their own existences in his accursed name. Though a meticulous strategist, Terminus transforms into a killing tempest on the battlefield. Gripped with unmitigated bloodlust and charging ahead of his legions, he is an unstoppable scythe consuming the souls of all who fall by his blade.
TACTICAL TIPS Annihilation – Cull Soul converts tokens gained from Annihilation into focus points. Dragon’s Call – Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it. Cull Soul converts tokens gained from Dragon’s Call into focus points. Soul Taker: Cull Soul – A model can have more focus points than its FOCUS as a result of Cull Soul. Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it.
61
LICH LORD VENETHRAX CRYX WARCASTER
Few outside the Nightmare Empire imagine the wars of mortals mean so little to the Dragonfather. They believe the armies of Cryx march forth with human motivations such as greed or love of bloodshed or carnage for its own sake, but these conflicts are as meaningless as the warring of ant hills to Toruk and his lich lords. Ultimately, only one purpose drives these immortals: the destruction of Toruk’s draconic brood, by which Toruk can once again be made whole.
FOCUS: 7 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 8 8 4 15 17 9
VENETHRAX 1
WYRMBANE RNG POW P+S 2 7 15 DAMAGE:18 WJ +26
FA C
BASE:MEDIUM
VENETHRAX 1 UNDEAD DISMEMBER – When this model hits a warbeast with a
melee attack, roll an additional damage die. FIELD MARSHAL [COUNTERCHARGE] – Warjacks in this model’s battlegroup gain Countercharge. (When an enemy model advances and ends its movement within 6˝ of a model with Countercharge and in its LOS, the model with Countercharge can immediately charge it. A model can use Countercharge only once per round and not while engaged.) SOUL TAKER: CULL SOUL – This model can gain soul tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed within 2˝ of this model, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. After this model replenishes its focus during your next Control Phase, replace each soul token with 1 focus point.
WYRMBANE DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL ERUPTION OF ASH – If a model is boxed by an attack
made with this weapon, center a 3˝ AOE cloud effect on the boxed model and then remove that model from play. The AOE is a hazard that remains in play for one round. Enemy models in the AOE when it was put in play are hit and suffer a POW 12 fire damage roll . Enemy models entering or ending their activations in the AOE suffer a POW 12 fire damage roll . Eruption of Ash damage rolls cannot be boosted.
FEAT: VENGEANCE OF THE DRAGONFATHER By unleashing a wave of draconic radiance Venethrax can prevent both machine and beast from drawing strength from their masters. Enemy models cannot allocate focus points to or leech fury points from models in Venethrax’s control range. Vengeance of the Dragonfather lasts for one round.
SPELLS BLOOD RAIN
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF 3
8
3
12
–
YES
Blood Rain causes corrosion damage . Models hit suffer the Corrosion continuous effect . DEADWEIGHT
2 8 – 12 * YES
When Deadweight destroys an enemy living or undead model, choose an enemy model within 2˝ of it. The chosen model must forfeit either its Normal Movement or its Combat Action during its next activation, as its controller chooses. LAMENTATION
3 SELF CTRL – UP NO
When an enemy model casts a spell while in the spellcaster’s control range, double the COST of the spell. Additionally, enemy models must pay double to upkeep spells on models/units in the spellcaster’s control range. MORTALITY
3
10
–
– RND YES
Target model/unit suffers –2 DEF and ARM, loses Tough , and cannot have damage removed from it. Mortality lasts for one round. TERMINAL VELOCITY
Lich Lord Venethrax is supremely well suited to root out and destroy the Dragonfather’s dark progeny. He is given to an obsessive, sometimes narrow focus on his duties, and his every thought is devoted to details of the draconic war. His web of agents is scattered across the mainland, listening for whispers of the dragons and their plans. His minions have gathered the corrupt lore of ancient Morrdh, studied tales of the dragon Ethrunbal’s defeat in Ios, and tracked Everblight’s Legion as it has carved a bloody path across western Immoren. Venethrax has conducted scores of operations on the mainland over the centuries. He has overseen the necropsy of countless blighted creatures and dispatched hundreds of loathsome spawn. Before the Orgoth landed in Immoren, he led a horde of thralls to root out one of Toruk’s progeny, Halfaug, after it was wounded in an earlier battle with Nyss and northmen. Although Venethrax was thwarted at the last by the wyrm’s resilience and tenacity and by the annihilation of the rest of his army, he nearly managed to best it. No other mortal-born creature walking Caen can claim to have personally confronted a dragon and fought it to a draw. Recent years have seen an acceleration in plans against Toruk’s offspring as efforts on the mainland have escalated. Late in 608 AR, Venethrax led a risky operation to secure the disembodied athanc of a defeated dragon champion named Nidoboros that had long lain hidden below the northern city of Hellspass. The lure of this prize stirred great powers to action—the blackclads of the Circle Orboros, Everblight’s growing Legion, the nation of Cygnar, and ultimately Blighterghast’s dragon alliance. Western Immoren was nearly torn asunder by the battles between these forces, during which several Cryxian armies were obliterated. In the end the athanc of Nidoboros was lost, but Lord Toruk annihilated the dragon Charsaug and consumed his athanc. This great victory would never have occurred if not for the tireless efforts of Lich Lord Venethrax. In the aftermath of this clash many of the dragons were injured, including Lord Toruk himself. It falls to Venethrax to bring additional victories to Toruk, pursuing the Dragonfather’s wounded progeny into their lairs until all are defeated. As each of the lich lords scrambles to prove his worth to his master, Venethrax stands at the forefront of this final war, poised to commit Cryx’s might against its only meaningful enemies.
3 SELF CTRL – TURN NO
Warjacks in the spellcaster’s battlegroup that are currently in its control range can charge or make power attacks without spending focus and gain boosted melee attack rolls against living models. When an affected model targets a living model with a charge or slam power attack, it gains +2˝ movement. Terminal Velocity lasts for one turn.
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In preparation for Lord Toruk and his undying horde striking against the treacherous dragons he spawned millennia ago, one of the twelve lich lords has always been charged with the collection of draconic lore, studying in particular rumors of the dragons’ movements and actions. Lich Lord Venethrax has long held this office, but he was not the first to do so; his predecessor’s tenure ended, only two centuries after the founding of Cryx, beneath the talons of the dragon Blighterghast. Venethrax, in contrast, has proven a tenacious adversary for the dragons, and he has dedicated fourteen centuries of his undying existence to Toruk’s wars.
TACTICAL TIPS Deadweight – Remember, a model that forfeits its Combat Action cannot run. Eruption of Ash – Because the boxed model is removed from play before being destroyed, it does not generate a soul or corpse token. Soul Taker: Cull Soul – A model can have more focus points than its FOCUS as a result of Cull Soul. Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it.
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THE WITCH COVEN OF GARLGHAST & EGREGORE CRYX WARCASTERS & CRYX SOLO HELLEANA 1, MORGAEN 1 & SELENE 1 FOCUS: * SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 4 5 4 16 13 8 RITUAL BLADE RNG POW P+S 0.5 3 7 DAMAGE: WJ +26
FA C
8 EACH BASE:SMALL
HELLEANA 1, MORGAEN 1 & SELENE 1 ARCANE NEXUS – When this model casts a spell, the
Egregore is the spell’s point of origin. This model must have LOS to the target, but the Egregore does not. All LOS modifiers are based on this model’s LOS. This model can channel spells normally. COVEN – The Witch Coven of Garlghast is made up of Helleana, Morgaen, and Selene. The Coven shares a single focus pool, and Coven models do not receive focus individually. The Coven’s base FOCUS is three times the number of models in the Coven that are in play. When the Coven replenishes its focus, the Egregore receives those focus points. The Coven’s control range is measured from the Egregore. Any Coven model in the Coven’s control range can spend focus points on the Egregore. Effects that reduce or remove focus never affect the Egregore. The Coven can use its feat only once. The Coven counts as a single warcaster when calculating Field Allowance. The Coven can have up to one attached model, which
is attached to the Coven, not to an individual model in the Coven. The Coven can have only one of each of its upkeep spells in play at any time. PERFECT CONJUNCTION – A Perfect Conjunction is established any time the Egregore is completely within the triangular area between all three Witches. During a Perfect Conjunction, magic attack rolls made by one of the Witches are automatically boosted.
RITUAL BLADE DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL
FEAT: NIGHTFALL The Witches of Garlghast are mistresses of misdirection and shadow capable of calling upon a darkness so complete it obscures the sun itself. They can turn day into the blackest night to shroud their company behind an umbral veil of safety. While in the Coven’s control range, enemy models suffer –2 MAT and RAT and their LOS is reduced to 5˝. Nightfall lasts for one round.
SPELLS
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF
CURSE OF SHADOWS 3
The Witches of Garlghast were discovered in the summer of 593 AR by the Cryxian pirate vessel Aldibraxis. Responding to a signal fire on a desolate stretch of beach, the crew found three girls of no more than thirteen with a mysterious and ominous artifact: a floating sphere of shadow and blackened iron. The young women gave their names as Helleana, Morgaen, and Selene. With minds clouded by the sorcerous touch of the three strange girls, the sailors welcomed them aboard and unquestioningly set course for Blackwater. The sisters were left alone, for the crew feared the terrible relic traveling with them. It was not merely the way the spiked sphere, called the Egregore, seemed to devour light or the way shadows played across its pitted surface that so disturbed the crewmen. Rather, it was the way the sisters tenderly whispered to it. When the Aldibraxis dropped anchor, the sisters made their way to Toruk’s Black Temple in Skell and brazenly demanded council with Lich Lord Terminus. The lich lord agreed, intrigued by their audacity. The sisters hailed him as “Conqueror,” “Ravager of Men,” and “Lord of the Blighted Seas.” They claimed they had come at the appointed hour to see the true destiny of Cryx realized. Impressed with their conviction and sensing the power of the artifact to which they were bound, the lich lord tested their prophetic visions and found they had a genuine talent for augury. He bound them to the eternal service of Lord Toruk.
64
8
–
–
UP YES
Target model/unit suffers –2 ARM and cannot make free strikes. A model can advance through an affected model if it has enough movement to move completely past its base.
SPELLS GHOST WALK
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF 2
6
–
–
TURN NO
Target friendly Faction model/unit gains Ghostly for one turn. (A model with Ghostly can advance through terrain and obstacles without penalty and can advance through obstructions if it has enough movement to move completely past them. It cannot be targeted by free strikes.) INFERNAL MACHINE 2
6
–
–
UP NO
Target warjack in the spellcaster’s battlegroup gains Murderous and +2 SPD. (A model with Murderous gains an additional die on melee attack rolls against warrior models.) OCCULTATION
2
6
–
– UP NO
Target friendly Faction model/unit gains Stealth . Models are not affected while out of formation. STYGIAN ABYSS
3
10
–
12
* YES
On a critical hit, the model hit suffers Blind for one round. (A model suffering Blind cannot make ranged or magic attacks, suffers –4 MAT and DEF, and cannot run, charge, or make slam or trample power attacks. It must forfeit either its Normal Movement or Combat Action during its next activation. Blind can be shaken.) VEIL OF MISTS
2
CTRL
4
–
UP NO
Place a 4˝ AOE cloud effect anywhere completely within the spellcaster’s control range. This AOE does not block friendly Faction models’ LOS. While in the AOE, friendly Faction models gain Pathfinder and can move through obstructions and other models if they have enough movement to move completely past them.
When Terminus later led his forces in the conquest of the mainland, he called for his coven to join him. He quickly discovered the usefulness of these sisters as they assisted him time and again in overcoming the threats of both mortal armies and the forces of his Cryxian rivals. Without the Witch Coven, Asphyxious might have succeeded in permanently banishing Terminus to the hellish wilds of Urcaen when they clashed at the Battle of Garrodh. On numerous missions for their master, the Witches of Garlghast have ravaged settlements throughout the kingdoms of western Immoren. Small, isolated communities have not only been vanquished but wiped completely from existence: wells are left poisoned, buildings burned to the ground, and ashes of destruction buried. Relief forces would find villagers impaled on stakes or strung up in trees, still moaning for the release of death. With such tactics, the witches have often won battles before the first blow was struck. Their constant companion, the mysterious Egregore, extends their magical power and allows them to pool their arcane strength and command helljacks from great distances. A shadowy device of rune-covered iron, it leaks thick tendrils of darkness that surround and cling to the coven, moving as though sentient. Whether from Morrdh, the Orgoth, or some other dark source, the Egregore’s origins are unknown.
TACTICAL TIPS Coven – The Witch Coven of Garlghast is not a unit, and models in the Coven are independent models. The Coven can allocate focus points to warjacks in its control range normally. The Coven can have only one Skarlock Thrall.
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EGREGORE 1 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 1 1 1 13 17 — FA C
BASE:MEDIUM
EGREGORE 1 CONSTRUCT PATHFINDER STEALTH BLACK MANTLE – While B2B with this model, friendly Faction models gain Stealth . CIRCULAR VISION – Models never gain a back strike bonus against this model. COMPANION [WITCH COVEN OF GARLGHAST] – This model is included in any army that includes the Witch Coven of Garlghast. If the Witch Coven of Garlghast is destroyed or removed from play, remove this model from play. This model is part of the Witch Coven of Garlghast’s battlegroup. STEADY – This model cannot become knocked down. SYMPATHETIC LINK – When this model would suffer damage, assign that damage to one or more Witches, divided as you choose. A Witch cannot be assigned more damage points than she has unmarked damage boxes. This model does not suffer that damage.
The sisters and the Egregore share a strange but undeniable bond. The thoughts of one are known to all; they share one life essence and continually whisper in forgotten tongues to each other. The witches are seldom separated, and their powers are tied to their interwoven relationship. Wrapped in darkness and surrounded by keening winds, their power reaches its true apex when the sisters ritualistically encircle the Egregore and enter a perfect conjunction. Guided by dark portents, the sisters are instinctive military commanders adept at obfuscation and misdirection. The witches’ formidable power and their many successes have ensured that despite the enigma surrounding the Egregore and their connection to it, none dare question them. That they are loyal and deliver victories is enough. Lich Lord Terminus owes several of his greatest successes to their prognostications. The Witches of Garlghast are frightening manipulators. They control their forces at a distance and unleash torrents of murderous arcane power to devastate enemies before them. These powerful occultists shift the world toward a shadowy future only they fully perceive. Their dark vision is a new plague on western Immoren; in the days to come this spreading blight shall become a shroud of darkness no light can pierce.
TACTICAL TIPS Steady – Remember, even if a thrown model cannot be knocked down, it must still forfeit its Normal Movement or Combat Action if it activates later in a turn it was thrown. Sympathetic Link – Assigning this damage is not optional.
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67
WARJACKS OF CRYX
Upon witnessing the first steam-driven constructs that emerged from the foundries of the mainland, Cryx moved quickly to claim the secrets of their design. Their spies infiltrated the Iron Kingdoms—then watched and waited. When the greatest mechanikal minds of each generation succumbed to age and happenstance, Cryx was there to disinter and collect their remains. Relying upon forensic necromancy, the agents of the Nightmare Empire ripped the knowledge of warjack manufacture from the minds of the dead. They brought back to Cryx the foundational principles upon which the Dragonfather’s empire would build its own unique dark mechanika. A fusion of mechanikal design and dark occult practices, Cryxian necrotechnology has evolved over the centuries in isolation, distinct from the mechanika of the mainland despite their shared origin. By integrating the remains and sometimes the spirits of the dead within their mechanikal designs, necrotechs can utilize the residual energies of annihilation and pain to enhance their machines. All aspects of necrotechnology draw upon the power of death, and these necromantic materials augment that occult process. Mainland arcane engineers view the necrotechs’ creations as vile corruptions of their mechanikal craft, but in Cryx necromechanika is considered a refinement of an otherwise limited fabrication process.
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Origin & Design
The origins of Cryxian ’jacks are difficult to pin down, due in large part to their unique genesis. Unlike the warjacks of the mainland, which derive from iterative design processes and emerge uniformly constructed from large production facilities, Cryxian helljacks and bonejacks represent distinct conceptions belonging to their creators. While modeled on templates for specific weapon configurations, each is the product of inspiration and mad genius, painstakingly cobbled together by a skilled necrotech in his workshop. Moreover, the qualities of the warjacks’ production and design can be challenging to pinpoint even when examining the salvage of multiple machines constructed by a single necrotech. Unless they are destroyed in battle, bonejacks and helljacks tend to operate in the field for centuries, during which time the design philosophy of the necrotech who built them could undergo radical shifts. The most vital element of any Cryxian warjack is its cortex. Although the basic principles were stolen from the mainland, Cryxian cortexes incorporate different materials and necromechanikal fusion. Like the bonejack or helljack itself, each cortex is unique; no single codified process exists by which they are assembled, though all are inscribed with glyphs that bear similarities to those that animate corpses as thralls. The dark rites that grant these cortexes their animating spark instill a powerful cunning in ’jacks and allow them to react quickly in unexpected situations. With this shrewdness comes an appetite for malice that only
increases over time. The degradation of the cortex is of little concern, as the warjack will likely become more brutish and bestial as it degrades—an advantage much to be desired, according to Cryxians. The intellect bestowed by such a cortex is animalistic and predatory, with a burning hatred for all life. Cryxian warjacks resemble unnatural beasts with the instinct to hunt and kill but lacking the ability to sate that savage hunger by feasting on what they slaughter. The death lust of a bonejack or helljack cannot be slaked, only restrained or encouraged in turn. Elements of helljack design can be traced to the blasphemous Librum Mekanecrus, which allegedly details the creation of the Deathjack. Bipedal helljacks such as the Slayer and Reaper in particular employ a similar design aesthetic. Master Necrotech Verrik Kurr was said to have been directly influenced by the Librum’s forbidden secrets when he created the first Seethers, and the tome’s wisdom has informed the work of countless other necrotechs. While most Cryxian warjacks utilize similar chassis designs, necrotechs all work to their own standards, elaborating on some functions while simplifying others. The production of these ’jacks entails a lengthy process of development and design, and while some necrotechs steal secrets and dark lore from their colleagues, they cannot help but add
their own refinements and flourishes. So long as their undertakings continue to meet the needs of the lich lords, they are given considerable liberty to experiment. Despite, or perhaps because of, the madness that proliferates among the necrotechs, remarkable innovations are common in both helljacks and bonejacks. Necrotechs readily grow jealous and protective of their innovations and do not share the details of their activities except with the lich lords who control them. A ’jack built in a necrofactorium beneath Dreggsmouth might differ greatly in materials and construction from its counterpart manufactured inland from the Blackwater docks. Each of these blight-born machines, however, is admirably suited to its dire purpose. Those that are not are rendered down for their parts and remade. Laboring in blazing foundries with armies of thralls to serve them, necrotechs work with a variety of raw materials. This includes mechanical components salvaged from the battlefield as well as the skulls, teeth, and horns of beasts, plus other anatomical material in various states of decay. Necrofactoriums combine maddened improvisation with aspects of a crude assembly line process. Commonly used parts are created in bulk by mindless thralls and machinery, while more complex pieces are handcrafted by the necrotechs themselves, making use of a hodgepodge of supplies. When materials run short, few necrotechs hesitate to make
WARJACKS OF CRYX
69
substitutions. Each complete ’jack is as much a distinct work of art as the product of industrial manufacture. The necrotechs’ eccentricities are tolerated so long as the quotas of the lich lords are met. It is not unknown for one of these fearsome figures to descend into a necrofactorium to make an example of necrotechs too caught up in their own creative visions to produce enough machines of war. When properly motivated, Cryx’s tireless necrotechs can create warjacks at a prodigious rate, aided by non-traditional techniques and materials and by their willingness to cut corners and improvise. Living mechaniks must eat and sleep and invariably grow old, but the undead can toil day and night for decades at a time. There are necrotechs in Cryx who have steadily produced helljacks and bonejacks for centuries uninterrupted.
Military Role
The necromantic energies that lend a spark of reasoning to Cryxian cortexes also give the warjacks an appetite for slaughter. Their unique necromechanikal minds possess a savage and predatory guile amplified by the dark energies lingering in the suffering-laced necrotite that burns in their engines. Both bonejacks and helljacks revel in death and carnage. Some of these aggressive traits have carried over from the deranged minds of their masters and creators, instilled in the machines through the runes inscribed into their components. The smaller, nimbler bonejacks are produced in greater numbers than light warjacks typically are by other nations, and they are employed differently as well. Fast-moving bonejacks are designed to carry specific armaments and serve as mobile platforms for any number of terrible devices. Foremost among these is the arc node. Originally stolen from Cygnar, the secret of the arc node remains among the most valuable innovations plundered through necromancy. Many variations on this device now exist due to the unique approaches of individual necrotechs, but its use is widespread among the armies of Cryx and has become a hallmark of bonejack design. Arc nodes enable warcasters to extend the reach of their already formidable powers, and no other nation has embraced this battlefield tactic as enthusiastically as Cryx. Helljacks serve much the same role for Cryx as heavy warjacks do for mainland nations. Nonetheless, they are typically swifter and more lightly armored than other heavy warjacks. These powerful machines tear through tough resistance, creating opportunities for bonejacks to reach their prey and make use of their arc nodes and various weapons. Perhaps the most terrifying to coastal inhabitants, though, are the various amphibious helljacks. Dumped over the sides of Cryxian blackships, these machines walk along the sea floor and emerge from the waves to strike at vulnerable positions, playing a central part in the effectiveness of Cryxian raids and other military operations.
70
WARJACKS OF CRYX
NECROTITE Cryxian helljacks and bonejacks benefit greatly from necrotite, a source of fuel and energy too atrocious for other nations to even consider. This foul mineral is found in soils thick with carnage and resonant with atrocities where it is steeped in blood and rotted flesh, gathering power from the ambient suffering. Extremely concentrated, necrotite burns like coal but lasts significantly longer and is as toxic as it is efficient. The exploitation of necrotite as a source of fuel provided an important breakthrough for Cryx. The lich lords had long experimented with manipulating the energy of souls to replace or supplement coal as fuel, but those were a limited resource too impractical for widespread use. Lich Lord Fulmenus was responsible for unleashing the full potential of necrotite. After necrotechs developed a variant of the steam engine, necrotite proved to be an ideal fuel that would come to power countless mechanikal apparatuses, especially Cryx’s formidable helljacks and bonejacks. Necrotite sustains intense heat far longer than regular coal but will poison the living under extended exposure. Cryxians, however, do not suffer such effects. In time the lich lords honed methods to refine and concentrate necrotite and fabricated machine rigs to rapidly extract it from newer battlefields, ensuring themselves a source as unending as suffering itself. Bonejacks and helljacks running on necrotite not only have far greater operational ranges than would be possible with coal, but the smoke they produce also serves as a kind of tertiary weapon system. Living enemies unprepared to deal with the noxious, choking fumes that necrotite emits are exposed to the insidious substance, which can result in a prolonged and painful death well after a battle is resolved.
