Aurum Legate Lukas di Morray
Aurum Legate Lukas di Morray |
Lukas di Morray has kept the rebellious fire of the Order of the Golden Crucible burning in Llael even after the loss of its old headquarters. Driven by a need for new weapons in his war against the Khadorans who seized his homeland, di Morray risked everything to unlock his latent arcane potential. Lukas tested an unstable alchemical formula on himself, and by this succeeded in becoming the first self-made warcaster. Eventually the serum he injects will cost him his life, but he considers the price a small one in exchange for the power it gives him to achieve his retribution.
Basic Info
Lukas1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Abilities
- 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.
- Health Care - This model does not suffer damage from Juicer while it has two or fewer juice tokens on it and is in Little Alyce’s command range.
- Juicer - (1) During your Maintenance Phase, you can place one juice token on this model. (2) For each juice token on this model, this model gains +1 FOCUS. (3) At the end of each of this model’s activations, roll a d6. If the result is equal to or less than the number of juice tokens on this model, then it suffers 1 damage point for each juice token on it. This model cannot spend focus points to reduce this damage.
- Rapid Healing - When this model is damaged by an enemy attack, immediately after the attack is resolved remove d3 damage points from it.
- Irregulars [ Alyce Marc ] - Alyce Marc can be included in any army that also contains this model.
Weapons
- Hand Cannon - 12" range, POW 12 gun
- Regulus - 2" reach, P+S 13 melee weapon
- Damage Type: Magical
- Exothermic Reaction - When this attack boxes a living or undead model, centre a 4" AOE on the boxed model, then RFP the model. Models in the AOE are hit and suffer an unboostable POW 12 fire damage roll and suffer the Fire continuous effect. This damage is not considered to have been caused by an attack. This model is not affected by Exothermic Reaction.
Spells
COST | RNG | AOE | POW | DUR | OFF | ||
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Burning Ash
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2 | Control | 3 | - | Round | No | |
Place a 3" AOE cloud anywhere completely within the spellcaster's control range. While in the AOE, living enemy models without Immunity: Fire suffer -2 to their attack rolls. The AOE remains in play for one round. | |||||||
Disintegration
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3 | 10 | - | 13 | Round | Yes | |
The model hit suffers -2 ARM for one round. A model boxed by Disintegration is RFP'd. | |||||||
Force Hammer
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4 | 10 | - | 12 | - | Yes | |
Instead of suffering a normal damage roll, a non-incorporeal model Force Hammer hits is slammed d6" directly away from the spell's point of origin and suffers a POW 12 damage roll. Collateral damage from this slam is POW 12. | |||||||
Iron Flesh
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2 | 6 | - | - | Upkeep | No | |
Target friendly Faction warrior model/unit gains +2 ARM and Blast Resistance. Models are not affected while out of formation.
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Mirage
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2 | 6 | - | - | Upkeep | No | |
Target friendly Faction model/unit gains Apparition.
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Feat : Overdose
Gain one focus for each juice token currently on di Morray.
Theme Forces
- Prima Materia. He can start the game with friendly upkeeps in play in this theme.
- Magnum Opus
- Hearts of Darkness. He becomes an Infernal warcaster in this theme.
Recent Changes
2019.06 Infernals Errata
- He is part of the new Hearts of Darkness theme.
- He gained Irregulars [Alyce], so he can take Alyce in a Hearts of Darkness list without taking up one of his limited solo slots.
Thoughts on Lukas
Lukas in a nutshell
Lukas is a user and abuser. His core concept is based around consuming dangerous chemicals that give him his warcaster abilities. As “Aurum Legate”, Lukas is also the highest-ranking member of the Order of the Golden Crucible active in the Crucible Guard’s fight in Llael.
The ‘Juicer’ mechanic is core to his identity. As you will find many of the warcasters in this faction, Lukas’ spell list is tied very thematically to alchemy. This is represented by things like Burning Ash, Disintegration, and Iron Flesh. Part of the effects of the serum is heightened telekinetic abilities. These are currently represented by Force Hammer and Mirage. He is a formidable warrior and should be threatening in combat. Lukas should not be a super-durable front-line caster but should have an active role on the battlefield. (Please note we have played Lukas with the spell Telekinesis and it is very unlikely that he will be gaining this spell.)
