Garryth, Blade of Retribution

Just like last week, I'm covering a caster in depth. This week it will be Garryth, Blade of Retribution.

Again, we'll start with the statline and special rules. Garryth has one of the more exceptional statlines for casters. He is at the high end for SPD and MAT, and he has standard "dodgy, nimble" caster defensive stats at 16/14. This matches up with Amon, Haley, Deneghra, Rhyas and Saeryn, etc. He has four initial attacks: two blades and two pistol shots. Though his POW is low, he has Weapon Master to make up for it. He's a mediocre shot and can't buy more than his initial two pistol attacks, but he's a deadly close combat fighter. As for special rules, he has Pathfinder-- allowing him to keep up with his target-- Stealth, which helps keep him safe until he can make it into melee, and Parry, allowing him to escape unfavorable encounters. His last two rules are the big ones.

First, he has Arcane Assassin. This means he ignores almost all spell effects on his targets. Note that this is with ALL of his attacks-- blades, pistols, and even magic attacks. He also ignores focus points boosting a power field. As a result, his seemingly low POW, with Weapon Master and Arcane Assassin, is more than enough to shred almost any enemy caster in melee. Note that he will not ignore indirect bonuses from spells-- for example, if an enemy has cast Fog of War or Veil of Mists, granting themselves concealment, he will not ignore that, as it is not a direct bonus to DEF. Finally, his blades have Grievous Wounds. Not only does this prevent Tough and healing, but it prevents warlocks from transferring. Whether the opponent is camping Focus or Fury, Garryth doesn't care.

Overall, he is a brutal combatant. Garryth getting into melee with the enemy with more than a couple of focus left on him is a death sentence to most casters and locks. His feat can help in this respect, as he can set it up so that even if he fails to assassinate his prey, he is safe from retaliation. Note that his ARM is quite low, and camping a couple of FOC can be difficult due to his desire to upkeep, cast and boost. Garryth's army often serves as a Garryth Delivery System, and you should keep that fact in mind.

Onto his spells.

Death Sentence is his first spell, and it's not a bad one-- it marks an enemy, allowing you to reroll failed to hit rolls against them. Garryth's low FOC means you will basically have to boost-- anything he can reliably hit unboosted doesn't need this cast on them. This means it will cost half of his FOC to put up. It's an upkeep, but generally whatever you cast it on should be mostly dead after a turn. This is one of those spells you will want to arc. It goes well with inaccurate but high-volume fire-- a unit of Mage Hunter Strike Force attacking Death Sentenced infantry can reliably put huge holes in their formation. On turns when Garryth is hanging back waiting for his moment, activating him early to throw this out is not a bad idea, but since it costs such a chunk of your FOC to do so, make sure that it's worth it.

Gallows is Garryth's offensive spell, and again, it's very expensive. It will cost 4 FOC to reliably hit something, and with the pull being only d6" it's not very reliable. Garryth's guns are magical, so you can use those instead of this to pick off Pistol Wraiths and the like, though arcing Gallows gets you a reliable threat range. It may be tempting to use it to pull an enemy closer so Garryth can charge it, but if he starts 10" away from an enemy he can charge them anyways and when you arc this spell it pulls the enemy towards the node, not Garryth. Not to mention it takes most of Garryth's remaining FOC to cast, leaving him little for the assassination. Remember that you have this spell, but generally Battle Mages are more effective for push/pull shenanigans. You could Death Sentence the target you want pulled for cheaper, and though that takes up Garryth's activation, you will be able to yank the enemy into position and kill it with a Phoenix or something.

Mirage is a great spell, always useful. It extends the threat of a unit by 2", but it does so much more than that. You can readjust models to ensure that they have line of sight for a charge-- they end their movement facing in any direction you wish. You can pull them out of terrain (or deeper in, if they have to charge through it). You can disengage them from combat. Obviously, you get the most mileage by putting this on a unit, but lategame casting it on Garryth himself is not bad. It extends his threat, which is never a bad thing.

Psychic Vampire is an interesting spell. Against some enemies, such as Hex Hunters, Druids of Orboros and Battle Mages, it's brutal-- it shuts them down from casting in Garryth's control area unless they want to die. Against others, they simply don't care. It's expensive and Garryth's FOC is tight, so don't cast it unless you have to. Remember that his CTRL is smallish, but Garryth likes it up towards the front so that's not too bad.

