Today we have a guest blogger, Ryan who plays Cryx and Trolls in our game group. Today he's got a great write up on pSkarre.
Ryan - So we're back in business after the summer lull and Mark
baby-proofing his house. I figured I'd start things off a quick run-down of one
of my favorite casters before we get some battle reports in later this week (HOPEFULLY).
Rather than the typical Gaspy or Denny run-down that most cryx players love to
drool over and flaunt, my first real caster I started playing when I joined the
undead legion was PSkarre. This, with the models I had at the time, was not a
fun experience. Eventually I learned that Skarre really requires some key
pieces in order for her to do what she does well, but man oh man does she can get
it done like a real Cryx caster when those pieces fall into place.
Let's look at the card rundown before getting into the heavy
thinking.
Basic Stats:
FOCUS: So we're one less than we are used to
working with when it comes to Cryx casters but being a cryx caster, there's
some other powers at work here but you can basically consider her to be the
same as Gaspy and Denny in this department (see Ritual Sacrifice). Skarre
really likes her focus so having some of our friendly self-sustaining jacks (Seether/DJ)
can always help take some of the pressure off Skarre to share.
SPD: She's got the moves, she can move, she
should move. She's not supposed to be knee-deep in the action but she can (and
should) be positioned around the board as need be. Get her close for the
variety of reasons you'll see further in but make sure you keep her safe. She
is not made to take hits like Butcher or Kromac but given the chance she can
swing just like them.
STR: Again, not bad. She can dish it out when she
needs to but given that she has only melee weapons, this is to be considered
the minimum. She can (and should) put the hurt on any infantry that happen to
cross her path...but going toe to toe with colossals or heavy jacks should be
something under controlled circumstances.
MAT: Solid for being a melee caster. This is a
nice middle-ground MAT that can go the distance but will need some help if you
want to swing at those pesky Trenchers or Kayazy jerk-faces. Boosting can be
necessary but not always the right call with the tricks Skarre has up her
sleeves.
RAT: No ranged weapons, no need for no stinkin
RAT. Movin' on
DEF: Solid, this is what you are counting on to
keep Skarre on the table. Infantry are going to have a hard time cracking this
so you'll generally be safe until you run into something that can boost (Jacks,
Beasts, and Casters). I've gotten lucky and a bad roll on your opponents 3 dice
can be great, but luck will only save your butt so many times.
ARM: You are just
as tough as your Banes but you don't have the chance to get back up when
you get killed. If you see someone running their infantry right through your
bane thralls and laughing all the way, Skarre doesn't want any piece of trading
blows with that. Be the sneaky cryx player you should be and try to avoid using
this stat as much as you can (unless you are stacking a ton of focus, but
where's the fun in that??)
Weapons: So no ranged weapon but that's not a huge loss
considering the lovely combo Skarre brings to the table with her
"weapons". No reach means if you are swinging it's going to be up
close and personal, no toeing the line with this caster. I've gone ahead and listed
them in the ideal order you'll be using them on targets that need more than one
hit to go down. You don't have any combo strike so remember that you should
change your order and priorities depending on what (or whom) you are swinging
at.
Great Rack: This is the money maker, most people will ever see it
coming but they sure don't forget it once they have. Knockdown on hit means you don't even have to do damage with it to
reap the rewards. If you are playing footsie with a jack or caster, boost to
hit and you'll have them flat on their backs waiting for you to bring the pain.
Takkaryx: The biggest POW Skarre can throw from her
melee weapons, it doesn't seem like much but the Life Trader on it lets her cut for one damage and throw an extra
dice on damage. This is not boosting.
So for 1 damage and 1 focus, Skarre is swinging with a POW 13 + 4D6 without
charging. Did you hear that? I think Khador just started crying in the corner.
It may not be the best idea to throw Skarre at heavies and casters, but oh man
is it sweet when the opportunity presents itself.
Bloodwyrm: Say
the dice are being quite wrathful to you on a given day (see what I did there?)
and you just can't seem to cut someone down and are hurting a bit after all
that cutting you did, Bloodwyrm has got your back. Life Drinker is the neglected sibling to Life Trader but still can pull your butt out of the fire. Kill a
living model with the POW 9 and heal D3 damage boxes. Skarre is big on the pain
with her feat and Life Trader so
this can be a nice way to get back some of those wounds. Being that this one
weapon needs to kill something living for it to work, consider this the cherry
on the Skarre sundae: it's nice but you're not ordering a whole sundae just for
the cherry.
