Kommander Orsus Zoktavir
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Kommander Orsus Zoktavir |
Unlimited Only This model can only be used in the Unlimited game mode. You can see the other models with / without mk4 rules on this page. Note that the rest of this page is about the model's Mark III rules. |
Any who thought time might mellow the rage of Orsus Zoktavir have been disabused of that notion. He is incapable of restraint away from the battlefield, never at peace with himself, and at home only amid the chaos and bloodshed of war. Constant battles against the Motherland's enemies have deepened his madness, brought forth dark echoes from the depths of his being, and utterly shattered his always-tenuous self-control.
Basic Info
Butcher2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Warcaster - All warcasters come with a stack of standard special rules - most notably being awesome. Click here for a newbie-friendly recap, or click here for the full rules.
Feat: Feel the Hate
- Each time an enemy model is destroyed in Butcher's control range, you can place one rage token on a friendly Faction model in his control range. A model can have up to three rage tokens at any time.
- Models can spend rage tokens during their activations to make additional melee attacks or to boost melee attack or melee damage rolls. A model can make one additional attack or boost one roll for each token spent.
- Feel the Hate lasts for one turn. Remove unspent rage tokens at the end of this turn.
Abilities
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Tough
- Arcane Dementia - Zoktavir begins the game with 7 focus points and a base FOCUS of 7. At the start of each of your turns, if Zoktavir destroyed three or more enemy models with melee attacks during the last round, his base FOCUS becomes 7 for one round. Otherwise, his FOCUS becomes 2d3 + 1 for one round. Zoktavir's control range is always 12".
- Berserk - When this model destroys one or more models with a melee attack during its Combat Action, immediately after the attack is resolved it must make one additional melee attack against another model in its melee range.
- Conferred Rage - When this model destroys one or more enemy models during its activation, warjacks in its battlegroup beginning their activations in its control range gain +2 SPD and MAT for one turn.
- Homicidal Maniac - If there are no models in this model's melee range after resolving a basic melee attack in which this model destroyed one or more enemy models, this model can advance up to 1".
- Reckless Arcana - Once per turn, when a model in this model’s battlegroup destroys one or more enemy models with a melee attack, immediately after the attack is resolved, this model can cast a spell with COST 3 or less without spending fury.
Weapons
Blunderbuss | ||||||||||||||
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RNG | ROF | AOE | POW | ||||||||||
8 | 1 | - | 12 | |||||||||||
Lola | ||||||||||||||
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RNG | POW | P+S | |||||||||||
2 | 8 | 16 | ||||||||||||
Spells
COST | RNG | AOE | POW | DUR | OFF | ||
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Boundless Charge
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2 | 6 | - | - | Turn | No | |
During its activation, target friendly Faction model can charge without spending focus or being forced and gains +2" movement and Pathfinder when it charges. Boundless Charge lasts for one turn. | |||||||
Eliminator
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3 | 8 | 3 | 13 | - | Yes | |
Immediately after this attack is resolved, the spellcaster can advance up to 2" for each enemy model destroyed by the attack. | |||||||
Fury
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2 | 6 | - | - | Upkeep | No | |
Target friendly Faction model/unit gains +3 to melee damage rolls but suffers -1 DEF. | |||||||
Ravager
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2 | 6 | - | - | Turn | No | |
Target warjack in the spellcaster's battlegroup gains Berserk for one turn, but cannot make Chain Attacks.
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Theme Forces
- Armored Korps
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Flame in the Darkness - Jaws of the Wolf
- Legion of Steel
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Warriors of the Old Faith - Winter Guard Kommand. In this theme the caster gains Sacrificial Pawn [Winter Guard trooper model].
- Wolves of Winter
Thoughts on Butcher2
Butcher2 in a nutshell
Going from an impressive support caster of Butcher1, Butcher2 demands much greater degree of personal presence - otherwise you'll be punished double time for lingering behind thanks to Arcane Dementia and missing on Conferred Rage. He is a somewhat unpredictable caster, but in practice the random focus from AD will only be an issue for 1 or 2 turns. If you always wanted to be in the thick of the fight and scowled at casters who just linger behind their jacks while their armies do the heavy lifting in their stead, then seek no further; you found your ideal.
