High Exemplar Cyrenia
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High Exemplar Cyrenia |
High Exemplar Cyrenia is a cunning battlefield commander and skilled swordswoman who rouses her fellow Exemplar to feats of excellence. A luminary member of the Exemplar Order, she excels in defensive tactical strategies, coordinating the efforts of the knights under her command while inspiring them with the depth of her personal faith. Because of her diligence and peerless conviction to her duties, some whisper that she fights as if Menoth’s eyes were upon her.
Basic Info
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Abilities
- Warcaster - All warcasters come with a stack of standard special rules - most notably being awesome. (Click the link for a full rundown.)
- Battle Plan - This model can use one of the following plans at any time during its activation. A friendly Faction model/unit can be affected by only one plan each turn.
- Desperate Mission - RNG 5. Target friendly living Exemplar model gains Last Word for one round. (Last Word - When this model is disabled by an enemy attack, except while advancing (free strikes), then he can immediately advance up to 3" ignoring free strikes then make a basic melee attack.)
- Heroic Call - RNG 5. Target friendly living Exemplar warrior model/unit. If the model/unit is in range, it gains Tough. Models are not affected while out of formation. Heroic Call lasts for one round.
- Special Orders - RNG 5". Target friendly living Exemplar model/unit. If the model/unit is in range, it gains Reposition [3"] for one turn. (Reposition [3"] - At the end of an activation in which it did not run or fail a charge, this model can advance up to 3", then its activation ends.)
- Righteous Vengeance - If one or more friendly Faction warrior models were destroyed or removed from play by enemy attacks while within 5" of this model during the last round, during your Maintenance Phase this model can advance up to 3" and make one basic melee attack.
Weapons
- Relic Blade - 1" reach, P+S 11 melee attack.
Spells
COST | RNG | AOE | POW | DUR | OFF |
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Dash
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2 | SELF | - | - | Turn | - | |
The spellcaster and friendly Faction warrior models activating in its control range gain +1 SPD. While in the spellcaster's control range, friendly Faction warrior models gain Parry. Dash lasts for one turn. | |||||||
Hex Blast
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3 | 10 | 3 | 13 | - | Yes | |
Enemy upkeep spells and animi on the model/unit directly hit by Hex Blast immediately expire. | |||||||
Inviolable Resolve
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2 | 6 | - | - | Upkeep | - | |
Friendly Faction model/unit gains +2 ARM and they cannot be moved by a push or slam. Doesn't work while out of formation. | |||||||
Positive Charge
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2 | 6 | - | - | Turn | - | |
Target friendly Faction warjack gains +2 to melee attack and melee damage rolls. Also, while within 3" of the warjack, friendly Faction models gain the same bonus. Lasts for one turn. | |||||||
Rock Wall
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2 | Control | - | - | Upkeep | - | |
Place a wall template completely within the caster's control range that isn't contacting anything else. The wall is an obstacle that provides cover. |
Feat : Vigilance of the Faithful
This feat has 2 effects:
- While in Cyrenia’s control range, friendly Protectorate models gain +2 DEF.
- When one or more friendly Protectorate models are destroyed or RFP'd by an enemy attack while in Cyrenia’s control range at any time except while advancing, immediately after the attack is resolved one friendly Protectorate model in Cyrenia’s CTRL range can can advance up to 3˝.
- A model can only move once per turn as a result of Vigilance of the Faithful.
Vigilance of the Faithful lasts for one round.
Theme Forces
- The Creator's Might. She can start the game with upkeep in play, and upkeep them for free in turn 1, in this theme.
- Exemplar Interdiction
- The Faithful Masses
- Guardians of the Temple
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Warriors of the Old Faith
Thoughts on High Exemplar Cyrenia
High Exemplar Cyrenia in a nutshell
Cyrenia's kit is devoted to making up for the shortcomings of Exemplars (speed, defensive) while increasing their offensive potential. Her feat, Battle Plans, and Dash makes her army fast and slippery, while her feat, Rock Wall, and Inviolable Resolve can allow them to hold out a bit longer. Positive Charge is an excellent force multiplier for warjacks and warrior models alike. While she isn't the most powerful warcaster in the game, or even in the faction, she's still an Exemplar and shouldn't be underestimated when it comes down to fight (although be careful not to overestimate her offensive potential or durability either).
Although designed with Exemplar Interdiction in mind (her Battle Plans only affect Exemplars), infantry of all stripes can appreciate her spells and feat.
Spell Thoughts
- Besides the obvious defensive benefits of a wall, Rock Wall can be used to restrict the movement of your opponent's models. It will stop charges from models without Pathfinder, and a properly placed wall can prevent a Huge-based model from getting into your models, especially when combined with existing obstructions.
- Dash allows your army to walk out of combat. You can use it to bypass jamming models, avoid free strikes, or walk into the back arcs of enemies if you have enough movement for the juicy backstrike bonus.
