Barnabas, Lord of Blood

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Barnabas, Lord of Blood Minion Warlock Unit

There are few living things that have accomplished as much as Barnabas, Lord of Blood. Having achieved his goal of transfiguration amid gory carnage, Barnabas has risen from death as a god. Wielding the dark magic of his people, augmented by his own defiance of death, the Lord of Blood goes to battle attended by undead skeletal companions called bone shakers. Together they collect bloody sacrifices from the flesh of any who would oppose his growing cult.

Basic Info

Barnabas

Barnabas2
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Large SPD 5 STR {{{str}}} MAT 8 RAT N/A M.A. N/A DEF 13 ARM 18 CMD 10 ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS N/A FURY 7 THRS N/A HP 18 F. Field N/A WJP {{{wjp}}} WBP +23 IHP {{{ihp}}} UNIT SIZE N/A COST N/A N/A N/A FA N/A N/A Warcaster 1 BASE N/A SPD N/A STR N/A MAT N/A RAT N/A DEF N/A ARM N/A CMD N/A FOCUS N/A FURY N/A THRS N/A HP N/A WJP N/A WBP N/A UNIT SIZE N/A COST N/A FA N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

Abilities

• Minion - In a 2+ warlock game, he can work as a Circle, Legion, Skorne, or Trollbloods
• Warlock Unit - All warlocks come with a stack of standard special rules - most notably being awesome. Furthermore, this warlock comes with some grunts that can be ordered around.
• Amphibious
• Tough
• Bone Pile - When a model in Barnabus' unit destroys a living or undead enemy model with a melee attack, Barnabus gains the destroyed model’s corpse token and it is RFP'd. Barnabus can have up to three corpse tokens at any time.
• Gatorman - Barnabas is a Gatorman. The Bone Shakers are not, and the unit is not a Gatorman unit.
• Gatorman Warlock - This model can only have Minion Gatorman Warbeasts in its battlegroup.
• Meat-Fueled - This model gains +1 STR for each corpse token on it.
• Sacrificial Pawn [Bone Shaker] - When this model is directly hit by an enemy ranged attack, you can have one friendly, non-incorporeal Bone Shaker model within 3" of it hit instead. That model is automatically hit and suffers all damage and effects.
• Steady - This model cannot become knocked down.
• Tide of Skulls - During the Control Phase Barnabus can spend corpse tokens to add to play Bone Shaker models to his unit, on a one-for-one basis. Added models must be placed in formation and within 3˝ of another model in its unit and must forfeit their Combat Action the turn they are put into play. There cannot be more than three Bone Shaker models in his unit in play at any time.

Weapons

• Axe - 2" reach, P+S 15 melee weapon
  • Damage Type: Magical
• Bite - 0.5" reach, P+S 14
  • Grievous Wounds - A model hit by this weapon loses Tough and cannot have damage removed from it for one round.

Spells

	COST	RNG	AOE	POW	DUR	OFF
Blood Rain	3	8	3	12 (Corrode)	-	Yes
Blood rain causes corrosion damage. Models hit suffer the Corrosion continuous effect.
Execration of Blackest Night	2	SELF	Command	-	Round	-
While in the spellcaster's command range, enemy models suffer –2 to their attack rolls. Execration of Blackest Night lasts for one round.
Hunter's Mark	2	10	-	-	Turn	Yes
Friendly models can charge or make a slam power attack against target enemy model hit by Hunter's Mark without being forced or spending focus. A friendly model charging an enemy model hit by Hunter's Mark gain +2" of movement. Hunter's Mark lasts for one turn.
Onslaught	2	SELF	Control	-	Upkeep	-
The spellcaster and friendly Faction models beginning their activations in its control range gain Relentless Charge for one turn. Relentless Charge - While advancing as part of a charge, this model gains Pathfinder.
Rebuke	2	10	-	-	Upkeep	Yes
Target model/unit cannot give orders, receive orders, make power attacks, or make power attacks or special attacks.

