Leviathan

Leviathan Cryx Heavy Warjack

Prime This model is available in one Prime Army, Black Fleet. 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.

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The Leviathan is an immense metal atrocity of frightening mobility. The watertight furnaces of this horror make it a favorite among blackship captains, who take full advantage of its amphibious nature by deploying it at sea - or, rather, shoving it overboard and allowing it to make its way silently across the seabed on its spidery claws.

Basic Info

Leviathan
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Large SPD 5 STR 12 MAT 6 RAT 5 M.A. N/A DEF 12 ARM 18 CMD N/A ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS N/A FURY N/A THRS N/A HP 30 F. Field N/A WJP {{{wjp}}} WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA U UNIT SIZE N/A COST 14 N/A N/A N/A Warcaster 1 COST N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

Warjack - All warjacks share the same set of special rules. Most notably being big and stompy. Click here for a newbie-friendly recap, or click here for the full rules.

Abilities

• Amphibious
• Construct
• Pathfinder
• Steady - This model cannot become knocked down.

Weapons

• Crushing Claw - 1" reach, POW 5, P+S 17 melee weapon
  • Open Fist
• Spiker - 13" range, ROF d3, POW 13 ranged attack
  • Volume Fire - Gain +1 to attack and damage rolls with this weapon against medium-based models and +2 to attack and damage rolls against large- and huge-based models.

Theme Forces

• Cryx
  • Black Industries. Leviathan gains Carapace in this theme.
  • Dark Host
  • Scourge of the Broken Coast. Leviathan gains Gang Fighter in this theme.
  • The Ghost Fleet

• Other Factions
  • Infernal players can use this model in the Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Mortenebra is leading the army. It gains Accumulator [Soulless] in this theme.
  • Mercenary and Convergence players can use it by either:
    • putting it under the control of Asphyxious4 in various themes,
    • putting it under the control of Mortenebra in Strange Bedfellows.

Thoughts on the Leviathan

The Leviathan in a nutshell

The Leviathan is best deployed as a gun platform, preferably focusing its fire on enemy heavies. Not only will you get the Volume Fire bonus, but larger models tend to have lower DEF making it easier to hit without boosting.

The Crushing Claw lacks any abilities that would make you want to rush into melee. Don't discount the idea of using the Claw entirely though, it is a very high P+S melee weapon and buying a string of attacks with it can still wreck a target.

Its unreliable ROF combined with its high points cost makes the Leviathan unpopular with many players - some feel that the Sepulcher holds more value as a volume fire shooting platform. However, when taken in larger quantities with the right support/debuff caster (particularly Denegrha 1), overall variability in range output drops due to the law of large numbers](successful tournament lists suggest that four is the sweet spot). Further, bringing the Leviathan in the Black Industries theme gives them the Carapace rule which allows them to turn the tide in a prolonged fire fight.

Combos & Synergies

• Mortenebra1 can use her Interface rule to provide focus to this jack. This is immensely useful to it, as this negates the need to allocate to it, where the focus points can be wasted on a low roll for ROF. With interface you can always use exactly as much focus to boost its shots as you need. Rerolls from the feat, Overrun and Tune Up are all very useful to this jack.
• Asphyxious4 - Malign Alignment and Interface work the exact same way, so the Leviathan can spend focus on Gaspy. Dark Shroud on its pincer is icing on the cake.
• Aiakos1 and Leviathan is a nice combo, as he can fuel it with plenty of focus without drawing on your warcaster's reserves. He can also speed it up with Escort allowing it to get in a better position sooner. All that being said, Kharybdis is a better jack overall, even though it's slightly more expensive. Escort is also waster if it spends most of its time aiming.
• The Iron Lich Overseer is oft-maligned due to them being a 'jack marshal and not a good one at that, but they have the benefit of requiring no focus to run their 'jack; after all you cant run into trouble fuelling your jacks efficiently if you don't fuel it in the first place! The "Take Aim!" command means that the Leviathan can't move, but anything within its RNG is going to be suffering d3 RAT 7, POW 17 shots. It can also give the shooty 'jack Stealth. Having two War Witches give it focus with Empower results in some decent debuff stacking with no caster input.
• Skarre2 or Rahera bring the Black Spot spell, which can potentially net you 6 shots a turn!
• Skarre3 - Guided Fire boosts the attack rolls of ALL of its shots, do it doesn't matter how many you roll in terms of allocation.
• Casters with damage buffs that aren't Dark Shroud, work well well for ranged attacks. Examples include, Parasite, Curse of Shadows and Mortality:
  • Deneghra3 - Mortality and Scourge can set up prime targets to unload the spike cannon into. Her Vengeful Spirits rule means she can fully load a Leviathan for just one soul, and thus suffers less from the d3 ROF problem than other casters.
  • Sturgis2, Agathia, Asphyxious1, Asphyxious2 all bring Parasite.
    • Deneghra1 deserves special mention because she has both Parasite and Crippling Grasp, so she can spread around ARM debuffs on multiple models/units and has a feat that debuffs ARM yet again.
  • Goreshade2, The Witch Coven of Garlghast & the Egregore, Deneghra0, and Deneghra2 bring Curse of Shadows.
  • Scaverous has Feat of Worms as an ARM debuff and Telekinesis as a pseudo-RAT-and-range buff

Drawbacks & Downsides

• The unreliable ROF means you never know how much focus to allocate it. If you fill it up with 3 focus then it rolls a "1" for number of shots, you've wasted at least one focus. On the other hand, if you give it no extra focus and it rolls a "3" then you'll have several unboosted shots that won't achieve much. For best and most consistent results, operate a Leviathan with 2 focus on it.
• You'll probably be able to hit enemy heavies relatively easy, but the Leviathan's "meh" RAT means you'll want to boost to-hit against most infantry or light warjacks.
• Only one initial attack, whether it is ranged or melee.