Cryxian Colossals
Unlike the Iron Kingdoms, Cryx never decommissioned its original colossals, first conceived in the aftermath of the Orgoth Occupation. After witnessing the power that such machines could bring to bear, the Nightmare Empire coveted the colossals of mainland nations. The secret of how to realize such machines was coaxed out of the remains of countless inventors, arcane mechaniks, and mechanikal engineers and then refined by the necrotechs of Skell. The initial fruit of their labor was the Kraken, the first truly modern colossal, which pre-dated those used outside Cryx by centuries. Having identified the weaknesses of the clumsy contraptions used by Cygnar and Khador in the Colossal War, the necrotechs refined their work to fashion a sleeker, more agile, and more adaptable machine. Following the development of the first Kraken, the necrotechs swiftly set about exploring improvements to the design, stretching the limits of necromechanikal understanding in their pursuit of the next breakthrough.
Control of the original Cryxian colossals was tightly regulated, granted only to the lich lords. The amphibious colossals were deployed as a secret weapon to strike powerful blows against Cryx’s enemies and were critical to accomplishing many key objectives, notably during the Scharde Invasions. With the escalating incursions in recent years, colossals are now deployed freely alongside other machines of war. Unlike regular warjacks, a Cryxian colossal is by necessity the product of many necrotechs working in concert. Under other circumstances the necrotechs would have difficulty collaborating with their fellows to realize such a monumental task, as they would quickly devolve into infighting. However, Master Necrotech Mortenebra, the selfstyled Numen of Necrogenesis, set in place the machinery and her most skilled subordinates to ensure the success of this work. Uncompromising in her standards, she sometimes forced her underlings to tear down entire months’ worth of progress and painstakingly rebuild to meet her exacting specifications.
CRYXIAN WARJACK ADORNMENT No two Cryxian warjacks are exactly alike. In addition to the differences in their material compositions, it is common for a necrotech to apply specific maker’s marks to his creations. These might include runes etched into the hulls or the addition of black-iron ornamentation, vicious spikes, or the bony remains of great beasts. In some cases these adornments go beyond mere embellishment and imbue the ’jack with specific necromantic powers.
WARJACKS OF CRYX
71
CORRUPTOR CRYX HEAVY WARJACK CORRUPTOR SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 10 7 5 13 17 —
NECROCANNON RNG ROF AOE POW 12 1 — 14
L
NECROJECTOR RNG POW P+S 1 6 16
R
DAMAGE
Burster – Because the boxed model is removed from play before being destroyed, it does not generate a soul or corpse token.
L
PC 16
L R L M C R
R
M M C C
FA U
BASE:LARGE
CORRUPTOR CONSTRUCT IMMUNITY: CORROSION
NECROCANNON DAMAGE TYPE: CORROSION ATTACK TYPE – Each time this weapon is used to make
an attack, choose one of the following special rules: • BURSTER – When this attack boxes a living or undead model, center a 5˝ AOE on the boxed model, then remove the model from play. Models in the AOE are hit and suffer an unboostable POW 10 corrosion damage roll . This damage is not considered to have been caused by an attack. • DISTILLATION – When a living enemy model is destroyed by this attack while this model is in its warcaster’s control range, immediately after the attack is resolved remove d3 + 3 damage points from the warcaster. • PSYCHO VENOM – When a living or undead enemy model is boxed by this attack, you can choose to take control of it. If you do, remove 1 damage point from it, causing it to no longer be boxed. You can then immediately change its facing. For the rest of the turn, this model’s controlling warcaster can channel spells through the affected model as if it were a model in this model’s controlling warcaster’s battlegroup with the Arc Node advantage. The affected model cannot activate. At the end of the turn, the affected model is destroyed.
NECROJECTOR OPEN FIST ATTACK TYPE – See above. • BURSTER – See above. • DISTILLATION – See above. • PSYCHO VENOM – See above.
606 ar
unknown unknown
12 ft
necrotite: 91 lbs coal: 203 lbs
6.7 tons general: 9.8 hrs combat: 72 mins
NECROCANNON, NECROJECTOR
72
The fiendish warjack was created specifically to deliver these venomous distillates. Both its necrocannon and insidious necrojector drip with toxic alchemical sludge. These horrific poisons can cause bodies to explode in a torrent of acidic filth and strip a victim’s soul, restoring vitality to the Corruptor’s warcaster or increasing the strength of the bond through which that warcaster’s dark powers can manifest.
TACTICAL TIPS
Longstanding pioneers in the development of caustic compounds and necrotic poisons, enterprising necrotechs have reaped a great harvest of alchemical knowledge from the escalating warfare on the mainland. The Corruptor is the culmination of this dark knowledge, a helljack armed with weapons designed to consume both body and soul.
DEATHRIPPER
CRYX LIGHT WARJACK
The Deathripper, the quintessential Cryxian bonejack, is a terrifying weapon of surprising speed and bestial ferocity that charges forward to tear apart its enemies while serving as a magical conduit for the horrifying spells of its master. These ’jacks skitter across the battlefield pouring forth poisonous smoke and steam from wickedly efficient, necrotite-fueled engines. The high-pitched keen of the Deathripper venting steam has been written about for decades in fevered war journals. It is a sound rarely forgotten.
DEATHRIPPER SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 7 7 5 5 14 14 —
MANDIBLE
DAMAGE
The Deathripper is built of blackened iron and steel fused with the skulls and fangs of fearsome, blighted beasts. Powered by steam engines driven by necrotite—coal laced with death energy—a Deathripper’s jaws leverage enough power to sever limbs and shear through armored plates. In a blur of billowing smoke, wailing metal, and bleeding hydraulics, just a few Deathrippers can strip a light warjack down to its components within minutes. Arc node technology was the pride of Cygnar when initially developed, but before long Cryx had unraveled the puzzle in its particular, twisted way: defiling the tombs of innovative engineers and pulling forth their secrets through necromantic rituals, necrotechs soon learned how to create arc nodes of their own. They improved upon the foreign process by using profane materials and unholy techniques to cheapen and accelerate manufacturing. Cryxian warcasters frequently enter the field with a small swarm of arc node–equipped bonejacks, each a conduit for devastating arcane powers.
RNG POW P+S 0.5 5 12
H
H H C A A M
H C
PC 6
FA U
C M M M
BASE:MEDIUM
DEATHRIPPER ARC NODE CONSTRUCT
MANDIBLE SUSTAINED ATTACK – During this model’s activation,
when it makes an attack with this weapon against the last model hit by the weapon this activation, the attack automatically hits.
unknown unknown
502 ar
6 ft 4 in
necrotite: 44 lbs coal: 88 lbs
2.5 tons
general: 18 hrs combat: 180 mins
MANDIBLE, ARC NODE
73
DEFILER
CRYX LIGHT WARJACK DEFILER SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 7 7 5 5 14 14 —
SLUDGE CANNON RNG ROF AOE POW SP 8 1 — 10
H
BASH RNG POW P+S 0.5 0 7
—
The Defiler has proved its worth as a light assault bonejack. Fast and mobile, it can lope across the battlefield in a few long strides and fix an enemy warcaster in its sights before the fight has even begun. Its arc node remains ever ready to deliver arcane death.
DAMAGE
H H C A A M
H C
PC 8
FA U
C M M M
BASE:MEDIUM
DEFILER ARC NODE CONSTRUCT
SLUDGE CANNON CONTINUOUS EFFECT: CORROSION DAMAGE TYPE: CORROSION
512 ar
unknown unknown
6 ft 4 in
necrotite: 44 lbs coal: 88 lbs
74
2.6 tons
general: 17 hrs combat: 165 mins
SLUDGE CANNON, ARC NODE
No two bonejacks are exactly the same, with variations in form and weaponry commonly noted. Mainlanders often wonder how the Nightmare Empire can produce such a swarming profusion of fast and deadly constructs. Whereas other nations allocate each precious warjack cortex carefully, fabrication in Cryx proceeds unhindered by any limits. The chief architects of the Cryxian engines of war are necrotechs—mad, unliving geniuses capable of seemingly endless innovation even as they hoard secrets and compete with one another for the favor of their unforgiving masters. Running day and night, their factories produce a near-endless supply of nightmarish fabrications.
Unlike the Deathripper, the Defiler avoids close combat. Instead it fires on the enemy from a distance with its sludge cannon, which spews a concentrated, caustic poison that consumes metal and stone more easily than flame eats wood. Faced with the Defiler’s deadly arc node and the horrendous wounds caused by its sludge cannon, enemies often desperately try to close and deal with this bonejack before their allies are torn apart.
DESECRATOR CRYX HEAVY WARJACK
Among the sinister achievements of the necrotechs of Cryx, the Desecrator has a reputation as an especially terrible and unnatural machine. To exterminate all life within its reach, it draws from the same illimitable darkness that spawns the voidimprisoned banes. Armed with the malignant plague bringer cannon—an alchemical weapon of singular destructive capacity—and its whirring vivisector, the Desecrator wades through battle doing the murderous bidding of Cryx’s generals. The plague bringer cannon connects to a deep reservoir within the Desecrator’s hull that is filled with a powerful corrosive similar to that which bile thralls and bloat thralls employ. Within this sealed container the liquid ferments and concentrates, its necrotic essence brewing a toxic sludge that carries swift and terrible diseases capable of killing even those not directly hit and slain outright. Some mutter that those immediately melted into a bloody slurry are the lucky ones, as others nearby splashed with even a single drop of this toxin endure weeks of torture as their skin and organs putrefy. This suffering makes the souls of the slain more likely to linger on Caen, to the benefit of liches and warwitches, who easily capture them in their soul cages. When the Desecrator rises from the ocean’s deep, black waters, it is a terrible sight to behold. The soldiers of the mainland dread encountering its hulking alien form, for their armor and defensive formations offer no protection from the flesheating death its plague bringer delivers. Troops have been known to turn their weapons on themselves rather than suffer its wasting fire. Those who survive the Desecrator’s initial volley find the machine quickly upon them, and their bloodcurdling shrieks are cut short as its vivisector minces their flesh.
DESECRATOR SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 5 12 6 5 12 18 —
PLAGUE BRINGER RNG ROF AOE POW 10 1 4 12
L
VIVISECTOR RNG POW P+S 1 5 17
R
DAMAGE
L
PC 14
L R L M C R
R
M M C C
FA U
BASE:LARGE
DESECRATOR AMPHIBIOUS CONSTRUCT PATHFINDER ACCUMULATOR [BANE] – When it begins its activation
Accumulator – This model cannot exceed normal focus limits as a result of Accumulator.
within 3˝ of one or more friendly Bane models, this model gains 1 focus point. STEADY – This model cannot become knocked down.
Critical Shred – A model can make additional attacks only during its Combat Action.
PLAGUE BRINGER
TACTICAL TIPS
DAMAGE TYPE: CORROSION SCATHER – This attack’s AOE is a hazard that remains
in play for one round. Models entering or ending their activations in the AOE suffer 1 point of corrosion damage .
VIVISECTOR CRITICAL SHRED – On a critical hit with this weapon
during this model’s Combat Action, after the attack is resolved this model can make one additional attack with this weapon against the model hit. GRIEVOUS WOUNDS – A model hit by this weapon loses Tough and cannot have damage removed from it for one round.
unknown
unknown
unknown
10 ft 5 in
necrotite: 96 lbs coal: 265 lbs
7.3 tons
general: 12 hrs combat: 120 mins
PLAGUE BRINGER, VIVISECTOR
75
HARROWER CRYX HEAVY WARJACK HARROWER SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 5 12 6 5 12 18 —
MORTIFIER RNG ROF AOE POW 11 1 3 12
L
PERISHER RNG POW P+S 2 4 16
R
DAMAGE
L
PC 16
L R L M C R
R
M M C C
FA U
BASE:LARGE
AMPHIBIOUS CONSTRUCT PATHFINDER QUICK WORK – When this model destroys one or more
enemy models with a melee attack during its Combat Action, immediately after that attack is resolved this model can make one basic ranged attack. SOUL TAKER: SPIRIT HARVESTER – This model can gain soul tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed within 5˝ of this model, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. This model can have up to five soul tokens at any time. At the start of this model’s activation, you can remove soul tokens from this model to give it 1 focus point for each token removed. STEADY – This model cannot become knocked down.
MORTIFIER DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL WRAITH SHOT – When this model makes an attack with
this weapon, it can spend a soul token to use Wraith Shot. If it does, it ignores LOS, concealment, and cover when making this attack. Attack and damage rolls resulting from the attack are boosted.
PERISHER THRESHER (HATTACK) – This model makes one melee
attack with this weapon against each model in its LOS that is in this weapon’s melee range. Thresher attacks are simultaneous.
unknown
599 ar
10 ft 5 in
necrotite: 96 lbs coal: 260 lbs
7.6 tons
general: 12 hrs combat: 120 mins
MORTIFIER, PERISHER
76
TACTICAL TIPS Soul Taker: Spirit Harvester – This model cannot exceed normal focus limits as a result of Spirit Harvester. Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it. If this model already has five soul tokens it is not eligible to collect another one.
HARROWER
unknown
This amphibious helljack exploits a simple necromantic principle: the power derived from a captive soul is proportional to the torment its host suffered in death. Harrowers burst from the ocean depths to raid coastal towns and fill their soul cages. These compact cages, etched with golden runes and lined with necrotite, also provide ammunition for the ’jack’s ghastly mortifier. Infused with soul energy, a mortifier’s shell exists partially within the spirit realm and appears to mortal eyes only as a sickly blur as it passes through solid obstacles. It becomes tangible again on impact with its intended target, shredding armor and flesh in a necromantic conflagration. In the rare cases a victim does not die outright, the wounds left by this ammunition heal slowly, if at all, and are prone to tainted infection—a chilling reminder of the vile process by which imprisoned souls are obliterated.
Announcing its presence with the ear-splitting shriek of its mortifier cannon, the Harrower advances eagerly on the battlefield, hungry for souls. Its opponents can hope for no clean death in its wake; those cut down by its scything perisher claw endure an unthinkable fate as their immortal souls are spun loose and harvested to fuel the Cryxian machine of war.
Steady – Remember, even if a thrown model cannot be knocked down, it must still forfeit its Normal Movement or Combat Action if it activates later in a turn it was thrown. Thresher – These attacks are not optional.
HELLDIVER CRYX LIGHT WARJACK
Both the undead and the necromechanikal legions of the Nightmare Empire have proven insidious, adaptable, and unpredictable. Even as the mortal armies labor to expand their sprawling fortifications, Cryx strikes at them with impunity. When Toruk’s enemies cannot be surmounted over land, the Helldiver moves beneath and erupts from trench floors to sow death and chaos among soldiers supposedly safe behind earthen defenses. Many patrol squads have returned from no man’s land to find only an ominous pit strewn with the blood-soaked remains of their eviscerated comrades.
HELLDIVER SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 5 8 6 4 13 15 —
JAWS
DAMAGE
The Helldiver drags itself through the earth using its powerful front claws. Though incredibly strong, these appendages are used only for movement, not attacks. The machine’s mighty jaws are its weapon, which it uses to seize and sunder its hapless victims. Few sights are more terrible than one of these metallic menaces erupting unexpectedly from the earth to chew apart all living flesh within reach. A Helldiver can burrow through soil at a startling pace before surfacing to ambush unwary prey. A patient and methodical killer, it can wait endlessly, motionless and difficult to detect, once it is positioned below ground. Cryx has seeded many potential battlefields across war-torn regions with these black iron monstrosities in preparation for the promised slaughter ahead.
RNG POW P+S 0.5 5 13
H
H C
H H H M M M
PC 6
FA U
C C C M
BASE:MEDIUM
HELLDIVER CONSTRUCT BURROW – You can choose not to deploy this
TACTICAL TIPS Drag Below – Because the boxed model is removed from play before being destroyed, it does not generate a soul or corpse token.
model at the start of the game. If it is not deployed normally, place the burrow marker up to 6˝ beyond your deployment zone at the same time you would place your models with Advance Deployment. At the beginning of each of your Maintenance Phases, you can either cause this model to surface or move the burrow marker up to 3˝. If this model surfaces, place it anywhere completely within 3˝ of the burrow marker. If there is no room to place this model, remove it from play. Once this model has been placed or removed from play, remove the burrow marker from the table. This model must forfeit its Normal Movement or Combat Action during its activation the turn it surfaces. DIG IN (HACTION) – This model gains cover, does not suffer blast damage, and does not block LOS. The model remains dug in until it moves, is placed, or is engaged. It can begin the game dug in. DRAG BELOW – During this model’s activation, immediately after resolving an attack in which it boxed an enemy warrior model, this model can use Drag Below. The boxed model is removed from play and this model can immediately make a full advance and then perform a Dig In special action, then its activation ends. This model cannot be targeted by free strikes during this movement.
unknown unknown
8 ft
unknown
necrotite: 33 lbs coal: 66 lbs
2.1 tons general: 16 hrs combat: 120 mins
JAWS
77
INFLICTOR CRYX HEAVY WARJACK INFLICTOR SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 10 7 5 13 17 —
SHIELD CLAW RNG POW P+S 1 3 13
L
STINGER RNG POW P+S 2 6 16
R
DAMAGE
L
PC 13
L R L M C R
R
M M C C
FA U
BASE:LARGE
INFLICTOR CONSTRUCT SHIELD GUARD – Once per round, when a friendly
model is directly hit by a non-spray ranged attack during your opponent’s turn while within 3˝ of this model, you can choose to have this model directly hit instead. This model is automatically hit and suffers all damage and effects. This model cannot use Shield Guard while it is incorporeal, knocked down, or stationary.
SHIELD CLAW OPEN FIST SHIELD
STINGER CRITICAL POISON – On a critical hit, gain an additional die on this weapon’s damage rolls against living models.
unknown
MORBUS
606 ar
11 ft 11 in
necrotite: 100 lbs coal: 270 lbs
general: 12 hrs combat: 120 mins
SHIELD CLAW, STINGER
78
6.8 tons
The Inflictor is a dark sentinel among Cryx’s helljacks, a machine that combines all the deadly cunning of its counterparts with a twisted compulsion to protect the master enslaving it. Unlike most helljacks, however, the Inflictor has more than a cortex at its core: it contains the tormented essence of slain victims that were bound after death to empower it. These souls pass their anger and madness on to the machine, lending it an unpredictability and malice that can take its enemies by surprise. Soon after the discovery of Verrik Kurr’s Seether helljacks, Cryx’s necrotechs tried and failed to unlock the secrets of the mysterious soul drives powering the rage-haunted machines. As master of Cryx’s war production, Lich Lord Morbus took personal umbrage at these difficulties in replicating those vicious machines. Countless mainlanders were captured and brought to Cryxian necrofactoriums to be subjected to cruel and torturous experiments. The project eventually succeeded and gave rise to the Inflictor. The torment of the souls within Kurr’s original Seethers caused them to lash out indiscriminately; the frenzied killing machines required significant effort to control. The tortured souls bound within the Inflictor are brought to a narrower, more convenient derangement. A blend of obsequious servitude and jealous rage shapes the Inflictor’s behavior, making it easier to command and equally useful as both killer and bodyguard. To this end, the helljack’s left arm ends in a shield-like claw that, while more than capable of making crushing strikes, is also admirably suited to warding off attacks. Affixed to the right shoulder is a segmented extensible stinger that can strike from above or behind. Once it pierces a foe’s vulnerable side or back, this stinger injects a dose of lethal poison that obliterates internal organs and causes agonizing pain.
LEVIATHAN
CRYX HEAVY WARJACK
The Leviathan is an immense metal atrocity of frightening mobility. The watertight furnaces of this horror make it a favorite among blackship captains, who take full advantage of its amphibious nature by deploying it at sea—or, rather, shoving it overboard unceremoniously and allowing it to creep its way silently across the seabed on its spidery claws toward the unsuspecting enemy. The bodies of many a sailor now slumber beneath the waves due to this nefarious masterpiece of Cryxian engineering.
LEVIATHAN SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 5 12 6 5 12 18 —
SPIKER
CRUSHING CLAW
When it senses prey, a Leviathan surges from the tide like a primordial nightmare to bring its murderous weapons to bear. The mighty claw on its right arm is powerful enough to tear limbs from enemy warjacks and crush smaller enemies outright. Even more terrifying is the rapid-fire cannon on its left arm. Fueled by excess steam built up in the necrotite furnace of the helljack and fed with crude but effective spikes from its reloading hopper, this repeating cannon unleashes a barrage of metallic death when fired. Smaller quarry such as infantry simply fall away without resistance beneath the spikes, but warjacks and other large targets are mangled dramatically in the staccato burst, their armor and systems shredded by the wailing projectiles.
RNG POW P+S 1 5 17
R
DAMAGE
L
PC 16
TACTICAL TIPS Steady – Remember, even if a thrown model cannot be knocked down, it must still forfeit its Normal Movement or Combat Action if it activates later in a turn it was thrown.
RNG ROF AOE POW 13 d3 — 13
L
L R L M C R
R
M M C C
FA U
BASE:LARGE
LEVIATHAN AMPHIBIOUS CONSTRUCT PATHFINDER STEADY – This model cannot become knocked down.
SPIKER BURST FIRE – Gain +1 to damage rolls with this weapon against medium-based models and +2 to damage rolls against large- and huge-based models.
