Orsus Zoktavir, the Butcher of Khardov
The Butcher is a potent symbol of the consequence of treachery against Empress Ayn Vanar. In the protective casing of his modified suit of steam-powered armor shaped from the hull of a warjack, he is a force of destruction, a one-man wrecking crew. Soldiers across western Immoren cannot purge the vision of the axe-wielding giant from their nightmares: a man become a living personification of warfare and bloodshed.
Basic Info
Orsus Zoktavir, the Butcher of Khardov | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Weapons
- Blunderbuss - RNG 8, POW 12 gun.
- Lola - RNG 2, P+S 16 greataxe.
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.
- Tough
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| Full Throttle ! 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 beginning their activations in its control range can run, charge, or make slam or trample power attacks without spending focus that activation. While in the spellcaster's control range, models in its battlegroup gain boosted melee attack rolls. Full Throttle lasts one turn.
- |-
|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| Fury ! style="border-top: 1px solid #A8A8A8;"| 2
! 6
! -
! -
! 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;"|Target friendly Faction model/unit gains +3 to melee damage rolls but suffers -1 DEF.
- |-
|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| Iron Flesh ! style="border-top: 1px solid #A8A8A8;"| 2
! 6
! -
! -
! 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;"|Target friendly Faction warrior model/unit gains +2 ARM and Blast Resistance. Models are not affected while out of formation.
- Blast Resistance - A model with Blast Resistance gains +4 ARM against blast damage.
- |-
|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| Obliteration ! style="border-top: 1px solid #A8A8A8;"| 4
! 10
! 5
! 15
! -
! 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;"|This spell has zero special effects.
- |-
|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| Vengeful ! style="border-top: 1px solid #A8A8A8;"| 2
! 6
! -
! -
! 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;"|Target friendly Faction model gains Retaliatory Strike.
- Retaliatory Strike - If a model with Retaliatory Strike is hit by a melee attack made by an enemy model during your opponent's turn, after that attack is resolved the model with Retaliatory Strike can immediately make one basic melee attack against that model. The model with Retaliatory Strike can make only one Retaliatory Strike per turn.
Feat: Blood Frenzy
While in the Butcher's CTRL range, friendly Faction models gain an additional die on attack damage rolls this turn.
Thoughts on Orsus Zoktavir, the Butcher of Khardov
Orsus Zoktavir, the Butcher of Khardov in a Nutshell
One of Khador's most iconic casters, and a true melee powerhouse, Butcher 1 is a support caster at heart despite his ability to tear into foes himself. Fury & Iron Flesh are his bread and butter so spread it around to the units/jacks that need it most. He's an easy caster to learn and fun to play.
Butcher1 is definitely one of the better starter warcasters. He is straightforward to use, works well with everything, and can hold his own in a fight. Always a good caster to use when trying out new things and finding out what you like playing with and what you don't.
Feat Thoughts
Feats don't get any simpler than Butcher's: All damage rolls from attacks gain an additional die. This includes ranged attack rolls. A Butcher gunline list is a fun option for that feat turn.
It does say attack damage rolls, so things like collateral damage won't get the bonus.
Lastly, it's gain a die, not boost, so stuff which "cannot be boosted" will benefit anyway. Like Impact attacks. Additionally, you can boost on top of the additional damage die so anything boostable can be + 4D6. And yes, charging weapon masters roll 5D6 for damage. Yikes!
Spell thoughts
- Fury - Not much to talk about; +3 on the damage roll almost statistically equals a boost. There will rarely be games where you won't cast it on turn 1.
- Iron Flesh - Staple Khador infantry buff; beside the ARM increase the best part is about the blast immunity. Use it in conjunction with your inaccurate AoEs to carpet bomb your own lines without fear, especially ones with the Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan's Close Fire action.
- Full Throttle
- Full Throttle allows your jacks to soak an opponent's attack and come back swinging. A Juggernaut with disabled arms will still reliably hit DEF 13 targets under Full Throttle. This spell encourages you to take multiple cheap warjacks. Pop the feat to really make your opponent hurt.
- The focus burden is heavy, but if your jacks are going to spend at least 3 focus this turn then you'll come out ahead.
- Also excellent if your jacks were disrupted, as they can still charge in for free and with boosted attack rolls.
- Same goes for getting stationary / Knockdown off your jacks - use the Power Up focus to shake the effect during your Maintenance Phase, and then cast this so they can still go to town.
- Obliteration - For all its destructive power, this one is probably the least used spell on your list due to its prohibitive cost.
- Vengeful - You'll hardly have resource for that one, but if you want to send in a melee brawler, this back-up protection comes handy. The abysmal DEF of the Khador jacks will enable it to reliably trigger. Prime targets will be the Juggernaut with its Critical Freeze, or the Destroyer with the Critical Amputation on its axe.
Strategy
Orsus has several victory conditions. The key to success is to know when to switch between the 3 modes.