The premier Spell slinger for the faction. Able to dump all focus into spells, feat, and do it all over again at FOCUS 8. Unfortunately he is not played
Spell thoughts
Lukas has (with his normal 8 Focus) an absolutely excellent spell list assuming he's something to channel through. Probably a Liberator.
- Disintegration - a three cost zap doesn't seem good, but a three cost non-upkeep ARM debuff is excellent. One of the best spells an 8 FOCUS spell slinger could have.
- Burning Ash lets him set up a cloud wall - possibly with the help of Combat Alchemists. Very useful.
- Iron Flesh is an excellent upkeep infantry-buff
- Mirage is another excellent upkeep buff.
- Force Hammer is a very situational attack spell. If you see the enemy line things up for you, you might want to use it. But probably not.
Feat & Juicer thoughts
This feat is his big weakness as he does his best to kill himself on the battlefield. Juicer costs him 3 hit points/turn (possibly not including turn 1). This can be healed and isn't too much of a problem. Unfortunately taking 6 damage at the end of turn 2 for a 6 focus point feat is a whole lot more dangerous - and 9 focus at the end of turn 3 is basically do or die.
How his Juicer mechanic works is, for example:
- Turn 1: Start with 0 Juice tokens. Juice for 3 more. Have 8 FOCUS (stat), 8 focus (points), and a 16" control range. Take 3 damage at end of turn. 15 hitpoints left.
- Turn 2: Start with 3 Juice tokens. Juice for 3 more. Have 8 FOCUS (stat), 8 focus (points), and a 16" control range. Take 6 damage at end of turn. 9 hitpoints left.
- Turn 3: Start with 6 Juice tokens. Juice for 3 more. Have 8 FOCUS (stat), 8 focus (points), and a 16" control range. Take 9 damage at end of turn. 0 hitpoints left, congratulations you just assassinated yourself.
If you were smart you didn't actually kill yourself but all that's keeping you alive is self-healing. And you're probably going to kill yourself at the end of turn 4 anyway even if your opponent doesn't do that for you.
All this means is that a 6 focus feat is slightly dangerous and a 9 focus feat puts you in do-or-die which is not somewhere you want to be for a spell assassination. And frankly 6 focus makes for a very weak feat unless you hit like the Butcher - and Lukas may have a good spell list but it's not one known for being focus efficient.
Drawbacks & Downsides
- Low FOCUS stat.
- He is effectively limited to Magnum Opus theme because of his crippling reliance on access to healing models.
- To fully utilise his spell list he needs to Juice more often than not.
- Max Juicing and keeping your tokens can telegraph your gameplan.
- Juicing every turn without proper healing (or with bad healing rolls) can make Lukas susceptible to assassination. On the other hand his healing package can be somewhat expensive just to use him to his full potential.
- A feat that effectively kills you is not terribly good. And neither is a feat for 3 Focus.
- Arcane Void and the like can effectively shut him down.
Tricks & Tips
- Zap with Disintegration for a 2 point ARM debuff
- Force Hammer knocks enemies over - perfect for an assassination.
- Lukas can be primarily an assassination caster or a buff caster with some excellent buffs for his army.
- Bring healing (Mosby with Lynus & Edrea, Wretches) or else he will be severely hamstrung very early.
- He has a damage buff (Disintegration) which is rare in the faction outside of feats. He can get -6 ARM swings against enemy models every turn with Ragman or Hermit of Hengehold.
List Building Advice
Strategy
His main methods of winning are either spell assassination or attrition.
For spell assassination you need two Liberators and Lynus&Edrea with Dr. Morely (for healing Lukas) - 29 pts package. Stack Juice tokens and go to town with 17 focus (Turn 3) or 20 focus (Turn 4). Use Force Hammer and follow with Disintegrations, it's hard to resist since Liberators can channel while engaged.
His attrition plan doesn't have to use Lynus & Edrea but should still have Dr. Morely. This plan counts on a cloud wall delivering Lukas' army.
Theme thoughts
Magnum Opus seems like a natural home for Lukas as he needs at least Mosby for healing, and Mosby can't be taken in Prima Materia. Also PM is a 'jack theme, and Lukas generally does less for jacks than Locke, MacKay or Syvestro. He wants to be slinging spells, not allocating his focus to jacks.
