Warwitch Initiate Deneghra
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Warwitch Initiate Deneghra | |||||||||
fluff
Basic Info[edit]
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Abilities[edit]
- Battlegroup Controller - This model is not a warcaster (it's a solo) but has the following warcaster special rules: Battlegroup Commander, Focus Manipulation, Power Field, and Spellcaster. This model must have at least one warjack in its battlegroup at the start of the game.
- Parry - This model cannot be targeted by free strikes.
- Stealth - Ranged and magic attacks targeting this model from a point of origin greater than 5˝ away automatically miss. This model is not an intervening model when determining line of sight from a model more than 5˝ away.
- Soul Taker: Cull Soul - This model can gain soul tokens. When a living enemy model is destroyed within 2" of this model, this model gains the destroyed model's soul token. After this model replenishes focus during the next Control Phase, replace each soul token with 1 focus point.
Weapons[edit]
- Shadowblade (x2) - 0.5" reach, P+S 9 melee weapon
- Shadow Bind - Models hit by this attack can't advance (except to spin in place) and suffer a -3 DEF penalty. Shadow Bind can be shaken.
- Damage Type: Magical - This weapon deals Magical damage.
Spells[edit]
- Curse of Shadows - Cost 3, 8" range, Offensive Upkeep
- Target model/unit suffers -2 ARM and cannot make free strikes. A model can advance through an affected model if it has enough movement to move completely past its base.
- Venom - Cost 2, 8" spray, POW 10
- Venom deals Corrosion Damage. Models hit suffer Continuous Corrosion.
- Witch Bond - Cost 2, 6" range, Upkeep
- 1) When target warjack in Deneghra's battlegroup destroys a living enemy model with an attack, she gains the destroyed model’s soul token regardless of the proximity of other models. 2) When checking to see if the affected warjack is in her control range, double the range.
Theme Forces[edit]
Thoughts on Warwitch Initiate Deneghra[edit]
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Recent Release Feel free to remove this warning if you, personally, have a good level of gameplay experience with the model, have reviewed this article, and either you A) agree with the content 100% or B) for the parts you disagree with, you don't strongly disagree; and it's more a case of differing opinions between you and previous editors rather than incorrect content / bad advice. |
Deneghra0 in a nutshell[edit]
You add her to your army to get access to Curse of Shadows (CoS). Some players are excited about the potential for Witch Bond, but in my opinion everything except CoS can just be ignored; Venom and Witch Bond are trap spells in most games (more on that below), or if you're using her as a focus battery to run more combat jacks in your army ... why? Aiakos1 is definitely better at that job, and even the much maligned Iron Lich Overseer is arguably better at running a combat jack.
She's not the best zero caster that came out in the anniversary, and with extra points spent on an arc node she's not the cheapest either. Even if taken for "free" in theme, you're still paying for the opportunity cost. What she has, though, is the longest range method of applying an ARM debuff that id caster independent. 8" CTRL range + base size + 8" spell range = 17.5", or if you somehow afford to upkeep Witch Bond, 25.5".
She is available in two themes, Black Industries where she doesn't change anything fundamental but makes a few more casters viable (such as Scaverous), and Infernal Machines where her presence alone might finally make that theme playable at a competitive level.
Combos - Her battlegroup[edit]
There's three ways to run Deneghra0:
- As a focus battery for a combat jack, leveraging Witch Bond to fuel the jack.
- As an ARM debuff support solo, so you'll want a single arc node and that's it.
- Or as a combined-force, where she takes both an arc node and a combat jack. Cross your fingers that the combat jack gets enough souls for her to upkeep and cast what she wants to cast.
Arc Node
If you just want to cast CoS then the Deathripper is your cheapest option. But if you want to try putting Witch Bond on the node then...
- You need to be smarter about node placement. Instead of aggressively running into position to channel a spell, you want it to walk it to a spot where Denny can channel her spell, and where it has a target it has a reasonable chance of killing (keep in mind it'll have one focus to boost)
- Nightwretch has a 3" AOE which can potentially net you a lot of souls.
- Defiler while expensive, has an 8" spray that can net a lot of souls. It has an accuracy problem similar to Denny, but if you're taking them with a caster that can fix that then you're gravy.
- Ripjaw - I see no point in taking a Ripjaw with Denny0.
Combat jacks
- Leviathan appreciates a focus battery, and is a good target for Witch Bond.
- Nightmare can be taken by Deneghra0. But I see little reason to take that overpriced jack in the first place, let alone on a 4 point solo.
- A single Seether could be quite nice with quasi-"extended control range" and it's good at collecting souls.
- A Stalker has proper Extended Control Range and it does stack with Witch Bond, letting it run around 32" away from Deneghra0.
Combos - Black Industries[edit]
In the Black Industries theme force you take her when you need a caster-independent damage buff or a ranged damage buff.
- Skarre3 with double Leviathans
- Scaverous can buff her accuracy with his feat, and/or help her reroll a missed casting (which can be game-changing).
- Mortenebra1, Venethrax, & Asphyxious3 all love having access to CoS in some/all of their builds and can easily "lend" her one of their free light jacks.