Special Abilities:
Aside from the plethora of abilities on her "weapons", Skarre
has one very fun ability that is so Cryxian you'll want to use a Bond villain
laugh when you use it. I know I have.
Sacrifical Strike: This
ability is just plain weird but I'll be damned if it won't win you games. This
is a star action (Mark can put the symbol in here or something) so you're
giving up all your initial attack to use this. If you are actually using it,
it's worth it.
So here's the breakdown of how you do this:
- Step 1: You pick a target within 9'' of Skarre (unless her
CMD has been affected somehow, not sure if it's possible but we're going to
assume it hasn't happened in this instance) and that she has Line Of Sight to
- Step 2: After your
opponent stops crying after realizing what you are doing, you argue and prove
that the target is both within range and has Line Of Sight.
- Step 3: Choose a friendly faction model within 1'' of Skarre
to be the sacrificial cannonball. This model does not have to be completely
within so as long as part of the base is there, you are good to go.
- Step 4: If you played the previous steps correctly, whatever
the BASE armor of your sacrifice was just became the POW of your damage roll
against your target. This hits automatically and is an ability so feel free to
target anything with Spell Ward or other annoying abilities. Also, it's
boostable damage so it's going to hurt even if you use something with a lower
armor.
- Step 5: Profit
- This is your ace in the hole. If your opponent doesn't
really know about it, just ignore it for the first two turns and bide your time
patiently like a land shark or one of those other animals that would be good at
poker. One you get that sliver of base you unleash your wrath and throw a
boostable POW pain while laughing manically and explain what's happening like
the true Bond villain you are. The lowest you'll be throwing will probably be a
POW 12 but if you're feeling frisky and leave a bane thrall near Skarre or
bring her up near them, that's a POW 15 right in someones face....good times.
Spells: Skarre's got spells, she doesn't have the focus to
really sling spells...normally. I've gone and put this in the order of how
often I use them from most to least. But that doesn't mean a well placed
hellfire hasn't basically won me a game before, a list like this is versatile
and there will always be a spell you could be casting to make your situation on
the board better in some way. I have spells I like but I've learned that
knowing how to apply my toolkit makes it much more useful (especially against
players like Mark).
Ritual Sacrifice: This
is the big solution when it comes to Skarre, she is not afraid to consider her
units as expendable between Sacrificial
Strike and this. This spell is also the main reason you bring a Skarlock
(yeah, this was a game changer when someone filled me in on that). You pick a
sacrifice within 6'' of the caster, as long as it's a friendly warrior model
it's all good (undead are totally fine targets, which is really nice). We've
had discussions and the internet seemed to tell us after you cast and make the
sacrifice, you roll a D6 and Skarre gets that much extra focus next turn. This
effectively makes Skarre have at least 7 FOCUS to play with on a given turn.
Also, no one can touch that focus the turn you cast the sacrifice, so suck it
Eiryss.
Backlash: This
one is situational but I'll be damned if it ain't a boat load of fun when the
opportunity comes to use it. Costs as much as all her other offensive spells,
Skarre targets a jack within 8'' and (pending this hits) whenever that jack
takes ANY damage, it's controller takes 1 as well. This is unavoidable for the
caster, there is no getting out of it unless they get rid of backlash. I have
caused some great trouble for opponents with this and corrosion along with
other fun tricks.
Few things to note on Backlash:
Make sure you know which jack is tied to whom, I've wasted this on hurting
JWC's because I didn't get clarification on who was tied to which jack. Don't
count on Corrosion to do all the work for you on a high armor jack, if you
aren't throwing other sources of damage to make use of this the focus could
have been better spent elsewhere. This does stack with the Satyxis Raider's Feedback (which literally does the same
thing on their whip attacks). I love using this on Colossals when I know I'm
going to be putting some hurt on with a big hitter, good for at least 3-5
damage on my opponents caster.
Dark Guidance: This
spell is my dump when I really have no use for my focus and I'm not really
under any threats of being hurt. It shouldn't always be a priority but it's
never going to hurt you having it up and running. Highest cost Skarre has for
spells at 4, all friendly faction models (sorry Mercs) get an extra die to hit
with melee attacks this TURN. No bonus on your opponents turn from this one. If
you like your banes and ghost raiders, this spell will keep you in a good mood.
Mechanithralls become a serious threat under this. Tarpits become wheat for the
harvest as your units just stroll right through whatever gets in their way.
