Revision as of 11:50, 20 January 2022

Beast 09 Khador Character Heavy Warjack

Originally known simply by the designation "09" by its master Sorscha, based on its allocation to her, the 'jack nevertheless gained her respect over the years proving to be a ferocious fighter. It still bears the designation 09 to this day despite having outlasted all those that came before it and many that came after it. Sorscha named the Juggernaut Beast after its timely arrival and mighty axe swings saved her life in the Llael campaign. After the invasion was complete Sorscha ordered Beast 09 to be fitted with parts from a wrecked Kodiak and be issued with an improved ice axe known as Ice Breaker. Beast 09 has picked up Sorscha's inherent ruthlessness and takes some enjoyment from each kill. Blows striking its armored hull only serve to drive it toward murder. Sorscha has found Beast 09 to be an invaluable tool, especially when outnumbered, as he always evens the odds.

Basic Info

Beast 09
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Large SPD 4 STR 12 MAT 8 RAT N/A M.A. N/A DEF 10 ARM 20 CMD N/A ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS N/A FURY N/A THRS N/A HP 34 F. Field N/A WJP {{{wjp}}} WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA C UNIT SIZE N/A COST 16 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

• Construct
• Immunity: Cold
• Bond [ Sorscha ] - If this model begins the game in Sorscha's battlegroup, it is bonded to them. This model is not considered to be bonded while under your opponent's control. While this model is bonded to Sorscha and in their control range, it gains Shield Guard. (Shield Guard - When a friendly model is directly hit by a non-spray ranged attack during your opponent's turn while within 3" of a model with Shield Guard, you can choose to have the model with Shield Guard directly hit instead. It is automatically hit and suffers all damage and effects. A model can use Shield Guard only once per round and cannot use Shield Guard if it is incorporeal, knocked down, or stationary. The Shield Guard special rule can only trigger once per attack roll.)
• Hyper-Aggressive - When this model suffers damage from an enemy attack at any time except while it is advancing, after the attack is resolved it can immediately make a full advance directly toward the attacking model.
• Murderous - This model gains an additional die on melee attack rolls against warrior models.

Weapons

Open Fist
		RNG				POW				P+S				LOCATION
		1				3				15				Left
Open Fist
Ice Breaker
		RNG				POW				P+S				LOCATION
		2				7				19				Right
Critical Freeze - On a critical hit, the model hit becomes stationary for one round unless it has Immunity: Cold. Thresher (★ Attack) - This model makes one melee attack with this weapon against each model in its LOS that is in this weapon's melee range. Thresher attacks are simultaneous.

Theme Forces

• When taken by Sorscha1, Sorscha2, or Sorscha3
  • Armored Korps
  • Flame in the Darkness
  • Jaws of the Wolf. Beast 09 gains Pathfinder in this theme.
  • Legion of Steel
  • Warriors of the Old Faith
  • Winter Guard Kommand
  • Wolves of Winter

• When taken by Sorscha0
  • Jaws of the Wolf. Beast 09 gains Pathfinder in this theme.
  • Winter Guard Kommand
  • Infernal players can take Sorscha0 & Beast in the Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Malakov2 is leading the army. Beast gains Accumulator [Soulless] in this theme.

• When taken by anyone else
  • Winter Guard Kommand

Recent Changes

2021.10 Mega Update

• -2 points cost
• Shield Guard gains a clause to say "once per attack" so you can't chain multiple Shield Guards together to move an attack halfway across the table.

Thoughts on Beast 09

Sorscha0

Beast 09 in a Nutshell

Much like the Juggernaut of which it is an "evolved" from, Beast-09 is a beatstick heavy melee jack. Unlike the Juggy, Beast has 1" farther reach, excels at killing swarms of infantry thanks to Thresher and Murderous, helps alleviate its slow speed with Hyper-Aggressive, and is a Shield Guard model when controlled by any version of Sorscha. However, it does require careful positioning the turn before to get use out of any of that. Its high MAT and Murderous ability also make it particularly deadly to enemy casters, if one is foolish enough to get within range (or when combined with the right range extenders).

In a straight comparison to the Juggernaut:

• +3 points cost
• Dies just as easily as a Juggernaut, and the weapons don't hit any harder.
• The axe reaches further, has +1 MAT, +d6 to hit vs warriors, and has the Thresher attack.
• Immunity: Cold, Hyper-Aggressive, and sometimes Shield Guard.

A lot of its value comes from the fact that everything is its preferred target - its just as happy destroying heavy jacks/beasts as it is masses of infantry. However, it's an expensive upgrade that demands that you be selective about where you send it. Let cheaper models take charges so Beast can follow up and be the offensive piece it needs to be. If you're not careful and use it just as a Juggernaut with 1" farther reach, you could very easily trade down.

