Spotlight: Cryxian Arc Nodes

That’s right, all of ’em!  Fast, cheap, numerous and reliable arc nodes have been a staple of Cryxian strategy and identity since the very beginning of Warmachine.  Even today, over a decade later, Cryx still has the fastest, cheapest  and probably most reliable arc nodes in Warmachine, if not the game (yes, Gallows Groves and Spell Martyrs are cheaper, but not nearly as good).  I’ll be going through all 4 of them stat-wise, of course, but what I really want to talk about is how to best use them on the table top and how much each caster likes them.  If that seems like that’s something you’re into, read on.

Spotlight: The Brute Squad (aka Mechanithralls and Brute Thralls)

I titled the article like this because I wanted to making something clear very quickly: I think Mechanithralls are bad, Brute Thralls are awesome, and running minimum Mechanithralls to get 3 Brute Thralls in your list is a completely acceptable trade.  With Infernal Machines out and an unknown amount of time until the Bane theme, Brutes may be the new poster child for hard-hitting Cryx infantry.  Of course, I’ll still be discussing Mechanithralls and how to get the most out of them, but I wanted the context to be clear as to how I intend to approach this discussion.  Read on and see why I feel this way.

Spotlight: The Seether

The Seether is the best heavy warjack in Cryx.  Now that I have your attention, let me clarify: The Seether has one of the highest skill floors AND highest skill ceilings in the entire game.  Used poorly, it will die like an expensive light jack before it touches anything.  Used well, it will easily kill double its points and keep on coming.  I’ve slowly watched it over the editions morph from a useless and overly expensive thing to its current incarnation and now the combination of the armor meta, warjack dominance, and Cryx faction options make it honestly pretty disgusting.  I’ve been using them more and more and have yet to play a game where they haven’t impressed me.  Use them well, and they’ll impress you too.

Spotlight: Captain Rengrave

I’m still working on my battle report that I mentioned in my last blog post, but the short version is that I went 3-1 and used each list twice.  Given how I used the Ghost Fleet and I’ve discussed it in-depth, I figure it’s only appropriate to discuss the last remaining major component of the Ghost Fleet: Captain Rengrave.  I never actually used the guy after Mk1 prior to Ghost Fleet (I miss Black Squall), but given his Mk3 rules, maybe I should have.  Under ideal circumstances, he’s pretty nuts.

Spotlight: Harrower

The Harrower is something of an enigma as far as warjack design.  It’s a heavy, but its main target is infantry.  It wants to kill infantry, but it’s only MAT 6.  It’s got a decent gun, but you have to be in or close to melee in order to get the most out of it.  What it it comes down to is that the Harrower is looking for a set of ideal specific circumstance where it can shine, and so evaluating how good it is involves examining the difficulty and benefits of engineering those situations.  Is its whole greater than the sum of its parts or is it just an expensive mish-mash?  Read on and find out.

Spotlight: Leviathan

The Leviathan is one of the most polarizing warjacks in Mk3 Cryx.  In Mk3, in addition to gaining the quality of life upgrades of every other warjack, it swapped ROF 1 and Reload (2) on its gun for a straight-up ROF d3.  This has caused several discussions and arguments as to whether or not the Leviathan is reliable enough to use and whether potential overperformance can make up for potential underperformance and wasting focus.  I think the focus is in the wrong place: Regardless of its shot number uncertainty, it performs functions that no other non-colossal Cryx jack can do and that makes it one of the most valuable heavies in the Cryx arsenal.  Read on and learn to love the d3.

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.

Spotlight: Machine Wraiths

And the award for most improved Cryx solo goes to… probably Vorciferon or Deryliss if we’re being honest.  But the award for most improved non-character Cryx solo is almost certainly these guys.  Machine Wraiths used to have a full card worth of text that explained how they worked that was completely ignored, but they looked cool and were often taken as cheap filler for scenario purposes.  They are ever so much more than filler now.  Read on and see why.

Spotlight: Master Necrotech Mortenebra

Mortenebra has gotten quite a lot of press recently between her Deryliss buff and that fact that her epic version will be coming out soon.  She was Cryx’s first true warjack caster and the final non-epic Cryx warcaster to grace Mk1.  Given Mk3’s focus on warjacks, it would follow that a jack caster would be pretty good, right?  Read on, and find out exactly how good she is.  Or more accurately, how good she’s become very recently.

Spotlight: Blackbane’s Ghost Pirate Raiders

Well, after spending the first parts of this project talking about the Ghost Fleet and its various components, it’s only fitting that I get to possibly the most iconic part of the list: Blackbane’s Ghost Raiders!  The ghosts are one of the most unique units in the game and exemplify Cryx in many ways, both in the theme of the army (undead pirates) and mechanically with a focus on speed and dirty tricks unavailable in any other faction, as well as the single reason why Cryx will never get a caster with Banishing Ward.  How do they stack up now?  Are they just smoke and mirrors or will you be making your opponent call the Ghostbusters?