Feat thoughts
Its effectiveness heavily depends on the enemy's force composition. Against certain builds (like the Pacific Rim style 3-colossi list of the Retribution) it is simply too hard to find enough enemies to fuel your feat. However, with the return of the more infantry focused lists, you can get plenty of targets for your rage tokens. It is best popped right before you're about to charge into at least one or two infantry units. It is one of those rare moments, when you'll be happy to see jamming units as they're a good source of rage tokens and if you find your models jammed up, you can hand the tokens to other models about to start their charges. If you failed to get the alpha strike, then it will do fine in retaliation to a charge, assuming you have a few units/models stuck in. 2 things to note:
- Though you can only buy/boost melee attacks, Rage tokens can be collected from the kills of your ranged units too. Make your Widowmakers and gun crews work for their money! Just keep in mind that both the victims and the receiving units must be in Butcher's CTRL area.
- Anything that destroys the enemy will give Rage tokens, the damage roll doesn't have to originate from an attack. Collateral damage is just as good as a Destroyer's initial ranged attack.
Spell thoughts
- Boundless Charge - it makes key members of your battlegroup astonishingly fast, especially if you combine it with Conferred Rage. Also be on the lookout for valuable solos, who could use that (MOW Drakhun and the like). Don't be against casting this on Butcher himself either from a spell slave or when you get a free spell cast.
- Eliminator - A corner-case spell. It is your only ranged opportunity against Incorporeal models, but it can be restrictive on your FOCUS pool, even if going on 7 FOCUS from Arcane Dementia. It also has the same range as your charge, so unless something forbids charge altogether, it won't be useful to get closer to your enemy. On the other hand though, the move part from it it can set up an other threat vector (if they blocked your way with an incorporeal model), and the extra movement is always good to re-ignite your Homicidal Maniac chain, if you ran out of targets nearby. You can also use it occasionally to get into scenario elements to score/contest.
- Fury - Good old damage increase; usually you want it on something already lumbering, like warjacks, where lowering the DEF by one doesn't make much difference. On the other hand, Kayazy Eliminators can still enjoy an insanely high DEF in close combat thanks to Duellist, while Stealth protects them at range. Use it on units which you want to enhance with your feat for maximum effect.
- Ravager - You can combine it nicely with Rage tokens, especially if your jack has a 2" melee range to keep the berserk attacks going. However, as it is not an upkeep, weigh your options whether or not you'll be better off with by simply allocating that 2 FOCUS on that given warjack.
Drawbacks & Downsides
- Arcane Dementia can strike at the worst moment; there's no other caster who can potentially start the turn with the same focus as a Journeyman Warcaster. Power-Up and Reckless Arcana ease the situation a bit, but be prepared to distribute focus accordingly.
- At the forefront, with a medium base - it is hard to shelter him, and despite his impressive stat-line, he's not unkillable
- Homicidal Maniac and Arcane Dementia makes his moves predictable - he needs to move in to kill stuff to ensure a reliable FOCUS supply
- Tough units can block your Homicidal Maniac chain.
- Not much support for your army units, his spells area mainly single target and fury has a big downside on single wound models that can't take a hit.
- Your feat and many of your abilities all depend on close combat - anti-charge feats and tools are not your friend.
Tricks & Tips
- The regulations on Homicidal Maniac make this rule a bit iffy. It is a pseudo-Overtake, but if you want to use this Conga-line of Death of move between each and every attack, you need to carefully position him such that only one enemy is in his melee range at a time, and no friendlies are. Don't despair if there are multiple enemies in range though; if you killed one, you get a swing with Berserk (and another if you killed that one, and so on), then in the end you can move thanks to HM. Also, if you killed an enemy, and the next one is 1" too far from your current position, you get to move 1", and get a "free" Berserk attack on the newly reached target.