Combos & Synergies

Sorscha1

Sorscha2

    With Sorscha    
As a Bonded warjack it can be taken in any theme and gains Shield Guard with Sorscha, which is an excellent ability to accompany the often fragile ice queen 'caster and force Hyper-Aggressive moves where the opponent really doesn't want them. It is essentially the big daddy to Sorscha's little sister.

• Sorscha0: Shield Guard on a Large base is absolutely perfect for protecting a squishy solo from ranged assassinations, Fog of War offers some protection and Boundless Charge is excellent on Beast as ever. She has just enough focus to load Beast up for a frenzy and will continue to help her Winter Guard comrades even after Beast has done its job and retired for the day. Aside from Sorscha, Beast can also protect her warcaster, which casters like Butcher3 or Karchev & Deathjack will love. In a pinch they can also take over beast if Sorscha dies before Beast does. DJ K's kit is pretty awesome with it.
• Sorscha1: Sorscha's rapid pace fits well with Beast's movement abilities which she can further augment with Boundless Charge, she enjoys Shield Guard quite a bit and if Beast happens to freeze something she can Shatter it even outside of the feat turn.
• Sorscha2: Her feat is an amazing damage multiplier on a high-damage 'jack like Beast, she still has Shatter and can now use Freezer to keep frozen models frozen for longer and Boundless Charge lets Beast continue to keep pace with her.
• Sorscha3: Beast is an excellent Flanker, might just be the quintessential Stoke the Fires target and the Cold Immunity lets you use cold tricks on or near it without hesitation, including targeting it with Winter's Wrath to easily freeze enemies surrounding it. It protects her with Shield Guard, she protects it with Storm's Embrace and her feat.

    With Other Casters    
When not on Sorscha, Beast-09 is limited to the Winter Guard Kommand theme, but there are still plenty of opportunities to capitalize on its strengths with more traditional jack casters. Beast especially appreciates a buff to its threat range on top of Sorscha0's Boundless Charge. A combat heavy with a 13" threat range is quite good.

• Vladimir1: His feat plus Boundless Charge can catapult Beast-09 14", deep into enemy lines. Even just the threat of doing so can be trouble for the opponent, since there's almost nothing that isn't prey to Beast.
• Karchev2: With a similar feat as Vlad1, plus Death Ward and Locked Horns for extra survivability, this premium jack caster is unsurprisingly an excellent controller for this premium jack. You can even bring Sorscha0 along for Boundless Charge, but give her a more disposable jack while Karchev keeps Beast all to himself, or give Beast to her to have a very durable Shield Guard, and take over Beast if Sorscha dies.
• Strakhov1: With his feat, Superiority, a triggered Overrun move, and a Boundless Charge from Sorscha0, Beast-09 can reach a ludicrous 23" melee threat! And when fully loaded with Focus at MAT8 Murderous and POW19, he's almost guaranteed to kill an enemy caster when he gets there. Even if you can't quite get there, this potent assassination threat can help limit your opponent's options.
• Kozlov1: Kozlov loves a jack with 2" melee reach to help trigger his Field Marshal: Gang Fighter, and Beast is actually 1pt cheaper than the only non-character option (Spriggan).
• Zerkova1: Beast-09 is an excellent Watcher target: with excellent MAT, Murderous, and Critical Freeze, he can shut down an assassination attempt immediately, or even just punish careless positioning on your opponent's part.
• Butcher1 - Full Throttle gives the beast a free charge and boosted Thresher attacks, meaning it rolls 4 dice against living models and still 3 against non-living. On feat turn you can even have boosted damage rolls as well. Vengeful is a great spell on Beast, to make it so the enemy cannot engage it safely in melee or at range.
• Butcher3- He loves himself a Shield Guard and Beast loves Energizer.
• Irusk1 - Superiority is an amazing buff for Beast, especially the MAT buff which, with Murderous, means its swings are near inescapable.
• Irusk2 - Energizer again, and he is squishy, so loves a Shield Guard.

    Other Models    
Beast-09 is a pretty straight-forward melee jack that generally kills whatever it touches, so there's not a ton in the way of synergies outside its battlegroup. That said, the standard jack support applies:

• Battle Mechaniks - While typically hard to reach, Beast-09 can be Repaired.
• Greylord Forge Seer - He cannot 'Jack Marshal Beast unless you're playing out-of-theme, because the only time the two of them are in the same theme is when Sorcha is the boss of Beast. That said he can buff Beast:
  • He can give Beast a focus and clear Disruption via Empower.
  • He can give Beast Freezer, which puts opponents in a double bind. They can make melee attacks vs Beast, but suffer stationary at the end of their activation; or they can shoot Beast and trigger his Hyper-Aggrressive.
  • Beast gains Flank [Man-o-War] while controlled by Sorscha3 and the Forge Seer is a Man-o-War model.
• Colbie Sterling/Gobber Tinker/Raluk Moorclaw/Widget1/Tubbin: These five are Mechanikally Adept, meaning they can Repair Khador models.