- Positive Charge is great on warjacks that can move after they've completed their movement, such as the Dervish with Side Step or the Purifier with Overtake. It really lets you dig deep, allowing your warjack to destroy one model and repositioning into a different area to help other models out with its buff.
- Inviolable Resolve is a nice ARM bonus for a model/unit that can counteract some control effects. It's best used on already tough models like Exemplar Cinerators or a warjack with a shield like the Indictor to make them even more difficult to remove.
- Hex Blast is a costly AOE nuke that can remove enemy upkeeps. Although you won't use it every game, it's the spell you'll reach for when you need to remove Arcane Shield off an enemy model or a debuff like Crippling Grasp on your own troops.
Feat Thoughts
The timing of using feat can be tricky. You typically want to use it so when your opponent destroys models in the vanguard of your army you can move other models into a position to counter-attack the next turn.
The DEF buff provided by her feat, although not impressive, stacks with benefits such as Concealment or Cover; combining it with Rock Wall can let some of your models reach high levels both in melee and against shooting.
Drawbacks & Downsides
- Cyrenia doesn't speed up her warjacks, making it easy for the rest of her army to leave them behind.
- She can end up camping low due to how many spells she wants to get out every turn; although she has good defensive stats for a Protectorate warcaster, it might be a good idea to take a Shield Guard or two.
Tricks & Tips
- Cyrenia can use her Battle Plans on herself. Although you'll probably be using Special Orders on her most of the time, Heroic Call can (theoretically) save her once.
- Rock Wall is easily the most versatile spell on her card. Learn to position it so you can block off enemies from zones or reaching your own models.
List Building Advice
Strategy
Cyrenia specializes in getting the vanguard of her army up in the opponent's face to cause problems for the enemy, and then bringing the rest of her forces in to smash them via her feat and backed up by warjacks with Positive Charge on them. Although her army won't be as fast as Vindictus', it's more maneuverable due to Dash and her feat, hits harder, and she can personally deal with enemy upkeeps via Hex Blast. Her warjacks mainly play a supporting role, buffing her army through Positive Charge and providing a good mid-to-late game punch to deal with anything her infantry hasn't destroyed.
Cyrenia often favors a forward element to her army; she feats, rushes them into the enemy's face, and forces the opponent to destroy them, using her feat to move the slower portions of her army up the board.
Theme Thoughts
Exemplar Interdiction
As an Exemplar and infantry-focused warcaster, Cyrenia is a natural fit for Exemplar Interdiction.
- Exemplar Cinerators - Cyrenia speeds them up with Dash and her Special Orders battle plan. Rock Wall gives them a respectable defense against shooting, while Positive Charge makes them hit as hard as Bastions. Inviolable Resolve is a nice ARM buff for them as well.
- Exemplar Vengers - Dash lets them simply walk out of combat, useful in case they get jammed. Inviolable Resolve also helps them weather shooting and light melee, making them base ARM 20 before Battle Driven kicks in. With Positive Charge, their swords are hitting at POW 12 with three dice, POW 14 if they've been damaged, so jamming them up with durable models can be a difficult proposition. They can also sit behind her wall for DEF18 against shooting.
- Knights Exemplar - Positive Charge makes them monsters when combined with Battle Driven, letting them hit at MAT 9 POW 15 Weapon Masters. Cyrenia's feat and Rock Wall can also help them get up the field. They obviously like Tough but Reposition when combined with cleave can allow them to cut deep to stay engaged even after finishing their attacks.
- Scrutator Potentate Severius - Everyone appreciates a +1/+1 to their offensive stats, and Severius' warjack is a great Positive Charge target due to its extra movement from Road to War.
- Exemplar Errants fill the role of a forward element. Additionally, Special Orders allows them to move up, shoot, and back away. Heroic Call makes them Tough; combined with Gravus' no-Knockdown bubble and Inviolable Resolve, you have a (somewhat) durable screening unit. Often being the frontline element of the army and the first to get engaged, Dash has a lot of uses for them. Not only does it extend their charge by one inch and their engagement run by two, but they can then use Parry to get out of the way of your counter charges, or move over to engage the enemy's second line and/or back strike his front line, which also makes quick work much more effective. While this trick can be used with any unit, Errants are the most obvious candidate because of their role and abilities (advanced deploy with pathfinder) and can still be made relatively durable (during feat turn they can be bumped to DEF14 ARM18 with no-knock-down-Tough, and can even be Unyielding and untargetable by magic)
The Faithful Masses
Cyrenia's feat is slightly more useful in Faithful Masses than Exemplar Interdiction due to the higher base DEF of many of the models. Stacking Positive Charge atop the Hand of Vengeance bonus from the theme can turn any heavy warjack into a wrecking ball.