CRUSHING CLAW OPEN FIST
unknown unknown
586 ar
10 ft 5 in
necrotite: 99 lbs coal: 265 lbs
7 tons
general: 12 hrs combat: 120 mins
SPIKER CANNON, CRUSHING CLAW
79
NIGHTWRETCH CRYX LIGHT WARJACK NIGHTWRETCH SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 7 7 5 5 14 14 —
DOOMSPITTER RNG ROF AOE POW 6 1 3 14
H
BASH RNG POW P+S 0.5 0 7
—
DAMAGE
H H C A A M
H C
PC 7
FA U
C M M M
BASE:MEDIUM
NIGHTWRETCH ARC NODE CONSTRUCT
unknown unknown
590 ar
6 ft 4 in
necrotite: 44 lbs coal: 88 lbs
DOOMSPITTER, ARC NODE
80
2.75 tons
general: 17 hrs combat: 150 mins
For centuries Cygnar has had the dubious privilege of being the testing ground for Cryxian innovation. The Third Army out of Highgate and Westwatch faced the unveiling of weapons too dreadful to be imagined. None who serve along this stretch of open coastline consider the undead lacking in cunning. They have witnessed an endless variety of nightmares, of which the Nightwretch is a prime example. One of the first experiences with this bonejack occurred after a dispatch arrived from New Larkholm warning of a Cryxian landing party sighted two leagues south of the city. The nearby coastal fort of Westwatch immediately sent out a company of long gunners intending to put a few bullets in the reviled Cryxian raiders. Unaware that they faced a new weapon, they stood shoulder to shoulder as they had been trained. Terrified locals watched from hiding as the soldiers’ disciplined shots dropped several of the incoming bonejacks—but not enough. The long gunners had only a moment to consider the unfamiliar look of the new Nightwretch bonejacks before small cannons set into the head of each fired in their direction. Carrying a particularly volatile mixture of lead shot and alchemical waste by-products, the projectiles exploded with a concussive blast that could be heard for miles. In seconds the entire company was reduced to a smoldering heap of flesh flayed from bone, a horrifying sight burned into the memory of the civilian witnesses. The ’jacks turned and followed their master back to the landing skiff on the rocky beach, their testing mission clearly a success. Necrotechs soon began mass production.
REAPER
CRYX HEAVY WARJACK Cryxian helljacks are disturbingly similar to living creatures, perverse amalgams of enormous insects fused with the implements of industrialized slaughter. A hulking fiend of bone and steel with blackened armor plating that houses a cortex thirsting for death, the Reaper helljack is one of the most terrible inventions to emerge from the necrofactoriums of Cryx.
REAPER SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 10 7 5 13 17 —
HARPOON RNG ROF AOE POW 8 1 — 12
L
The Reaper stalks the battlefield with the single-minded determination of a vicious hunter. The horrific ’jack fires its harpoon with a thunderous report and the grinding peal of rapidly uncoiling chain. The weapon sinks deep into flesh or metal, and with frightening speed the Reaper reels its victim into striking range of its helldriver—a vicious mechanikal spike of tempered steel driven by a wickedly powerful piston. Capable of punching through iron plate, the helldriver generates enough force to pierce boiler casings, rend gears, and reduce enemy warjacks to scrap.
HELLDRIVER RNG POW P+S 2 6 16
R
TUSKS RNG POW P+S 1 2 12
—
DAMAGE
L
PC 13
L R L M C R
R
M M C C
FA U
BASE:LARGE
REAPER CONSTRUCT
HARPOON DRAG – When this weapon damages an enemy model with an equal or smaller base, immediately after the attack is resolved the damaged model can be pushed directly toward this model until it contacts a model, an obstacle, or an obstruction. After the damaged model is moved, this model can make one basic melee attack against the damaged model. After resolving this melee attack, this model can make additional melee attacks during its Combat Action.
HELLDRIVER SUSTAINED ATTACK – During this model’s activation,
when it makes an attack with this weapon against the last model hit by the weapon this activation, the attack automatically hits.
TUSKS HARD HEAD – This model can add this weapon’s POW to its head-butt and slam power attack damage rolls.
557 ar
unknown unknown
11 ft 10 in
necrotite: 44 lbs coal: 88 lbs
6.5 tons
general: 10 hrs combat: 90 mins
HARPOON, HELLDRIVER, TUSKS
81
RIPJAW
CRYX LIGHT WARJACK RIPJAW SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 7 7 5 5 14 14 —
BONE SAW RNG POW P+S 0.5 3 10
H
DAMAGE
H H C A A M
H C
PC 7
FA U
C M M M
BASE:MEDIUM
RIPJAW ARC NODE CONSTRUCT
BONE SAW CRITICAL ARMOR-PIERCING – When calculating damage from this weapon on a critical hit, halve the base ARM stats of the model hit. POWERFUL ATTACK – When attacking with this weapon, this model can spend 1 focus point to boost all attack and damage rolls for the attack.
unknown unknown
586 ar
6 ft 4 in
necrotite: 44 lbs coal: 88 lbs
BONE SAW, ARC NODE
82
2.6 tons
general: 17 hrs combat: 165 mins
Of the many Cryxian weapons familiar to the armies of the Iron Kingdoms, some were for a long time known only by the appalling wounds left upon the bodies of the fallen. Though the Ripjaw’s existence was not confirmed until the Scharde Invasions, Cygnaran medics and chaplains had for decades noted horrific lacerations inflicted on both corpses and mechanikal wrecks. Many of these had been brutally dismembered, with severed joints torn apart by some kind of weapon that did not match any other previously associated with Cryx. Retreating Cygnarans near Highgate produced the first reliable report of the Ripjaw in 586 AR, describing a pack of the bonejacks converging on an Ironclad and shredding it within seconds using their mandibles and the whirling saws beneath. As unsettling as it is to observe these creatures tear apart a larger warjack, seeing them attack living targets is far worse. The Ripjaw demonstrates an almost bestial cunning in battle as it moves alongside others of similar construction, circling its prey and marking out the weak. It prefers to hamstring its victims and then set upon them after they fall, holding them in place with its pincer-like jaws while its bone saw slices them into mangled chunks. Ripjaws seek out limb joints with particular enthusiasm, sawing through knees and elbows of enemies whether the victims are dead or still screaming and struggling. If left to their own devices they will sometimes linger by corpses, cutting them into ever smaller bits until called to task by the nearest necrotech. This habit has its uses, as necrotechs sometimes appreciate that the pieces the Ripjaw leaves behind are more easily incorporated into Cryx’s gory fabrications.
SCAVENGER
CRYX LIGHT WARJACK
The living denizens of western Immoren learned long ago to watch for death rising from beneath the ground, but now they are discovering that it also hunts them from darkening skies. Cryxian Scavengers plummet into the ranks of the living, driving panicked mortals before their ragged mechanikal wings and snapping beaks. Foul necrotechs imbue the cortex of each Scavenger with an insatiable hunger for flesh and steel. Scavengers stalk living victims, whose flesh they shred before returning to the air, dripping trails of gore. The bonejacks take an unwholesome joy in seeking out the wounded and the dying, not content to pick flesh from the dead like the vultures they resemble. When a Scavenger destroys enemy warjacks, it greedily picks the iron plating, conduits, and components from the wreckage and consumes them. As with a bird digesting its prey, these components move into a special reservoir within the bonejack to be broken down and repurposed elsewhere in its bone and black-iron frame. The mechanism by which a Scavenger achieves this feat is poorly understood by the mechaniks of mainland nations, and the few inert Scavengers they have managed to examine after battles offer little in the way of answers. It seems that the insane necrotechs of Cryx have hit upon countless innovative methods of reaching the same objective, each one more baffling than the last.
SCAVENGER SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 7 7 7 4 15 13 —
SNAPPING JAWS RNG POW P+S 0.5 4 11
H
DAMAGE
H C
PC 7
FA U
C
C
C M
H H M M
BASE:MEDIUM
SCAVENGER CONSTRUCT FLIGHT FINISHER – This model gains an additional die on
damage rolls against damaged models. SPRINT – At the end of an activation in which it
destroyed or removed from play one or more enemy models with melee attacks, this model can immediately make a full advance, then its activation ends.
SNAPPING JAWS ASSIMILATION – When this model destroys an enemy construct model with this weapon, immediately after the attack is resolved remove d3 damage points from this model.
unknown unknown
unknown
6 ft 4 in
necrotite: 31 lbs coal: 61 lbs
1.5 tons
general: 18 hrs combat: 180 mins
SNAPPING JAWS
83
SEETHER
CRYX HEAVY WARJACK SEETHER SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 10 8 5 12 17 —
TALON RNG POW P+S 1 7 17
L
TALON RNG POW P+S 1 7 17
R
TUSKS RNG POW P+S 1 2 12
—
DAMAGE
L
PC 13
L R L M C R
R
M M C C
FA U
BASE:LARGE
CONSTRUCT BERSERK – When this model destroys one or more
models with a melee attack during its Combat Action, immediately after the attack is resolved it must make one additional melee attack against another model in its melee range. COUNTERCHARGE – When an enemy model advances and ends its movement within 6˝ of this model and in its LOS, this model can immediately charge it. This model can use Countercharge only once per round and not while engaged. UNCONTROLLABLE RAGE – This model must run or charge during its activation if it can, unless it is engaging an enemy model. It does this without spending focus.
TALON OPEN FIST
TUSKS HARD HEAD – This model can add this weapon’s POW to its head-butt and slam power attack damage rolls.
KURR
unknown
12 ft 0 in
necrotite: 99 lbs coal: 265 lbs
6.5 tons
general: 12 hrs combat: 120 mins
TWIN DEATH CLAWS, TUSKS
84
Master Necrotech Verrik Kurr was widely considered a lunatic even by the standards of Cryx. He sought insight into the creation of the charnel mineral necrotite by systematically torturing victims and distilling their life force. Obsessed with formulae just out of his grasp, Kurr became convinced the accursed Librum Mekanecrus contained the answers he needed and launched an exhaustive search for the tome. When the necromancer disappeared, an eventual examination of his laboratory revealed only the massacred bodies of his assistants along with a small number of inert Seethers. Agents of other lich lords had long kept close tabs on Kurr’s work, suspecting he was being less than forthcoming with his results. The lich lords very eagerly integrated the Seethers he left behind into their armies, while necrotechs struggled to recreate Kurr’s genius. While they have learned how to produce additional Seethers, some insist Kurr’s originals are superior and possessed of especially vicious cunning. Seethers follow basic Slayer design with some rather extreme modifications, most notably the soul drives grafted to their cortexes. These baneful devices contain malevolent spirits that provide the helljacks with a bottomless font of unmitigated rage.
TACTICAL TIPS
SEETHER
unknown
Skell necrotechs immediately recognized Seethers as invaluable weapons and set some aside for reverse engineering, but all such attempts have failed. The rest were gifted to prestigious Cryxian commanders on the mainland, where the terrible machines could wreak the bloody havoc for which they were crafted.
Uncontrollable Rage – If the Seether cannot run or charge, it activates normally.
SHRIKE
CRYX LIGHT WARJACK The Shrike soars despite the weight of its great tempered-steel wings by virtue of the roaring fires of its necrotite engine and the dark spells woven into its frame. Following the acute predatory instincts instilled in its cortex, the Shrike surveys the field of battle from aloft before plunging down into the formations of the living to scythe through the ranks with its fearsome bladed wings. Limbs are shorn off and torsos sliced in two. A splattering of gore plasters those lucky enough to survive the bonejack’s initial swooping attack. With each pass the Shrike emits a soul-chilling shriek that is soon echoed by the tormented cries of the wounded and dying.
SHRIKE SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 7 7 7 4 15 13 —
VICIOUS BEAK RNG POW P+S 0.5 4 11
H
WING BLADES RNG POW P+S 0.5 4 11
—
The malicious machines wreak a surprising amount of destruction for their size, and enemies who underestimate these bonejacks pay a heavy toll. Moreover, the appearance of Shrikes often heralds the arrival of a larger Cryxian force. The bonejacks harry those enemies attempting to take shelter behind battlements, slashing through soldiers who naively believed themselves safe and sending the heads and limbs of hapless defenders toppling from walls. By the time the primary army of undead turns up, chaos has already been sown among the living, making victory all the easier.
DAMAGE
PC 6
H C
FA U
C
C
C M
H H M M
BASE:MEDIUM
SHRIKE CONSTRUCT FLIGHT BLADE RUSH – While making a trample power attack,
this model ignores free strikes and does not stop when it contacts a model with a medium or larger base, an obstacle, or an obstruction. This model makes trample attacks against models regardless of their base size. SMASHER – This model can make trample power attacks without spending focus and gains an additional die on trample attack rolls. THRESHING BLADES – This model gains +4 to its trample power attack damage rolls. TRAMPLE POWER ATTACK – This model can make trample power attacks.
unknown
unknown
unknown
6 ft 4 in
necrotite: 35 lbs coal: 61 lbs
1.5 tons
general: 18 hrs combat: 180 mins
VICIOUS BEAK, WING BLADES
85
SLAYER
CRYX HEAVY WARJACK SLAYER SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 10 7 5 13 17 —
DEATH CLAW RNG POW P+S 1 6 16
L
DEATH CLAW RNG POW P+S 1 6 16
R
TUSKS RNG POW P+S 1 2 12
—
DAMAGE
The Slayer’s soulfire furnace blazes with a savage intensity that pushes the helljack to ever-greater feats of destruction. The Slayer exists to sow terror, cleave through bodies with its great claws, and soak the earth with the spent vitality of its broken victims. An eerie green glow pulsates from the Slayer’s furnace, a frightful light illuminating even its eye sockets, suggesting some greater intelligence. After decades of Cryxian terror along the coasts, any greenish lights—like those found floating in the bogs and fens of Immoren—are often called “Cryxlight” by superstitious travelers. The Slayer’s tempered metal claws are powerful enough to rend metal and powder bone on impact. It is further armed with cruelly curved tusks amputated from great beasts and bolted crudely onto its armored skull for use in vicious charges. The helljack’s furnace is powered by the remnants of life trapped within its necrotite fuel. Those who tend to these murderous machines insist they run best on necrotite scavenged directly from the field of slaughter.
TACTICAL TIPS
L
Combo Strike – A model with a crippled weapon system cannot use it to make chain attacks, special attacks, or power attacks.
PC 10
L R L M C R
R
M M C C
FA U
BASE:LARGE
SLAYER CONSTRUCT
DEATH CLAW OPEN FIST COMBO STRIKE (HATTACK) – Make a melee attack.
Instead of making a normal damage roll, the POW of the damage roll is equal to this model’s STR plus twice the POW of this weapon.
TUSKS HARD HEAD – This model can add this weapon’s POW to its head-butt and slam power attack damage rolls.
531 ar
unknown unknown
11 ft 10 in
necrotite: 100 lbs coal: 200 lbs
general: 12 hrs combat: 120 mins
TWIN DEATH CLAWS, TUSKS
86
6.25 tons
STALKER
CRYX LIGHT WARJACK The field of battle breeds superstition. Some whisper of unseen horrors skulking along the battlefield, inflicting all manner of misfortune upon the living. Those warcasters who have fallen prey to the Stalker’s scything blades learned too late that at the heart of every tale is a spark—or more—of truth. The Stalker is a nightmarish fusion of darkness and steel designed for a single purpose: to butcher those who oppose the will of the Dragonfather. With a shadowy hull that writhes and ripples in the light, this insidious creation is nearly indiscernible from a distance. Striding swiftly forward on its slender but powerful spiny legs like a great iron insect, a Stalker springs adroitly over any obstacle in its path. Once within reach of its prey, it lashes out with its threshing blades for a quick, decisive kill. These malefic weapons rend both flesh and arcane defenses. Moreover, Stalker blades are coated with a necrotic agent that saturates wounds and weakens even the hardiest combatants. For the better part of a century, Stalkers have unfailingly served the dark designs of Cryx by brutally murdering their intended victims despite the protection of armed escorts. The Stalker’s ability to pursue its target relentlessly while evading all other adversaries makes it a doubly maddening apparition. A Stalker cannot be seen or studied, and its movements cannot be predicted—thus, it remains a killing machine both feared and admired.
STALKER SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 7 7 7 4 15 13 —
EVISCERATOR RNG POW P+S 1 5 12
L
EVISCERATOR RNG POW P+S 1 5 12
R
DAMAGE
L
PC 8
L R L M C R
R
M M C C
FA U
BASE:MEDIUM
STALKER ADVANCE DEPLOYMENT CONSTRUCT PATHFINDER STEALTH BOUNDING LEAP – Once per activation, after making a full advance as its Normal Movement but before performing its Combat Action, this model can spend 1 focus point to be placed completely within 5˝ of its current location. EXTENDED CONTROL RANGE – When checking to see if this model is in its controller’s control range, double the range.
EVISCERATOR BLESSED GRIEVOUS WOUNDS – A model hit by this weapon loses
Tough and cannot have damage removed from it for one round.
unknown unknown
unknown
8 ft 10 in
necrotite: 33 lbs coal: 66 lbs
2.2 tons
general: 16 hrs combat: 120 mins
TWIN EVISCERATORS
87
BARATHRUM CRYX HEAVY WARJACK BARATHRUM 1 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 10 8 5 13 18 —
TALON RNG POW P+S 1 7 17
L
TALON RNG POW P+S 1 7 17
R
TUSKS RNG POW P+S 1 2 12
—
DAMAGE
L
PC 15
L R L M C R
R
M M C C
FA C
BASE:LARGE
BARATHRUM 1 ADVANCE DEPLOYMENT CONSTRUCT BOND [TERMINUS] – If this model begins the game
in Terminus’ battlegroup, it is bonded to him. This model is not considered to be bonded while under your opponent’s control. While this model is bonded to Terminus and in his control range, it gains Unyielding. (While engaging an enemy model, a model with Unyielding gains +2 ARM.) COUNTERCHARGE – When an enemy model advances and ends its movement within 6˝ of this model and in its LOS, this model can immediately charge it. This model can use Countercharge only once per round and not while engaged. DIG IN (HACTION) – This model gains cover, does not suffer blast damage, and does not block LOS. The model remains dug in until it moves, is placed, or is engaged. It can begin the game dug in. DRAG BELOW – During this model’s activation, immediately after resolving an attack in which it boxed an enemy warrior model, this model can use Drag Below. The boxed model is removed from play and this model can immediately make a full advance and then perform a Dig In special action, then its activation ends. This model cannot be targeted by free strikes during this movement.
TALON FEEDBACK – If this weapon damages a warjack that is part of a battlegroup, the warjack’s controller suffers 1 damage point.
TUSKS HARD HEAD – This model can add this weapon’s POW to its head-butt and slam power attack damage rolls.
unknown
KURR
unknown
12 ft 0 in
necrotite: 99 lbs coal: 265 lbs
TWIN TALONS, TUSKS
88
6.5 tons
general: 12 hrs combat: 120 mins
Among Master Necrotech Verrik Kurr’s final and most unusual fabrications, Barathrum is a mechanized terror born from the nightmares of a lunatic. The machine was crafted at the height of Kurr’s brilliance even as he began his descent into madness, and its design exploits similar necrotechnology as was employed in the Seether. Its soul drive closely approximates that of its predecessor, and the tormented souls that fuel this device lend it the same erratic ferocity. Barathrum’s form is distinctive, however, with great scooping talons that enable it to burrow into the earth and emerge elsewhere with terrifying alacrity. Lich Lord Terminus took an interest in this helljack after Kurr’s disappearance and claimed it as his own. Likely he was intrigued by the helljack’s unusual intellect and will, recognizing at once the tactical possibilities of its remarkable capabilities. Assuming responsibility for the frenzied construct did force him to find a way to bring it under control, as it had been prone to extreme unpredictability. In the years after acquiring it, the lich lord spent considerable effort to tame the crazed machine, or at the very least to make it subject to his will. Barathrum has slowly developed restraint—or perhaps more accurately, a measure of fear and respect for its master. Through the application of the lich lord’s undeniable resolve, the helljack has learned discipline and subterfuge. No longer does the machine’s cortex constantly submit to the incessant rage of its soul drive. Instead, the helljack burrows with its massive talons to patiently await the footfalls of the living. Once its prey ventures within reach, Barathrum explodes from the ground in a shower of dirt and black iron, engulfed in a cloud of necrotite fumes, to seize its victims and drag them screaming beneath the earth to a premature burial. Little can demoralize the infantry of the Iron Kingdoms like witnessing a string of comrades summarily swallowed by the very ground on which they tread. The rage-fueled viciousness of the spirits trapped within Barathrum’s soul drive has only grown more terrible in its time under Terminus’ command. Once the helljack is let loose to rampage, this maleficence reasserts itself. Committing to slaughter with reckless abandon, the ’jack cleaves soldiers in two with its shoveled hands and impales others on its tusks. When it ultimately plunges out of sight, it is often with yet another victim in tow—a trophy sentenced to a horrific death in the implacable darkness beneath the ground.
TACTICAL TIPS Drag Below – Because the boxed model is removed from play before being destroyed, it does not generate a soul or corpse token.
89
CANKERWORM CRYX LIGHT WARJACK CANKERWORM 1 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 8 7 5 14 16 —
BITE RNG POW P+S 0.5 3 11
H
REPLICATOR RNG POW P+S 0.5 5 13
—
DAMAGE
H C C C C M
H H H M M M
PC 9
FA C
BASE:MEDIUM
CANKERWORM 1 ADVANCE DEPLOYMENT CONSTRUCT PARRY PATHFINDER STEALTH BOND [ASPHYXIOUS] – If this model begins the game in Asphyxious’ battlegroup, it is bonded to him. This model is not considered to be bonded while under your opponent’s control. While this model is bonded to Asphyxious and in his control range, it gains Reposition [5˝]. (At the end of an activation in which it did not run or fail a charge, a model with Reposition [5˝] can advance up to 5˝, then its activation ends.) SALVAGE – When a warjack is destroyed while in this model’s melee range, remove d6 damage points from this model. If the destroyed warjack was a heavy warjack or a colossal, remove +3 additional damage points from this model.
BITE ARMOR-PIERCING (HATTACK) – When calculating damage from this weapon, halve the base ARM stats of models hit.
