Lich Lord Venethrax

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Cryx Logo.jpg Lich Lord Venethrax

Cryx Warcaster

Lich Lord Venethrax is supremely well suited to root out and destroy the Dragonfather's dark progeny. He is given to an obsessive, sometimes narrow focus of his duties, and his every thought is devoted to details of the draconic war. His vast web of agents has spread across the mainland, listening for whispers of the dragons and their plans. they have gathered the corrupt lore of ancient Morrdh, studied tales of the dragon Ethrunbal's defeat within Ios, and learned rumors of a new legion of blighted elves commanding dragon-spawned creatures far in the Immoren north.

Basic Info

Venethrax1
Missing Info
34069 LichLordVenethrax WEB.jpg
COST {{{cacost}}}
UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}}
FA {{{cafa}}}
Warcaster 0
BASE Medium
SPD 6
STR {{{str}}}
MAT 8
RAT N/A
M.A. N/A
DEF 15
ARM 17
CMD N/A
ESSENCE {{{essence}}}
FOCUS 7
FURY N/A
THRS N/A
HP 18
F. Field N/A
WJP +26
WBP {{{wbp}}}
IHP {{{ihp}}}
FA N/A
UNIT SIZE N/A
COST N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Warcaster 1
COST N/A
N/A
Understanding
the Statblock

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.
  • Undead symbol.jpg Undead
  • 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 {{{1}}} during your next Control Phase, replace each soul token with 1 {{{2}}} point.
  • Dismember - When this model hits a warbeast with a melee attack, roll an additional damage die.
  • Field Marshal [Countercharge] - Warbeasts/warjacks in this model's battlegroup gain Countercharge.

Weapons

  • Wyrmbane - 2" reach, P+S 15 melee weapon.
    • Magical dam symbol.jpg Damage Type: Magical
    • Eruption of Ash - If a model is boxed by an attack made with this weapon, center a 3" AOE cloud on it then RFP it. The AOE is a hazard that remains in play for one round. Enemy models within the AOE when it is put into play suffer a POW 12 fire damage roll. Enemy models entering or ending their activation in the AOE suffer a POW 12 fire damage roll. Eruption of Ash damage rolls cannot be boosted.

Spells

  • |-

|colspan=7 style="text-align:left; font-size:110%; border-right: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff;"| |colspan=1 style="text-align:left; font-size:110%; border-right: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff; border-bottom: 1px solid #fff;"| |- |style="text-align:left; font-size:110%; border-bottom: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff;" rowspan=1| Blood Rain ! style="border-top: 1px solid #A8A8A8;"| 3

! 8

! 3

! 12 (Corrode)

! -

! Yes

|style="border-bottom: 1px solid #fff; border-right: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff; border-top: 1px solid #fff;"| |- |colspan=8 style="text-align:left; border-bottom: 1px solid #fff; border-right: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff; border-top: 1px solid #fff;"|Blood rain causes corrosion damage. Models hit suffer the Corrosion continuous effect.

  • |-

|colspan=7 style="text-align:left; font-size:110%; border-right: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff;"| |colspan=1 style="text-align:left; font-size:110%; border-right: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff; border-bottom: 1px solid #fff;"| |- |style="text-align:left; font-size:110%; border-bottom: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff;" rowspan=1| Deadweight ! style="border-top: 1px solid #A8A8A8;"| 2

! 8

! -

! 12

! (★)

! Yes

|style="border-bottom: 1px solid #fff; border-right: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff; border-top: 1px solid #fff;"| |- |colspan=8 style="text-align:left; border-bottom: 1px solid #fff; border-right: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff; border-top: 1px solid #fff;"|When Deadweight destroys an enemy living or undead model, choose an enemy model within 2" of it. The chosen model must forfeit either its Normal Movement or its Combat Action during its next activation, as its controller chooses.

