Kommander Zoktavir, The Butcher Unleashed
![]() |
Information |
![]() |
Important |
Kommander Zoktavir, The Butcher Unleashed
Orsus Zoktavir is a living legend, having earned a place in the company of other almost-mythical heroes from the frozen north. A brutal warrior capable of unbridled savagery, he is feared by his soldiers as much as by his foes. His only companions are his two war argus—two-headed hounds that are a living embodiment of the untamable darkness inside the Butcher.
Contents
Basic Info[edit]
Butcher[edit]
Butcher3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SPD | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
MAT | 9 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
RAT | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DEF | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ARM | 18 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOCUS | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
HP | 20 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WJP | +22 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
See also How to Read the statblock |
Weapons and Attacks[edit]
- Blunderbusss - 8" range, POW 12 gun
- Lola - 2" reach, P+S 16 melee weapon
- Weapon Master - When attacking with this weapon, add an additional die to its damage rolls.
- Damage Type: Magical - This weapon can damage incorporeal models.
Special Abilities[edit]
- Warcaster Unit - All warcasters come with a stack of standard special rules - most notably being awesome. Furthermore, this warcaster comes with some troopers that can be ordered around. Butcher3's unit includes two War Argus.
- Officer - This model is the unit commander even if the unit has a Leader model.
- Tough - When this model is disabled, roll a d6. On a 5 or 6, remove 1 damage point from this model; it is no longer disabled and becomes knocked down. While knocked down this model loses Tough.
- Granted: Vengeance - While this model is still alive and in formation all of the unit gains Vengeance. (Vengeance - During your Maintenance Phase, if one or more models in a unit with Vengeance were damaged by enemy attacks during the last round, each model in the unit can advance 3" and make one basic melee attack.)
Feat - Red Haze[edit]
This feat has two effects:
- Butcher immediately gains 6 focus points. He cannot have more focus points that his current FOCUS as a result of Red Haze.
- Living enemy models cannot charge Butcher.
Red Haze lasts for one round.
Spells[edit]
- Energizer - Cost 2
- Each model in the caster's battlegroup that is currently in its CTRL range can immediately advance up to 2". Energizer can be cast only once per activation.
- Flashing Blade - Cost 1, Range Self
- The caster immediately makes one basic attack with one of its melee weapons against each enemy model in its LOS that is in the weapon's melee range. These attacks are simultaneous.
- Impending Doom - Nearby enemy models are pushed towards this model in the order of your choosing.
- Obliteration - Cost 4, 10" range, 5" AOE, POW 15
- This spell has no special effects. Pure offense.
- Silence of Death - Upkeep that grants a faction model/unit a STR bonus and Take Down. (Take Down - Models disabled in melee by this model cannot use Tough. Models boxed in melee by this model are RFP'd.)
War Argus[edit]
Argi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SPD | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
MAT | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DEF | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ARM | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
HP | 8 each |
Weapons and Attacks[edit]
- Bite (x2) - "0.5" reach, P+S 11 melee weapons
- Combo Strike (★ Attack) - Make a melee attack. Instead of making a normal damage roll, the POW of the damage roll is equal to this model's STR plus twice the POW of this weapon.
Special Abilities[edit]
- Gang - When making a melee attack targeting an enemy model in the melee range of another model in this unit, this model gains +2 to melee attack and melee damage rolls.
- Granted: Relentless Charge - While this model is still alive and in formation all of the unit gains Relentless Charge. (Relentless Charge - While advancing as part of a charge, this model gains Pathfinder.)
- Sprint - At the end of an activation in which it destroyed or removed from play one or more enemy models with melee attacks, this model can immediately make a full advance, then its activation ends.
Thoughts on Butcher3[edit]
Butcher3 in a nutshell[edit]
Butcher3 is without doubt the best suited caster in the entire game to kill, smash, maim, murder and (queue various other synonyms) stuff. His personal combat output is second to none, and he can deliver death farther than his previous, or first incarnation. The ability to have Weapon Master, Take Down and Flashing Blade on your melee attacks, all that topped with an elite MAT is something truly frightening. He is one of the rare breed of Warcaster units in the game (third after Nemo3 and Goreshade1; the Coven has their own separate rule). The two Argus have formidable combat potential on their own, capable of delivering a single MAT 7 P+S 17 attack when standing near each other, then Sprint back to safety. They also fuel the Butcher with 2 very important abilities:
- a Granted Pathfinder, which fixes up terrain issues he had previously
- triggers for Vengeance, giving a net 3" to the unit's threat range
Thanks to that, enemies often forced to kill them both at once, or not bothering them at all.