Drawbacks & Downsides

Sorscha3

• Typical for Khadoran warjacks, it has low native SPD and DEF.
• It lacks native Pathfinder.
• It's an expensive warjack lacking additional defenses.
• If it can't reach melee it can't do much.
• You don't get to choose your facing after triggering Hyper-Aggressive.
• Despite the benefits it get from its bond, none of the Sorscha care all that much for Beast:
  • Sorscha0 can be sniped rather easily and losing control of a 18 pt jack can be detrimental, so she often just takes a Rager or Marauder.
  • Sorscha1 like ranged jacks more to pop-n-drop enemies after her feat.
  • Same with Sorscha2.
  • Sorscha3 needs to take thee jacks at minimum with lost of initials to make the most of her Field Marshal, so Beast's price tag become a cause for concern.

Tricks & Tips

• Beast-09 appreciates any SPD buff it can lay its axe on (Boundless Charge, Stoke the Fires, etc.).
• Beast has one of the rare 2" melee weapons available to Khador warjacks, making it ideal to threaten free strikes. Add in the extra attack die from Murderous, and the Critical Freeze effect with an effective MAT 10 and you can see why warrior models will almost never risk free strikes from the Beast.
• You can trigger Hyper-Aggressive multiple times throughout your turn.
• Hyper-Aggressive is not mandatory! Don't advance Beast-09 if it will put it in a bad position or open it up to more attacks.
• Shield Guard is a great way to trigger Hyper-Aggressive. With Kommandant Kratikoff you can chain Shield Guard into Hyper-Aggressive into Countercharge for an impressive amount of out-of-activation actions.
• Murderous works on your power attacks too - if you cannot find a good spot for Thresher, feel free to trample around with 3d6 on the attack rolls.
• You can use Thresher for charge attacks, but only the charge target has its damage boosted from the charge.

Other

Trivia

• Released in Warmachine: Legends (2008).
• Beast is one of the few remaining warjacks that doesn't have a plastic/resin (re)sculpt.
• When he was spoiled in mk1, the image filename was "Mammoth.jpg". If you translate the runes on his cowl, it spells Mammoth. Obviously the name "Beast-09" was a last minute change.

Other Khador models

Khador Index       (Edit)
Battlegroup & Similar
Warcasters	Butcher1 - Butcher2 - Butcher3 - Harkevich - Irusk1 - Irusk2 - Karchev1 - Karchev2 - Kozlov - Malakov2 - Old Witch1 - Old Witch2 - Sorscha1 - Sorscha2 - Sorscha3 - Strakhov1 - Strakhov2 - Vlad1 - Vlad2 - Vlad3 - Zerkova1 - Zerkova2
Warcaster attachments	Khador: War Dog - Greylord Adjunct Mercenary: Madelyn Corbeau - Reinholdt - Wyshnalyrr
Other Warjack Controllers	"Junior" Warcasters: Malakov1 - Sorscha0 'Jack Marshals: Man-o-War Kovnik - Greylord Forge Seer
Heavy Warjacks	Beast-09 - Behemoth - Berserker - Black Ivan - Decimator - Demolisher - Destroyer - Devastator - Drago - Grolar - Juggernaut - Kodiak - Mad Dog - Marauder - Rager - Ruin - Spriggan - Torch
Colossal	Conquest - Victor
Units, Solos, & Battle Engines
Units	Assault Kommandos - Battle Mechaniks - Black Dragons - Doom Reaver Swordsmen - Great Bears of the Gallowswood - Greylord Outriders - Greylord Ternion - Iron Fang Pikemen - Iron Fang Uhlans - Kayazy Assassins - Kayazy Eliminators - Kossite Woodsmen - MOW Atanas & Standard - MOW Bombardiers - MOW Demolition Corps - MOW Shocktroopers - Widowmaker Scouts - WG Field Gun - WG Infantry - WG Mortar Crew - WG Rifle Corps Ranking Officer CA : Koldun Kapitan Valachev
Solos	Bulkhead - Fenris - Greylord Adjunct - Greylord Forge Seer - Iron Fang Kovnik - Jozef - Koldun Lord - Malakov1 - Manhunter - MOW Drakhun - MOW Kovnik - MOW Strike Tanker - MOW Suppresion Tanker - Markov - Sofya - Sorscha0 - Ol' Grim - Underboss Vizkoya - War Dog - Widowmaker Marksman - WG Artillery Kapitan - Yuri1 - Yuri2
Battle Engines	Gun Carriage - Man-o-War Siege Chariot - Man-o-War Assault Chariot
Theme Forces
Armored Korps - Flame in the Darkness - Jaws of the Wolf - Legions of Steel - Warriors of the Old Faith - Winter Guard Kommand - Wolves of Winter
Mercenaries
Refer to Who Works for Whom and/or Category: Khador Mercenary
This index was last updated: 2021.11

Rules Clarifications

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 : Freeze      (Edit) Remember Stationary only prevents what it says it does. Refer the page on Stationary for a refresher.

