Revision as of 04:06, 7 August 2018

Witchwood
Grymkin Solo

"Beware the comely maiden ’neath the old and knotty tree—a foul, deceitful witchwood the maid will likely be."

Bound together as a witchwood, the woman and the ancient timber seduce victims with lilting song and fruits freely given, turning stouthearted allies against one another in jealousy. Any who take axe or torch to a witchwood soon find how easily their flesh tears in the tree’s gnarled grasp.

Basic Info

Witchwood
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Large SPD 0 STR {{{str}}} MAT 6 RAT 7 M.A. N/A DEF 5 ARM 18 CMD N/A ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS N/A FURY N/A THRS N/A HP 10 F. Field N/A WJP {{{wjp}}} WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA 2 UNIT SIZE N/A COST 5 N/A N/A N/A Warcaster 1 COST N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

Abilities

• Advance Deployment
• Dual Attack - This model can make melee and ranged attacks in the same activation. When this model makes its initial melee attacks or a power attack, it can also make its initial ranged attacks. This model can make ranged attacks even while in melee.
• Hunter - This model ignores cover and concealment when making ranged attacks.
• Immovable - This model has no Normal Movement, cannot become knocked down or be moved, and is automatically hit by melee attacks.
• Prowl - While this model has concealment, it gains stealth.
• Strange Growth - Once per turn at any time during its activation, place this model anywhere completely within 5" of its current location. This model cannot be placed except as a result of Strange Growth.

Weapons

• Siren's Call - 8" range gun that does no damage.
  • Bewitch - Take control of target living enemy non-warcaster, non-warlock warrior model hit by this attack. You can immediately make a full advance with the enemy model followed by a basic attack, then Bewitch expires. The enemy model cannot be targeted by free strikes during this movement. A model can be affected by Bewitch only once per turn.
  • Black Penny - This attack ignores the target in melee DEF bonus.
• Swipe (x2) - 2" reach, P+S 15 melee weapons.

Thoughts on Witchwood

Witchwood in a nutshell

Witchwoods, affectionately known as "the spooky tree", are a fairly unique combat solo with a gun that can disrupt living enemy models. It is very often used as a scenario anchor due to its high arm, and potential stealth as well as its ability to simply walk contesting models out of a zone.

Why should i include Witchwoods in my army?

Witchwoods are generally brought as a free solo in Bump in the Night. It is extremely uncommon for players to pay for them as their 5pt price tag is very expensive. You should generally consider bringing one when you want to bring a combat solo who can sit on the edge of a zone or on a flag and not be trivially removed. Some casters in Bump are very support orientated and will be considering models such as Eilish and the Glimmer Imp. When you don't need these kinds of models however, Bump has only two non character combat solos, Trapperkin and Witchwoods.

Trapperkin are the offensive option, and Witchwoods can be viewed as the defensive option.

Combos & Synergies

• The Heretic will sometimes passively assist its accuracy if his Trump happens to be on something it wants to hit or shoot. Don't expect Heretic to do much for it though. You can technically walk enemy models through Heretic's wall of fire, but this is generally something you'll do that's cute and available at the time, not a realplan
• The Wanderer causes the Witchwood to have stealth at all times while Fog of War is up.
• The Dreamer can technically make it RAT 9 by using mark target on the small phantasm. Once again, kind of a side case you shouldn't expect to see
• It has one decent support synergy in that it can't be pushed so you can use it to either backstop your models from pushes, or stand in front of them to stop drags

It should be noted there really isn't that many powerful synergies for this model. It's very self contained. It's just the nature of a slow, ponderous combat solo who is more defensive in nature than offensive

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Thanks to immobile, it can't aim. RAT 7 is stellar, but the downside of not being able to aim is definitely there
• It's threat ranges are pretty short, 7" for melee and 13" for its gun. These ranges are completely static with zero extenders meaning typically your opponent will be very aware of what you can and cant do
• It's not super easy to kill, but its also not super hard to kill. Melee troops in particular will be able to polish it off as even very low pow charges will chip away at it until its dead. It's at its most annoying when your opponent has to commit a decent gun at it, and possibly anti stealth tech.
• The gun is pretty restricted, it works on non-caster, warriors only, and living models. This means its fairly typical to play some games where it will never fire its gun and its 5pts for a model with a 7" threat range
• Its output is pretty low for 5pts
• It has no answer to stealth or anti shooting tech such as Sucker or Shield guard.

