Hello all, I am back again with another Cryx Warcaster review.
As mentioned in the previous one, there isn't going to be any order to these, I am just going to do them as get the motivation to do them, usually triggered by a fleeting appreciation of whichever caster tickles my fancy.
This time around it was Mr Banes himself, Goreshade the Cursed. The more and more I read his cards, the more and more I appreciate what he can bring to the party. Never going to dazzle at the top of the pile or rule the tournament scene like some Cryx casters before him, but he does offer some fantastic control and attrition play that we can certainly build around to exploit.
Lets take a look at his card
Shade2 has a decent focus stat of 7, decent enough melee stats with a very good melee weapon should he need it in a pinch (more on that later), a pretty handy immunity to cold and sports DEF and ARM of 15 and 16 respectively - decent enough but never going to stave off any serious assassination attempts.
Goreshade packs a fantastic melee weapon, Voass. It is a RNG 2, Pow 15 sword that inflicts Stationary on a hit so long as the target is not immune to cold. If he needs to, Shade can certainly get stuck in to finish things off himself. Though, if you plough him into the fold, you better make sure it is to finish things off as he wont survive much of a retaliation.
Arcane Consumption is a cute ability more than anything due to his fairly short CMD range, what it does is inflict d3 damage points to a spellcaster casting a spell within his CMD, and then Shade gets to heal d3 damage points. Never going to change a game but can potentially catch out 1 box spell slingers that stray too close. Goreshade also has Tactician [Bane], another fairly decent ability, great for its synergy with Bane Riders as you can hang them back and then charge straight through a front line screen of Warriors or Knights. Again, cute more than game changing.
Spells
This is where, in my opinion, Goreshade the Cursed really shines, he has a fantastic list of spells and could be a contender for best in faction. They all synergise well with his overall game plan and offer a good balance of Damage, Debuff and Support.
Abyssal Gate - At first glace it is a fairly uninspiring damage spell, short range and POW 12 isn't much to get excited about. However, when a model is damaged by this spell you can place it completely within 3" of its current location. Fantastic tool for kicking tough to kill models out of a zone or to run an Arc Node up, hit a target and pull them in. Great utility spell that offers control and threat extension.
Curse of Shadows - Another great utility spell. It inflicts a -2 ARM penalty to the target and prevents them from making free strikes. It also allows friendly models to pass through enemy models so long as they can completely clear their base. Multi use spell, lets you debuff ARM on a key target as well as let you completely ignore any jams that could cause potential headaches.
Hex Blast - Doesn't need much of an explanation, good damage spells that immediately strips any active Upkeeps or Animi on the target.
Mirage - I like this spell. Gives the target Apparition which lets you place the target model/unit completely within 2" during your control phase. Stick this on a unit like Bane Knights and assuming Vengeance has been triggered they know threat 13". Tie this in with the movement from Abyssal Gate and Goreshade has some real ability to extend threat ranges, something the soft Cryx units are desperate for.
Occultation - Best spell Cryx has, even in a world where Stealth ignoring abilities are ever increasing. Any unit in faction loves them a bit of Stealth. Great spell.
Feat
On a first look, Goreshade the Cursed's feat isn't very good at all. But when you start thinking about ways to apply it, you can really generate a fantastic attrition scenario. Shade's feat lets you remove from play any number of friendly faction trooper models and replace them with the same number of destroyed friendly faction trooper models. There is no restrictions on what you bring back, so you can sac McThralls for example and bring back Bane Riders or RFP some Scrap Thralls to replenish your Bane units. Great mid game feat for when the lines have met to bring back all the models that have been killed by shooting. Bare in mind though, they have to sacrifice their Combat Action on the turn they come back. My personal recommendation is to max out the allowance of Scrap Thralls as they are the cheapest unit he can sac, 6pts of Scrap Thralls that can become 9 models worth of anything else, thats a full Bane unit nearly, or 2 max units of Bane Riders...trading 6pts of models for 40pts of models is a decent feat indeed.
Suggested Units
As we can see, Goreshade can dip his toe into many different roles and push different win conditions. He supports an attrition game with his feat and his spell list is great for a control or scenario game. Taking models and units to emphasise this is a good way to. Think models like Malice and the Machine Wraiths for their ability to move models, a great trick is drag a heavy with Malice, then posses it with a Machine Wraith to move it potentially over 20" from where it started your turn, to be subsequently eaten by Banes. Speaking of Banes, he is about the only Cryx caster than can actively support Banes and actually wants to take them in multiples. Warriors, Riders or Knights, it doesn't matter, a couple of units fit like a glove for Shade2. To prop up the feat, as mentioned before, max out on Scrap Thralls, cheapest unit we have and can become whatever flavour of Banes you have brought that have been killed. After these key ingredients, fill to taste. I like Raiders for their Speed and self buffing through Gang. The only thing you will want to avoid is a big battlegroup, Shade doesn't really do anything to support 'Jacks and his spell list makes him pretty focus hungry. Speaking of, take the Withershadow Combine, not a great deal of spells they can cast from Shade, but the free upkeep can be a godsend and someone like Malice will always appreciate the Puppet Master reroll.
Summary
I like Goreshade, he offers a fairly unique style of play for Cryx in that he actively supports our main poster unit, the Banes. He is also very flexible and should have game into most lists but probably plays a little better in Warmachine factions. This is probably down to the fact that he handles armour fairly easily, between supporting Banes and having an ARM debuff in his arsenal and being able to trivially manipulate the positioning and movements of enemy heavies playing against an ARM skew shouldn't really be that much of a problem. Given that he is very flexible, it can be a blessing and a curse. You will rarely start a turn with nothing to do or no way to better your position but because he 'can' do so many things, it can be easy to lose sight of the overall win condition. Just something to bare in mind, have an overall plan and stick to it. In a Staemroller environment, you will need to pair him with a list that handles gunlines and plays well into Hordes, someone like Venethrax for a specialist or pDenny for that allcomers 'game into anything' list.
My score overall? I'd say 7/10 which could go higher depending on the match up.
Thanks for reading and I'll catch you on the next one.
Steve.
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