Winter Argus

Winter Argus Circle Light Warbeast

Prime This model is available in one Prime Army, Devourer's Host. It can also be used in the Unlimited game mode. You can view the other Mk3 models that made it into a Legacy Army at this page. Note that the rest of this page is about the model's Mark III rules.

The savage winter argus stalk the dark, frozen hinterlands of the Scarsfell Forest and Blackroot Wood, prowling under cover of great northern storms. Gouts of gelid breath freeze the argus’ victims in place until the pack closes in for the feast. Though feared by many, the creatures are prized by northern druids for their savagery and the supernatural cold they can manifest to cripple the enemies of the Circle Orboros.

Basic Info

Winter Argus
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Medium SPD 6 STR 8 MAT 5 RAT 5 M.A. N/A DEF 14 ARM 15 CMD N/A ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS N/A FURY 3 THRS 9 HP 21 F. Field N/A WJP {{{wjp}}} WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA U UNIT SIZE N/A COST 7 N/A N/A N/A Warcaster 1 COST N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

Warbeast - All warbeasts share a huge stack of special rules. The short version is they're big, furious, and beat stuff up pretty good. Click here for a newbie-friendly recap, or click here for the full rules.

Abilities

• Pathfinder
• Circular Vision - Models never gain a back strike bonus against this model.
• Immunity: Cold

Weapons

Frost Breath (x2)
		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW
		SP6			1			-			12
Damage Type: Cold Critical Freeze - On a critical hit, the model hit becomes stationary for one round unless it has Immunity: Cold.
Bite (x2)
		RNG				POW				P+S
		0,5				4				12

Animus

	COST	RNG	AOE	POW	DUR	OFF
Winter Coat	1	SELF	-	-	Round	No
The caster gains Immunity: Cold and Freezer. Winter Coat lasts for one round. Freezer - When an enemy model without Immunity: Cold ends its activation within 2" of a model with Freezer, the enemy model becomes stationary for one round.

Theme Forces

• Secret Masters
• The Bones of Orboros
• The Devourer's Host
• The Wild Hunt. In this theme, when Winter Argus casts its own animus, the COST is reduced by 1.

Thoughts on the Winter Argus

Winter Argus in a nutshell

The Winter Argus is a cheap warbeast with two short ranged low RAT sprays for clearing infantry, or freezing harder targets with a lucky crit. Its animus generally means opponents might devote effort to killing it in melee or just shooting it to death as making models stationary is really obnoxious to an opponents battle plan.

If Circle had more casters who leveraged ranged attacks this beast may see more play. But right now it’s quite muddled, it doesn’t have the power to hurt heavies or the accuracy to hit infantry so it tends to burn through fury hoping for some lucky crits. By that point the Wild Argus charging and using its animus saving 1 point is often a better deal.

Combos & Synergies

• Baldur2 ups its DEF and ARM with Rock Wall and Roots of the Earth, respectively. Using both seriously increases its survivability in melee, and if your opponent wants to kill it they'll likely over-commit to avoid being Stationary the next turn.
• Kromac1 can use its sprays to trigger Warpath, although you're generally better off using more accurate attacks.
• Morvahna2 increases its defense against shooting via Fog of War, and allows you to reroll attack rolls to help get that Crit Stationary.
• Tanith increases its accuracy via Affliction and melee damage with Scything Touch. Putting Admonition on it might allow you to catch enemies with 1" or less melee in a trap, backing up just enough so you can still affect them via Freezer.
• Argus Moonhound helps it hit
• Call of the Wild - its animus is at 0 cost in this theme force

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Poor stats
• Sentry Stones & Mannikins provide more sprays for cheaper
• You need to boost every attack to hit with the sprays. Very FURY-inefficient.

Tricks & Tips

• Best used against a number of Khador warcasters or Trollblood Warlocks who like freezing people solid.

Other

Trivia

Released in Hordes: Domination (2011)