  • |-

|colspan=7 style="text-align:left; font-size:110%; border-right: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff;"| |colspan=1 style="text-align:left; font-size:110%; border-right: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff; border-bottom: 1px solid #fff;"| |- |style="text-align:left; font-size:110%; border-bottom: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff;" rowspan=1| Lamentation ! style="border-top: 1px solid #A8A8A8;"| 3

! SELF

! -

! -

! Upkeep

! No

|style="border-bottom: 1px solid #fff; border-right: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff; border-top: 1px solid #fff;"| |- |colspan=8 style="text-align:left; border-bottom: 1px solid #fff; border-right: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff; border-top: 1px solid #fff;"|When an enemy model casts a spell while in the spellcaster's control range, double the COST of the spell. Additionally, enemy models must pay double to upkeep spells on models/units in the spellcaster's control range.

  • |-

|colspan=7 style="text-align:left; font-size:110%; border-right: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff;"| |colspan=1 style="text-align:left; font-size:110%; border-right: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff; border-bottom: 1px solid #fff;"| |- |style="text-align:left; font-size:110%; border-bottom: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff;" rowspan=1| Mortality ! style="border-top: 1px solid #A8A8A8;"| 3

! 10

! -

! -

! Round

! Yes

|style="border-bottom: 1px solid #fff; border-right: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff; border-top: 1px solid #fff;"| |- |colspan=8 style="text-align:left; border-bottom: 1px solid #fff; border-right: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff; border-top: 1px solid #fff;"|Target model/unit suffers -2 DEF and ARM, loses Tough, and cannot have damage removed from it. Mortality lasts for one round.

  • |-

|colspan=7 style="text-align:left; font-size:110%; border-right: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff;"| |colspan=1 style="text-align:left; font-size:110%; border-right: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff; border-bottom: 1px solid #fff;"| |- |style="text-align:left; font-size:110%; border-bottom: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff;" rowspan=1| Terminal Velocity ! style="border-top: 1px solid #A8A8A8;"| 3

! SELF

! Control

! -

! Turn

! No

|style="border-bottom: 1px solid #fff; border-right: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff; border-top: 1px solid #fff;"| |- |colspan=8 style="text-align:left; border-bottom: 1px solid #fff; border-right: 1px solid #fff; border-left: 1px solid #fff; border-top: 1px solid #fff;"|Warjacks in the spellcaster's battlegroup that are currently in its control range can charge or make power attacks without spending focus and gain boosted melee attack rolls against living models. When an affected model targets a living model with a charge or slam power attack, it gains +2" movement. Terminal Velocity lasts for one turn.

Feat: Vengeance of the Dragonfather

Enemy models cannot allocate focus points to, or leach fury points from, models in Venethrax's control range. Vengeance of the Dragonfather lasts for one round.

Tip lightbulb.png

Tip !
A warlock damaging itself to gain fury points is also classified as leaching. If you catch a warlock and his battlegroup in your feat, there is no way they can gain fury in their next turn! (As always, there are exceptions to the "no way to gain fury". For instance, Thagrosh's Athanc rule lets him get fury.)

Theme Forces


Thoughts on Lich Lord Venethrax

Lich Lord Venethrax in a nutshell

Venny is a warjack-oriented-brutality made incarnate. He is a powerful Hordes counter, probably the best Cryx has, with Terminal Velocity, Mortality, and his feat all tailor-made to squash living armies like pumpkins. By himself, he can even kill Gargantuans with a good charge.

While pretty powerful and quite resilient, Venethrax is more of a mid-range caster than frontline. Be very careful how you position him, as he may die pretty quickly if overextended. You should pick your targets carefully while remembering that he is quite able to handle himself in a fight, just don't expose him too much.

However, don't except much support for troops. Venny doesn't like nor cares for foot soldiers.

Feat thoughts

Venethrax's feat is pretty straightforward. Against Warmachine armies, enemy warjacks lose a lot of effectiveness during a crucial turn. Against Hordes, you should use your feat the turn where the enemy's warbeast are full of FURY. The enemy warlock will have to deal with having little fury to play with and most of his beasts frenzying. This is also a great feat to prevent enemy from making retaliatory strikes when you go in for the kill.

However, the feat also has a number of caveats and subtleties. First, it does not prevent warlocks from replenishing their fury through Reaving or via Spirit Bond; on the flipside, the feat does prevent warlocks from cutting for fury, as this is a form of leaching. Second, the feat does not prevent fury managers like Paingiver Beast Handlers or Shifting Stones from doing their jobs on any beasts which pass their frenzy test. Lastly, remember that failing the frenzy check itself is no sure thing and that your opponent will be the one choosing the order in which beasts take their tests in the first place.