Feat thoughts[edit]
If you ever faced or played Asphyxious1, you'll know, how useful an extra stack of FOCUS is. Extra spells, extra FOCUS to camp, and more than anything, all the greater chance for your assassination. Gaspy has great attack spells and sustained attack; Butcher has Flashing Blade and Lola. With a roving semi-circle of destruction, you can deliver up to 12 Flashing Blade attacks. Also, the feat protects you from (counter)charges - but not from walk-and-punch attacks. Be aware of Warjacks, constructs (especially construct warbeasts) and undead models. Don't forget, living models (mainly beasts) can still attack you with Power Attacks (Power Strike, Slam, Throw, Headbutt, Trample, Sweep).
Spell thoughts[edit]
- Energizer - Probably will see play in every turn, since it moves not only your jacks, but Butcher and the Argus as well. It also helps you to change facing throughout melee; see Strategy for details.
- Flashing Blade - Orsus finally mastered how to control his rage, and won't decapitate friendly models in sight. It makes jamming the Butcher a terrible idea, and goes hand-in-hand with Impending Doom. Once the targets are clustered together - cast this and watch armies crumble.
- Impending Doom - His signature spell, reeling in the enemy from those last few crucial inches for some chopping. Also really good to pull models outside from zones. As the range is a set 5", watch out for rough terrain, and obstacles as well as obstructions. It is also great to pull back the enemy if they used Admonition/Enliven to get away from your charge (granted they did not use it to get behind an obstacle).
- Obliteration - Same thing as with Butcher1, even with your double FOCUS pool on feat turn you'll rarely use it.
- Silence of Death - Indeed, you can cast it on Man-o-War Drakhuns to counter models stopping his Impact Attacks with some lucky Tough rolls. You can also boost the Manhunters' or the Behemoth's STR to crazy levels. But do you really have the heart to deny Butcher from the spell he craved for years? No, of course, you don't. Though it doesn't counter transfers, thanks to the prodigious amount of damage from Lola transferring can quickly grind down all but the sturdiest battlegroups. And it also affect the Argus too.
Strategy[edit]
Assassination
Assassination is always on the board with the Butcher. Though he lost the extra moves from Homicidal Maniac, he gained the far more reliable Energizer and the always useful Impending Doom.
Standard assassination pattern is the following:
- Energizer (2) + Move (5) + Charge (3) + Reach (2), yielding 12"
The following threat range is rarely linear, as he needs something to be in melee with by the end of his charge move to cast Impending Doom, and avoid its activation to be over because of a failed charge.
- Energizer (2) + Move (5) + Charge (3) + Impending doom (5), yielding 15"
If there are outside helpers, well, all the better. If the enemy killed an Argus then the formula above is extended by 3", meaning that very few things can hide from you.
- Vengeance (3) + Energizer (2) + Move (5) + Charge (3) + Impending doom (5), yielding 18"
If you don't need that extra 2", the casting of Energizer can happen after the charge move as well - it will eventually help you to have your intended target in your LOS and melee range, as by the end of the charge move you must directly face your charge target, and this can lead to positions where you'll be unable to attack your real target. Just remember that you must keep your charge target in your melee range throughout the charge, and that you can only make your initial melee attack against other than your charge target, if you cannot attack it (for example, it died to a Flashing blade between your movement and your combat action). In that case your charge attack will not be boosted.
Scenario
Yes, you read it right. The profane melee capacity of Butcher and his dogs ensures that enemies will rarely leave valuable pieces in your melee range. Use this to your advantage to aggressively lock enemy models out of scenario. The flip side is also true: if the enemy placed some important thing into your melee, always suspect a trap.
Army[edit]
Butcher3's army support is negligible. Just like in Mk2 you will still likely to begin the list building by taking those things that will help his assassination. Thankfully, most of these solos and units can enter to the theme forces, so pick accordingly.
- Orin - Shut down spells that would reduce your SPD.
- Eiryss1 - Don't let transfers stop your assassination run - send in a Disruptor bolt first, then Butcher next.
- Ragman and Gorman - The first is universal melee damage buffer, the second is more useful against Warmachine armies.
- War Dog - Can save your bacon from counter-assassins.
