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http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Cryx


Automatically Appended Next Post:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Warwitch_Deneghra

Strengths

* Mobility: Deneghra's army gets a mobility advantage from her ability to lockdown opposing units with her Crippling Grasp spell and The Withering feat. In addition, she can move her models through terrain, as needed, by casting the Ghost Walk spell. Finally, Deneghra herself can be difficult to lockdown as Parry keeps her safe from free strikes and her SPD 7 gets her to where she needs to go to do the most harm from a distance, and Stealth protects her from ranged attacks.
* Weakening the Enemy: The Withering feat stacks with all of Deneghra's other debuffs, creating situations where a model under its effects is also taking a penalty from the Crippling Grasp spell, the Parasite spell or from the Shadow Bind ability. Setting these up in specific ways makes the seemingly harmless Venom spell frightening as its lowly POW 10 quickly becomes an effective POW 12, 13 or 14 and hits with Deneghra's respectable FOC 7 stat as if she were FOC 9, 10 or more.

[Edit]
Weaknesses

* Stealthy but squishy: AOEs and spray attacks can help chip away at Deneghra's low ARM 14. If she is overboosting her powerfield to defend against the threat AOE volleys then that is less focus she is using to cripple your army.
* Soul gathering: Though Deneghra can protect herself with her debuffs, it's going to be a rare occasion where she will be drinking up souls. The temptation of extra focus might lure out a less canny player to spring for a trap that you set with living models, but it isn't something either of you should count on happening.
* Shut Down her Arc Nodes: Casting Castigate or engaging her arc nodes forces Deneghra to play closer than she's comfortable doing or it may force her to come out and use The Withering Feat sooner than she'd like.

Finally...new hotness that is malfred.

A few things maybe:

Scourge is her own version of pop and drop. Though Cryx is not shooty shooty, a leviathan and pistol wraith with feat and getting LoS of a maybe knocked down caster can do a world of hurt. I mean maybe you even have a CRA from some stealhead riflemen.

Ghost walk is really nice on Bile Thralls when the opponent tries to neutrilize them with locking them down in combat, or you can march them through forests, obstructions, and walls to purge away. Or Ghost Walk a trampling jack. The issue with Ghost walk is that it's expensive...and that's where the Skarlock comes into play.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Wraith_Witch_Deneghra

Strengths

* Queen of Board Control: eDeneghra can deny the opponent movement through an area that reaches out to 24" from where she begins by charging and then using her Web of Shadow Feat. Her signature Ghost Walk Spell gets her models where they need to go, and Curse of Shadows Spell can untangle a unit tied down by fast enemy elements. Her Hellmouth Spell can grab a good number of models in its wake, dragging them out of position and removing them from the game forever. Finally, if there is an annoying model in the way, the Wraith Witch can hinder it with spells and her feat, charge it, and hopefully do even a little damage to it so that Dark Banishment will trigger, moving it out of her army's way.
* Spell Assassination: The Web of Shadow Feat and her Marked for Death Spell can take a target's DEF down by 4, which is enough for her army to do real harm. Against a high ARM target, the Curse of Shadows Spell takes down the ARM or allows her army to circumvent something blocking the way with free strikes. If she wants to do the job herself, she still relies on casting multiple Venom Spells against a debuffed target.
* Hard to Pin Down: Parry, SPD 7, and the ability to turn Incorporeal makes it hard to pin Deneghra down for a kill.

[Edit]
Weaknesses

* If You can Hit Her: Her low ARM makes her susceptible to the "boosted 12s" maxim. Boostable blast damage alone is enough to make her sweat.
* Spell Reliant: Magical denial or protections such as the Spell Ward Ability prevent her from doing much unless she feats or uses her ancillary abilities such as Dark Seduction and Dark Banishment.

Arent you supposed to protect unarmoured Cryx warcasters by hiding at the back somewhere and channeling spells though arc nodes?

Why overboost power fields with a caster who should be nowhere near combat and is stealthy.

It is great that Dakka is producing Warmachine tacticas, but I suggest we refer to Battle College. Good site:

http://battlecollege.wikispaces.com/mkiiDeneghra

Battle College is a fantastic site for new players. Also for players wanting to know what an opponent's units do.

There's also a few great articles on the PP forum:
http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?17657-The-Lich-Lords-on-Annihilation-How-to-Fully-Eliminate-and-Reanimate-your-Enemy

It's a good site. You can go there. Part of doing this is learning things myself. A mental exercise, if you will.