Next, we've got Garryth's feat. It's a bit hit-or-miss, but powerful. Vortex Lock prevents the casting or channeling of spells, movement by place, and most importantly, spending FOC. This last one is the big one. Enemy Warmachine players cannot boost while in Garryth's control area. If you fail an assassination run, this is what keeps you alive. It's kind of a defensive feat, which is odd for such an assassin-y caster, but it has a lot of uses. The place effects thing is unusual, but it does close off some threat vectors to Garryth, making him harder to assassinate. No casting or channeling is a big deal-- enemies will have to either face you without magic or back off. Note that it does not prevent upkeeping spells and Garryth lacks dispel effects, so eEiryss might be useful. Preventing enemies from spending FOC is especially nice for blunting 'jack based retaliation. If they can't buy attacks against you or boost their damage rolls, they're not able to do serious damage. Beware of casters with Full Throttle or Unearthly Rage, as they can boost their 'jacks' rolls while sitting comfortably outside of your control area-- and beware of Hordes lists, which shrug off what is arguably the most potent part of the feat. An excellent way to use it is to force Garryth forward and pop it, preventing your opponent from taking advantage of Garryth's exposure. You want him forward, but you want him safe.

Like many of the Retribution tiers, Garryth's is quite restrictive. He can take all non-character 'jacks, but his only units allowed are MHSF, and he can only take Mage Hunter Assassins and Nayl. If he takes three Mage Hunter Assassins, he gets +1 on his starting roll; three units of MHSF with Soulless UAs give him Nayl for free; and leaving out heavy warjacks gives him and his 'jacks Advance Deployment. This is quite a potent ability, as his MHAs will already by ADing, along with one unit of MHSF. However, this army does not allow multiple MHSF UAs, as Ravyn's does, meaning that two of the units will not be able to AD nor ignore cover and intervening models. Furthermore, Garryth has no way to boost their accuracy outside of Death Sentence-- though he can cycle it between two enemy units per turn, it won't help them hit very high-DEF enemies enjoying cover or concealment. Finally, especially if one goes to Tier 4, the list lacks a way to handle heavy armor. Garryth himself can do it by spending lots of FOC, and Mage Hunter CMAs with 'Jack Hunter can put a bit of a dent in, and even MHAs can get lucky and roll high, but against Skorne titan walls, Khador 'jack walls, Troll bricks etc. this army may struggle. Advance deployment and +1 to go first can help Garryth get out towards the enemy quickly, and with the Soulless Escorts they're quite safe from magic-- and it's nice to have an almost all-Stealthed army-- but many of the missing units and solos are quite valuable. I would argue against taking this tier in most circumstances. Against shooty jack-heavy Cygnar lists, if you can take out the Black 13th you are in good shape, but otherwise you will struggle against armor; and Menoth 'jackwalls with "no shooting" can make you tear your hair out.


So let's look at some key model synergies.

Warjacks:
Garryth can't feed too many 'jacks, but he does like arc nodes. The Chimera's a nice one, as is the Phoenix; the latter is more expensive, but can also help deal with armor. The much-maligned Gorgon has a place, as does the Hydra, who can survive with less FOC. For Vyre 'jacks, many of them replicate effects Garryth already has, like Grievous Wounds, or the Banshee's wail and his feat. Generally more than two 'jacks is very tough for Garryth to run.

The Chimera's ability to disappear from combat and escape makes it very valuable to Garryth as a Gallows or Death Sentence arc-- its maneuverability can help you set up good Gallows angles. Sadly you can't stack Mirage with Apparition, as the effects have the same name, but it's nice to double up on that ability. In a pinch, the Chimera can combo strike something big, but if you're sending it into combat you're in trouble.

The Phoenix is a bit trickier than the Chimera, since you kind of want it in melee-- but of course it can't arc. It helps deal with the armor problem that the rest of the army has, and the Phoenix Field can help keep it alive. Mirage can make a Phoenix into a giant Chimera, able to strike where you want and then pop out of combat to channel. Overall it's a great 'jack, but pricey.

The Gorgon has one job in a Garryth army: lock something down so Garryth or his minions can kill it. It's cheap-ish, and it likely won't survive going in to lock something down. If you have persistent problems with people running away, it might be worth using, but otherwise leave it at home. Force Lock is why you take this thing.

The Aspis is worth a mention. Garryth is, as mentioned, quite frail, and keeping him alive long enough to get the kill can be a trial. An Aspis can take a bullet for him and keep him standing. Garryth's desire to mix it up personally is often the death of him, but a hefty Shield Guard light can reduce that risk.

Finally, the Hydra's somewhat-independence means that Garryth can load it up early and just let it have a ball, but his inability to do anything to keep it safe or accelerate or make it hit harder is worrying. Unlike other assassin-y casters like Thyra, Garryth does not make it easier for his army to assassinate you. He makes it easier for HIM to assassinate you.


Units:
Battle Mages, Mage Hunter Strike Force, and Dawnguard Sentinels are the units Garryth likes to see. Somewhat unusually, this is less about what he can do for them and more about what they can do for him.

