Warmachine: Infernals Add Two More Marked Souls
Infernals releases continue to come in, and it is rounding out into quite a powerhouse faction. I’m going to do a quick rundown of two of the recently released solos that really help round out the spellcasting side of the faction.
Lord Roget, the Willing Vessel
Let’s start by taking a look at the simpler of the two: Lord Roget. His abilities are very simple but powerful enough that he is likely an auto-include in any pure Infernals army. Roget has two magic abilities. The first is Harmonious Exaltation, allowing the Infernal Master he is attached to cast a spell for a 1 point essence discount. The second allows Roget to cast one 3-cost or lower spell from the Infernal Master’s spell list (not including control, upkeep or self-targeting spells).
These two abilities together do a lot to take some of the essence burdens off of the Master. With so many things in a turn to spend your essence on, a free spell per turn is huge. Harmonious Exaltation is a good backup for any turn where you don’t have a target for the free spell. As a long-time Skorne player, it is easy to compare Lord Roget with Marketh. Roget lacks the soul-collection and free upkeep functions of Marketh but brings some other abilities to play. I can’t imagine a list using any of the infernal masters that wouldn’t greatly benefit from including this solo. Keep in mind, however, he will not be usable in Hearts of Darkness with a Warcaster.
Roget’s other ability is related to his status as a Marked Soul. His ability named “Willing Vessel” allows his infernal master to summon a horror through him without spending the essence points! This is a big discount but will remove a very valuable piece from the table. It can be a great option in a tight spot when you really need those extra essence points. Roget can move up, cast a spell, then get turned into a Heavy Horror, saving your infernal master a total of 7 essences in a single turn. That’s a huge swing, especially for a spell-slinger like Agathon. Omodamos seems the most likely to choose the value of this ability over the turn to turn the benefit of cheaper spells.
The Princess is in Another Castle
The second solo I am going to look at today is Great Princess Regna Gravnoy. Princess Regna fills the role of a “junior warcaster” for the infernal army. She works similarly to your main infernal master and has her own Essence and battlegroup along with spells to cast.
Junior warcasters are common in many factions, but there are a few differences to keep in mind when using Regna. First, she can only use light and lesser Horrors. Second, unlike other lesser warcasters/warlocks, Regna does NOT have to start the game with anything assigned to her battlegroup. This is a good option to save points and just summon in a Horror based on your needs during the game. Third and finally, Regna can only have a single horror in her battlegroup at any time.
Like other infernal masters, Regna can bring in Horrors during the game. These horrors do not cost points in your list and can be chosen when summoned. Unlike other masters, Regna does not have to sacrifice a Marked Soul when she brings in her beasties, she just pays the essence cost and places the new Horror base-to-base with herself. While you save on killing your marked souls, this limits where horrors can be placed. She will also still need to sacrifice her army members to refill her essence.
Regna’s spell list is interesting. She has 3 spells, all costing 3 of her 5 essence to cast. Her main spell is deceleration, offering some great protection from shooting in a pretty large bubble for a lesser caster. Her other two spells are offensive, which is hard to use on a low-essence caster. To cast either Dark Seduction or Hellfire, Regna has to be quite close to the enemy and will have to pay to boost the hit on almost any target with her to-hit stat of 5. In most games, Regna will focus on bringing in light horrors and using Deceleration. Her offense should only be used in a pinch when you really need one fully boosted hellfire on a vital target.
The best situation to use an offensive spell might be if you can manage to kill something with her poisoned blade, then blood boon a spell. If you miss, however, Regna could be in serious trouble. And keep in mind if she dies her horror vanishes.
For Regna’s summons, I really like the idea of focusing on Shriekers in almost any situation. A Foreboder as an arc node seems ok, but would have to survive for a full round before you could use it, which is very hard for that horror. Shriekers have a great gun that can hit multiple enemies, and if positioned aggressively can shut down spells and orders and just be generally annoying. And if it dies, you can just make another one next turn!
A great synergy with Regna is the Infernal Gate. The gate gives a discount on the summoning of a horror, allowing Regna to both summon a Shrieker and still cast Deceleration for the round.
Regna is a great addition to most infernals armies, allowing even more free horrors for each game. She is very resource-intensive though and will need to be fueled by sacrificing models. This is doubly true if you choose to take her in Hearts of Darkness, where the models she will be sacrificing are quite possibly much more valuable than the cultists available in a normal infernals army.
Both of these solos are very welcome additions to the Infernals roster bringing additional spells, horrors, and efficiency to a list. This can really help in stretching the very limited resource of essence in your army. I expect to see these solos in many, many lists in the coming con season.
What do you think of these two new additions? Are they auto-includes in your lists? Do you find that the added efficiency is worth the point cost of more support solos in your army?