^ Yes.
Battle College is like Malfred's labor...a labor of opinions.
The more experience we can collect the better.
But not everything should be on Battle College and everything should be taken worth a grain of salt because what works for some doesn't work for others.

In addition Orlanth, there are wonky threat ranges you might have missed, there are plenty of things out there that know of these back field casters and if they have/need to get there, they will.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Iron_Lich_Asphyxious

Strengths

* Melee Feat Turn: The Sustained Attack Ability, the Reach Ability on his weapon and the focus generated by his Consuming Blight Feat all combine to make for a feat turn that should end with a dead target.
* Spell Casting: The Breath of Corruption Spell gives him an AOE that does full damage to all models under the template. Casting his Hellfire Spell Asphyxious has higher damage, which can be even huger if he has upkept the Parasite Spell on his target.
* Plan B: If melee assassination doesn't work, he should leave enough focus to cast the Teleport Spell to safety.

[Edit]
Weaknesses

* Medium Base, Okay ARM: In an army swarming with small base infantry, the Iron Lich stands out with his limited 15/16 DEF and ARM. The base size also makes him susceptible to the Armor Piercing Ability. In addition, his ARM doesn't really stand out except when he is camping focus.
* Teleport range: Casting the Teleport Spell after charging in to melee can mean that the Iron Lich himself is in charge range of enemy models.
* Focus Balancing the Feat Turn: Because Asphyxious can't interrupt his dice rolling to use the Consuming Blight Feat, he might find himself casting spells or making attacks and running out of focus to cast another spell. For instance, if he is trying to cast the Hellfire Spell and boosts both the attack and damage rolls, he will have 3 focus remaining. He won't be able to re-cast the spell, use the Feat and boost the rolls again. Even worse is when he's left with less focus than he needs to cast his next spell. Consuming Blight fills up his focus; it does not add 7 focus. Therefore, he sometimes has to over-top his tank and loses 1 or 2 focus points with the feat.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Lich_Lord_Asphyxious

Strengths

* Extreme Threat Range: With the right melee troops, the Lich Lord can really put the threat on warcasters, especially those that hide in back from low ARM or DEF. When he charges 9" he extends his threat range to that of whatever models he chooses to bring back with the Spectral Legion Feat.
* Difficult Choices: As his enemy you don't want to give him key models to raise for the Spectral Legion Feat, but you also can't let those models run riot through your lines.
* Board Control: The Lich Lord rules the infantry roost with spells that can easily kill or control single wound infantry. The Caustic Mist Spell prevents models from wandering near or shooting him indiscriminately, and the Hellbound Spell gives him some freedom to play closer than he otherwise might. Finally the Teleport Spell gives him an escape hatch should things get too dicey.

[Edit]
Weaknesses

* Remove From Play effects: Anything that removes models from play is a potential feat killer against the Lich Lord.
* Solo Maneuvers: The Spectral Legion Feat prevents models from benefiting from unit abilities such as the Combined Melee Attack Ability or the Gang Ability.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Courtesy of Theseawolf1

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Pirate_Queen_Skarre

Strengths

* Surprisingly Burly – Don’t let those skinny arms fool you. Between three basic attacks, boosting and Life Trader, Skarre can dish it out in melee. Throw in a Knockdown from the Great Rack on the charge, and things can get ugly in a hurry. Gaspy ugly.
* Up Yours, Stryker! – Though at an additional cost, Blood Magic buffs both the ARM and STR of her army. Her sisters start to hit like light warjacks, and many other units become formidable foes who fear little retaliation...for a turn.
* Go My Minions! – Though pricey, Dark Guidance essentially boosts the melee attacks of Cryx’s often average or poor MAT troopers. And unlike Vlad, you keep the extra dice. Two-attack Mechanithralls that average 15s? Thank you kindly.
* Reflexes Like a Cat – Tied for both the highest SPD and the highest DEF of the Cryxian Warcasters, Skarre can dodge most unboosted attacks.

Weaknesses

* Life, A Valuable Resource – Between her feat and her sword, Skarre is often in need of a first aid kit after a few rounds of the game. Also, her ARM is pretty average, so a lucky hit by Defender or the like can leave her with a serious case of death.
* Don’t Count Your Chickens… - Ritual Sacrifice MAY give you 6 extra focus, or it MAY give you 1. Between Dark Guidance, healing and fighting, there’s little room for allocation of focus.
* Jack Squat – Given her random focus and her expensive spells, it may be hard for Skarre to maintain too many Warjacks. Consider Warjacks with multiple attacks or rules that help offset her personal need for focus.