Taking these points together, one conclusion is that you will generally get less mileage out of feating on turns where you intend to remove some of your opponent's beasts from the table. Thus, a good feat turn may sometimes involve scalpeling out key support pieces while jamming or baiting those beasts most likely to frenzy. Machine wraiths are exceptionally good candidates for this job. With smart positioning and a little luck, frenzied beasts can incur painful free strikes, be pulled out of scenario zones or control areas, and lured into countercharge range. However, do not neglect to account for the possibility that some of your opponents' beasts will get lucky and pass their frenzy check. Operate under the assumption that your opponent will be able to retain control over their beasts on their turn and try to position your pieces in such a way as to account for either contingency.

Against Warmachine, the feat's effects are more easily predictable, with a lower ceiling for chaos. Again, there are a number of ways to gain focus that do not count as allocation, such as Power Up, Accumulator, or Empower. Factions with special rules for how their battlegroups interact with focus, such as Cephalyx and Convergence, are particularly untroubled by Venethrax's feat (although with Monstrosities being living models, Terminal Velocity becomes a relevant threat again). However, one potentially overlooked dimension of the feat is how scary it is for enemy colossals. A list which fields a colossal is more or less always planning on allocating it a full stack of focus every turn; denying allocation on a critical turn can severely limit their offensive output, especially when combined with a well-placed application of Deadweight. Sidenote: unlike Grievous Wounds, Mortality does prevent colossals from removing damage.

Spell thoughts

Venethrax's signature spell of Terminal Velocity is situationally fantastic - particularly against living high-def spams - but it is limiting to think of this as his only gimmick, because the rest of his spell list is also very strong.

You will usually want to take at least one arc node with him to project the full range of threats on his spell card, particularly Deadweight.

A further note about his spell list: with the exception of the aforementioned Deadweight, all are base COST 3, which means Venethrax appreciates any spellcasting or jack support he can get. Taking a Spell Slave attachment is usually a good call, as it will have three solid options to cast from his card.

Easing his own focus burden for jack support by means of abilities like Empower or Accumulator also helps out his spellcasting potential tremendously.

  • Blood Rain : Venethrax's only AoE spell. Best used against one wound infantry.
  • Deadweight : Hard to pull-off but a reliable way to remove mobility from a target. Can be extremely powerful.
  • Lamentation : If everything costs more for the enemy warcaster, he will have less resources to hurt you. Cast it once turn 1, upkeep whole game.
  • Mortality : A good debuff spell, remove a lot of defensives layers from the target and prevent warbeast from healing a crippled aspect. Note that it is not an upkeep.
  • Terminal Velocity : Signature spell, make your warjacks FOCUS effective against living target. Automaticaly boosted attack increase your chances of critical.

Drawbacks & Downsides

  • For his statline he is rather squishy, do not overextend. He is also hard-pressed against sniping. Keep an Inflictor ready.
  • Venethrax hates infantry. He doesn't need them, and he has no buffs to make them more effective. Just take more Warjacks.
  • At the same time, Venethrax's strong spell list and desire to position himself aggressively puts a lot of strain on focus allocation decisions, especially on turns where you will be casting Terminal Velocity.
  • Unlike his fellow Lich Lords Asphyxious the Hellbringer or Lord Exhumator Scaverous, Venethrax does not have ready access to the kind of remote harvesting tools that would enable him to hop aboard the soul train to focus city.
  • To add insult to injury, he can't even use his own weapon to try and get souls himself, as he has to RFP anything he boxes.
  • While amazing against Hordes, sometimes he has problems against Jack-heavy armies and other non-living, as his signature spell, Terminal Velocity, is moot on them.
  • Read what his feat does carefully! It does not stop reaving from destroyed warbeasts, nor does it stop power up.

