Goreshade the Bastard & Deathwalker
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Goreshade the Bastard |
During the rare moments Goreshade is not in study or slaughter he stares into the empty night remembering a time when he was positioned to seize control of an entire nation and not just another general in the legions of the Dragonfather.
Basic Info[edit]
The Bastard's unit consists of Goreshade1 (officer) and one Deathwalker (character trooper).
Goreshade[edit]
Goreshade1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Abilities[edit]
- Warcaster Unit - All warcasters come with a stack of standard special rules - most notably being awesome. Furthermore, this warcaster comes with some troopers that can be ordered around. (Click the link for a full rundown.)
- Officer - This model is the unit commander even if the unit has a Leader model.
- Undead - This model is an undead model and not a living model.
Weapons[edit]
- Bloodcleaver – 2" reach, P+S 14 melee weapon
- Deathwalk - If Goreshade boxes a living enemy warrior and Deathwalker isn't in play, you can RFP the enemy and add to play Deathwalker.
- Damage Type: Magical - This weapon deals Magical damage.
Spells[edit]
- Bleed - Cost 2, 8" range, POW 10
- When Bleed damages a living enemy model, this model can remove d3 damage points.
- Hex Blast - Cost 3, 10" range, 3" AOE, POW 13
- On a direct hit, enemy upkeeps and animi on the target expire.
- Lamentation - Cost 3, Target SELF, Upkeep
- When an enemy model casts a spell while in the caster's control range, double the COST of the spell. Additionally, enemy models must pay double to upkeep spells on models/units in the caster's control range.
- Shadowmancer - Cost 3
- While in Goreshade's CMD range, models in his battlegroup gain Stealth and Dark Shroud. Shadowmancer lasts for one round. (Dark Shroud - While in this model's melee range, enemy models suffer -2 ARM.)
- Soulgate - Cost 3
- RFP a friendly trooper in Goreshade's CTRL range and replace it with target warjack in Goreshade's battlegroup & CTRL range. The warjack cannot activate after being Gated.
Feat - Dark Summons[edit]
Add to play one unit of Bane Warriors (one Leader and five Grunts). Place each model completely within 3" of Goreshade.
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Tip ! |
Deathwalker[edit]
Deathwalker | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Abilities[edit]
- Undead - This model is an undead model and not a living model.
- Breath Taker - Living enemy models suffer -2 STR and -2 DEF while in this model's CMD range.
- Dark Restoration – If Goreshade is killed while within the CMD range of this model, Goreshade heals 1 point of damage and the Deathwalker is destroyed.
- 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.
Weapons[edit]
- Unarmed - This model has no weapons.
Theme Forces[edit]
- Black Industries
- Dark Host
- The Ghost Fleet
- Infernal Machines
- Scourge of the Broken Coast
- Slaughter Fleet Raiders
Thoughts on Goreshade1[edit]
Goreshade1 in a Nutshell[edit]
Goreshade1 is a middling battlegroup caster who brings a bit of a Stealth skew and anti-spell tech to the table. He lacks the focus efficiency to run a really large battlegroup (unless you spam something focus efficient, like Seethers).
Also, his buffs and debuffs are all tied to himself or Deathwalker (who has to be nearby) meaning he has to play fairly forward to apply them, which can leave him exposed to danger.
Feat thoughts[edit]
Pop his feat to get a small unit of Bane Warriors within charging range of something important (like the enemy caster) and combine the Dark Shroud and Breath Taker debuffs. Dark Summons is powerful in low-point games.
Don't get carried away with the Banes - remember to finish all your business with Goreshade after putting the Names on the table, because if you start moving them then you've stopped his activation!
Spell thoughts[edit]
- Bleed is a simple nuke, with a situationally useful heal tacked on.
- Lamentation makes it hard for your opponent to buff his own troops (or debuff yours), and Hex Blast will let you get rid of the upkeeps he does manage to cast.
- Using Hex Blast to get rid of debuffs on your troops is a good excuse to take a Skarlock Thrall or the Withershadow Combine.
- If you can catch the enemy caster in Lamentation your opponent will think long and hard about what spells to cast. Often they'll cast less, camp more, making it harder to assassinate them; so it can work against you.
- When it comes to Lamentation vs upkeeps, note that is the model(s) the upkeep is on, not the original caster, that Goreshade needs to catch. So that is a lot easier to achieve.
- Lamentation should be cast first turn and upkept all game.
- Soul Gate is normally used to yo-yo a high-value Jack (such as Deathjack). Send the jack in, beat face, then cast Soul Gate to bring it back to safety.
- It can also be used for manoevering; beat face on the left flank then teleport to the right flank, ready for next turn.