REPLICATOR ADAPT – When Cankerworm uses the Salvage ability, you can have the Replicator gain the special rules and weapon qualities of one of the destroyed warjack’s weapons. The Replicator becomes the type of weapon adapted (melee or ranged) and uses that weapon’s RNG, ROF, AOE, and POW. This effect lasts until Cankerworm uses Adapt again.
unknown unknown
unknown
15 ft [length]
unknown
BITE, REPLICATOR
90
3.25 tons unknown
Cankerworm slithers through battlefields on hooked claws while its armored scales rasp along its serpentine length. A scavenger that feasts on the carrion of dead machines, Cankerworm picks their rusted carcasses clean of parts to integrate into its own mass. Its ability to regenerate itself has allowed it to emerge from the wreckage of battle countless times and return to Asphyxious despite its near destruction. It tears to pieces those who impede it or seek to thwart its purposes, but it has no lasting interest in flesh. Its rear terminus houses a strange device that grafts itself to weapons salvaged from the battlefield. This pincer-like apparatus is well suited to holding a smashed warjack in place while its mandibles gnaw at it to separate the chosen component. Only Asphyxious knows the origins of this enigmatic mechanikal beast, which some rumors suggest arose of its own accord from the ruined mechanisms abandoned on war-torn fields of slaughter. Whatever the truth, Cankerworm has dutifully followed in the lich lord’s shadow for centuries. A creature that seems more self-created than engineered, the bonejack embodies acquisitive principles of baffling complexity and takes to the extreme the Cryxian philosophy of rising to consume one’s enemies whole. Cankerworm attacks with a breed of cunning and a sense of self-preservation that mimics life. Skulking across the blasted battlefield, Cankerworm waits for the mightiest of warjacks to suffer crippling damage, then springs to assail the vulnerable machine. As it delivers the killing strike, it harvests weapons and other useful machinery from the fallen construct. Cankerworm uses its vicious mandibles to tear enemy warjacks apart before ripping into their exposed mechanical guts. Once it locates a weapon of potency within the ruined shell of the other ’jack, it seamlessly integrates the weapon into its own systems. This unprecedented ability to assimilate even the most sophisticated and complex mechanikal devices makes Cankerworm a particularly versatile tool in the iron lich’s arsenal. The existence of this machine has only added to the terrifying legacy of Asphyxious. Even the lich lord’s servants find the machine disquieting, particularly as it has on occasion lashed out against those who have displeased its master. Necrotechs cast envious and fearful glances at Cankerworm, both apprehensive of and fascinated with the unprecedented alien intellect it displays. No Cryxian interferes with Cankerworm as it scours the battlefields like an enormous, malignant iron insect. Its behavior is often as inexplicable as it is abhorrent. Necrotechs have observed Cankerworm piling the dead after a battle and burying itself in their midst. It has dissected machinery and corpses with equal dispassion, and it sometimes salvages a skull or a piece of mechanika if it feels the item worthy of its master’s further scrutiny. How it chooses its trophies remains a mystery no one has cared to investigate more closely.
91
DEATHJACK CRYX HEAVY WARJACK DEATHJACK 1 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 12 8 4 13 19 —
NECROCLAW RNG POW P+S 1 6 18
L
NECROCLAW RNG POW P+S 1 6 18
R
HORNS RNG POW P+S 1 3 15
—
L
PC 23
L R L M C R
R
M M C C
FA C
Long ago, tales of this mechanikal doom reached the Scharde Islands and stirred the interest of the lich lords, who vowed to capture the machine and bend it to the Dragonfather’s will. Since the Deathjack’s first sighting in 350 AR, agents of Cryx have tirelessly hunted for any shred of lore concerning the enigmatic selfwilled construct. It is a constant source of humiliation to necrotechs that this embodiment of carnage caged within a mechanikal frame was not the product of their own twisted genius. The nightmare machine’s origins are unknown, as is the identity of its creator, though the secrets of its construction are rumored to be buried within the cryptic pages of the Librum Mekanecrus. This loathsome tome, coveted by Thamarite cults as well as by the agents of the Dragonfather, supposedly details the melding of mechanika with ancient Orgoth rites. Though long lost to the necrotechs of Cryx, the Librum has inspired their deranged designs as they endlessly aspire to match the demonic perfection of the Deathjack.
DAMAGE
For more than two hundred and sixty years the necromechanikal horror called the Deathjack has haunted the wilds of western Immoren. Striking without warning, this infernal machine voraciously devours souls and leaves nothing but death and devastation behind it. The greasy smoke from its furnace bears the acrid odors of burnt hair and flesh. Countless individuals—indeed, entire villages of men, women, and children—have been consumed in its insatiable flames.
BASE:LARGE
DEATHJACK 1 ADVANCE DEPLOYMENT CONSTRUCT MAGIC ABILITY [7] • NECROMANCY – While this model is in its
controller’s control range, it can spend focus points to cast its controller’s spells. This model cannot cast upkeep spells or spells with a RNG of SELF or CTRL. Use this model’s Magic Ability score when making magic attack rolls. SKULLS OF HATE – This model can have up to 5 focus points at any time instead of the normal limit of 3. During your Control Phase, after focus allocation this model gains 1 focus point for each of its non-crippled arm systems. SNACKING – When this model boxes a living model with a melee attack, it can choose to remove the boxed model from play. When it does, this model can remove d3 damage points.
NECROCLAW DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL OPEN FIST
HORNS HARD HEAD – This model can add this weapon’s POW to its head-butt and slam power attack damage rolls.
The Deathjack’s considerable array of necromantic and mechanikal abilities makes it a potent addition to the armies of Cryx. A savage intellect resides in its Skulls of Hate, the infernal lanterns mounted on its shoulders that continuously utter dire admonitions and cast necromantic spells. This monstrosity has been demolished multiple times before, at great cost of life and suffering, and yet the Skulls of Hate have assembled it anew from scraps of other machines. The Deathjack is a seemingly immortal machine that exists for no purpose other than slaughter. While its outer frame bears some resemblance to certain Cryxian helljacks, the Deathjack’s furnace is unique. Whereas the engines of lesser bonejacks and helljacks extract energy from necrotite, this singular ’jack fuels itself directly from the souls of its victims and seems to need no other fuel. Driven by a murderous appetite, the Deathjack eagerly carries out the imperatives of the Dragon Lord. It took countless attempts and untold resources to press the Deathjack into Cryxian service. Even then, the iron will of the Skulls of Hate proved impervious to necromantic ward and ritual. What could not be broken could only be bound. Some believe the final cost of subjugating such an inscrutable abomination remains to be paid and that at some future date it will slip its leash. Even with apocalyptic revelations surrounding its future, the Deathjack remains too useful and the lich lords intend to continue to employ this most unnatural and exquisite of horrors.
TACTICAL TIPS Magic Ability – Performing a Magic Ability special action or special attack counts as casting a spell. unknown unknown
350 ar
15 ft 0 in
unknown
unknown
unknown
TWIN NECROCLAWS, HORNS
92
Snacking – Because the boxed model is removed from play before being destroyed, it does not generate a soul or corpse token.
93
EREBUS
CRYX HEAVY WARJACK EREBUS 1 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 10 7 5 14 18 —
DEATH CLAW RNG POW P+S 1 6 16
L
DEATH CLAW RNG POW P+S 1 6 16
R
DAMAGE
L
PC 16
L R L M C R
R
M M C C
FA C
BASE:LARGE
EREBUS 1 CONSTRUCT IMMUNITY: COLD BOND [SCAVEROUS] – If this model begins the game in Scaverous’ battlegroup, it is bonded to him. This model is not considered to be bonded while under your opponent’s control. When this model destroys a living enemy model while bonded to Scaverous and in his control range, Scaverous gains the destroyed model’s soul token. OVERTAKE – When this model destroys one or more enemy models with a basic melee attack during its Combat Action, after the attack is resolved it can immediately advance up to 1˝. POLTERGEIST – When an enemy model misses this model with an attack, immediately after the attack is resolved you can choose to push the enemy model d3˝ directly away from this model.
DEATH CLAW OPEN FIST FREEZE – A model hit by this weapon becomes
Every helljack is built to possess a terrible hunger for violence, but the insatiable bloodlust of the machine called Erebus distinguishes it even among the Cryxians. Born of Skell’s black iron forges, Erebus constantly hears the sinister whisperings of its master, Lord Exhumator Scaverous, and is compelled to serve him. It stalks across the battlefield with the dark intent of a predator, murdering all in its path and gathering their souls to fuel Scaverous’ arcane efforts. The unclean channels of its cortex hum with savage impulses and murderous instincts, while its black iron claws twitch endlessly even when Erebus sits idle. Scaverous spared none of his considerable acumen in the necromantic arts when he set about constructing this extraordinary iron servant. Utilizing intelligence gathered by interrogating the corpses of the most renowned necrotechs ever to be destroyed in service to the Nightmare Empire, Scaverous painstakingly designed the helljack’s frame based on their dark insights. Millennia of genius were bent to the completion of this one task as Scaverous assembled his choir of ghostly echoes. He performed powerful rituals and vile desecrations upon the ’jack’s inert chassis, exploiting lore accumulated from centuries of plundering forgotten ruins and searching the minds of dead masters of necromantic lore. At the construct’s waist, Scaverous bound the skulls of two of his most talented assistants—necessary if not entirely willing sacrifices in this undertaking—preserved in case he should ever need to consult their memories. Erebus’ cortex had been assembled by these two, following Scaverous’ exacting instructions, over years of careful work. The extensions from the helljack’s back, forged in the necrofactoriums of Skell, were refined apparatus attuned to Scaverous and engineered to allow Erebus to deliver siphoned souls back to its creator even at a distance. It was also fitted with extended claws that could emit a powerful and unnatural chill, leeching all heat from the air around them and inflicting freezing cold on those that the helljack attacks. The lives Erebus has since claimed leave it steeped in the spiritual detritus of a thousand bloody deaths. Invisible to most, this spectral effluvium envelops the helljack, lashing out with waves of otherworldly power at those who strike its blackened carapace. This preternatural force rebuffs the blows of any daring to challenge the foul machine, knocking opponents aside as if they were gnats in a maelstrom. No mortal efforts can hope to repel Erebus, any more than sharpened steel can wholly forestall one’s inevitable slide into the grave.
stationary for one round unless it has Immunity: Cold .
TACTICAL TIPS Bond [Scaverous] – Because Scaverous is the model gaining the soul token, use his location when determining which model eligible to claim the destroyed model’s soul token is closest to it.
unknown unknown
unknown
11 ft 10 in
necrotite: 100 lbs coal: 205 lbs
general: 12 hrs combat: 120 mins
TWIN DEATH CLAWS
94
6.5 tons
95
KHARYBDIS CRYX HEAVY WARJACK KHARYBDIS 1 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 5 12 7 5 12 18 —
BLACK INK RNG ROF AOE POW SP 8 1 — 12
H
TENDRIL RNG POW P+S 1 4 16
L
TENDRIL RNG POW P+S 1 4 16
R
DAMAGE
L
PC 19
L R L M C R
R
M M C C
FA C
BASE:LARGE
KHARYBDIS 1 AMPHIBIOUS CONSTRUCT IMMUNITY: CORROSION PATHFINDER ACID CLOUD (HACTION) – Center a 4˝ AOE cloud effect
on this model. Models in the AOE when it is placed or that enter or end their activation in the AOE suffer the Corrosion continuous effect . The AOE remains in play for one round. BOND [AIAKOS] – If this model begins the game in Aiakos’ battlegroup, it is bonded to him. This model is not considered to be bonded while under your opponent’s control. While this model is bonded to Aiakos and in his control range, it gains Prowl. (While a model with Prowl has concealment, it gains Stealth .) STEADY – This model cannot become knocked down.
BLACK INK DAMAGE TYPE: CORROSION CRITICAL BLIND – On a critical hit, the model hit
suffers Blind for one round. (A model suffering Blind cannot make ranged or magic attacks, suffers –4 MAT and DEF, and cannot run, charge, or make slam or trample power attacks. It must forfeit either its Normal Movement or Combat Action during its next activation. Blind can be shaken.)
TENDRIL CHAIN WEAPON OPEN FIST CHAIN STRIKE – This weapon becomes RNG 4 during this model’s activation.
Kharybdis is one of the oldest helljacks remaining in service to the Nightmare Empire. Lich Lord Daeamortus created it centuries ago, soon after the lore regarding such constructs was plundered from the corpses of mainland inventors. Possessed of an intelligence as alien as its form, Kharybdis is a cryptic entity eager to terrorize those who sail the Meredius. It emerges from the heaving tide to assault unsuspecting ships at berth and lay waste to coastal defenses. The helljack enters battle emitting a choking miasma of acidic vapor that spews forth from its dark carapace as it lashes out with bladed tendrils. Any brave sailors who stand their ground are blasted with gouts of black ichor, their eyesight stolen even as their flesh dissolves. For decades Kharybdis was thought to have been destroyed during the height of the Scharde Invasions, lost when the Cygnaran navy sank Lich Lord Daeamortus’ blackship. The lich lord himself gave up any thought of salvaging the machine, unwilling to invest in its recovery. After his defeat by Asphyxious, any such opportunity was lost. Intrigued by stories of a powerful helljack slumbering in the crushing depths, however, the pirate warcaster Aiakos sought out others who knew the location of Daeamortus’ lost ship. With nothing but a crude map, he set out to find what remains he could. Aiakos dispatched salvage thralls to plumb the graveyard of ships scattered about the ocean floor. They found the inert Kharybdis along with other lost artifacts and set chains to its bulk, attaching them to powerful engines aboard the warcaster’s vessel. Soon the remains of the machine were hauled from the heaving sea for Aiakos’ inspection. He felt an immediate sense of foreboding when his mind touched the predatory consciousness trapped within the machine’s cortex, and upon pressing his palm to the hull and disengaging the cortex locks, a blackness filled the warcaster’s mind. In that moment he made a silent pact with the incomprehensible consciousness lurking within. The helljack serves Aiakos, though he cannot claim to fully understand the machine. Aiakos hired the most skilled necrotechs in Blackwater to repair and rebuild the machine. Once it was restored Aiakos offered Kharybdis, along with other treasures recovered from Daeamortus’ ship, to the reigning pirate king of Blackwater, Lord Craethan Morvaen. With the promise of such gifts, the lord granted Aiakos access to his stronghold. Once inside, the warcaster used the helljack to slay Morvaen and his soldiers—the massacre serving as both a declaration of the helljack’s return as well as a demonstration of Aiakos’ might and daring. The lich lords whom Morvaen had served did not retaliate, suggesting at least nominal approval. Kharybdis now terrorizes victims of Aiakos’ bloody raids, tearing anything within reach to pieces. Pirates under Aiakos’ command give the helljack a wide berth, unable to read its intentions and fearful it could lash out of its own accord. On occasion, the machine has wrapped unsuspecting crewmen in its coils and crushed the life from them before casting the body aside for the victims’ fellows to dispose of. For his part, Aiakos has done nothing to curb such violent acts, allowing them to magnify his own reputation.
TACTICAL TIPS unknown unknown
370 ar
10 ft 9 in
necrotite: 99 lbs coal: 265 lbs
7.5 tons
general: 11 hrs combat: 110 mins
TWIN TENDRILS, CAPITULUM SIPHON
96
Steady – Remember, even if a thrown model cannot be knocked down, it must still forfeit its Normal Movement or Combat Action if it activates later in a turn it was thrown.
97
MALICE
CRYX HEAVY WARJACK MALICE 1 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 10 7 6 13 17 —
BARBED HARPOON RNG ROF AOE POW 8 1 — 14
L
DEATH CLAW RNG POW P+S 1 6 16
R
Though its armament and appearance resemble those of the Reaper helljack, Malice is a unique creation. It is the product of a diseased genius who killed himself in the pursuit of his greatest work. This hapless necrotech was undone by his magnum opus, the first of Malice’s now countless victims. Whatever secrets its maker kept concerning the helljack’s fabrication vanished with him in the moment of the construct’s bloody awakening.
DAMAGE
L
PC 15
L R L M C R
R
M M C C
FA C
BASE:LARGE
MALICE 1 CONSTRUCT GHOST SHIELD – This model gains +1 ARM for each
soul token currently on it. POSSESSION – When this model hits an enemy non-
warcaster, non-warlock model with a basic melee attack during this model’s activation, this model can spend a soul token to take control of the enemy model. Immediately after the attack has been resolved, you can make a full advance with the enemy model and can then make one basic attack, then Possession expires. The enemy model cannot be targeted by free strikes during this movement. A model can be affected by Possession only once per turn. SOUL TAKER: SPIRIT HARVESTER – This model can gain soul tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed within 5˝ of this model, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. This model can have up to five soul tokens at any time. At the start of this model’s activation, you can remove soul tokens from this model to give it 1 focus point for each token removed.
BARBED HARPOON DRAG – When this weapon damages an enemy model with an equal or smaller base, immediately after the attack is resolved the damaged model can be pushed directly toward this model until it contacts a model, an obstacle, or an obstruction. After the damaged model is moved, this model can make one basic melee attack against the damaged model. After resolving this melee attack, this model can make additional melee attacks during its Combat Action.
DEATH CLAW DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL OPEN FIST
unknown
unknown
unknown
11 ft 10 in
necrotite: 88 lbs coal: 196 lbs
98
6.3 tons
general: 12 hrs combat: 120 mins
BARBED HARPOON, DEATH CLAW
The product of fell experimentation spanning many centuries, the helljack Malice hosts a legion of vengeful spirits, the specters of those who fell under its claws. These trapped and tormented souls swarm across its hull, swimming in and out of its plates and mechanisms, shrieking constantly in a dissonant, deathly cacophony of madness. A dark and terrible chorus howls within the helljack, the volume rising and falling but never entirely gone. Blasphemous whispers permeate its cortex, driving the machine to ever greater extremes of slaughter. Malice exists only to glut itself on the souls of the living; it feasts greedily on the fallen in the heat of battle.
Its black iron body conceals a dark and truly sinister function: the interior chassis of Malice is studded with a matrix of soul cages linked directly to the helljack’s inimitable cortex. There the souls can feed the helljack’s mind with a whispered madness unlike anything found in the other achievements of the necrotechs of Cryx. This foul warjack has been a weapon in the arsenal of Cryx for over a century, and it has served numerous Cryxian masters throughout the years. Most notably, Malice joined Lich Lord Terminus during the Scharde Invasions, wrenching enemy warjacks from ships’ decks or docksides and hurling them into the sea, letting the cold waters of the Meredius extinguish their heartfires. In villages and ports up and down the coast, Malice gorged itself on the souls of mainlanders. The tortured existence the trapped spirits endure while within the helljack’s profane form causes them to experience a form of insanity. They are driven to hate the living, but none more so than their former companions, who callously allowed their souls to be consumed by the black machine. Direct contact offers the spirits trapped within the helljack their only escape, as it is then they are able to pour out in a fearsome spectral contagion that overwhelms and possesses the cortexes of any enemy warjacks it touches. Spirits leaping from Malice to their new host temporarily seize control of the other warjack, turning it on its companions before the specters escape into the wilds of Urcaen.
TACTICAL TIPS Soul Eater – This model cannot have more than 3 focus points as a result of Soul Eater. Soul Taker: Spirit Harvester – This model cannot exceed normal focus limits as a result of Spirit Harvester. Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it. If this model already has five soul tokens it is not eligible to collect another one.
99
NIGHTMARE CRYX HEAVY WARJACK NIGHTMARE 1 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 10 8 5 13 18 —
WICKED CLAW RNG POW P+S 1 7 17
L
WICKED CLAW RNG POW P+S 1 7 17
R
TUSKS RNG POW P+S 1 2 12
—
DAMAGE
L
PC 18
L R L M C R
R
M M C C
FA C
BASE:LARGE
NIGHTMARE 1 CONSTRUCT BOND [DENEGHRA] – If this model begins the game
in Deneghra’s battlegroup, it is bonded to her. This model is not considered to be bonded while under your opponent’s control. While this model is bonded to Deneghra and in her control range, it gains Stealth . GHOSTLY – This model can advance through terrain and obstacles without penalty and can advance through obstructions if it has enough movement to move completely past them. It cannot be targeted by free strikes. PREY – After deployment but before the first player’s turn, choose an enemy model/unit to be this model/ unit’s prey. This model gains +2 to attack and damage rolls against its prey. When the prey is destroyed or removed from play, choose another model/unit to be the prey.
WICKED CLAW OPEN FIST CHAIN ATTACK: GRAB & SMASH – If this model
hits the same model with both its initial attacks with this weapon, after resolving the attacks it can immediately make a head-butt or throw power attack against that target.
TUSKS HARD HEAD – This model can add this weapon’s POW to its head-butt and slam power attack damage rolls.
If the Slayer represents the perfect killing machine, Nightmare is darkness and mortality incarnate. The cold, blackened shell of this helljack gives form to a bestial predatory instinct. It can become a ghostly specter and move through any barrier before coalescing into a brutal and terrifying reality. Striding forward alongside Wraith Witch Deneghra, Nightmare melts into the surrounding shadows—until it unexpectedly reaches out to rend its luckless victims limb from limb. Deneghra chose this machine as the vessel of her vengeance the day its claws held her in place for her sister’s violent killing stroke. Yet, this was the same Slayer that later carried Deneghra’s body from the field, obedient to her even beyond death. After Asphyxious returned her soul to awaken her reconstructed flesh, the thought of her own blood on its claws fueled Deneghra’s obsession. Her training as a warwitch had taught her to appreciate and crave the great power of blood rituals and black deeds done with passions roused. Her murder had left an indelible imprint on the machine. Deneghra conducted careful preparations to bind the helljack to her will permanently. She ordered her mechaniks to modify it extensively to create the perfect instrument for her revenge, and she oversaw every detail of the work herself. When the machine seemed all in readiness, Deneghra inscribed a complex pattern of runes empowered by sacral blood upon its surfaces. With the completion of the final rune, cold fire erupted along the helljack’s form where her life’s blood had spilled. Deneghra’s mind burned trails through Nightmare’s cortex, creating an imperishable bond between them. Through this link the helljack became the ultimate hunter, a tireless horror that would follow its quarry with infinite patience and tenacity. It became the favored demon Deneghra would unleash upon her enemies, a harbinger of their inevitable destruction. Deneghra’s mastery over death itself and her transcendent embrace of that state is echoed in her terrible mechanikal creation. As Deneghra seizes power independent of the fulfillment of Asphyxious’ will, Nightmare has increasingly become the instrument by which she carries out her plans. Deneghra’s complex schemes require more deaths than she has time to reap personally, and so at times she sends Nightmare in her stead. Its malevolent eyes glint with a flare of necrotite when she caresses it and speaks the name of its prey and the manner of its death. Once loosed, Nightmare stalks its targets like a ghastly hound, unfettered by the obstacles of the physical world. It moves relentlessly through forest or street with equal ease in pursuit of its named quarry. All hope vanishes from those who witness Nightmare materialize from the shadows to do slaughter. The machine stares out at the world with a singular, unholy malice, the fires of its eyes gleaming with menacing coldness in the darkness of the night. Those who flee from Nightmare soon despair, for all efforts to evade it prove fruitless, and the helljack closes on them with the terrible certainty of death.
