Bane Warriors

Bane Warriors Cryx Unit Officer & Standard Command Attachment

Prime This model is available in one Prime Army, Dark Host. It can also be used in the Unlimited game mode. You can view the other Mk3 models that made it into a Legacy Army at this page. Note that the rest of this page is about the model's Mark III rules.

Bane Thralls, cunning undead warriors inscribed with countless runes and sigils of their dark rebirth, are versatile and deadly soldiers among more mindless undead. Wickedly proficient at killing, they host a darkness that both permeates their being and seeps into the world of the living. Few know the means by which these potent creatures are created, and only the most depraved masters of necromancy can begin to understand the nature of the malignant power from whence they arise.
Rune-bound captains lead the blasphemous bane thralls onto the battlefield to slaughter for their own vicious pleasure. Only the most hateful and malevolent of spirits are chosen to lead the banes into battle.

Basic Info

Bane Warriors
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Unit / Officer BASE Small SPD 5 STR 7 MAT 6 / 7 RAT N/A M.A. N/A DEF 12 ARM 15 CMD 7 ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS N/A FURY N/A THRS N/A HP 1 / 5 F. Field N/A WJP {{{wjp}}} WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA 3 UNIT SIZE 6 or 10 +2 CA COST 8 or 14 +5 CA 1.6 pts each (incl CA) N/A N/A Warcaster 1 COST N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

Abilities

• Entire unit
  • Undead
  • 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.

• Officer only
  • He has a better statline
  • Tactics: Rise - Models in this unit gain Rise. (Rise - If a model with Rise is knocked down at the beginning of your Maintenance Phase, it stands up.)
  • Void Bringer [ Minifeat ] - This model can use Void Bringer once per game at any time during its unit's activation. When this model uses Void Bringer, return d3 + 1 destroyed Grunts to this unit. Place the returned Grunts completely within 3" of this model. Returned Grunts must forfeit their Combat Actions this activation.

• Standard only
  • Standard Bearer - While this model is within 5" of its unit commander, the unit commander gains +2 CMD.
  • Take Up - If this model is destroyed, you can choose a Grunt in this unit within 1" of it to be destroyed instead. Effects on this model expire, and it gains the effects on the chosen Grunt. Remove the Grunt from the table instead of this model. This model has the same number of unmarked damage boxes as the chosen Grunt.
  • Granted: Tough - While this model is in formation, models in its unit gain Tough.

Weapons

• Leader, Grunts, & Standard
  • War Axe - 1" reach & 11 P+S, but its abilities make up for that.
    • Weapon Master
    • Dark Shroud - While in this model's melee range, enemy models suffer -2 ARM.

• Officer
  • War Axe (x2) - As above, but double the fun.

Theme Forces

• Cryx
  • Dark Host. Bane Warriors gain Prowl in this theme.
  • Special mention to Goreshade1 who can put them into any theme via his feat.

• Other Factions
  • Infernal players can use this unit in the Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Mortenebra is leading the army.

Thoughts on Bane Warriors

Command Attachment

Bane Warriors in a nutshell

Bane Warriors are the undisputed ARM crackers of our infantry options and indeed they are some of the hardest hitting infantry in the game. With Ghostly these guys can get into interesting angles for backstrike and can threaten Jacks and Beasts thats are hiding behind a skirmish unit. They are also handy at delivering the Dark Shroud ARM debuff for the rest of your force.

What they struggle with is accuracy and their mediocre threat range sees them taking a charge more than giving it despite ghostly. If you are taking a caster to support them you need someone who mitigates 1 of these issues.

Thoughts on adding the CA

Totally worth it - if you're running Bane Warriors at all, you want them to have the CA. Tough from the flag is great, and everything the Officer brings is gravy. Just try not to get the Officer sniped before you get a chance to use his mini-feat.

5 pts is a tad more than most CA, but you get a fully armed standard bearer (unlike most CA).

Combos & Synergies

Banes pair well with anything that helps their average MAT or gets them across the board in one piece. Warcasters that can cast occultation, clouds, recursion effects or restrict enemy LoS will enjoy seeing a mostly full squad be delivered.