Rules Clarification : Thresher      (Edit) Thresher is a special attack. If you make additional attacks, they will be a single basic attack (you cannot buy additional special attacks). Thresher is optional. All attacks generated are Special Attacks. Thresher will hit friendly models. Simultaneous melee attack (Edit) There are several abilities/spells that allow a model to make simultaneous melee attacks vs everything in range (Blood Reaper, Cyclone, Flashing Blade, High-Impact, Thresher)       Some have Infernal Rulings that pertain only to themselves, but the clarifications below are applicable to all of these abilities:   [Show/Hide] Targeting/Timing To make a multi-melee-attack (MMA) you have to make individual melee attacks vs every model, and this means you need to target every model with a melee attack. If a model "may not be targeted by melee attacks" (such as Una2's feat) then you have to 'skip' it when you resolve the attack. (Infernal Ruling) The attacks are effectively multiple separate attacks. If you have a buff to your "next attack" (such as Tune Up) then it only works vs the first model you roll dice against, not vs every enemy. (Infernal Ruling). The attacks are simultaneous. If a model is out of LOS when you start the MMA, then you may not attack it during the MMA (even if the MMA kills what is blocking your LOS). You need to target everything, then resolve all effects that trigger on "target" before starting any attack rolls. Then complete all attack rolls and do everything that triggers on "hit" before starting any damage rolls, and etc. In practice and to save time though, if neither player has effects that trigger on "being targetted, hit, damaged, etc" then they'll normally do the hit and damage rolls on a model-by-model basis. If a model collects tokens from destroyed models (for instance the Cryx Harrower that collects souls), it cannot collect any tokens until all MMA are resolved. Charging If you charge and cast a spell to generate MMA, then none of those MMA count as a charge attack. You've "paused" your charge. If the charge target survives the spell, then you get to make a normal charge attack vs it. If your MMA is simply tied to your weapon, then only the damage roll against your charge target is automatically boosted - other models caught in the MMA suffer an unboosted damage roll (although you can spend focus/fury to boost it) Triggering other abilities Most abilities that give the attacker a bonus move/attack tend to use the phrase "destroy one or more enemy models with a melee attack" and as such you'll only trigger this ability once. For example Berserk, Quick Work, Black Spot, etc Other abilities, that trigger on "hit" or "damage", can be triggered from every attack in the MMA. Many abilities only trigger off a basic melee attack, so don't work with special MMA (like Thresher). But if your MMA is basic (like High-Impact), things might get a bit complicated. In particular: If you have Beat Back on the attacker, it is resolved after the attack. Every model that survives the MMA is eligible to be Beat Back-ed, and the attacker chooses the order. Pick one, push it and follow it, then decide if you want to Beat Back another survivor. Each push will recenter the directly away / directly toward part of the push. (Infernal Ruling) If you have Electro-Leap on the attack, it is resolved after all attack rolls but before any damage rolls. The models that you just attacked will have electo-leaps bounce between them (as they will generally be the closest to each other). After the Electro damage is resolved, you can roll melee damage vs any models that survived the electric damage. (Infernal Ruling)

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 : Cold - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Bond      (Edit) Bonds are ineffective while the model is under your opponent's control. Refer the core rulebook. Bonds & Themes If a warjack/warbeast with a bond is in that caster's battlegroup, they can be taken in any theme force. Refer the core rulebook. This is true even if the caster isn't a full warcaster or warlock (this interaction changed as of 2018.06).

Rules Clarification : Shield Guard and/or Shadow Guardian     (Edit) You can't use this ability vs spells. You shift all effects onto the new model, including stuff that triggers on "when this attack hits". When you use this ability vs an AOE attack, the template moves too. Because, with reference to Apdx A, the hit 'moves' at Step 6 and the template placement is determined at Step 7. This ability doesn't work vs Point Blank attacks. Because Point Blank attacks are melee attacks that are made using a ranged weapon. On the other hand, it will work vs Gunfighter attacks. Shield Guard only Since Shield Guard specifies "opponent's turn", it can't be used against stuff that shoots in your own turn (such as Watcher or Counterblast). The Shield Guard does not necessarily need to be in the attacker's LOS or range. The Shield Guarder is always hit even if they have an ability that makes them automatically get missed, such as Stealth. (Automatically missing is determined earlier in the timing sequence than the Shield Guard moving the hit.) (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Hyper-Aggressive      (Edit) Because you must move directly towards your attacker, you cannot change facing after completing your Hyper-Aggressive move. HA can be triggered more than once per turn.

Rules Clarification : Murderous - None yet. (Edit)