TACTICAL TIPS Chain Attack: Grab & Smash – A model with a crippled weapon system cannot use it to make chain attacks, special attacks, or power attacks.
606 ar
unknown unknown
11 ft 10 in
necrotite: 100 lbs coal: 200 lbs
general: 12 hrs combat: 120 mins
TWIN WICKED CLAWS, TUSKS
100
7 tons
101
KRAKEN
CRYX COLOSSAL WARJACK The Kraken ranks among the most terrifying necromechanikal fabrications ever loosed upon the mortals of the Iron Kingdoms. Lashing out with grasping tentacles, it snatches up men and stuffs them within the grease-slicked orifices of its shell. The captured have but a moment of terror to consider their lightless environs before their life energies are extracted and their bodies consumed by a necromantic furnace that fuels the Kraken’s engines and armament. The Kraken was conceived as the perfect Cryxian engine of death—a machine that could strike from below with overwhelming force, devour its victims, refuel itself on their carcasses, and then vanish beneath the waves.
KRAKEN SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 5 16 6 5 10 19 —
HELLBLASTER S
RNG ROF AOE POW 16 1 5 14
—
RNG ROF AOE POW 12 d3+1 — 12
FLAYER
The first Kraken was built in the decades following the final defeat of the Orgoth. Having observed the strengths and weaknesses of the mighty machines fielded by Khador and Cygnar in the Colossal War fought between 250–257 AR, Cryxian agents raided the graves of the mainland’s most brilliant inventors, arcanists, and mechanikal engineers and interrogated the remains for their genius.
HARVESTER L
RNG POW P+S 2 3 19
R
RNG POW P+S 2 3 19
HARVESTER
LEFT DAMAGE
RIGHT DAMAGE
S S
S S
L
L
L
S C
L
C C C
L C M M M M
PC 36
FA 2
C
C S R R
C
C
C C R
R
M M M M C R
BASE:HUGE
KRAKEN AMPHIBIOUS CONSTRUCT PATHFINDER BONE PICKER – When this model destroys a living or undead enemy model with a melee attack, this model gains the destroyed model’s corpse token and the destroyed model is removed from play. This model can have up to three corpse tokens at any time. CRUCIBLE OF DEATH – This model can spend up to three corpse tokens at the start of its activation to gain 1 focus point for each corpse token spent. KILL SHOT – Once per activation, when an enemy model is destroyed or removed from play as a result of a melee attack made by this model during its activation, immediately after that attack is resolved this model can make one basic ranged attack. MEAT-FUELED – This model gains +1 STR for each corpse token on it.
HELLBLASTER DOOM DRIVER – This weapon gains +1 to its damage rolls for each corpse token on this model.
HARVESTER CHAIN WEAPON OPEN FIST CHAIN STRIKE – This weapon becomes RNG 4 during this model’s activation.
The necrotechs of Skell immediately set about refining the designs of those great machines. Well aware of the shortcomings of the first colossals, Cryx designed its version to be smaller, more agile, and able to traverse a broad range of terrain— innovations centuries ahead of the mechanikal achievements of the mainland. The use of necrotite to power the Kraken’s engines further reduced the weight of the machine, making it shockingly fast for such a large construct. For centuries, the lich lords tightly controlled the use of Krakens. Lich Lord Scopulous, responsible for Cryx’s reserve army, was particularly loath to employ the colossals abroad and consented to dispatch them only for the utter destruction of isolated targets such as remote shoreline villages and lone ships carrying items or individuals of great value. More than a few vessels thought to have been swallowed up by the storms of the Meredius were in fact dragged beneath the waves, their prized passengers taken by the Kraken’s harvesting tendrils. A few witnesses lived to speak of what they had seen, but their stories of great sea monsters were dismissed as mad ravings or thought to describe living beasts of the deep. Recent years have seen lich lords leading armies deep inside enemy mainland territories; combined with the development of enemy colossals, this negated the need for secrecy. Pressured by his peers, Scopulous made the previously built Krakens available to the generals of Cryx. Lich Lord Asphyxious, eager to bolster his armies independent of the Cryxian islands, went so far as to craft additional Krakens within the depths of his mainland necrofactoriums and unleashed them to support his wars. The Kraken has demonstrated its lethal worth. A Kraken can quickly maneuver to take advantage of any situation on the battlefield, while its hellblaster cannon delivers deadly payloads. Even as detonations from this cannon tear holes in enemy formations, bursts from its flayer cannon cut down any foe brave enough to launch counterattacks. The Kraken surges into the ranks of the living to satisfy its endless appetite for slaughter. Its long tentacles erupt like serpents in the midst of formations, tearing apart warjacks and glutting itself on screaming victims. Not every victim snatched by a Kraken immediately perishes. Some unlucky few are kept alive to be subjected to unknown horrors.
TACTICAL TIPS Bone Picker – Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s corpse token, the closest eligible model collects the token. If this model already has three corpse tokens it is not eligible to collect another corpse token. Crucible of Death – This model cannot exceed normal focus limits as a result of Crucible of Death.
102
unknown unknown
531 ar unknown
27 ft
85 tons unknown
HELLBLASTER CANNON, FLAYER CANNON, TWIN HARVESTERS
103
SEPULCHER
CRYX COLOSSAL WARJACK The Sepulcher brings the horrors of Cryxian industry to the doorsteps of western Immoren in the form of an armored necromantic factory. Sharing some features with the Kraken, the Sepulcher also boasts a pair of extended harvesters with which it can seize any within reach to subject them to a horrific fate, moving with a rapidity not expected in a machine of its size. The surgical implements comprising its mandibles twitch in anticipation of converting its victims into cannon fodder to be unleashed in the wars of the Nightmare Empire. It is difficult to discern which it savors more: slaughtering foes or reassembling the dead into a new unholy existence.
SEPULCHER SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 5 16 6 5 10 19 —
DESOLATOR RNG ROF AOE POW 13 1 4 13
S
IMPALER RNG ROF AOE POW 10 d3 — 13
L
IMPALER RNG ROF AOE POW 10 d3 — 13
R
HARVESTER RNG POW P+S 2 3 19
L
HARVESTER RNG POW P+S 2 3 19
R
LEFT DAMAGE
RIGHT DAMAGE
S S
S S
L
L
L
S C
L
C C C
L C M M M M
PC 36
FA 2
C
C S R R
C
C
C C R
R
M M M M C R
BASE:HUGE
SEPULCHER AMPHIBIOUS CONSTRUCT PATHFINDER DEATH INDUSTRY – Once per turn at any time during
its activation, this model can spend up to three corpse tokens. It can either spend three tokens to add a Brute Thrall to a friendly Mechanithrall unit or it can add one Grunt to a friendly Mechanithrall unit for each token spent. Place each added model in formation completely within 4˝ of this model. Added models must forfeit their Combat Actions the turns they are put into play. NECROHARVESTER [4˝] – When a living or undead enemy model is destroyed within 4˝ of this model, this model gains the destroyed model’s corpse token. This model can have up to three corpse tokens at any time.
DESOLATOR ARCING FIRE – When attacking with this weapon, this
model can ignore intervening models except those within 1˝ of the target. CRITICAL PARALYSIS – On a critical hit, a living model hit has its base DEF reduced to 5 and cannot run, charge, or make slam or trample power attacks for one round.
IMPALER BURST FIRE – Gain +1 to damage rolls with this weapon against medium-based models and +2 to damage rolls against large- and huge-based models.
HARVESTER CHAIN WEAPON OPEN FIST CHAIN STRIKE – This weapon becomes RNG 4 during this model’s activation. PULL – If this model hits an enemy model with an equal or smaller base with a basic attack with this weapon, immediately after the attack is resolved the hit model can be pushed directly toward this model until it contacts a model, an obstacle, or an obstruction.
104
Long kept back among Lich Lord Scopulous’ reserve garrisons, the Sepulcher has recently been sent forth to terrorize the mainland, where it has proven itself to be a weapon of prodigious if unseemly industriousness. The colossal roams the battlefield in search of fresh materials that can be stitched together to produce a never-ending supply of necromechanikally enhanced thralls. With a sharp and precise jab to the temple, the Sepulcher punctures skulls with a thick needle fixed to its mandible, killing its victims instantly and rendering them inert for the procedures to follow. Surgical steel flashes across deadened and dying flesh to hastily carve animation runes while at the same time a series of needles dips and weaves, expelling jagged lines of coarse thread to connect random limbs to torsos. Cold and efficient, the Sepulcher is a walking slaughterhouse, yet to the necrotechs of Cryx it is instead a walking factory by which the Dragonfather’s own losses are replenished. The Sepulcher lumbers forward with a mechanical hiss in search of victims, pausing only to open fire, utilizing explosive canisters of alchemical poison from its desolator cannon. Upon contact, the poison seeps through skin as well as filling the lungs with each breath, creating a sickening sense of disorientation in victims, which makes escape all the more unlikely. Any who manage to survive such tactics are promptly torn apart by bursts of gun fire from the machine’s dual impalers. A smear of mud and guts constantly coats the underbelly of the machine as it moves, and the potent stench of viscera hails its arrival as clearly as the billowing smoke of its necrotite engines. A direct result of Cryx’s expanding war effort, the Sepulcher reveals to enemies a hint of the nightmarish war to come.
TACTICAL TIPS Necroharvester – Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s corpse token, the closest eligible model collects it. If this model already has three corpse tokens, it is not eligible to collect another one.
531 ar
unknown unknown
unknown
27 ft
85 tons unknown
DESOLATOR, TWIN IMPALERS, TWIN HARVESTERS
105
TROOPS OF CRYX
Recruitment of soldiers in Cryx bears little resemblance to that of other nations. Cryx has no terms of enlistment, no training regimens, and no population of eager youths volunteering to fight. Instead, the Nightmare Empire cobbles together vast armies from the dead, scavenging the remains of its own living denizens as well as the fallen of other kingdoms. Bolstering the undead’s numbers is a living pirate horde of Satyxis, black ogrun, blighted trollkin, and human Scharde, who terrorize the seas and mainland coastline. This formidable combination of pirate raiders and animated thralls defines Cryxian military might. Necromancy was among the first domains of hidden knowledge that Toruk imparted to the lich lords who govern the empire in the dragon’s name. They have developed the art over a millennium of macabre research and development, spawning generations of increasingly advanced and terrifying thralls. The perpetual need for bodies created an entire black market of slave and corpse trading in the port city of Blackwater. Not all of Cryx’s undead soldiers are mindless horrors ripped from the grave and forced to walk again. The most complex thralls can obey detailed orders and can even lead the shambling dead in battle. Thralls lack souls, however, so even the most sophisticated ones have no will of their own. This can prove advantageous, as it curtails corruption, disobedience, and self-motivated ambition. Some undead do possess thoughts and goals. Banes and wraiths are cunning beings driven by a hatred of all life.
106
Unlike common thralls, banes are created by imprisoning the maddened spirits of unholy warriors within desecrated human remains. Cryxian agents scour ancient battlefields and forgotten tombs to find appropriate vessels; only the flesh of those who were strong in life can become a permanent anchor for a bane spirit. Other restless spirits also serve Cryx without the trappings of physical remains— ghostly transformed souls that refused to pass to Urcaen or were bound by necromantic rites. Arguably the most terrifying undead are the pirates that crew the Nightmare Empire’s Ghost Fleet in the form of revenants. These almost imperishable creatures represent the continuance of a supernatural contract forged between Toruk and Captain Rengrave of the dirgenmast Atramentous; they retain most of their faculties in spite of their cursed existence. They have added to their number over time, bringing additional slaughtered sailors into the fold along with their captured ships. Cryx’s remaining fleets are crewed by toughened mortals drawn from numerous races dwelling around the Scharde Islands. Not bound to service by the same magical means as the undead, these raiders enlist in the Cryxian fleets to escape life on the main island of Scharde, to satisfy a desire for wealth and power, or simply to slake their bloodlust. Among the living eking out their existence in Cryx, pirate raiders enjoy a relatively privileged life, improving their lot through murder and pillaging. In the end, though, they are as much slaves to the lich lords as the undead—and equally expendable.
The living who perish fighting for Cryx often rise to fight again, their corpses sold to the necrotechs who scour the docks of Blackwater. The fallen are quickly reanimated to join the endless throngs of Cryxian thralls.
Rank Structure
Cryx lacks the kind of formal rank structure typically associated with military forces. Instead, power is invested in a trusted servant by a lich lord or seized by those with the will to command. The highest echelons of Cryx are dominated by self-willed undead. Though the living may aspire to power, they are destined to fall in service to the Dragonfather and to rise to serve him in undeath. The mastery of necromancy is among the few talents that can elevate living vassals to positions of authority, although necromancers mostly prefer to join the ranks of the sentient dead by becoming iron liches. Field command of Cryxian forces falls to tested leaders, notably warwitches, ship captains, or the agents of the lich lords. Cryx also employs intelligent thralls as proxy commanders, but creating such creatures is extremely timeconsuming, requiring the inscription of the most difficult and complex runes. The Cryxian naval fleets demand more organization and discipline, with the Black Fleet showing greater professionalism than the rabble of the pirate fleet. Seasoned sailors, as experienced in close-quarters combat as they are in seamanship, make up the bulk of a ship’s crew. Those who live long enough and show the requisite toughness may become officers. A vicious, bloodthirsty captain commands each ship, though changes in leadership through mutiny or death are commonplace. Captains are beholden to the admirals. Mighty as the admirals are, commanding hundreds of vessels and thousands of subordinates, each still must answer to one or more of the lich lords.
THRALL RUNES Toruk granted the lich lords the secrets of thrall runes so they could spawn undying legions in their own image. Ceremonially inscribing these runes into corpses allows the liches to create servants of varying potency, with more intricate inscriptions yielding more powerful thralls. The nature of the flesh itself may limit its efficacy—not every corpse is suitable for bearing the more powerful inscriptions. AUTHORITY MARKS
Thrall Warrior
Thrall Lieutenant
Thrall Captain
Mark of Asphyxious
ANIMATION GLYPHS
Basic Animation
Strength
Aggression
Deployment
The vast majority of Cryx’s thralls are produced either on the mainland or in the sprawling necrofactoriums of Skell. They may wait decades to see service, first housed in the Scharde Islands, then smuggled onto the mainland by the fleets and secreted in one of Cryx’s hidden bases until they can be used to strike against the living. Unless a major fleet action is required, the captains of Cryxian vessels may largely do as they please. Most raid shipping lanes and pillage towns along western Immoren’s expansive shoreline. When needed, individual ships can be pressed into service to smuggle goods on or off the mainland or to strike important targets. The raiding pirate fleet most often provides a diversion to cover the more organized actions of the Black Fleet, which handles major landings and the resupply to mainland forces.
Protection
Intellect
Stealth
Arcane Power
TROOPS OF CRYX
107
BILE THRALLS CRYX UNIT
LEADER & GRUNTS SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 5 4 2 3 10 13 6
BILE CANNON RNG ROF AOE POW SP 8 1 — 12 PC
Leader & 5 Grunts Leader & 9 Grunts
9 15
FA 3
BASE:SMALL
LEADER & GRUNTS UNDEAD
BILE CANNON CONTINUOUS EFFECT: CORROSION DAMAGE TYPE: CORROSION PURGE (HATTACK) – Make an attack with this weapon. Each model covered by the spray template is automatically hit unless this model’s LOS to it is blocked by terrain. After this attack is resolved, remove this model from play. Purge damage is simultaneous.
Disgorged from the hellish workshops of Cryx, bile thralls are noted for their bloated and swollen bodies. The gurgling sounds of pumps and siphons performing unspeakable mockeries of biological processes within them are especially horrifying to hear. These thralls store volumes of corrosive digestive and decomposition agents, with hoses and tubes leading from their distended mouths and fabricated orifices to crude firing mechanisms. With a lurching spasm, each bile thrall can force a startling volume of caustic fluid out of the nozzle over a wide area to dissolve flesh and devour tempered metal. In the midst of enemy troops, a bile thrall can elect to explode, compressing its overpressurized intestines in a massive purge that creates a grisly shower of fluid, flesh, and metal. Anything caught in the foul blast quickly corrodes beneath the potent dissolving agents. Metal melts into slag while skin and organs painfully liquefy into a bloody, unrecognizable mess. Cryxian commanders unleash dozens of these thralls at a time. Powered by their sloshing and pulsating internal mechanisms, they waddle sluggishly across the battlefield until just the right moment to eject their innards. Bile thralls serve as much to obliterate an enemy’s morale as to destroy its soldiers. Those who have seen the creatures in action have been known to go days without eating, and most who have risked going toe-to-toe with them cannot forget the putrid stench.
TACTICAL TIPS Purge – Purge is a ranged attack.
108
CARRION THRALLS
CRYX UNIT
Among the necrosurgeons of Cryx there is no raw material that cannot be manipulated to serve the Dragonfather and his agents. Blotting out the sky with mechanikally enhanced wings, flocks of carrion thralls are often the harbingers of a full Cryxian assault. These small necromechanikal horrors, simple to manufacture and animate, have existed in the shadows of the Nightmare Empire for centuries, and even with the significant advancements in thrall creation, they continue to prove their value both as spies and as harassing forces on the battlefield. Difficult to discern from natural birds at a distance, carrion thralls provide Cryxian generals with critical reconnaissance on enemy troop movements and dispositions. These diminutive thralls can operate for extended periods of time, making them perfect sentries to watch over Cryx’s secret bases on the mainland and provide their masters with a potent early warning system to ensure the Cryxian presence remains unnoticed by regular patrols. In battle carrion thralls remain in constant motion, diving down to tear at their enemies’ eyes and exposed flesh before quickly flying out of reach once more. The combination of their thrall runes and the predatory instincts they carried over from life make them particularly deadly against wounded foes. Taking advantage of this predilection as well as their speed and relative ease of construction, Cryxian generals expended carrion thralls in great numbers in the aftermath of the kingdoms’ wars, sowing terror and misery among the surviving enemy troops. The resources required to create a large number of these thralls is nothing compared to the withering destruction inflicted by their attacks.
LEADER & GRUNTS SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 7 5 5 0 13 11 7
BEAK RNG POW P+S 0.5 2 7 PC
Leader & 5 Grunts Leader & 9 Grunts
6 10
FA 2
BASE:SMALL
LEADER & GRUNTS COMBINED MELEE ATTACK FLIGHT UNDEAD FINISHER – This model gains an additional die on
damage rolls against damaged models. PROWL – While this model has concealment, it gains
Stealth . REPOSITION [5˝] – At the end of an activation in which it did not run or fail a charge, this model can advance up to 5˝, then its activation ends.
TACTICAL TIPS Reposition – If a model is part of a unit, its activation does not end until all models in its unit have completed their activations.
109
MECHANITHRALLS CRYX THRALL UNIT LEADER & GRUNTS SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 7 5 4 11 12 6
STEAMFIST RNG POW P+S 0.5 3 10 PC
Leader & 5 Grunts Leader & 9 Grunts
6 10
FA U
BASE:SMALL
LEADER & GRUNTS UNDEAD
STEAMFIST COMBO STRIKE (HATTACK) – Make a melee attack. Instead of making a normal damage roll, the POW of the damage roll is equal to this model’s STR plus twice the POW of this weapon.
Favored tools of dark warcasters only too eager to set packs of the creatures upon their foes, mechanithralls were among the first horrors Cryx unleashed on the mainland. Their powerful fists crush the skulls of coastal defenders and innocent villagers with equal disregard, and there is no end to their reserves. The Nightmare Empire rebuilds their ranks from the corpses of the slain—soldiers who survive an engagement may well experience the horror of seeing their fallen friends among the next wave of attackers. The lifeless eyes of their former companions stare from within their rotting flesh, while steam-powered pistons promise an impending and brutal death. Necrotechs and stitch thralls pick through ravaged battlefields even as battle rages, scavenging for friendly and enemy corpses alike as well as for salvageable pipes and steam engines to integrate into them. Inscribed with basic runes and animated by dark energies, the remade bodies become fresh reinforcements for the Cryxian army. Mechanithralls are further augmented with two heavy gauntlets powered by steam pressure coursing through the conduits and pipes that weave throughout their cadaverous bodies. These gauntlets greatly enhance their strength; indeed, a mechanithrall’s strike is nearly as powerful as the impact from a steamjack. Mechanithralls charge heedlessly into destruction, climbing over bodies with as little concern as over any other terrain to strike at the enemy. They follow orders blindly and have been seen using cover and lying in ambush—perhaps tactical habits from their former lives reappearing in endless echoes, much like the vile creatures themselves.
110
SKARLOCK COMMANDER
CRYX COMMAND ATTACHMENT
Relentless and devoid of passion but clever enough to be unpredictable, skarlock commanders serve as vital intermediaries between Cryx’s generals and its teeming hordes of mindless thralls, wielding those lesser thralls as a knife to ease into the vital organs of opposing armies. Under the protection of the commanders’ necromantic powers, the mindless ranks of bile thralls and mechanithralls reach their full potential. Intricate runes carved into flesh and etched upon bone by necromancers lend the spark of unlife that places the skarlock commanders among the most complex thralls of Cryx. While lacking true self-will, these advanced thralls possess a cold intelligence as well as unwavering devotion exceeding any mortal commander’s. They have no need of valor, for their dedication is crafted into their very bones. Each commander carries a fell spear, an accursed weapon crafted in the charnel forges of Cryx, and wields potent magic capable of scouring enemies in gouts of black flame or unraveling the spells of enemy arcanists. As they lead the march across the field, the commanders tear free the souls of those overtaken by their thralls, each victim fueling another blast of dark magic to drive the masses of fetid flesh and machine deeper into the heart of enemy lines.