• Desecrators gain a free focus if they're near a Bane.
• Banes have slow speed and may struggle to reach the enemy, so having models in your army which bring the enemy closer can help.
  • For example the Reaper and Malice have harpoons; the Machine Wraith and Malice can possess enemy warjacks, the Sepulcher has a 4" pull, Deneghra2 has a 3" suction vortex, etc.
  • You can even double-tag a 'jack, using a Machine Wraith to posses an enemy jack and walk it close to Malice, then use Malice to possess it can walk it closer to the Banes.
• Bane Lord Tartarus loves to pal around with banes. Its his sole purpose in death.
• Goreshade1's feat puts a small unit of Banes into play, regardless of the game size or theme restrictions. It can be quite nice to get a unit of Banes in other themes.
• Goreshade2 has Tactician [Bane] making it easier to move them around.
• Scaverous - Excarnate lets you double up on the recursion of this unit.
• Agathia - She can make them her Henchmen. This ups their threat, defence and Mat. It’s just a shame that she does nothing for them beyond this as it means you will only ever really consider 1 full unit with all the trimmings for her.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Bane Warriors suffer from their short threat range. With no built-in defenses against ranged attacks, they will get shot off the board unassisted or left in the open.
• DEF 12 means they die to charges and get shot by incoming fire.
• ARM 15 will fend off blast damage but little more than that.

Tricks & Tips

• Watch for enemies sniping out the officer or standard,
• Run a Bane Warrior into melee with an enemy, then send the rest of your army in to benefit from Dark Shroud. A unit of Banes can spread out and cover several enemies.
• You can get backstrikes more often than you'd expect thanks to Ghostly letting them ignore free strikes. This is vital in fixing their average MAT.
• Get the Officer into position, then use his mini-feat, then the returned guys can sacrifice their Combat Action and move, spreading Dark Shroud out.
  • If you make any attacks with the unit before using the mini-feat, then the unit's movement has already finished and the returned Grunts cannot move.

Other

Trivia

• Bane Thralls (without CA) were released way back in Warmachine: Prime (2003)
• The UA was released in Forces of Warmachine: Cryx (June 2010)
• 2003 sculptor: Will Hannah

Other Cryx models

Cryx Index       (Edit)
Battlegroup & Similar
Warcasters	Agathia - Aiakos2 - Asphyxious1 - Asphyxious2 - Asphyxious3 - Coven - Deathjack2 - Deneghra1 - Deneghra2 - Deneghra3 - Goreshade1 - Goreshade2 - Goreshade3 - Mortenebra1 - Mortenebra2 - Rahera - Scaverous - Skarre1 - Skarre2 - Skarre3 - Sturgis2 - Terminus - Venethrax
Warcaster attachments	The Withershadow Combine - Satyxis Blood Priestess - Skarlock Thrall - Doctor Stygius (Partisan) - Madelyn Corbeau (Mercenary)
Other Warjack Controllers	Jack Marshals: Iron Lich Overseer       "Junior Warcasters": Aiakos1 - Asphyxious4 - Deneghra0
Light	Cankerworm - Deathripper - Defiler - Helldiver - Nightwretch - Ripjaw - Scavenger - Shrike - Stalker
Heavy	Barathrum - Corruptor - Deathjack1 - Desecrator - Erebus - Harrower - Kharybdis - Inflictor - Leviathan - Malice - Nightmare - Reaper - Seether - Slayer
Colossal	Kraken - Sepulcher
Units, Solos, Battle Engines, & Structures
Units	Asphyxious4 - Bane Knights - Bane Riders - Bane Warriors - Bile Thralls - BO Boarding Party - BO Ironmongers - BO Smog Belchers - Blackbane's Ghost Raiders - Bloodgorgers - Marauders - Carrion Thralls - Cephalyx Drudges - Cephalyx Overlords - Mechanithralls - Necrosurgeon - Revenant Cannon - Revenant Crew - Satyxis Gunslingers - Satyxis Blood Witches - Satyxis Raiders - Scharde Dirge Seers - Scharde Pirates - Soulhunters - The Devil's Shadow Mutineers - The Withershadow Combine
Solos	Aiakos1 - Agrimony - Axiara - Bane Lord Tartarus - Bloat Thrall - BTO Mobius - Captain Rengrave - Darragh Wrathe - Doctor Stygius - Deneghra0 - Gerlak - Hellslinger - Iron Lich Overseer - Machine Wraith - Master Gurglepox - Misery Cage - Necrotech - Ol' Grim - Pistol Wraith - Satyxis Blood Priestess - Satyxis Raider Captain - Scrap Thrall - Skarlock Thrall - Severa Blacktide - Soul Trapper - Warwitch Siren
Battle Engines & Structures	Wraith Engine
Theme Forces
Black Industries - Dark Host - The Ghost Fleet - Scourge of the Broken Coast
Mercenaries
Refer to Who Works for Whom and/or Category: Cryx Mercenary
This index was last updated: 2021.11

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification : Weapon Master - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Dark Shroud      (Edit) Dark Shroud only applies to your melee range, and this doesn't include behind you. Refer to the latest errata. The ARM debuff still applies during a free strike.