Tricks & Tips

• If the Leviathan gets stuck in melee, consider using your Open Fist to simply throw the enemy away. Won't work against models with a high STR, though.
• If you intend to use the gun on the Leviathan, activate it early in your turn so you have a better idea what kind of impact the shooting will have. Then adjust plans as necessary.

Other

Trivia

• Originally released in Warmachine: Escalation (2004)
• Sculptor (original metal model): John Winter
• The Leviathan used to be one of the most awkward models to assemble in the game. With the plastic resculpt, however, the legs are designed to fit directly into the torso which allows for much easier construction.
  • Of note, one of the legs comes with a small sculpted rock, to more easily fasten it to the base. Please do not confuse it for flash or a poor mold.

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 : Warjack      (Edit) The Cortex/Induction core rule means a warjack cannot have more than 3 focus at any time (maybe 4 if they're really special). Many abilities give out focus and don't state an upper limit (such as Convection and Empower). Despite not stating an upper limit, they are always "hard-limited" by the core rule. A warjack can have more than 3 focus during a turn, though. For instance, a knocked down warjack can Power Up and be Allocated 2 focus, then spend 1 to shake knockdown, then another model could Empower it back up to 3. Warjacks cannot spend focus outside of their activation. For instance, they can't boost free strikes or trigger Powerful Attack on Broadsides. (Infernal Ruling) Inert warjacks Abilities that say they cannot be used if the model is stationary (such as Shield Guard) cannot be used while a warjack is inert, either. Refer "Warcaster Destruction", page 59 of the core rulebook.

Rules Clarification : Construct - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Open Fist  (aka, Power Attack Throw)     (Edit) Throw ( Edit ) See also the Throw article for a recap of the core Throw rules. If a model is somehow thrown at itself (which can happen with Durst1's feat) it would not move, it would be knocked down, and it would take a standard power attack damage roll but it would not take an additional die for colliding with itself. (Infernal Ruling) Because you move the target model between the attack roll and the damage roll, you can get different buffs applied to the two rolls. For instance, if you throw the target in or out of a Flanking model's melee range. Incorporeal vs Slammed/Thrown models ( Edit ) Incorporeal models cannot be moved by someone trying to slam them. Slammed models can move through Incorporeal models. If they have enough movement to get past them, no dramas. If they land on them, you move the Incorporeal model out of the way as per the Rule of Least Disturbance. If the Incorporeal model cannot be moved (i.e. it's a flag) then you move the slammed model out of the way, also by the rule of Least Disturbance. For the purposes of Collateral Damage, only the model(s) you contacted before you applied the rule of Least Disturbance count as contacted. The same logic applies to Throws. Collateral Damage Collateral damage cannot be boosted and is not considered damage from an attack or model. Refer page 33 of the 2021.08 version of the rules pdf. As a result: It doesn't trigger stuff that relies on being hit by an enemy (such as Shock Field) or damaged by an enemy (such as Vengeance). It doesn't get bonus damage from stuff that adds to a model's damage roll (such as Signs & Portents or Prey). It doesn't matter if the attacker has crippled weapon systems or aspects. Throw - Power Attack When you make a Throw Power Attack, no other abilities of the Fist weapon (such as Chain Strike) are applied unless they specifically mention Throws. (Locked Thread) If you do a Power Attack Throw and you choose to throw the target directly away, no deviation is rolled to determine the final position of the model. (Locked thread) A model that cannot be targeted by melee attacks (such as Una2's feat) cannot have models thrown at them, either. (Infernal Ruling) Since throwing Model [A] at Model [B] involves making a melee attack roll vs Model [B] which is out of your melee range, it technically breaks a whole bunch of core rules. (Infernal Checking) Even though you make a "melee attack roll" vs Model [B] you don't actually make a melee attack vs it. Also, the damage it suffers is from Collateral damage, not from the original attack. So you can't trigger stuff like Snacking from damage you did to Model B.

Rules Clarification : Burst Fire and/or Volume Fire - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Steady      (Edit) If you are hit by a knockdown effect during your own turn then ... nothing happens. Unless it was a Slam or a Throw that knocked you down. In that situation, there is a core rule that says "models immune to knockdown that become knocked down from a slam or throw must forfeit either movement or action when they activate". But that core rule doesn't apply to other knockdowns (lots of players assume it does) Steady models are still susceptible to other effects of knock-down attacks (if there are any). For instance, a Head Butt attack causes damage and knockdown - a Steady model would still take the damage. A knocked down model that gains Steady will remain knocked down, because the "cannot be knocked down" is not retroactively applied. Steady models who make a tough check during an advance can continue advancing. (Locked Thread)