Army
Basically every list should start with Alyce, Doctor Alejandro Mosby + chosen mercs and 1-2 Liberators.
Warjacks
- Liberator: A spellslinger loves himself some arc-nodes, preferably 2. Ashen Veil and Burning Ash also stack for effectively DEF 17.
- Vindicator: You'll want a quality attack to hit a Disintegrated target with. This machine's gun fits the bill.
- Vulcan: If you manage to knock down a caster, the Vulcan will likely kill it, but that's about it with the synergies.
Units
- Crucible Guard Assault Troopers clouds and Mirage make it easier for them to get their charge off. Also, Burning Ash and Ashen Veil again.
- Crucible Guard Infantry aren't all that stellar with him, but with Rust and Disintegration they got neat enough guns to shoot a knocked down caster to death.
- Crucible Guard Storm Troopers: Iron Flesh makes them likely to win a shooting war and they got some nice assassination vectors with arcing fire.
- Crucible Guard Rocketmen are even better with Iron Flesh for protection.
- Dragon's Breath Rockets can apply a long range ARM debuff and remove Tough for easier assassinations, or just point removal. Mirage is a great spell with weapon teams, especially ones as potent as the DBR.
Solos
- Aurum Legate Alyce Marc: A quintessential model for the Crucible Guard already, even more so with her husband thanks to his Healthcare rule. With or without Juicer, a Caster with only 5 focus is going to appreciate more focus efficiency. Note also that Alyce can always be taken with Lukas thanks to his Irregulars rule (this is highly relevant for Hearts of Darkness).
- Rocketman Ace You'll likely bring Rocketmen anyway, so a competent solo to contest and shoot things is nice, ever more so since it grants Dodge.
Mercenaries
- Lynus Wesselbaum & Edrea Lloryrr are Lukas' best friends. Lynus provides another source of healing and Applied Knowledge. Edrea removes clouds for clear sight. Couple this with the fact that you'll be running them under Mosby's command, and it is very possible to hit 9 juice tokens on feat turn without being too badly damaged.
- Doctor Alejandro Mosby is essential for Lukas, he provides a reliable heal.
- He normally attaches to Lynus and Edrea, for a medical team.
- If you're not going with Lynus & Edrea, you'll want a shooting Merc unit so Mosby can stand around and heal, rather than shouting PRESS FORWARD MEN. The Horgenhold Artillery is a good choice (and they love Lukas' debuff spells). Herne & Jonne are also a good choice, especially if you are running a lot of AOEs, such as from the DBR or Railless Interceptors.
- Major Harrison Gibbs's heal ability doesn't work on Lukas (different Factions. Keep in mind this also matters with Mosby, as he turns whatever unit he's attached to into a CG unit), but his Reposition does work on Lukas, Alyce, and Gorman. It also works on Thorn Gun Mages (if you really consider them as a option).
- Anastasia di Bray is a solid ambushing solo who can be paired with Hutchuk for a decent ambush & contest team. She also has Intelligence, which allows you to get +2 on the roll to go first which can be critical into some matchups (the logic of who should go first is very dense, but a good rule of thumb is that Guard does not want to get charged without at least two turns of shooting to soften up the enemy. This often means electing to go second, and take the table edge with more preferable terrain).
- Madelyn Corbeau can oddly out-compete Alyce for the warcaster attachement slot, thanks pretty much exclusively to Parlay. Into dude-spam lists (especially difficult-to-shoot-all-of-them weapon masters such as Doom Reavers or Dawnguard Sentinels), the Parlay can often buy you a turn as your opponent is forced to clear all the supporting infantry around Lukas in order to actually hit him. This is an unusual list building choice for Lukas that will catch opponents offguard.
- A Ogrun Bokur can be a cheap source of Shield Guard if you unwilling to spend points on Vanguards (such as when running a Vulcan) and you are not doing anything else with your Merc slot.
- Ragman is an extremely potent debuff solo with Crucible Guard thanks to Guard's existing ARM-debuff abilities (but lack of Dark Shroud). Pair him with Rocketmen & a Vulcan for a very scary ranged assassination (a strategy Lukas already wants to go for thanks to his effective spell slinging).
