Warmachine: Cryx’s Reckoning
From the depths of the Nightmare Empire’s necrofactories come a swath of new monstrosities to make war upon the living in Warmachine; Reckoning!
Hey all! It’s Trevy the Great here again from Way of the Swan with some more hot Reckoning talk for you all! It’s be a little while, but all of the other Factions have been covered (besides Mercs, who didn’t really get much of note in the new book besides Cyphon) so it’s finally time to delve into the nightmarish new contraptions of the Dragonfather’s armies!
First up is Cryx’s brand new Warcaster; Deneghra the Soulweaver, the third incarnation of the infamous Haley twin. This time, she gets a sweet dragon-worm-monster-thingy and a bunch of new and exciting abilities. Unlike a lot of Epic Warcasters, who keep the basic flavor of their predecessors, Deneghra3 brings a starkly different form of gameplay to the table when compared with her previous versions. While Deneghra1 and 2 were very focused on board control; between SPD debuffs from Deneghra1 and Shadow Bind, Dark Banishment and Pursuit from Deneghra2 those two ‘casters almost completely dictate the flow of a game to their opponents. Deneghra3, on the other hand, focuses more on debuffs with Mortality and Scourge, casting them for free using souls and keeping herself safe with Grave Wind and a significant Focus camp. She can present an incredibly dangerous threat to opposing ‘casters with her speed and her personal damage output, especially if her Feat or a battery full of souls are available. A lot of Cryx players have compared her style to that of Terminus or Venethrax; moving up the board, safe under a huge focus camp and putting assassination pressure on the opposing Warcaster. The difference is that Deneghra, while not hitting quite as hard as the aforementioned Lich Lords, supports her army all the while with multiple castings of Mortality. While this style is relatively unique in Cryx it’s yet to be shown that it’s stronger than the raw debuffs and control presented by the other two Deneghras.
Next we have an unexpected release for Cryx; Soul Trappers! At 2 for 1 pt, these little guys are affordable enough to make a lot of lists and will have an enormous impact if allowed to do their thing with impunity. While grabbing souls may not seem like a huge deal, especially on a model with such low defensive stats, handing extra Focus to spellslingers like Deneghra or Asphyxious can allow them to make huge plays with game-ending implications. At the very least, these little guys will force the opponent to direct valuable attacks at them, which means that more awesome Cryx infantry get across the table. Not bad for a dude the same cost as a Mechanithrall.
Cryx also received 3 Warjacks in the new book; obviously for a Faction focused around its infantry most of these aren’t particularly exciting. Case in point; the Shrike, a surprise release that caught everyone off guard and left them underwhelmed. An alternate version of the Scavenger, this little dude isn’t terrible per se; sitting at DEF 16 he’s difficult to take out for the low cost of 4 points and can Trample into annoying spots, threatening solos and support models. At MAT 7 he can actually do some work on the way, but unfortunately he’s competing for space with Cryx’s awesome Arc Node bonejacks, which most lists need to realize their full potential.
The second new ‘jack added to the Cryxian stable is Barathrum, Terminus’ character helljack. Terminus, the quintessential pirate king felt that he could turn the nightmarish industries of the Cryxian empire towards fashioning the perfect tool for digging up buried treasure, so he created Barathrum, a ‘jack that is otherwise inexplicably good at digging stuff. Sitting at the standard Slayer chassis defensive statline, this big guy relies on Dig In and Drag Below to survive. At face value, sporting P+S 17 with Feedback on his big scoops and some Focus efficiency from Soul Drive, Barathrum doesn’t come off as a terrible choice, but he does have some issues. Any silver bullet abilities that can bypass the cover granted by Dig In (Hunter, Phantom Seeker, pushes etc.) leaves this poor with the classic Slayer issue of basically being a 10 pt light ‘jack (in fact, Cygnaran Lancers are more difficult to remove than he is). Coupled with the opportunity cost of paying 10 pts for a non-reach heavy when options such as Nightmare, Deathjack or simply more dudes, it’s likely that Barathrum will rarely see the table. A final nail in the coffin; he even lacks any Affinity or built-in synergy with his parent Warcaster.
Last on the list of new ‘jacks for the Nightmare Empire, but certainly not least, is the mighty Sepulcher! Unlike the two new ‘jacks I just touched on, this guy brings way more tools to the table than its lighter comrades. Compared to a Kraken, the Sepulcher loses a little hitting power due to lack of Meat Fuelled, but makes up for it with insane recursion and a massive increase in ranged damage output. Sporting 3 ranged weapons with a potential 5 total attacks, with almost any debuffs in play the Sepulcher can pretty easily burn a heavy to the ground with sustained fire. To make matters worse, the Colossal can add to that damage output by creating Brute or Mechanithralls, which can immediately activate and charge. All of these abilities tied together makes the Sepulcher a ranged powerhouse that can add a lot of utility and damage output to a list in the early game, using its powerful melee weapons towards the end. While there will be lists built to take advantage of the powerful main cannon on the Kraken, in most lists (especially those with Mechanithralls already added), the Sepulcher will probably take its place in almost every case. Icing on the cake is the lower point cost on the Sepulcher compared to its older brother.
Are you a Cryx player? What do you think of Cryx’s newest additions?
Remember to check out Way of the Swan for more awesome Warmachine and Hordes content!
