Nightmare
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Nightmare |
If the Slayer is a perfect killing machine, Nightmare is darkness and mortality incarnate. The cold shell of this helljack gives form to a bestial predatory instinct. It can become a ghostly specter and move through the rock and steel of any barrier before coalescing into terrifying reality. Nightmare's blackened metal chassis melts into the greater darkness - until it reaches out to rend its luckless victims limb from limb.
Contents
Basic Info[edit]
Nightmare | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Abilities[edit]
- Warjack - All warjacks share the same set of special rules. Most notably being big and stompy. Click the link for a full run-down.
- Construct - This model is a construct and is not a living model.
- Prey - After deployment but before the first player's turn, choose an enemy model/unit to be this model/unit's prey. This model gains +2 to attack and damage rolls against its prey. When the prey is destroyed or removed from play, choose another model/unit to be the prey.
- 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.
- Bond [Deneghra] - If Nightmare begins the game in Deneghra's battlegroup, it is bonded to them. Nightmare is not considered to be bonded while under your opponent's control. While Nightmare is bonded to Deneghra and in their control range, Nightmare gains Stealth.
Weapons[edit]
- Wicked Claw (x2) - 1" reach, P+S 17 melee attacks
- Open Fist - This warjack/warbeast may make Throw Power Attacks.
- Chain Attack: Grab & Smash - If this model hits the same model with both its initial attacks with this weapon,after resolving the attacks it can immediately make a head-butt or throw power attack against that target.
- Tusks - 1" reach, P+S 12 melee attack
- Hard Head - This model can add this weapon's POW to its head-butt and slam power attack damage rolls.
Theme Forces[edit]
When taken by Deneghra1, Deneghra2, or Deneghra3 | When taken by Deneghra0 | When taken by anyone else |
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Nightmare gains Hyper-Aggressive when taken in Infernal Machines; Carapace when taken in Black Industries; Gang Fighter when taken in Slaughter Fleet Raiders. |
Thoughts on the Nightmare[edit]
Nightmare in a nutshell[edit]
He's a beatstick heavy, and his main schtick is ignoring terrain/free strikes which let's him get places other heavies can't. He also brings slightly higher damage vs his Prey and Smash & Grab which can be handy. Lastly, he gets Stealth from Deneghra which, due to the way theme forces work, is about the only place you see him these days.
He's unpopular due to his high points cost, and theme restrictions limiting him to Deneghra-only. But mostly the points cost, because even most of the Deneghras often don't want him in their battle group.
Combos & Synergies[edit]
- Deneghra2 has a bit more trouble than the other versions of Deneghra to handle heavy armor. Nightmare can actually help with that - at least on his Prey target.
- On top of that, Deneghra2 is the only version of Deneghra that has no access to Ghost Walk (which Nightmare has natively). Ghost Walk plus a clever use of Hellmouth can give you a good threat range, much more than in comparison to the heavy-hitter you'd put in Denny2's list in his place.
Damage Analysis[edit]
Nightmare can put out some very nice damage, even with average dice. Here are some examples using the biggest bricks I could think of.
Nightmare Damage vs Khador Victor Colossal (ARM 20, 62 HP)
- Flat Damage: 17, 17, 12, up to 3 additional attacks.
- Prey: +2 damage
- Caster Buffs / Debuffs: +5 damage (obtainable from a variety of models, but I'm basing it on Denny1, as she is a likely caster for him).
Final Attacks:
- Charge: 14 damage (-1 Focus)
- Wicked Claw: 11 damage
- Tusks: 6
- Wicked Claw: 11 damage (-1 Focus)
- Wicked Claw: 11 damage (-1 Focus)
TOTAL: 53 damage
This leaves the Victor with 9 boxes on Average Dice and only 1 box if you don't have to charge for your first attack. The Average Colossal/Gargantuan would be dead, since they rarely have as much armor, and never as much HP.
Doing these same calculations against a Khador Devastator Heavy Warjack (ARM 23, 32 HP) destroys it with only 2 focus used, letting you dedicate fewer focus or use the extra to smack something else, since it will get an additional attack from Smash & Grab.
Drawbacks & Downsides[edit]
- The cost. A Seether has similar raw damage output for 5 pts less. For 3 pts less, Barathrum has comparable stats and brings more tech (AD, Feedback, Dig-in/Drag Below). Seethers aren't as protected and Barathrum can't do as much damage, but 18 points is still a lot.
- Prey is less useful on a melee heavy than faster options like solos or calvary, as melee heavies can be dodged. Without Prey, P+S 17 isn't enough to handle high ARM values, although he'll always hit harder than that because all 4 Deneghra models have debuffs.
- With DEF 13, ARM 18 and a terrible grid for a 18 pt piece, Nightmare is the embodiment of a glass cannon. It's even worse, he can be quickly neutered from range with boostable guns, although Carapace in Black Industries and Stealth go a very long way to prevent that.
- Smash & Grab doesn't work against huge based models, so you'll only get your 3 initials, but, as shown above, that's enough to kill most colossals in a single activation on average dice.
Tricks & Tips[edit]
- Nightmare only threatens 10", so it's often easy for your opponent to keep the Prey target out of his reach during the game. To get around that, an interesting tactic is to put the Prey on something likely to be played forward and easy to kill at the beginning of the game. The turn you intend to commit Nightmare on a target, kill the current Prey target with something else in your army, cycle Prey on Nightmare's target, and profit.
Other[edit]
Trivia[edit]
- Originally released in Warmachine: Legends (2008)
- Sculptor: Jose Roig
Other Cryx models[edit]
Rules Clarifications[edit]
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Rules Clarification : Open Fist (aka, Power Attack Throw) (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Chain Attack Grab & Smash (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Hard Head (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Warjack (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Construct - None yet. (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Prey (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Ghostly (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Bond (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Stealth (Edit)
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