Kommander Zoktavir, The Butcher Unleashed

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Kommander Zoktavir, The Butcher Unleashed
Khador Warcaster Unit

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.

Basic Info

Butcher

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

• 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

• 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

This feat has two effects:

1. Butcher immediately gains 6 focus points. He cannot have more focus points that his current FOCUS as a result of Red Haze.
2. Living enemy models cannot charge Butcher.

Red Haze lasts for one round.

Spells

• 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

Argi
SPD	6
MAT	5
DEF	14
ARM	14
HP	8 each

Weapons and Attacks

• 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

• 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

Butcher3 in a nutshell

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

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

• 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

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 damaged 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

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

• 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

• 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

Trivia

• This model was introduced in Warmachine: Vengeance (2014)

Theme Forces

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)
	Battlegroups
	Warcasters	Butcher1 - Butcher2 - Butcher3 - Harkevich - Irusk1 - Irusk2 - Karchev - Kozlov - Malakov2 - Old Witch1 - Old Witch2 - Sorscha1 - Sorscha2 - Sorscha3 - Strakhov1 - Strakhov2 - Vlad1 - Vlad2 - Vlad3 - Zerkova1 - Zerkova2
K H A D O R
	Warcaster attachments	War Dog (Khador) - Madelyn Corbeau (Mercenary) - Reinholdt (Mercenary) - Wyshnalyrr (Mercenary)
	Other Controllers	Malakov1 (BGC) - Man-o-War Kovnik (Marshal) - Greylord Forge Seer (Marshal)
	Heavy warjacks	Berserker - Decimator - Demolisher - Destroyer - Devastator - Grolar - Juggernaut - Kodiak - Mad Dog - Marauder - Rager - Spriggan Beast-09 - Behemoth - Black Ivan - Drago - Ruin - Torch
	Colossal	Conquest - Victor
	Units, Solos, & Battle Engines
	Units	Assault Kommandos - Battle Mechaniks - Black Dragons - Doom Reaver Swordsmen - Greylord Outriders - Greylord Ternion - Iron Fang Pikemen - Iron Fang Uhlans - Kayazy Assassins - Kayazy Eliminators - Kossite Woodsmen - MOW Bombardiers - MOW Demolition Corps - MOW Shocktroopers - Widowmaker Scouts - WG Field Gun - WG Infantry - WG Mortar Crew - WG Rifle Corps Great Bears of the Gallowswood - MOW Atanas & Standard Ranking Officer CA : Koldun Kapitan Valachev
	Solos	Greylord Forge Seer - Iron Fang Kovnik - Koldun Lord - MOW Drakhun - MOW Kovnik - MOW Strike Tanker - MOW Suppresion Tanker - Manhunter - War Dog - Widowmaker Marksman - WG Artillery Kapitan Fenris - Jozef - Malakov1 - Markov - Sofya - Yuri
	Battle Engines	Gun Carriage - Man-o-War Siege Chariot - Man-o-War Assault Chariot
	Theme Forces
	Armored Korps - Jaws of the Wolf - Legion of Steel - Winter Guard Kommand - Wolves of Winter

(Edit)
		Mercenary Battlegroups
		Warcasters	Bartolo - Damiano - MacBain - Durgen - Fiona - Ossrum - Gorten - Magnus1 - Magnus2 Requires a 2+ caster game
K H A D O R	M E R C E N A R I E S
		Other Controllers	Mini-casters	Brun Cragback & Lug - Rorsh & Brine
			Marshals	Colbie Sterling - Dirty Meg - Raluk Moorclaw - Rutger Shaw - Thor Steinhammer
		Warjacks & Warbeasts	The mercenary battlegroup members you can include in a Khador army depends entirely on which mercenary is commanding them. There are too many permutations to list here, please refer to one of the model entries above for full details of what it can take.
		Mercenary Units, Solos, & Battle Engines
		Units	High Shields - Press Gangers - Sea Dog Deck Gun - Sea Dog Pirates - Steelhead Halberdiers - Steelhead Cavalry - Steelhead Riflemen - Tactical Arcanist Corps Alexia1 - Croe's Cutthroats - Nyss Hunters - Blythe & Bull - Boomhowlers - Herne & Jonne - Aiyana & Holt
		Solos	Gobber Tinker - Ogrun Bokur Alexia2 - Alten Ashley - Bradigan - Eilish Garrity - Grogspar - Brun Cragback & Lug - Colbie Sterling - Dirty Meg - Doc Killingsworth - Eiryss1 - Eiryss2 - Hawk - Gorman - Gudran - Harlan - Hutchuk - Bailoch - Rockbottom - Dougal - Orin - Ragman - Raluk - Rorsh & Brine - Rutger - Saxon - Sergeant Nicolas - Stannis - Thor
		Battle Engines	Hammerfall Siege Crawler
		Warcaster attachments	Madelyn Corbeau - Reinholdt - Wyshnalyrr