- He can win via attrition, by keeping his troops alive via Iron Flesh, and increasing their hitting power through Fury and his feat.
- Thanks to his peerless combat capabilities he is a strong board controlling in himself, which can be used extensively in scenarios. Enemies will rarely risk coming closer when he's in position to retaliate. You still must be wary of assassinations, though.
- His feat makes everything stronger - and seemingly harmless attacks now can have unexpected assassination potential too.
Army - Theme
Full Throttle might want to steer you toward a larger battlegroup, and Jaws is your go-to choice for a warjack-heavy list. However, with Butcher wanting to spend his focus on support duties, you better look for self-sufficient, simple jacks:
- Mad Dog - with Full Throttle it can reliably hit DEF 19 models with trample.
- Marauder - a nice combo strike, which gets all the more accurate with Full Throttle.
- Devastator and Demolisher - both can trample around, or slam, keeping their ARM at max level.
- Juggernaut and Berserker - plain and simple; give it Fury and send it to whatever you want wrecked.
- Ruin - Bonds with Butcher to give Ruin free Boundless Charge.
- Manhunters and Yuri - It is simply amazing that the put down on the table under his feat with 5 dice to damage on the charge.
- Rager - Butcher is pretty sensitive to ranged damage - use the Rager to screen him, and to Shield Guard shots, like Eyriss' bolts.
- Behemoth - Fully boosted blasts already with Powerful Attack - now why not push it further with the feat?
Tip ! |
A forgiving theme for beginners; Orsus protects them via Iron Flesh, and boosts hitting power via Fury, while they protect him from ranged assassinations.
- Normally blast damage would be shrugged off by enemies with ARM avove a certain level, but not on Butcher's feat turn. And this theme is full of blast templates, from the Winter Guard Mortar Crew, through the Gun Carriage, to the Rocketeers of the Rifle Corps/Infantry.
AOEs from the Destroyer, Conquest and Victor can also become deadly. - Don't forget that the feat bonus also applies to ranged attacks, amping up the damage of Riflemen CRAs.
Iron Fangs are grateful for all the support spells from your arsenal. Under your feat you can conduct quite mighty charge attacks with your Iron Fang Uhlans, just remember to stay in CTRL range while attacking.
- Iron Fang Pikemen - Iron Flesh makes these guys hard to take down especially in Shield Wall; you can also give them Fury to make them crush jacks/beasts
- Black Dragons - With Iron Flesh and Iron Zeal you can form a quite durable defensive line into the middle of the board.
Butcher's feat is a simple damage fix for the normally-unbuffable Doom Reaver Swordsmen and Fenris, and also creates deadly bursts out of the Outriders' sprays. Also, he cannot boost accuracy of his army, so the Greylord's Ice Cages always come in handy.
Though the Man-o-War Drakhun is nothing short of hilarious under your feat, Butcher offers them no movement buff, something they desperately need, so this theme is probably best avoided by Butcher1.
Army - Other
- Sylys - despite his melee prowess Butcher 1 tends to end up in melee less often than his second and third incarnations, so the free upkeep from Sylys can be prefferable to the melee protection the War Dog provides.
- Saxon Orrik - The lack of Pathfinder is a glaring weakness on Butcher1 and 2. Orrik goes a long way of helping him.
- Orin - Stop spells which might mess with the Butcher's SPD.
- Aiyana & Holt - Orsus has only a very expensive spell to deal magical damage at range; Aiyana can help him and his army out
Drawbacks and Downsides
- Lots of upkeep spells make him and his army vulnerable to upkeep-hates, such as Purgation, Lamentation or Purification, Eiryss2, or Eilish.
- Low SPD reduces his personal threat to 10" bubble, and makes him susceptible for SPD de-buffs.
- Despite being one of the toughest casters, he needs screening, which is somewhat difficult with a medium base.
- No speed buff for his army.
Tricks and Tips
- Butcher's feat gives an extra die - you can still boost if you want.
- The bonus from Fury is not a STR buff so, for example, it won't affect the distance you can throw a model.
Other
Trivia
- This model has a limited edition sculpt, released in 2018.12.
- Originally released in Warmachine: Prime (2003)
Theme Forces
Other Khador models
Video Battle Reports
- 2018.09 Arcane Assist 75 points vs Zaadesh2
- 2018.08 Arcane Assist 75 points vs Testament
- Not Snakes Gaming, 2018.07 75 points vs Asphyxious1
- 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 : Weapon Master - None yet. (Edit)
Rules Clarification: : Warcaster (Edit) | |||||
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Rules Clarification : Tough - None yet. (Edit)
Rules Clarification : Full Throttle (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Fury - None yet. (Edit)
Rules Clarification : Iron Flesh (Edit) |
Rules Clarification : Obliteration (Edit)
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Rules Clarification : Vengeful (Edit)
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