SKARLOCK SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 4 6 3 14 12 8
FELL SPEAR RNG POW P+S 2 6 10 DAMAGE:5 PC 3
FA U
BASE:SMALL
ATTACHMENT [MECHANITHRALLS OR BILE THRALLS] –
This attachment can be added to a Mechanithrall or Bile Thrall unit.
SKARLOCK OFFICER UNDEAD BATTLE WIZARD – Once per turn, when this model
destroys one or more enemy models with a melee attack during its activation, immediately after the attack is resolved it can make one Magic Ability special attack or special action. MAGIC ABILITY [6] • DARK FIRE (HATTACK) – Dark Fire is a RNG 10,
TACTICAL TIPS Magic Ability – Performing a Magic Ability special action or special attack counts as casting a spell. Officer – Because this model is an Officer, when it is destroyed it does not replace a Grunt in its unit. Instead the Leader becomes the unit commander. Soul Taker: Soul Cage – Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it. If this model already has three soul tokens it is not eligible to collect another one.
POW 12 magic attack. When a living enemy model is destroyed by Dark Fire, the spellcaster gains the destroyed model’s soul token regardless of the proximity of other models. • DISBINDING (HACTION) – Enemy upkeep spells and animi on this model and its unit immediately expire. SOUL TAKER: SOUL CAGE – This model can gain soul tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed within 2˝ of this model, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. This model can have up to three soul tokens at any time. This model can spend soul tokens for the following: • STRENGTH OF DEATH – During its Combat Action, this model can spend soul tokens to boost one attack or damage roll for each token spent. TACTICS: ADVANCE DEPLOYMENT – Models in this unit gain Advance Deployment .
FELL SPEAR DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL
111
BRUTE THRALL
CRYX MECHANITHRALL WEAPON ATTACHMENT BRUTE THRALL SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 9 6 4 11 14 5
HEAVY STEAMFIST RNG POW P+S 0.5 5 14 DAMAGE:8 PC 2
FA U
BASE:MEDIUM
ATTACHMENT [MECHANITHRALLS] – This attachment can be added to a Mechanithrall unit.
BRUTE THRALL UNDEAD SHIELD GUARD – Once per round, when a friendly
model is directly hit by a non-spray ranged attack during your opponent’s turn while within 3˝ of this model, you can choose to have this model directly hit instead. This model is automatically hit and suffers all damage and effects. This model cannot use Shield Guard while it is incorporeal, knocked down, or stationary.
HEAVY STEAMFIST COMBO STRIKE (HATTACK) – Make a melee attack. Instead of making a normal damage roll, the POW of the damage roll is equal to this model’s STR plus twice the POW of this weapon.
112
The latest development in mechanithrall research, the brute thrall signifies a natural evolution for the proud meatsmiths of Cryx, who have long enjoyed integrating local creatures into their malignant creations. These hulking monstrosities are cobbled together from the carcasses of Scharde trollkin and black ogrun, along with masses of conduit, steel plate, and nameless mechanika powered by a necrotite furnace. Though the result lacks both subtlety and cognitive capacity, it is unquestionably well suited to its role on the battlefield: crushing any obstacle in its way. Utterly fearless and all but mindless, brute thralls march ahead of scores of mechanithralls as they wade into combat. Soft targets they encounter are quickly pummeled into unidentifiable, blood-soaked heaps beneath the sheer power of the brute thralls’ steam-driven fury. Inserting several brute thralls in amid their smaller counterparts serves to create a threat against which enemy commanders have no easy solution. They cannot risk letting the brutes survive to reach their lines, yet each of these masses of animated flesh and muscle can endure tremendous punishment before collapsing, all the while diverting fire from the rest of the thrall horde. When a brute thrall brings the full force of both its massive, piston-driven fists to bear, it can easily smash the thickest armor plate. It batters warjacks apart, while its meatier victims simply burst in a shower of gore. Its onslaughts result in a wide field of scattered metal, mangled body parts, and assorted unidentifiable debris—a truly gruesome sight even to those mostly numbed to ordinary atrocity.
113
NECROSURGEON & STITCH THRALLS CRYX THRALL UNIT NECROSURGEON SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 4 5 4 14 12 7
GUT SPLITTER RNG POW P+S 0.5 5 9
STITCH THRALL GRUNTS SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 4 3 4 14 12 7 OFFICER’S DAMAGE:5 PC Necrosurgeon & 3 Grunts 4
FA 2
BASE:SMALL
NECROSURGEON OFFICER UNDEAD BODY SNATCHER – When a Mechanithrall or living
model is destroyed within 5˝ of this model or a Grunt in its unit that is in formation, this model gains the destroyed model’s corpse token. This model can have up to five corpse tokens at any time. NECROSURGERY [d6] (HACTION) – RNG B2B. Target friendly Faction undead model. If the model is in range, remove d6 damage points from it. RESURRECTIONIST (HACTION) – Remove up to three corpse tokens from this model to add one Grunt to a friendly Mechanithrall unit in this model’s command range for each token removed. Place these Grunts in formation completely within 3˝ of this model. They must forfeit their Combat Action the turn they are put into play. SACRIFICIAL PAWN [STITCH THRALL GRUNT OR MECHANITHRALL] – When this model is directly hit
by an enemy ranged attack, you can have one friendly, non-incorporeal Stitch Thrall Grunt or Mechanithrall model within 3˝ of it directly hit instead. That model is automatically hit and suffers all damage and effects.
STITCH THRALL GRUNTS UNDEAD
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After every battle, heaps of the dead and dying are attended by carrion scavengers of the grisliest kind. Stitch thralls wander slowly through this charnel realm of flies and moans, crunching their way over ribcages and outstretched hands and carefully taking in every detail. The stitch thralls gather these raw materials and deliver them to their ghoulish masters: the necrosurgeons. A necrosurgeon is a necrotech specialist tasked with maintaining thralls and crafting replacements as they are destroyed in battle. Bent over carcasses and attended by stitch thralls bearing fresh parts, the necrosurgeon drills, digs, and sews enthusiastically. It quickly opens each body, living or dead, to add tubes and pumps, then stitches together limbs of flesh and steel before finally bolting a grease-stained furnace into place. As necrosurgeons sift through the piles of human debris their stitch thralls bring them, they often set aside the choicest parts for personal augmentation. Many feature an extra arm and hand cunningly linked to their body to speed their industrious work. They adopt a more casual approach to the improvement of their favored stitch thralls. Some necrosurgeons treat their assistants like beloved pets or children, whispering to them as they work, yet they think nothing of destroying these same creations to make better use of their parts in another construct. The necromechanikal workshops on Cryx are more abattoir than laboratory. There, in the heart of the Empire, necrotechs are free to gather their gruesome resources openly. The meat markets and slave stalls of Blackwater and Dreggsmouth provide them ample parts. Great harvests of bodies are delivered to them from the battlefields, either claimed by Cryx as fresh kills or scavenged from battles days old. With each wagonload, the Cryxian army grows even as its enemies’ forces diminish.
TACTICAL TIPS Body Snatcher – Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a corpse token, the closest eligible model collects it. Officer – Because the Necrosurgeon is an Officer, when it is destroyed it does not replace a Grunt in its unit. Instead a Stitch Thrall Grunt becomes the unit commander.
SOULHUNTERS
CRYX THRALL UNIT
Silent, unrelenting, and terrible only begin to describe a soulhunter’s wake of death. The bilious glow of necrotite burning deep within soulhunters lights their oily, undead flesh and mottled iron plates. Fearless in undeath, they comb the darkness seeking souls, both to empower themselves and to deliver to their cruel masters.
LEADER & GRUNTS SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 9 7 6 4 14 14 8
SCYTHE RNG POW P+S 2 6 13
Among the most powerful thralls ever created, a soulhunter offers an unholy vision of terror incarnate. Its menacing mass of plating, piping, gears, furnace, and flesh is an amalgamation designed for swift ferocity. It boasts slick skin cured by dark alchemy and inscribed with runes of thrall magic as well as a riveted carapace handcrafted by necrotechs. Its enhanced flesh and musculature are unnaturally fused with the powerful body of a Scharde-bred charger. The hungry necrotite furnace within its equine ribcage burns with a baleful corpse-fire, venting choking black smoke from the ominous flues running along its reinforced spine. The soulhunter’s mechanikal scythe paints its lethal wake with a spray of blood and entrails as it shreds through flesh and bone like summer chaff. Following the plunge of its scythe is the hungry swipe of its black sickle, which almost seems to sigh as it siphons the life force of the slain. Filthy emulsions distribute this stolen essence through the soulhunter to enliven its undead flesh until the creature releases it in a burst of killing power. Eager to claim the vitality of the living, these fetid abominations scour the battlefield for any who would stand against them, breathing in the souls that spill forth from their victims.
TACTICAL TIPS Reposition – If a model is part of a unit, its activation does not end until all models in its unit have completed their activations. Soul Taker: Body Count – Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it. If this model already has three soul tokens it is not eligible to collect another one.
SICKLE RNG POW P+S 0.5 4 11
MOUNT RNG POW 0.5 10 DAMAGE: PC
Leader & 2 Grunts Leader & 4 Grunts
5 EACH 11 18
FA 2
BASE:LARGE
LEADER & GRUNTS CAVALRY UNDEAD REPOSITION [5˝] – At the end of an activation in which it did not run or fail a charge, this model can advance up to 5˝, then its activation ends. SOUL TAKER: BODY COUNT – This model can gain soul tokens. When this model destroys a living enemy model with an attack, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. This model can have up to three soul tokens at any time. This model can spend soul tokens for the following: • SOUL PHASE – This model can spend a soul token at any time during its activation to gain Incorporeal for one turn. • STRENGTH OF DEATH – During its Combat Action, this model can spend soul tokens to boost one attack or damage roll for each token spent.
SICKLE LIFE DRINKER – When it destroys a living enemy
model with this weapon, immediately after the attack is resolved this model can remove d3 damage points.
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THE WITHERSHADOW COMBINE CRYX IRON LICH UNIT
MAELOVUS 1, ADMONIA 1 & TREMULUS 1 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 5 7 7 4 13 15 7
LICH CLAWS RNG POW P+S 0.5 5 12 DAMAGE:
5 EACH
PC Maelovus, Admonia & Tremulus9
FA C
BASE:SMALL ATTACHED – Before the start of the game, attach this
unit to a friendly Faction warcaster for the rest of the game. Each Faction warcaster can have only one model/unit attached to it.
MAELOVUS 1 OFFICER STEALTH UNDEAD MAGIC ABILITY [7] • DARK FIRE (HATTACK) – Dark Fire is a RNG 10,
POW 12 magic attack. When a living enemy model is destroyed by Dark Fire, the spellcaster gains the destroyed model’s soul token regardless of the proximity of other models. • SPELL SLAVE (HACTION OR ATTACK) – This model must be in its warcaster’s control range to make the Spell Slave special action. When it does, it casts one of the spells on its warcaster’s card with a COST of 3 or less. This model cannot cast upkeep spells or spells with a RNG of SELF or CTRL. When casting an offensive spell, Spell Slave is a magic attack. Use this model’s Magic Ability score when making magic attack rolls. SOUL TAKER: SOUL CAGE – This model can gain soul tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed within 2˝ of this model, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. This model can have up to three soul tokens at any time. This model can spend soul tokens for the following: • STRENGTH OF DEATH – During its Combat Action, this model can spend soul tokens to boost one attack or damage roll for each token spent.
ADMONIA 1 STEALTH UNDEAD BLACK ARTS – A friendly Faction warcaster that has this
model in its control range can upkeep one spell without spending focus points. MAGIC ABILITY [7] • DARK FIRE (HATTACK) – See above. • SIGIL OF POWER (HACTION) – RNG CMD. Target
friendly model/unit. If the model/unit is in range, its weapons gain Damage Type: Magical . Sigil of Power lasts for one turn. SOUL TAKER: SOUL CAGE – See above. • STRENGTH OF DEATH – See above.
TREMULUS 1 STEALTH UNDEAD MAGIC ABILITY [7] • DARK FIRE (HATTACK) – See above. • PUPPET MASTER (HACTION OR ATTACK) – Puppet
Master is a RNG 10 spell. When it targets an enemy model/unit, it is a magic attack. You can have one affected model reroll one attack or damage roll, then Puppet Master expires. Puppet Master lasts for one round. SOUL TAKER: SOUL CAGE – See above. • STRENGTH OF DEATH – See above.
LICH CLAWS DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL
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The Withershadow Combine has acted as one of the more subtle tools in Cryx’s arsenal for five centuries. This trio of liches embodies the vast intelligence and premeditated malignance of Cryx. By combing through ruins and manipulating agents to penetrate mainland cabals, they have gathered a massive collection of arcane lore, including many Orgoth secrets and other forgotten truths. The Combine has served various lich lords over the last few centuries, though their origins and ultimate agenda are unclear. They offer no threats or demands, only respectful obedience and service. Recorded sightings of Admonia, the eldest, date back to the early rebellion against the Orgoth, which she apparently spent much time observing. She is particularly fascinated with the origins of arcane magic on the mainland and has allegedly plundered the ruins of notable arcane repositories from both sides. Passages in apocryphal journals suggest these include the excavation of the Arcanist’s Academy, the lost ruins of the tower left by Scion Nivara, and the hidden grave of Scion Stacia. These tales must contain some truth, since the Thamarite cabal known as the Shroud seeks her destruction in the hope of recovering lost relics. Maelovus has access to lore never transcribed in book or scroll. The first recorded sighting of him was on the Sand Narrows during an outbreak of Brackriver plague. Locals witnessed him reaping souls along this length of shore so often that they began to make offerings to him as an incarnation of death. One desperate village sacrificed an entire generation of their children in his name. Crude statues bearing his likeness still rest in recessed crevices of this region’s dark cliffs. Tremulus joined these two ancient horrors seven decades later, after a long tenure overseeing Cryx’s charnel pits. Fascinated with manipulating mortal minds, he infiltrated the sanctums of several arcane organizations throughout the Iron Kingdoms to pry loose their secrets. By his labors in later centuries, the Combine gained a better understanding of mainland warjacks; the liches passed this knowledge to Lich Lord Morbus, thereby affecting the development of a number of weapons systems. Though extremely intelligent, Tremulus is completely insane by mortal reckoning. The twitching of his macabre marionette forces enemies to respond in kind—a mystical manipulation that reflects what some might mistake for a sense of humor possessed by the peculiar lich lord. Together these liches transcend their individual strengths. With coordinated incantations, the three harness energies that contort the very walls of reality. By conducting lengthy rituals at certain key astrological conjunctions, they can open a yawning portal to deliver helljacks and bonejacks taken from the bowels of Cryx’s necrofactoriums, thereby reinforcing mainland armies. Future efforts in the war abroad may reveal as yet untapped powers from this trio as mainlanders come to fear their horrific arcane ingenuity.
TACTICAL TIPS Attached – This model cannot be reassigned if its warcaster is destroyed or removed from play. Magic Ability – Performing a Magic Ability special action or special attack counts as casting a spell. Officer – Because Maelovus is an Officer, when he is destroyed he does not replace another model in his unit. Instead Admonia or Tremulus becomes the new unit commander. Soul Taker: Soul Cage – Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it. If this model already has three soul tokens it is not eligible to collect another one. Spell Slave – This model cannot cast spells if its warcaster is destroyed or removed from play. Spell Slave does not confer the ability to channel spells as a warcaster.
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BLOAT THRALL CRYX SOLO BLOAT THRALL SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 4 7 5 4 10 14 3
DESPOILER RNG ROF AOE POW 12 1 4 14
BLUDGEON RNG POW P+S 0.5 3 10 DAMAGE:8 PC 4
FA 2
BASE:MEDIUM
BLOAT THRALL UNDEAD DEATH BLAST – When this model is disabled, center a 5˝ AOE on it, then remove this model from play. Models in the AOE suffer the Corrosion continuous effect . STEADY – This model cannot become knocked down.
DESPOILER CONTINUOUS EFFECT: CORROSION DAMAGE TYPE: CORROSION ARCING FIRE – When attacking with this weapon, this
model can ignore intervening models except those within 1˝ of the target.
Their taut flesh lined with livid, weeping seams and oozing sores, bloat thralls are unliving reservoirs of caustic alchemical sludge that attackers and defenders alike treat with apprehension. They shamble into battle by propelling themselves forward on clattering claws. With their turgid forms bulging with acidic ooze nearly to the point of bursting, they resemble huge, lurching ticks. When an enemy comes within range, the bloat thrall quivers as if in seizure as it expels its contents at the target through a brass cannon alchemically treated to withstand corrosion. Upon impact, the viscous fluid quickly devours both flesh and metal, and those who are struck endure screaming, bubbling deaths as the flesh sloughs from their bones. If a bloat thrall is ruptured, it explodes and showers the surrounding area in corrosive foulness. The ultimate irony in battlefield design, this type of thrall is nearly as dangerous to destroy as it is to leave intact. Each bloat thrall is crudely assembled from the bodies of half a dozen men, with little regard for anatomy. Necrotechs may select as many as a dozen humans and animals to be skinned alive in order to provide the necessary integument to cover these monstrosities. Pieces of skin, left uncured, are stretched over the thrall’s mechanikal skeletal armature and stitched together. Finally, the grotesque necromantic construct is fitted with a thick iron valve mounted directly into its bowels, through which the thrall’s body is pumped full of caustic sludge before each battle. The bloat thrall is an abomination in both form and function, and the armies of the living are wise to fear it.
TACTICAL TIPS Steady – Remember, even if a thrown model cannot be knocked down, it must still forfeit its Normal Movement or Combat Action if it activates later in a turn it was thrown.
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IRON LICH OVERSEER
CRYX SOLO
An iron lich overseer exists to extend the will of its masters and their machines beyond their ordinary reach. Liches draw on the vitality of the souls they harvest to fight with terrible ferocity. The overseer slowly turns as the battle unfolds to allow each of its three faces to survey the enemy as it unleashes volleys of soul-claiming arcane fire, all the while delivering mental commands to the helljacks that follow it to war. The first overseers were created in the aftermath of the annihilation of Drer Drakkerung, when the Orgoth warwitches unleashed unparalleled destruction upon the Cryxian army. The lich lords left no tool to decay, no matter how badly damaged. This included powerful necromancers who had suffered massive physical and mental trauma but were not entirely destroyed. Because of their unique skills and arcane talents a method was found to preserve them. The restructured liches are composite beings with a single body and a unified consciousness. The restoration process ensures some degree of cooperation between these competing personalities, and in time they merge into a single mind—undeniably insane, but with heightened awareness as well as amplified cognitive and arcane powers. Following the success of these initial experiments, the lich lords began using the consciousness-blending process as a means of punishing effective but willful servants.
TACTICAL TIPS Magic Ability – Performing a Magic Ability special action or special attack counts as casting a spell. Soul Taker: Soul Cage – Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it. If this model already has three soul tokens it is not eligible to collect another one.
OVERSEER SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 7 6 3 14 16 9
FELL STAFF RNG POW P+S 2 5 12 DAMAGE:8 PC 5
FA 2
BASE:MEDIUM
OVERSEER ’JACK MARSHAL UNDEAD CIRCULAR VISION – Models never gain a back strike bonus against this model. DRIVE: DARK SHROUD – While in this model’s command range, a warjack under its control gains Dark Shroud. (While in the melee range of a model with Dark Shroud, enemy models suffer –2 ARM.) MAGIC ABILITY [7] • CLOAK OF DARKNESS (HACTION) – This model gains
Stealth . While a warjack this model controls is B2B with it, the warjack also gains Stealth . Cloak of Darkness lasts for one round. • DARK FIRE (HATTACK) – Dark Fire is a RNG 10, POW 12 magic attack. When a living enemy model is destroyed by Dark Fire, the spellcaster gains the destroyed model’s soul token regardless of the proximity of other models. SOUL TAKER: SOUL CAGE – This model can gain soul tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed within 2˝ of this model, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. This model can have up to three soul tokens at any time. This model can spend soul tokens for the following: • SOUL-POWERED – During its Combat Action, this model can spend soul tokens to make additional melee attacks. It can make one additional attack for each token spent. • STRENGTH OF DEATH – During its Combat Action, this model can spend soul tokens to boost one attack or damage roll for each token spent.
FELL STAFF DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL
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MACHINE WRAITH CRYX SOLO
MACHINE WRAITH SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 7 7 6 0 14 12 3
MECHANO-CLAWS RNG POW P+S 1 5 12 PC 2
FA 3
BASE:MEDIUM
MACHINE WRAITH INCORPOREAL UNDEAD
MECHANO-CLAWS DARK DOMINATION – When this model hits an enemy warjack that has a non-crippled cortex with a basic melee attack made with this weapon during this model’s activation, you can take control of the warjack. Immediately after the attack has been resolved, you can make a full advance with the warjack and can then make one basic attack, then Dark Domination expires. The enemy warjack cannot be targeted by free strikes during this movement. A warjack can be affected by Dark Domination only once per turn.
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Little is known about the nightmarish apparitions called machine wraiths, though they are certainly some warped deviant of mechanikal artifice. Some speculate they are the bitter ghosts of arcane mechaniks or fallen priests of Cyriss; others maintain they are fallen warcasters. Whatever their origin, their howling, metallic calls chill even the staunchest warrior to the marrow. Machine wraiths are both ghostly and mechanikal. They drift as specters among Cryxian armies, drawn to all powerful mechanikal items but particularly warjack cortexes. When a wraith reaches a warjack, it insinuates itself into the victim machine’s cortex with a ghastly shriek to take temporary control of the ’jack and wreak bloody havoc on the living. Even the most potent warcasters must struggle to regain control of a wraith-seized ’jack. A machine wraith that has exerted its will on a warjack briefly becomes corporeal and vulnerable to attack, although it is dangerous even in this weakened state: more than one mechanik has found himself the victim of those wicked and surprisingly solid claws.