Or take it one step further in the themes Infernal Machines or Scourge, and use your Ambushers to get a jack right into the backlines. - You can even rescue a damaged warjack that (somehow) survived an enemy attack by teleporting it to a Necrotech or Ironmongers.
- Incorporeal models are also a great option for using with soul gate, as they can get into the backlines then let you teleport a warjack there.
- It can also be used for manoevering; beat face on the left flank then teleport to the right flank, ready for next turn.
- Shadowmancer has a hefty casting cost but it easily pays off as Stealth protects you on the approach, and Dark Shroud makes not just your jacks hit harder, but nearby infantry that attack the same target will benefit too.
- Warjacks with 2" reach can spread the Dark Shroud further, while jacks with Drag can pull more enemies into Goreshade's CMD range.
- Note that the spell affects Goreshade, his warjacks, and the Deathwalker.
- You'll cast Shadowmancer most turns, in the early game for the Stealth benefit and in the mid/late game for the damage increase.
Drawbacks & Downsides[edit]
- His spells are expensive, and only one can be upkept from turn to turn. He doesn't have enough focus to do everything at once.
- Between casting too many spells, and playing a bit forward so they're more effective, he leaves himself open to assassination.
- With so much anti-magic tech in one package, your opponents will simply pick a caster that never (or hardly ever) casts spells. That will render half your tech pointless.
- He is susceptible to anti-Stealth tech.
Tricks & Tips[edit]
- When you respawn Deathwalker it is an "add to play" effect, not a "return to play" effect.
- Remember they're a unit, and Deathwalker is not a solo. (She was a solo in previous editions of the game)
List Building Advice[edit]
Strategy[edit]
Goreshade likes to bully his way up the middle of the table, casting Shadowmancer to keep himself and his jacks safe and casting Lamentation to make his opponent's life miserable.
As battlelines close, he will pop feat and use the free Banes to take something nasty down.
He likes focus-efficiency support like Warwitch Sirens and Misery Cages. He also likes accuracy buffs and/or inherently accurate troops.
Theme Thoughts[edit]
Scourge of the Broken Coast
Not a bad theme for Goreshade1, although he certainly isn't the best caster for that theme. He has a damage buff which the girls like.
- Blood Witches have stealth and so double down on the Stealth skew. They also ambush which can give you Soul Gate shenanigans.
- Satyxis Raider Captains have auto-knockdown which can fix accuracy.
- The theme has access to Misery Cage and Satyxis Blood Priestess for arcane support, and Ironmongers for warjack support.
- The Priestess also gives Sucker! for any anti-stealth guns that might be out there.
Slaughter Fleet Raiders
Similar to Scourge, this is another theme Goreshade does ok in, that appreciates his ARM debuff, but which he probably isn't the strongest caster for.
- You have access to the Cage, Priestess, and Ironmongers mentioned above.
- The Gang Fighter bonus stacks nicely with Shadowmancer, your jacks will hit really hard.
- You can double down on the Stealth skew by having Axiara hand out Prowl to some Marauders
Dark Host
What's better than an army of Banes? An army of Banes led by a caster who summons more Banes, of course.
- Darragh Wrathe's Mortal Fear stacks with Breath Taker, or use his Death Ride ability to speed Goreshade up.
Battlegroup[edit]
- Seethers are good with Goreshade. They are focus efficient, appreciate the Stealth (since they're only DEF 12) and can countercharge anyone who tries to get close enough to target stealth models.
- Inflictor can Sheild Guard any guns that ignore stealth.
- Reaper are a decent warjack to pull enemy models and so give Goreshade an indirect threat extension which he is otherwise lacking.
- Special mention to the character Reaper, Malice, although she is only available in two themes; Black Industries or the bad theme we don't talk about.
Mercs[edit]
- Gorman can debuff a construct's ARM, letting you really crank damage up.
Other[edit]
Trivia[edit]
- Originally released in Warmachine: Escalation (2004)
- Sculptor (2004 original): Kev Whit
Other Cryx models[edit]
Video Battle Reports[edit]
- 2018.07 Not Snakes Gaming 75 points vs Jalaam
- See also Category: Video Battle Reports for more casters with videos.
Rules Clarifications[edit]
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Rules Clarification : Deathwalk (Edit)
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Rules Clarification: : Magical Damage (Edit) |
* 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)
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Rules Clarification : Warcaster Unit or Warlock Unit (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Officer (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Undead - None yet. (Edit)
Rules Clarification : Bleed - None yet. (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Hex Blast (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Lamentation (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Shadowmancer (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Soulgate (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Unarmed (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Breath Taker - None yet. (Edit)
Rules Clarification : Dark Restoration - None yet. (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Ghostly (Edit)
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Note to Editors |