Tricks & Tips

• It can anchor zones, and use a combination of its gun and melee to walk models out of a zone while killing others.
• Bewitch suffers from limited target selection, but its very powerful and flexible with a range of uses
  • Walking a unit leader away from the unit can leave members out of command which is awful, a whole unit can potentially be crippled. Opponents savvy to this may also not think enough about it when making field promotions when a leader dies. That is, their original leader was very safe from this threat, and then you killed a few models and he was forced to promote to the middle of the unit to keep everyone in command, which the Witchwood then takes advantage of
  • You're able to make a ranged attack with models you take control of, not just a melee attack. Be aware of taking control of models with very powerful attacks if it ever comes up. Eiryss1 for example is a hard target, but if your opponent ever fails to consider the tree and you're within 10" (or can get a back strike...). Gorman can blind important models with his grenade
  • The model you take control of is friendly during its move and attack. you can un-dig models with Dig in with this among other tricks. Your opponent can also make actions such as Admonition, Defensive strike etc.
• You can use bewitch to make up for its mat 6 by turning its target away from you.

Other

Trivia

Beta rules released in the Grymkin CID (2017.03), final rules with the Faction release (2017.06)

Theme Forces

• Bump in the Night

Other Grymkin models

Grymkin Index       (Edit)
Battlegroup
Warlocks	The Child - The Dreamer - The Heretic - The King of Nothing - The Wanderer - Old Witch 3 Arcana Warlock Attachment: Baron Tonguelick
Warbeasts	Lesser: Crabbit	Light: Frightmare - Gorehound - Rattler
	Heavy: Cage Rager - Clockatrice - Skin & Moans	Gargantuan: Slaughterhouse
Units, Solos, & Battle Engines
Units	Dread Rots - Hollowmen - Mad Caps - Malady Man - Murder Crows - Neigh Slayers - Piggybacks - Twilight Sisters
Solos	Baron Tonguelick, Lord of Warts - Cask Imp - Defiled Archon - The Four Horseymans - Glimmer Imp - Grave Ghoul - Gremlin Swarm - Isiah, Dread Harvester - Lady Karianna Rose - Lord Longfellow - Trapperkin - Weird Wendell - Witchwood
Battle Engines	Death Knell
Theme Forces		Minions
Dark Menagerie - Bump in the Night		Refer to Category: Grymkin Minion
This index was last updated: 2021.08

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification : Bewitch      (Edit) Taking Control of an Enemy Model (Edit)   [Show/Hide] General Several abilities start with the sentence "Take control of a model" then a full stop, then a bunch of stuff you can do with that model. You can't uncouple the first sentence from the rest of the "do stuff" sentence(s), in other words if you want to "do stuff" then you have to "Take control". (Infernal Ruling) Taking control of a model means it is now friendly to you, and will immediately be engaged by it's erstwhile allies. This will limit your ability to make ranged attacks. If you get to make an advance with the controlled model, this can allow the original owner to take free strikes against his own model. He doesn't have to take these, of course. The controlled model does not have a proper Activation, so stuff like Chain Strike won't apply. You can use abilities on the controlled model, as long as they're not restricted to "during its activation" or "during its Combat Action". For example, you can use Mental Force. (Infernal Ruling) Buffs and effects: The controlled model counts as a "friendly model" and will benefit from any "while within" (aura) buffs that your own models are handing out (such as Mark Target), (assuming the controlled model meets the criteria for the buff). If the controlled model has already been hit by a "currently within" (pulse) debuff, then it will keep that debuff while under your control. Even if that pulse only affected enemy models (such as Deneghra1's feat) - temporarily changing who is friendly/enemy doesn't change who was/wasn't affected by the pulse. If your opponent is the same faction, then the controlled model will count as a "friendly faction model" and even more buffs are potentially available (such as Veteran Leader). Theme abilities: If a model gains an ability via a Theme Force rule, and then the opponent takes it over, it keeps the theme ability. (Infernal Ruling) Movement You can advance a model into an area and force them to take damage (like an acid cloud, or a Razor Wall template), but they only take damage once per advance (ref Prime rulebook pg 65). Thus you cannot keep moving them micro-millimetres in and out of said area to inflict infinite damage. The model is friendly while under your control, so you can't force free strikes by walking it past your own models. You can, however, walk it past your opponent's models and politely ask if they want to take free strikes against their own model. Attacks Many "Take Control" abilities allow a basic melee attack. Some allow a basic attack. Gunfighters cannot make a ranged attack unless they're allowed the later. Point Blank attacks cannot be made with temporarily controlled models, as Point Blank is only allowed 'during activation.' With reference to the attack sequence (appendix A) your control of the model doesn't expire until after Step 14. So you can potentially trigger abilities like Snacking (Step 11.4). As long as it's not limited to "during combat action" or "during activation". Destroying the Controlled model If the model is destroyed or RFP'd while under your control (for instance you walked it into a hazard), this has two consequences: It is considered to be under your control at the moment it is taken off the table: Your opponent can't reave fury off a warbeast destroyed this way, because it is an enemy warbeast when it is taken off the table. Your opponent can't trigger stuff that depends on a "Friendly model" being destroyed (such as Righteous Vengeance). You can't trigger stuff that depends on an "Enemy model" being destroyed (such as Cull Soul). It returns to the original owner once it's off the table: Your opponent can use Spirit Bond to get fury from the dead warbeast. Your opponent can use Return To Play abilities to get it back on the table (assuming it wasn't RFP'd). Taking control of an enemy Trooper (member of a unit) A trooper you take control of becomes an independent model. Thus: It will not benefit from any bonuses that it gets from its comrades (such as Gang, Shield Wall, etc). It will not benefit from any bonuses that rely on the trooper being "in formation" (such as Granted and Tactics abilities). Spells on a unit are considered to be on the "unit", not on the "models that make up the unit". So a controlled trooper will not benefit from any spells on the unit. If you take control of the last survivor of a unit then the "unit" ceases to exist for the duration of the control. This means that any spells on the "unit" will expire. Woo, free dispel! (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Black Penny - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Advance Deployment      (Edit) Sometimes you can attach a WA or CA that doesn't have AD to a unit that does have AD. If you do, the attachment effectively gains AD and they can all advance deploy together. (Locked Thread)