Tricks & Tips

  • Always have Lamentation on.
  • Jacks can be great at blocking charge lines without being in the way thanks to Countercharge.
  • A well-placed Deadweight can turn the game around. Crippling a Warcaster's ability to escape is very effective.
  • Mortality can alleviate problems with high-ARM or high-DEF models as well as cripple regenerators.
  • If you get him into melee with a couple enemy warrior models, he can make a nifty cloud wall to stand safely behind so long as you keep your targets at the edge of his reach. Just remember that you won't get their souls, unless the eruption happens to kill a dude within cull range.
  • Countercharge can be used to punish models that rely on abilities like Reposition, Sprint, Dodge, Side Step, or Vengeance. Similarly, it can completely neutralize powerful one-time effects like Admonition or Enliven.
  • Eruption of Ash from your melee attack is not optional. Be careful not to block unintentionally your LOS to targets with the newly placed clouds (for example if you want to cast an offensive spell afterwards). You should also refrain from melee attacks with this weapon, if you want to use those targets to fuel your soul/corpse gathering mechanisms (see Drawbacks).

List Building Advice

Strategy

Venethrax has to open the game with attrition on his mind. Venethrax doesn't have a very reliable spell assassination. Without a way to give pathfinder, even with Terminal Velocity he can struggle to deliver a jack to the caster's face.

Use your force multipliers like Countercharge and Terminal Velocity to shift the battle in your favor. Reduce your opponent's ability to hit you back using the feat, Lamentation, and Deadweight. As the lines come closer together, leverage Venethrax's impressive personal combat abilities.

Things you take in his army to help him achieve this strategy is Jacks, Jacks, Jacks. If this is not enough, throw in more Jacks.

While his spells give Heavies a lot more punching power, Venny also loves to have light Jacks to create charge choke points with Countercharge.

Theme thoughts

As a 'jack caster Venny prefers to be in either Black Industries or Slaughter Fleet Raiders, although a case can be made for taking him in Dark Host.

    Black Industries    

  • Withershadow Combine are a great help for Venethrax. He always wants Lamentation for Admonia, Mortality is perhaps the best spell Maelovus can cast, and several jacks means Tremulus should almost always have a good target to help with Puppet Strings, although helping Venethrax cast a Dead Weight is a great use of the spell as well.
  • A Soul Trapper if you have a spare point.
  • This theme is full of jacks, but see the #Battlegroup section for advice on non-character jacks.

    Slaughter Fleet Raiders    
In comparison to BI, the jacks in SFR are weaker vs guns but hit harder when they do arrive. Also, SFR has access to a lot more units. So it's your choice whether you want a pure jack force in BI, or a combined force here.

    Dark Host    

  • Between their native ghostly for ignoring terrain and the strong delivery benefits of the Dark Host theme, the only issue Banes really need help with is MAT-fixing, which Venethrax does support via Mortality (It also helps that Bane Lord Tartarus and his veteran leadership is a free choice inside that theme).
  • If you do go with a combined arms approach in Dark Host, Bane Riders in particular are an intriguing choice with Venethrax, because they solve their own MAT issues, but more importantly can keep pace with or flat outrun the jacks. Leading with a vanguard of Bane Riders while leaving a second wave of jacks in position to countercharge can be an effective way to unpack against opponents who you out-threat. Since ghostly allows them to ignore free strikes when they reposition, Bane Riders are able to charge and dig into the back arc of their targets, threatening free strikes on a potential feat-turn frenzy; alternately, you can use reposition to dictate which model the beast is likely to frenzy into. In either case, on a feat turn against Hordes, you will leave your opponent with little choice but to try to remove them, incurring a Vengeance move next turn.

Battlegroup

  • The birdjacks, Shrike & Scavenger, can Countercharge from behind the frontline (so they don't get charged themselves) and don't care about intervening models (so don't need to worry about their countercharge lane getting blocked).
    • Note that they do need LOS to trigger countercharge, though.
  • Inflictors are good to have against shooty armies, as Venny is not that tough on his own and can be sniped if too exposed. The Inflictor also has a nice critical ability to go with with Terminal Velocity, and its two inches of reach helps create more possibilities for Countercharge.
  • Desecrators
    • Have a much better chance to get their Critical Shred with Terminal Velocity.
    • They have pathfinder innately, which Venny appreciates.
    • Grievous Wounds on its melee weapon is likewise an extremely useful tool against Hordes.
    • In addition, the pseudo-scather template on their guns is an effective countermeasure against the kinds of massed single-wound weapon master infantry which jack-heavy lists tend to struggle with.
    • The downside is that taking a Desecrator sort of requires you to take Bane units which Venethrax does not directly support.