- A Steelhead Gunner is an option if you decide to run one of the Steelhead Weapon Teams with Mosby. While Siege Tactics does not work (the unit Mosby commands is Guard not Merc), Desparate Pace & Veteran Leader are good enough abilities to support a Steelhead Cannon Crew with its solid long range Quake.
As an Infernalist
Surprise! Lukas di Morray can be taken as an Infernal Warcaster in the Hearts of Darkness theme. This theme offers Lukas access to a number of powerful abilities not native to Crucible Guard, most importantly Accumulator: Soulless, Tactician, and the Infernal Gate's various powers. Notable Guard models for Lukas remain pretty much the same (Alyce, Dragon's Breath Rockets, Rocketmen, Liberators, and the Vulcan).
As such it is often better to think of Bad Guy Lukas as Guard Lukas who has traded his Merc slots (and Maker's Mark) for access to Infernal infantry & the Gate. While the options are quite different, the general goal should remain the same; double down on Lukas' potent spell assassination with long range firepower and support-clearing models. Howlers are of special note here, as the DBR & Trancers can really turn up their hitting power into otherwise comparable troops. Umbral Guardians are a straight upgrade (in terms of points efficiency) over Vanguards, and have the additional function of being Soulless models which can trigger Accumulator.
You'll typically want to avoid the non-Rocketmen Crucible Guard troops, as they take up precious slots and don't benefit from any specific synergies in Infernals. This of course is with the exception of the Gate, as it can gain the souls of any troops you bring. As such Infernal Gate + Crucible Guard Infantry may pan out to be a powerful area denial block, especially once layered with the other kinds of Infernal support.
Another model of note is the Wretch, and the spell that it provides in That Which Does Not Kill You (★ Action) - When an attack destroys one or more enemy models in this model's command range, you can remove d3 damage points from a friendly model in this model’s command range. That Which Does Not Kill You lasts for one turn. which may look hard to apply at speed 6 and CMD 8, but with Tactician and careful planning with your support, you can get them in good positions to heal up not only Lukas, but a Liberator that may have burned out their Arc Node. Further synergies include Orin2 with his ability to grant Lukas re-rolls, and Hermit who can either give a further arm debuff, or telemetry to make him effectively FOCUS 10 for slinging spells.
Other
Trivia
- Originally mentioned in the "Aftershock (Acts of War #2)" book. (2017.07)
- Released 2018.06
Other Crucible Guard models
Crucible Guard Index (Edit) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Battlegroup & Similar | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Warcasters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Warcaster attachments | Aurum Legate Alyce Marc (Crucible) - Sylys Wyshnalyrr (Mercenary) - Madelyn Corbeau (Mercenary) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other Warjack Controllers | Prospero (BGC) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Light | Liberator - Retaliator - Vanguard | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Heavy | Suppresor - Toro - Vindicator | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Colossal | Vulcan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Units, Solos, Battle Engines, & Structures | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Units |
Combat Alchemists -
CG Assault Troopers -
CG Infantry -
CG Rocketmen -
CG Storm Troopers -
Dragon's Breath Rocket -
Failed Experiments
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Solos |
Ascendant Mentalist - CG Mechanik - Gorman1 - Gorman2 - Hutchuk, Ogrun Bounty Hunter - Prospero - Rocketman Ace - Trancer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Battle Engines | Railless Interceptor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Theme Forces | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Magnum Opus - Prima Materia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mercenaries | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Refer to Who Works for Whom and/or Category: Crucible Guard Mercenary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This index was last updated: 2021.05 |
Video Battle Reports
- 2018.11 Arcane Assist 75 points vs Rasheth
- See also Category: Video Battle Reports for more casters with videos.
Rules Clarifications
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 : Exothermic Reaction (Edit)
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Rules Clarification: : Warcaster (Edit) | |||||
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Rules Clarification : Health Care - None yet. (Edit)
Rules Clarification : Juicer - None yet. (Edit)
Rules Clarification : Rapid Healing (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Burning Ash - None yet. (Edit)
Rules Clarification : Disintegration - None yet. (Edit)
Rules Clarification : Force Hammer and/or Thunder Strike (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Iron Flesh (Edit) |
Rules Clarification : Mirage (Edit)
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