Rules Clarification:  : Dual Attack      (Edit) (Click Expand to read)

* If you fail a charge, then you do not get to make ranged attacks. If you have multiple ranged attacks and/or melee attacks, you can intermingle them in any order. (Infernal Ruling) You can charge, make a ranged attack, then make your charge melee attack. Even though you made a ranged attack, that doesn't change the fact that your first melee attack is the charge attack. (Infernal Ruling) You must complete all initial attacks before buying attacks. You can't go: Make an initial melee attack, then buy a melee attack, then make an initial ranged attack. (Locked Thread) Dual Attack doesn't let you mix initial attacks with a (★) attack. Dual Attack only lets you make either: Initial melee attacks and initial ranged attacks. Power attack and initial ranged attacks. Any other combination of (★ Attack) and initials is disallowed. See this thread for full explanation and links to relevant Infernal Rulings. You could theoretically make a special melee attack and then buy additional ranged attacks (or vice versa) ... but the core rules say "The rules for these special attacks indicate the nature of any additional attacks that can be made afterward, if any" so the special attack would have to explicitly allow a swap - and I'm unaware of any that do so. There is no penalty for shooting an enemy you are in melee with. Your ranged attack(s) can target a model you are not in melee with. (Infernal Ruling) Dual Attack & Drag ( Edit ) This is pretty-much limited to just the Prime Axiom under Syntherion, or the Swabber, Galleon or Prime Axiom under Aurora2 If you charge model A then utilise Dual Attack to make a ranged attack vs the same model, then you would get the free melee attack from Drag. The Drag attack is a charge attack. (Infernal Ruling) If you charge model A then utilise Dual Attack to make a ranged attack vs a different model, then you would lose the free melee attack from Drag. Your first melee attack must be versus the charge target, and you cannot save the Drag attack for later. (Infernal Ruling) If you didn't charge then ... just go nuts. There's no restrictions that I know of. Dual Attack & Slam/Trample ( Edit ) Power Attack Slam and Trample combine your Normal Movement and Combat Action, and how this works with Dual Attack is: Slam: You must resolve the movement, the attack, and moving the slammed model. Only then can you make initial ranged attacks. Trample: You must resolve the movement, the attacks, and the free strikes. Only then can you make initial ranged attacks. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Hunter      (Edit) Although you ignore cover/concealment, you don't ignore "secondary" bonuses a model gets from it. For example, a model with Prowl will still gain Stealth from their concealment. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Immovable and/or Immobile and/or Buried     (Edit) There is no functional difference between "cannot move" and "cannot be moved". Even if you gain bonus movement (such as Dodge) via a spell or theme benefit, you still can't move. (Locked thread) Witchwood only: Since the Witchwood doesn't have Normal Movement, it can't gain the Aiming bonus.

Rules Clarification : Prowl and/or Just a Tree?     (Edit) Whether you can trigger this ability is a bit awkward; As long as you have concealment you get Stealth ... even if the attacker ignores concealment (such as with Hunter). If you're standing in a cloud, and the attacker "ignores clouds for LOS" (such as Bird's Eye) you get Prowl/Tree. If you're standing in a cloud, and the attacker "ignores clouds completely" (such as Alchemical Mask) you don't get it. (Infernal Ruling) Similar for standing in a forest. If a debuff removes Stealth, Prowl/Tree do not reapply stealth... But this ruling is being rechecked. (Infernal Checking) Rules Clarification : Stealth      (Edit) Stealth models are not invisible and you can target them - you'll just auto-miss most of the time. You can target them with a charge. You can target them with an AOE, have it auto-miss and scatter, luckily land on top of them anyway, and that will hit them.

Rules Clarification : Strange Growth - None yet. (Edit)