- Aiakos2 can bullet a heavy through a screening unit.
Combos - Infernal Machines[edit]
Deneghra0’s existence breathes new life into the Infernal Machines theme force. Mechanithralls combo-striking under CoS hit at effective P+S 15. That’s close to Bane-level hitting power at a much lower cost, with much better recursion. That sounds great with many of our Casters that don’t actually have any armor fixing, or who’s only armor fixing was Dark Shroud. The Casters I’ve been looking at for Infernal Machines with her release being Goreshade3, Terminus, & Skarre2.
Goreshade3
Goreshade3 wants to play in one of the 3 undead themes because his big draw is Mockery of Life. Until now he’s largely been played only in Ghost Fleet or Dark Host, because IM hits only slightly harder than GF but with significantly worse recursion, and Dark Host hits much harder. Now that he can take Deneghra0 though, IM starts to look more interesting than DH. You hit as hard with Bane Warriors (being effective P+S 13 Weapon Masters) vs McThrall’s effective P+S 17 (Combo Strike, Scything Touch, CoS), but you’ve got much better recursion (especially since you can do the double up trick where you kill a guy, give its corpse to a Necrosurgeon to make a new one, and bring it back with Mockery). Also moving to Infernal Machines gets you access to Carrion Thralls which are some of the best models in the faction for Goreshade3’s feat, especially when you factor in the Synergy with Curse of Shadows taking away a model/unit’s ability to free strike them.
Terminus
Terminus in IM is very similar to Goreshade3. You want an undead theme to make use of Sac Pawn. Until now people tended to go with are GF & DH, because Ghost Fleet offers Terminus the best personal protection with Rengrave extending his effective Sac Pawn bubble to insane degrees along with the lists sheer recursive element, and Dark Host can do the most work without needing Terminus to do all the heavy lifting himself. With access to Deneghra0 though, IM is now able to reach similar levels of damage output to Dark Host, while also using Necrosurgeons to extend Terminus’s Sac Pawn bubble the same way Rengrave does in Ghost Fleet, only IM gets a significantly larger bubble because it can take two Surgeons where GF only gets one Rengrave. While your recursion isn’t as good as Ghost Fleet’s, the models you recur in IM are significantly stronger than Revenants (once they get access to Curse of Shadows).
Skarre2
I mention Skarre2 in IM largely because one of my favorite Cryx models I never play anymore (because they’re only in IM) are Bloat Thralls. Range 12, AOE 4s with auto-corrosion & Arcing Fire are fantastic. Add in Black Spot and these guys rain acidic death on infantry-based lists. The issue is that Skarre2 is on the short list of "Cryx casters that bring absolutely zero damage fixing, but exist in a faction where the troops are balanced around Casters with insane damage swing potential". This frequently results in her having a massive list of matchups she wants to dodge because she can’t reliably kill the enemy battlegroup (when she’s not in either Dark Host or Slaughter Fleet). Deneghra0 helps fix this issue. Deneghra0 lets Skarre2 have the armor debuff she’s always wanted while also playing Bloat Thralls.
Drawbacks & Downsides[edit]
| Chance to hit with FOCUS 4 (Rounded) | ||
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| DEF | Unboosted | Boosted |
| 10 | 70% | 95% |
| 11 | 60% | 90% |
| 12 | 40% | 85% |
| 13 | 30% | 75% |
| 14 | 20% | 60% |
- She is inaccurate with her offensive spells since she is only FOCUS 4. Unboosted, anything at DEF 12 or higher is a crapshoot. I don't know about you, but I don't like spending 3 focus to cast CoS and it being pretty much a 50/50 coin toss as to whether an important debuff lands - so I'm always going to be boosting it.
- Her inaccuracy can be offset by a reroll from Scaverous or the Withershadow Combine.
- Venom is a trap spell due to her low accuracy. Even with a well placed spray that covers lots of models, all that will happen is you waste time rolling dice that miss.
- If you've upkept Witch Bond but haven't got souls yet, you don't have spare focus to boost CoS.
- She'll be camping zero focus most turns in most games. Her statline and Stealth is an okay, but not great, defense.
- Witch Bond is interesting, but probably a trap because you’ll end up putting combat Warjacks on Deneghra & then when you run into a matchup where you can’t get souls that jack becomes super mopy.
Tricks & Tips[edit]
- Witch Bond applies to all types of attacks, even a Deathjack casting Venom.
- It's not too hard to convert Deneghra1 (or a Warwitch Siren) into Deneghra0, and if you know any older Cryx players there is a good chance they have a spare Deneghra1 model that they'll sell to you cheaply.
Other[edit]
Trivia[edit]
- Beta rules released at the end of the Crucible Guard CID (2018.04), final rules in 2018.10
- Released to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Warmachine, alongside Caine0, Severius0, and Sorscha0.
Other Cryx models[edit]
Rules Clarifications[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 : Shadow Bind and/or Force Hold and/or Force Lock and/or Quagmire and/or Crawling Chaos (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Stealth (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Parry - None yet. (Edit)
Rules Clarification : Cull Soul - None yet. (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Battlegroup Controller (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Curse of Shadows (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Venom (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Witch Bond (Edit)
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