Other

Trivia

Other Cryx models

Cryx Logo.jpg       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

RC symbol.png

Rules Clarification : Feat - Vengeance of the Dragonfather

RC symbol.png

Rules Clarification:  : Magical Damage      (Edit)
(Click Expand to read)

* 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)
  • All spells have "Damage Type: Magical" (refer errata).
    • This is inherited by "immediate" secondary damage (such as Eruption of Spines). (Infernal Ruling)
    • and might be inherited by "lingering" secondary damage (see below).
  • If a spell leaves a template in play that does damage to models that walk around in it, then:
    • if it is not described as a hazard it will do magical damage to models that walk around in it. (Example: Razor Wall)
    • if it is a hazard then it will not do magical damage to models that walk around in it. Instead, it does whatever damage type is specified by the spell description. (Example: Breath of Corruption).
    • (Infernal Ruling)
  • If a weapon/spell includes Magic Damage and another kind of elemental damage it will still damage Incorporeal models. Incorporeal models are not affected by the rule "if an attack does multiple types of damage and a model is immune to at least one it is immune to the entire attack."
    The phrase "immune to non-magical damage" should be interpreted as "immune to damage that doesn't include Damage Type: Magical" (not interpreted as "has immunity to Corrosion and Electricity and Cold and etc.")
RC symbol.png

Rules Clarification : Eruption of Ash      (Edit)

  • If Eruption of Ash is on a magical weapon, then the initial attack can hurt an incorporeal model. However, the AOE that is put into play by the weapon is not magical and doesn't harm them.
  • Templates that do damage (Edit)   [Show/Hide]
    • Most templates that do damage to models that walk into them are defined as "Hazards" (such as Burning Ground) but there are a few that aren't Hazards (such as Creeping Barrage and Wall of Fire). The differences are:
      • A hazard is a terrain element
      • Damage from a hazard template is never considered to be from the model or weapon/spell that put it into play. So hazards never gain special rules of the weapon/spell (such as a Damage Type or Poison), nor does it gain special rules of the model (such as Hand of Fate).
      • Damage from a non-hazard template is considered to be from the model that put it in play. So non-hazards do get stuff like Hand of Fate. (Infernal Ruling)
      • Damage from a hazard is not from an attack (so won't trigger stuff like Vengeance)
      • Damage from a non-hazard is also not from an attack. Instead it will be a Special Action (Covering Fire), or a "instead of making an attack, place a template" (Creeping Barrage), or etc.
     
    • Damage templates from spells is complicated:
      • (Infernal Ruling)
      • Spells that leave templates that are not hazards (such as Razor Wall) do Damage Type: Magical.
      • Spells that leave templates that are hazards (such as Breath of Corruption) follow the rules for hazards, which are most likely not magical damage but it varies by the hazard.
      • The initial damage when you place the template, if any, is Damage Type: Magical.
      • For example, Breath of Corruption's initial POW 12 corrosion damage roll is Damage Type: Magical in addition to Damage Type: Corrosion. But the hazard that is put into play from Breath of Corruption is not Damage Type: Magical, just Damage Type: Corrosion.
     
    • By default, when you put a template into play it doesn't do damage to models they overlap. The exceptions are templates that are created by an AOE weapon, and templates that explicitly say they do damage when they're placed.
    • A model which is "placed" also counts as "entering" an area, so the template will damage any one who teleports/spawns into it, too.
    • If two templates are overlapping, a model that enters them will take two points of damage.
  • Hazardous Clouds (Edit)
    • A hazard, by definition, is a terrain effect. If a template is both a cloud and a hazard it will not block sprays as per the errata (2017.09) to spray attacks. (Infernal Ruling)


    • RC symbol.png

    Rules Clarification:  : Warcaster      (Edit)
    (Click Expand to read)

     
    • General
      • Damage from a feat is neither an attack nor Damage Type: Magical (unless the feat says it is).
      • FOCUS (uppercase) is the stat printed on the warcaster's card. Focus (lowercase) refers to focus points a model currently has.
      • Your CTRL area is double your FOCUS stat, not double your focus points. (Infernal Ruling)
      • Casting spells or using feats is an anytime ability with the added restriction that you can't use them on the same turn you run even before you run.
        • See also the clarifications on Any Time abilities (below).
      • Some warcasters are also Battle Engines and thus follow all the Battle Engine special rules.
        • There is no particular interaction between the Battle Engine rules and the Warcaster rules.
      • Work out all damage modifiers (such as Decapitation doubling the damage that exceeds ARM) before reducing it with the Power Field. (Infernal Ruling)