- The various Paladin solos - Paladin of the Order of the Wall, Champion of the Order of the Wall, High Paladin Dartan Vilmon - can all make use of Cyernia's feat to bring them to a respectable DEF 15. Positive Charge also helps up their damage output.
- Allegiant of the Order of the Fist - Shifting Sand Stance + feat makes him nigh unassailable for enemy attacks.
- Initiates of the Order of the Wall are three Shield Guards that can't be knocked down, pushed, or placed while base to base with one another, and are ARM 21 while doing so and all of them are alive. Inviolable Resolve makes one unit ARM 23, and Positive Charge gives them a respectable offense.
Guardians of the Temple
Like Faithful Masses, Cyrenia's feat is most likely more useful here than Exemplar Interdiction due to the model's higher base DEF. As her spell list is a general force multiplier for infantry, it works just as well for Flameguard as it does any other infantry model.
- Temple Flameguard - Cheap chaff unit that appreciates Dash, Positive Charge, and Rock Wall. Under her feat they become especially obnoxious to dislodge.
- Daughters of the Flame - Fast AD/Ambushing troops that get even faster with Dash. Although they won't hit hard even with Positive Charge, they become a pain to get rid of under her feat.
- Flame Bringers - Increased threat range with Dash and better accuracy/damage output with Positive Charge. Her feat can also help keep them alive.
Support Models - Various themes
- Choir of Menoth - The basic yet versatile warjack support for Menoth. Take at least one.
- The Vassal of Menoth helps her overcome her low FOCUS score, while a Vassal Mechanik can help keep your warjacks running.
- Hierophant - Helps Cyrenia in casting and recasting her spells, as well as providing better range for Positive Charge. Taking a Hierophant should be the first thing you do when making a list for her. Cyrenia has a lot of spells she wants to cast, and Harmonious Exaltation helps her get them all out while allowing her to camp on some Focus. Spiritual Conduit might not seem like a big deal, but the added RNG to her spells helps her spread the buffs around without having to take a costly Arc Node.
- Wrack - Cyrenia needs every bit of help she can get when it comes to her low FOCUS score. Take one or two.
Mercenaries
- Rhupert or Saxon can hand out Pathfinder, which is one thing Cyrenia doesn't do for her army. Take one if you're worried about terrain bogging your infantry up. While Saxon can be used to better hold flags, Rhupert can also provide you with a second source of Tough or extra defense for units that are currently not behind a rock wall.
- The Menite Archon, already a durable and powerful melee solo, becomes an holy terror under Cyrenia. With its native Ashen Veil, her feat and/or Rock Wall can bring its DEF up to obnoxious levels, while it benefits greatly from Dash, Positive Charge, and Inviolable Resolve. Being a warrior model, it can benefit from her feat, and combined with Righteous Fury gives it a massive non-linear threat range.
Battlegroup
For the Battlegroup, Cyrenia likes to be able to spread Positive Charge around after she casts it on a warjack, so those who can move after their movement are great for her. The Dervish, with Side Step and Parry, is excellent for doing so. The Purifier has Overtake; although it moves a shorter distance than the Dervish, Ashen Veil stacks with her feat and can help protect other elements of her army, making it the more defensive choice.
- Special mention goes to Severius0's warjack, capable of moving 3" due to Road to War. Since Positive Charge isn't exclusive to Cyrenia's battlegroup, it can be cast on his warjack for extra maneuverability in applying buffs.
An Arc Node can be helpful for getting her spells around but isn't strictly necessary.
If you want to take a heavy, Fire of Salvation is a great pick in Exemplar Interdiction. For non-character heavies, the Indictor and Templar are both durable and appreciate Positive Charge and Inviolable Resolve. Sanctifiers are also an option for a cheap, self-sufficient warjack; Ashen Veil makes them slightly more survivable, and you can buff their DEF further via Rock Wall and her feat.
If you want a anchoring piece, fire battery, and late-game sweeper, take a Colossal. Although it'll eat up a lot of her points and make applying Positive Charge difficult, she provides an ARM buff to it, and strategic use of Rock Wall can keep it safe from enemy models. It's also a model you can hide Cyrenia with in case you're worried about shots getting into her.
Other
Trivia
- Released in Exemplar Interdiction CID (2018.05)
- She is the second (known) warcaster of Idrian descent in the Protectorate, the first being Amon.
Other Protectorate models
Rules Clarifications
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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 : Weapon Master - None yet. (Edit)
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Rules Clarification: : Warcaster (Edit) | |||
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Rules Clarification : Battle Plan (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Desperate Mission (Edit) |
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Rules Clarification : Heroic Call (Edit) |
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Rules Clarification : Special Orders (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Vengeanceand/or Righteous Vengeance and/or Retaliation and/or Swift Vengeance and/or Tantrum (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Dash (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Hex Blast (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Inviolable Resolve - None yet. (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Positive Charge (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Rock Wall (Edit)
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