Here's Theseawolf1's write up of eSkarre

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Skarre%2C_Queen_of_the_Broken_Coast

Strengths

* Still Surprisingly Burly – Not only does she still have her mighty blade Takkaryx, but her Great Rack now Pushes models around. Skarre can use it several times with focus or also with Black Spot to get moving while dealing damage.
* Fear of Infinite Leads to Infinite Fear? – If Skarre brings along Black Ogrun or a Reaper, opponents might waste time and energy avoiding the potential combo with Drag and Black Spot. It only really works on multi-wound infantry though, so don't get hung up on trying to make it happen too often.
* Can't Touch This – Skarre's feat seems underwhelming at first read, but consider it has many interesting uses. Denying key models attacks or giving othesr near-invulnerability for a turn appears weaker than the blanket buff her Prime feat gave, but you can get very clever with it, especially with a friendly Warjack near the enemy Warcaster or Warlock.
* Reflexes Like a Cat – Still tied for both the highest SPD and the highest DEF of the Cryxian Warcasters, Skarre can dodge most unboosted attacks. Also she can turn it up a few notches on her feat turn.
* Do the Locomotion – Two of her spells involve out of turn movement, making your army and Warjacks faster than they appear.

[Edit]
Weaknesses

* Emo Kid – Even more than her Prime version, Skarre will be tempted to carve herself up to maintain spells, power her feat and to add dice with Takkaryx. She also loses Ritual Sacrifice, making upkeep via her own health almost mandatory given her four upkeep spells.
* Balance is Key - Its harder for this Skarre to focus entirely on infantry, but its also harder for her to maintain many Warjacks without help. This semi-forces you into taking certain support models, and may hurt you in low point games.
* There Can Be Only One..At A Time – Skarre's upkeeps are awesome, but you'll need to prioritize where they go to to maximize their effect. Also, so many upkeeps means so many focus/life to keep them up and running.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Goreshade_the_Bastard

Strengths

* Magical Denial: Between the Mage Blight Spell and Hex Blast Spell, Goreshade can lock down the casting of magical spells.
* Debuffs: Goreshade has access to three direct debuffs. The Deathwalker Solo drops the DEF and STR of living models, the Shadowmancer Spell gives his battlegroup (which includes himself) Dark Shroud, and he can use the Dark Summons Feat to gain access to more Bane Thralls.
* Rope a Dope: Keep a safe distance from the enemy by activating a warjack to deal some damage, then activate Goreshade to cast the Soul Gate Spell and the Shadowmancer Spell. Soul gate will return the warjack to a safer position, and Shadowmancer will reduce the effectiveness of a ranged or magical counter-attack.
* Bane Threat: Goreshade can charge 9" at an expendable trooper, Use his feat to place Bane thralls within 3" of himself, and later activate the Bane Thralls Unit to charge another 8" to get an extreme threat range of ~20" on the outside.

[Edit]
Weaknesses

* Zero Upkeeps, Expensive Costing Spells: These two things go together because Goreshade will be focus hungry every single turn. So even though he has a fantastic Shadowmancer Spell for his battlegroup, he has to spend three focus points each turn to cast it. Also, if he casts the Mage Blight Spell then he's unable to cast most anything else aside from Bleed.
* Sacrifice: Though you'll want to sacrifice inexpensive troop models when casting the Soul Gate Spell, sometimes your safest bet will be to sacrifice expensive more elite models in order to preserve your warjack or position.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Goreshade_the_Cursed

Strengths

* Attrition: The Reanimator Feat, the Sudden Death Spell and Goreshade's Elite Cadre Ability with Bane Thralls means that he can generate new Bane Thralls both on his turn and on his opponent's turn, and then he can use those Bane Thralls as sacrifices for the feat later on or make it that much tougher to eliminate a Bane thrall unit.
* Anti Magic: The Hex Blast Spell gives him a direct way of dealing with defensive buffs, and Arcane Consumption makes it less likely for single wound models to use their magical abilities.
* Don't let him Hit You: Stationary is not a good thing.