- For getting the most out of Homicidal Maniac, evade friendly model in melee range - and this includes unkillable Steamroller flags and own Steamroller objectives.
- Homicidal Maniac trigger is optional, don't let your caster get too far away from his protection.
- Arcane Dementia requires 3 melee kills to cease to be an issue, while Conferred Rage needs only a kill even if it comes from your Blunderbuss. Keep that in mind if AD struck you with 3 FOCUS.
- For new players Feel the Hate can eat up a prodigious amount of time on their deathclock - working out the extra Rage token attacks of models can take 2-3 times more than on a standard turn. Always consider, if going for that extra kill/token will worth the time, as losing on deathclock can be just as bad as on assassination.
- Reckless Arcana has no combo with Ravager, the attack has to completely resolve so no you cannot start a berserk attack as a result.
List Building Advice
Strategy
Butcher needs to be in the thick of the fights. His play style largely revolves around supporting his survival in - and through - melee and pulling off a devastating feat turn. On non-feat turns you'll almost always be activating him before your jacks to try and get Conferred Rage. Work your way up the board and see if you can secure an alpha strike. If you don't think you're going to get it, try to keep your sturdy units (IFP or MOW) up front to take the brunt of the hit and then strike back with a fury. If possible, try to get three kills in the turn BEFORE you feat so that you can make the most of your feat, and not worrying about Arcane Dementia. Once you got the 3 kills, and you have Fury cast on something you want to wreck the enemy, you're all set.
On feat turn Butcher should go first (with the exception of pulling any screening models out of his way). Cast Boundless charge on anything that will need it, Ravager if you want it and then pop feat right after that. You will then go to wreck as many faces as you can, and disperse rage tokens on your way. The key to master Butcher2 is to learn, when to stop giving tokens to you and start handing it out to your army.
Common pitfall is going too deep into enemy lines or you run out of available targets, with no way to re-ignite the Conga line of Death.
Your ultimate goal is to activate your infantry mulchers first and spread the rage tokens around and clear some charge lanes to high priority targets. Then, with lanes cleared and your assassins stacked with focus/rage/Fury, charge them in for kills and maybe even get a caster kill. Even if the enemy lock/caster hides well, you probably inflicted so much damage that it will be hard for them to recover.
Theme Thoughts

Butcher feels home in themes where the troops are self-sufficient because the support he gives is mainly for his battlegroup and through his feat.
This theme has 2 self-supporting units (Widowmakers and Kayazys) for token gathering, and all the warjacks you can take. Conferred Rage is an awesome tuner for the jacks of this theme, so wherever MAT or SPD would be your problem, Orsus fixes that.
- Rager - There's hardly a more frustrating scenario, when you worked hard to get your 3 kills for the 7 FOCUS from Arcane Dementia, then get a Disruptor Bolt from Eiryss1. Protect yourself with the hardest Shield Guard out there.
- Berserker - The MAT bonus will come in handy here. Charge into an infantry blob and let the bodies hit the floor. Also remember that Rage Tokens are not focus, so won't trigger Unstable.
- Grolar - Few combined-arms jack can make use of the sheer amount of "pseudo-focus" tokens that a Grolar can. Expensive, but if you know what you're doing, it could pay off.
- Decimator - Two words: Sustained Attack. With the ability to hit once and then pile up to 6 extra attacks (3 from tokens and 3 from allocated focus), you can potentially kill any heavy in one turn.
- Ruin- Even outside the theme forces you often want him to escort you. It gets boundless charge from your bond so you can save the FOCUS, or cast it elsewhere. It is already a nearly 100% self-supporting jack due to Soul Taker, and with token gathering you can double-tap on the loss of living infantry (or Soul Vessels).
- Manhunters or Yuri are usually too tempting to pass as free solos.
