Spotlight: Cephalyx Overlords

Cephalyx Overlords are, I believe, the most underrated unit in Cryx.  In Mk1, they were an expensive and tricky specialist unit and throughout Mk2 they were a bit too expensive and fragile to be useful outside of a dedicated Cephalyx list, especially since they were competing with Bile Thralls and Warwitch Sirens in the infantry killing department.  Now, though… I don’t know why I don’t see these guys everywhere.  Yes, they’re technically mercenaries now for the purists among us, but they’re Cryx partisans and they were Cryx allies before they were ever mercenaries.  Read on and maybe you’ll see why I think these guys make Sentry Stones look like Scattergunners.

Stats: The Overlords are pretty aggressively statted.  8 points (or 2.66 points per model) gets you solo-level stats of DEF 14, ARM 13, SPD 6 and magic ability 7.  They have decent melee stats at MAT 6, a 1″ range and POW 11 and a long enough command of 7 where they can operate virtually independently if they want to.  They even avoided the curse of the Tactical Arcanist Corps by keeping their 5 damage boxes.  If you assume that most small-based infantry in a unit would die in a single hit, then for the purpose of the first hit Cephalyx are essentially 14/17, which is an astounding defensive suite for the cost before you even factor in their other defenses and abilities.

Abilities: Speaking of abilities, Overlords have stealth.  This was a quality of life upgrade given to all non-master Cephalyx models in Mk3, usually as a replacement for sacrificial pawn.  This means that it takes real effort to take them out at range if you’re not fighting Kara Sloan, as they’re resilient enough and can stay spread out enough that you really need 3 stealth-ignoring direct hits to kill them.  This means that Overlords can be taken all by their lonesome now at full effectiveness, rather than being stapled to a mostly ineffective (in Cryx) Drudge unit.  They do have Veteran Leader for Drudges, which makes them better, but I’m not convinced it makes Drudge Slaves worth taking in Cryx.  I can go more into that sometime in the future.

SPD 6 is pretty mobile, but the Overlords also have Pathfinder.  Cryx has very few built-in Pathfinder units (although plenty of Ghostly, Incorporeal or Flight), so it’s nice to see and it further augments their defenses as it’s easy to hide 3 small-based models in a forest or rubble.  It also allows them to charge over terrain and bring their melee attacks to bear.  They really aren’t bad in melee if you need the boosted damage and they come with Anatomical Precision.  It’s kind of a niche ability if you’re already POW 11, but it fail-proofs bad rolls against some infantry and ignoring Tough is kind of nice too.

But let’s get to why you’re really here: Their magical abilities.  Every Overlord packs Influence and Psychic Assault.  Influence is the spell where PP refurbished it enough to make it 2 focus (ensuring it’s barely ever cast from a caster), but still had no problem putting it on a spammable unit.  Forcing one model to attack another is situational, but in Mk3, it extends to ranged attacks and can affect any non-caster warrior.  You won’t always get to live the dream of shooting Eiryss or Alten Ashley at your opponent, but it’s quite useful for manipulating hard-hitting units that like to stay close, like Trollkin Champions and Dawnguard Sentinels.  Its range of 10 is pretty useful too.  Not really what you take them for, but an interesting tool to have in the box.

Let’s discuss what you take them for: Psychic Assault.  8 points gives you 3 MAG 7 POW 12 8″ spray attacks.  I could just stop there, because that’s already pretty good given their other abilities and defenses.  However, there’s also the one little issue of “doesn’t need LOS”.  This is stupid good, and not just because you can shoot through houses and clouds.  This lets you target any non-spell warded model on the board, facing be damned.  In a sense, on a crowded enough board, it should read “place a spray template anywhere in base of the Overlord model and roll to hit everything under it” because you can draw any line to any model to center the spray where you want it.  Combine this activity with the fact that it’s a freakin’ magic spray and you ignore every defense that’s not elevation.  Force Barrier?  Don’t care!  Shield Guard?  Nope!  Cover/concealment/stealth?  It’s a spray!  Mage Static?  Not on my watch!  Spell/Sacred Ward?  Target literally anything else and “oops, I hit you!”  Can’t see the target through cloud or forest walls?  That’s cute.  This ability trumps Submerge, people.  That’s not easy to do.  It’s their signature tool and their best selling point.

How to Use Them: Find something that can get hurt by POW 12’s and blast away!  Cephalyx Overlords are probably Cryx’s premier anti-infantry option given the nerfs to Bile Thralls and Warwitch Sirens for the job.  It’s not just the fact that their sprays are accurate, efficient or cheap.  After all, Satyxis Gunslingers are cheaper and arguably offer more “bang” for the buck at a slightly longer range (I like them too, but I’ll get to them another time).  The power of the Overlords come from the ability to ignore virtually all defenses while being difficult to remove from range themselves.  Nothing within 14″ of them is safe unless their packing a 15+ DEF or a 17+ ARM.

Virtually anything that increases their threat at range helps them out, which is almost all Cryx casters.  If you really need them to break armor (not their strong suit), consider charging with them.  MAT 6 is enough to hit the big targets and a boosted POW 11 is stronger than an unboosted 12.  Any caster that has a debuff and shot-assassinate plan or could benefit from an anti-infantry suite can benefit from them.  I like to take a pair of units (they’re FA 3!) and put them on my flanks to make sure I cover all my troop-killing bases, as you really don’t need much else.  Compare 6 of these guys to anything else in the crowded Cryx 16-17 point range options (Bane Warriors, Bane Knights, Croe’s Cutthroats, Blood Witches + UA, Blackbane’s, Revenant Crew).  I think you’ll find they stack up pretty well.  I’ve been using them a lot with Gaspy2 lately, as they can spray from behind his clouds at a newly parasited target, Gaspy needs help with infantry after the loss of his bile bomb, and their melee stats mean they’re probably the best non-bane Feat target.  Silly fun trick: Feat a Bane Warrior into something, then spray the target without any fear of killing the warrior for Dark Shroud points.  A special synergy shout out goes to Scaverous, as Telekinesis can allow some potentially silly influencing and they become nightmarish unerring terrors under his feat.

So, are they good?: Cephalyx Overlords are the best Cryx unit that I never see used or mentioned.  It’s true that they’re not the best into armor, but they don’t break the bank.  For a modest sum of points, you get a unit that can shred 90% of infantry with little trouble, threaten solos and casters without regard to terrain or protections, and are extremely difficult to remove at range.  And if they do die, they’re less than 3 points each, meaning you don’t have much to lose.  The only real threat these guys have is the meta, and if SR 2017 does bring back infantry and assassination as more widespread options, Cephalyx Overlords are well-prepared to take over the table.