Rules Clarification : Undead - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Ghostly      (Edit) Ghostly doesn't let you move through other models, just terrain. Ghostly doesn't let you ignore damage from hazardous terrain. (Infernal Ruling) Ghostly ignores Windswept terrain penalties. A model with both Flight and Ghostly will move through Windswept terrain at full speed. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Tactics vs Granted     (Edit) Granted = The unit loses the ability as soon as the model that grants it is taken off the table. (think "G for Goes away") Tactics = The unit keeps the ability for the entire game, regardless of who dies. (think "Tac-Tick = K for Keeps")   Granted [ Vengeance ] If the model granting Vengeance dies, the unit will not get any Vengeance attacks. It is "If you have Vengeance, and you were damaged last turn, you get a move+attack." It is not "If you get damaged, you get Vengeance next turn." If you lose Vengeance halfway through resolving Vengeance, then you stop resolving Vengeance immediately. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Rise      (Edit) Rise occurs before Continuous Fire/Corrosion. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Tough - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Void Bringer      (Edit) Restrictions on "Any Time" abilities     (Edit)         [Show/Hide] "Any Time" abilities can be used at any time during a model/unit's activation, except: Before any compulsory forfeiture of movement/action. See step 2 of the activation sequence, appendix A. After the model with the "Any Time" ability has had their activation end "prematurely". By this I mean you resolved something which includes the phrase "its activation ends". Examples include: Running, failing a charge, or failing a slam. Abilities that include "then its activation ends" (such as Reposition and Teleport). In between declaring your charge target and making your charge movement. (Infernal Ruling) In between completing your charge movement and determining whether it was a successful charge. (Infernal Ruling) When you're in the middle of moving. (Note: Impact Attacks count as being in the middle of movement). When you're in the middle of an attack. Which also includes effects that occur "after the attack is resolved". (Although the attack is "resolved" at Step 11, in terms of using an "Any Time" ability the attack is not "finished" until after Step 14. Refer to the first paragraph of Apdx A.) Your opponent interrupted your activation to trigger one of their own abilities (such as Countercharge). Warcasters/warlocks/etc can normally cast a spell or use their feat "At any time". However, there is a core rule saying they cannot do so on the same activation that they run. So, they are subject to all the same restrictions listed above, plus they can't cast/feat before running. Units: See below. In general you can use "Any Time" abilities while you're knocked down or stationary (except Spells and Feats which specify you can't). If you have a gun with a random ROF, you can use an "Any Time" ability inbetween rolling the number of shots and actually making the first attack. (Infernal Ruling) Units with "Any Time" abilities You cannot use an "Any Time" ability before issuing/receiving orders. See step 1 and 2 of the activation sequence, appendix A. A model in a unit can't use an "Any Time" ability after they run (Infernal Ruling) or fail a charge. Because that makes that specific model's activation to end even though the unit's activation is still ongoing, and you can't use abilities on models that are not active. You can use an "Any Time" ability before running, however. A model in a unit can't use an "Any Time" ability after anyone in the unit has begun a Reposition move. (Infernal Ruling) Return to Play - Own Unit (Edit) If you have a model that can return models to its own unit during its own activation (such as Bane Warriors or Blood-Bound) then: Models returned "at any time" (Bane Warriors) do not benefit from any orders issued to the unit. Orders need to be issued first, before using an "Any Time" ability. Orders cannot affect models not on the table. Models returned elsewhen during the activation (Blood-Bound) do not benefit from any orders issued to the unit for the same logic. (Infernal Ruling) If anyone in the unit has attacked, then the returned models can't use their Normal Movement. If no one has attacked, then they can. (Locked thread)

Rules Clarification : Standard Bearer      (Edit) If the Officer dies, the Standard Bearer can give the CMD bonus to the Leader model.

Rules Clarification : Take Up      (Edit) If you use Take Up the attacking model cannot trigger anything that needs the attacker to "Destroy" a model (such as Alpha Hunter, Killing Spree, Berserk, etc). Although the model that was attacked reached the Destroyed step of the timing sequence, Take Up negates that entirely. (Infernal Ruling)

Note to Editors To update the CA's tagged abilities, Click here