NECROTECH & SCRAP THRALLS CRYX SOLOS
Part necromancer and part evil genius—spiced with a dash of deranged lunatic— Lord Toruk’s necrotechs blend talent and terror. Tasked with the details of constructing the undead soldiers and machines of the Cryxian army, they deliver steady reinforcements to the lines and do not hesitate to use their own dead flesh to test ingenious attachments and necromechanikal augmentations. When not designing the next wave of horrors, necrotechs skitter into battle with their “pretty little children.” They are quickly able to repair their infernal constructs using whatever materials fate and carnage provide. Necrotechs improvise scrap thralls from heaps of bone and metal taken from corpses and destroyed ’jacks. Once animated, these thralls shamble forth as delivery vehicles for necrotite-enhanced bombs. Likely to explode when struck by shrapnel or a wayward bullet, each ramshackle undead seeks to grab and hold an enemy in its unrelenting clutch until the bomb detonates in a shower of metal-and-bone destruction. These hastily contrived creatures suggest the hideous potential a necrotech can unleash with enough time, the necessary materials, and a proper workshop.
TACTICAL TIPS Create Scrap Thrall – The number of Scrap Thralls that can be created is not limited by FA. Death Burst – This model can make a Death Burst special attack even if it charges. Steady – Remember, even if a thrown model cannot be knocked down, it must still forfeit its Normal Movement or Combat Action if it activates later in a turn it was thrown.
NECROTECH SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 5 6 6 3 12 13 7
VISE CLAW RNG POW P+S 2 4 10 DAMAGE:5 PC 2
FA 3
BASE:MEDIUM
NECROTECH UNDEAD CREATE SCRAP THRALL (HACTION) – Remove one or
more scrap tokens from this model, then roll a d3 for each scrap token removed. Place up to that number of Scrap Thralls into play completely within 3˝ of this model. A placed Scrap Thrall must forfeit its Combat Action the turn it is put into play. REPAIR [d6] (HACTION) – RNG B2B. Target friendly Faction construct model. If the model is in range, remove d6 damage points from it. SPARE PARTS – When a warjack is destroyed in this model’s command range, it gains one scrap token. This model can have up to three scrap tokens at any time. Before making a Repair roll, this model can spend one scrap token to add +2 to its roll. STEADY – This model cannot become knocked down.
SCRAP THRALL SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 5 4 5 3 11 12 1
MECHANO-CLAW RNG POW P+S 0.5 4 8 PC 3 Scrap Thralls
2
FA 3
BASE:SMALL
SCRAP THRALL UNDEAD THRALL BOMB – When this model is disabled, center
a 4˝ AOE on it, then remove this model from play. Models in the AOE are hit and suffer a POW 8 blast damage roll.
MECHANO-CLAW DEATH BURST (HATTACK) – This model makes a melee attack. If that attack hits, instead of dealing damage normally, center a 4˝ AOE on the model hit and remove this model from play. The model hit suffers a POW 16 damage roll. If the attack misses, center the AOE on this model and remove this model from play. Other than the model directly hit, models in the AOE are hit and suffer a POW 8 blast damage roll. Death Burst damage is unboostable.
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PISTOL WRAITH CRYX SOLO PISTOL WRAITH SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 4 4 7 14 12 5
WRAITHLOCK PISTOL RNG ROF AOE POW 10 1 — 12 DAMAGE:5 PC 5
FA 2
BASE:SMALL
PISTOL WRAITH GUNFIGHTER INCORPOREAL UNDEAD SOUL TAKER: BODY COUNT – This model can gain soul tokens. When this model destroys a living enemy model with an attack, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. This model can have up to three soul tokens at any time. This model can spend soul tokens for the following: • STRENGTH OF DEATH – During its Combat Action, this model can spend soul tokens to boost one attack or damage roll for each token spent.
WRAITHLOCK PISTOL
The duelists of the Iron Kingdoms know they can never master their deadly art without taking the lives of others. Those who fall to a worthy adversary should pass to Urcaen—yet some feel cheated of their chance at the gunman’s fabled immortality. Unable to find rest, these spirits walk the earth searching for fresh victims. Even those gunmen who die as part of the natural order sometimes linger rather than passing on. They cling desperately to their memories of life or are simply too hate-filled to rest. Necromancers of Cryx have become adept at singling out these reluctant souls. They pillage the graves of prestigious gunmen, stealing the bones of the most ruthless. Those who join their ranks become some of the most feared agents of Cryx. Even bound in service to the Nightmare Empire, these wraiths haunt the living to test their deadly skills against any who will take the challenge. Those who refuse are gunned down at once, but even those who accept the invitation rarely survive; the specters react with a rapidity the living cannot hope to match. Each killing infuses the wraith with unholy energy, but such deaths never fully slake its thirst. Those targets who somehow survive the first shot from a pistol wraith find themselves slowed by the chill of the grave. Their reactions delayed, they can only watch in horror as the apparition levels its wraithlock pistol with malicious glee to end them.
DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL CHAIN ATTACK: DEATH CHILL – If this model hits
the same model with both its initial attacks with this weapon, the model hit becomes stationary for one round.
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TACTICAL TIPS Soul Taker: Body Count – Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it. If this model already has three soul tokens it is not eligible to collect another one.
SKARLOCK THRALL
CRYX SOLO
Skarlock thralls are insidious creatures of blackest sorcery. Linked to their warcasters by bonds so powerful they can act in their masters’ stead, skarlocks move against enemies with confidence born of a hateful intelligence that shines from their eye sockets. Unique beings, skarlock thralls can possess extensive personalities and agendas. More than any other constructed thrall, skarlocks retain the memories and lore they gained during life in addition to knowledge absorbed during the inscription of their animating runes. From its very fabrication, each skarlock is inextricably bound to its master and is incapable of disloyalty. A dense inlay of dark sigils blackens their bones and desiccated flesh, instilling tremendous necromantic power and sorcerous potential into their physical forms. As part of the bonding process, skarlocks become conduits for the unique arcane abilities of their warcasters, who often send them forth to unleash this power from a distance. Lesser minions make every effort to appease the creatures, knowing that each represents the eyes and ears of a malevolent and powerful master.
TACTICAL TIPS Attached – This model cannot be reassigned if its warcaster is destroyed or removed from play. Magic Ability – Performing a Magic Ability special action or special attack counts as casting a spell. Soul Taker: Soul Cage – Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it. If this model already has three soul tokens it is not eligible to collect another one. Spell Slave – This model cannot cast spells if its warcaster is destroyed or removed from play. Spell Slave does not confer the ability to channel spells as a warcaster.
SKARLOCK THRALL SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 4 3 3 14 12 5
CLAWS RNG POW P+S 0.5 2 6 DAMAGE:5 PC 4
FA 1
BASE:SMALL
ATTACHED – Before the start of the game, attach this
model to a friendly Faction warcaster for the rest of the game. Each Faction warcaster can have only one model/unit attached to it.
SKARLOCK THRALL UNDEAD MAGIC ABILITY [6] • DARK FIRE (HATTACK) – Dark Fire is a RNG 10,
POW 12 magic attack. When a living enemy model is destroyed by Dark Fire, the spellcaster gains the destroyed model’s soul token regardless of the proximity of other models. • SPELL SLAVE (HACTION OR ATTACK) – This model must be in its warcaster’s control range to make the Spell Slave special action. When it does, it casts one of the spells on its warcaster’s card with a COST of 3 or less. This model cannot cast upkeep spells or spells with a RNG of SELF or CTRL. When casting an offensive spell, Spell Slave is a magic attack. Use this model’s Magic Ability score when making magic attack rolls. SOUL TAKER: SOUL CAGE – This model can gain soul tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed within 2˝ of this model, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. This model can have up to three soul tokens at any time. This model can spend soul tokens for the following: • STRENGTH OF DEATH – During its Combat Action, this model can spend soul tokens to boost one attack or damage roll for each token spent.
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SOUL TRAPPER CRYX THRALL SOLO SOUL TRAPPER SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 5 4 5 3 11 12 10
MECHANO-CLAW RNG POW P+S 0.5 4 8 PC 1
FA 6
BASE:SMALL
SOUL TRAPPER UNDEAD SOUL TAKER: COLLECTOR – This model can gain soul
tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed while in this model’s command range, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. This model can have up to three soul tokens at any time. This model can spend soul tokens for the following: • SOUL TRANSFER (HACTION) – RNG 5. Target friendly Faction model with a Soul Taker special rule. If the model is in range, remove any number of soul tokens from this model and place them on the friendly model.
Every soul that escapes the Nightmare Empire in its battles is seen as a wasted opportunity. Unsatisfied with this inefficiency, the lich lords tasked the Cryxian necromancers with devising a thrall that shared the insatiable hunger of its masters. The necromancers answered with the soul trapper. The soul trapper treads the front lines with both eagerness and desperation. The thrall continually wrests souls of the recently departed from the air, its limbs darting here and there like the workings of a manic threshing machine. It crams its stolen harvest into prepared chambers functioning as soul cages within its body, where the trapper becomes their keeper until they can be transferred to other, mightier entities. The runes carved upon the undead flesh within the soul trapper’s carapace imbue the creation with an incessant need to gather as many souls as possible, seeking to ease a hunger that never relents. Once the thrall claims souls, they are soon seized by its superiors, leaving it nothing but a sense of emptiness and craving. The screams of tormented souls can be heard echoing from its ribcage long after they have gone. Despite being driven mainly by its insatiable appetite for fresh souls, the soul trapper possesses intelligence superior to that of most thralls, which makes it self-sufficient—and all the more treacherous.
TACTICAL TIPS Soul Taker: Collector – Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it. If this model already has three soul tokens it is not eligible to collect another one. Soul Transfer – This does not allow the target model to exceed the maximum number of soul tokens it can have.
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WARWITCH SIREN
CRYX SOLO
Cryxian warwitches embody some of the darkest traditions in all of Immoren. Long ago, Orgoth tyrants used warwitches as living instruments of atrocity and mass destruction. The presence of a single warwitch could inflict crippling losses in the face of defeat or even turn the tide of battle completely. When the Scharde Islanders inherited the shattered vestiges of the last bastion of the Orgoth Empire, a handful of witches were taken alive to fulfill the Dragonfather’s wish to add their power to his armies. The witches were given a choice: trade their knowledge in exchange for their lives or perish—and give up their secrets to forensic necromancy. A new warwitch tradition was born from these slaves. Centuries later, Cryxian warwitches have become among the most dangerous of Toruk’s servants. They receive no formal training, only ritual indoctrination. Those who survive the rites emerge as ruthless killers, as cold in spirit as the shadows in which they are clad. This occult sisterhood now serves Toruk as sorcerous field commanders, subservient to the lich lords as they once were to the Orgoth tyrants. They have refined their arcane powers over time, and the witches called sirens enjoy seducing their enemies before annihilating them. Sirens are able to confuse their victims by occluding their minds in darkness and forcing them to forget their deeper loyalties temporarily. The blades the sirens wield can similarly turn an enemy’s own shadow against him to hold him in place while other Cryxian elements close for the kill.
TACTICAL TIPS Magic Ability – Performing a Magic Ability special action or special attack counts as casting a spell.
SIREN SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 7 5 6 4 14 13 5
SHADOW BLADE RNG POW P+S 2 6 11 DAMAGE:5 PC 4
FA 2
BASE:SMALL
SIREN PARRY STEALTH MAGIC ABILITY [6] • EMPOWER (HACTION) – RNG CMD. Target friendly
Faction warjack. If the target warjack is in range and it was suffering Disruption, it is no longer disrupted. The warjack also gains 1 focus point. • SEDUCTION (HACTION) – Take control of a living enemy non-warcaster, non-warlock warrior model B2B with this model. You can immediately make a full advance with the enemy model followed by a basic melee attack, then Seduction expires. The enemy model cannot be targeted by free strikes during this movement. A model can be affected by Seduction only once per turn. • VENOM (HATTACK) – Venom is a RNG SP 8 magic attack. Models hit suffer a POW 10 corrosion damage roll and the Corrosion continuous effect .
SHADOW BLADE DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL SHADOW BIND – A model hit by this weapon suffers
Shadow Bind for one round. (A model suffering Shadow Bind suffers –3 DEF, and for one round when it advances it cannot move except to change facing. Shadow Bind can be shaken.)
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AIAKOS, SCOURGE OF THE MEREDIUS CRYX SOLO
FOCUS: 4 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 6 6 5 14 14 6
AIAKOS 1
HARPOON RNG ROF AOE POW 6 1 — 10
BLADE RNG POW P+S 0.5 6 12 DAMAGE:5 PC 4
FA C
BASE:SMALL
AIAKOS 1 STEALTH BATTLEGROUP CONTROLLER – This model is not a
warcaster but has the following warcaster special rules: Battlegroup Commander, Focus Manipulation, Power Field, and Spellcaster. This model must have at least one warjack in its battlegroup at the start of the game. JUMP – After it makes a full advance during its Normal Movement but before it performs its Combat Action, you can place this model anywhere completely within 5˝ of its current location. Any effects that prevent charging also prevent this model from using Jump.
HARPOON DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL DRAG – When this weapon damages an enemy model with an equal or smaller base, immediately after the attack is resolved the damaged model can be pushed directly toward this model until it contacts a model, an obstacle, or an obstruction. After the damaged model is moved, this model can make one basic melee attack against the damaged model. After resolving this melee attack, this model can make additional melee attacks during its Combat Action.
BLADE DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL
SPELLS DEATHBRINGERS
COST RNG AOE POW DUR OFF 2 SELF CTRL – TURN NO
While within the spellcaster’s control range, the melee weapons of models in its battlegroup gain Grievous Wounds. Deathbringers lasts for one turn. (A model hit by a weapon with Grievous Wounds loses Tough and cannot have damage removed from it for one round.) ESCORT
2 SELF CTRL – UP NO
Warjacks in the spellcaster’s battlegroup beginning their activations in its control range gain +2˝ movement when advancing as part of their Normal Movement. The spellcaster gains +2 ARM while one or more warjacks in its battlegroup are within 3˝ of it.
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Having honed his skills through years of piracy upon the Meredius, Aiakos moves effortlessly with his battlegroup like a specter of death both at sea and on land, striking down foes with wicked effectiveness. Nowhere is his cruelty more apparent than in his weapon of choice: a chained harpoon he uses to impale his victims before reeling them in to deliver the death blow. Aiakos’ reputation is a credit to his cunning, ruthlessness, and indomitable will. He began as a lowly Scharde Islander trying to carve out a place for himself on the unforgiving streets of Blackwater. All who lived there aspired to the free life of a raider, and when Aiakos saw his chance to secure a position aboard a raiding ship he took it, mercilessly making an example of those who tried to stand in his way. By the time his warcaster ability manifested, he was already feared and respected. Though he knows his way around a ship, Aiakos’ true motivation has never been the simple joys of plunder or even the excitement of chasing prey at sea. Simply put, raiding affords him endless opportunities for battle. A silent stalker who exploits an enemy’s fears to his advantage, he eagerly anticipates being dropped ashore to terrorize mainlanders under the cover of darkness. It is blood sport he relishes most, along with the freedom he has found as part of the fleet led by Admiral Axiara Wraithblade. Other raiders on any ship he chooses to join give him a wide berth, knowing he is not truly one of them. Captains of the fleet obey him, as he has gained the favor of their admiral, who rarely deigns to speak the praises of anyone. Aiakos has already earned infamy through deeds both brazen and savage. He took part in Pirate Queen Skarre Ravenmane’s raid on Port Vladovar, where he helped break the port garrison by slaughtering officers in front of their men. His name is whispered in dread among coastal communities from northern Khador to southern Cygnar, where he has left grisly trophies in the husks of the villages he has burned to the ground. His deeds have started to draw the attention of Cryx’s generals, who wonder whether he might be shaped into something more interesting than simple cannon fodder. More than anything, Aiakos prizes his autonomy. He answers when called to battle but takes his leave as soon as his responsibilities are fulfilled. This aloofness extends to his approach on the battlefield. He prefers to strike from the shadows, separate from the main force, using his arcane power and physical agility to catch his prey unaware. It is in those moments when his blade tears away an opponent’s life that he feels his own freedom most keenly.
TACTICAL TIPS Battlegroup Controller – This model is a non-warcaster model and is not affected by special rules that specifically affect warcasters. Models with the Attached rule cannot be attached to this model.
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BLOAT THRALL OVERSEER MOBIUS CRYX SOLO MOBIUS 1 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 4 7 6 5 10 14 7
DESPOILER RNG ROF AOE POW 12 1 4 14
BLUDGEON RNG POW P+S 0.5 3 10 DAMAGE:8 PC 6
FA C
BASE:MEDIUM
MOBIUS 1 UNDEAD BATTLE PLAN – This model can use one of the
following plans at any time during its activation. A friendly Faction model can be affected by only one plan each turn. • RUSH FORWARD – RNG 5. Target Bloat Thrall model. If the model is in range, it gains Assault for one turn. • SCUTTER – RNG 5. Target friendly Bloat Thrall model. If the model is in range, it gains Reposition [3˝] for one turn. (At the end of an activation in which it did not run or fail a charge, a model with Reposition [3˝] can advance up to 3˝, then its activation ends.) • SPOTTER – RNG 5. Target friendly Bloat Thrall model. If the model is in range, it gains +2 RAT when making its next AOE ranged attack this turn. If the attack does not directly hit, you can reroll the direction and/or distance of its deviation. Each roll can be rerolled only once as a result of Spotter. DEATH BLAST – When this model is disabled, center a 5˝ AOE on it, then remove this model from play. Models in the AOE suffer the Corrosion continuous effect . STEADY – This model cannot become knocked down. VETERAN LEADER [BLOAT THRALL] – While in this model’s command range, other friendly Bloat Thrall models gain +1 to attack rolls.
DESPOILER CONTINUOUS EFFECT: CORROSION DAMAGE TYPE: CORROSION
The necrofactoriums of Skell are home to countless necrotechs of varying talent and genius, each of them working in secret on vile experiments and weapons. This chaotic system largely lacks in direct oversight, especially since Master Necrotech Mortenebra left for the mainland. Necrotechs that impress the lich lords prosper, while those who commit resources to costly failures are soon liquidated. Many of their experiments end in failure, wasting lives, corpses, and metal, but sometimes something unique and deadly is born. Constructed from specialized runes in a facility that had been exposed to the strength of Lord Toruk’s blight, Mobius was an unexpected achievement. Most thralls are simple and mindless, but Mobius possesses an awareness of the battlefield and a basic yet undeniable ability to learn and adapt that sets it apart. It seems to have an affinity for other bloat thralls and exercises an undeniable influence over them, guiding them to fulfill the will of greater Cryxian masters. It was not originally designed for this leadership capacity but appears to have developed it on its own, suggesting that perhaps its creation included more complex animating glyphs than necrotechs would typically use outside of a skarlock’s making. Mobius arose from an experiment to determine whether a thrall could be made that might survive the destructive blast of a bloat thrall, to be reattached afterward and reused. In this capacity Mobius performed surpassingly well. Preliminary tests on Scharde villagers living north of Skell proved to its insane creator that Mobius could successfully lead bloat thralls against the enemy without prematurely detonating the thralls or destroying itself in the process. In recognition of his success, this thrall’s creator was unleashed on other projects in the hopes that his unusual genius will yield additional gains. Each time it has been sent to battle and survived the depletion of its host, its intelligence and awareness has grown. Armed with a specialized despoiler cannon and sewn to the back of a bloat thrall, Mobius is deployed by the forces of Cryx when they need to either annihilate hardened targets or to spread the terror of horrifying deaths. Mobius seems to enjoy watching living things melt under sprays of bile, as if amused by their loss of form. Mobius can command its bloat thralls to fire with frightening precision, launching brutal assaults or repositioning them as they issue volley after volley of corrosive bile.
ARCING FIRE – When attacking with this weapon, this
model can ignore intervening models except those within 1˝ of the target.
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TACTICAL TIPS Steady – Remember, even if a thrown model cannot be knocked down, it must still forfeit its Normal Movement or Combat Action if it activates later in a turn it was thrown.
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HELLSLINGER PHANTOM CRYX WRAITH SOLO HELLSLINGER PHANTOM 1 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 6 4 4 8 15 13 5
WRAITHSTORM PISTOL RNG ROF AOE POW 10 1 — 12 DAMAGE:5 PC 7
FA C
BASE:SMALL
HELLSLINGER PHANTOM 1 GUNFIGHTER INCORPOREAL UNDEAD SOUL TAKER: BODY COUNT – This model can gain soul tokens. When this model destroys a living enemy model with an attack, this model gains the destroyed model’s soul token. This model can have up to three soul tokens at any time. This model can spend soul tokens for the following: • STRENGTH OF DEATH – During its Combat Action, this model can spend soul tokens to boost one attack or damage roll for each token spent. SWIFT HUNTER – When this model destroys one or more enemy models with a basic ranged attack, immediately after the attack is resolved it can advance up to 2˝.
WRAITHSTORM PISTOL DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL ATTACK TYPE – Each time this weapon is used to make
an attack, choose one of the following special rules: • CRITICAL GRIEVOUS WOUNDS – On a critical hit, a model hit by this weapon loses Tough and cannot have damage removed from it for one round. • GHOST SHOT – This model ignores LOS, concealment, and cover when making attacks with this weapon. • INCENDIARY – This attack causes fire damage , and models hit suffer the Fire continuous effect . RELOAD [1] – This model can spend one soul token to make one additional ranged attack with this weapon during its Combat Action.
A malevolent specter born of Cryxian magic, the Hellslinger Phantom resembles the infamous pistol wraiths often seen in service to the Nightmare Empire, but it commands power of an altogether greater scale. Since its creation, the phantom has been conducting an ongoing murder spree, its incorporeal nature placing it beyond the reach of all who have tried to put an end to its grim harvest. It has ended countless innocent lives with its uncanny wraithstorm pistols, and there is no indication it will ever stop. No one is certain of what the phantom truly is or the nature of its origins, but witnesses say it bears a striking resemblance to the Cygnaran warcaster Allister Caine, a man who allegedly abandoned his duty to his nation in the days following the end of the Second Cygnaran Civil War and then disappeared. Some claim that Caine was already hunted down by the Cygnaran Reconnaissance Service and executed for treason. These rumormongers think the phantom might be Caine’s ghost, cursed to roam the land bringing death to anyone who crosses the gun mage, a pistol wraith without equal. Others argue it is the product of dark magic, whispering that Caine unleashed an unholy shadow of himself upon those who stalked him. All that can be confirmed is that this remorseless phantom has left a trail of blood and carnage wherever it has appeared. The Hellslinger Phantom was first spotted in a remote town in northern Cygnar, where it slaughtered a large number of innocent civilians. Within a few short days dozens of murders were committed, and witnesses reported a similar culprit in all cases. The fact that the elusive murderer was supernatural in origin was soon made apparent both in the nature of the murders and its ability to vanish from the scenes of its crimes. The phantom’s bloody rampage has reached as far as the city of Bainsmarket, its victims ranging from hapless innocent residents to city authorities and members of local street gangs. Each day the wraith roams free, the body count mounts. The phantom represents a singular asset in Cryx’s arsenal—a cunning undead operative that works to further the agendas of its unknown master. There is no telling what other dark deeds the malevolent spirit might set its sights on in the future.