Feat: Death Ritual

Immediately RFP one or more friendly living or undead models currently in Barnabas' control range. For each model removed, Barnabas can either gain 1 corpse token, 1 fury point, or remove d3 damage points from a battlegroup model. He cannot exceed his FURY as a result.

Bone Shakers

Barnabas starts the game with 3 Bone Shakers in his unit.

Bone Shakers
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Small SPD 5 STR {{{str}}} MAT 6 RAT N/A M.A. N/A DEF 13 ARM 14 CMD N/A ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS N/A FURY N/A THRS N/A HP 1 F. Field N/A WJP {{{wjp}}} WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} UNIT SIZE N/A COST N/A N/A N/A FA N/A N/A Warcaster 1 BASE N/A SPD N/A STR N/A MAT N/A RAT N/A DEF N/A ARM N/A CMD N/A FOCUS N/A FURY N/A THRS N/A HP N/A WJP N/A WBP N/A UNIT SIZE N/A COST N/A FA N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

Abilities

• Amphibious
• Undead
• Dark Shroud - While in this model's melee range, enemy models suffer -2 ARM.

Weapons

• Bone Strike - 1" reach, P+S 10 melee weapon
  • Damage Type: Magical

Theme Forces

• The Blindwater Congregation
• Will Work for Food

Thoughts on Barnabas2

Barnabas, Lord of Blood in a nutshell

Barnabas is a tough front line warlock who protects his troops with Execration, buffs damage via his Bone Shakers, increases threat ranges via Hunter's Mark, and hands out Pathfinder via Onslaught. Oh, and hits brutally hard - P+S20 if fully loaded and counting the Dark Shroud bonus.

Line of Sight article : Barnabas, Lord of Blood Tactica with Bret (2018.08) One of the first players to put Minions on the map competitively, Bret goes over his thoughts on list building and playstyle for Barnabas in this article.

Feat thoughts

Feat gives him an ultra-turn as long as he has enough cannon fodder to waste to power himself up. That's "Kill a Gargantuan and still have full corpses and enough spare Fury to camp" level turn.

Spell thoughts

• Onslaught is a cast once and upkeep throughout the game. It's basically Pathfinder for melee troops and well worth the Fury cost.
• Execration of Blackest Night is probably his signature spell. If Barnabas plays forward he effectively gives his whole army a 2 point DEF buff (that isn't affected by Blessed). The only good reasons to not cast this spell are that it's your first turn or you are trying to end the game on your turn (e.g. via assassination).
• Hunter's Mark is a useful threat extender and will probably be the main spell cast by the Soul Slave.
• Rebuke is a nice debuff that allows you to prevent infantry from charging.
• Blood Rain is your zap. It isn't especially good.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Large based target will draw incoming fire.
• Any shooters with a >10" range are going to target Barnabas without worrying about Execration. And he only has DEF 13. Your only protection is sacrificial pawn onto the Bone Shakers.

Tricks & Tips

• Barnabas has a 12" threat range (10" if he doesn't use Hunter's Mark) and hits at MAT 8 P+S 15-20. Any caster he gets the drop on is likely to die.
• Remember, Barnabas has to be the closest eligible model to collect the corpse. Don't go sending your Bone Shakers off to attack models near an enemy Necrosurgeon or somesuch.

List Building Advice

Strategy

Barnabas is an attrition caster who also wins scenarios by bullying the enemy out of the zones.

Barnabas requires cheap infantry for his feat and corpse tokens for his bone pile.

Execration of the Blackest Night stacks with just about any defensive buff you care to name. This means that Barnabas loves anyone who hands out more DEF buffs or otherwise make his models harder to hit.

And otherwise Barnabas likes hard hitting melee models with a decent DEF to synergise with Dark Shroud.

Theme thoughts

    The Blindwater Congregation    

He'll spend most of his time in this theme.

• Gatorman Bokor & Bog Trog Swamp Shamblers are as cheap a unit of infantry as you get and are self-replenishing. It's hard to think of a better unit for your feat - but these guys can clash with the Cauldron.
• A cheap option for his feat are five Void Leeches.
• Gatorman Posse are already DEF 12 with easy access to concealment and P+S 13, able to take advantage of Dark Shroud
• See also the suggestions in the "either theme" heading, below.