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification:  : Magical Damage      (Edit) (Click Expand to read)

* 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) All spells have "Damage Type: Magical" (refer errata). This is inherited by "immediate" secondary damage (such as Eruption of Spines). (Infernal Ruling) and might be inherited by "lingering" secondary damage (see below). If a spell leaves a template in play that does damage to models that walk around in it, then: if it is not described as a hazard it will do magical damage to models that walk around in it. (Example: Razor Wall) if it is a hazard then it will not do magical damage to models that walk around in it. Instead, it does whatever damage type is specified by the spell description. (Example: Breath of Corruption). (Infernal Ruling) If a weapon/spell includes Magic Damage and another kind of elemental damage it will still damage Incorporeal models. Incorporeal models are not affected by the rule "if an attack does multiple types of damage and a model is immune to at least one it is immune to the entire attack." The phrase "immune to non-magical damage" should be interpreted as "immune to damage that doesn't include Damage Type: Magical" (not interpreted as "has immunity to Corrosion and Electricity and Cold and etc.")

Rules Clarification : Weapon Master - None yet. (Edit)
Rules Clarification : Combo Strike - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Warcaster Unit or Warlock Unit     (Edit) This summary is specific to Warcaster/Warlock units. You may also want to check the Warcasters & Warlocks page for the 'regular' rules clarifications. If you're giving an order, it must be done first, before casting any spells or using your feat. All models in the unit count as part of the battlegroup. So, for instance, Butcher3's argus can be moved via his Energizer spell. Only the warcaster/warlock model can dominate a Steam Roller scenario. They can do that regardless of where the grunts are. The grunt models can contest Steam Roller scenarios, but not control them. Warcaster units can have attachments. They can even attach units (such as the WSC). (Infernal Ruling) Units Buying Attacks (Edit) If you make attacks with model [A], then start making attacks with model [B], you cannot 'go back' and buy more attacks with [A]. Because: A model can only buy additional attacks during its Combat Action. A model in a unit must complete its Combat Action before the next model starts theirs (with some exceptions, like CMA).

Rules Clarification : Officer      (Edit) Even if they're not on the Officer's card, an Officer can give (and benefit from) any non-standard orders that are on the unit's card (such as Shield Wall). Refer main rulebook. A Ranking Officer can't do this, though. When the Officer dies, the Leader model becomes the new Unit Commander (you don't get to choose). But if your unit doesn't include a Leader model, then you do get to choose any of the remaining models to be the new Unit Commander. You don't swap the model, but it may be worth putting a token down so you can tell that grunt apart.

Rules Clarification : Tough - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Gang and/or Gang Fighter     (Edit) You can gain the Gang bonus vs knocked down/stationary models (refer to the latest Errata). You can gain the Gang bonus on free strikes, but generally only the first "Ganger" will get it. For example, if a target is engaged by two models with Gang, when it leaves the melee range of the first Ganger it suffers a free strike with the Gang bonus. Then it leaves the melee range of the second and suffers a normal free strike.

Rules Clarification : Tactics vs Granted     (Edit) Granted = The unit loses the ability as soon as the model that grants it is taken off the table. Tactics = The unit keeps the ability for the entire game, regardless of who dies.

Rules Clarification : Vengeance and/or Righteous Vengeance and/or Retaliation and/or Swift Vengeance and/or Tantrum     (Edit) Vengeance moves do not have to be towards an enemy model. You can choose to not move, but still get the attack. One is not conditional on the other. In this case, you will not count as advancing and thus will not trigger stuff like Countercharge. (Infernal Ruling) When resolving Vengeance, move all models in the unit before making any attacks. (Infernal Ruling) If you have more than one unit with Vengeance, move all of unit A then complete all of unit A's attacks, before starting to move unit B. Vengeance is not an activation. It does not prevent the unit from activating and acting normally later in the turn. Stationary and knocked down models may not perform Vengeance moves nor attacks. Only enemy attacks trigger Vengeance. There are plenty of ways enemies can damage you without attacking you (such as Electro Leap) and these will not trigger Vengeance. Due to the way it is worded Vengeance can be "inherited" by unit attachments that do not actually have the Vengeance ability themselves. For instance, a Soulless Escort attached to the Spears of Scyrah. If anyone is damaged, including the attachment, everyone in the unit gets to trigger Vengeance. But if everyone is killed except the attachment, then he doesn't get to trigger Vengeance because the rule is "no longer on the table".