TACTICAL TIPS Soul Taker: Body Count – Remember, if more than one model is eligible to collect a model’s soul token, the closest eligible model collects it. If this model already has three soul tokens it is not eligible to collect another one.
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DARRAGH WRATHE CRYX SOLO WRATHE 1 SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 8/6 7 7 4 14 17/15 9
NECRO-SCYTHE RNG POW P+S 2 6 13
MOUNT RNG POW 0.5 12 MOUNTED DAMAGE: DISMOUNTED DAMAGE: PC 9
10 5
FA C
BASE (MOUNTED): BASE (DISMOUNTED):
LARGE SMALL
WRATHE 1 CAVALRY BATTLE WIZARD – Once per turn, when this model
destroys one or more enemy models with a melee attack during its activation, immediately after the attack is resolved it can make one Magic Ability special attack or special action. DRAGOON – While mounted, this model has base SPD 8 and base ARM 17. While dismounted, it has base SPD 6 and base ARM 15 and loses Reposition [3˝]. MAGIC ABILITY [7] • DEATH RIDE (HACTION) – Friendly Faction undead
models activating in this model’s command range gain +1˝ movement when advancing as part of their Normal Movement. Death Ride lasts for one turn. • HELLFIRE (HATTACK) – Hellfire is a RNG 10, POW 14 magic attack. Models disabled by Hellfire cannot make a Tough roll. Models boxed by Hellfire are removed from play. • MORTAL FEAR (HACTION) – While in this model’s command range, living enemy models suffer –2 to damage rolls. Mortal Fear lasts for one round. REPOSITION [3˝] – At the end of an activation in which it did not run or fail a charge, this model can advance up to 3˝, then its activation ends.
NECRO-SCYTHE DAMAGE TYPE: MAGICAL
Darragh Wrathe is among Cryx’s most fearsome living leaders. He was once a cruel and sorcerous pirate in the service of Cryx, but his blight-wracked body began to fail him as he internalized the corruption of Lord Toruk. Despite his deteriorating health, Wrathe considers this wasting disease a blessing, proof that the Dragon Lord’s energies flow through him and empower his sorcery. Eventually Wrathe retired from the sea and came to Skell as a black-garbed pilgrim, hoping he might find those who would replace his heart and lungs among its necrofactoriums and the Church of Toruk. He entered the service of Lich Lord Terminus and began to immerse himself in the necromantic lore permeating the city. Terminus saw Wrathe’s potential and shaped him into his personal agent and vassal. Wrathe hopes in time to give up the remnants of his mortality and join the ageless horrors he reveres. He feels immense satisfaction every time he replaces some part of himself with more timeless mechanika. This satisfaction is one of the last identifiably human emotions Wrathe still experiences. As he has transformed his body into a more fitting vessel for one of Toruk’s most devoted servants, so have his mind and soul changed. For decades Wrathe has watched as the machinations of the lich lords, and thereby the wishes of the Dragonfather, have moved inexorably forward. This inevitability left a strong impression on Wrathe. Since that time he has viewed the decay of his body and the subsequent necessity of unholy prosthetics as marks of progress toward attaining a form worthy of the Dragonfather’s favor. With each necrotite-powered augmentation he strips away the weak flesh of mortality and strengthens his connection to Toruk’s death-laden power. Wrathe is bound in direct service to Lich Lord Terminus, whom he serves as a field commander and master necromancer. He travels across western Immoren in this capacity, often accompanied by an escort of soulhunters. Wrathe feels a connection to the flayed riders he commands, and he is particularly adept at creating such unholy steeds. Over the years Wrathe has become more machine than man as he has replaced the spoiled portions of his flesh with necromechanikal substitutes. His hollow chest contains a mass of foul pumps and black-iron organs that keep blood and bile flowing to what organs and flesh he retains. Armored plates grafted over his broken flesh protect this churning machinery. Wrathe replaced his lower jaw with bands of steel and speaks in a quavering buzz through a grill in his throat. The mechanikal appendage replacing his left arm ends in sharp claws. Pistons reinforce the bones of his right arm, with muscles, sinew, and skin stitched around the skeletal armature. Darragh Wrathe executes his orders with conviction. When astride his steed and in command of Cryx’s swiftest horrors, he proves his eagerness for any excuse to push his might to its limit. His devotion to Toruk arises not as an expedient to power but from zealous faith in the Dragon God, for Wrathe idolizes the warped strength of the Dragonfather.
TACTICAL TIPS Hellfire – Because the boxed model is removed from play before being destroyed, it does not generate a soul or corpse token. Magic Ability – Performing a Magic Ability special action or special attack counts as casting a spell.
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WRAITH ENGINE CRYX BATTLE ENGINE WRAITH ENGINE SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD 7 10 7 4 12 18 10
SCYTHING BLADE L
RNG POW P+S 2 5 15
R
RNG POW P+S 2 5 15
SCYTHING BLADE
DAMAGE:20 PC 15
FA 2
BASE:HUGE
WRAITH ENGINE CONSTRUCT INCORPOREAL UNDEAD CLEAVE – When this model destroys one or more enemy models with a basic melee attack during its Combat Action, immediately after the attack is resolved this model can make one additional melee attack. This model can gain only one additional attack from Cleave each activation. DARK SHROUD – While in this model’s melee range, enemy models suffer –2 ARM. INSCRUTABLE – Opponents cannot take control of this model. SOUL BONDAGE – Once per round when a living enemy warrior model is boxed while within 2˝ of this model, you can remove the boxed model from play and replace it with a Machine Wraith solo. UNHALLOWED – While in this model’s command range, other friendly Faction models with Incorporeal gain +2 ARM and do not suffer blast damage.
600 ar
22 ft 6 in unknown
16 tons unknown
TWIN SCYTHING BLADE CLAWS, VOID OSCILLATOR
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The Wraith Engine is guided by a malignant intelligence bound to diabolical machineries. It lurches across the battlefield with the clamor of grinding steel and the incessant wailing of the discarnate dead caged within its frame. Untethered to a fixed, cohesive form, the battle engine slips between spectral and corporeal states, sowing death and despair throughout the enemy’s ranks. Those who do not flee are cut down like wheat before the scythe, their souls reaped to feed its hideous engines. Each part of the machine is inhabited by tortured, fragmented spirits trapped for eternity. It is suffused with the power of the grave; an echo of the void manifests in its presence and strengthens the ghostly dead that walk in its shadow. Its malignance saps the vitality of the physical world, rotting iron and spoiling flesh that ventures too close. The Wraith Engine’s present form draws on knowledge gleaned from centuries of necromantic research and refinement; Cryxian scholars have extensively studied the nature of the void and occult power. Lich Lord Tenebrous has stood at the forefront of these efforts, never hesitating to coerce and threaten the most brilliant and depraved minds of the Scharde Islands to labor on his private projects. In the Wraith Engine they succeeded in creating a terrible machine that draws power from refined necrotite and from the pure, malevolent energies of the void to distort the fabric of the physical world. Cryxian necrotechs ritually sacrificed hundreds of living victims in the creation of the Wraith Engine, employing an exacting process that bound the spirits within the machine’s numerous receptive components. Necrotechs had etched these mechanisms with blasphemous, binding runes, amalgamating the spirits into a collective machine intelligence loyal to its Cryxian masters. As this apparatus powers up, it oscillates between the physical world and the nightmare of the void. Tendrils of shadow manifest around it, feasting upon light itself as the engine roars. The mere presence of a Wraith Engine wounds the mortal world. The raw energies of the void roiling around the machine cloud its victims’ eyes and weaken their resilience. Knowing the Wraith Engine’s mindless thirst for death will never be slaked, its masters keep it chained until it can feast unhindered on the field of battle.
TACTICAL TIPS Soul Bondage – Because Soul Bondage causes a boxed model to be removed from play before it is destroyed, the Wraith Engine cannot trigger Cleave from a model it replaced with a Machine Wraith.
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BANE WITCH AGATHIA Warcaster IRON LICH ASPHYXIOUS Warcaster CAPTAIN AIAKOS Warcaster
ASPHYXIOUS THE HELLBRINGER & VOCIFERON Warcaster & Skarlock Thrall Solo
LICH LORD ASPHYXIOUS Warcaster
GORESHADE THE CURSED Warcaster
GORESHADE THE BASTARD & DEATHWALKER Warcaster Unit
MASTER NECROTECH MORTENEBRA & DERYLISS Warcaster & Skarlock Thrall Solo
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MODEL GALLERY
GORESHADE, LORD OF RUIN Warcaster
LORD EXHUMATOR SCAVEROUS Warcaster
STURGIS THE CORRUPTED Warcaster
PIRATE QUEEN SKARRE Satyxis Warcaster
SKARRE, QUEEN OF THE BROKEN COAST Satyxis Warcaster
DENEGHRA, THE SOUL WEAVER Battle Engine Warcaster
WARWITCH DENEGHRA Warcaster
WRAITH WITCH DENEGHRA Warcaster
MODEL GALLERY
137
LICH LORD TERMINUS Warcaster LICH LORD VENETHRAX Warcaster
THE WITCH COVEN OF GARLGHAST & EGREGORE Warcasters & Solo
138
MODEL GALLERY
DEATHRIPPER Light Warjack CORRUPTOR Heavy Warjack
DEFILER Light Warjack
DESECRATOR Heavy Warjack
INFLICTOR Heavy Warjack
HARROWER Heavy Warjack
HELLDIVER Light Warjack
LEVIATHAN Heavy Warjack
NIGHTWRETCH Light Warjack
MODEL GALLERY
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RIPJAW Light Warjack
REAPER Heavy Warjack
SEETHER Heavy Warjack
SCAVENGER Light Warjack
SHRIKE Light Warjack
SLAYER Heavy Warjack STALKER Light Warjack BARATHRUM Heavy Warjack
DEATHJACK Heavy Warjack
CANKERWORM Light Warjack
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MODEL GALLERY
EREBUS Heavy Warjack
MALICE Heavy Warjack
NIGHTMARE Heavy Warjack
KRAKEN Colossal Warjack
MODEL GALLERY
141
SEPULCHER Colossal Warjack
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MODEL GALLERY
BILE THRALLS Unit
CARRION THRALLS Unit
MECHANITHRALLS Thrall Unit
BRUTE THRALL Mechanithrall Weapon Attachment
NECROSURGEON & STITCH THRALLS Thrall Unit
SKARLOCK COMMANDER Command Attachment
MODEL GALLERY
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SOULHUNTERS Thrall Unit
THE WITHERSHADOW COMBINE Iron Lich Unit
IRON LICH OVERSEER Solo
BLOAT THRALL Solo
NECROTECH & SCRAP THRALL Solos MACHINE WRAITH Solo
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MODEL GALLERY
PISTOL WRAITH Solo
SOUL TRAPPER Thrall Solo SKARLOCK THRALL Solo
BLOAT THRALL OVERSEER MOBIUS Solo
WARWITCH SIREN Solo
AIAKOS, SCOURGE OF THE MEREDIUS Solo
WRAITH ENGINE Battle Engine DARRAGH WRATHE Solo (Mounted & Dismounted)
MODEL GALLERY
145
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PAINTING YOUR ARMY As a hobby miniatures game deeply rooted in lore and character, WARMACHINE offers hundreds of distinctive and highly detailed models designed for maximum modeling and painting enjoyment. Each model is a canvas on which to unleash your own creativity and imagination. You can choose to try your hand at the tried-and-true P3 Studio scheme, dive deeper into the Iron Kingdoms setting with an alternate paint scheme drawn from the lore and background of your Faction, or throw convention to the wind and create a completely original look for your models. Whatever your choice, few things are as rewarding as bringing your army to life with your brush and some paints. When painting an army, as in life, the fun truly lies in the journey more than in the destination. And like every journey, the road to a fully painted force begins with a crucial first step—in this case, deciding how you want your army to look! The following pages contain color guides and quick tips designed to provide inspiration for your Cryx painting adventure. We begin with a look at models painted in the traditional studio scheme for the Cryxian army. This scheme is shown throughout the model gallery on pages 136–145. Whether or not you decide to emulate the studio scheme, it is a great foundation to draw from with its green-greys, ancient-worn golds, and contrasting glowing greens. Next we present some alternative approaches to painting your Cryx models. Designed for infiltration and sowing
terror, the armies of the Dragonfather are as diverse as they are numerous. From the deep green of the Jade Mourn to the weathered red and bronze of The Branding Iron blackship to the ghostly pale whites and blues of Bane Lord Tartarus’ Host, Cryx offers the chance to explore a wide range of sinister palettes. By combining ideas from the setting, the studio scheme, and the real world, you can easily create a unique look for your army that still feels right at home in the Iron Kingdoms. Finally, for those who really want to flex their creative muscles, we present a radically different paint scheme drawn straight from the imagination of the painter who created it, as well as some great examples of Cryx models painted by the WARMACHINE and HORDES community to inspire your own unique creations. Choosing a more original or whimsical approach can result in a truly eye-catching army, but such schemes rely on careful planning and a willingness to experiment with multiple combinations of colors until everything has been dialed in just right to create a balanced yet visually striking effect. When it comes to your army’s special look, inspiration can spring from anywhere. Regardless of which direction you decide to take in painting your own Cryxian force, we hope this guide provides you with the spark needed to set your imagination on fire as you sit down with brush in hand to create an army as individual as you!
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STUDIO PAINT SCHEME SLAYER
Green Glow base: Menoth White Highlight shade: Green Ink highlight: Yellow Ink
Brass
Armor base: Cryx Bane Highlight shade: Cryx Bane Base shade: Umbral Umber, Thamar Black 1:1
Bone base: ’Jack Bone shade: Battlefield Brown highlight: Menoth White Base
base: Blighted Gold shade: Umbral Umber highlight: Brass Balls
Steel base: Pig Iron shade: Cryx Bane Base highlight: Cold Steel
Painter’s Inspiration The Cryx paint scheme is mostly monochromatic and relies on differences in value to achieve contrast. Large areas of the models are painted in black and grey tones. The metallic areas hold the place of midtones, while the flesh and bone areas are the brightest parts of the models. These differences in light and dark create points of interest. Right away the eye is drawn to the flesh or bone face of the model, since it is so much brighter than the rest. The glowing green accents of runes and heartfire serve the same purpose. A model completely void of color is quite boring visually, so when painting a model with a neutral color scheme it is important to add a bit of bright color to the shading and highlights to keep things fun. The Cryx paint scheme adds greens and purples to many of the mixes to prevent models from becoming bland. These colors can then be used on select models and units to add variety to the army, as is the case with the Satyxis or black ogrun. For more examples of Cryx models with studio paint schemes, see the gallery on pages 136–145 or go to privateerpress.com.
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PAINTING YOUR ARMY
STUDIO PAINT SCHEME BRUTE THRALL
Steel Green Glow base: Menoth White Highlight shade: Green Ink highlight: Yellow Ink
base: Pig Iron shade: Cryx Bane Base highlight: Cold Steel
Bone Flesh base: Thrall Flesh shade: Beaten Purple, Coal Black 1:1 highlight: Thrall Flesh, Menoth White Highlight 1:1
base: ’Jack Bone shade: Battlefield Brown highlight: Menoth White Base
Wounds Brass base: Blighted Gold shade: Umbral Umber highlight: Brass Balls
base: Skorne Red shade: Umbral Umber highlight: Khador Red Base
PAINTING TIPS You can create a weathered surface by applying a base layer of rust and then sealing it. Add two layers of hairspray followed by a thin coat of your base color. Use a stiff bristled brush and clean water to remove the base layer and reveal the rust color. Further accentuate the effect by adding a thin line of Thamar Black to the top edges of the chips, and a line of the highlight color to the bottom edge.
PAINTING YOUR ARMY
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THE HOST OF SCOPULOUS PAINT SCHEME SLAYER
Green Glow base: Menoth White Highlight shade: Green Ink highlight: Yellow Ink
Steel
Armor base: Underbelly Blue shade: Ironhull Grey highlight: Frostbite
Bone base: ’Jack Bone shade: Cryx Bane Base shade: Battlefield Brown
base: Pig Iron shade: Bastion Grey highlight: Cold Steel
Gold base: Brass Balls shade: Thornwood Green highlight: Radiant Platinum
Blue Metal base: Thamar Black shade: Underbelly Blue highlight: Frostbite
Painter’s Inspiration Lich Lord Scopulous, master of Cryx’s reserve army, supports the incursions on the mainland with his sizable stockpile of thralls, warjacks, and necrotite. Scopulous also commands the Nightmare Empire’s garrisons and fortresses, ensuring their readiness against direct counterattack. The Host of Scopulous represents the Lich Lord’s personal bodyguard, and they share the ghostly appearance of their nefarious master. Eschewing the subdued grayish green of the greater Cryxian army, the thralls and warjacks of Scopulous boast pale blue armor accented by dark brass. This phantasmal appearance is completed with a bright green glow that emanates from the vents of machinery and the ephemeral forms of its warriors.
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PAINTING YOUR ARMY
THE HOST OF SCOPULOUS PAINT SCHEME BRUTE THRALL
Black Armor base: Thamar Black shade: Underbelly Blue highlight: Frostbite
Steel base: Pig Iron shade: Bastion Grey highlight: Cold Steel
Green Glow base: Menoth White Highlight shade: Green Ink highlight: Yellow Ink
Flesh base: Underbelly Blue shade: Ironhull Grey highlight: Frostbite
Gold
Bone base: ’Jack Bone shade: Cryx Bane Base shade: Battlefield Brown
Wounds
base: Brass Balls shade: Thornwood Green highlight: Radiant Platinum
base: Carnal Pink shade: Battledress Green highlight: Ryn Flesh
PAINTING TIPS Add a touch of Cryx Bane Base to the shadow of your metals to give your Cryx a sickly look. Combining Cryx Bane Base and Brown Ink works well for the brass found on most Cryx models.
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“STORMY WATERS” PAINT SCHEME SLAYER
Vent Glow
Armor
base: Murderous Magenta shade: Beaten Purple highlight: Morrow White
base: Meredius Blue shade: Exile Blue highlight: Arcane Blue
Rust
Brass
base: Bloodtracker Brown
base: Molten Broze shade: Molten Bronze, Thamar Black 1:1 highlight: Brass Balls
Steel base: Pig Iron shade: Armor Wash highlight: Cold Steel
Painter’s Inspiration By William Shick When coming up with a new look for my Cryx, my imagination continually wandered to thoughts of the Northwest Coast in winter. Dark and brooding skies and the worn and chipped paint of vessels and structures exposed to water and weather day in and day out. For my primary color I decided to go with Meredius Blue, which is more of a dark teal than a true blue. Arcane blue provided the perfect highlight, allowing me to achieve a pre-storm sea look. In addition, the blue complemented the brown-orange primer layer I wanted to use for the salt-weathering effect. Salt-weathering is a tried-and-true scale model technique that is both simple and effective at easily creating a realistic weather-chipped look. For my thralls’ flesh I knew I wanted to do something different from the standard pale, necrotic skin tone commonly seen on Cryx models. I really like the sinister
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PAINTING YOUR ARMY
“STORMY WATERS” PAINT SCHEME BRUTE THRALL
Steel base: Pig Iron shade: Armor Wash highlight: Cold Steel
Vent Glow base: Murderous Magenta shade: Beaten Purple highlight: Morrow White
Bone base: Rucksack Tan highlight: Menoth White Highlight
Flesh base: Bastion Grey shade: Thamar Black highlight: Cryx Bane Highlight
Brass
Wounds
base: Molten Broze shade: Molten Bronze, Thamar Black 1:1 highlight: Brass Balls
base: Sanguine Highlight shade: Sanguine Base highlight: Murderous Magenta
feel of the dead grey flesh and how it contrasts with the rest of the elements on the model. To continue with the nautical feel, I kept the metals subdued with a dark brass for the trim and dark iron for the silver. For the iconic Cryxian glow, I decided to try something different and went for a pinkish magenta.
PAINTING TIPS To paint the Cryx glow, start with a basecoat of Menoth White Highlight. Add a drop of Green Ink to Necrotite Green to create a wash and coat the entire area. Place a shade of Green Ink in the deepest recesses. Lay on highlights with Menoth White Highlight. Finally, to intensify the overall effect and add punch to the glow, add a couple drops of Yellow Ink to the Necrotite Green/Green Ink mix and glaze the entire area.
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GORESHADE THE CURSED by Bryce Jensen
SKARRE, QUEEN OF THE BROKEN COAST by Brant Benoit
BANE WARRIOR by Tod McNeal
PIRATE QUEEN SKARRE by Marcin Olszewski
DEATHRIPPER by Jacky Perkins
BILE THRALL by Jason Hobbs
SCRAP THRALL by William "Oz" Schoonover
DEATHJACK by Lance Engle BRUTE THRALL by Jason Soles
IRON LICH ASPHYXIOUS by Stuart Spengler
INFLICTOR by Stuart Spengler
SKARLOCK THRALL by Stuart Spengler
MALICE by Stuart Spengler
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PAINTING YOUR ARMY
HELLDIVER by Brian Finken
LICH LORD TERMINUS by Brian Finken
STALKER by Brian Finken
KRAKEN by Dallas Kemp
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TEMPLATES
SOUL REAPER (Lich Lord Asphyxious)
FEAST OF WORMS (Lord Exhumator Scaverous)
BREATH OF CORRUPTION (Iron Lich Asphyxious)
You may photocopy these templates for your personal use.