    Will Work for Food    

He can get some huge returns in this theme. Specifically, access to Farrow Valkyries for additional shooting protection.

• Another cheap options per model are the Farrow Bone Grinders.
• Dahlia Hallyr & Skarath are already high DEF before Execration.

    Either theme    

• The Boil Master & Spirit Cauldron is almost necessary to feed corpses to Barnabas. This should probably be your first pick every time you play him.
• Wrong Eye & Snapjaw provides Star Crossed making Barnabas' army that much harder to hit within 8" of Wrong Eye.
• Totem Hunter is DEF 14 - and you can get one free in the Blindwater Congregation.
• Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew provides clouds - which means concealment for more DEF on top of Execration. They're also cheap models for his feat.
• Bog Trog Mist Speaker - Summon Vortex is more clouds, and Guidance is excellent. As for that matter is raising the Shamblers to MAT 6.

Battlegroup

• The Boneswarm has an animus that both provides Concealment and a DEF debuff, leading to an effective DEF of 17 for Barnabas or the Boneswarm.
• The Dracodile provides shallow water - and thus concealment and hence makes other models harder to hit.
• Bull Snapper has an ARM buff animus that will allow Barnabas to reach ARM 20. It also can give Barnabas three fury single handedly if you sacrifice it to his feat.
• Blackhide Wrastler is of course excellent. And between Rage and Dark Shroud you can turn light warbeasts into effective beasts for breaking over heavies.

First Seven Purchases

A few veteran players have put their heads together and tried to figure out the seven best things to buy for this specific caster. This is not designed to add up to a nice round points limit, nor be balanced vs other "First Seven" lists you find on this website. It is simply going to give you some of the essentials this caster needs most of the time.

1. Warbeast: Blackhide Wrastler
2. Warbeast: Bone Swarm
3. Warbeast: Bull Snapper
4. Solo + Warbeast: Wrong Eye & Snapjaw
5. Unit: Boil Master & Spirit Cauldron
6. Unit: Farrow Valkyries
7. Unit: Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew

Other

Trivia

Released in the Blindwater expansion (2017.09)

What warbeasts can he take?

With the way Minion battlegroups work, this warlock can't simply take any Minion warbeast, and instead is limited to the following choices:

Gatorman Warbeasts Edit)
Lights	Boneswarm - Bull Snapper - [Underchief Mire only: Swamp Troll]
Heavies	Blackhide Wrastler - Blind Walker - Ironback Spitter - Swamp Horror
Gargantuans	Dracodile

Video Battle Reports

• 2019.11 Arcane Assist, vs Wanderer1
• 2019.08 Desperate Pace, vs Kallus2
• 2019.07 Tiny Men, vs Abyslonia2
• 2019.01 Arcane Assist, vs High Reclaimer1
• 2018.07 Arcane Assist, vs Macbain1
• 2018.05 Not Snakes Gaming, vs Skarre3
• See also Category: Video Battle Reports for more casters with videos.

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification : Feat : Death Ritual Barnabas can reave fury from warbeasts that are RFP'd. (Locked thread)

Rules Clarification : Undead - 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:  : Magical Damage      (Edit) (Click Expand to read)

* The "Damage Type: Magical" is not inherited by "secondary" damage from a weapon. That is, stuff like arcs (Electro Leap) or hazards (Scather). (Infernal Ruling) All spells have "Damage Type: Magical" (refer errata). This is inherited by "immediate" secondary damage (such as Eruption of Spines). (Infernal Ruling) and might be inherited by "lingering" secondary damage (see below). If a spell leaves a template in play that does damage to models that walk around in it, then: if it is not described as a hazard it will do magical damage to models that walk around in it. (Example: Razor Wall) if it is a hazard then it will not do magical damage to models that walk around in it. Instead, it does whatever damage type is specified by the spell description. (Example: Breath of Corruption). (Infernal Ruling) If a weapon/spell includes Magic Damage and another kind of elemental damage it will still damage Incorporeal models. Incorporeal models are not affected by the rule "if an attack does multiple types of damage and a model is immune to at least one it is immune to the entire attack." The phrase "immune to non-magical damage" should be interpreted as "immune to damage that doesn't include Damage Type: Magical" (not interpreted as "has immunity to Corrosion and Electricity and Cold and etc.")