Bloodrain: Standard
Cryx infantry killer spell. AoE 3 with a POW 12 means anything you can manage
to hit with that FOC 6 that is one wound, will be a pool of melted something
when you are done. Anything not one
wound gets Corrosion if they are hit by it. This can be nice for messing with
tarpits and such if you aren't super high DEF but it doesn't leave any cloud
like Gaspy so it's not quite as good as it looks on paper.
Hellfire: This is
a spell you've probably seen before, both pGaspy and Venethrax throw this
around as well. POW 14 at the same cost as Bloodrain
with a couple extra inches on the range. Hit a model in a unit that isn't
fearless and they have to make a command check. This can be really nice once
you've gotten the hang of the game and know how you want the board to look at
the end of your turn. Fleeing models don't engage and can't make free strikes,
you can walk whatever you want (units, a jack, a ticker tape parade) and they
can't do squat until they rally on your opponent's turn (sometimes they still
don't and it's wonderful). Play around with this if you don't already and get a
hang for those times when your enemy pokes their units out a little too far and
they need to be taught a lesson.
Feat:
Blood Magic
(super-spooky-make-your-opponents-cry-time):
So Skarre, in typical Skarre fashion, takes UP TO 5 damage. For each point of
damage she takes in this manner, Friendly Faction models (no mercs, no minions)
get +1 STR and ARM for a round. So on both your turn and your opponents
everything within 12" that is Cryx gets a bonus to STR and ARM.
I love this feat, it is one of those wonderful feats that
just fucks up someones day no matter when you cast it. More often I tend to
cast this feat defensively but getting that opportunity to use it on the alpha
strike is just so superb. Cryx hits fairly hard so don't be afraid to take this
feat to keep your stuff alive while your opponent flails like a sissy against
ARM 20 banes or hopes for splash damage of POW 6 or 8 to kill your ARM 18 Bile
Thralls. I've never not used this feat at a full 5. Something like this should
always go at full blow, especially if you have a ton of extra focus coming your
way (a solid 6 roll on Ritual Sacrifice
means you can heal all that damage back and still have 7 focus coming next
turn).
Final Thoughts
As I said, Skarre is a party animal but she needs units to
keep her going. First thing she NEEDS (and I stress this need massively) is a
Necrosurgeon and Stitch Thralls. The necrosurgeon gets a D6 heal on Skarre
without a skill check if they are B2B (Base to Base). I don't really run
mechanithralls so I usually sacrifice the stitch thralls for focus or the
occasional POW 12 to some poor souls face. Skarre can put some real hurt on
herself if you let her and she really wants to throw that focus around the
board instead of healing herself so this unit can go a long way to making sure
your opponent needs more than a stiff breeze to take her down after a couple
turns of fun. The second unit that I always include is a Skarlock Thrall. Once
I discovered he can cast Ritual
Sacrifice for Skarre, that's all he usually does. he sits back with the
stitch thralls and eats them for the first three turns so I get my focus and
Skarre gets to do what she wants with it. Though the only thing the Skarlock
can't cast is Dark Guidance, which
means you shouldn't be afraid to sneak in a Hellfire or Backlash if the opportunity arises.
*I had someone recently fill me in from a game played that the Satyxis Raider Captain's "No Sleeping on the Job" actually extends to ESkarre, so throwing her in and keeping her within command range of Skarre means immunity to knockdown, fun fact
The biggest drawback you're going to have with Skarre is
working all your fun inside her 12'' control area. You only need your stuff
within it since your feat is a buff, but it does mean anything you want to make
sure is buffed is not going to be spread across the board and she's not going
to be hiding by your own table edge. I find an arc node or two can help spread
the love around when you've got the focus to throw and no prime targets are
stepping up to her directly but jacks that can make their own means of pain
(Seether/DJ) really seem to shine in her lists. DJ has had some real fun
throwing Hellfire and then trampling
right through some poor unit to whatever he thinks is really in need of a hug.
Overall I run melee heavy with Skarre so Dark
Guidance is making sure my hits are hitting and just have fun scaring my
opponent with her many threats and feat. She's a hybrid melee/support caster
that never lacks for making the opportunities you need if you know how to
exploit them. Also, charging Satyxis Raiders with UA/Captain Solo + Backlash on
a colossal, your opponent will shit bricks. (Learn to combine those CMA's with
horns and 1 whip so you still get Feedback as well)
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