The theme benefit of Sacrificial Pawn [Winter Guard] is excellent for helping to keep him safe while he's personally charging in and causing carnage. In addition, the ranged elements (Rifle Corps, Artillery Crew, Field Gun Crew) can support your advance quite well. However, Butcher1 may be more suitable for this theme, as he has more army support, and Guardsmen don't have to worry about standing in his melee range.
- Winter Guard Infantry Hard to pass up bullet shields and chaff infantry at a dirt cheap 1pt/model. Even a min unit can help by hanging around Butcher and keeping him safe from enemy ranged attacks. Add Kovnik Joe to make them last longer with Tough, or they can even be a good melee threat by stacking +4 STR and Fury!
- Widowmaker Scouts or Winter Guard Rifle Corps - Why hug all the fun with your melee units? Tag the enemy from afar, and distribute those tokens at your own leisure among your melee brawlers.
Feel the Hate is non-magical boost for your Doom Reavers' combat potential. It is pretty close to his earlier theme force, and a group of like-minded homicidal maniac charging down at the enemy is not something you turn down.
- Greylord Forge Seer - All Butcher incarnations tend to suffer from Incorporeal models, having only very expensive spells to deal with them. The Forge Seer can tune up your warjacks to deal with such threats.
- Greylord Ternion - USe the clouds you get from Blizzard to protect your army from incoming fire as you close to melee range.
Black Dragons with their mini-feat can take the brunt of the enemy attacks, then strike back with Fury. The Great Bears can also show their teeth under your feat without having to rely on the Flank bonus.
- Kayazy Eliminators - Self supporting infantry killers, and with the 2 Side-Step they can dig really deep into the enemy formations to start Token gathering. If you give them Fury, and some tokens, they can slice up heavier troops too, who would be resistant to Anatomic Precision.
Man-o-Wars of all flavours can be viable if you take a Kovnik for Desperate Pace. Bombardiers can get you tokens from afar, while Shocktroopers can protect Butcher from incoming attacks.
- Man-o-War Drakhun - You didn't see carnage, until you witnessed this guy charging in with Fury on P+S 17 + 4D6 attacks, and then let loose 3 more (with one less die).
Support models & Mercenaries - Various themes
- War Dog - As tempting as it will be to take Sylys to upkeep Fury for you, the Wardog can save your bacon. With how aggressive he is, Butcher loves his puppy; don't leave him at home!
- Eilish Garrity - Puppet Master on the Butcher mitigates the need for boosting an attack roll, and can be crucial, when low on FOCUS via Arcane Dementia.
- Saxon Orrik - Indeed, you can have Boundless Charge on yourself - unless Arcane Dementia messes up your plans. If you just need the pathfinder part to make your charge connect, he can save FOCUS for the Butcher.
- Taking the Ranking Officer Koldun Kapitan Valachev will let a Mercenary unit benefit from Butcher's feat, which is interesting:
- Tactical Arcanist Corps : Zephyr will get the Corp into position and the Corp will absolutely be able to get their Battle Wizard triggers with the use of a rage token or two. Until then, Smoke Bomb gives you more clouds to make sure your over aggressive caster is screened from incoming fire.
- Alexia Ciannor & The Risen : She likes to see things die. Run her out front, screen your army with her chumps, use them freely. You can almost guarantee a full supply of undead after the feat turn and Thralls make great recipients of Rage.
Battlegroup
Refer to the suggestions given for the Jaws of the Wolf theme.
Other
Trivia
- Released in Warmachine: Superiority (2006)
Other Khador 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 : Tough - None yet. (Edit)
Rules Clarification : Arcane Dementia - None yet. (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Berserk (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Conferred Rage - None yet. (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Homicidal Maniac (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Blood Boon and/or Rites of Blood and/or Ritual Slaughter and/or Soul Food and/or Blood Weaver and/or Meat for the Beast and/or Reckless Arcana (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Boundless Charge (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Eliminator (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Fury - None yet. (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Ravager (Edit)
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