Rules Clarification : Grievous Wounds      (Edit) GW prevents "repairs" as well as "heals". It does not stop a warlock transferring damage, or stop the wounded model from being able to 'heal' someone else. Does not affect models with the Massive rule.

Rules Clarification:  : Warcaster Unit or Warlock Unit     (Edit) (Click Expand to read)

This summary is specific to Warcaster/Warlock units. You may also want to check the Warcaster and Warlock pages respectively, for the "regular" rules clarifications. All models in the unit count as part of the battlegroup. So, for instance, Butcher3's argus can be moved via his Energizer spell. Warcaster units can have attachments. They can even attach units (such as the WSC). (Infernal Ruling) The non-caster models are trooper models but are (normally) not Grunt models. Therefore they're not eligible for stuff like Revive. Press Forward Order vs Casting Spells If you're giving an order, it must be done first, before casting any spells or using your feat. If you issue the Press Forward order and your caster does not have LOS to any enemy models, then they cannot declare a charge and instead must run, so therefore can't cast spells. But between the fact that models declare charges one at a time, and spells being an Any Time ability, it actually becomes a bit convoluted. The scenarios are essentially: (A) "issue Press Forward order ► I want to cast a spell ► can I declare a charge ► if no, I must run & I can't cast spells." (B) "issue Press Forward order ► I want to cast a spell ► can I declare a charge ► if yes, I can cast it. ► After casting the spell, do I still have a valid charge target ► if yes, rinse and repeat." (C) "issue Press Forward order ► I want to cast a spell ► can I declare a charge ► if yes, I can cast it. ► After casting the spell, do I still have a valid charge target ► if no, I must now forfeit both my Normal Movement and Combat Action." Refer to (Infernal Ruling) and (Infernal Ruling). However note that as of 29th May 2019 it is getting reviewed (Infernal Checking) Note that, in the above scenarios, the "I want to cast a spell" step is a Any Time ability. So although you may not be able to declare a charge right "now", you could for instance move one of the troopers in the unit to open up LOS. Unfortunately if you have no valid charge targets you cannot cast a spell, even if resolving the spell would give you a valid charge target (such as Energizer or Mage Sight). Steamroller 2018 The non-caster models can contest scenario zones & flags. The caster model cannot contest. The caster model can control zones and flags by itself, but: to control a zone, the entire unit remaining in play needs to be in formation. to control a flag, the entire unit remaining in play must be within 4" of the flag. Units Buying Attacks (Edit) If you make attacks with model [A], then start making attacks with model [B], you cannot 'go back' and buy more attacks with [A]. Because: A model can only buy additional attacks during its Combat Action. A model in a unit must complete its Combat Action before the next model starts theirs (with some exceptions, like CMA).

Rules Clarification : Amphibious - None yet. (Edit)
Rules Clarification : Tough - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Bone Picker and/or Bone Pile     (Edit) This model only gets the corpse if it's the closest eligible model. Bone Picker doesn't have the "regardless of proximity of other models" wording like Dark Fire does. This will hardly ever come up, considering the short range of most melee weapons. It'll come up slightly more often for Barnabus2. RFP on Destroyed (Edit) Corpse/Soul generation and collection isn't an ability that you trigger, it just happens the instant a model is destroyed. As such, if an attack RFPs the target on destroyed (such as Bone Picker), it will not stop corpse/souls. (Infernal Ruling) In saying that though, Golab's Carrion Feast ability messes everything up. You can read more about that weird rule interaction here.