    • Restrictions on "Any Time" abilities     (Edit)         [Show/Hide]
      • "Any Time" abilities can be used at any time during a model/unit's activation, except:
      1. Before any compulsory forfeiture of movement/action. See step 2 of the activation sequence, appendix A.
      2. After the model with the "Any Time" ability has had their activation end "prematurely". By this I mean you resolved something which includes the phrase "its activation ends". Examples include:
        • Running, failing a charge, or failing a slam.
        • Abilities that include "then its activation ends" (such as Reposition and Teleport).
      3. In between declaring your charge target and making your charge movement. (Infernal Ruling)
      4. In between completing your charge movement and determining whether it was a successful charge. (Infernal Ruling)
      5. When you're in the middle of moving. (Note: Impact Attacks count as being in the middle of movement).
      6. When you're in the middle of an attack. Which also includes effects that occur "after the attack is resolved".
        (Although the attack is "resolved" at Step 11, in terms of using an "Any Time" ability the attack is not "finished" until after Step 14. Refer to the first paragraph of Apdx A.)
      7. Your opponent interrupted your activation to trigger one of their own abilities (such as Countercharge).
      8. Warcasters/warlocks/etc can normally cast a spell or use their feat "At any time". However, there is a core rule saying they cannot do so on the same activation that they run. So, they are subject to all the same restrictions listed above, plus they can't cast/feat before running.
      9. Units: See below.

      • In general you can use "Any Time" abilities while you're knocked down or stationary (except Spells and Feats which specify you can't).
      • If you have a gun with a random ROF, you can use an "Any Time" ability inbetween rolling the number of shots and actually making the first attack. (Infernal Ruling)

      Units with "Any Time" abilities
      • You cannot use an "Any Time" ability before issuing/receiving orders. See step 1 and 2 of the activation sequence, appendix A.
      • A model in a unit can't use an "Any Time" ability after they run (Infernal Ruling) or fail a charge. Because that makes that specific model's activation to end even though the unit's activation is still ongoing, and you can't use abilities on models that are not active.
        • You can use an "Any Time" ability before running, however.
      • A model in a unit can't use an "Any Time" ability after anyone in the unit has begun a Reposition move. (Infernal Ruling)
    • Warcaster/Warlock Cavalry ( Edit )
      • Warcasters/Warlocks can't cast spells or use their feat while resolving Impact Attacks. Because Impact Attacks occur during movement - you can use spells or feat before moving, or after moving, but not during movement.
        • Exception: If your Impact target(s) include your charge target, then your movement has ended (refer rulebook, last paragraph of 'Impact Attacks') and thus you're fine to use "any time" abilities before starting the Impact attacks.


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    Rules Clarification:  : Warcaster Unit or Warlock Unit     (Edit)
    (Click Expand to read)

    This summary is specific to Warcaster/Warlock units. You may also want to check the Warcaster and Warlock pages respectively, for the "regular" rules clarifications.
    • All models in the unit count as part of the battlegroup. So, for instance, Butcher3's argus can be moved via his Energizer spell.
    • Warcaster units can have attachments. They can even attach units (such as the WSC). (Infernal Ruling)
    • The non-caster models are trooper models but are not normally Grunt models. Therefore they're not normally eligible for stuff like Revive.
    • If any member of the unit start to do their reposition movement, the warcaster or warlock in the unit would no longer be able to feat.(Infernal Ruling)
    • Press Forward Order vs Spells cast at Any Time (Edit)
      • You must issue orders before anything else. If you issue a Press Forward order, you must run or charge.
      • If you cast spells before moving, you can't run so you must charge.
      • If you cast spells before moving, then start the spellcaster's Normal Movement but have no valid charge targets, you are in a situation where you must charge but cannot charge.
        In this situation the spellcaster must either:
        • forfeit their Combat Action, use their Normal Movement to make a full advance, then their activation ends. (Note that you cannot cast more spells after the full advance).
        • forfeit their Normal Movement, then their activation ends.
        • (Infernal Ruling)
    • Steamroller 2018
      • The non-caster models can contest scenario zones & flags.
      • The caster model cannot contest.
      • The caster model can control zones and flags by itself, but:
        • to control a zone, the entire unit remaining in play needs to be in formation.
        • to control a flag, the entire unit remaining in play must be within 4" of the flag.
    • Units Buying Attacks (Edit)
      • If you make attacks with model [A], then start making attacks with model [B], you cannot 'go back' and buy more attacks with [A]. Because:
      • A model can only buy additional attacks during its Combat Action.
      • A model in a unit must complete its Combat Action before the next model starts theirs (with some exceptions, like CMA).
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    Rules Clarification : Unit of Warcasters or Warlocks     (Edit)