Other Circle models

Circle Index       (Edit)
Battlegroup & Similar
Warlocks	Baldur1 - Baldur2 - Bradigus1 - Grayle1 - Iona1 - Kaya1 - Kaya2 - Kaya3 - Kromac1 - Kromac2 - Krueger1 - Krueger2 - Mohsar1 - Morvahna1 - Morvahna2 - Tanith1 - Una2 - Wurmwood1
Lesser Warlocks	Krueger0 - Una1	Warlock Attachment	Druid Wilder - Tharn Blood Shaman
Light	Argus Moonhound - Winter Argus - Wild Argus - Gorax Rager - Razorwing Griffon - Rotterhorn Griffon - Scarsfell Griffon - Wold Wight - Woldwatcher - Woldwyrd
Heavy	Gnarlhorn Satyr - Riphorn Satyr - Shadowhorn Satyr - Feral Warpwolf - Pureblood Warpwolf - Warpwolf Stalker - Wold Guardian - Woldwarden Brennos the Elderhorn (Satyr) - Ghetorix (Warpwolf) - Loki (Warpwolf) - Megalith (Woldwarden)
Gargantuans	Storm Raptor - Woldwrath
Units, Solos, Battle Engines, & Structures
Units	Druid Mist Riders - Druids of Orboros & CA - Reeves of Orboros & CA - Sentry Stone & Mannikins - Shifting Stones & CA - Stoneward & Woldstalkers - Tharn Bloodtrackers & Character UA - Tharn Bloodweavers & CA - Tharn Blood Pack - Tharn Ravagers & CA - Tharn Wolf Riders - Warpborn Skinwalkers & CA - Wolves of Orboros & CA Brighid & Caul - Death Wolves
Solos	Blackclad Stoneshaper - Blackclad Wayfarer - Bloodweaver Night Witch - Chuck Dogwood - Druid Wilder - Gallows Grove - Kogan the Exile - Krueger0 - Lord of the Feast - Reeve Hunter - Primal Archon - Shivers - Tharn Blood Shaman - Tharn Ravager Shaman - Tharn Ravager White Mane - Tharn Wolf Rider Champion - Una1 - War Wolf - Wolf Lord Morraig
Battle Engines & Structures	Celestial Fulcrum (Engine) - Well of Orboros (Structure)
Theme Forces
Secret Masters - The Bones of Orboros - The Devourer's Host - The Wild Hunt
Minions
Refer to Who Works for Whom and/or Category: Circle Orboros Minion
This index was last updated: 2021.10

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification : Cold - None yet. (Edit)

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

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

See also the Warbeast page for a recap of the core warbeast rules. Forcing If an ability doesn't specify how much it costs to force, it costs 1. (Infernal Ruling) Animi A single Animus can be on several models at the same time. (Infernal Ruling) Unlike in Mk2, in Mk3 if a model has an animus on it from any source and then another animus is cast on that model, it will lose the first instance of an animus and will be replaced by the second. It does not matter if either the first animus or the second animus is from a warlock or warbeast. (Infernal Ruling) An animi cast by a warlock is an animi and a spell. (Infernal Ruling) Transferring Damage If both the warlock and the warbeast are damaged by the same attack (such as an AOE), then you need to apply the 'normal' damage to the warbeast before the transferred damage. This distinction can be important when you're working out who/what actually destroyed the beast. (Infernal Ruling) Frenzy (Edit) You cannot trigger optional abilities (such as Cleave or Sprint). (Infernal Ruling) You must trigger compulsory abilities (such as Consume) ... except for compulsory abilities that also generate an extra attack (such as Berserk). In that case, you don't get the Berserk attack. (Infernal Ruling) A warbeast may not make an Assault shot as part of a Frenzy activation. If the closest target to a warbeast resolving a Frenzy cannot be charged, then the warbeast will forfeit movement and action (as per the rules of having to charge and not being able to). (Infernal Ruling) If a frenzying warbeast can't reach its charge target (because the charge lane is blocked by terrain, etc) then it will make a failed charge and end its activation. (Locked thread) If a frenzying warbeast has two melee weapons with the same POW, it can choose which one to use. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Pathfinder      (Edit) Pathfinder (Edit) - Pathfinder does not apply to involuntary movement (pushes & slams). (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Circular Vision      (Edit) This only prevents the normal bonus afforded from back strikes. It does not prevent things such as Backstab, which simply requires being in the rear arc.

Rules Clarification : Winter Coat      (Edit) Rules Clarification : Freezer      (Edit) You can reapply Freezer turn after turn, because stationary models still have to activate. If the model that has Freezer doesn't move away or get killed, the next turn the stationary model is forced to activate, does nothing, ends its activation still within the Freezer effect, and will be made stationary again. Despite the odd wording, stuff that happens "at the end of activation" (such as Sprint and Reposition) occurs during the activation. So those things happen before Freezer has a chance to trigger. For instance an enemy can advance next to the Freezer model, attack it, then Sprint away and not be affected by Freezer. Freezer won't affect models that end an out-of-activation move in the Freezer range (such as Countercharge and Vengeance). Remember, stationary only prevents what it says it does. Refer the recap on stationary for what models can/can't do. 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.