Rules Clarification : Gatorman Warlock and/or Bog Trog Warlock - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Meat-Fueled      (Edit) If you simultaneously attack multiple models (such as a Kraken doing a Power Sweep) you won't get their corpses until it's too late to help with that attack. The wording at Step 10 the Timing Appendix, "Apply all damage one model at a time", makes it sound like you get the corpse token first and thus will do extra damage to the next model, but this isn't the case. Because the damage roll and STR buff is worked out at Step 9.

Rules Clarification:  : Sacrificial Pawn and/or Sucker! and/or Grim Salvation     (Edit) (Click Expand to read)

Differences Sacrificial Pawn is optional. Grim Salvation and Sucker are not optional. Grim Salvation only works vs basic attacks, not special attacks, power attacks, chain attacks. Spells are not basic attacks, because they are not "made with a weapon". (Infernal Ruling) CRA and CMA are basic attacks. (Infernal Ruling) If a Special Attack generates an additional attack (such as Multi-Fire), the second attack will be basic and as such can have Grim Salvation used vs it. (Infernal Ruling) Sacrificial Pawn & Sucker! don't work against melee attacks. None of them work vs magic attacks (spells). All of them work against Magical Ranged attacks, though. The model the attack is transferred to is always hit, even if they have an ability that makes them automatically get missed (such as Stealth). Automatically missing is determined earlier in the timing sequence than when the attack is moved. (Infernal Ruling) From here down, the terms Sacrificial Pawn, Grim Salvation, and Sucker! are interchangeable Using Sac Pawn moves all damage and effects onto the other model. Including stuff that triggers "on hit" (such as Blind) (even though the Pawn kinda wasn't "hit"). (Infernal Ruling) Because the other model counts as the one "hit", it can break a Chain Attack. (Infernal Ruling) The new model hit may use any abilities that trigger on being hit/damaged by an enemy attack (such as Vengeance and Shock Field). Sprays and AOEs With reference to the timing chart in Appendix A: placing a spray template down occurs at Step 3. Using Sacrificial Pawn occurs at step 6. Placing an AOE template down occurs at step 7. Therefore if you use Sac Pawn vs a spray, the placement of the spray template does not change. If you use Sac Pawn vs an AOE, the placement of the AOE template does change. A model indirectly hit by an AOE attack cannot use Sac Pawn vs it. Since a spray template doesn't move, it may cause the Pawn to be hit twice by the same spray. So you then resolve two damage rolls against it. When/if you shift an AOE template, the original target may be clipped by the edge of the AOE anyway (depending on how far apart the original target and Pawn are). Sacrificial Pawn multiple times If a model with the Sacrificial Pawn ability passes it to another model that also has Sacrificial Pawn ability, that second model may pass it along to a third model. Models can only use Sac Pawn once each, you cannot set up an infinite loop! Quick Draw vs Sacrificial Pawn (Edit) If enemy "Model A" shoots you, and then you use Quick Draw against "Model A", but they use Sac Pawn to move your Quick Draw attack to "Model B" then ... Quick Draw has no effect (or rather, it affects "Model B" who isn't currently shooting you so is irrelevant). Point is, "Model A" can continue shooting you. This won't happen with Shield Guard though (outside of a very low-probability scenario) because Shield Guard can only be triggered during an enemy turn.

Rules Clarification : Steady      (Edit) Steady models are still susceptible to other effects of knock-down attacks (if there are any). For example, a steady model hit with a Head butt won't be knocked down but will take damage. A knocked down model that gains Steady will remain knocked down, because the "cannot be knocked down" is not retroactively applied.

Rules Clarification : Tide of Skulls - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Blood Rain      (Edit) Damage Type (Edit) This spell does elemental damage in addition to magical damage, not instead of magical damage. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Execration of Blackest Night - None yet. (Edit)
Rules Clarification : Hunter's Mark - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Onslaught      (Edit) Rules Clarification : Relentless Charge      (Edit) Pathfinder (Edit) - Pathfinder does not apply to involuntary movement (pushes & slams). (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Rebuke - None yet. (Edit)