    • Even though they're warcasters, if they're out of formation they suffer the normal penalties (can't make attacks, actions, spells, etc).
    • They can't upkeep each other's spells.
    • They can only dominate one SteamRoller scenario element at a time.
    • Each warlock/warcaster can have different upkeeps on them if those upkeeps are "target SELF" or "target model". If you cast an upkeep that is "target model/unit", that is the only upkeep any of them can have.
    • Units Buying Attacks (Edit)
      • If you make attacks with model [A], then start making attacks with model [B], you cannot 'go back' and buy more attacks with [A]. Because:
      • A model can only buy additional attacks during its Combat Action.
      • A model in a unit must complete its Combat Action before the next model starts theirs (with some exceptions, like CMA).
    • The Legion Twins
      • Rhyas cannot dominate a zone while out of formation.
      • Rhyas can use the feat while out of formation.
    • Haley3
      • Only Haley Prime is an 'actual' warcaster model, and as such she is the only one that can dominate a scenario element.
      • The echoes can Control/Contest scenarios like a normal unit.
      • Haley Prime can dominate an element even if the echoes are out of formation.

    Rules Clarification : Undead - None yet. (Edit)
    Rules Clarification : Cull Soul - None yet. (Edit)
    Rules Clarification : Dismember - None yet. (Edit)

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    Rules Clarification : Field Marshal      (Edit)

    • Field marshal only grants the ability to warjacks/warbeasts in the battlegroup, so (normally) the caster does not have the Field Marshal ability.
    • However if it is listed on the caster's card separately, such as on Magnus2, then they do have it. (Closed thread)
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    Rules Clarification:  : Countercharge      (Edit)
    (Click Expand to read)

        Timing    
    • If the moving model has Assault, the Countercharge is resolved before the Assault attack. (Infernal Ruling).
    • If the moving model has a rule that resolves "at the end of Normal Movement" (such as Slipstream), the Countercharge is resolved before the other rule. (Infernal Ruling)
    • The moving model cannot use an "Any Time" after finishing their advance but before your Countercharge. They can use it only after the Countercharge is resolved.
    • If the non-countercharging player has a similar "ends an advance" trigger (such as Admonition) then they can trigger and resolve that from your countercharge movement.
      • Example: Model [A] charges, and triggers Countercharge on [B]. Model [B] countercharges, and triggers Admonition on [C].
        Resolve Admonition on [C]. Then finish resolving Countercharge on [B]. Then finish model [A]'s activation.

        Triggering Countercharge    

    • You can trigger Countercharge if you're engaging, but not engaged.
    • You can trigger Countercharge during your own turn, if your opponent has an ability to move during your turn (such as Admonition).
    • Some abilities let you "ignore intervening models when declaring a charge" (such as Flight). Unfortunately, you still need LOS to trigger Countercharge, and it's only after CC is triggered that you actually get to declare a charge. In other words, Flight and Countercharge don't work together for LOS purposes.
    • What does trigger Countercharge
      • Countercharge triggers off any advance, not just in-activation stuff.
      • Standing still but changing facing is an advance.
    • What doesn't trigger Countercharge
      • Aiming, or forfeiting your movement, is not advancing.
      • If a model doesn't move, doesn't change facing, doesn't aim ... does nothing but skips straight ahead to its Combat Action, this is not an advance. (Infernal Ruling)
      • Being placed (such as Teleport) is not an advance.
      • Involuntary movement (being slammed, thrown, or pushed) is not an advance.
    • When a unit is moving, countercharge is triggered on a model-by-model basis. So you can countercharge after any model in the unit has finished its move within range, but you can only countercharge that model who just finished its movement. You can't "save it" until the entire unit finishes moving and then say "I'm going to Countercharge the first guy you moved."