Battle Mages are just all kinds of great, but they really shine when their push me/pull you shenanigans are actually towards some end other than "pissing off the opponent." When positioned right, a unit can drag an enemy, d3" at a time, towards Garryth's threat range. This may be an enemy caster; more often it'll just be a 'jack or beast. If he tags it with Death Sentence the turn before and upkeeps it, they'll be quite accurate, and Garryth can dash up and finish off whatever it is without running into danger. They can also push enemies away and out of their support formations, leaving the target isolated. Garryth likes having targets all alone like that.

Mage Hunter Strike Force do much the same job in a Garryth list as in any other: remove infantry, take potshots at support models and vulnerable casters. Garryth doesn't like lots of infantry blocking his path, and doesn't want to give 'jacks FOC to trample it away. MHSF can solve that problem, and Mirage not only extends their threat range, but allows them to reposition and still get the aiming bonus-- a must with their mediocre RAT. I wouldn't bother taking more than one unit, as you lose a lot without the UA.

Dawnguard Sentinels also love a UA with Garryth. Mirage + Vengeance is a lot of out of activation movement, and makes these little SPD 5 soldiers a lot faster than they seem. Death Sentence also ensures that none of their attacks are wasted. Once your opponent has triggered Vengeance, get as many of them in as you can, since they likely won't stick around too much longer-- you don't want to drip-feed them in a bit at a time. Otherwise you're just wasting troops. They go well with MHSF, as the Hunters kill low-ARM infantry and the Sentinels go after tougher stuff.


Solos of interest include epic Eiryss, Sylys Wyshnalyrr, Arcanists, MHAs, Magisters and perhaps Snipers.

eEiryss is always nice. Garryth and his MHSF ignore camped focus and upkeep spells, but the rest of his army doesn't. Furthermore, with judicious timing, you can shoot off an enemy upkeep and pop your feat, preventing it from being recast. It's better to go after offensive upkeeps like Fury rather than defensive ones like Defender's Ward, as you ignore those anyways, but of course it's not a hard and fast rule. Also remember that her shots prevent channeling through arc nodes and can keep Garryth safe.

Wyshnalyrr is a Focus battery for a caster who really needs it. I've mentioned several times how tight Garryth is on Focus. Wyshnalyrr not only lets him upkeep Mirage for free, but makes his spells more accurate, perhaps allowing you to toss out more Death Sentences and Gallows. Gallows may actually be worth it if you can use it to pull someone into charging range, as long as you are sure you can kill them once you get in there.

The job of an Arcanist in a Garryth list is simple. Sometimes there's not enough FOC to go around, and the Arcanist makes that better. Garryth's well-stated liking for arc nodes, as well, means nothing if they get taken out. The Arcanist can bring those back online with ease. Nice and simple. He's tough to keep safe, so hang him back until you need him.

Mage Hunter Assassins are like mini-Garryths. They pose a serious psychological threat, as nobody wants to expose their caster to an Arcane Assassin Decapitation. They also have a 14" threat range, 16" under Mirage. Expect them to die, even with Stealth and Pathfinder, but to do their job in dying. They can be used to herd enemies in towards the middle of the board, where Garryth can get at them. One of the best things Garryth can do is just use his threat range as a tool: nobody wants to get within 12.5" of him and die, so you can pressure them into a tight box where your army can finish them off.

The Magister (and to a lesser extent, Madelyn Corbeau) is great for his ability to accelerate Garryth. Whip Snap is an extra 3" of movement on one of the game's few "I get into melee with you, you lose" models. Keep him close to Garryth and keep him safe. Your opponent only needs to be on the receiving end of a 15.5" Garryth attack once before they never make that mistake again. Remember that it stacks with Corbeau's Intrigue.

Finally, Snipers might see some use in clearing targets from your path. Garryth ignores free strikes but he can't move OVER models like Rhyas or Thyra. He also lacks Reach, so you have to get up close and personal. Having a couple of enemy grunts blocking the path can ruin your day if Mage Hunters can't get in there, but the Sniper's 20" threat is hard to hide from.

Garryth does more than just seal the deal himself, but it's what he's best at. Here's a 35 point list that plays to his strengths:

Garryth, Blade of Retribution +5

Phoenix -10
Aspis -4

House Shyeel Battle Mages -5
Min Mage Hunter Strike Force + UA -7
Min Dawnguard Sentinels + UA -8
House Shyeel Magister -2
Sylys Wyshnalyrr -2
Madelyn Corbeau -2


Total 35 +5

Garryth comes with a little entourage here-- two solos to speed him up, one to help him cast, and a 'jack to keep them all safe. He has a bit of everything in terms of infantry; some anti-armor, some anti-infantry, some movement guys. This army's job is to deliver Garryth, and it does it well. If you want to drop Sylys for an Arcanist you can probably drop one of the movement solos (I'd get rid of Madelyn first) and bump one of the min units up to max, but that's your choice.

Next week, we look at Karchev or pAsphyxious.