[Edit]
Weaknesses

* Cheap Troops, Medium Target: Goreshade is a medium based model who will likely be surrounded by small based troops. He will need 'Jacks to protect LOS to him or he will be casting the Occultation Spell on himself as another solution.
* All Bane Thralls Dead: If you can eliminate all his Bane Thralls and Tartarus, he can't generate more Banes to use for the feat.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Deathwalker_Solo

Strengths

* Attack Living Models: Warcasters, warlocks, even warbeasts are mostly living models that can have their DEF brought down to make them hittable by Cryxian armies.
* Strengthen the Line: Bolster a line of tough models by making it even tougher to break their ARM in melee.
* Anti-accidental death: If you keep your deathwalker safe, you can keep her for attempted assassination runs. First she'll reduce the STR of melee attacks from living models, and she's like a last ditch effort to stay alive.
* Battlegroup Model: Goreshade's Shadowmancer Spell enhances her debuffs by adding the Dark Shroud Ability and protects a deathwalker by granting her the Stealth Ability.

[Edit]
Weaknesses

* Easy Enough to Kill: Breath Stealer isn't enough to prevent a melee attack from killing a Deathwalker.
* Goreshade's Lousy CMD : The Tether that binds a Deathwalker to Goreshade limits how far ahead of him she can operate.
* Can't Stop a Dedicated Assassination Attempt: Goreshade's Medium base exposes him to attack if he steps too close. And any player worth their salt doesn't count on a single attack to win a game. A dedicated assassination run has multiple attempts and factors in the Deathwalker's Dark Restoration.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Lich_Lord_TerminusStrengths

* Undead Infantry Swarms: Undead Models protect Terminus from ranged attacks with the Sacrifical Pawn Ability, after which they take a Tough roll to see if they survive the attack.
* Wiping Out Infantry: Terminus's 10" spray attack, the Ravager Spell and the Annihilation Spell are useful tools for clearing out infantry.
* Beating Things Down: Using his Reach Ability with the Ravager Spell gives Terminus plenty of attacks when based on his large base. If he has the Malediction Spell upkept, those models become both easier to hit and easier to kill. When he charges in like this, he gains soul tokens from killed living models and those turn into focus for latter turns.
* Really Tough: Starting at an ARM 18, focus and souls from the Dragon's Call Feat boost Terminus's ARM. Then when those souls turn into focus the following turn, he can sit on it and keep his ARM boosted. With plenty of ARM and Damage boxes he can use his Flight Ability to risk freestrikes and swoop in on a caster or warlock.

[Edit]
Weaknesses

* Large Base: The Sacrifical Pawn Ability does not protect Terminus from spellcasting, and if you can clear out the area within 3" of him, the large base becomes a liability against high POW ranged attacks.
* Target Poor Environments: If Terminus finds himself up against armies without souls, the Dragon's Call Feat loses any significance in the game.
* Souls Are Rarely for 'Jacks: Though soul tokens and the Dragon's Call Feat can up his focus to ridiculous numbers, you will rarely bring the number of 'jacks necessary to capitalize on that for risk of not having the necessary enemy models to generate those souls.

[Edit]

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/The_Witch_Coven_of_Garlghast

Strengths

* Focus Efficiency: The Witch Coven can put out all three friendly upkeep spells on turn 1--the Infernal Machine Spell, the Occultation Spell, and the Veil of Mists Spell, and still power Arc Nodes and Warjacks.
* Keeping Perfect Conjunction is Easy: Move one witch, move the Egregore Solo, move the second witch, then activate the third witch, move her into position and use her to cast all the spells.
* Ghost Walk Everywhere: It's really easy to cast the Ghost Walk Spell with one or two Arc Nodes and a CTRL area of 18".
* Ranged Denial: The Nightfall Feat effectively makes it impossible for troops to charge or shoot at most of the army, and the Veil of Mists Spell and the Occultation Spell add further layers of ranged denial to the army.
* Split Activations: Activate the witches separately to cast de-buffs first or to decide when and where to put out other spells. For instance, you can see if the Curse of Shadows Spell is enough to eliminate a warjack before re-casting the Veil of Mists Spell or some other mixed order of activations.

[Edit]
Weaknesses

* Kill One Witch: While the witches have the Stealth Ability from being in base contact with the Egregore and the ability to cast many spells, they need to keep some focus on the Egregore Solo in order to boost their collective ARM to keep them safe from blast damage. Once one witch dies, everything starts to collapse from there.
* Scenarios that Force them to Advance: The Witches want to move as little as possible.
* Medium Based Target: If someone attacks the Egregore, the damage gets split among the witches. Do this when you have a lower than average MAT.

Thanks for the hard work and writings malfred, much appreciated

Thanks for all the work and insights.

Ha! Thanks for the assists.

Thanks again for doing these. I like the helper notes on synergies.

I don't tend to make those connections on my own until I run something a couple times and see it, so reading about them helps me alot.