        Attacks, Boosting, & Other Triggers    

    • You only get one attack when making a countercharge, regardless of how many initials you normally have.
    • The charge attack damage is only boosted if the Countercharger moved 3" or more, as with a regular charge.
    • Countercharge occurs outside of activation so you can't spend fury/focus to boost a countercharge attack, nor buy additional attacks afterwards, not trigger stuff that only happens during your Combat Action (like Berserk).
    • Even if you trigger Countercharge during your own activation, for the duration of you resolving the CC it "no longer counts" as being in your activation. (Infernal Ruling)

        After the Countercharge    

    • The countercharging model cannot use any abilities that trigger on "during activation" or "during combat action" (such as Sprint), as Counter Charge is not an activation. (Locked thread)

        Other interactions    

    • Countercharge during your own activation (Countercharge vs Admonition etc) ( Edit )
      • You can trigger Countercharge during your own activation, but only if an enemy model moves during your activation. For instance, you move towards a model who has Admonition and they trigger that to try to move away. (You do a normal move, they trigger admonition and move, you trigger countercharge from their admonition-move.)
      • However countercharge always counts as being out-of-activation, no matter when you trigger it. (Infernal Ruling)
      As a result, you can't trigger only-during-activation effects (such as Critical Shred & Sustained Attack).
      • On the other hand, you can potentially get two charge attacks (one for your normal charge, one for the counter charge). (Infernal Ruling)
        This ruling still applies even after the 2018.07 update (Infernal Re-ruling)
    • Countercharge plus Admonition
      • If a model has both CC and Admonition, it can trigger both at the same time. A model moves nearby, it admonitions away, then countercharges back in.
    • Countercharge Inception
      • If a model [A] has Countercharge, and it charges an enemy model [B] that has Countercharge and Admonition, then ...
        • Model [A] charges and triggers CC and Admo on [B]
        • Model [B] Admo moves but before it can resolve its own CC, it triggers CC on [A]
        • You now have two models that have triggered CC simultaneously. So the Active player gets to resolve their one first.
    • Assault vs Countercharge ( Edit )
    • Countercharge & Cavalry ( Edit )
      • A model with Countercharge and Cavalry can make Impact Attacks during the countercharge. (Refer "Charges Outside of Activation" in the rulebook).


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    Rules Clarification : Blood Rain      (Edit)

    • Damage Type (Edit)
      • This spell does elemental damage in addition to magical damage, not instead of magical damage. (Infernal Ruling)

    Rules Clarification : Deadweight - None yet. (Edit)

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    Rules Clarification : Lamentation      (Edit)

    • Casting Spells
      • Warcaster's that stand outside the Lamentation area, and use an arc node within the area, are unaffected.
      • Magic Abilities do not have a COST so are unaffected by Lamentation.
      • Models that can cast spells with a COST [X] for free (such as Blood Boon or Spell Slave) are unaffected by Lamentation - they can still cast COST [X] spells, they're not limited to COST [X/2] spells. (Infernal Ruling)
      • When combined with other abilities that change COST (such as Tanith's feat "Rites of the Wurm") use normal maths: double/halve first, then add/subtract. (Infernal Ruling)
    • Upkeeping Spells
      • It doesn't matter where the model doing the upkeeping is, it matters whether the model/unit that the upkeep is on is in control range.
      • Upkeeps which aren't on a model/unit (such as Veil of Mists or Rock Wall) are unaffected by Lamentation.
      • Models which upkeep spells by other means (such as Skarre2's Blood Trade) are unaffected by Lamentation. (Infernal Ruling)
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    Rules Clarification : Mortality      (Edit)

    • Mortality prevents models removing damage, but it doesn't prevent secondary effects associated with that heal rule (if there are any). For example:
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    Rules Clarification : Terminal Velocity      (Edit)

    • Warjacks need to be in the caster's control area at the time the spell is cast to gain the buffs, but they can move out later and still keep the buffs.
    • You get the free charge/power attack whether or not you target a living model.
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