Rules Clarification : Relentless Charge      (Edit) Pathfinder (Edit) - Pathfinder does not apply to involuntary movement (pushes & slams). (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Sprint and/or Run & Gun     (Edit) You cannot use this ability after an out-of-activation attack (such as Countercharge), only during real activations. (Locked thread) You can't purchase additional attacks after the move, because you can only buy attacks during your Combat Action and by definition "the end of your activation" happens after "your Combat Action". Differences With Sprint, you cannot trigger other abilities that also occur "at the end of activation" (such as Reposition), because Sprint includes the phrase "and then its activation ends". Click here for a detailed explanation Run & Gun doesn't have this restriction. Run & Gun won't trigger if you RFP the model, but Sprint will.

Rules Clarification : Energizer      (Edit) The models affected are determined when you cast the spell. If you then use the Energizer move to move the caster forward and try and get more models into their control range, it makes no difference.

Rules Clarification:  : Thresher and/or Flashing Blade and/or Cyclone     (Edit) (Click Expand to read)

Resolving the attack Under this heading, the word "Thresher" is used interchangeably for "Flashing Blade" and "Cyclone" too Thresher makes an attack against every model, and as such it targets every model. Thus if a model "may not be targeted by melee attacks", you have to 'skip' it when you resolve the attack. (Infernal Ruling) All attacks made by a Thresher attack are simultaneous. If a model is out of LOS when you start the Thresh, then you may not attack it as part of the Thresh (even if the Thresh kills what is blocking your LOS) This means you need to target everything, then resolve all effects that trigger on "target" before starting any attack rolls. Then complete all attack rolls and do everything that triggers on "hit" before starting any damage rolls, and etc. In practice and to save time though, if neither player has effects that trigger on "being targetted, hit, damaged, etc" then they'll normally do the hit and damage rolls on a model-by-model basis. If a model collects tokens (for instance the Cryx Harrower that collects souls), it cannot collect them until all Thresh attacks are resolved. Thresher only All attacks made by a Thresher are special melee attacks, and as such won't trigger stuff like Grim Salvation or Rhyas's feat. (Infernal Ruling) No matter how many enemy you kill, Thresher only counts as a single attack for the purposes of triggering Berserk, Quick Work, Black Spot, etc You can do a Thresher on a charge (it's a special melee attack). If you charge & Thresher, only the damage roll against your charge target is automatically boosted - other models caught in the thresh suffer an unboosted damage roll (although you can spend focus/fury to boost it) You can't buy additional Thresher attacks, because they're (★ Attack). You can buy additional normal melee attacks, though. Thresher will hit friendly models. Flashing Blade only You can cast it after your charge movement but before your charge attack. This will essentially interrupt your charge attack, so no damage roll is boosted while resolving the spell's attacks (unless you pay to boost it). If your charge target survives the spell , then you'll get your boosted charge attack against it. Flashing Blade doesn't hit friendly models Cyclone only You can cast it after your charge movement but before your charge attack. This will essentially interrupt your charge attack, so no damage roll is boosted while resolving the spell's attacks (unless you pay to boost it). If your charge target survives the spell and is still in range, then you'll get your boosted charge attack against it. If you used the advance to move out of range of your charge target, it was still as successful charge so it won't cause your activation to end. However, you are still limited to making melee attacks only. Cyclone will hit friendly models. The attack(s) from Cyclone occur simultaneously with "Ends its movement" triggers (such as Admonition). As such, the active player can use the Cyclone attacks before the inactive player uses his Admonition move. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Impending Doom      (Edit) Push     (Edit)       Pushed models do not change their facing. Pushed models move at half rate through difficult terrain. Also, Pathfinder doesn't apply during pushes. Pushed models stop if they contact anything - a model of any size, or any obstacles or obstructions. You don't get free strikes against pushed models, because it is "involuntary movement" and therefore does not count as an advance. Pushed models suffer the effects of anything they move through (such as acid clouds). If you use a Push vs a charging model (via a free strike for example), this will stop the charge movement (refer core rulebook). However, if the pushed model is in melee range of its charge target after the push, then it is considered a successful charge. (Infernal Ruling) In that scenario, you measure whether the charging model moved 3" or less excluding the push distance. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Obliteration      (Edit) The text description has no in-game effect. It's just for flavour.

Rules Clarification : Silence of Death      (Edit) Rules Clarification : Take Down - None yet. (Edit)

Note to Editors To edit the Argii's tagged abilities, Click here