- Alten Ashley - Pretty expensive, but countering repair on a banged up jack or beast can sometimes be just as good as killing them outright. Also useful against the Grymkin Sacrifice arcana, or to stop healing from Goreshade2s Arcane Consumption, if you cast spells.
- Aiyana&Holt with Valachev - Another pricey investment for 12 points, but your army needs help with magical weapons, and if not, Aiyana can go around throwing Kisses.
As mentioned, Buther's army tends to be self-reliant. Units with minimal outside support (or those coming from the Theme forces) can fit into his lists well:
- Ruin - His pet jack, and an ample protection from magic assassinations. He can also run on souls, collected by other army members.
- Winter Guard Command - Though it would be tempting to look for Jaws of the Wolf with Energizer, being extremely greedy with his FOCUS, the Butcher welcomes outsourced battlegourp CTRL. And it can be found here, in the form of Malakov1. If you are careful enough, he can run valuable jacks like the Behemoth even Victor or a Conquest. Other elements of the Winter Guard Death Star (and the Widowmaker Scouts also feel good in his list.
- Legion of Steel - The tried and true IFP and Black Dragons wall - perfect to put pressure early on the enemy, and deter attention from Butcher.
- Wolves of Winter - Accuracy buff from spells, as well as covering clouds are great for Butcher and his army alike.
Drawbacks, Downsides & Bad Match-Ups[edit]
- He is still easily gets shot or be knocked down - though shooting against his dogs will probably work for your favour
- Speed de-buffs and charge denial still hurt him
- Minimal army support for his army outside the Battlegroup's mobility, and even that one will usually end up on him.
Tricks & Tips[edit]
- Flashing Blade is not an attack per se - if you don't need your Movement, shaking a knockdown costs just as much as casting FB.
- Since his feat doesn't replenish FOCUS, but gives him focus, it works even if you've been hit by a Disruptor shot from Eyriss1.
- The Argus are helpful tools in the offensive. Due to their speed being slightly faster then the Butcher himself, they make an excellent screening unit, just place them in base contact to cover Butcher. Or, leave some gap, and place clouds on them from the Greylord Ternions - just watch out for things that ignore cloud effects.
- Occasionally the dogs can be great for stopping someone from landing a model's base somewhere you don't want it.
Other[edit]
Trivia[edit]
- This model was introduced in Warmachine: Vengeance (2014)
Theme Forces[edit]
Themes for any-and-all casters (Edit)
- Winter Guard Kommand - (Article) (Category)
- Jaws of the Wolf - (Article) (Category)
- Legion of Steel - (Article) (Category)
- Armored Korps - (Article) (Category)
- Wolves of Winter (Article) (Category)
Other faction models[edit]
Rules Clarifications[edit]
![]() |
Rules Clarification: : Magical Damage (Edit) |
* The "Damage Type: Magical" is not inherited by "secondary" damage from a weapon. That is, stuff like arcs (Electro Leap) or hazards (Scather). (Infernal Ruling)
|
Rules Clarification : Weapon Master - None yet. (Edit)
Rules Clarification : Combo Strike - None yet. (Edit)
![]() |
Rules Clarification : Warcaster Unit or Warlock Unit (Edit)
|
![]() |
Rules Clarification : Officer (Edit)
|
Rules Clarification : Tough - None yet. (Edit)
![]() |
Rules Clarification : Gang and/or Gang Fighter (Edit)
|
![]() |
Rules Clarification : Tactics vs Granted (Edit)
|
![]() |
Rules Clarification : Vengeance and/or Righteous Vengeance and/or Retaliation and/or Swift Vengeance and/or Tantrum (Edit)
|
![]() |
Rules Clarification : Relentless Charge (Edit)
|
![]() |
Rules Clarification : Sprint and/or Run & Gun (Edit)
|
![]() |
Rules Clarification : Energizer (Edit)
|
![]() |
Rules Clarification: : Thresher and/or Flashing Blade and/or Cyclone (Edit) |
Resolving the attack Under this heading, the word "Thresher" is used interchangeably for "Flashing Blade" and "Cyclone" too
Thresher only
Flashing Blade only
Cyclone only
|
![]() |
Rules Clarification : Impending Doom (Edit)
|
![]() |
Rules Clarification : Obliteration (Edit)
|
![]() |
Rules Clarification : Silence of Death (Edit) |
![]() |
Note to Editors |